Loretta Chaisson Lewis, 28, was the first to die. She was reported missing on May 17, 2005. Three days later, fishermen found her body floating in a canal off Highway 26 in Jennings, Louisiana. Her father, Thomas Lewis, recently posted a plea on a Web site established in September by the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office to draw attention to the killing of his daughter and the deaths of seven other women in the area. Police say the slayings may ...

A former Brazilian state legislator and TV host who allegedly dealt drugs and ordered rivals killed, is missing and considered a criminal fugitive, state police in Brazil said Wednesday. Wallace Souza was expelled from the state congress last week, stripping him of his legislative immunity from prosecution and opening the way for authorities to charge him with several crimes, the Amazonas State Legislative Assembly said on its Web site. The vote was 12-4, the assembly said. Authorities in ...

They were thinking animal. A dog, a cat, something like that. They never imagined they were smelling the remains of massacred humans. It was Thursday, September 17. But another 24 hours would pass before police made the gruesome discovery. Richard Samuel McCroskey III -- a 20-year-old rapper in the underground genre of "Horrorcore" who sang of chopping people into pieces -- has been arrested in connection with the slayings. The crime scene was so horrifying police would not even ...

A Florida man in custody in Haiti faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his wife and five children, authorities said Tuesday. Police obtained a warrant overnight to arrest Mesac Damas, 33, on suspicion of six counts of first-degree murder, the Collier County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "This warrant was obtained based on information and evidence collected thus far in the investigation and statements made by Damas to a federal agent after his detention in Haiti," ...

The man who, dressed as Santa Claus, killed nine people at a Christmas Eve party planned to flee to Canada the next day, but California police believe he decided to kill himself instead because of severe burn injuries. During a news conference on Friday, Covina Police Chief Kim Raney said Bruce Jeffrey Pardo had purchased a ticket for an early Christmas Day flight from Los Angeles to Canada. Raney said that while police do not know why Pardo, 45, decided ...

Dark, grainy surveillance camera images from inside the home of a slain Florida couple show the moments before their deaths as gunmen dressed in black storm their house. The images, taken at the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings, were shown Thursday to representatives from several news organizations. The Beulah, Florida, couple, known for adopting special-needs children, were shot to death in their home July 9. Seven men are charged with first-degree murder and home invasion robbery in their deaths, ...

The son of a Florida couple known for adopting special-needs children was in his parents' room when they were slain in a home invasion last month, according to documents released by prosecutors. A nurse who works with special-needs children interviewed the boy, who has autism and speech issues, regarding the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings. The nurse told police that the child said "two bad men" were wearing black masks when they knocked on the door. They woke Byrd ...

Authorities have arrested a 30-year-old Tennessee man in connection with the killing of six people -- five in Tennessee and one in neighboring Alabama. Jacob Shaffer of Fayetteville was arrested Saturday after three people were found dead at a house in the town, 90 miles south of Nashville. Two other victims were found in another residence on the same street, South Lincoln Road, officials said. About 30 miles away in Huntsville, Alabama, a sixth person was found dead at a ...

A multiagency search is under way for the killers of two U.S. citizens in northern Mexico, according to Chihuahua state officials. Benjamin LeBaron, 32, and his brother-in-law, Luis Widmar, in his mid-30s, were beaten and shot to death after armed men stormed into their home in Galeana on Tuesday morning. The killers have yet to be identified, but the case seems to be connected to local drug lords, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office. ...

The woman who stabbed pregnant actress Sharon Tate to death will be considered for parole from prison a month after the 40th anniversary of the killings that cast a shadow of fear over southern California. Susan Atkins, 61, has been denied parole in 17 previous hearings, but the former "Manson Family" member now is terminally ill with brain cancer and is paralyzed. Charles Manson used his hypnotic powers to direct Atkins and other "family" members to kill seven people, including ...