The Most Shocking Crime Stories of 2021 (2024)

In addition to many positive moments and figures that inspired us all, 2021 was also a year with horrific tragedies, bizarre plot twists and long-awaited verdicts historians will be talking about for years to come.

The Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie case captivated the country for months, and many tuned in to learn how the Turpin siblings were navigating life after escaping their abusive parents' "house of horrors." Fans were shocked to learn that Lady Gaga's dog walker Ryan Fischer got shot while walking her dogs and millions held their breath as 12 jurors had finally reached a verdict that convicted Derek Chauvin of all charges in the murder of George Floyd.

As the New Year approaches, read on to reflect on the biggest crime stories of the year.

The Search for Gabby Petito (September)

YouTuber Gabby Petito set off to travel the country in a van with her fiancé Brian Laundrie in August — and never returned home. The case got national attention once Petito was officially reported missing on Sept. 11. After authorities named Laundrie a person of interest in Petito's disappearance, Laundrie also went missing 16 days later. Over the course of two months, journalists, internet sleuths and the general public became invested in finding clues to understand the events that led to Petito's death and why she died. In the end, Petito was found dead by strangulation and Laundrie was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head. His death was ruled a suicide.

Derek Chauvin Convicted of All Charges in Murder of George Floyd (April)

On April 20, jurors found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd last May. The crime was caught on video and fueled a national reckoning on social justice, race and police brutality. By June, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Following the sentencing, Floyd's cousin Brandon Williams told the media: "We got justice, but not enough justice."

Life for the Turpin Siblings After Escaping from Their Parents' House of Horrors (November)

Disturbing details came out about the horrific abuse the 13 Turpin siblings endured from their abusive parents, David and Louise, during a 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer in November. Sisters Jordan and Jennifer sat down with the journalist to talk about the cruelty the siblings experienced while being hidden away at home for most of their lives. The Turpin kids, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time they were rescued in 2018, were regularly beaten, starved, chained to their beds or put in cages for breaking house rules.

Jordan was 17 when she snuck out of her Perris, Calif., home with a deactivated cell phone and called 911, alerting the operator that she and her 12 siblings had been raised in captivity, and regularly abused. With the help of law enforcement, Jordan was able to free her siblings. After overcoming a lifetime of cruelty and pain — and challenges assimilating into the real world — Jordan remains focused on her future and newfound possibilities.

"I want to be a motivational speaker to help others," Jordan said on GMA in late November. "My whole life it has been so hard for me to understand why everything has happened, but if I can use what I went through to make a difference in the world, then I think that can heal me."

All 3 Defendants Found Guilty of Murdering Ahmaud Arbery, Black Jogger Chased Down and Shot in Georgia (November)

Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan were all found guilty on Nov. 24 for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man who was jogging down a road when the men pursued and cornered him with their pickup trucks before a physical confrontation in which one of the men fatally shot him. According to the defense, the three men believed Arbery matched the description of someone who reportedly had burglarized a home construction site in the neighborhood, and they were attempting a citizen's arrest. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23, 2020.

Prosecutors alleged the white suspects chased and confronted Arbery with two firearms after they saw him running, and that Travis fatally shot Arbery during a struggle over Travis' shotgun. Each faced nine criminal charges, according to the indictment. All three now face life in prison when sentenced.

Lady Gaga's Dog Walker Ryan Fischer Was Shot and Critically Injured While Walking the Singer's 3 Dogs (February)

Lady Gaga's dog walker Ryan Fischer was wounded during an armed robbery in which the singer's two French bulldogs were stolen on Feb. 24. Fischer was walking Gaga's three dogs — Miss Asia, Gustav and Koji — when he was shot. Miss Asia escaped into some bushes while Gustav and Koji were snatched. The dogs were returned to police two days after the attack, and in April, police in Los Angeles arrested five suspects in connection with the incident. Fischer was shot one time in the chest, L.A. Police Capt. Jonathan Tippet told PEOPLE at the time.

Fischer spoke to CBS Morning's Gayle King about how Gaga has helped him recover since the harrowing incident.

"She's helped me so much," he told King. "She's been a friend for me and after I was attacked, my family was flown out and I had trauma therapists flown to me and I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me."

Baltimore Church Member Was Murdered After Letting Contractors in for Repairs, and Laborer Is Charged (December)

On Nov. 16, Evalyn Player arrived at East Baltimore's Southern Baptist Church to let in day laborers who were assisting in renovating the church, WJZ reported at the time. Less than an hour later, she was found stabbed to death in a bathroom inside the church, police stated. City and state leaders were shocked by the crime and asked for help in finding Player's killer.

"Her family is four generations strong at Southern and all of our hearts should be with them," said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. "This is not OK. None of us should be OK."

Then on Dec. 1, after hundreds mourned the loss of Player, law enforcement arrested Manzie Smith Jr. He was charged with first-degree murder, WBAL reported.

'Big Family, Old Money, New Drama': Inside the Powerful S.C. Family at Center of Murder Mystery (June-Present)

On June 7, prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh made headlines after coming home to find his wife Maggie and their son Paul shot and killed. Over Labor Day weekend, Alex made headlines again when he called 911 to report that he himself had been shot in the head on the side of the road. People across the nation who had been following the shocking string of events wanted to know why someone was targeting Alex's family.

On the heels of several twists and turns in the case — Alex being pushed out of his law firm for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars in funds, the death of Alex's 81 year-old father Randolph Murdaugh just days after his wife and son were murdered, and a 2019 boating incident that lead to Alex's son Paul's arrest following the death of 19-year-old Mallory Beach — the story got even more surprising when Alex turned himself into the police following an alleged botched suicide-for-hire plot involving himself and Curtis Edward "Eddie" Smith, who allegedly assisted with Alex's attempt to commit suicide for the insurance money.

13-Year-Old Cheerleader Tristyn Bailey Was Allegedly Stabbed 114 Times While Fighting Off Killer: Authorities (May)

A day after Florida teenager Tristyn Bailey's body was found in the woods near her home in St. John's, the St. John's Sheriff's Office arrested Aiden Fucci, 14, who grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same private school. Bailey was found to be stabbed 114 times, with at least 49 stab wounds to her hands, arms and head that were "defensive in nature," R.J. Larizza, State Attorney in the 7th Judicial Circuit, told reporters at the time.

Fucci was initially charged with second-degree murder in connection with Bailey's death, which took place on May 9. But in late May, State Attorney R.J. Larizza announced he had upgraded the charge against Fucci to first-degree murder and said the teen would be tried as an adult. Fucci has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond while he awaits trial.

Larizza's office released 12 reports from investigators and the county medical examiner to Fucci's defense lawyer, which made the information public and revealed more about what allegedly transpired the night Bailey was killed. The new information included detectives finding bloody clothes and sneakers in Fucci's bedroom, a notebook of his with "drawings of a violent nature," two of Fucci's friends telling investigators that Fucci told them "on multiple occasions that he wanted to kill someone by stabbing them or slitting their throat" and another one of Fucci's friends telling detectives that Fucci had said "if he were to kill someone, it was going to be planned, he would find a random person walking at night, drag them into the woods, and stab them."

According to the medical examiner's report, there was no evidence of sexual assault. However, Bailey's body did have the word "KARMA" handwritten in blue ink on her left ankle and a "smiley face" drawn on her right ankle, according to the report, which does not state how it got there.

Fucci's public defender declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.

Bailey, a cheerleader at Patriot Oaks Academy in the St. Johns suburb of Jacksonville, was remembered by thousands of people at a vigil on May 18. Her family issued a statement at the time, saying that they "will seek to keep Tristyn's memory alive and the spirit of the community," USA Today reported.

Man Charged with Murdering Woman by Knocking Her Down N.Y.C. Subway Stairs (November)

David Robinson, a man from New York, was charged with murder and two counts of manslaughter in the death of 58-year-old Htwe Than Than, according to the New York City Police Department in November. Robinson was accused of attacking the woman and her son in July in what her family called "a botched robbery turned lethal."

According to Than's family's GoFundMe, on the morning of July 17, she and her 22-year-old son were walking up the stairs of the Canal Street "N" subway station when a man approached them, WCBS reported at the time. As the assailant tried to take the son's belongings, Than intervened and fell down the stairs, suffering a serious head injury. Two weeks later, she died of those injuries.

Mary Kay Letourneau Wrote Nearly 30 Letters to Family, Friends Before Death: 'She Had Wrongs to Right' (October)

Before her death in 2020 from stage 4 cancer, former teacher and convicted child rapist Mary Kay Letourneau wrote a series of letters to friends and family, a legal source close to the former teacher told PEOPLE in October.

"She had a lot of wrongs to right," said the source, who knew Letourneau for more than 20 years and received a note from her. "She had a lot of things to say. She made a lot of mistakes in her 58 years — not just the big one everyone knows about — and she wanted everyone to know that she was sorry for the mistakes she made."

"She told me she wrote a lot of letters," continued the source. "She was closing in on 30 of them."

The source doesn't know if Letourneau wrote a letter to husband Vili Fualaau, who was 12 at the time the then sixth-grade teacher began to sexually abuse him in 1996. "I don't know if he received a note, but I do know that she made things right with him as best as she could," the source said. "She loved him until the end."

Letourneau and Fualaau shared two daughters, Georgia and Audrey.