Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 73 i Crime Monthly

Wearing her silver sequinned wedding outfit, Estrella Carrera was captured on CCTV walking away from the bar where she had just celebrated getting married to Arnoldo Jimenez. The date was 12 May 2012, and the couple were looking to the future as man and wife. They had decided to finally tie the knot as they shared a young family – a two-year-old son together, and also an eight-year-old daughter from Estrella’s previous marriage. It seemed like a happy ending after a tumultuous three-year relationship. After meeting at a local nightclub, the pair had dated on and off for several years, and family and friends were not even aware they were back together when they announced their engagement. The wedding bash was a total surprise to most, and guests were invited…

On 21 January 2025, Larry Eugene Ingram Jr sat with his head bowed in a Kansas courtroom as District Judge Tyler Roush declared him guilty of the ‘reckless’ second-degree murder of stepdaughter Deniq Ingram. It had been an unusually fast trial, with the proceedings taking just two days. The jury deliberated for barely more than an hour, as they also found Ingram guilty of one count of domestic violence, and one count of violating a protection order prohibiting him from being in contact with Deniq. Ingram, 44, didn’t raise his eyes from the bench in front of him as the judge entered a discussion with the defence and prosecution teams over sentencing, informing them there would be a delay as Ingram was also due to be sentenced in another recent…

At 13, Ellie Reynolds was like any other teenager. She loved music and hanging out with friends. Each weekend, she and her mum Kara would head down to the fields near their home in Barrow-in-Furness to look after their horses. Then, in 2014, Ellie started seeing a boy from school. At his house, she met his cousin and her boyfriend, Shaha Joman Miah, known as Saj. Ellie says, ‘He was creepy. He never said much. He just stared and made me feel uncomfortable.’ Soon after, Ellie’s life changed forever. She says, ‘One day, I was walking to a friend’s house when a car drew up. The door flew open, and a man grabbed me and pulled me into the rear foot well. He put his foot on my head, so…

On 22 January 2025, 73-year-old former long-haul driver Bruce Mendenhall was convicted of the murder of Carma Purpura in Indiana. Her body had been found in 2011, discarded beside a highway in Kentucky, four years after she went missing. ‘It is my hope that this verdict brings resolution to Carma’s family, and others who have waited years for answers and accountability after losing their loved ones,’ said prosecutor Ryan Mears. ‘This case broke due to a hardworking detective, who was dedicated to working across state lines to ensure that justice was achieved for the victims and their families.’ That justice had been a long time coming for Carma’s family, but ‘Truck Stop Killer’ Mendenhall remained unfazed by the verdict. It made little difference to a man already serving two life…

On Wednesday 7 June 1972, Judith Roberts came back from school and sat down for dinner at her home in Wigginton, near Tamworth, Staffordshire. During the meal, the 14 year old got into an argument with her schoolmaster father. It was nothing serious, but at 5.30pm, Judith decided to take a bicycle ride, as she very of ten did. Tragically, this time, she never returned. Her body was discovered three days later in a cornfield near her home. She had been brutally beaten to death. The ensuing investigation led to the arrest of 17-year-old Andrew Evans, a mentally vulnerable soldier stationed at a nearby barracks. He would confess, and despite later recanting, ended up spending 25 years in prison. In 1997, his conviction was overturned and Judith’s murderer is still…

On 4 February 2025, the families of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola finally got the justice they had sought for over three years. It took a jury two days to deliver a unanimous guilty verdict on two counts of first-degree murder against ‘Hollywood producer’ David Pearce. He now faces a sentence of 148 years behind bars, meaning the 42 year old will die in prison. His eventual passing in a state institution will, however, be of small comfort to the relatives of his victims, whose loved ones died after they were drugged and dumped outside two different hospitals in November 2021. Christy and Hilda’s deaths signalled the final heinous acts of a man who was a fantasist and a monster in equal measure. At his trial in early 2025,…

A teenager has been charged with ‘plotting a Valentine’s Day massacre’ at a school in Maryland. According to court records, Trinity Shockley, 18 – who identifies as transgender – has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, as well as terrorism-related offences, after being reported to authorities via a tip-line. The anonymous tipster alleged Shockley had ‘access to an AR-15 rifle, had just ordered a bulletproof vest, and admires Nikolas Cruz.’ Cruz is serving life after murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, on 14 February 2018. The FBI were able to trace Shockley via messages on an app, which stated, ‘Parkland part two – I’ve been planning this for a year’. Agents then contacted local police and Shockley was arrested. An affidavit said, ‘Shockley was…

A Tennessee man who killed his pharmacist wife on their honeymoon has been given life. Bradley Dawson, 40, and his new bride Christe Chen, 36 – who got married just three months after meeting – were staying at the luxury Turtle Island resort in Fiji when staff found Christe’s body in their cabana on 9 July 2022. She had suffered multiple injuries, including blunt-force trauma to the head, and staff reported hearing the couple arguing the previous day. Following the incident, IT specialist Dawson fled the scene using a stolen kayak, and was apprehended the next day on a nearby island, carrying his passport and personal belongings. At the sentencing last month, Christe’s mother Xiao Wei Liu told Dawson, ‘No mother should have to know this is how her daughter’s…

The case of Lucy Letby, the former neonatal nurse convicted of multiple murders, took another shocking turn last month when an international panel of experts claimed that there is ‘no proof’ she harmed any babies. The latest development came after 14 leading professionals reviewed the available medical evidence and concluded, ‘We did not find any murders. In all cases, death or injury were deemed to be natural causes or just bad medical care.’ And while Letby was sentenced to multiple whole life terms, a growing number of experts and campaigners believe she really has been the victim of a miscarriage of justice. REVIEW PANEL The review was instigated by Canadian neonatologist Dr Shoo Lee, after he came to believe Letby’s prosecution ‘misinterpreted’ a 1989 paper he had written on air…

In August 2023, a US court in Strongsville, Cleveland, convicted Mackenzie Shirilla for the murders of her boyfriend and his friend after a horror car smash. But while she is serving a life sentence for the deaths, she continues to maintain she does not remember the details of that fateful night – and that she is not guilty of murder. What is certain is that the teenager was driving the car and, while she survived, Dominic Russo, 20, and Davion Flanagan, 19, died instantly. Now, following a failed appeal in late 2024, where a judge upheld her conviction, the case continues to garner public intrigue – most recently after police released new bodycam footage of her arrest. ‘MEAN GIRL’ Aged 16, Shirilla was a well-known Strongsville high-school student. Her classmates…

This is not abot sex - this is about power,’ former US President Joe Biden said in 2018, as he paid tribute to college students’ efforts to tackle assaults on campus. ‘Usually fat, ugly men using their power, as you saw with that creep.’ Biden didn’t mention Harvey Weinstein by name, but a month later, the movie mogul was in handcuffs – arrested after a damning report in The New York Times about his predatory behaviour initiated a flood of allegations from over 100 women worldwide. The claims included 18 accusations of rape committed by the Hollywood film producer during a 35-year ‘reign of terror’. In early 2020, Weinstein appeared in the dock at the Manhattan Supreme Court. Six women testified against him, including former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, and…

On late 2024, Cairo Criminal Court saw the culmination of one of Egypt’s most shocking cases, when ‘New Cairo Serial Killer’ Karim Selim was sentenced to death for the murders of three women. But as he languishes behind bars awaiting his fate, his former wife is trying to find the son she alleges Selim kidnapped three years ago. Selim, a 37-year-old former teacher, was arrested in May 2024 for the brutal murders. The crimes all occurred in Cairo and Port Said between November 2023 and May 2024 – not long after Selim’s former wife Lobna Yakout, 33, fled Egypt. She told a US magazine that she had ‘endured years’ of abuse and violence after marrying Selim in 2014. During the marriage, she claimed he ‘nearly killed me many times’, but…

Kiena Dawes was a ‘bright, popular’ young hairdresser from Fleetwood, Lancashire. Described by her family and friends as ‘happy-go-lucky’, she had her whole life ahead of her. Then, in January 2020, Kiena, 23, started a relationship with Ryan Wellings. From the moment they met, he ‘love-bombed’ Kiena, a manipulative tactic that involves excessive displays of affection and attention to influence someone. Within two weeks, he had Kiena’s name and face tattooed on his body, and he proposed within three months. But what Kiena first thought was a fairy-tale romance soon turned into a nightmare. Wellings had a vicious temper, and regularly indulged in cocaine and alcohol. His abuse of Kiena included slapping her, pulling her by her hair, demanding money, and attempting to strangle her with a phone charger cable.…

When Michael Cochran was found unresponsive at his home in Daniels, West Virginia, in February 2019, his death seemed tragic, but not suspicious. His wife Natalie appeared to pick up the pieces and try to get on with her life – until she was arrested for running a $2million Ponzi scheme just six months later. The authorities opened an investigation into Michael’s death, and before long, forensic testing revealed lethal levels of insulin. Natalie then went on trial for first-degree murder in a case that would expose a calculated plan to silence her husband before he could uncover her crimes. THE VICTIM Michael Cochran, 38, was an Air Force veteran and IT specialist, known for his kindness and devotion to his family. He was found collapsed at home on 6…

Calle del Norte in Tajueco, Spain, is a tiny hamlet with a population of just 56 people. Up until recently, it was home to a man known locally as ‘the wolf of Tajueco’, although residents of the area are unsure as to why or how Manuel Isla Gallardo acquired the sinister moniker. Gallardo was described as a ‘quiet and unassuming’ individual, who had little interaction with the locals, though he would complete odd jobs around the villages. One thing everyone agreed on was that he had no history of violence – indeed, Gallardo, 48, did not hold a criminal record of any sort. So, they were shocked when he ended up being arrested for a ‘love triangle’ murder. DISAPPEARANCE In November 2023, a man named only as JLPO – a…