Illinois

John Wayne Gacy murdered at least 33 young men and boys in suburban Chicago between 1972 and 1978, burying most victims beneath his own home.

Aileen Carol Wuornos, convicted of murdering six men and suspected in a seventh case, was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002, in the United States. The former sex worker claimed self-defense in all her murders, stating she killed in response to rape and attempted rape.

A 33-year-old firefighter and paramedic in Illinois was convicted of killing his nine-months-pregnant girlfriend and setting their home ablaze to cover his tracks. The case, featured in CBS's '48 Hours' documentary series, underscores how forensic pathology can unravel carefully planned crimes.

Netflix's new documentary series examines one of America's most shocking unsolved crimes: the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders, where cyanide-laced capsules killed seven people. Four decades later, the case still haunts pharmaceutical safety protocols worldwide.

In June 2010, Bonnie Woodward, a 46-year-old nurse's aide, vanished from Alton, Illinois. Eight years later, Roger Carroll was arrested and convicted of her murder despite no body ever being recovered. His conviction rested on testimony from family members and a confession to his wife.

On May 11, 2011, six-year-old Timmothy James Pitzen was withdrawn from his Illinois school by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, who claimed a family emergency. Three days later, Amy was found dead from suicide with a note stating the boy was safe but would never be found. More than a decade on, Timmothy remains missing.

John Dillinger, the mastermind behind the Dillinger Gang's string of bank robberies across America, was shot and killed by federal agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. His death marked the dramatic end to one of the most intense manhunts of the Depression era.

On January 29, 2019, actor Jussie Smollett reported being attacked in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood in what he claimed was a hate crime. Two years later, he was convicted of orchestrating the entire incident himself, enlisting accomplices to stage the assault for publicity.

Between 1972 and 1978, John Wayne Gacy murdered at least 33 young men and boys in suburban Chicago while maintaining a public persona as a friendly clown performer. His arrest in December 1978 exposed one of the most disturbing double lives in criminal history.