Domestic Violence Cases
Domestic violence cases represent one of the most pervasive and underreported categories of violent crime. These cases range from intimate partner violence that escalates to homicide, to familicide events that shock entire communities, to patterns of abuse that are only fully understood in retrospect. CaseSleuth documents these cases with sensitivity and a commitment to factual accuracy, providing detailed timelines that include prior incidents, law enforcement contacts, protective orders, and the events leading up to the crime. Each entry profiles the victims, the perpetrators, and the systemic factors that may have contributed to the outcome. Many domestic violence cases reveal patterns of missed warning signs and failures in protective systems.
10 cases found
Murder of Ana Walshe
ConvictedCohasset, MA · 2023
Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother of three in Cohasset, Massachusetts, was murdered by her husband Brian Walshe on New Year's Day 2023. Brian dismembered her body and disposed of the remains across multiple locations. He was convicted of first-degree murder in July 2024 and sentenced to life without parole.
Gabby Petito
ConvictedMoran, WY · 2021
In August 2021, 22-year-old American travelling vlogger Gabrielle Venora Petito was killed by her fiancé Brian Christopher Laundrie while they were traveling together on a vanlife journey across the United States. The trip was planned to last for four months and began on July 2, 2021, but Petito disappeared on August 27.
Brian Laundrie Manhunt
Cold CaseNorth Port, FL · 2021
Brian Laundrie, fiancé of Gabby Petito, returned home alone from their cross-country trip. After Petito was found murdered, Laundrie fled and was found dead with a confession notebook.
Jennifer Dulos Disappearance
ConvictedNew Canaan, CT · 2019
Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, vanished from New Canaan, Connecticut in May 2019 during a contentious divorce. Her estranged husband Fotis Dulos was charged with murder but died by suicide before trial in January 2020. Her body has never been found.
Watts Family Murders
ConvictedFrederick, CO · 2018
In the early hours of August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, Christopher Lee Watts murdered his pregnant wife Shanann (34) by strangulation, and their two children Bella (4) and Celeste (3) by suffocation. He buried Shanann in a shallow grave near an oil-storage facility, and forced his children's bodies into crude oil tanks, with the opening of the tanks only 8 inches in diameter.
Jodi Arias / Travis Alexander
ConvictedMesa, AZ · 2008
Travis Victor Alexander was an American salesman who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Ann Arias, in his house in Mesa, Arizona while in the shower. Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on April 13, 2015.
Drew Peterson
ConvictedBolingbrook, IL · 2004
Former Bolingbrook, Illinois police sergeant Drew Peterson became a national figure after his fourth wife Stacy Peterson disappeared in October 2007. He was subsequently charged and convicted of murdering his third wife Kathleen Savio, whose death had been ruled accidental in 2004.
Scott Peterson Murder Case
ConvictedModesto, CA · 2002
Scott Peterson was convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son Conner in Modesto, California. The case drew massive media attention due to Peterson's affair with Amber Frey.
O.J. Simpson Murder Trial
AcquittedLos Angeles, CA · 1994
Former NFL star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in one of the most watched criminal trials in history. The case highlighted deep racial divisions in America and raised enduring questions about celebrity, race, and justice.
Menendez Brothers Resentencing
Appeals OngoingBeverly Hills, CA · 1989
In 2024, renewed attention to the 1989 Menendez brothers case led to resentencing efforts after new evidence of sexual abuse by their father José emerged, including a letter and a corroborating witness.