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0 / 29 Fotos
Gift-wrapped flamethrower - In 2008, a man named Bruce Jeffrey Pardo caused a Christmastime nightmare. He arrived at his former in-laws on Christmas Eve, armed with a gift-wrapped flamethrower and a semi-automatic pistol, all while dressed up as Santa.
© Reuters
1 / 29 Fotos
Gift-wrapped flamethrower - Pardo killed a total of nine people at the house, burning the house down in the process. He fled the scene of the crime and took his own life too.
© Reuters
2 / 29 Fotos
Carnation killings - In 2007, Joseph McEnroe (pictured) and his girlfriend, Michele Anderson, journeyed to visit Anderson’s parents near Carnation, Washington.
© Reuters
3 / 29 Fotos
Carnation killings - The duo ended up killing six people at the house. They were both sentenced to life in prison.
© Reuters
4 / 29 Fotos
JonBenet Ramsey - This may be the most famous Christmas killing. Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was discovered dead on December 26.
© Reuters
5 / 29 Fotos
JonBenet Ramsey - Her mother Patsy claimed to have found a ransom note, while her father John claimed to have found her body. Despite suspicions, her parents were never charged with her murder. No one else has been charged either.
© Reuters/Public Domain
6 / 29 Fotos
Christmas killing - On the advent of Christmas in 1929, a sharecropper named Charlie Lawson took his family out for some seasonal shopping and a family photo. However, on Christmas Day, Lawson killed his wife and six of their seven children. Charlie Lawson took his own life, leaving son Arthur Lawson as the sole survivor.
© Public Domain
7 / 29 Fotos
Texas Christmas Day Massacre - In 2011, a man named Aziz Yazdanpanah killed his family in an event that’s known as the Texas Christmas Day Massacre.
© Reuters
8 / 29 Fotos
Texas Christmas Day Massacre - Yazdanpanah dressed up as Santa Claus, and killed his family with a gun. He turned the gun on himself before police arrived at the scene.
© Reuters
9 / 29 Fotos
Up in flames - This Christmas nightmare took place in the late 19th century. Three teens were killed at the hands of three murderers, including George Ellis.
© iStock
10 / 29 Fotos
Up in flames - The three teens were murdered at night, and the house they were in was set alight to cover the criminals’ tracks. Ellis was killed by a lynch mob, while the other two were sentenced to execution by hanging.
© iStock
11 / 29 Fotos
From Venus to Marion Oaks - On Christmas Eve 2014, a man named Preston Pollard journeyed over 1,100 miles from Venus, Texas, to Marion Oaks, Florida, to see his ex-girlfriend Rose Courter. He had previously bought a plane ticket for Courter to come see him.
© iStock
12 / 29 Fotos
From Venus to Marion Oaks - However, this was not a romantic encounter. Courter changed her flight plans, which, according to police, led Pollard to try to kill her, her stepmother, and her dad (who ultimately did die). Courter and her stepmom survived, but Pollard took his own life.
© iStock
13 / 29 Fotos
Gangland shooting - On Christmas Day in 2010, a nurse named Kashmier James died in a possible gangland shooting. The incident took place in the Manchester area of Los Angeles.
© iStock
14 / 29 Fotos
Gangland shooting - James was killed by gang members Darnell Deshon Houston, Lamar McKnight, and Ezekiel Simon. It’s thought that this was a case of mistaken identity.
© Reuters
15 / 29 Fotos
1992 Dayton killings - Marvallous Keene was the man behind the 1992 Christmas killings in Dayton, Ohio.
© iStock
16 / 29 Fotos
1992 Dayton killings - Keene was joined by three companions on a three-day murder and robbery spree. Six people died at the hands of Keene and his accomplices. He was executed in 2009.
© iStock
17 / 29 Fotos
Poison - Back in December 1959, Dr. Harold Perelson shocked the city of Los Angeles with his murderous antics. The incident took place in an area of the city called Los Feliz.
© iStock
18 / 29 Fotos
Poison - Perelson killed his wife and attacked his daughter, before poisoning himself by drinking acid. His daughter survived.
© iStock
19 / 29 Fotos
Pint and pizza - On Christmas Eve in 2012, a man named David Thomas O’Sullivan terrified the Welsh town of Carmarthen.
© iStock
20 / 29 Fotos
Pint and pizza - O’Sullivan murdered his girlfriend of three weeks at his own home, before he went out for a pint and a pizza. His parents eventually discovered the body, and called the police.
© iStock
21 / 29 Fotos
Terror in Arkansas - In December 1987, retired US sergeant Ronald Gene Simmons wreaked havoc in Arkansas. It started on December 22, when he killed his wife, children, in-laws, and grandchildren. The ruthless killer continued on December 28, when he killed two more people. He was sentenced to death, and executed in 1990.
© iStock
22 / 29 Fotos
Organist - It was Christmas Eve 2012, and church organist Alan Greaves was about to suffer a nightmare. After a service at St Saviour’s Church in Sheffield, he crossed paths with two menacing men, Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster.
© iStock
23 / 29 Fotos
Organist - Bowling and Foster attacked the grandfather with a pickaxe. The man would die of his injuries three days later.
© iStock
24 / 29 Fotos
'Star Wars' killing - Two brothers were behind this ‘Star Wars’-inspired killing. One brother, Roger Cooper, was having an affair with a woman named Sameena Imam.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
'Star Wars' killing - Roger wanted to hide the secret forever, so he plotted to kill Imam with his brother, David. The brothers sent ‘Star Wars’-inspired coded texts, and buried the woman in the woods.
© iStock
26 / 29 Fotos
Ax murder - Dustin Lee Klopp was behind this gruesome attack, which took place in Lancaster on Christmas Eve 2014.
© iStock
27 / 29 Fotos
Ax murder
- Klopp killed his wife, Stephanie Kilhefner, with an ax. After that, he took his children to his parents’ house.
© iStock
28 / 29 Fotos
© Reuters
0 / 29 Fotos
Gift-wrapped flamethrower - In 2008, a man named Bruce Jeffrey Pardo caused a Christmastime nightmare. He arrived at his former in-laws on Christmas Eve, armed with a gift-wrapped flamethrower and a semi-automatic pistol, all while dressed up as Santa.
© Reuters
1 / 29 Fotos
Gift-wrapped flamethrower - Pardo killed a total of nine people at the house, burning the house down in the process. He fled the scene of the crime and took his own life too.
© Reuters
2 / 29 Fotos
Carnation killings - In 2007, Joseph McEnroe (pictured) and his girlfriend, Michele Anderson, journeyed to visit Anderson’s parents near Carnation, Washington.
© Reuters
3 / 29 Fotos
Carnation killings - The duo ended up killing six people at the house. They were both sentenced to life in prison.
© Reuters
4 / 29 Fotos
JonBenet Ramsey - This may be the most famous Christmas killing. Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was discovered dead on December 26.
© Reuters
5 / 29 Fotos
JonBenet Ramsey - Her mother Patsy claimed to have found a ransom note, while her father John claimed to have found her body. Despite suspicions, her parents were never charged with her murder. No one else has been charged either.
© Reuters/Public Domain
6 / 29 Fotos
Christmas killing - On the advent of Christmas in 1929, a sharecropper named Charlie Lawson took his family out for some seasonal shopping and a family photo. However, on Christmas Day, Lawson killed his wife and six of their seven children. Charlie Lawson took his own life, leaving son Arthur Lawson as the sole survivor.
© Public Domain
7 / 29 Fotos
Texas Christmas Day Massacre - In 2011, a man named Aziz Yazdanpanah killed his family in an event that’s known as the Texas Christmas Day Massacre.
© Reuters
8 / 29 Fotos
Texas Christmas Day Massacre - Yazdanpanah dressed up as Santa Claus, and killed his family with a gun. He turned the gun on himself before police arrived at the scene.
© Reuters
9 / 29 Fotos
Up in flames - This Christmas nightmare took place in the late 19th century. Three teens were killed at the hands of three murderers, including George Ellis.
© iStock
10 / 29 Fotos
Up in flames - The three teens were murdered at night, and the house they were in was set alight to cover the criminals’ tracks. Ellis was killed by a lynch mob, while the other two were sentenced to execution by hanging.
© iStock
11 / 29 Fotos
From Venus to Marion Oaks - On Christmas Eve 2014, a man named Preston Pollard journeyed over 1,100 miles from Venus, Texas, to Marion Oaks, Florida, to see his ex-girlfriend Rose Courter. He had previously bought a plane ticket for Courter to come see him.
© iStock
12 / 29 Fotos
From Venus to Marion Oaks - However, this was not a romantic encounter. Courter changed her flight plans, which, according to police, led Pollard to try to kill her, her stepmother, and her dad (who ultimately did die). Courter and her stepmom survived, but Pollard took his own life.
© iStock
13 / 29 Fotos
Gangland shooting - On Christmas Day in 2010, a nurse named Kashmier James died in a possible gangland shooting. The incident took place in the Manchester area of Los Angeles.
© iStock
14 / 29 Fotos
Gangland shooting - James was killed by gang members Darnell Deshon Houston, Lamar McKnight, and Ezekiel Simon. It’s thought that this was a case of mistaken identity.
© Reuters
15 / 29 Fotos
1992 Dayton killings - Marvallous Keene was the man behind the 1992 Christmas killings in Dayton, Ohio.
© iStock
16 / 29 Fotos
1992 Dayton killings - Keene was joined by three companions on a three-day murder and robbery spree. Six people died at the hands of Keene and his accomplices. He was executed in 2009.
© iStock
17 / 29 Fotos
Poison - Back in December 1959, Dr. Harold Perelson shocked the city of Los Angeles with his murderous antics. The incident took place in an area of the city called Los Feliz.
© iStock
18 / 29 Fotos
Poison - Perelson killed his wife and attacked his daughter, before poisoning himself by drinking acid. His daughter survived.
© iStock
19 / 29 Fotos
Pint and pizza - On Christmas Eve in 2012, a man named David Thomas O’Sullivan terrified the Welsh town of Carmarthen.
© iStock
20 / 29 Fotos
Pint and pizza - O’Sullivan murdered his girlfriend of three weeks at his own home, before he went out for a pint and a pizza. His parents eventually discovered the body, and called the police.
© iStock
21 / 29 Fotos
Terror in Arkansas - In December 1987, retired US sergeant Ronald Gene Simmons wreaked havoc in Arkansas. It started on December 22, when he killed his wife, children, in-laws, and grandchildren. The ruthless killer continued on December 28, when he killed two more people. He was sentenced to death, and executed in 1990.
© iStock
22 / 29 Fotos
Organist - It was Christmas Eve 2012, and church organist Alan Greaves was about to suffer a nightmare. After a service at St Saviour’s Church in Sheffield, he crossed paths with two menacing men, Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster.
© iStock
23 / 29 Fotos
Organist - Bowling and Foster attacked the grandfather with a pickaxe. The man would die of his injuries three days later.
© iStock
24 / 29 Fotos
'Star Wars' killing - Two brothers were behind this ‘Star Wars’-inspired killing. One brother, Roger Cooper, was having an affair with a woman named Sameena Imam.
© Public Domain
25 / 29 Fotos
'Star Wars' killing - Roger wanted to hide the secret forever, so he plotted to kill Imam with his brother, David. The brothers sent ‘Star Wars’-inspired coded texts, and buried the woman in the woods.
© iStock
26 / 29 Fotos
Ax murder - Dustin Lee Klopp was behind this gruesome attack, which took place in Lancaster on Christmas Eve 2014.
© iStock
27 / 29 Fotos
Ax murder
- Klopp killed his wife, Stephanie Kilhefner, with an ax. After that, he took his children to his parents’ house.
© iStock
28 / 29 Fotos
A gruesome guide to Christmas killings
It's the most dangerous time of the year...
© Reuters
It's the most dangerous time of the year! Crime spikes at Christmas, thanks to many seasonal reasons. More stress, time off work, and Christmastime loneliness can all contribute to criminal activity during the holidays. However, it's not just petty crime that takes place at this time of the year. That's right, there have been plenty of Christmastime killings over the years, stretching back centuries. Read into the most gruesome of the lot in this gallery.
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