Of course, each of them could have filed for divorce or possibly an annulment. But apparently, they were still enveloped in the warm, loving feelings that accompany recent marriages and decided to kill their new spouses instead.
10 Sachin Mishra
Sachin Mishra was forced to divorce his first wife when relatives found out that the spouses were related. Sachin remarried a year later. However, he could not get over his first wife. He frequently spoke with her and often bought her gifts. The relationship put a strain on his new marriage, and the newlyweds constantly argued. After Sachin had spent two months in an unhappy marriage, he decided to take his wife, Kanak, on a honeymoon. He and Kanak spent a night at a hotel before they explored an isolated side of a mountain. The couple started to argue about Sachin’s first wife, and Sachin attacked Kanak. He beat her head with sharp-edged stones, drove a nail into her body, and pushed her off a cliff.[1] Then he went to the police station and told them that his wife had been swept away by a river while swimming. Police sent in divers who returned empty-handed after two hours. Officers looked through video recordings of the area, but they could find no trace of Kanak. They decided to interrogate Sachin again, and he confessed to the murder.
9 Aurore Martin
Aurore Martin and Peter Uwe Schmitt met while mountain climbing in 1991. The couple quickly hit it off, and they started dating. However, the next year, Schmitt married Ursula Deschamps. The marriage quickly soured, and Deschamps agreed to speak to the police about an insurance scam that Schmitt had been involved in. Schmitt convinced his wife to go for a drive, and then he drove the car into a canal. He jumped free before the car hit the water. Deschamps managed to get out of the car, but Schmitt held her head underwater until she drowned. The authorities suspected foul play, but the investigation was bungled. Schmitt was only sentenced to three years of probation. It later emerged that he had cashed in a life insurance policy worth $500,000. A few years later, Schmitt’s old girlfriend Aurore Martin joined a matchmaking service and met Marc Van Beers. The two married and went on a honeymoon. While Van Beers was driving, he noticed someone on the side of the road and pulled over. Schmitt and three of his friends grabbed Van Beers and beat him to death with a baseball bat. Van Beers’s last words were: “Please don’t hurt my wife.” The men put Van Beers into the car and pushed it off a cliff. They left Martin on the side of the road, and she called for help. She told police that she had leaped from the car seconds before it plunged into the ravine. Van Beers’s family was unhappy with her explanation and became suspicious when she insisted that Van Beers be cremated.[2] Martin cashed in insurance policies worth $800,000. Then she and Schmitt left for Florida where they embarked on a lavish spending spree. The pair befriended Lee Marburger, and Martin confessed that she and Schmitt “had been involved with a murder.” Schmitt called Marburger the next day and threatened to shoot him if he told anyone. Marburger called the police. Police captured the couple. Martin was sentenced to 15 years, and Schmitt was sentenced to 20. She was released after six years, and he after seven. The couple resumed their relationship.
8 Vidyalakshmi
Vidyalakshmi’s family prevented her from marrying her childhood friend, Anand, whom she had dated for many years. Instead, they encouraged her to marry Anantharaman, a distant relative, who was quite wealthy. She felt that she could not refuse the marriage and accepted Anantharaman’s proposal. Anand begged her to elope. But she worried that the shock could hurt her mother, who had hypertension. The couple decided to kill Anantharaman so that they could be together. Vidyalakshmi planned her honeymoon itinerary to the tiniest detail, and she passed it along to Anand. He and his friend Anburaj followed the newlyweds when they honeymooned. Vidyalakshmi texted Anand her every movement. Anantharaman took his wife on a boat ride across a lake, and then the couple laid on the ground, snapping pictures. Anand and Anburaj approached the couple from behind. They grabbed Anantharaman’s camera strap and choked him with it. Vidyalakshmi watched her husband go limp, and she handed her heavy necklace to one of the killers. She waited for the men to leave and then ran screaming the other way. Vidyalakshmi told villagers that someone had robbed her and killed her husband.[3] Anand and Anburaj returned to the vehicle and asked the driver to take them back to the hotel. The pair spoke of the murder in a foreign language, which the driver understood. The driver followed them to their room, locked the room from the outside, and called the police. Officers questioned the men, and they confessed. Vidyalakshmi, Anand, and Anburaj were all sentenced to life in prison.
7 Scott Robin Roston
Scott Roston and Karen Waltz embarked on a cruise nine days after they were married. The pair decided to go on a moonlit jog around the upper-deck jogging track. They got into a fight. Roston strangled his wife and tossed her overboard. Roston went to the bridge and told the staff captain that Waltz had fallen overboard. The captain contacted the police. Roston told officers that he had fallen behind on their run and was unable to save his wife when powerful winds blew her overboard. Police did not believe his story, and they arrested him. Waltz’s body was found 12 hours later. She had a large bump on her forehead, marks on her neck, and a small puncture below her breast. An autopsy confirmed that she had been strangled. Roston changed his story three days after he was arrested. He claimed that Israeli agents had killed Waltz in retaliation for his book Nightmare in Israel in which he wrote about human right abuses in Israel. Roston said that he knew so much about human rights violations in Israel that the country’s prime minister feared him. Roston claimed that the country had sent people after him a few months earlier and that Israeli agents had ambushed him outside a shopping mall. The men had grabbed him and threatened him in Hebrew: “Israel wants you.” Roston had broken free, grabbed his gun, and shot one of the men before he sped away.[4] Police and jurors rejected his claim. Roston was found guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison, although his sentence was later reduced to 33 years.
6 Ernest Dumoulin
Ernest Dumoulin met Helga Konrad through a lonely hearts advertisement. After two weeks, they traveled to Scotland and eloped. On their wedding night, Dumoulin suggested that they go for a walk. He wanted to look at the city’s lights, chat, and enjoy each other’s company. When they reached the top of the cliff, he hugged his new wife and pushed her over the side. A seaman discovered Konrad’s body, and he found two police officers. They ran into Dumoulin, who insisted that his wife had lost her footing and plunged to her death. Police took him in for questioning, and the couple’s room was searched. They discovered details of a £412,368 insurance policy taken out on Helga’s life the day before she died. Dumoulin had attempted to cash in the policies the day after his wife died. However, the insurance company would not pay out due to the circumstances of Konrad’s death.[5] Dumoulin was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released after 16 years.
5 Simran Pal Singh Bhullar
A few weeks after Simran Pal Singh Bhullar and Simranjeet Kaur were married, they left for their honeymoon. After they checked into their hotel, they went sightseeing. The couple got into an argument. Bhullar believed that his wife was having an illicit affair with a family member, and he confronted her. Bhullar grew angry, and he hit and strangled his wife. He pushed Kaur off a cliff and waited on the spot for more than 30 minutes to ensure that she was dead. Bhullar went on the run after the murder. A few days later, both Bhullar’s family and Kaur’s family filed missing person reports. Police managed to track Bhullar to a friend’s house after the friend’s father turned him in. Officers questioned Bhullar, and he confessed to the murder. He led police to the murder scene, and they recovered his wife’s badly mutilated body. Bhullar was sentenced to life in prison.[6]
4 Anthony Edwin Kircus
Anthony Kircus and Catherine Ann Alexandrowicz hit it off because they accepted each other’s drinking. The couple’s lifestyle revolved around alcohol. Unfortunately, Kircus was a mean drunk. He once beat Alexandrowicz severely, and the police were called. Kircus was arrested after he attacked two of the responding officers. Kircus was released on bond, and he and Alexandrowicz decided to get married in Las Vegas. They spent their honeymoon drinking. A few days into their drunken celebration, the pair got into an argument. Kircus attacked Alexandrowicz, beating and strangling her until she was dead.[7] Kircus left Alexandrowicz’s body in the hotel and drove off. Her body was found a couple days later. Police searched for Kircus, following his credit card trail. They arrested him in the valet section of a hotel where he was attempting to get into a stolen vehicle. Kircus confessed to the murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
3 Michel Escoto
Michel Escoto was desperate for quick, easy money, and he managed to convince his girlfriend, Wendy Trapaga, to sign a $1 million life insurance policy. He pushed her to marry him and then convinced her to lie to her family about being pregnant. Escoto met an ex-girlfriend, Yolanda Cerrillo, and he told her of his plan to kill Trapaga. He planned to drug Trapaga and drown her, making it look like she had died from an overdose. Cerrillo offered to help. She ground up Percocet, and they practiced how to drown the young woman. Escoto and Trapaga married, and they booked a room at a local hotel. Escoto poisoned his wife’s drink, and she lost consciousness. She awoke when he attempted to drown her in the Jacuzzi. After putting Trapaga in his car, he drove to Cerrillo’s house. Cerrillo followed Escoto to a deserted area. He pulled Trapaga out of his car, beat her with a tire iron, and strangled her until she died. He left her body lying on the ground. Then he and Cerrillo drove away.[8] Trapaga’s battered body was soon discovered. Escoto told police that she had left the motel after they had argued, and he had not seen her since. Police were suspicious, but they had no evidence tying him to the murder. Two months later, Escoto filed a claim for the life insurance money. He then sued the insurance company in an effort to collect on his late wife’s policy. During the civil trial, he gave conflicting versions of what had happened on the night of his bride’s death and authorities arrested him. Cerrillo testified against him in exchange for immunity, and Escoto was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
2 Brian L. Umphrey
Brian Umphrey had an extensive criminal history: He had been arrested for forgery, theft, drug-related issues, and burglary. He had also been a suspect in at least nine assault cases. However, Cassandra Petry decided to overlook his past and married him. Their relationship was rocky. Umphrey was a violent man who had once beat her so severely that she was hospitalized. Petry took out an order of protection, explaining that she had been beaten, choked, and held hostage. Umphrey broke into her home and threatened to burn the house down. Then Umphrey decided to go on a crime spree. He stole Petry’s car and drained her bank account. While he was imprisoned, she divorced him. However, she still visited him in prison. When Umphrey was released, he went back to Petry. The couple decided to remarry and went on their honeymoon a few weeks later. Umphrey attacked his wife with a knife as she lay in bed. He covered her body with sheets and cleaned up in the bathroom, leaving behind a bloody mess.[9] Her family worried when she did not arrive home on time. They called police and asked them to check on her. They found her dead with multiple stab wounds. Police immediately named Umphrey as a suspect, and officers managed to catch him after a short police chase. Umphrey pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
1 Claudius James Giesick
Samuel Corey managed to convince his friend, Claudius Giesick, to marry a girl for the insurance money. Giesick became a regular customer at massage parlors while he looked for the perfect bride. He discovered Patricia Ann Albanowski. He took an immediate interest in Albanowski and swiftly proposed. She hesitated, and Giesick brought Corey by to help convince her to go through with the marriage. Corey was successful, and Albanowski agreed to marry Giesick. Corey offered to perform the ceremony, and the couple was quickly wed. Two days later, Giesick purchased insurance policies on Albanowski totaling $350,000. The couple traveled to New Orleans for their honeymoon. Giesick left his bride alone for most of the trip. He was busy plotting her murder with Corey. He returned to their room late one night and told Albanowski that he wanted to show her a family of ducks. The pair stumbled to the bayou in the dark. The couple stayed by the water for several minutes before they began to walk back to their hotel. Corey drove past, made a U-turn, and parked. He signaled with his parking lights, indicating he was ready. Giesick stopped by a tree and signaled three times with his flashlight. He waited for the right moment, and then he shoved and tripped Albanowski. She fell into the street. Corey ran over her and then drove off. Someone else drove by, and they called the police. Albanowski was brought to the hospital, where she died a few hours later.[10] Albanowski’s mother wrote a letter to the police. She mentioned that her daughter had called home only a few hours before her death, expressing concern about the large amount of insurance on her. When police investigated the policy, they learned that Giesick and Corey had both asked questions about hit-and-run accidents. Police managed to convince Giesick to testify against Corey in exchange for a reduced sentence. Giesick was sentenced to 21 years in prison. However, he was released after 12. Corey was sentenced to death, which was later reduced to life in prison. He died while imprisoned.
