The Casual Criminalist

Sonia Exelby was a kind, talented music tutor from England who struggled privately with severe mental health issues. Through dark online communities, she connected with Dwain Hall, a Florida man now charged with her murder. Evidence suggests that despite earlier discussions, Sonia changed her mind and desperately wanted to escape.
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For three weeks in October 2002, snipers terrorised Washington DC, killing randomly at petrol stations and car parks. Behind the attacks were John Allen Muhammad, a Gulf War veteran with a troubled past, and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo, whom he had groomed into a killer. This is their chilling story.
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In 2007, Ellen Pakkies strangled her drug-addicted son after six years of abuse, theft, and violence. Her trial revealed a childhood of neglect, institutional failures, and a community ravaged by tik. The judge gave her a suspended sentence. Today, she campaigns for Cape Town mayor, fighting addiction and demanding accountability.
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In 1880s Austin, Texas, a serial killer stalked domestic servants, brutally murdering eight people with axes before vanishing into history. The police failed spectacularly, private detectives proved useless, and two husbands faced murder trials. Was the killer a local man named Nathan Elgin, or did he become Jack the Ripper?
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In 1991, four teenage girls were brutally murdered at an Austin yogurt shop. For decades, the case was plagued by wrongful arrests, coerced confessions, and constitutional violations. Finally, in 2025, advanced DNA testing identified serial killer Robert Brashers as the true perpetrator. Four wrongly accused men were declared factually innocent.
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