The Murder of Alexia Daval

Alexia Daval was a 29-year-old banker living in rural Gray-La-Ville, France. She was independent, loving, outgoing and enjoyed jogging. Alexia had married her high school boyfriend, Johnathann Daval.

In October 2017, Alexia’s husband, Daval, reported her missing telling police she had gone jogging and never returned home. Alexia’s body was found two days later partially burnt and covered in branches in a forest far away from her usual known jogging route. Daval appeared in tears at a press conference with Alexia’s parents following the discovery of her body and pleading for information on what had happened to Alexia calling her his ‘oxygen,’ he wore the jacket he had worn for their wedding to her funeral. Daval and Alexia had been trying for a baby and Daval admitted they had sometimes argued, he explained scratches on his hand as Alexia fought him when they had argued but reiterated he would never hurt his wife.

Suspicions began to fall on Daval, there seemed to be inconsistencies in his stories. Neighbours had heard his car leave early on the day Alexia had gone missing despite his claims he had not left the home until much later. Tyre tracks near Alexia’s body matched Daval’s vehicle and his car’s GPS showed he had been to the site his wife’s body had been found at. Police continued to question Daval on what had happened. Three months later, he confessed, he had beaten Alexia to death in a heated argument knocking her face against a wall strangling her. It was suggested Alexia may have wanted to leave her husband shortly before her death.

Daval was sentenced to 25 years for the murder of Alexia Daval.

Kami Ring was a 10-year-old elementary schoolgirl from Maryland, USA. She had just finished fourth grade and enjoyed playing the violin, singing, drawing and dogs, especially her pet dog Sadie.

In June 2013, Kami was staying with her grandparents for a week, she was last seen when she went to bed at around 10 pm. The next morning, a family member went to check on Kami and could not find her. Police were called to the residence and noted that Kami’s bedroom window was open and the screen was gone. By 6.20 pm that day, Kami’s body had been found lying face down wearing only a tank top in a field across the street. She had died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, she had also been raped. The body had a cutting injury to her neck and male semen was found at the crime scene.

A friend of the family Richard Madden, 29, was arrested for Kami’s murder. Madden, who had met Kami before, had been staying across the road where Kami’s body was found and had previous arrests for drug charges and theft. Biological evidence linked Madden to the crime scene and Kami’s body, he also had scratch marks on his chest which he could not explain. Madden had also been observed doing laundry early that morning which was described as out of character, he had also cut his nails recently. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

Jennifer Pan lived with her mother, Bich Ha Pan, and her father, Huei Hann Pan, in Canada, she had one younger brother called Felix. The parents were political refugees who when in Canada worked hard to ensure their children had opportunities and the upbringings they did not. They set high goals for their children and expected great things from them. Jennifer took classes in piano and figure skating from a young age, when she tore a ligament in her knee her dream of becoming an Olympic figure skater ended. Jennifer was not allowed to date, attend school dances or parties. At the age of 22, Jennifer had never drunk alcohol, been to a friend’s house or been away from her parents for long. Despite the high expectations, Jennifer generally got average-to-low grades and forged her report cards to make her parents believe she was an A-grade student. When Jennifer failed calculus class in 12th grade her early admission to Ryerson University was rejected.
Jennifer could not bear being seen as a failure and lied, telling her parents she was going to the University of Toronto to study pharmacology. When her parents thought she was at university, she sat in cafes and worked as a piano instructor and waitress to earn money. Jennifer purchased second-hand textbooks, watched videos about pharmacology and created notebooks full of alleged class notes to show her parents so that they would believe her.
Jennifer also got permission from her parents to stay on campus with a friend, though she was actually staying with her boyfriend who she met in high school, Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong who was a marijuana dealer.
While pretending to be studying Jennifer told her parents that she started working as a volunteer in a hospital, her parents became suspicious as she did not have an ID badge or any form of uniform and the details seemed vague. On one occasion Jennifer’s mother followed her to work and began to discover her lies. Jennifer’s parents realised she have been deceiving them and found out she had not completed high school due to failing calculus. Jennifer began to work to finish high school and was later encouraged to apply for university. She was forbidden to contact Wong or to go anywhere except for her piano teaching jobs and was ordered to move back into her parents’ home. Jennifer and Wong kept in contact in secret as Jennifer’s parents monitored her strictly and gave her little freedom.
When Jennifer was 24, Wong had grown tired of being in a relationship with Jennifer due to her restrictive parents and only being able to meet in secret. Wong broke off the relationship with Jennifer and began dating another woman. When Jennifer learned of Wong’s new relationship she told him several men had gang-raped her and that this had been set up by Wong’s new girlfriend, she also claimed the girl had sent her a bullet in the post.
In 2010, Jennifer offered an acquaintance money to kill her parents, he refused. Jennifer and Wong were back in contact and came up with a plan to hire a hitman, claim Jennifer’s $500,000 inheritance and move in together. They planned to pay $10,000 for the murder of both Jennifer’s parents. Wong gave Jennifer the contact details of Lenford Roy Crawford and a new sim card and iPhone to contact Crawford. Crawford contacted Eric Shawn “Sniper” Carty and David Mylvaganam to inform them of the job.
On the night of 8th November 2010, Jennifer unlocked the front door of the family home when she went to bed and spoke to Mylvaganam on the phone. Mylvaganam and two other unidentified individuals then entered the home carrying guns. Carty later claimed he was the getaway driver. The men demanded all the money in the house be given to them and ransacked the main bedroom. Jennifer’s parents were taken to the basement and shot multiple times, her mother died instantly but her father somehow survived. Jennifer claimed she had been tired up but managed to break free.
Police quickly became suspicious of Jennifer’s involvement at the time, she had not been assaulted, blindfolded, taken to the basement or shot and they questioned why the attackers would leave behind an eyewitness. Jennifer’s father’s record of the events also differed greatly from Jennifer’s version and she appeared nervous when questioned about details. She was arrested on 22 November 2010. During an interview, Jennifer admitted to hiring the killers but claimed she had hired them to kill her and not her parents.
Jennifer, Wong, Mylvaganam, and Crawford were all convicted and each received a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years for the murder of Bich Ha Pan and attempted murder of Huei Hann Pan. Jennifer was banned from ever contacting her family or Wong again. Carty pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit murder and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The Murder of Jessie Wright

Jessie Wright was a 16-year-old girl living in Islington, London. Her family remember her as a beautiful, bubbly girl with a zest for life. She planned to complete her GCSEs and begin a hair and beauty course. Jessie was recovering from a serious illness and brain surgery, her final operation was due to be five months after she was tragically killed.

March 2010, Jessie ate a late dinner with her Nan and then left her Nan’s flat to walk home, this was the last time her family saw her. Jessie’s partially naked body was found in a secluded spot the next day, she had been thrown into a well and landed sprawled on the ground below.

Suspicion quickly fell to a local man called Zakk Sackett. It emerged that Sackett was obsessed with Jessie and claimed to have been in love with her, Jessie’s friend recalled him swearing and making lude suggestions such as ‘I will have you in my bed,’ to Jessie, who attempted to ignore him and walked away. Jessie’s uncle testified that he had warned Sackett to stay away from Jessie after he had previously tried to drag her into some bushes in a park. Sackett initially lied that Jessie’s boyfriend had come round and threatened both of them, Jessie’s boyfriend had never met him and had not been in the area on the night of the murder. He then claimed to have been at home for most of the night and not to have seen Jessie. Sackett’s lies continued and in court, he told the jury that he had had sex with Jessie three times including on the night she died but denied raping her. He claimed she had died of natural causes when they had been having consensual sex and that he had been unable to resuscitate her. This was dismissed by the court who were able to prove Jessie had died from compression of the neck consistent with both manual strangulation and a ligature. Just minutes after the murder, Sackett had sold Jessie’s mobile phone for £15. Local residents had also expressed their fears of Sackett including emails to social services stating that he 'was going to end up killing someone.’

Sackett was convicted of murder and rape, he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 25 years.

The Murder of Jennie Poole

Jennie Poole was a 24-year-old mother of two living in Dublin. She worked as a healthcare worker. Jennie was described as a great mother who would do anything for her children.

On 17th April at around 2 pm, neighbours heard screaming coming from Jennie’s apartment and saw a man jump from her balcony and run. The police were called and found Jennie dead in her home, she had suffered blood loss from a stab wound to her neck. Jennie’s 4-year-old son had been in the apartment when she had died.

Jennie’s boyfriend, Gavin Murphy, 29, was arrested and charged with murder.