2023 review: Cases of the year, trials of 2024 and marking 300 posts on Medium
Not only is 2023 over, but this also marks my 300th post on Medium! With that, I thought I’d take some time to review some highlights from the year and look at what trials are coming up in 2024 — and what’s ahead for this blog.
We started off the year with former funeral home operators Megan Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, being sentenced for mail fraud in a case that appalled many. Mail fraud is a mild term for offering low funeral and cremation costs, then selling the deceased’s remains to third parties for “research” and lying about whether they had certain diseases or not — and without the consent of the families.
Nikki Secondino was arrested in January 2023 for murdering her father and attacking her sister. In the now infamous photo of Nikki smiling as she’s being arrested, we saw a wild opening to the year. There’s no word yet on when her trial will begin, but I will be sure to update as soon as I know.
Next, Amanda Chapin was charged in mid-January after the Dec. 28, 2022 death of her veterinarian husband, who she stands accused of poisoning with animal euthanasia drugs in his coffee. A recent update from the Telegraph Herald reports that her trial is scheduled to start on July 29, 2024.
Elnaz Hajtamiri is still missing two years later after being abducted in January 2022, but her ex-boyfriend was recently charged with first-degree, and Ontario cops say they believe they are closing in on discovering what really happened to Elnaz — and to giving closure to her devastated family. We’ll be keeping an eye on what happens in court.
Verity Beck baffled her family and police after the gruesome death and dismemberment of her parents in January 2023, and was subsequently arrested and charged. Prosecutors have since hinted at the motive, but the full story should come out when her trial begins on Feb. 5, 2024.
In a most heartbreaking case of what appears to be mismanaged post-partum psychosis, Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy allegedly sent her husband out for some errands, during which time police say she strangled her three young children to death. She then attempted suicide by jumping out the second-story window of the home, and has since been hospitalized, permanently paralyzed. There appears to be no trial date set as of yet.
Amber Waterman, a woman from Missouri accused or murdering a pregnant woman to try and steal her unborn baby, has seen her trial date delayed again and again. The state trial cannot start until the federal trial concludes. It was schedule to begin Dec. 4, 2023, but has been pushed to June 3, 2024.
In February, we saw the conviction of Russian woman Viktoria Nasyrova, who poisoned her look-a-like friend, Olga Tsvyk, with the intent of stealing her identity. Armed with poisoned cheesecake, Viktoria visited Olga, and when Olga became unconscious, Viktoria slipped away with her identity — but Olga survived and told her story.
Heidi Matheny, an Ohio woman who admitted to drowning her elderly grandmother in the kitchen sink, then the bathtub in December 2022, pleaded guilty to murder in March.
A woman from Georgia was convicted in March of murdering her elderly fiance, and police said she had been living with his body for months after his death. Tabitha Zeldia Wood was arrested after Leroy Franklin Kramer Jr’s daughter asked police to conduct a welfare check on him in June 2022 — but they found his corpse, which they determined to have been there since April 2022.
Nicole Ashley Jackson was arrested and charged on Nov. 28, 2022 after a fire determined to be arson killed her four-year-old daughter. Arielle and her twin sister, Gabrielle, were allegedly abandoned within the flames by their mother. Nicole allegedly told police that Arielle had died before the fire, and she had set it to conceal the homicide. There seems to be no trial date set yet that I can find.
Yue Yu was arrested in August 2022 after her husband set up cameras in their kitchen which allegedly show her pouring Drano into his tea in an attempt to poison him. She went to jail and he promptly filed for divorce and custody of their kids. Prosecutors allege she tried to kill him. Defense attorneys claim he fabricated the attempt for a quick divorce and all of the assets, and custody of the kids. Only the trial will tell. She pleaded not guilty in May. This is another case where there doesn’t seem to be a trial date yet, but my Google Alerts will keep an eye on this.
A former respiratory therapist pleaded guilty to two counts of murder two decades after a suspicious string of deaths tore through the hospital where she worked. Jennifer Anne Hall worked at the Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, between Dec. 2001 and May 2002, during which nine deaths raised red flags. It took 20 years, but she was finally convicted of two murders, but suspected of being involved with at least the other seven deaths.
And a wild seemingly black widow story out of Kamas, Utah made headlines in May when Kouri Richins was arrested for the murder of her husband, Eric, in March 2022. She allegedly gave him a deadly overdose of fentanyl, then raked in the insurance money and inheritance while writing a children’s book about grief for kids — which she released almost a year to the day of his death.
Desiree Fransen was sentenced in June for the 2018 murder of her sister-in-law, Margarita Sandoval. Desiree and her husband, Octavio Sanchez, were arrested in 2022. Police had discovered Margarita’s body in May 2021 in the basement of the couple’s home, which they had kept there since her death while collecting her social security and COVID-19 checks.
Kelly and Mark Watford were arrested in June for the death of their six-year-old son, Sullivan, who weighed a horrifying 21 pounds when he died. Kelly blamed allergies for the boy’s condition, but there were signs of drowning and severe neglect. No trial date yet to my knowledge.
A few days after her husband’s arrest, police charged Johana Ramos for the violent murder of her mother in which she helped him wrap duct tape around the woman’s head. Ramos is currently seeking to have the charges dismissed on the basis the charges don’t fit the accusations, though no trial date is currently in place.
A mother accused of abusing and neglecting her daughter, causing her death, will stand trial starting March 4, 2024. Adair Fish called 911 to report the death of one of her daughters on Nov. 3, 2022, and that the girl’s twin was unresponsive. Fish said her daughter had been dead for some time.
Eight years after her boyfriend’s murder, April Gibbs was arrested in June 2023 for allegedly being his killer. No trial date as of yet.
In yet another alleged postpartum psychosis case, Krista Anne Brunecz was arrested after stabbing her infant daughter, then herself, in Dec. 2022. There is also no trial date yet for this case.
One of the most talked about cases of 2023 will also go to trial in 2024: Courtney Clenney will face the court for the stabbing death of her boyfriend, Christian Obumseli. She and the defense claim he was a violent abuser, while the prosecution points to her as the abuser. It’s bound to be incredibly dramatic, but there has been no date set as of yet.
In what could qualify as one of the weirdest cases of 2023, Devyn Jade Michaels was arrested in August after allegedly killing and decapitating her boyfriend when he made sexual advances towards her — while still married to his son.
When Candi Royer was trusted by her friend to take care of her daughter, she did the complete opposite. Three-year-old Khaleesi Cuthriell went missing, and has never been found. Candi and her boyfriend, Travis Brown, were both charged with the little girl’s murder. Brown was convicted in court while Royer pleaded guilty to the crime.
In August, police dug up the homemade coffin of 95-year-old Bruce Brown, and arrested his daughter, Gennice Walker, for his murder, after discovering she had been living off his money after his death.
A bizarre story about a religious cult and a murder surfaced in September, in which a mother and her sons were arrested for the death of a young woman found in the trunk of a car after one cult member apparently escaped their torturous wrath.
Right before Halloween, Ashley Jones was charged with the murder of her mother’s husband, only days before her mother was found dead in her own home. And there are rumours this may not have been Ashley’s first time killing someone.
The notorious killer and fugitive Kaitlin Armstrong went on trial for the murder of pro-cyclist Mo Wilson, weeks after an escape attempt from the custody of prison guards. She was convicted of the murder in November.
In a case that was quite the opposite — quiet and not as prominent in the news — Makaylia Jolley accepted a plea deal in November for the murder of her infant daughter in May 2022 during which she repeatedly threw her baby on the road violently.
Kahdiyjah Pendergraph was arrested and charged with the murder of her disabled daughter near the end of November. No trial date yet.
A former defense attorney was arrested at the start of December for helping her client and boyfriend track down and murder his ex-girlfriend, who was doing nothing more than trying to stay away from him. Keegan Kelley Harroz and Barry Titus II were both arrested and charged for the murder of Tiffany Eichor and her parents in Sept. 2019.
In what I consider to be one of most horrifying and heartbreaking cases of the year, Shanda Vander Ark went to trial for the murder of her 15-year-old special needs son, Timothy Ferguson. She and her 20-year-old son, Paul, were both taken to trial over the death — and then Paul testified against her before she was convicted. He took a plea deal. The entire trial isn’t outlined here, but the Case File is definitely coming.
After playing the grieving daughter on TV in interviews since the 2015 quadruple homicide of her family, Amy Vilardi was arrested and charged alongside her husband for that very crime.
And to close out the year, a former professional basketball player and his girlfriend were arrested and charged for the murder of a woman who went missing in Las Vegas in early December. Sakari Harnden and Chance Comanche were taken into custody for the murder of Marayna Rodgers two days after she vanished from her group of friends.
2023 Case Files — the trials of the year
I have a few Case Files to catch up on for 2023, so hang in there. The full stories are coming. I spent a lot of time on the Taylor Parker case in the latter half of this year.
One story wasn’t enough for this woman. After the conviction of infamous womb raider Taylor Parker, I did a five-part Case Files series on her life leading up to the horrifying murder of Reagan Hancock and her unborn child, and analyzed Parker’s baffling psychology.
One of the first cases I began writing about here also concluded in 2023. Julissa Thaler was convicted of shooting to death her 6-year-old son, Eli Hart, in the midst of a bitter custody dispute during which Eli’s father, Tory, protested to the courts that Julissa was an unfit mother. Absolutely one of the most heartbreaking cases I have ever read about a child being fatally failed by the system.
Other Case Files to come: Shanda Vander Ark, Kaitlin Armstrong, Candi Royer, Nicole Wobbeking, Makaylia Jolley, Desiree Sanchez, Megan Hess, Jennifer Anne Hall, Viktoria Nasyrova, Heidi Matheny, Tabitha Zeldia Wood,
Criminal Psychology Series
“Dangerous Daughters” was the seven-part series I wrote which focused on parricide: the daughters who murder their parents/guardians, why, and the psychology behind it all. We flipped the filicide series on its head. I haven’t decided which series I will tackle next, but I am debating between black widows (wives who repeatedly kill husband for money) or womb raiders (like Taylor Parker). Let me know what you would like to read!
Final Thoughts
It’s been quite the journey this year, both for this blog and for me personally as a writer. I hope to be more organized in 2024 so that I can keep up with the Case Files as the most intriguing trials wrap up. I definitely fell behind this year. Still, I appreciate you all being here with me and coming along for these stories. Some cases can be difficult to get through, but I feel like these stories, the stories of the victims, need to be told.
Some stick with me more than others. Eli Hart’s murder at the hands of his mother haunts me. In the end, Julissa Thaler cursed at the judge and took no accountability for her actions. No remorse for her little boy; only the need to possess and murder him. Just a sadistic woman overall.
The same goes for Shanda Vander Ark. I watched via Court TV as Paul testified against her and the truth about what happened to helpless Timothy is heart-wrenching. He had nowhere to turn, no one to tell. He was held prisoner in his own home.
As for most people, the ones involving children are especially haunting to me. Kids don’t deserve that. They don’t control who brings them into the world and when or what environment they’re brought into. Eli should have gone to his dad’s. Timothy’s parents should have given him to state services, as his dad was going to do anyways, instead of sending him into the torturous clutches of his cruel mother. These kids, like Khaleesi Cuthriell, and many others, deserve better. Their parents, support system, and even government systems, need to be better.
It goes the same for the women who have postpartum depression/psychosis. There need to be systems in place for women like Mikaylia Jolley, Lindsay Clancy, and so many mothers who reach this tragic level of mental illness. They need safety nets. It isn’t enough to let women give birth in a hospital then send them home with the baby unchecked — shelter dogs and cats get better screening for new owners than that!
The murder of Reagan Hancock and her unborn child also got to me. There are no words for the level of depravity within Taylor Parker. Even the expert opinions and evaluations don’t seem to add up to how she could have done it. Doctors can fix postpartum — there is no fixing Taylor Parker. Maybe years ago, therapy could have prevented her from spiraling out, but now she’s too far gone. This is another case where someone should have caught her behavior and held her accountable long before she took two lives. The red flags were there. At least she’ll never get out of prison — she now resides on death row.
And who knows what 2024 has in store? We have some upcoming trials and no doubt new cases with arise. We’ll be here for the bizarre, the heartbreaking, the intriguing, and more.
One thing I would like to do is expand into writing about organized crime. It would be a separate publication, of course, so “Degrees of Monstrosity” would remain exactly how it is. But it’s another aspect of true crime I find absolutely fascinating and would love to dive into. Would anyone be interested in that sort of content? I don’t see a whole lot of it on Medium.
And, finally, my personal review of 2023 (and details on why I was so disorganized this year) is on Substack (for free), where you can subscribe to content about not only true crime, but my mystery books as well:
May the new year bring you all many blessings.
