One bright spot in the sad story of Socks the Chihuahua, who died horribly as a result of being doused with flammable liquid and set it on fire by his meth-head owner, is that charges against that owner, Brandon Pierce, have been elevated to felony level charges.

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Police in Texas recently arrested Felix Vail for the murder of his wife Mary Horton Vail, 22. Her death, originally ruled an accident, was reclassified as a homicide after police reopened the investigation in response to an article by investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell for the Clarion Ledger. Here Mitchell discusses Horton Vail’s life, as well as the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.

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Gruesome injuries, menacing tattoos and more — there’s something cringeworthy about each of these booking photos.

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On November 13, 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were shot to death in their Amityville, N.Y., home. The family’s 23-year-old son, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo, was tried and convicted of killing his father, mother, two younger sisters and two younger brothers as they slept in their beds.

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A drunk driving stripper named Chastity, an accused batterer named Lovely and other perps whose names lend an additional sting to their alleged crimes.

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Felony murder, mayhem, Corpus Delicti, and others; ever wonder what they mean? Here’s a quick and handy reference for everyone, along with some high-profile cases that relate.

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Are your pants full of exotic songbirds or are you just happy to see me?

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April Marie Tinsley was 8 years old on Good Friday in 1988 when she was abducted while walking home from a friend’s house in Fort Wayne, Ind. Three days later, her body was found some 20 miles away, in an area of farmland. Mysterious notes found in 1990 and 2004 have given police more information, but Tinsley’s killer has not been found.

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In this short film, a former inmate Daniel P. Jones tells the story of how, as a child, he saw someone shot in the head with a shotgun, and how that experience affected him. Filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson met Dan at a theater troupe made up of former inmates while working on a documentary about released prisoners.

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On May 24, 1972, pipe bombs exploded just outside the Campbell Barracks at the U.S. Army headquarters in Heidelberg. The bombing, perpetrated by the left-wing militant group known as the Baader Meinhof gang, killed three American G.I.’s and wounded five more.

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