Natasha Leigh

 A two-day-old baby gets kidnapped. Seventeen years later, she would be reunited with her biological parents after she went to school with her biological younger sister. On April 28th 1997, Celeste Nurse went to the Groot Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, to deliver her and her husband’s first daughter via caesarean section. The surgery was a success; both Celeste and Zephany were healthy afterwards. They would be kept in the hospital for a few days to monitor Celeste’s healing stomach. Two days after the birth, Celeste remembered seeing a woman dressed in maroon pants and an oatmeal top comforting Zephany in her bassinet. Celeste recognised the clothing as a nurse’s uniform and fell back to sleep, thinking that her baby was being cared for by a professional. The next time that Celeste woke, it was to a different nurse questioning her repeatedly. “Where is the baby?”. That was how Celeste learnt that her 2-day-old daughter wasn’t safe in her bassinet. The hospital staff c...

A loving mother and wife snaps and kills her two daughters to “punish” her husband after years of a crumbling marriage. Taylor Sheats (left) and Madison Sheats (right) On June 24th, emergency services arrived outside of the Sheats family home after receiving multiple calls about a disturbance and shooting at the house. Right as they parked they would witness Christy Sheats kneel over her eldest daughter, Taylor, and fire one final shot. She refused to lay down her weapon leading to an officer fatally shooting Christy. Just outside of the house’s front door lay Christy’s youngest daughter, Madison, dead on the pavement. But how did a loving mother end up callously murdering her two daughters on their father’s birthday? Four years previously, in 2012, Christy’s grandfather passed away, he had played a large part in raising her so it was like she had lost her father. She would never truly be able to heal from the loss and Christy’s mental state began to rapidly deteriorate. In the followi...

 A mother believed that the only way to save her children from possibly inheriting her mental illnesses was to end their lives. Seth Kehoe October 26th 2008 Gene Kehoe had to make a phone call that no father or husband would ever want to make. His wife and two sons had gone missing whilst the three were taking a trip to visit family. They had planned to spend the day with Michelle Kehoe’s (35) ill mother at her care home in Sumner. It should have only taken them around an hour to drive from their home in Coralville to Sumner but they never arrived. The next morning, at 8 am, Michelle stumbled up to the front door of a home in Littleton. When the door opened Michelle fell into the home, trying to speak to whoever had answered, a slash across her neck was the reason she was struggling to speak. The person at the door grabbed a pen and paper for Michelle to write what it was on whilst they called for emergency services. Michelle wrote, “a man killed my boys and tried to kill me.”. Whe...

A young girl was starved for months leading to her death, and her killers only got charged with manslaughter. On the 25th of February 2010, Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamza pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq and five separate counts of child cruelty for the abuse of the five other children in their care. Gordon was sentenced to 15 years while Abuhamza was to be jailed indefinitely for the public's safety, this holding a minimum term of 7 and a half years. But how did they get to this point? How can they abuse six children for years without consequences? All six children's biological father, Ishaq Abuzaire, had left the home at some point in 2004 or 2006. There were claims towards him that he was abusive towards both Gordon and the children but he denies the claims. After Abuzaire left the home one of his friends, Abuhamza, became close to Gordon. By 2007, Abuhamza had moved into the family home and became a parental figure to the children. It woul...

A kidnapping planned by a family “friend” for several years, designed to capture one nine-year-old girl. Katherine ‘Katie’ Beers was born in New York on December 30th 1982 to an unnamed father and her mother Marilyn Beers. She lived in Long Island with her mother and older brother John, they were also living with Katie’s godmother Linda Inghilleri and her husband Sal. Marilyn often left her two children in Linda and Sal’s care, described as being neglectful of the children. Katie later said that she was sexually, and physically. emotionally and verbally abused all through her childhood, Sal being the main abuser in her life. With an atmosphere that seemingly welcomed the abuse, a family friend John Esposito was allowed into the children’s lives. He showered them both with gifts and attention, gaining their trust and being allowed to take either child out on trips alone. It’s reported Esposito began sexually abusing John until Esposito thought he was “too old”. In the past, in 1978, Esp...

The kidnapping that shows brotherhood comes in many forms, a teenager saving a child after seeing his distress. Steven Stayner was walking home from school on December 4th 1972 when he was stopped by a man claiming to be a church representative seeking donations. When the man asked if Steven’s mom would be willing to give something to the church, Steven agreed that she would. The representative offered to give Steven a ride to his home so they could get the donations that very day. A white Buick driven by a second man pulled up, Steven willingly got inside with the representative. However, the church representative wasn’t legitimate. His name was Ervin Murphy a worker from a Yosemite National Park resort worker who had been manipulated by a co-worker into aiding him in kidnapping a boy. Kenneth Parnell claimed he was an aspiring minister and wanted a young boy to “raise him in a religious-type deal”. Parnell drove Murphy and Steven to a cabin nearby Catheys Valley rather than taking St...

A family of criminals that terrorised villages in Russia despite being a successful family. The ‘Gang of Amazons’ were a family of six that committed robberies and murders as and when they pleased over a span of six years, from 2007 to 2013. They lived in Divnaye, a small village in the centre of Apanasenkovsky District in Stavropol, Russia and they would say they were going on camping trips as a guise for their crimes. The matriarch of the family — Inessa Tarverdiyeva — was a successful nursery school teacher. It’s rumoured that she had a former lover leave her for another woman, he worked as a policeman in the area and it’s said his leaving fueled her extreme hatred of anything law enforcement related. The patriarch of the family — Roman Podkopaev — was a registered dentist. He was also the prime suspect in the suspicious death of Inessa’s first husband, they married shortly after his death. Inessa’s daughters from her first marriage were also involved in the crime spree. Her eldest ...

Beautiful souls are taken so frequently all because others can't handle rejection, Tomicka Peterson is just one of many. Tomicka Peterson had ended her relationship with her boyfriend at the time Gibson Paul. It was Valentine's Day 2011 when she tried to leave Paul, getting out of the apartment as soon as she had ended things, seemingly worried for her safety and rightfully so. Tomicka left accompanied by two of her female friends and one of their 3-year-old daughters, another friend was waiting outside for them. Tomicka was just getting into the car that was outside when Paul came running out of the apartment building. He asked twice if Tomicka was actually leaving him. After Tomicka refused to respond, Paul pulled out a gun and began firing into the car. One of Tomicka's friends was grazed by a bullet but Tomicka was hit five times. She died at the scene. The driver of the car rushed them to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. U.S. Marshals were immediately ...

The heinous crimes committed over the span of four years are certain to leave a scar on the world. The story of Ted Bundy has been shared to the point it overshadows the people that should be remembered, the victims. Before we go any further there are a few things that I feel should be shared about Bundy from his life. One; during the years 1974 to 1978, Bundy escape police custody multiple times. Two; Bundy was a psychopathic, egotistical, delusional liar that seemed scared to die. Three; Bundy confessed to multiple murders while also saying some crimes he would never speak of as the victims were “too close to home”, “too close to family”, or they were “very young”. With that done, these are the named “confirmed” victims of Ted Bundy. On January 3rd 1974, Karen Sparks (aka Joni Lenz) was at her local laundromat, when she noticed an older man watching her. She said that every time she would look at him he would look away instantly. Brushing off the strange occurrence, Karen went back t...