BARBARA MULLENS was Carolyn Mullens' daughter from a previous marriage and JENNALEIGH was Marvin Mullens' daughter from a previous marriage. On September 26, 1992 as they slept in their Prospect, Virginia trailer Carolyn and Marvin were shot eight times in the head with a 22 caliber rifle. The stepsisters reported the killing from their grandparents' house about a half mile away. Later, both girls confessed to the crime. They were charged with first degree murder. During the hearing, BARBARA massaged a tissue between her fingers and pulled a ring off and on. JENNALEIGH rocked back and forth and fiddled with her hair.

MARY BELL was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1957. Her father is not known. MARY's mother married Billy Bell when MARY was a baby. When Mary was eleven she become best friends with her new neighbor, Norma Bell. On May 25, 1968, four-year old Martin Brown was found in an abandoned house. Handwritten graffiti-like notes of profanity were sparsely scattered about the crime scene. MARY and Norma asked to view his coffin. They giggled when they saw it. In the afternoon of July 31, 1968, three year old Brian Howe disappeared. Brian was found at 11:10 that evening. The police concluded from the marks on Brian's neck that he had been killed by a child. They interviewed all local children. Norma struck them as peculiar because she could not stop smiling. MARY because she was so evasive. Inspector Dobson interviewed Norma. Norma said that MARY threatened to steal other children if she told. Inspector Dobson saw MARY standing in front of the Howe's house as the coffin was brought out. She was laughing and rubbing her hands. MARY stated that Norma squeezed Brian's neck so hard her fingertips turned white. Eventually the girls implicated each other in that murder as well. Norma Bell was acquitted. MARY BELL was sentenced to life in prison.

SYLVIA LIKENS and her younger sister Jenny were left in the care of Gertrude Baniszweski while their parents went to work at the summer state fairs. SYLVIA was sixteen years old. Gertrude became convinced that SYLVIA was a slut. She beat SYLVIA for minor offenses. Gertrude encouraged her seven other children and the boys in the neighborhood to taunt SYLVIA and abuse her. They tied her up and beat her. They burned and scolded her. They constantly accused her of having sex. On October 26, 1965, SYLVIA's body was found in Gertrude's basement. She was covered with cigarette burns. The words "I am a prostitute and proud of it" were carved on her abdomen. Gertrude showed the police letters that SYLVIA had written detailing her sluttish behavior. Later the police discovered that SYLVIA was forced to write the letters. Gertrude was incarcerated but has now been released.

PAMELA's mother Nancy Knuckles was a nurse and single parent. Nancy believed punishment would make her children spiritually pure. Whippings were preceded by prayer. In special cases she would stuff her children into laundry bags, tie their hands behind their backs and lock the bag in the closet. One afternoon, Nancy was preparing to leave her house when PAMELA looped a garotte around her mother's neck from behind and pulled. "Die bitch! Die bitch!" she screamed. PAMELA's boyfriend, Dennis jumped in and grabbed both ends of the garotte and pulled. PAMELA's brother Bart yelled to his sisters to bring him their mother's stethoscope and pressed it to her chest, "Well, she won't die." He got a white plastic garbage bag from the kitchen. He pulled it over her head and tied it in the back. Later PAMELA said she was in a dreamlike state as she strangled her mother.

CAMELLIA LOU was thirteen and her sister STEPHANIE DAWN was twelve. They lived with their mother, Marilyn. Marilyn Fries was a nurse. She had been divorced for about two years. The girls had disciplinary problems in school. Their mother decided to send them to The Randolph Macon Military Academy. On September 3rd, 1993, the day before the Fries sisters were due to report at the military school, the police received a 911 call at 2:19am. One of the girls told the police that an intruder had entered their home. The sisters locked themselves in a closet. When they came out, they said, their mother was dead. There were stab wounds all over the front and back of her body. At 4:15 am the police charged CAMELLIA LOU and STEPHANIE DAWN with murder. They also arrested and charged CAMELLIA LOU's fourteen year old boyfriend, Shawn Roadcap.

KARIN APARO was an excellent student and a talented violinist. Her mother, Joyce Aparo, was a social worker. On August 5, 1987, Joyce's body was found under a highway overpass wearing a nightgown. She had been strangled with a pair of pantyhose. KARIN's 19-year old boyfriend, Dennis, was arrested and charged with murder. He said that his love for KARIN went beyond obsession and that he was incapable of not doing her bidding. "There is nothing I wouldnąt do for her‹that I loved her is an understatement." KARIN testified that her mother slapped her and often embarrassed her publicly claiming that KARIN was the illegitimate daughter of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hartford and refused to let her attend church. KARIN was cleared on the charge of accessory to murder. The jury deadlocked on the second count that she had conspired to commit the crime. A mistrial was declared.