Tragic Events
Autopsy reports and official records from some of the most tragic events in recent history.
Pike County Murders — 2016
On April 22, 2016, eight members of the Rhoden family were found shot to death across four crime scenes near Piketon, Ohio — the largest criminal investigation in Ohio state history.
Hart Family Murders — 2018
On March 26, 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart intentionally drove their SUV off a 100-foot cliff on California State Route 1 in Mendocino County, killing themselves and their six adopted children.
The Manson Murders — 1969
On the nights of August 8–10, 1969, members of Charles Manson's “Family” murdered seven people in Los Angeles — five at 10050 Cielo Drive, including the pregnant actress Sharon Tate, and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their Los Feliz home the following night.
- The Manson Murders — Full Page
- Tate, Sharon
- Sebring, Jay
- Folger, Abigail
- Frykowski, Wojciech
- Parent, Steven
The Chicago Tylenol Murders — 1982
Between September 29 and October 1, 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. The killer was never caught — but the murders changed product safety forever.
2006 Cory Lidle Airplane Crash
Former New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was killed along with his flight instructor Tyler Stanger when their Cirrus SR20 (tail number N929CD) crashed into the Belaire Apartments on Manhattan's Upper East Side on October 11, 2006. Twenty-one people on the ground were injured, about half of them New York City firefighters. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as multiple blunt trauma; Lidle's toxicology was negative. The NTSB's final hearing on May 1, 2007 determined pilot error caused the crash, though investigators could not determine who was at the controls.
2011 Tucson Safeway Shootings
On January 8, 2011, a gunman opened fire during U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords' “Congress on Your Corner” event outside a Tucson, Arizona supermarket, killing six and wounding thirteen — including Giffords herself, who survived after extensive treatment and rehabilitation. Among the dead were federal judge John Roll, 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, and Giffords' aide Gabe Zimmerman. The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was apprehended at the scene.
- Green, Christina-Taylor
- Morris, Dorothy
- Roll, John
- Schneck, Phyllis
- Stoddard, Dorwan
- Zimmerman, Gabe
Granite Mountain Hotshots — 2013
On June 30, 2013, nineteen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots — an elite wildland firefighting crew from Prescott, Arizona — were killed battling the Yarnell Hill Fire near Yarnell, Arizona. Just one member of the crew survived: he had been posted as a lookout and was not with the others when the fire overtook them.
San Bernardino Shootings — 2015
On December 2, 2015, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik carried out a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California — a mass shooting and attempted bombing that left 16 dead including the perpetrators, and 24 injured. The attack targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and Christmas party. Farook and Malik fled in an SUV and were killed by police after a gunfight.
Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Shooting — 2017
On the night of October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire from his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino onto the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Sixty-one people were killed and 867 wounded in about ten minutes. SWAT officers entering the suite found Paddock dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive remains unknown.
Columbine High School Massacre — 1999
On April 20, 1999, seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold carried out a mass shooting at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado — one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history at the time. They killed twelve students and one teacher and injured many others before taking their own lives in the school library.
- Bernall, Cassie
- Curnow, Steve
- DePooter, Corey
- Fleming, Kelly
- Kechter, Matt
- Mauser, Daniel
- Rohrbough, Daniel
- Sanders, William 'Dave'
- Scott, Rachel
- Shoels, Isaiah
- Tomlin, John
- Townsend, Lauren
- Velasquez, Kyle
- Harris, Eric
- Klebold, Dylan
- Columbine — Full Page
Jonestown Massacre — 1978
On November 18, 1978, more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple died in Jonestown, Guyana, in the largest mass murder-suicide in modern history. Review the reports of the members including Reverend Jim Jones.
Platte Canyon High School Hostage Crisis — 2006
On September 27, 2006, gunman Duane Roger Morrison took six female students hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colorado. After releasing four, he fatally shot 16-year-old Emily Keyes before turning the gun on himself. Her parents founded the “I Love U Guys” Foundation in her memory, dedicated to school safety and crisis response.
West Memphis Three Killings — 1993
Three 8-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Steve Branch, and James Michael Moore — were found murdered in a drainage canal in the Robinhood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of the killings; Echols was sentenced to death while Baldwin and Misskelley received life sentences. In 2011, all three entered Alford pleas and were released with credit for time served.
Dale Earnhardt — 2001
On February 18, 2001, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500 — one of the darkest days in motorsports history.