Baby M

Mary Beth Whitehead

This is not a crime, per say, but an interesting true story of surrogacy gone wrong. In 1985, Mary Beth Whitehead agreed to be a surrogate mother for Bill and Betsy Stern by artificial insemination. On March 27th, 1986, "Baby M" was born. Mary Beth decided she wanted to keep the baby, whom she called "Sara", while the Sterns named her "Melissa". She ended up kidnapping the baby during a long custody battle. The Sterns were awarded custody of Melissa, and Betsy Stern was allowed to adopt her. However, Betsy Stern's adoption of the baby was overturned by the Supreme Court of New Jersey and Mary Beth Whitehead was allowed visitation rights. When Melissa turned 18, she terminated Mary Beth's parental rights and formalized Betsy Stern's maternity through adoption proceedings.

Betsy and Bill Stern

Baby M

Melissa Stern (around age 8)

In 1988 he case was turned into a movie, Baby M, starring JoBeth Williams as Mary Beth Whitehead, John Shea as Bill Stern and Robin Strasser as Betsy Stern.

JoBeth Williams as Mary Beth Whitehead

John Shea and Robin Strasser as Bill and Betsy Stern

This movie is very emotionally gripping. You feel for Mary Beth and you feel for the Sterns. I recently ordered a VHS copy on Amazon. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate any sites you could watch this movie online, but here is a preview of the movie.

The Barbie and Ken Murders: Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka

Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka

They look like a couple of normal, good looking kids, right? Wrong. They are Canadian serial killers. Karla Homolka was convicted of manslaughter in the rape-murder of two teenaged girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. Paul Bernardo was convicted of the murders and admitted to having raped numerous women. They were also responsible for the rape-murder of Karla's younger sister Tammy. Karla was given a plea bargain in exchange for testimony against her husband,  and served 12 years in prison. There was also evidence that Paul emotionally and physically abused Karla, though why she never tried to leave is a mystery.








The 2006 movie Karla tells the story from Karla's point of view and stars Laura Prepon as Karla and Misha Collins as Paul.

Laura Prepon as Karla Homolka

 

 

 

 

 

Misha Collins as Paul Bernardo

The Marie Hilley Story

Audrey Marie Hilley

Audrey Marie Hilley (born Audrey Marie Frasier, June 4, 1933 - February 26, 1987) was convicted of using arsenic poisoning  to kill her husband Frank and attempting to poison her daughter Carol the same way for insurance money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Marie_Hilley
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The 1991 Wife, Mother, Murderer stars Judith Light as Marie Hilley.

Judith Light as Marie Hilley/Robbie/Teri

Kellie Overbey as Carol Hilley

 

 

David Ogden Stiers as John Homan

The Betty Broderick Story

Betty Broderick

Elisabeth Anne "Betty" Broderick née Bisceglia (born on November 7, 1947 in Eastchester, New York) is a former San Diego socialite convicted of the November 5, 1989 murder of her former husband Dan Broderick and his second wife, Linda Kolkena. After a second trial, she was convicted on December 11, 1991 of two counts of second-degree murder, and later sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. (From Wikipedia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Broderick

Linda and Dan Broderick

The 1992 made-for-tv stars Meredith Baxter as Betty Broderick, Stephen Collins as Dan Broderick, and Michelle Johnson as Linda Kolkena Broderick.

Meredith Baxter as Betty Broderick

Stephen Collins as Dan Broderick

Michelle Johnson as Linda Kolkena Broderick

And the sequel!