15 Christmas True Crime Stories for All you Little Freaks Out There

15 Christmas True Crime Murders and Disappearances

The Johnston Holiday Party Murder – Solved

1894

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1894

Deceased: 1

A couple of friends, John and Amy Johnston are hosting a Christmas dinner party, and invite Daniel Herron and his wife as guests. All things are going well, everyone is merry and bright, until an argument breaks out between Daniel and John, whereby Daniel Herron attempts to shoot John in a fit of anger. Amy Johnston gets caught in the line of fire (trying to protect her husband?), and gets injured by the gunshot. She dies soon after and Daniel Herron is arrested for manslaughter. 

Motive: Drunken friends fighting lead to party guest Daniel Herron attempting to shoot the host of the party John Johnston. 

The Wholaver Murders – Solved

December 24, 2002

Middletown, Pennsylvania

Deceased: 3

Fast forward a century later and a three hour drive away to Middleton, Pennsylvania, where a violent Christmas Eve would forever change the Wholaver family. Ernest Wholaver Jr, who is a convicted child molester and pedophile, assaulted both his daughters prior to the murder,  broke into his former home with the help of his brother and killed his wife and daughters. He now sits on death row with any appeals at the state level being exhausted, while his brother is also currently serving a 12-25 year sentence for his help in the crime.

Podcast and Episode: 

• Tequila, Lime, and Everything Crime, Dec 22, 2020
• Real Time Crime, Episode #8
• Not Your Normal Murder, Episode #52

The Dallas Christmas Killings – Solved

Christmas Day, 2011

Dallas, Texas

Deceased: 7 

A father, who dressed as Santa Claus, went to his home where his family was holding a Christmas party. Using the two guns he brought with him, he executed his entire family and then killed himself. 

Motive: The killer, Azizolah “Bob” Yazdanpanah, was under financial and marital stress and the holiday’s triggered these feelings of rage, however the motive will never be fully known.

Podcast and Episode: 

• Murder Dictionary, Jan 6, 2020

The Missing Sodder Children – Unsolved

Christmas Eve, 1945

Fayetteville, West Virginia

Deceased: 5?

A mysterious fire destroyed the home of George and Jennie Sodder while they slept on Christmas Eve, 1945. George and Jennie and four of their children managed to escape but the other five children were never seen again. A series of unfortunate obstacles prevented George from attempting to rescue his children, ladder missing, vehicles not starting, and windows not opening, and no operator being on duty that night at the fire hall. No remains of the children were ever found and grief stricken George and Jennie Sodder searched relentlessly for their missing children, exploring numerous leads, conducting their own investigations, and maintaining a billboard for the missing children along a highway in West Virginia. 

Motive: A possible explanation (out of several) is that George was an outspoken critic of Benito Mussolini and fascism which made him a target of the Sicilian mafia (since George was originally from Italy).

Podcast and Episode: 

• Casefile True Crime, Case 192
• Crime Junkie Podcast, Episode 
• Red Web, Case #30

Deadly Chinese Food Delivery – Unsolved

December 23, 1993

Blackhill, County Durham, UK

Deceased: 1

Paul Logan worked as a delivery driver for a Chinese restaurant in Blackhill, County Durham and was called out to deliver food to Blue House Farm on December 23, 1993. He was told when he arrived that no one had ordered food. His bludgeoned body was later found in an area of farmland close to his vehicle parked at the end of the lane leading toward the farm. The killer or killers have not been found and the family is still hoping for information about what happened or someone who knows what happened to come forward. 

Podcast and Episode: 

• Everyone Dies in Sunderland, 
• “It’s 1993 and Mr Blobby cannot be killed with conventional weapons (The murder of Paul Logan)”

The Ashland Tragedy: Murder, a Mob and a Militia in Kentucky – Solved

December 23, 1881

Ashland, Kentucky

Deceased: 3

Just before Christmas 1881, a horrible series of events occured in Ashland, Kentucky. A home owned by the Gibbons family was found ablaze in the early hours of Christmas Eve, and upon further investigation three dead bodies were found, those of Fannie Gibbons, her brother Robert, and their next-door neighbor Emma Thomas. However, these individuals were brutally murdered in the Gibbons home before the fire. Three men ended up convicted of the crime, a bricklayer named George Ellis who confessed to the crime,and his coworkers William Neal and Ellis Craft whom he named as accomplices. But the story doesn’t end with the conviction and sentencing of the accused. Following the conviction of George Ellis to life in prison, a vigilante mob would encounter a militia group of the governors in a showdown that shook this small town and has become one of the darkest chapters in Kentucky history. 

Podcast and Episode: 

• Once Upon A Crime, Episode 23

Bloody Christmas 

Christmas Eve, 1951

Los Angeles, California

A police force undergoing reforms that began in 1938 to raise the entrance standards, training, and pay for LAPD police officers was not able to quell the deteriorating relations with the Mexican American community and improve perceptions of crime on behalf of this community. The strong anti-Mexican sentiment led to racial profiling and often violent encounters between police responding to calls involving Mexican Americans, regardless of their innocence. On this particular Christmas, LAPD officers assaulted a group of men in Riverside which led to the arrests of these men hours later at their homes. LAPD Officers attending a department Christmas party caught wind of the fight and 50 of these officers took it upon themselves to avenge their fellow officers by inflicting severe beatings on 6 prisoners for over 90 minutes, causing major injuries on the arrested men from earlier that evening. There was a cover-up, internal investigation and eventual grand jury hearing into those involved and the LAPD, without much effect. 

Podcast and Episode: 

• A Few Bad Apples ( – December 2021)

Video:

• A version of this incident is recounted in the 2011 film,  L.A. Confidential. It is a major scene in the movie and ties into the character development of Russell Crowe’s character, Bud White. Not a Christmas movie per se, but also a Christmas movie that’s worth watching this holiday season 

Never Talk About Religion, Politics and Sex – Solved

Christmas Day, 1885

Magnum, Texas

The braggadocious trio of Jack Doyle, Don Sullivan, and Buck Hannon led to hurt feelings when insults began involving Jack Doyle’s wife and Don Sullivan. A fight ensued, and Doyle shot Sullivan dead with his revolver. But good old Buck Hannon avenged Sullivan by following Doyle back to his hotel where he shot and killed him. Since this was the late 1800’s, no Western stick-up would be complete without the guilty jumping on his trusty steed and escaping the Texas town on horseback like Buck Hannon did, riding off into the sunset (more or less). 

The Lawson Family Murders – Solved

Christmas Day, 1929

Germanton, North Carolina

Deceased: 8 

Charlie Lawson was a farmer who lived with his wife and 7 children in Germanton, North Carolina. Christmas 1929 would be their last day together. Prior to Christmas, Charlie took his family into town for new clothes and a holiday family portrait, but despite this otherwise enjoyable pre-Christmas outing, the family would not live beyond Christmas Day. Charles Lawson murdered his wife and 6 of his 7 children in a tragic, cold blooded killing spree that resulted in killing himself afterwards. Their eldest son,16 year old Arthur, was spared only because he had gone to spend time with a friend. The Lawson family was found by extended family who had come to visit on Christmas Day. 

Motive: No one knows the motive for Lawson’s murder spree though some speculate he may have been having an incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter Marie, and that she might have been pregnant with his child.

Podcast and Episode: 

• Morbid, Episode 29
• Once Upon a Crime, Episode 24
• Criminal, Episode 25 “The Portrait”

The Thing About Pam – Solved

December 27, 2011

Troy, Missouri

Russ Faria came home from a game night two days following Christmas to find his wife, Betsy, dead. He was charged and convicted of her murder, despite his protests of innocence. But what looked like a signed and sealed case was only the beginning of what was a diabolical scheme that set off a chain of events leaving one man dead and another implicated.Truth is stranger than fiction. This original series from Keith Morrison and Dateline defies all expectations.

Podcast and Episode: 

• The Thing About Pam, 9 Episodes Sept 6, 18, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27 2019 and July 28, 2021 and December 6, 2021

Video:

• Dateline NBC 5 episodes airing from 2014 – 2019

The Murder of Margaret Bell – Solved

Christmas Day, 1901

Brooklyn, New York

Deceased: 2

A story of suspected infidelity and jealousy. Although John Bell and his wife Margaret were married 15 years when Margaret found out she was pregnant, John didn’t believe the baby was his. He had no evidence that Margaret had been unfaithful to him but proceeded to vent his suspicions by verbally abusing, threatening, and bullying his wife. John had become so embroiled in his distrust and jealous thoughts that he confronted Margaret with a gun, intending to kill her, then himself. Margaret desperately tried to defend herself and her unborn child, but John fired his gun and shot Margaret through the left eye. John then became so overwhelmed by guilt went outside to confess his crime to a policeman.

The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey – Unsolved

Christmas Day, 1996

Boulder, Colorado

Deceased: 1

The murder of a child is especially shocking and devastating no matter the time of year. In 1996 a six-year-old girl named JonBenét, popular on the beauty pageants circuit, had her life taken from her at some point in the early hours of Christmas Day. Her death consumed headlines for weeks and months following Christmas and there have been hundreds of books, TV documentaries, and articles written about what has happened and what people speculate happened since her murder has never been solved. 

Podcast and Episode: 

• Undercover Coven, Episode 57
• Timesuck with Dan Cummins, Episode 158
• Last Podcast on the Left, Episodes 167 – 168

Video: 

• Perfect Murder, Perfect Town

America’s Largest Mass Murder of Family Members (Familicide) – Solved

December 22, 26, 1987

Dover, Arkansas

December 28, 1987

Russellville, Arkansas

Deceased: 16

America experienced it’s largest mass murdering of family members in the days surrounding Christmas 1987. The deliberate and gruesome killings of 14 members of the Simmons family by Ronald Gene Simmons Sr., followed by the murders of two other individuals and the wounding of four more innocent people during his rampage killing spree on December 22, 26 and 28, 1987 was a monstrous tragedy. Simmons was charged with 16 counts of murder, found guilty, sentenced to death and executed in 1990.

Podcast and Episode:

• This is Monsters,  December 23, 2020
• True Crime Dropouts, Episode #54
• True Crime All The Time, December 21, 2020

The “Stagger Lee” Murder – Solved

Christmas, 1895

St. Louis, Missouri

Deceased: 1

Lee Shelton was a pimp and gambler who became part of folklore for murdering Billy Lyons over an aparent theft of a Stetson cowboy hat. On Christmas night, 1895, Shelton and Lyons were both drinking heavily inside a saloon, where they got into a heated political argument. William “Billy” Lyons was said to have grabbed Shelton’s Stetson hat off his head and refused to give it back. Shelton proceeded to shoot Lyon’s in the stomach, retrieved his hat, and walked away.  Shelton was arrested a short time later as Billy Lyons would die from his injuries.  Shelton died from tuberculosis in 1912 after spending a combined 15 years in prison. The 1895 murder of Bill Lyons by Lee Shelton was the inspiration behind the popular song “Stagger Lee.” 

Podcast and Episodes: 

• Murder Ballads, Stagger Lee, Nov 2020

The Santa of Covina – Solved

Christmas Eve, 2008

Los Angeles, California

Deceased: 10

A week after Bruce Pardo’s divorce was finalized, a week before Christmas 2008, he went to his former in-laws home with intentions to harm his ex-wife Sylvia and her family. The most disturbing part of this plan was that he showed up to the house dressed as Santa Claus and when an eight-year-old girl answered the door he shot her in the face. He proceeded to shoot a total of nine members of the family before setting the house on fire injuring several others before running away and ending his life at his brother’s house after suffering severe burns in the house explosion. 

Podcast and Episode: 

• Morbid: A True Crime Podcast Episode #107
• East Coast Creepin’, Episode #28
• Cruel Tea, The Tragic Covina Massacre

Murder in Madison – Solved

Christmas Day, 1977

Madison, Wisconsin

Deceased: 1 

A man leads police to a body buried in a snowbank on Christmas Day, 1977. This murder in Madison, Wisconsin, would captivate the public with a tale of sex, murder, drugs and money.   

Podcast and Episode: True Crime, Episode #25