Serial Killers: Linwood and James Briley

Number of victims: 12   

Date of murders: 1979 

Method of murder: Shooting / Stabbing / Bludgeoning     

Location: Richmond, Virginia

A pair of deadly siblings, Linwood and James "J.B." Briley, (together with younger brother Anthony Briley and another young accomplice, Duncan Meekins) were responsible for the worst killing spree in Richmond, Virginia’s history.

Growing up in a stable home, the brothers showed the first inkling of the carnage to come in 1971, when 16-year-old Linwood shot and killed an elderly neighbor. That saw him sent to reform school where he was soon joined by J.B., arrested for firing a gun at a police officer. 

The spree that would catapult the Brileys to infamy began several years later, on March 12, 1979, when the Brileys robbed and assaulted William and Virginia Bucher in their home. They then tied the couple up and set the house on fire before fleeing. Fortunately, the Buchers managed to escape.

But that was just the beginning. On March 21, Michael McDuffie, was robbed and killed in his home. On April 9, 76-year-old Mary Gowen was raped, robbed, and shot. On July 4, 17-year-old Christopher Philips was beaten to death after the gang accused him of trying to steal Linwood’s car. On September 14, popular local musician John "Johnny G." Gallaher was abducted from a nightclub, driven to the James River and shot in the head. 

And still the carnage continued. On September 30, 62-year-old Mary Wilfong was gang raped and murdered. Five days later, on October 5, 79-year-old Blanche Page and her 59-year-old boarder, Charles Garner, were stabbed and beaten to death. On October 19, Harvey Wilkerson, his pregnant wife and five-year-old son, were murdered in their home. Wilkerson had been an acquaintance of the Brileys. 

Arrested soon after, the Brileys gave nothing up to the police. However, their accomplice Duncan Meekins struck a deal with prosecutors and agreed to testify against them. It led to multiple convictions and the death penalty for both Linwood and J.B.

Linwood Briley was put to death in Virginia's electric chair on October 12, 1984. James Briley was executed by the same method on April 18 of the following year.

 Read the full, horrific story of the Briley brothers, plus 11 more serial killer cases in

  American Monsters Volume 8.  Available now on Amazon

Serial Killers: DeVernon LeGrand

Born: 1924

Number of victims: 12+      

Date of murders: 1963 - 1976

Method of murder: Shooting / Beating   

Location: New York / New Jersey 

A self-styled holy man, DeVernon LeGrand established St. John's Pentecostal Church of Our Lord in Brooklyn, New York during the 60’s. He used this “church” to recruit young women as “nuns” sending them out onto the streets to beg on his behalf. These and other illegal activities, including prostitution, earned the “reverend” as substantial income. He was fond of cruising New York in a chauffeur driven Cadillac.

Life for his flock, however, was not so cushy. LeGrand kept them in line by impregnating most of the women, and using threats of violence against them and their children. When threats failed, he resorted to torture and murder. 

In October 1966, church members Gladys Stewart, 16, and her sister Yvonne, 18, testified against LeGrand at a bribery trial, then promptly disappeared. Police would find their dismembered corpses at a property LeGrand owned in the Catskills in 1975. Before that discovery there would be at least 12 more murders, many of the victims beaten and tortured to death inside LeGrand’s Brooklyn church. The list of victims included three of LeGrand’s wives, two of his step-children, and two male employees of his church.

In May 1976, LeGrand was indicted on four counts of murder, including the Stewart sisters and two of his wives, killed in 1963 and 1970, respectively. LeGrand’s 26-year-old son, Steven, was also charged, along with two men employed by Le Grand as pimps.

DeVernon LeGrand was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in 1977. He died in prison in 2006. 

Read the full, horrific story of DeVernon LeGrand, plus 49 more serial killer cases in 

50 American Serial Killers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Volume 2.  

Available now on Amazon

Blood Brothers Volume 1

25 shocking stories of America's worst African American serial killers, including; 

Henry Louis Wallace: the Charlotte Strangler murdered nine women in a two-year spree that had the FBI’s best profilers stumped.

Benjamin Atkins: serial strangler who terrorized Detroit, Michigan, claiming an astonishing eleven victims in just nine months.

Ahron Kee : child rapist and murderer who turned the projects of East Harlem into his personal killing ground.

Kendall Francois: known as "Stinky," Francois was arrested with the bodies of eight murdered prostitutes decomposing in his attic. 

Carlton Gary: a truly heartless murderer who preyed on frail old ladies, strangling them to death in their beds.

Alton Coleman & Debra Brown: this murderous pair embarked on a killing spree across five states, leaving a trail of death in their wake. 

Calvin Jackson: necrophile rapist who terrorized a New York hotel, claiming nine elderly victims in under a year.

Cleophus Prince Jr: killer who held San Diego in a grip of fear, as he raped and stabbed six young women to death in their apartments.

Wayne Williams: suspected of murdering 29 children, teenagers and young men during a series known as the Atlanta Child Murders. Doubts persist over his guilt.

Vaughn Greenwood: the Skid Row Slasher hacked and stabbed eleven men to death during a killing spree spanning a decade.

Plus 15 more riveting true crime cases. Click here to get your copy now.

Click the "Read More" link below to read the first chapter of

Blood Brothers Volume One

Serial Killers: David Parker Ray

Born: November 6, 1939

Number of victims:  14 - 60   

Date of murders: 1950s - 1999

Method of murder: Stabbing / Strangulation / Asphyxiation   

Location: New Mexico




A truly depraved individual, David Parker Ray spent over $100,000 to build a torture chamber inside his trailer in the New Mexico desert. Then he began trawling for victims, picking up prostitutes from as far afield as Albuquerque and bringing them back to his “Toy Box.” As many as 60 are believed to have been abducted and most were never heard from again.

Ray was a meticulous planner, and he might have gotten away with his crimes indefinitely, had one of his victims not escaped. On March 22, 1999, Cynthia Vigil was being held prisoner in the “Toy Box” after being kidnapped by Ray and his accomplice, Cindy Hendy, three days earlier. She had suffered hours of horrendous sexual torture and was weak from her injuries. Still, she realized that if she did not escape she was likely to be killed. After Ray left for work, she spotted a set of handcuff keys that Hendy had carelessly left on a table, and seized her chance.

After escaping the Toy Box, Vigil ran naked to a neighboring trailer, about half a mile away. The owner then phoned the police and when Ray returned police officers were there to arrest him.     

Despite overwhelming evidence against him (including video tapes of women being tortured) Ray continued to protest his innocence. However, after two accomplices agreed to testify against him, he struck a deal, pleading guilty to charges of kidnapping and assault and accepting a sentence of 224 years in prison.

Ray, however, would serve none of that time. On May 28, 2002, while being transported to the Lea County Correctional Facility in Hobbs, New Mexico, he suffered a heart attack and died. The actual extent of his murder spree is unknown, as none of the bodies has ever been found.  

Read the full, horrific story of David Parker Ray, plus 49 more serial killer cases in

  50 American Serial Killers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Volume 1.  

Available now on Amazon

Serial Killers: Marc Dutroux

Born: November 6, 1956

Number of victims: 5+    

Date of murders: 1995 - 1996

Method of murder: Starvation  

Location: Hainaut, Belgium




A depraved sex killer, pedophile and pornographer, Marc Dutroux had already built up a sizable rap sheet before his first arrest for rape in 1986. That charge, for abducting and raping five young girls, earned him a ludicrous four years in prison. He’d barely been released when he was up to his old tricks, now assisted by his lover, Michele Martin.

On June 24, 1995, eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo disappeared while playing near their homes in Grace-Hollogne. One month later, on August 23, An Marchal, 17, and Eefje Lambrecks, 19, vanished while hitchhiking near the seaside town of Ostend. On May 28, 1996 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne disappeared while riding her bike to school in Kain, southwest Belgium. Just over two months later, on August 9, 1996, Laetitia Delhez, 14, vanished while walking home from a public swimming pool in her hometown of Bertrix.

With six young girls now missing from the area, police launched a massive operation but found no trace and no clues until informants brought up the name of Marc Dutroux.

Dutroux was brought in for questioning along with associates Michelle Martin and Michel Lelievre. It was Lelievre and Martin who cracked under questioning and confessed to their parts in abducting the girls. Faced with these confessions, Dutroux realized the game was up and admitted his involvement.

On August 15, 1996, Dutroux led officers to a basement cell in his home where Sabine Dardenne and Laetitia Delhez were found alive, although filthy and malnourished. The girls had been kept as sex slaves but they were the lucky ones, the other four victims had been killed.

Marc Dutroux went on trial for murder on March 1, 2004. Convicted on all counts, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Martin got 30 years and Lelievre 25 years. 

Read the full, horrific story of Marc Dutroux, plus 29 more serial killer cases in

  Human Monsters Volume 2.  Available now on Amazon

Serial Killers: Orville Lynn Majors

Born: 1941

Number of victims: 6+    

Date of murders: 1994 - 1995

Method of murder: Poisoning   

Location: Clinton, Indiana 

Born April 24, 1961 in Clinton, Indiana, Orville Lynn Majors developed an interest in nursing after caring for his ailing grandmother. He later qualified as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) and found work at Vermillion County Hospital in his hometown.

But it was soon clear that Majors was badly suited to his chosen profession. He seemed to genuinely hate the elderly patients under his care, calling them “wasters,” and telling his colleagues that they all deserved to die. Few would have guessed that he meant this literally. 

Soon after Majors started working at Vermillion there was a dramatic increase in death rates at the hospital. In 1992, twenty-six patients had died at the hospital. Two years later, that number had soared to 101, most of the deaths occurring in the 4-bed ICU, where Majors worked.

Something had to be done, and the hospital therefore brought in an expert to investigate. The consultant soon picked up a pattern. The majority of deaths at the hospital had a common denominator, ICU nurse Orville Lynn Majors. According to the consultant’s calculations patients were 43 times more likely to die on Majors’ shift than on any other. 

The matter, of course, had to be reported to the police and the subsequent investigation firmed up the consultant’s suspicions. First, a quantity of potassium chloride was found at Majors’ home. This drug can cause a sudden rise in blood pressure, leading to heart failure. When autopsies proved that several patients had died in exactly this way, Majors was arrested. As soon as he was out of the picture, the death rate at the hospital normalized.

Orville Lynn Majors went on trial for only seven murders, even though he was suspected of 130. Found guilty on six charges, he was sentenced to 360 years in prison. 

 Read the full, horrific story of Orville Lynn Majors, plus 49 more serial killer cases in

  50 American Serial Killers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of Volume 2.  

Available now on Amazon

Serial Killer Video: Wayne Williams and the Atlanta Child Murders

Between the summer of 1979 and the Spring of 1981, a series of at least 28 murders of children and young adults occurred in Atlanta, Georgia. A man named Wayne Williams was eventually arrested and convicted for two of the adult murders but most experts agree that he was not responsible for all of the killings. So who was? This is the story of the Atlanta Child Murders.