5 Chilling Halloween Crimes That Really Happened

Here are 5 truly chilling Halloween crimes that shocked local communities to their core. From a deadly trick-or-treat visitor to a boy that went missing after a Halloween party here are 5 Halloween crimes that really happened.

5. Ryan Rosales

For one young boy, Halloween didn’t result in spooky costumes and trick-or-treating. Nine-year-old Ryan Rosales of Washington State was killed by his mother on October 31st, 2017. Amber Lynn James, aged 47, was charged with first-degree murder for the death of her son Ryan. She told investigators that she was trying to “save” and “protect” her son from individuals that she thought were following the two of them with intent to harm them.

James, who was obsessed with conspiracy videos, had previously contacted the police to report that she was being followed by people in cars and automobiles. On the day that she killed her son, they were staying with Ryan’s father James Rosales, who later reported to police that he had been taking a shower when he smelled natural gas. In the kitchen, he found that the burners on the gas stove had all been turned on, but the pilot light was out. Rosales confronted James, who denied tampering with the stove. He noticed fresh scratches on her neck and immediately went to check on Ryan. He found his son unresponsive and cold. Rosales called authorities and then began CPR. Unfortunately, Ryan was unable to be revived. James later admitted that she had strangled her son with her bare hands. She said that she had prayed about it for awhile and then squeezed her hands around his neck until he was no longer breathing.

On July 30th, 2018, James was found not guilty by reason of insanity and mandated to a state mental hospital. She had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had demonstrated signs of severe mental distress up to, during and directly after killing her son. It was determined by court-appointed mental health professionals that she didn’t know the difference between right and wrong at the time that she killed her son. Because she was charged with first-degree murder, James could spend the rest of her life in a mental hospital.

4. Trick-or-Treat Murder

On Halloween night, 1957, 35-year-old Peter Fabiano opened the door, thinking that there would be a trick-or-treater on his doorstep. Instead, he was confronted with an adult in a Halloween costume clutching a brown paper bag. Before Fabiano could react to the strange sight, the masked individual shot him in the chest with a .22 pistol that was concealed in the bag. The unknown assailant then ran from the scene. Betty Fabiano ran to the door to find her husband unconscious, bleeding on the floor. He died on the way to the hospital.

At first, no one could determine a motive behind the killing of Peter Fabiano. He was a retired Marine and only had one brush with the law when he was younger. He and his wife lived quite comfortably off of the income earned from their L.A. salons.

It was just two weeks after the murder that investigators began to put the pieces together when they took a closer look at Joan Rabel, a photographer who had worked in the Fabiano’s salons. When questioned, she claimed that both of the Fabianos were very close friends of hers, but it was soon discovered that she was particularly close to Betty Fabiano.

The Fabianos had recently experienced some difficulties in their marriage, and Betty stayed with Rabel, resulting in their developing a close, possibly intimate relationship. Peter was jealous of Rabel, and when the married couple decided to try and reconcile, it was with the understanding that Betty would have no further contact with Rabel and wouldn’t even mention her name.

Rabel, not willing to accept that her relationship with Betty was over, began plotting the death of Peter. With the help of her friend Goldyne Pizer, Rabel spent months plotting the murder. Rabel filled Pizer’s head with terrible stories about Peter, describing him as a terrible, violent, hurtful person who deserved to die. The plan was in place. Pizer, dressed in a costume and mask, shot Peter in the chest on Halloween night.

Both Rabel and Pizer were arrested, but it was Pizer who first confessed to the killing, claiming that Rabel was the mastermind behind the murder. In 1958, both women were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to five years to life in prison. Pizer was released in 1971 and died at the age of 83 in 1998. It’s unknown what became of Rabel. It has been speculated that she either died while in prison or that she assumed a new identity after she was released.

3. Chris Jenkins

On Halloween, 2002, 21-year-old University of Minnesota student, Chris Jenkins left a party to go with some friends to the Lone Tree Bar and Grill to continue their Halloween celebration. They arrived at around 10:30 p.m., but Chris was thrown out of the bar at around 12:00 a.m. When he left, it was bitterly cold at around 20 degrees, and Chris had no coat, wearing an American Indian costume. He didn’t have his car keys, cell phone, or wallet. What happened to Chris that night remains a mystery.

Chris was reported missing, and his family was notified. Police officers speculated that he had attempted to walk home, crossing the Hennepin Avenue Bridge in the process. Investigators thought that he had taken off on his own after crossing the bridge. Chris’s parents Jan and Steve Jenkins didn’t believe that Chris would have taken off on his own. He was considered to be a responsible young adult and would have contacted someone if he was going to be away from home for any length of time. They requested that surveillance footage of the bridge be reviewed, and it was soon discovered that Chris had never actually crossed the bridge.

Four months later, Chris’s body was found in the Mississippi River. He was still dressed in his Indian costume. It was initially thought that his death had been an accident or a suicide because he was intoxicated on the night that he disappeared. However, his parents didn’t believe that Chris had died in this manner and insisted on a more in-depth investigation, resulting in his death being deemed a homicide in 2006.

The murder of Chris Jenkins remains unsolved, but there have been a couple of intriguing theories about what took place. A man who was in jail for an unrelated crime claimed to have witnessed Chris being thrown off of the bridge after an attempted robbery. This explanation would have been plausible but for the fact that there was no footage of this event captured on security cameras in the vicinity. Another popular theory is that Chris was a victim in the unsolved Smiley Face Murders. Approximately 40 male college students have died at the hands of this killer, all by drowning. Smiley face graffiti has been found near some of the victims of this killer, but there was no graffiti discovered near Chris Jenkins. His case remains open.

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