Criminal Confessions

Mearl Mackey told law enforcement various conflicting stories about the whereabouts of his wife, Evelyn “Laverne” Mackey.

Kim Allen had just testified against her husband in court, but he had been out of town at the time of the murder.

Tim Smith told Rowan County investigators that he beat Amanda Smith unconscious before his girlfriend, Stephanie Hall, “stepped on her neck, until she stopped gurgling.”

When Sara Dixon started draining the family fortune to provide around-the-clock care for her sick husband, her stepson Dennis Dixon hatched a deadly plot to secure his inheritance. 

Identical twin brothers Donald and Ronald Smith were both questioned in connection to teacher Genai Coleman’s shooting when their shared DNA was found at the crime scene. 

Maranda Martin enlisted her cousin to assault and help rob her former patient, disabled Navy veteran Paul Quandt Sr.

Lee Watts confessed to murdering his mother, Ethel Adamson, with a hammer after he snuck into her home and stole the cash as she slept.

Ryan Shelby, who met and exceeded his 15-year-old stepdaughter Alexis Oesterle's "expectations of what a dad would be," murdered her in an act of "ultimate betrayal."

Spencer Spielman confessed to killing his friend’s mother, Patricia Dresser, after she suspected him of breaking into her home the day before.

Connor Mason wanted to start a “killing club” and fantasized about murdering at least 50 people.