At 31, Donna Yaklich was married to a Pueblo Colorado narcotics detective, and raising a son and four stepchildren on the family's farm. One December evening in 1985, shots rang out, killing her husband Dennis. The authorities struggled to find clues to the execution style shooting. They suspected it was linked to Dennis' work as a narcotics detective. After months of dead ends, a tip led them to two teenage gunmen... and eventually back to Donna Yaklich, herself. But Donna had another surprise for the authorities. Her attorneys argued she was a battered woman and the...

Yesenia Patino was the other woman. The exotic 34-year-old brunette was living very comfortably, thanks to her generous, and married, lover Daniel Willoughby. In February of 1991, Dan's wealthy wife was brutally murdered while on vacation in Mexico. Arizona authorities opened their own investigation, suspicious of husband Dan and his mistress. While delving into the murder, cops uncovered Yesenia's big secret: she was a transsexual. Not even her lover knew that she had been born a man. When Yesenia was arrested, she admitted that she had helped Dan kill his wife so ...

German native Manuela Garcia had fallen in love with an American serviceman and moved to Colorado. But 15 years into her marriage, the mother of three wanted to return home. Instead, in July of 1996, Manuela landed in a Colorado police station, after hacking her husband to death with an axe. She told officers her husband had forced himself on her and she had grabbed the axe to protect herself. Investigators found flaws in Manuela's story, most notably evidence that her husband had been drugged and unable to fend off the deadly axe attack. Prosecutors say she planned ...

Jeena Han had overcome a difficult childhood to become co-valedictorian at her high school, just like her twin sister Sunny. The South Korean native seemed headed for success. Then, 23-year-old Jeena developed a gambling habit and began stealing and forging checks to pay her debts. When she needed help, her sister Sunny took her in. But sibling rivalry and close quarters proved too much. Their volatile relationship drove them apart. In November of 1996, two assailants bound and gagged Sunny and her roommate, but police intervened before they were harmed. Cops quickly ...

A doctor's wife and mother of five, Dora Cisneros led an ordinary suburban life in Brownsville, Texas. She lavished attention on her youngest daughter, Christina. So when Christina's heart was broken, Dora took matters into her own hands. In 1993, Christina's ex-boyfriend was gunned down outside his home. A clue at the scene led police to a fortuneteller and Mexican faith healer named Maria Martinez. She had hired the gunmen, at the request of her longtime client, Dora Cisneros. The city of Brownsville was shocked to see what the obsessed mother was willing to do to ...

Kimberley Kondejewski had married her high school sweetheart. But, John, a Canadian Army instructor, soon became an abusive, controlling husband. After two children and 17 years of abuse, Kim decided to end the marriage. On May 14th, waiting with a loaded shotgun, she killed John and turned the gun on herself. Her suicide attempt failed. Investigators soon discovered that Kim's husband had given Kim a deadly ultimatum. John had threatened to kill her and the children, if she did not kill herself by the time he returned that fateful night. Faced with no other options, ...

Mary Thompson was a prominent figure in the Eugene community. She was outspoken about her son's struggle to stay out of gangs and about the dangers other children in the community faced. She even teamed up with a popular high school senior, Aaron Iturra, to educate other students on gang violence. But when Aaron was executed in his home, police began to suspect that Mary wasn't leveling with them. Two teenagers were convicted of the shooting, but wiretaps on Mary's phone revealed a startling secret. Eugene's anti-gang activist was actually running a street gang out of...

Laura Rogers was trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her husband, Walter, was controlling and abusive and had used his contracting work to move the family often and isolate them from friends and relatives. Then, in April of 2004, Walter was killed by a single shotgun blast. Laura claimed it was suicide, but police saw through her story. When her pregnant 16-year-old daughter tried to take the rap for Walter's murder, Laura confessed. She had killed Walter and she had a reason. Laura's daughter had told her a shocking story. Walter had been raping the 16-year-old and was ...

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Stella Nickell was settled into a comfortable life with her husband, Bruce. They lived together in a trailer on a few acres with a view of Washington's Mt. Rainer. But Stella wanted more. Then, in June of 1986, Bruce dropped dead on the deck of the trailer. Doctors said it was emphysema; Stella swore it was the Excedrin he'd taken just moments before his collapse. Six days later, a local woman died of cyanide poisoning from tainted Excedrin capsules. More tainted pills were found on a drugstore shelf, which led to a nationwide recall. That's when Stella Nickell called...

Blonde, beautiful and ambitious, Kim Anderson never had any trouble finding success or successful men. In fact, by the time she was 34, Kim had been married to two of them, and had given birth to two children by each. Her second husband, Brent Anderson, was a successful divorce attorney from the nearby town of Celina. Shortly after the birth of her fourth child, Kim's marriage to Brent began to falter. Brent filed for divorce in October of 2000, and a bitter custody battled ensued. Just a few days before the divorce was to be final, Kim called 911 and told police that...

Gail Bennett had led a life of hard choices. Raised on a Texas farm, she had spent her childhood taking care of her siblings. When she left home, she began a string of bad marriages. By 1990, she was filing for her third divorce. With one daughter grown, and a son living with her second ex-husband, Gail was at a crossroads in her life. That's when ex-husband number three, Tony, convinced her to come back to him. She did, and immediately regretted it. During a drunken rage, Tony brandished a rifle and threatened Gail. She pulled her pistol and shot him, wounding him. ...

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