She killed him in the one place he said he wanted to see before he died
To most people, weddings are joyous occasions; they symbolize love and mutual respect, uniting two families as one. Couples in love stand before their friends and family to profess their love for one another, vowing to stay together until death. For 25-year-old Cody Johnson, death would come only eight days after his wedding, when his newlywed bride would callously push him off a cliff, and he would plummet 200-feet.
Cody and 22-year-old Jordan Graham met in church in Montana. Cody wasn’t very religious until he met Jordan. Soon enough, they began dating and attending church together regularly. …
But, was he really involved in her disappearance?
28-year-old Marilyn “Niqui” McCown lived in Richmond, Indiana with her fiancé, Bobby Webster. She worked as an accounting clerk at a state prison in Dayton, Ohio. Niqui had big dreams of becoming a United States Marshal and took Criminal Justice classes part-time at Sinclair Community College.
Niqui was the proud mother of a 9-year-old girl named Payton who she shared custody of with her ex-boyfriend, Steven Johnston. Steven was unfaithful and often left Niqui covered in bruises. Eventually, Niqui decided enough was enough, she left Steven and rekindled a romance with her high school sweetheart, Bobby. …
16-year-old Lee Manuel was stabbed 76 times with a machete.
It was December 1, 2016, a cold, snowy day in Lawrence, Massachusetts, when a couple decided to take their dog for a walk along the Merrimack riverbank. It seemed just like any other day — until they came across a heavily mutilated body floating in the water, headless and without hands.
The body belonged to 16-year-old Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino, a Lawrence High School student who had gone missing just 13 days earlier, the same day his family home had been burglarized.
At first, detectives questioned whether Lee had walked in on burglars rifling through his home and was killed as…
It would be great if the title could focus on the actual killer's name, rather than the celebrity he once dated. But of course, Katy Perry's name has to be used for clicks, just like Amanda Knox's, so in the end, no one even remembers the name of the murderers themselves.
The June + July Chameleon newsletter is here!
Hello Chameleon readers! I’ve compiled together the most gnarly and suspenseful true crime stories for the months of June and July for your reading pleasure, from Tiktokers catching killers, to “wife-fattening” farms to haircuts saving peoples lives. Let’s dive in.
Editor’s Picks
How Tiktok Helped Capture the Appalachian Trail Killer by nahanara
This Lucky Woman Escaped Ted Bundy Because of a Haircut by Bertilla Niveda
6 Myths about Serial Killers That Won’t Die by Jean Campbell
Chameleon Readers Faves
The Horrors of Wife-Fattening Farms in West Africa by Christopher Kokoski
Straight From a Horror Film | The Disappearance of Kayla Berg by Corey Sobell
Was she set up by her own friend?
19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which she attended on a scholarship. She was set to be the first person in her family to graduate from university and had big dreams of becoming a pediatrician or a teacher.
Faith was temporarily living with her friend, 20-year-old Karena Rosario, in her 1 bedroom off-campus apartment until she saved up enough money from her part-time job as a waitress at Red Robin to get a place of her own.
Karena previously lived in the apartment with her ex-boyfriend, Eriq Takoy Jones. The relationship…
A real-life morbid spin on the classic 90s rom-com
39-year-old Tiffiny Bray lived in Fletcher, Oklahoma, with her fiancé, Chad McGuire. The couple was just months away from tying the knot when Tiffiny suddenly up and vanished.
On July 19, 2010, Tiffiny told Chad she was going to run errands. She jumped in his truck and took off. Several hours later, Tiffiny still hadn’t returned home and wasn’t answering any of Chad’s texts or calls.
Chad was devastated. …
Could Amanda Custer be buried in Yucaipa, California?
31-year-old Amanda Kathleen Custer lived in the 600 block of Vaquero Road in Monrovia, California with her grandmother. She had graduated from Lyles College of Beauty and was the mother to an 8-year-old boy.
At the time of her disappearance, Amanda was in a tumultuous 2-year relationship with then 27-year-old Robert Anthony Camou, who lived with his parents just down the street from her.
On April 22, 2019, Robert was arrested after he broke into Amanda’s home using a hatchet, threatened her with a taser and strangled her. Amanda ran to a neighbour’s home but Robert chased her down, beating…
Was it merely a coincidence or is something more sinister at play?
25-year-old Baillee Petra Schneider grew up in Queensland, Australia. At the age of 19, she moved to Melbourne where she enrolled in a Dental Assistant program and worked part-time as a fashion merchandiser.
Baillee’s stunning good looks brought her modelling gigs and an entrance into the night club scene, where she was introduced to cocaine and binge-drinking. Eventually, she became riddled with anxiety and was prescribed Zoloft, an anti-depressant.
In 2017, Baillee’s parents moved to Melbourne to help her get her life back on track. …
Was 24-year-old Phoebe Handsjuk sleepwalking on Ambien or was she murdered?
24-year-old Phoebe Handsjuk lived on the 12th floor of the luxury high rise Balancea Apartments in Melbourne with her boyfriend, then 43-year-old live events promoter Antony Hampel.
On December 2, 2010, Antony returned home from work just after 6 pm. The door to the apartment was unlocked. Shards of glass were littered all over the floor and the computer desk and mouse were stained with blood.
Fatim Hemraj
I write about stuff that keeps you up at night: www.fatimhemraj.com / free newsletter: https://bit.ly/3xsKMHK🧟♀
