8 Real, Absolutely Terrifying Murders We’re Still Obsessed With

Death is what we fear, but to some people, it’s their drug. To murder is to feel, and to feel is to live, one might say.

By Angel M. Rodriguez

Updated 2 years ago, December 16, 2022

Why does one kill? That’s a question we ask ourselves. Whenever we turn on the news or read our newsfeed, there’s always a newly-found body or the story of some person gone missing. Some things in life we’ll never truly understand, and as you read this you can’t help but feel the pain that all these people felt on the night they were murdered.

Death is what we fear, but to some people, it’s their drug. To murder is to feel, and to feel is to live, one might say. Here are eight crimes that we’re all still obsessing over all these years later.

1. The Fallen Beauty Queen.

This six-year-old American girl had a bright future ahead of her. Her big blonde hair and beaming smile won everyone over. JonBenét Ramsey was a star in the making.

Sadly, someone had other plans for this young beauty queen. On December, 25, 1996 JonBenét Ramsey made headlines as the young girl from Boulder, Colorado who went missing. Eight hours after the family called 911, Ramsey’s father and two of his friends started their search around the house.

After searching the bathroom and the wine cellar, the last place to look was the basement. There she was.

JonBenét’s body was lying on the floor covered in her special white blanket. There was a nylon cord around her neck; her hands were tied above her head, her mouth covered with duct tape. She was struck in the head and strangled to death. You could only imagine the terror she must have felt in her last moments alive. This case is still unsolved and the killer is still out there.

View the full set of autopsy photos: HERE.

2. The Manson Family Murders.

In Los Angeles, the summer of ‘69 should have been filled with peace and love but instead was drenched in fear and terror. Between August 8-9, cult leader Charles Manson commanded a few members of his group, known as The Manson Family, to murder people in a home not far from the streets of Hollywood.

The family made their way into the property of 10050 Cielo Drive where director Roman Polanski who was away filming lived. The Manson Family, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel made their way into the home, while Linda Kasabian was their lookout. 18-year-old Steven Earl Parent was driving his father’s 1966 white AMC Rambler. As Steven was driving down the parking area, he rolled down his window to push the button to open the electronic gate. There, Steven was met by the Manson family.

Tex shouted “Halt!” to Steven, with a .22 revolver in one hand and a knife in the other. Tex shot Steven four times killing him. That was just the start of the murders that took place that night. Once inside the home the Manson family found actress Sharon Tate who was eight months pregnant and married to Roman Polanski. Also in the home were friends of Tate’s, writer Wojciech Frykowski, coffee heiress Abigail Folger and celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring.

Everyone in the home was stabbed over and over leaving blood all over the home. The Manson family tied rope around Sharon Tate’s neck and stabbed her to death. The victims were screaming and begging for their lives, but it was pointless. There was no remorse; God couldn’t help any of the victims that night. Sharon Tate at one point begged and cried for them to save her unborn child. Abigail made a run for it as they stabbed her, but she didn’t make it far. Her body was found in the back of the house. The photos of this crime are not for everyone. When you see them it’s as if you could feel the pain and see the horror that all five victims lived that night.

View the full set of autopsy photos: HERE.

3. The Black Dahlia.

In the mid-1940s, Elizabeth Short, also known as The Black Dahlia, was living in Los Angeles. She worked as a waitress to support herself while fighting to catch her big break as an actress. That day never came.

On January 1947, a horrific tragedy occurred: At the age of 22, Short was brutally murdered; her body cut in half and severely mutilated. Her nude body was found on January 15, 1947 in a vacant lot near Leimert Park. Short’s killer had drained her corpse of blood and scrubbed it clean. This was like something out of a horror movie.

View the full set of crime scene photos: HERE.

4. The Mother From Hell.

June 20, 2001 forever changed the Yates family. Andrea Yates husband left for work that morning not thinking what his wife would do next. Suffering from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, Andrea one-by-one drowned all five of her children in their bathtub, Noah, Luke, Mary, Paul and John. In 2006, Andrea was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

5. The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Not all love stories end well, it didn’t for Travis Alexander, a salesman from Arizona. On June 4, 2008 Travis was stabbed and shot to death by his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias. But not before taking one last photo of him in the shower. Moments after the photo was taken Travis was murdered. His body was found by his friends in his shower. Travis had 27 to 29 stab wounds, his throat was slit open and he had a gunshot wound to his head. Jodi was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

6. The Death Of An Actor.

Actor and funnyman, Phil Hartman was murdered in the early morning of May 28, 1998 by his wife. After returning from dinner, the two got into a heated argument about her use of drugs. Phil threatened to leave his wife if she started using again.

After heading to bed that night, his wife entered the bedroom at 2:30 a.m., with a .38 caliber handgun, and intoxicated and coked out, shot him once in the head and twice in the side. After calling 911 at 6:20a.m., she locked herself in the bedroom and committed suicide by shooting herself in the mouth.

7. The Brentwood Double Murder.

Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were both stabbed and murdered outside her condo in Brentwood in Los Angeles on June, 12, 1994. Ron, who was a waiter at Mezzaluna located in the Brentwood area was just getting off work and was headed to Nicole’s house to return a pair of glasses that she had left at Mezzaluna earlier that day. That would be the last time anyone would see him alive again.

Nicole was stabbed multiple times in the head and neck as well as Ron. Their bodies were found only feet away from each other.