From Murderous Spouses to Children Who Ended Their Parents’ Lives, Read How Loved Ones Committed the Ultimate Sin in PEOPLE’s 'A Killer in the Family' Special Edition By KC Baker

Generations have been taught about stranger danger and the unknown boogeyman lurking in the shadows, waiting to commit the most heinous crimes.

Family members, it turns out, can be just as dangerous.

“For most Americans, regardless of where they live, the risk of being murdered is much greater in their own homes than on any main street,” according to forensic psychologist and attorney Charles Patrick Ewing. 

PEOPLE’s latest special edition, True Crime: A Killer in the Family, features a collection of the magazine’s most recent cases about parents, kids, spouses and siblings who have turned on their loved ones — with deadly consequences.

This PEOPLE special edition includes the latest developments on Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison for the infamous 1989 murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion and were recently resentenced with eligible for parole, as well as Scott Peterson, whose case was taken on by the Innocence Project, which is fighting to prove he didn’t kill his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, in 2002.

The PEOPLE special edition features other stories reported by its investigative crime team concerning fatal affairs, murder-for-hire cases and victims who were married to a murderer or killed by their children. 

“People are fascinated by complex and deviant behavior,” says psychologist Dr. Jerrod Brown, founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies. “They want to understand the ‘why’ behind these cases.”

One case in which the ‘why’ seems crystal clear is the so-called Family Feud murder.

Family Feud viewers were taken aback when Tim Bliefnick suggested the biggest mistake he made at his wedding was getting married.

When TV game show host Steve Harvey asked the married father of three on a 2020 episode about the biggest mistakes people make when tying the knot, Bliefnick replied, “Honey I love you but…said ‘I do.” 

His chilling answer came back to haunt him three years later, on Feb. 23, 2023, when his wife, Becky Bliefnick, was found dead in her home she shared with the couple’s three young sons after filing for divorce in 2021.

The 41-year-old nurse had been shot 14 times at close range. In June 2023 jurors found Tim guilty of murder and home invasion. He was sentenced to life in prison.

As for why he killed Becky, Adams County Prosecutor Josh Jones said, “He was losing control over her, and that sent him over the edge.”

One case that still baffles is the macabre story of Virginia McCullough, who killed her parents for their money – and then lived with their bodies for four years. 

In 2023, police found the body of her father, former university lecturer John McCullough, 70, encased in what The Guardian called a “makeshift tomb” of cinder blocks and blankets. They found the body of her mother, Lois McCullough, 71, stuffed into a sleeping bag in a closet.

McCullough, 37, was sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 11, 2024. She must serve a minimum of 36 years before being eligible for parole. 

“Your parents were entitled to feel safe in their own beds and their own home, and they were entitled to feel safe with their daughter,” Justice Jeremy Johnson told McCullough at the sentencing. “You think more of money than you do of humanity.”

PEOPLE’s True Crime: A Killer in the Family special edition is now available on newsstands and Amazon.