5 Extremely Scary, Recent Murder Cases You May Not Know About

The McStay family mysteriously vanished from their home in Fallbrook, California on February 4, 2010. Joseph McStay lived with his wife, Summer, and their two young sons. After days passed and no one could contact the family, Joseph’s brother climbed through an open window to discover an empty house save the two family dogs which had been left behind in what appeared to be a rushed vacancy of the home. An investigation ensued, though little was accomplished until three years later. In November of 2013, the family’s bodies were found in a shallow grave near Victorville, California. One year later, police announced the arrest of Joseph’s business partner, Charles “Chase” Merritt, and charged him with the murders. 

Related: Secrets and Lies: 7 True Crime Books About Cases with Shocking Twists 

The tragic murder of Annie Le continues to shock people to this day. September 8, 2009 on the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut, Annie was a 24-year-old doctoral student at the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology. She was last seen entering a research building on campus, but she never left. Five days later, on the day she was supposed to be married, her body was found stuffed inside a supply closet. Her fellow lab technician Raymond Clark was found guilty of the murder, though he never provided a reason for his actions.

Related: The Bizarre Death of Elisa Lam 

This television-famous killer Rodney Alcala is estimated to have murder upwards of 130 victims. He earned his nickname, “Dating Game Killer”, because of his 1978 appearance on The Dating Game television show during the height of his murder spree. Prosecutors report that Alcala “toyed” with his victims, strangling them until they passed out, waiting until they revived then repeating the process. Over the years of his rampage, Alcala compiled more than 1,000 sexually explicit photos of women and teenage boys, at least one of whom he then murdered. Luckily, the winner of The Dating Game refused to go out with Alcala after the show ended because she got strange vibes from him. 

On April 23, 2006, the bodies of Marc Richardson and his wife Debra were found in the basement of their home. The body of their son, Jacob, was discovered upstairs. Missing from the home upon the discovery was the couple’s 12-year-old daughter, Jasmine. Originally, officials feared she had been abducted. They would soon discover how wrong they were.

The following day, the daughter and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke, who believed himself to be a 300-year-old werewolf, were arrested and charged with the crimes. It was known the family was highly critical of the young girl’s relationship. This criticism apparently served as motivation for the crimes. While behind bars, Steinke wrote the girl a marriage proposal which she accepted. Shortly before the murders, Steinke reportedly watched the film Natural Born Killers. 

Related: In Cold Blood: The Brutal Murder of the Walker Family 

Also known as the Good Hart murders, the Robison family murders were the mass murders of Richard Robison, his wife Shirley and their four children; Ritchie, Gary, Randy and Susan in 1968. The family was shot and killed while vacationing in their Lake Michigan home, just north of Good Hart, Michigan. Their bodies were found after 27 days. This delay in discovery resulted in extreme decomposition of the remains, making analysis of the bodies challenging. Over the 15-month investigation, the case remained largely unsolved despite the fact that nearly all recovered evidence pointed to Joseph Raymond Scolaro, an employee of Richard’s.

The case remains open to this day, although locals still believe that Scolaro was responsible.

Featured photo of Raymond Clark: Murderpedia

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