Signs of a Psychopath

A 50-year-old woman is found dead in her home. All that's left behind is a note that reads, "Chase me." But when detectives uncover the killer, they quickly discover they have come face to face with a remorseless psychopath.

Residents of a quaint village are terrified when a local innkeeper and two others are found brutally murdered. Detectives in Maine must follow the depraved killer into the woods at night as he leads them to where he killed and buried a fourth victim.

An unapologetic 14-year-old boy confesses to the murder of his best friend. Twelve years later, he's back in court with chance at a reduced sentence. Has this 26-year-old really changed? Or is he the same meticulous, cold-blooded killer he always was?

A charming 20-year-old wants to help authorities with a murder investigation. He claims to have met one of the three victims and says he has no knowledge of the crime, but detectives suspect otherwise. Could this young intellectual be hiding a dark side?

When police question a man in the disappearance of his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her young son, they discover he has a terrifying capacity for violence. And later, could a seemingly innocuous man searching for a missing girl be a real-life monster?

A young girl disappears after school. Her last known steps are caught on surveillance cameras, which lead investigators to two dark minds who carefully plotted one of the most sinister, depraved crimes imaginable.

A missing Colorado woman's roommate claims she'll do anything to help find her, but investigators fear they may have a rare female psychopath on their hands. Later, a killer's angry outbursts could be real, or just an act put on by a skilled manipulator.

After a house fire in Texas, suspicion lands on John Hummel when his family's brutally murdered bodies are discovered in the ashes, and he doesn't blink an eye. Now an inmate on death row, he grants a final interview weeks before his execution.

Virginia Beach police engage in a massive manhunt to find a killer on a murder spree of revenge, who took the lives of 3 people. Once captured, he proclaims that he simply wants to be heard.

Authorities grow concerned when a 25-year-old woman reports her 50-year-old father and 6-year-old daughter missing. Police discover their dead bodies in their Lakeland, Florida home and uncover the shocking truth.

For decades, three violent unsolved murder cases haunted Albuquerque police. When a man was brought in on a minor probation violation, the mystery began to unravel in the confines of the interrogation room.

Police are called to the Corner Store when a killer guns down a young man in a public execution in a Pensacola, Florida parking lot. They track down their suspect and find a killer without remorse.

A vehicle plows down a 75-year-old military veteran on a country road near Aripeka, Florida. When a young man confesses to the crime, detectives quickly learn they've encountered someone with an intense desire to thrill kill.

A young mother is reported missing in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Police discover her dismembered body in a stack of bins. Detectives focus on her husband and learn a murderous psychopath lurks within the facade of the suburban dad.

A killer guns down a 46-year-old woman, and detectives discover that a fleeing Kentucky Sheriff's Deputy is the assailant. Less than 48 hours later, they arrest him in Iowa and reveal an unrepentant person.

After the shooting deaths of father, mother, and two adolescent boys in their suburban Baltimore home, investigators realize it's not a robbery gone wrong but rather the callous execution of a loving family.

An early morning fire a broke out in an apartment complex in Bradenton, Florida. Inside, firefighters founds something worse: The dead bodies of a young woman and an infant boy.

San Antonio police first arrest a man for discharging a firearm and soon discover dead bodies inside his apartment. Detectives try to make sense of the bloody crime scene

Experts identify a subset of psychopaths driven by heightened sexual urges and fantasies. This offenders engages not only in physical violence but also in sexual violence against their victims, commonly referred to as "sexual psychopaths."

An arrogant woman believes she's committed the perfect crime. She is wrong.

An obsession with a web-cam model leads to the annihilation of a family.

A prolific serial killer brags on tape about strangling eight young women.

Police suspect a love triangle is the cause of a student's disappearance.

After coming home to find her parents on the floor bleeding, a woman's younger brother claims their father shot their mother before turning the gun on himself.

While being questioned in the abduction of an Anchorage barista, a young local businessman starts negotiating with investigators to reveal details of a depraved secret life as one of America's most meticulous and psychopathic serial killers.

A heartless gunman shoots a young couple with devastating consequences.

A home invasion leads to the revelation of a shocking double life.

The naked and mutilated body of a mother turns up at the bottom of a ravine in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When tire tracks lead investigators to a suspect, they encounter an undetected serial killer who confesses to butchering eight women over a decade.

Police find a father of two dead and interview his family, but one member is missing.

When a graduate student suddenly goes missing, the family he's staying with immediately contacts police. Days later, a horrific discovery forces investigators to face a rare kind of monster.

An officer response to a 911 call placed by a robber on the lam who feels compelled to turn himself in. When the officer arrives at the scene, the criminal confesses to much more than breaking and entering.

Police respond to a 911 call to find a father of two dead in his home with 15 gunshot wounds. Police question the family, but one person is missing, his mother-in-law. Now they must determine if this grandma could be a deadly psychopath.

The "Tourniquet Killer" terrorizes young girls across Houston, Texas. When advances in DNA finally lead to his arrest, this psychopath eagerly confesses to multiple murders.

First responders arrive at a home in Ontario where a mother leads officers to the bodies of her two children. An investigation yields the truth: this awful tragedy isn't an accident but a carefully crafted killing by a vengeful psychopath.

A longtime nurse confesses to helping end the lives of numerous elderly patients at multiple nursing homes; detectives discover this is no angel of mercy; behind her unsuspecting persona lies a ruthless psychopath.

A failed actor take out his rage on the weakest members of society; after killing four people, a chance encounter with police leads to his downfall; the interrogation room becomes the stage for this killer's final performance.

Burlington Police get a call that a man killed his girlfriend. At the scene they find the man calm while his girlfriend's body lies nearby. He explains that he has other victims, revealing a history of psychopathic sexual deviancy.

A woman dies in a brutal stabbing at home. Police quickly locate the prime suspect: Antoine Bynum. In his interrogation, he appears to have a psychotic episode until detectives discover it's merely the ruse of a deranged psychopath.

A 17-year-old breaks into his family's cabin and steals a gun before beginning a horrifying road trip through Iowa. When officers catch up with him, a haunting portrait of a burgeoning psychopathic killer emerges.

Nov. 2015: Police respond to a car crash alongside a highway in Grand Rapids, MI. Investigators at the scene realize this is no accident. Donald Spice is eventually arrested and convicted for the murder of his fiancee Lori Marie Vargas.

In rural Wilno, Ontario a vigilante leaves his home on a mission to confront three women who have rejected him over the years. His confession gives investigators picture of a cold-hearted psychopath with a long history of abusing women.

A woman reports her boyfriend is missing after finding a pool of blood in their apartment. When investigators start their search for answers, they are confronted with a sinister plot hatched by their roommate.

2020: A Des Moines, Iowa mother, Paula Thompson, calls 911 to report her delinquent son, Christopher Thompson. Five days later she turns up dead in her home.

In 2012, John Bridges killed Lee Clay in North Dakota, staging a car crash. Bridges was convicted of Clay's murder and received life+20 years. Previously at 16, he had killed Danny Taylor in Illinois.

May, Texas: This installment details the videotaped confession of Ryan Riggs in November 2017. He had raped and murdered mentally-challenged Rhonda Chantay Blankinship on May 13, 2016. When he told the detectives, "It wanted to kill somebody," he explained that "It" stood for "Satan." Ryan Riggs was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Nicholas "Nick" Nigro finds his girlfriend and her mother murdered in their beds at night. He calls 911 for help, but police, through careful questioning, uncover the true story behind the horrendous murders.

Aurora, Colorado: On September 10, 2003, Richard Paul White shocks police detectives by revealing that he is behind a long trail of bloodshed and is a serial killer who seems to consider himself an angel of mercy. First, White confesses to "accidentally" killing his best friend, Jason Reichardt, while cleaning his gun. He also confesses to the murders of three prostitutes: 1. Victoria Turpin, who had been buried in the backyard of his Denver house; 2. Annaletia Maria Gonzales, who had also been buried in his backyard; 3. Torrey Marie Foster, who had been left in the Colorado desert. For Jason's death and two of the girls, White took a plea deal and was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences plus 144 years.

This installment details the murders of James Barnes of Florida. In December 1997, he murdered his wife, Linda Barnes, in Melbourne, Florida. This confession is on audiotape. James Barnes only agreed to confess if Linda's ex-husband, Tony Verzi, was present. In January 1998, James Barnes was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife. The murder of Linda Barnes was not his first murder. On November 1, 2005, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Florida, James Barnes confessed to the 1988 murder of 41-year-old Patricia Miller. He had raped and killed her and then burned her body on a mattress. This murder had been unsolved for 17 years. In December 2007, Barnes was sentenced to death for the murder of Patricia Miller. The Miller confession is on videotape. As of January 2023, he is still awaiting execution while his case goes through the appeals process.

Paraplegic Terry Neely is tortured and killed by Angela Simpson. She dismembers his body and burns it. Investigators arrest Simpson after a tip, finding her a remorseless psychopath. She pleads guilty and receives life imprisonment.

This installment outlines the Sunday, January 28, 2007 husband-and-wife murders of an elderly couple, Gilbert Overlin and Naomi Overlin of Mitchellville, Iowa. Police find their bodies at the bottom of a a well at their residence and look for their son, Russell Overlin, age 52. Russell is found 400 miles from the crime scene in Miami, Oklahoma on February 8, 2007. He admits to the brutal homicides of his father and his step-mother. He tells detectives that he hated his step-mother and had been thinking of murdering her for the past four years, because she made him feel uncomfortable and unappreciated in their home. This is in spite of the fact that he has been living with them, and sponging off of them, for several years. In the end, Russell Overlin pleads guilty to the double-murder and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole.

Omaha police officers chase down a stolen vehicle driving recklessly. When they arrest the driver, he shocks detectives by giving an unsolicited confession to a gruesome murder of a local woman, the first of many chilling revelations.

When a Catholic priest, Reverend Father Rene Wayne Robert, age 71, of Saint Augustine, Florida goes missing, police focus on a troubled ex-convict, career criminal Steve James Murray, age 28, who had been recently released from a Jacksonville, Florida jail. Father Robert had ministered to Murray and had helped to support him. Through multiple interrogations, the psychopathic killer reveals details of a twisted vengeance that escalates to the chilling firearm murder on April 10, 2016 in Waynesboro, Georgia. Steven Murray was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

This installment discusses going inside the minds of psychopaths to see if it is possible to discover when their pervasive traits deviate into violence.

Discusses the 2015 murder of 68-year-old Daniel A. Taylor in Collinsville, Illinois by psychopath Eva Heisch and her boyfriend Jessie Werley. Additional details below.

Racially motivated serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, sits on death row refusing to confesses additional unsolved murders. Until a shrewd female prosecutor sits down with him to convince him otherwise.

Investigators search a farm near Medford, Oregon for a missing man. They find a human leg bone on the property. The owner, Susan Monica admits that her pigs ate her tenant alive, and he's not the only victim.

A gunman shoots a man dead as he runs along a road. First responders find a witness standing next to the body with a strange story to tell. Detectives unravel the lies of a callous person who takes out his frustrations in bloodshed.

2003: Randy Tomjack calls 911. First responders find him dead, stabbed 59 times. Detectives question his friend, Danny Ball, and uncover a sick story of deception and jealousy that explodes in psychopathic rage. More details below.

2004: Ryan Doyle murders Lora Fischer in his Orlando, FL apartment. Hours later, he is in a North Carolina hospital with a gunshot wound and a bizarre story that unravels to reveal he is a lying, callous psychopath. More details below.

Police find a 17-year-old Makia Coney body near Jacksonville, Florida. The investigation centers on two student friends claiming her death was an accident.

Milford, New Hampshire reels after police arrest four depraved teenagers for robbing and murdering 42-year-old Kimberly Cates and maiming her 11-year-old daughter.

A puppet master, Aubrey Trail, lures women into a deadly world of sexual exploitation. More details below.

Experts explore the unique characteristics of female psychopathic killers.

A graduate student claims she killed her abusive boyfriend in self-defense.

On Halloween morning, a teenager butchers his parents at random.

A teen plays out his sadistic fantasies of murder on an unassuming drifter.

A troubled culinary student murders his classmate's family in their sleep.

A controlling husband murders his ailing wife and her parents.

A widowed woman lures vulnerable young men to her home of horror.

A road rage incident near Caledonia, Michigan turns deadly as an elderly man is beaten to death by a remorseless teenager.

A mother finds her two sons murdered in Melrose, Florida. Their aunt's boyfriend confesses killing them, and tries to blame them for his rage against their family.

Experts explore cases of psychopathic killers known as family annihilators.

A sadistic young woman butchers her ex-boyfriend then defiles his body.

A young man turns up missing after a chance encounter with two psychopaths.

A young woman vanishes, and the suspect is her troubled former classmate.

A 16-year-old slaughters his family so that he can see his girlfriend.

After his wife vanishes, a psychopath plays cat and mouse with detectives.

An unassuming drifter harboring a dark past murders two young women.

A failed polygraph reveals that a caring boyfriend is a total psychopath.

Two missing people reveal a psychopathic family member's twisted plan.

A grandmother disappears, and the lone suspect is an erratic young man.

Experts review cases of blooming psychopathic killers from an early age.

After the murder of a couple and the disappearance of their adult son, detectives wonder who could have acted with such rage. However, when the son resurfaces, it isn't long before investigators come face to face with a true psychopath.

When a loving husband turns up murdered in his Loveland, Ohio home, the prime suspect is his troubled wife, who claims to have little recollection. Detectives uncover her story is nothing but the manipulation of a vindictive person.

A teenage couple goes on the run from Lawrenceville, Georgia. A search leads officers to the girl's grandparents' home, where they find the bodies of the elderly couple and uncover a fantasy killing concocted by the lovers.

Terror rocks an Ohio town when a mother, her two kids and a close friend vanish. Fearing foul play, investigators track down the prime suspect and uncover a house of horrors.

Police catch a break on three St. Louis cold case murders when emerging DNA technology makes a match: a 73-year-old frail man whose harmless facade is hiding a vicious individual.

A young man's confession to participating in a plot to murder another teenager stuns police of Ocala, Florida. As detectives dig in, they uncover a sadistic plot involving a manipulative ex-girlfriend with the desire to kill.

When a woman disappears, detectives identify her manipulative, ex-convict husband as the prime suspect and uncover evidence suggesting he's a cold-blooded psychopath.

A teenage girl goes missing from Belmar, New Jersey. Unable to find her, detectives obtain a secret recording that uncovers an evil plot by a person with wicked needs.

After the murder of a successful executive one night in Connecticut, her case goes cold. Four years later, a troubled man appears, ready to confess. Investigators uncover that this was no ordinary murder, and that he is an impulsive psychopath.

When being interviewed by police, psychopaths often use manipulation to thwart the investigation. Experts explore the anatomy of the key manipulative tactics of psychopaths, and how they use them for their own sinister gain.