Joni Johnston

Mark Twitchell sat in his garage-turned-film-studio, surrounded by plastic sheeting and props from his failed movie projects. On his laptop screen: Dexter Morgan, the fictional serial killer who murders other killers according to a strict moral code. In his mind: a fantasy where he, too, could become something more than an unemployed filmmaker living in his parents’ garage. Press enter or click to view image in full size By October 2008, fantasy had turned to reality.

Julie Griffin dropped out of nursing school because she couldn’t bear to watch people suffer. Twenty years later, she would die at the hands of a man who found his life’s purpose in making her suffer. This is the story of how a shy, sensitive, midwestern girl who played accordion for her family became the victim of one of the most elaborate campaigns of coercive control and psychological torture I’ve ever seen, and how her former in-laws continue to desecrate her memory years after she is gone.

Mathew Coleman and the Psychology of Conspiracy-Driven Murder Abby Coleman was folding tiny swimsuits and stuffing snacks into coolers when her husband, Matthew, suddenly scooped up their children and walked out the door. It was Saturday morning, August 7, 2021, and the family had been preparing for a camping trip-the kind of regular weekend activity that filled the Colemans’ Instagram feed. Kaleo, their energetic 2-year-old, and baby Roxy, just 10 months old, were still in their pajamas.