A composite of file photos of Miranda Barbour, Budd Dwyer and Gary Heidnik.

Compiled by Julia Hatmaker | jhatmaker@pennlive.com

Fact can be more horrifying than fiction.

That's what we learn when watching true crime shows and movies. And when it comes to crimes committed in Pennsylvania, there's plenty to inspire Hollywood.

Here are more than 20 dastardly crimes, heinous murders, horrifying scams and mystifying disappearances in Pennsylvania that have become movies, television shows and documentaries. They're presented in no particular order.

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Screen capture from "Lies of the Heart."

"Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg"

16-year-old Laurie Kellogg (played by Jennie Garth) falls in love with a much older and married man in this made-for-TV movie. He leaves his wife for her and the two begin a relationship and get married. But soon it becomes clear that the man is abusive and a cheater. Years later, Laurie teams up with a group of kids to drive 5 hours to let her confront her husband while he’s at a fishing cabin. The husband is killed by one of the teens, Kellogg is horrified and put on trial for the murder. She still maintains her love her for now-dead husband.

When we reviewed them film in 1994, PennLive’s Sharon Johnson called it “one of the more wretched examples of the sleazy telefilm.”

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Archival photo found by Deb Kiner | dkiner@pennlive.com.

The crime

Laurie Kellogg, along with four teens, murdered her husband Bruce Kellogg in June 1991. While Kellogg did not ultimately commit the act, it is believed she convinced admirer Denver McDowell to do so. McDowell was sentenced to 25 years in prison and is available for parole in 2018.

Kellogg has maintained her innocence, saying she insisted the teens drive her to New York (where her husband was) in an attempt to tell her husband she was leaving him. It is her version of events that “Lies of the Heart” is based on.

Bruce Kellogg’s relatives have stated they never saw signs that Laurie Kellogg was abused. Laurie Kellogg also told the court that she had had an affair. Witnesses came forward saying she had offered to pay them to kill her husband.

Kellogg was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kellogg was released from prison this year after New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron stated that holding her in prison any longer would be cruel and unusual punishment.

Read more on the crime.

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"Shenandoah"

High school football players killed an illegal Mexican immigrant in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania in a brutal attack in 2008. The case highlights the racial tensions in the town and eventually included an investigation by the FBI. This 2012 documentary is the tale of the crime, the effect it had on the town and an alleged cover-up attempt. It includes interviews with one of the attackers, Brian Scully, the fiance of the man killed, eye witnesses, the district attorney and more.

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Brandon Piekarsky is escorted into the Schuylkill County Courthouse in Pottsville, Pa., Monday, Aug. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The crime

On July 12, 2008, Brandon Piekarsky, Derrick Donchak, Colin Walsh and Brian Scully and others attacked Luis Ramirez outside of a community festival. As they beat Ramirez, racial epithets were shouted and he was told to go back to Mexico. After kicking Ramirez in the head, Piekarsky told a bystander to "tell your Mexican friends to get out of Shenandoah or you will be lying next to him."

Ramirez died of massive head injuries from the attack two days later. There was then an attempt to cover the crime up.

Eventually, Brian Scully admitted to taking part in the fight. He was ordered to spend 90 days in a juvenile treatment center. Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were convicted of violating Ramirez’s civil rights and given a nine-year prison sentence.Colin Walsh pled guilty to violating Ramirez’s civil rights and was sentenced to 55 months in prison. Former police-chief Matthew Nestor was sentenced to 13 months in prison for falsifying a police report about the attack.

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A photo from the wedding reception for Brian and Randi Trimble, from the Patriot-News archives.

"Appalachian Horror Film"

This episode of Investigation Discovery’s “American Monster” series was centered around the 2003 murder of Randi Trimble in Cumberland County. It’s title comes from the movie that Trimble’s husband and friend were making when they killed Trimble.

The episode, which is from 2016, is summarized on TV Guide as: "The story of Brian and Randi Trimble, whose marriage takes the ultimate hit after he and a co-worker, Blaine Norris, partner on a low-budget horror movie." The episode was condemned by Trimble's mother, Nancy Chavez who wrote a letter to the editor on PennLive.

"What compels the media to ignore the emotional toll it puts on me and many families when they 'recreate, using home video footage, personal accounts and dramatic reconstruction to explore the story of an unlikely killer?'" she wrote. "There should be no entertainment value here."

The story was also turned into an episode of Biography Channel's "Deadly Ambition" series in 2013. It also was made into a documentary by local Pennsylvania filmmakers called "Rough Cut" and was the subject of a 2006 episode of "Dateline NBC."

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The crime

Brian Trimble and Blaine Norris were horror movie enthusiasts who were working together on a low-budget movie in the genre in 2003. However, they ran into debt during the process and planned to murder Trimble’s wife, Randi, in an effort to claim her $100,000 insurance policy.

Norris ultimately committed the crime, waiting in Trimble’s East Pennsboro Township home for Randi Trimble to come home from work. He stabbed her 21 times and strangled her with electrical wire.

Brian Trimble was having dinner with friends at the time.

Randi Trimble was working two jobs to support the family, including Brian who had multiple sclerosis. He was ultimately given a life sentence for his role in the murder. Norris was also given a life sentence instead of the death penalty in exchange for admitting to killing Randi Trimble.

Nancy Chavez, Randi Trimble's mother, has gone on to found Randi's House of Angels which helps domestic violence victims and was named the 2012 Harrisburg Volunteer Citizen of the Year in honor of her tireless work to help those in need.

Read more about the crime.

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"Lucky Numbers"

John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow star in this 2000 comedy about a weatherman and a model in Harrisburg, Pa. who team up to scam the lottery in an effort to claim a $6.4 million jackpot. While the plan works, everything slowly begins to fall apart as people die and blackmail attempts are made.

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The crime

The inspiration for the film was the infamous 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal, which took place while the lottery was still being drawn in Pittsburgh. Lottery announcer and Pittsburgh broadcast veteran Nick Perry teamed up with lottery security official Edward Plevel to change the weight of the lottery’s ping pong balls in 1980. They added white latex paint to all the balls except for those labeled 4 and 6, so that only the 4 and 6 balls would be able to be drawn (the others would never make it high enough to be picked). They then, with a bunch of other accomplices, bought lottery tickets with those numbers. The winning combination ended up being 6-6-6.

After the scheme was discovered and Perry and Plevel were convicted, the lottery moved from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg and underwent a considerable amount of changes.

The scandal was also the subject of an episode of “Anything to Win” on the Game Show Network in 2006.

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"Foxcatcher"

Steve Carell stars as John Eleuthere du Pont, a multimillionaire who becomes obsessed with wrestling champions Mark and Dave Schultz, played by Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo respectively. He convinces the two to come to his Foxcatcher estate, just outside of Philadelphia, to train for the Olympics. Pressures build and tensions rise, leading to du Pont shooting and killing Dave Schultz in his own driveway. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards in 2015, including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.

The event also inspired ESPN film “The Prince of Pennsylvania” and the Netflix documentary “Team Foxcatcher.”

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Photo of John Eleuthere du Pont. CHRIS GARDNER, Associated Press.

The crime

John Eleuthere du Pont opened a state-of-the-art training center in 1986 on his Foxcatcher estate. It was meant to train Olympic wrestling champions and included on-site accommodation for those who were part of the team. Du Pont asked Mark Schultz to join the team and the two worked together from 1986 to 1988. In 1990, Mark Schultz’s brother, Dave, joined Team Foxcatcher.

After du Pont's mother died in 1988, he began to show paranoid behavior (going so far as to take away treadmills from the gym because he thought their timers were turning back time) and did a lot of drugs. In 1996, du Pont drove up to Dave Schultz's house. "You got a problem with me?" du Pont yelled through the car window. He then shot Schultz in the driveway. Schultz died in his wife's arms.

After shooting Shultz, du Pont barricaded himself in his mansion. Police laid siege to the place for two days before capturing du Pont when he left the mansion to fix his heat. Du Pont was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, found guilty of murder and ruled mentally ill (but not insane). He was sentenced to 13 to 30 years in prison. Du Pont died in prison in December 2010 at the age of 72.

Read more about the crime.

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"Echoes in the Darkness"

“Money. Sex. Madness.” That’s how “Echoes in the Darkness” is billed. The miniseries is based on the book of the same title by Joseph Wambaugh. It’s the story of the death of teacher Susan Reinert and her children by her lover and fellow teacher William Bradfield. In the film and in the book, Jay Smith, the former principal of the school Bradfield and Reinert taught at, was the mastermind of the plan.

Reinert’s murder was also featured in Investigation Discovery’s “Death by Gossip with Wendy Williams.”

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The crime

Susan Reinert was a Philadelphia-area English teacher whose naked body was found beaten, chained and stuffed in the trunk in her car at a Harrisburg-area parking lot in June 1979. Prior to her death she had taken a $730,000 life insurance policy out, with her lover, William Bradfield, as the sole beneficiary. She and Bradfield both taught at Upper Merion Area High School.

Her children are also believed to have been killed -- their bodies have never been discovered.

Bradfield was convicted of conspiring to commit the killings in 1983. He died in prison in 1998. Smith, who was a former principal at Upper Merion Area High School, was found guilty of the actual murder and was sentenced to death in 1986.

Smith’s conviction was overturned in 1992 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after an article by the late Pete Shellem in the Patriot-News, which detailed how the Joseph Wambaugh, writer of “Echoes in the Darkness” had offered the lead investigator in the case $50,000 for information on the condition that Smith was arrested and face court.

Smith continued to try and clear his name, including publishing a book, for the rest of his life. He died in 2009.

Read more about the crime.

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"Mrs. Soffel"

A married woman falls in love with a man sentenced to die in this 1984 dramatic love story starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. Keaton plays the titular Mrs. Soffel, the wife of a prison warden who becomes smitten with Ed Biddle. She goes on to help Biddle and his brother escape jail and joins them on the run before tragedy strikes.

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The crime

Ed and Jack Biddle were charged with murder in 1901, after a grocer was shot and killed. They were also believed to have led a gang that committed 27 burglaries early that year in Pittsburgh. The grocer had been killed after catching the thieves in the act.

The Biddles were sentenced to be hanged and were held for 60 days in Alleghany County Jail in Pittsburgh.

While in jail, Ed Biddle won over the heart of the warden’s wife, Kate Souffel, and convinced her of their innocence. She then smuggled the men saws and weapons in her petticoat, which eventually helped them escape on Jan. 30, 1902. Souffel fled with the brothers, all three fleeing by sleigh on their way to Canada. Police caught up with the group in Butler County and opened fire, fatally wounding both brothers. Soffel was hurt, but recovered from her wounds and was sentenced to two years in prison for helping the Biddles. Upon her release she became a dressmaker.

She died in 1909.

Read more on the case.

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Jack Black in "The Polka King"

"The Polka King"

Rocking a strong Polish accent and belting out polka tunes, Jack Black is Jan Lewan in this comedy which premiered at Sundance in 2017. The film follows Black through Lewan’s career highs and lows -- including a Ponzi scheme that ultimately landed him in jail. The film is based off the 2007 documentary “The Man Who Would Be Polka King” made for CourtTV. It also stars Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman and Jacki Weaver.

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The crime

Jan Lewan was the star of the American polka scene. The Hazelton man was a Grammy-winner and frequently performed at the Bethlehem Musikfest and Allentown Fair. He ran a ponzi scheme that took nearly $5 million from people in 21 different states. He was sentenced to six year in prison for his crimes and to repay $4.9 million to victims in 2004. After he was released in 2009 he was released from prison and returned to Hazelton.

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"Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer"

Former Pennsylvania State Treasurer made headlines when he shot himself at a news conference in 1987 after being convicted of accepting a $300,000 kickback. This 2010 documentary interviews Dwyer's family and makes the case for Dwyer's innocence, largely based on an interview with attorney William Smith who had testified against Dwyer. In the documentary, Smith says he lied about the bribe. It should be noted that he has changed his story about the case more than once. Former PennLive reporter David Dunkle called the film "relatively unconvincing as a legal expose," although he did add that it was a "compelling retrospective of one of the state's most sensational and sordid episodes."

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Budd Dwyer, moments before he shot himself in 1987. Photo by Gary Miller.

The crime

State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer committed suicide on Jan. 22, 1987 after being convicted of accepting a $300,000 bribe from the Computer Technology Associates of California in exchange for giving the company a state contract. The company would then be able to recover Social Security tax overpayments. Up until his death, Dwyer maintained his innocence. Dwyer's suicide was done at a press conference, the day before he was to be sentenced. There is still a bullet hole in the Treasury office.

Read more about the crime.

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"At Close Range"

Christopher Walken is “a man too dangerous to get close to” in this 1986 film. Walken plays Brad Whitewood Sr., the leader of an organized crime family in rural Pennsylvania. Sean Penn is his estranged son who tries to follow in his footsteps -- only to become one of his father’s own targets.

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The crime

Bruce Johnston Sr., along with his two brothers David and Norman Johnston, had a burglary ring in Chester County in the late 1970s that brought in millions of dollars.

Bruce Johnston Jr., aka Little Bruce, became the head of the family’s “Kiddie Gang,” which was a bunch of teen thieves. He testified against his father and the other gang leaders in 1977, after his father raped his girlfriend Robin Miller. Miller was 15 at the time. After catching wind that people were talking to the police, Miller was killed by the older Johnstons, as were four other members of the “Kiddie Gang.” One of those killed was Johnston Sr.’s stepson James Johnston.

The senior Johnston ordered a hit on his son, but Little Bruce survived despite being shot at least eight times.

Little Bruce’s testimony in court put the three bosses in jail. He went into the witness-protection program, only to face a felony drug-dealing charge in Lancaster County in 2013.

Johnston, Sr. died in state prison in 2002 at the age of 63. He was serving life sentences for six murders.

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"The Fear of 13"

In this 2016 documentary, Nick Yarris gives a one-man show, telling of his more than 20 years spent on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Yarris shares information about his childhood and how he first ran afoul of the law. He talks of his years in solitary confinement, a short-lived escape from prison and how he taught himself to read.

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The crime

Nick Yarris first entered prison when he was 20, after being accused of attempting to kidnap and murder a police officer. He was later acquitted of the crime. Before he went to trial for that, however, he told police he knew who had murdered Linda Mae Craig in an attempt to get out of jail. But he didn’t know and he had never met Craig. What is more, the person who he said had committed the crime was not dead, as he had originally thought, but alive and well. Yarris’ lie was exposed and he was charged with Craig’s murder and rape instead. He was convicted of both in 1982 and sentenced to death.

He remained there until 2003 -- with the exception of a short escape in 1985.

For 14 years he was in solitary confinement. During that time he took to reading, educating himself on the law and psychology. In 1988 he requested DNA testing (the first man on death row in the U.S. to do so). Numerous setbacks meant DNA testing on the evidence did not come in until 2003, at which point he was cleared of the crime. He was freed in 2004.

As of 2016, Yarris lived in England. He continues to campaign for the abolishment of the death penalty.

Craig’s murderers have not yet been found.

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This screen capture from "The Long Drive Home," an episode of Disappeared shows Michelle McMullen, right, along with an unidentified other woman.

"The Long Drive Home"

The story of Michelle McMullen got the Investigation Discovery treatment in 2010, with an episode titled “The Long Drive Home” in its “Disappeared” series. It aired a year after she left her six-year-old son with a friend and disappeared after stealing several thousand the church she worked at.

At the time of the show, there had been no updates on the case, so the show simply ended with McMullen’s car being found abandoned in Hagerstown, Md., with all of her personal possessions still inside. There was also a near-miss of McMullen in 2008 in West Virginia.

That changed after the show aired, when police received a tip from a viewer that led police to where McMullen was hiding out in California.

Her story was also featured on “America’s Most Wanted” in 2008.

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The crime

Michelle McMullen was sentenced in 2011 to 5-years probation for forgery and theft charges after stealing around $2,000 from Progress-Immanuel Presbyterian Church where she worked at as a secretary. She also was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution.

Police had sought after McMullen after the theft had been discovered in September 2008, but McMullen was nowhere to be found. She had dropped her six-year-old son off with a friend and driven her car to Maryland where she ran out of gas and left all of her belongings. She made her way to Martinsburg, West Virginia where she claimed to be a Hurricane Katrina victim named Monique Watson. She worked at the Knight’s Inn there, leaving in a hurry when a family friend recognized her. Police were tipped off, but missed her by minutes.

She moved to California where she posted as Liberia-native Danielle Jones and worked at an African hair salon and becoming close to the owner’s family.

But in January 2010, police received a tip from a viewer of “Disappeared” who recognized McMullen. They came by and took her in, returning her to Pennsylvania.

Read more about the crime.

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"Snapped: Killer Couples: Miranda and Elytte Barbour"

The crimes of satanists Miranda and Elytte Barbour are given a spotlight in a 2015 episode of Oxygen Channel’s “Snapped: Killer Couples.” The show uses a mix of dramatic reenactments, archival footage and interviews to tell the story of how the couple killed a man Miranda Barbour had agreed to meet via Craigslist in exchange for money.

The show follows the couple's relationship from its start until the couple was convicted of murder.

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Miranda Barbour in 2014. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

The crime

Miranda Barbour met Troy LaFerrara on Craigslist and arranged to meet him in November 2013 in exchange for $100. When they met up, LaFerrara got in her car where her husband, Elytte, was hiding underneath. They stopped in Sunbury where Miranda Barbour stabbed LaFerrara and Elytte Barbour kept him restrained by wrapping a television cable around his neck. After murdering LaFerrara they went to a strip club in Harrisburg to celebrate Elytte’s birthday.

Both pled guilty to the murder in 2014 and were sentenced to life in prison without parole. Since then, Miranda Barbour has claimed to be a serial killer, having murdered between 22 to 99 people in four different states over a period of six years. There has been no evidence to back up her claims.

In 2016, Miranda Barbour filed for divorce.

Read more about the crime.

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Adam Leroy Lane after he was arraigned. 05/21/2009 SEAN SIMMERS, The Patriot-News

"Live to Tell: Hunting Humans"

The special 2013 “48 Hours Mystery” opens with an attack on a 15-year-old girl in her bedroom in Massachusetts. The man responsible, Adam Lane, was a truck driver, with a DVD titled “Hunting Humans” in his truck cabin. He’s stopped by her parents and captured by the police.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the Massachusetts attack is not Lane’s first. The show goes into Lane’s other victims, two of whom were murdered.

Lane’s story has also been the subject of a 2009 Dateline NBC episode, the 2011 episode “Murder on Main Street” of Investigation Discovery series “Nightmare Next Door.” It was also in an episode of the Investigation Discovery 2016 series “The Coroner.”

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The crime

North Carolina truck driver Adam Leroy Lane cut Darlene Ewalt’s throat in July 2007 as she stood talking on the phone on the patio of her West Hanover Twp. home. Days later, he attacked Patricia Brooks at her home in Conewago Twp., slashing her neck and shoulder with a knife. More than ten days later, Lane broke into Monica Massaro’s home in Bloomsbury, New Jersey and slit her throat. Early the next morning he’s arrested after attacking 15-year-old Shea McDonough. Her parents restrained him until police arrived. The knife he was welding was still stained with Ewalt’s blood.

In 2010, Lane was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Massachusetts for attacking Shea McDonough. He was given 50 years in prison in New Jersey for murdering Monica Massaro. He was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison in Pennsylvania for attacking Patricia Brooks in York County. He was sentenced to life in 2010 for the murder of Ewalt.

Read more about the crime.

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"Kids for Cash"

A judge sentenced thousands of children and teens to time in juvenile prisons for the most minor of infractions. In return he received millions of dollars in kick-backs from the prison owners. That's the scandal at the center of this 2014 documentary, which includes interviews with the judge, the victims and the family member of victims. It was called "a scathing critique of America's juvenile justice system, the privatization of penal institutions and the whole notion of 'zero tolerance'" by Variety.

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Sandy Fonzo confronts former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella outside the federal courthouse in Scranton Pa., on Feb. 18, after he was convicted of racketeering in a multimillion dollar extortion-and-bribery plot to send youth offenders to for-profit detention centers. Fonzo's son, who was jailed when he was 17 by Ciavarella, committed suicide last year at the age of 23. (AP Photo/The ScrantonTimes-Tribune, Michael J. Mullen, file)

The crime

The complaints began in 2007, as parents in Luzerne County protested that their kids were being sentenced to time at for-profit detention centers without having any legal representation. The crimes committed ranged from a 12-year-old who cursed at someone’s mother to a 14-year-old who created a parody Myspace page about her school’s vice principal.

In 2011, ex-judge Mark Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison and ex-judge Michael Conahan was sentenced to 17.5 years for taking $2.6 million for imprisoning kids from developers of for-profit detention centers. In 2015, the owner of the detention centers, Robert J. Powell, was sentenced to 18 months for his role in paying the judges (which he testified that he was forced to do in order to get their support for his centers). He was ordered to pay $4.75 million to victims.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court voided 4,000 juvenile convictions as a result of the scandal.

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"Playing Doctor"

Mixing dramatic reenactments and interviews, Investigation Discovery's "Web of Lies" series tells the story of a serial sexual predator who found his victims using a Match.com profile. The episode is titled "Playing Doctor" and first aired March 21, 2017 on the channel. The episode includes with two of his victims, the special prosecutor devoted to the case, an FBI agent and a lieutenant with the Special Victims unit.

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The crime

Nursing school dropout Jeffrey Marsalis was convicted in 2009 for sexually assaulting a woman in 2005 in Idaho. It wasn’t the first time Marsalis had done so -- in 2006 he was accused of assaulting 10 women in Philadelphia, luring them in with a Match.com profile where he went by “Dr. Jeff.” He said he was a CIA agent whose cover was being a doctor.

After taking them on a date, Marsalis would drug the women. The women all claimed to being raped after this, although Marsalis would be acquitted from those rape charges (but convicted on two counts of sexual assault) in Philadelphia because the victims reengaged with him.

Marsalis was sentenced to life in prison in Idaho for the 2005 rape. He was extradited to the state while serving 21-years in Pennsylvania.

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"Amish Grace"

A man walks into an Amish school house and opens fire before killing himself in Nickel Mines. Yet, despite the horrific nature of the crime, the Amish community comes forward to embrace the gunman’s widow and extend their forgiveness. The 2010 Lifetime movie about the Nickel Mines shootings drew criticism upon its premiere. The authors of the book upon which it was based, declined to assist with the film and gave their portion of the film rights to a nonprofit. The characters depicted in the film are fictional, an amalgamation of real people and personalities.

Read more about the film and the community’s reaction.

The shooting was also the subject of a 2015 play and a 2016 stage musical.

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This is the cemetery were the victims of the Oct. 2, 2006 West Nickel Mines School shooting are buried, just south of Nickel Mines, Pa., Oct. 1, 2015. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

The crime

In Oct. 2006, milk truck driver Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines Amish School in Lancaster County. He ordered the boy students to leave and then shot 10 girls, five of whom died. He then shot himself.

The Amish community reached out Roberts’ family that day to express their forgiveness

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A tribute to the Haines family outside of their home in 2007. Christine Baker for PennLive.com

"The Perfect Family"

When a family is murdered in their homes, the police are immediately on the case. The family’s daughter is the sole survivor -- but as it turns out she’s only a few years older than the murderer, who was her brother’s best friend.

This 2012 episode of Investigation Discovery Channel’s “Unusual Suspects” delves into the Haines family murders. The crime was also the subject of a 2014 episode of the A&E series “Killer Kids” and an episode of the Investigation Discovery series “Nightmare Next Door.”

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The crime

A motive was never given for why Alec Kreider killed the Haines family. He was 16 when he entered their Manheim Township home and stabbed Thomas and Lisa Haines as well as his friend Kevin Haines. The Haines’ daughter, Margaret Haines, survived the attack. She woke up in the midst of the murders and ran to get help.

Kreider confessed to his father that he had killed the Haines weeks later. His father then told the police.

Kreider was sentenced to three life sentences in 2008 for the murders of the Haines, but was one of the juveniles set to have his sentence reviewed. He killed himself while in prison in 2017.

Read more on the crime.

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"Blind Faith"

This fictional 1989 direct-to-video film is based on the crimes of Gary Heidnik, who kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered women in his Philadelphia home. It follows a detective and criminal psychologist investigating the case of the fictional criminal Ted Partridge. The character of Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs” was inspired, in part, by Heidnik.

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Gary Heidnik is led to court at Philadelphia's City Hall in this April 1, 1987, Associated Press file photo, for a preliminary hearing on the charge of murdering Deborah Dudley.

The crime

Gary Heidnik held six women captive in his home, keeping them in a hole in his basement starting in 1986. There he raped and tortured them. He killed two of the women, one through electrocution and the other by leaving her hanging by her arms until she fainted from exhaustion. He dismembered one of the women, cooked her ribs and boiled her head.

In March 1987 one of the women escaped and alerted authorities. Officers arrested Heidnik and rescued the women.

Heidnik was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and rape. He claimed to be innocent until he died, although he did refuse to appeal his case. He executed in July 1999. He is the last person to be executed in Pa. thus far.

Read more about the crime.

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"Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father"

Kurt Kuenne's childhood friend Andrew Bagby was murdered by an ex-lover in 2001. As time went on, the ex-lover revealed she was pregnant with Bagby's baby, a boy who would be named Zachary.. Kuenne set about making this documentary in an effort to introduce Bagby to the son he would never meet. The film was released in 2008 and was praised in The New Yorker for putting the victim of the crime first.

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The crime

Dr. Andrew Bagby was shot and killed by Dr. Shirley Turner in 2001, days after Bagby had broken up with her and put her on a flight to Iowa. Turner had driven back to Pennsylvania and requested to meet him at Keystone State Park. There she shot him, returned to Iowa then fled to Canada, where she was a citizen. Months later she gave birth to Bagby’s son, Zachary.

In Canada she was allowed to roam free and have custody over Zachary while she fought against extradition. According to records, Turner had a history of emotional problems and had been under the care of four different psychiatrists during her life.

In 2003, a judge made extradition possible so Turner could be tried for Bagby’s murder. Two months later, Turner grabbed hold of her 13-month-old son and jumped into Conception Bay, killing them both.

In 2010, the Canadian parliament bassed a bill that gave courts the ability to refuse bail to those charged with serious crimes if it would protect children.

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A trunk said to contain the body of Helen "Holly" Maddux, is carried from an Philadelphia apartment building in this 1979 Associated Press file photo.

"The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer"

Naomi Watts plays a Texas woman killed by her hippie boyfriend in this 1999 made-for-TV movie. The film focuses on the relationship between Holly Maddux (Watts) and Ira Einhorn (which means “one horn” in German and is thus the inspiration for the title) Einhorn is played by Kevin Anderson. The two date in the 1970s but in 1977, Maddux goes missing. It isn’t until more than a year later that her body is found decomposing in a truck in her boyfriend’s apartment. The film follows Einhorn as he flees to Europe and marries -- but is eventually extradited back to the U.S.

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The crime

In 1977, Ira Einhorn killed his girlfriend, Holly Maddux and stuffed her body in a trunk and put it in the closet. He left her there for 18 months.

In 1978, a private investigator hired by Maddux’s family investigated Einhorn regarding her disappearance. They gathered enough evidence for police to get a warrant to search the apartment, where they found Maddux’s mummified corpse.

He was to be tried in 1981, but instead fled the country, eventually moving to France and going by the name Eugene Mallon. In 1993 he was tried in-absentia, found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Einhorn was extradited back to the United States in 2001. He was sentenced again to life without parole in prison in 2002.

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Lisa Michelle Lambert leaves her lawyer's office in Philadelphia in this April 24, 1997, Associated Press file photo. (AP Photo/Sabina Louise Pierce)

"The Stalking of Laurie Show"

A teen is murdered after unwillingly being roped into a high school love triangle in this 2000 USA Network film, which takes dramatic license in telling the story of the real-life murder of Laurie Show. The movie tells of how Lisa Michelle Lambert became convinced that the Lancaster County-teen was involved with her boyfriend, proceeded to stalk her and ultimately slit Show's throat. It was criticized for its acting, excessive violence and inaccuracy.

The film is also known as “Rivals” outside of the United States.

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The crime

In the early 1990s Lisa Michelle Lambert was friends with Laurie Show and dating Lawrence Yunkin. Lambert and Yunkin broke up and during that time Yunkin began dating Show. Then Yunkin and Show broke up and Yunkin resumed his romance with Lambert.

Lambert became convinced Show was trying to steal her paramour. She began stalking and harassing Show.

In Dec. 1991, Lambert and her friend Tabitha Buck attacked Show in her home. Lambert cut Show’s throat, killing her, while Buck held Laurie’s legs down. Yunkin drove Buck and Lambert to and from the scene and helped dispose of evidence.

Lambert and Buck were sentenced to life in prison in 1992. Yunkin was sentenced to 10 to 20 years. He was released in 2003.

Lambert was temporarily freed in 1997 when a U.S. district judge declared her innocent, stating there was a good amount of prosecutorial misconduct concerning the case. That ruling was overturned nearly 10 months later and Lambert was brought back to prison.

Lambert has continued to maintain her innocence and appeal her convention, saying she was framed. She wrote a book in 2016 titled “Love, Murder, and Corruption in Lancaster County: My Story.”

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The Disappearance of Kortne Stouffer Retrace what happened just before the disappearance of Kortne Stouffer. The new episode begins Sunday at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery. Posted by Disappeared on Friday, April 7, 2017

"Spirited Away"

After a night of drinking and partying, 21-year-old Kourtne Stouffer disappears from her bedroom in Palmyra. That's the focus of this "Disappeared" episode on the Investigation Discovery network. The show features re-enactments of the evening's events as well as interviews with Stouffer's parents and employer. It aired on April 9, 2017.

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The crime

This one is not a crime, per se. Stouffer was last seen on July 29, 2012. Earlier, a party at her house had ended when police showed up and arrested her boyfriend for violating his probation. Later she had got into a fight at a Second St. bar and, even later, with neighbors in Palmyra. Police were called for the last one, and stayed until 3:50 a.m. only to be called back at within a half hour after Stouffer supposedly stomped on the floor of her apartment. Police knocked on the door after the last call, but received no answer.

A friend had stayed over with Stouffer and when he woke up that morning he didn’t see Stouffer.

She hasn’t been seen since and all leads have amounted to nothing. Her family fears she may be dead.

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The Coroner :30 Coroner Graham Hetrick uncovers the secrets of the dead to solve the most shocking murder cases and complex forensic investigations in Pennsylvania. THE CORONER: I SPEAK FOR THE DEAD premieres on Investigation Discovery (ID) Monday, July 18 at 10/9c. Posted by Play Creative TV on Wednesday, June 29, 2016

"The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead"

Multiple murders in Dauphin County have been given the small screen treatment in Investigation Discovery’s “The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead,” an eight-part series centered around cases conducted by Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick.

The show features dramatic re-creations of events, interviews with those involved and commentary from Hetrick regarding how the crime was solved. Names are sometimes changed, Hetrick told PennLive in 2017.

The first season included episodes devoted to the murders of Iris Fennel Belcher (killed in 1996 by an ex-boyfriend), Sue Behrens (killed in 1992 by a housekeeper at the motel she worked at) and Jewel Schirmer (killed in 1999 by her husband).

The series has been picked up for a second season, which will have 10 episodes.

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