10 Bizarre Cases of Killer Seniors

They say murder is a young person’s game. Think again. Court records are full of murderous Methuselahs, senile slashers, and wrinkled reapers. Sometimes they kill out of mental illness; other times, dementia. Some become violent after strokes. Others may be scam victims fighting for survival. A few start early and evade detection well into their golden years. One thing is certain: when the elderly kill, there is always a strange tale to be told.

Related: 10 Facts of the Murder Trial That Launched the True Crime Trend

10 Granny Ripper

On July 28, 2015, St. Petersburg police arrested 68-year-old Tamara Samsonova, suspected of multiple killings—and even cannibalism. Security footage showed her lugging plastic bags out of her apartment building in the small hours. Inside one: the headless torso of 79-year-old Valentina Ulanova, wrapped in a shower curtain. Investigators believe Samsonova temporarily lived with Ulanova as a caretaker. They also suspected her in other deaths, including neighbors, tenants, and even her husband, who vanished a decade earlier.

When police searched her apartment, they found a bloody hacksaw, books on black magic, and a diary written in Russian, German, and English. Officials said it described her drugging victims with sleeping pills before hacking them apart and even hinted at cannibalism, with a “relish for the lungs.” In court, Samsonova blew kisses to reporters and claimed: “I’m haunted by a maniac upstairs who forced me to kill.” In 2017, a St. Petersburg court ordered her to compulsory psychiatric treatment.^[1]

9 Centenarian Slaughter

In April 2015, New Jersey prosecutors announced a case that shocked the nation: 100-year-old Michael Juskin hacked his 88-year-old wife, Rosalia, to death with an ax before killing himself. Juskin was discovered in the bathroom with self-inflicted knife wounds, while his wife was found in bed, killed as she slept.

Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli said the couple had a “history of domestic issues.” Police noted one prior report from 2013 for non-violent “domestic harassment.” The motive remains a mystery. Relatives who couldn’t reach the couple conducted a welfare check and stumbled on the grisly scene. Juskin may be the oldest person accused of homicide in U.S. history.^[2]

8 Deranged Dementia Patient

Nina Kravtsov survived the Holocaust only to fall victim to a 95-year-old dementia patient. On September 17, 2025, authorities charged Galina Smirnova with bludgeoning her roommate to death at Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Coney Island. Investigators allege Smirnova used a wheelchair pedal to beat the 89-year-old. A nurse’s aide found “blood all over the room.” Smirnova was discovered washing up in the bathroom. The pedals had been ripped from a wheelchair—one discarded out the window, the other stained in blood. Kravtsov lay motionless with a gash to her head and was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m.

Family lawyer Randy Zelin said dementia can trigger violent outbursts. Still, Smirnova’s attempt to wash up and discard the weapon suggested some awareness. He argued that a dementia patient should not have been placed in an unfamiliar setting without proper supervision. Smirnova had been at Seagate only two days. She was later confined at Bellevue Hospital’s jail ward.^[3]

7 Ray and Faye Copeland

On August 20, 1989, Missouri police got a tip about human bones on the property of Ray (75) and Faye Copeland (68). They found four victims in shallow graves in a barn and a fifth weighted with chains at the bottom of a 30-foot (9.1 m) well. Each victim—farmhands who had worked for the Copelands—was shot in the back of the head. A ledger found in the home listed workers’ names; 12 were marked with X’s. Investigators also discovered a quilt made from a victim’s clothing.

Ray Copeland had been running livestock scams with bad checks. After being banned from auctions, he hired drifters, set up bank accounts in their names, and used them to continue the fraud. When workers caught on, the Copelands silenced them permanently. Police later tied a .22 caliber rifle from the house to the murders.^[4]

6 Retirement Home Reaper

On July 5, 2025, police arrived at Leisure World, a Maryland retirement community, expecting a medical call. Instead, they found 78-year-old Beverly Fletcher dead from multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma. A hammer was pressed against her throat, and a knife and screwdriver lay caked in blood nearby.

Inside was her husband, 80-year-old Vivian Stewart Nation, who waived his Miranda rights. He admitted to shoving Fletcher during an argument about his doctor. When she fell, he pressed a hammer to her neck and choked her. Investigators noted that Nation had only two prior minor arrests—an open container charge in 1999 and a DWI in 2009. Prosecutors speculated his strokes may have triggered the uncharacteristic violence. The couple had been married for 13 years.^[5]

5 Grandparent Scam Gone Wrong

On March 25, 2024, 81-year-old William Brock received a scam call claiming to be from his grandson’s friend. The caller spun a tale of a car crash involving a pregnant woman and demanded $12,000 for bail. When Brock resisted, the caller threatened drones and violence against his family.

Soon, Uber driver Loletha Hall, 61, arrived at Brock’s home in South Charleston, Ohio, to collect the supposed money drop. Believing she was part of the scam, Brock confronted her with a gun. He shot her in the leg when she tried to flee, then twice more during a struggle. Hall died at a hospital later that day. Authorities later determined Hall had been duped into the errand herself. Brock was arrested and charged with murder, assault, and kidnapping.

In 2025, Hall’s estate filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. Authorities say “grandparent scams” have surged in recent years thanks to online access to personal data, with tragic consequences like this case.^[6]

4 Holocaust Memorial Mayhem

On June 10, 2009, 88-year-old James Wenneker von Brunn walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and opened fire. Security guard Stephen T. Johns was shot through the chest and later died at George Washington University Hospital. Other guards returned fire, wounding von Brunn in the face.

Von Brunn was a longtime white supremacist who ran a Holocaust-denial website and authored a conspiracy book. His record included a 1983 armed attempt to kidnap Federal Reserve officials and earlier weapons arrests. At the time of the museum shooting, prosecutors said he had destroyed family ties, was homeless, and viewed himself as a martyr with nothing left to lose.^[7]

3 Handyman Homicide

On January 23, 2021, Brooklyn handyman Kevin Gavin, 66, confessed to killing three elderly women in his Carter G. Woodson senior housing complex. The first, Myrtle McKinney (92), was stabbed in 2015. In 2019, he choked Jacolia James (83). In 2021, he strangled Juanita Caballero (78) with a telephone cord. Surveillance footage showed him using one victim’s credit and benefit cards, and DNA linked him to James’s murder.

Gavin admitted he killed after money-related arguments with residents for whom he ran errands. His record included weapons, drug, and burglary arrests. Residents blamed lax security cameras; NYCHA had promised more surveillance but failed to follow through. The DA later described Gavin as a serial killer who preyed on the vulnerable.^[8]

2 Baba Anujka

At the turn of the 20th century, one of Europe’s most feared poisoners was a Serbian grandmother known as Baba Anujka, or the “Banat Witch.” She is suspected of killing as many as 150 people with her arsenic- and mercury-laced “potions,” sold as miracle cures to get rid of unwanted spouses or rivals. Victims often died within eight days, and grieving families rarely requested autopsies.

Her downfall came in 1928, when she let her assistant prepare a weak batch, allowing the victim to survive long enough to see a doctor. In court, a woman testified against her, prompting the 92-year-old to slap the witness. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released in 1936 at age 100. She remains one of the most notorious serial killers in the Balkans.^[9]

1 America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer

In 2019, the FBI declared Samuel Little the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Between 1970 and 2005, Little claimed 93 victims, nearly all women. Investigators have confirmed 57 of those cases, with the rest considered credible. His final known victim, Nancy Carol Stevens, 46, was killed in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 2005, when Little was 65.

Texas Ranger James Holland interviewed Little for more than 650 hours, confirming dozens of confessions. Holland recalled that Little’s massive hands were “the size of shovels”—his weapon of choice. FBI analysts say his victims, often marginalized women, were frequently misclassified as overdoses, accidents, or undetermined deaths, which allowed him to keep killing for decades. Tupelo investigator Lt. Scotty Reedy admitted, “I don’t know if we ever would have solved it if he hadn’t confessed.”^[10]