1. The Graduation that Never Was Thomas Bartlett, living in Sugar Land Texas
was a privileged and pompous teenager who was showered in luxury and love by his affluent
parents. He attended Clements High school but was expelled
after committing a series of burglaries. As part of the expulsion process he was evaluated
by a mental health professional who stated Thomas was suffering from “ clinical symptoms
of delusional paranoid disorder”. Ignoring the clinicians diagnosis, Thomas’s
parents spared no expense in giving him a lifestyle of opulence. Staunch supporters of their son, the Whitakers
purchased Thomas a lakeside home in Texas to live rent free so he could attend the college
nearby. Gifting him multiple luxury vehicles and paying
the steep university tuition, the Whitakers were not immune to Thomas’s charm and perchance
for crafting tales of success. Thomas told them he was doing extremely well
in college and would be graduating on time. On the day of his “graduation” they presented
him with a brand new $4000 Rolex watch as a “graduation present.” The catch? He never graduated. He was never even enrolled at the college. And hours after receiving this luxury Rolex
he would come to kill the very people who gifted to him the world. On December 10, 2003 Thomas falsely boasted
to his parents that he just finished his final exams and was looking forward to graduating. To celebrate they drove to the Pappadeaux
restaurant with Thomas and enjoyed what, unbeknownst to them, would be their last meal. What the Whitakers didn’t know was that
her son had been living a lie. He was not about to graduate college. He wasn’t even enrolled in college. And his lies were so deeply embedded into
his world that he couldn’t bear the idea of his parents finding out the truth. So he sought out the help of Christopher Brashear
and Steven Champagne to make sure that the truth would never come out. While the Whitakers were enjoying a family
meal, accomplice Christopher Brashear let himself in to the Whitaker family home and,
following Thomas’s instructions, helped himself to the husband’s gun and bullets
from a safe box in his bedroom. He ransacked the house to make it appear as
if a burglary had taken place, and then lay in wait for the fated family to return home. Meanwhile Steven Champagne tailed the family
home where he waited as a getaway car. When the family arrived, Thomas said that
he had to grab his cell phone from his parked car and separated momentarily from the rest
of the family. The family entered the house, with the younger
brother Kevin, 19, leading the way. When Kevin initially saw the masked intruder
he thought it was a prank being told off by one of Thomases friends in honor of his graduation. But when he was shot once in the chest and
collapsed to the floor his mother, Patricia screamed out “Oh God No” and all pretenses
of a light hearted prank flew out the window. Can’t, Patricia‘s husband of 26 years
ran inside and was subsequently shot in the shoulder. Thomas, returning from his car, then ran into
the house and pretended to struggle with the gunman, getting shot himself in his left arm
as a way to stage his innocence. The gunman then ran out the back door and
hopped over the fence and jumped into the getaway car. Kevin, the little brother, died almost instantly
and his mother, Patricia, died while being airlifted to the nearby hospital. The father, Kent, was also airlifted to the
hospital and survive the murder attempt. Thomas, an an attempt to divert suspicion,
initially told officers that their attacker was African-American. Kent, Thomases father, initially vowed to
forgive whomever murdered his family but his face was shaken when it was revealed that
his precious son, who had been living and recovering with Kent before fleeing to Mexico
upon hearing that he was going to soon be arrested, was actually the murderer. Thomas hid in Mexico under the assumed name
of Rudy Rios for almost a year until, in September of 2005, Mexican authorities delivered him
back to the US to face trial. During the trial Christopher Breshear claimed
Thomas promised a cut of the million dollar insurance policy taken out on his parents,
but it was revealed no such policy existed. In actuality, Thomas committed murders out
of shame and cowardice- he was terrified of the truth coming out. Nevertheless Kent Whitaker stuck by his son
side and believed him when he blamed his mental illness for the evil deeds. Thomas, ever the master manipulator, even
went so far as to claim that his death penalty conviction would further victimize his father
as he would lose his only remaining son. Shockingly, Kent, his father, stayed by his
side and testified repeatedly that he had forgiven his son. Originally Thomas’s execution date was set
for early 2018 but upon his fathers ferocious fighting his sentence was changed from “death”
to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 2. W.H.O is Jean Claude Romand (get it? World Health Organization- W.H.O?!) Born in Lons-le-Saunier, Jean Claude Romand
was not the studious type. After graduating high school he signed up
for college classes at the Lucee du Parc, but, unable to handle the grueling academics
he dropped out after only one semester. He reenrolled as a medical student but still
couldn’t handle the workload. His lies began when he told his family that
he had passed a second-year Final exam that would enable him to begin the process of becoming
a doctor. The problem was, he never took the exam. That lie would catapult into a full-blown
second life in which he was a successful doctor for the world health organization researching
the hardening and thickening of arteries and had very prestigious academic and political
connections. He kept this highly specific lie up for 18
years. In all actuality Romand would spend his days
at the world health organization, however he would simply wander the building and use
their free informational services to learn more about medicine. Occasionally he would invent a work conference
that would supposedly take him to far-flung places in the world but he actually would
only travel to the airport and sleep in a motel close by. In the airport motel he would research new
medical technologies and various tourism information about whatever country he was supposedly visiting,
that way he would come home full of new information both medical and travel centered to keep up
the lies to his family. In order to keep up appearances and make ends
meet, he would take money from relatives and close acquaintances promising that he was
investing the money in hedge funds and international endeavors. His wife also worked full-time and during
this tenure of lies Romand took up with a wealthy mistress who loaned him 900,000 francs
(about 930,000 dollars). His lies had become unbearable and tenuous
however and instead of admitting that he was jobless and a fraud he decided to cover his
lies with actions far more sinister. On 9 January 1993 he took out 2000 francs
from his joint account with his wife and borrowed a gun from his father. He purchased a suppressor for that gun, a
.22 Long rifle carbine, and at the ammunition shop also purchased tear gas canisters. That evening he used a rolling pen to brutally
murder his wife, leaving her body in the bed all night. The next morning he woke his children , and
set them up with breakfast and cartoons as normal. Covering up their mothers absence with another
lie, he waited they were sleep until that night and used the gun to kill each as they
dreamt. His next victim would be his own parents where,
after having a meal with them he use the gun on both his mother and his father, as well
as their dog. His last victim was intended to be his well-off
ex-lover, someone had been having an affair with in the prior years. He picked her up under the guise of attending
a high-class dinner with one of his political connections, but instead he drove her to a
quiet road, and, pretending he was lost, asked her to get out to look for street signs. As she got out of the car he tried to strangle
her and then sprayed to tear gas at her face. But she would not stop fighting back and eventually
he acquiesced and apologized, and after swearing her to secrecy he drove her back home. Romand then went back to his own residence
where the bodies of his wife and children still lay. After watching television he poured gasoline
all over the house and set it ablaze. He then took some expired sleeping pills which
police thought he had hoped would kill him, but were actually just a cover-up to explain
how he did not rescue his wife and children in the fire. As if he wanted to kill himself he had access
to far more potent and powerful drugs that were not expired . Initially his lack of cooperation with police
was attributed to him being traumatized at the loss of his family but soon a more sinister
motive surfaced. In 1996 Romand was sentenced to life in prison
with no possibility of parole, while in prison he was clinically diagnosed with narcissistic
personality disorder, which came as no surprise to anyone who had come in contact with him. 3. The Tiger Child Jennifer Pan is the daughter of Vietnamese-
born immigrants, Bich (bik) and Hann who settled down in Toronto, Canada. Because of her parents’ Vietnamese upbringing
they had a very specific parenting style known today as “tiger parenting”, where strict
rules are enforced, expectations are high, and very little praise is given to children
no matter what their achievements. Bich and Hann Pak were hardworking and thrifty
citizens who used their earnings from an auto part factory both worked at were able to buy
themselves a large house and nice cars. They built a life that they wanted their children
to emulate and therefore set very high goals for Jennifer and her younger brother Felix. Made to learn piano at the age of four, Jennifer
was constantly being pushed by her father to learn new skills. She was an acclaimed figure skater and flute
player and her friends recall her fathers stern and watchful gaze as he monitored her
each and every practice. At her fathers insistent she never dated nor
did she attend any social gatherings and, by the age of 22, recalls a friend, “she
had never gone to a club been drunk visited a friends cottage or gone on vacation without
her family”. Despite her father‘s insistence that practice
makes perfect, Jennifer did not receive outstanding marks in high school academics and routinely
forged her straight A- report cards to cover up her actual grades of C’s and D’s. By senior year her lies were in surmountable
and, after failing a calculus class she had her early admission rescinded from Ryerson
University. Jennifer, too ashamed to admit to her parents
what had actually happened, pretended that she was given many scholarships in order to
go to the university for free. While her parents thought she was sitting
in college classes she was actually working at local cafés and is a private piano instructor. Jennifer kept up the lie so specifically that
she even purchased used textbooks and watch Videos related to her area of study. She then continued to deceive when she told
her parents that she was accepted and given free tuition at pharmacology program at the
University of Toronto. She then and got permission from them to live
near the college during the week. In all actuality though, she was staying with
a boy, Daniel Wong, her secret high-school lover. Her lies became too bold and too specific
however when she told her parents that she was working as a volunteer at the well known
and world-renowned Toronto Hospital for Sick Children. Her parents started questioning her story
and became suspicious when they noticed she did not have any sort of uniform or even a
hospital ID badge. Wanting to know the truth Jennifer’s mother
secretly followed her daughter into “work” and soon learned it was all a farce. Upon this realization, Jennifer’s father
wanted to kick her out of the house but, persuaded by Jennifer’s mother, the girl who lied
was allowed to stay. Through much turmoil and fighting Jennifer‘s
parents eventually learned that she had not even completed high school. But while they certainly weren’t understanding,
they did help and encourage her to take the necessary classes to get her high school diploma
so that she could apply to actual universities. However their forgiveness did not mean their
kindness, and Jennifer was very much a prisoner in her own home,not allowed to contact her
boyfriend under any circumstances. Resorting to secret telephone calls to Daniel
Jennifer soon became worried as Daniel was not as interested in her anymore due to her
extreme social restrictions. Jennifer soon found out that he was dating
another woman and that he was falling for that girl fast. To combat Daniels straying eye, Jennifer concocted
a story of a brutal break- in and subsequent attack. She also fabricated a story about a bullet
being mailed to her from Wong’s current girlfriend. Her fantastic stories seemed to be effective
and they all came to a head when Jennifer convinced Daniel to help her hire a professional
hitman for $10,000 to kill her parents. She told Daniel that the death of her parents
would lead her to inherit over $500,000 and that they could then move in together and
live happily ever after. On November 8, 2010 Jennifer, after successfully
putting the hit out on her parents, left the door to the family home unlocked before she
went to bed. Under the cover of darkness the three hitman
entered the large home and demanded all the money in the house from Jennifer‘s parents. They then took Jennifer’s parents to the
basement where they were each shot several times. Jennifer’s brother was luckily not living
with his parents by them. Jennifer‘s mother was killed but Jennifer‘s
father would shockingly survived the attack. The three men fled, having taken many of the
houses valuables as well as $2000 cash from Jennifer herself. During the attack Jennifer claims she was
tied up but that she was able to overcome her bondage and call 911. The investigation quickly focused on Jennifer
as a suspect as she was the only one unscathed. Detectives commented that it was an atypical
scenario in a home invasion to attempt to kill two of the occupants but leave one eyewitness
unharmed. Computer analysis of Jennifers testimony to
the police also revealed inconsistencies with her statement and once her father was able
to be interviewed by police his story varied drastically from Jennifer’s. Jennifer, Daniel, and the three hitman were
arrested and all given life sentences with possibility of parole after 25 years served. 4. Fake Beard Bandit Known as the “Fake Beard Bandit” Brett
Ryan was no stranger to a life of crime. He had committed a string of bank robberies
while dressed as an elderly man in order to pay off his nearly 36,000 dollar debt. Telling the judge at sentencing that he had
suffered an extreme manic episode as a result of a depressive spell and his recent break
up with a girlfriend, the judge gave him a light sentence of only 3 years and nine months. In prison he had good behavior and was released
on “day parole” which allowed him to only come back to prison to sleep. When he got out for good, he got engaged to
Kristen Baxter, a woman he met presumably while on day patrol. He was upfront about his criminal past as
a bank robber but told her he had changed. He said he was a college graduate and
had a good paying job. He lied. His mother knew he was leading Kristen Baxter
on, and she threatened to not only tell Kristin but also to withdraw her own financial support
of Brett. With the wedding only weeks away, Brett decided
to take extreme actions to avoid the truth coming out. With only three weeks until his wedding, Brett
took matters into his own hands. Using the arrow from a crossbow he had stored
in his mother’s garage, he stabbed his mother in the chest and then proceeded to strangle
her in her garage. His younger brother Christopher heard the
struggle and came running. Aiming the cross bow at Christopher, Brett
show him in the neck with the arrow, and then hid his body under a tarp, along with their
mother’s body. Hearing the altercation, the eldest brother
Leigh came to investigate and was summarily attacked as well, but he managed to outrun
Brett and took refuge at a neighboring house where he was able to call the police. In the meantime, Brett’s older brother Alexander
then came over for unrelated reasons and was promptly stabbed in the driveway by one of
the crossbows arrows. He was found lying in the driveway when police
arrived. Brett tried to cover his tracks by creating
an electronic footprint at his house miles away. He attached a wooden cooking spoon onto a
string tied to the ceiling fan which would spin so that the spoon tapped the enter button
on the keyboard of his laptop, prompting the playing of various YouTube videos. He also pre-programmed his email to send various
messages from his home computer to make it appear as if he were home, and not killing
his entire family at their house. The technological alibi didn’t work and
Brett was arrested outside of his mothers home. He was charged with first-degree murder for
killing his brother Christopher, and two counts of second-degree murder for killing his mother
and their younger brother Alexander; he was also convicted of attempted murder of his
older brother Leigh. He received three concurrent life sentences,
with mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years until
He can apply for parole. Needless to say he never got married. 5. Impress or Perish In a low level position at a children's psychiatric
unit of a Salt Lake City hospital, Mark Hacking always secretly idolized the doctors he worked
under. He wanted to be just like them, and through
a carefully constructed set of lies he was able to get everyone around him to believe
he was on the path to medical school. His family, including his wife Lori, believed
he had graduated with a bachelors degree from the University of Utah, but in actuality he
had dropped out. There had been hints of Marks lies for years,
though the Hackings never connected the dots. Three years prior to her death, Lori received
a voicemail from Marks mother, confused, stating how she had just attempted to pay Mark’s
undergraduate tuition but when she called the college they said he was not registered
as a student. Mark brushed it off saying he had just forgotten
to cross a few tees and for a few “i’s” in the registration process and that it was
all fixed now. His family believed he has worked it all out
and was a full time student who eventually graduated with honors, going to the fact that
his mother had helped him with his term papers and allowed him to keep his old textbooks
at her house. One year later he began an elaborate process
to make it look like he was applying to medical school after he seemingly received his undergraduate
degree. He would speak of the application process
and interviews extensively, even going so far as having his family members drive him
to prestigious Ivy League schools for so-called interviews. He flew to Manhattan where he stayed with
his cousin under the pretense of having an interview at the University of Columbia medical
school. Afterwards talking at length about how he
felt the interview went. Eventually Mark Told everyone he had been
accepted to the University of North Carolina medical school, and he and his wife Laurie
procured housing in North Carolina and prepared to embark on the cross-country move. Lori had quit her job at Wells Fargo and had
packed all their possessions in preparation for the upcoming relocation. During this time Lori found out that she was
pregnant. On the 15th of July 2004, Lori emailed Her
and Marks family their new address in Chapel Hill, NC, (whether the house was actually
there is or was another part of Mark’s lie is unknown as they would never move in). On 16 July Lori received a phone call from
the University of North Carolina which caused her to leave work early, crying and obviously
distraught. In the early hours of July 19th Mark called
police to report his wife as missing; he said she had left for an early morning jog and
never returned. The case garnered almost instant media tension
and Mark could be seen on live television making a plea for any information on his wife’s
whereabouts and thanking the search and rescue workers for doing their jobs. But in the days succeeding, Police quickly
became suspicious when his financial history revealed he bought a new bedroom mattress
in the minutes prior to making the 911 call. On July 20th Mark was reported by a nearby
hotel for walking in public naked with only his shoes on. He was checked into a psychiatric hospital
by his family, although many people thought him to be faking as experts pointed out that
had he truly gone crazy he would not have kept his shoes on. As the investigation continued to turn up
startling fax his family was notified that his life has been a lie. This led Mark‘s father to confronting him
and Mark admitted to brutally killing Lori while she slept and puttin her body in a dumpster. Police would find her badly decomposed body
buried under almost 2,000 pounds of garbage on October 1st in a landfill. Lori’s parents have memories of their daughter
all over the house. Thy have done their best to preserve all the
years of Lori’s life, up until her death. In the days following the news that Mark had
killed her, a digital photography company, Orem, offered to digitally erase Marc from
all of the family photos for free and Lori’s headstone has no mention of the Hacking name. Mark received 6 years to life, A sentence
that sound shocking and inspired a new law, Called Lori’s Law to make the mandatory
minimum for murder 15 years. Mark will be eligible for parole in 2035,
A sentence many believe is far too short. The worst part of it all says lawyers brother
is that none of this was necessary. He believes that Lori would’ve loved him
no matter what as long as he was trying his best, and that this elaborate lie Mark lead
was for him and not for her. The University of Utah has a Lori Hacking
scholarship in which every year two years of tuition are given to women who have overcome
adversity and startling circumstances to get where they are today.
