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Earlier Criminal Cases Closed or Adjudicated

Previous Top Crime Stories

By , About.com Guide

These are earlier criminal cases that were top crime stories which are now closed or adjudicated.

The Murder of Eve Carson
On March 5, 2008, Eve Marie Carson, the popular president of the student body at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was found shot to death laying in the street at an intersection near campus.

The Death of Laura Burk
On March 4, 2008, Lauren Burk's nude body was found along side a rural road about four miles from Auburn University where she was a freshman. She had been shot in the back.

The Murder of Jorelys Rivera
On Dec. 2, 2011, 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera disappeared after she left the playground at the River Ridge apartments in Canton, Georgia. Her body was found in a compactor-type trash compactor at the complex three days later.

The Barefoot Bandit Case
Colton A. "Colt" Harris-Moore, became known as The Barefoot Bandit after he escaped from a halfway house in Renton, Washington and went on a two-year crime spree.

A Deadly Home Invasion in Connecticut
On July 24, 2007, the quiet Connecticut town of Cheshire was shocked by a brutal home invasion that left a house in flames, a wife and her two daughters dead and a bloody and battered father in the hospital.

The Death of Zahra Baker
On Oct. 9, 2010, the father of 10-year-old Zahra Baker, who wore hearing aids and had a prosthetic leg due to her battle with cancer, was reported missing.

The Crimes of Anthony Sowell
On October 29, 2009, police in Cleveland, Ohio went to the home of Anthony Sowell after a woman told police that he had raped her there. They found two decomposing bodies in the house. Subsequent searches turned up the remains of 10 bodies and a skull hidden in the home and buried in the yard.

The Deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings
On July 9, 2009, several men dressed as ninjas invaded the home of Byrd and Melanie Billings, a wealthy Florida couple who were known for adopting children with special needs.

The Betty Neumar Case
When North Carolina authorities arrested Betty Neumar on charges of hiring someone to killer her husband Harold Gentry, they soon learned that the 76-year-old had a string of five dead husbands.

The Clemson Bikini Murder Case
On May 26, 2006, Clemson University student Tiffany Marie Souers was found dead in her off-campus apartment wearing only a bra and had a bikini top wrapped around her neck.

The Gary Michael Hilton Case
On New Year's Day 2008, 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate Meredith Emerson went hiking in the north Georgia mountains hear Vogel State Park with her dog Ella as she had done many times before. She failed to return home from the hike.

The Murder of Dru Sjodin
An attractive 22-year-old University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin left her job at the Columbia Mall in Grand Forks, North Dakota at 4 p.m. Nov. 22, 2003 and was never seen alive again.

The Murder of Taylor Behl
Taylor Behl, a 17-year-old freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University, left her dormitory room Sept. 5, 2005 to give her roommate some privacy with her boyfriend. She was never seen alive again.

The Murder of Annie Le
On Sept. 8, 2009, five days before she was planning to be married, 24-year-old Annie Le disappeared from the Yale University Medical School research laboratory where she was a pharmacology doctoral student.

The Trial of Susan Polk
Susan Polk was tried on first-degree murder charges in the death of her 70-year-old wealthy husband, Frank (Felix) Polk.

The Trial of Mary Winkler
Mary Winkler, 32, was charged with first-degree murder for the shotgun shooting death of her husband, Matthew Winkler, on March 22 at their Fourth Street Church of Christ parsonage in Selmer, Tennessee.

The Murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett
On December 16, 2004 the body of eight-months pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett was found at her Skidmore, Missouri home by her mother. Her unborn baby had been cut from her womb.

The Entwistle Murder Case
On Jan. 22, 2006, the bodies of Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her nine-month old daughter, Lillian Rose, were found shot to death under the covers of a bed in their Hopkinton, Massachusetts home.

The Martha Stewart Case
In March 2004, a jury found domestic diva Martha Stewart guilty of conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of agency proceedings stemming from a sale of stock in a biotech company.

The Debra Lafave Case
Debra Lafave, a 24-year-old married middle school teacher in the Tampa, Florida, area was arrested in June 2004 and accused of having sex numerous times with one of her 14-year-old students.

The Trial of Derrick Todd Lee
Derrick Todd Lee who was accused of terrorizing Louisiana with a series of at least seven murders of women in 2002 and 2003, was facing trial in four of the cases on charges of murder.

The Clemson Bikini Murder Case
On May 26, 2006, Clemson University student Tiffany Marie Souers was found dead in her off-campus apartment by a former roommate. She was wearing only a bra and had a bikini top wrapped around her neck.

The Phoenix Baseline Killer Case
Between August 2005 and September 2006, the Phoenix, Arizona, area was terrorized by a serial criminal who authorities believe was responsible for nine murders, 11 sexual assaults of women and young girls and several robberies.

The Murder Trials of Tiffany Hall
On Sept. 15, 2006, police found the body of 23-year-old Jimella Tunstall in a vacant lot in Belleville, Illinois. An autopsy revealed that her unborn child had been cut from her womb with a pair of scissors.

The Murder of Jessie Davis
On June 15, 2007, Patricia Porter, the mother of nine-months-pregnant Jessie Davis, went to her house and found her bedroom in disarray and her two-year-old son alone in the house.

The Trials of Kenny Richey
At approximately 4:15 a.m. on June 30, 1986, a fire broke out at the Old Farm Village Apartments in Columbus Grove, Ohio, in the second-floor apartment of Hope Collins, killing her two-year-old daughter Cynthia.

The Barton Corbin Case
On Dec. 4, 2004 Jennifer Corbin was found shot once in the head in her Buford, Georgia home with a handgun beside her.

The Kobe Bryant Case
Professional basketball star Kobe Bryant, 24, was charged with a single count of felony sexual assault against a 19-year-old woman at an exclusive spa where he was staying when he came to Colorado for knee surgery in the summer of 2003.

The Ward Weaver Case
On Jan. 9, 2002, Ashley Pond, 12, disappeared on her way to Gardiner Middle School in Oregon City, OR. Two months later, her friend Miranda Gaddis, 13, vanished and neither was ever seen alive again.

The Trial of Alejandro Avila
Alejandro Avila was accused of kidnapping, sexually molesting and asphyxiating Samantha Runnion, who was snatched from an alley near her family's Stanton, California condominium complex on July 15, 2002.

The Mark Hacking Case
Mark Hacking has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife, Lori Hacking, who was reported by him as missing on July 19, 2004.

The Tracy Teen Torture Case
On Dec. 2, 2008, a emaciated and bruised 16-year-old boy showed up at the In-Shape Sports Club in Tracy, California wearing only boxer shorts and a three-foot chain padlocked to his ankle.

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