There's something morbidly fascinating about anyone who thinks they can commit murder and get away with it, but millionaire murderers often have a special sort of delusion to them. Maybe it's growing up spoiled, maybe it's coming into money and thinking you're special, or maybe it's just the assumption that everyone has a price and if you get into trouble you just need to find the right person to pay off. But there are way too many wealthy criminals out there who seem to think they should be able to get away with crimes just because of their bank account.
And we're not talking about white-collar crimes - we're talking millionaire murders. People who kill in angry and violent ways and assume their own impunity. These are stories of crazy murder houses and cannibals who are walking free. They're larger than life, but all the money in the world couldn't keep them from paying for their crimes.
You can't mention millionaire murderers without mentioning H.H. Holmes. Because, as far as crazy murders go, this guy went above and beyond. He built an entire "Murder Castle" after moving to Chicago in 1886. Small rooms, trap doors, torture chambers, gas chambers - the works. He opened it as a hotel where the guests checked in but didn't check out.
This is not your average case of a rich person who thinks they can get away with anything. Brothers, extreme wealth, matricide, patricide - the case of the Menendez brothers had it all. They were incredibly wealthy trouble makers with sociopathic tendencies who decided they wanted their parents dead. The brothers said - and still maintain - that their father was extremely abusive.
Getting away with murder is one thing; getting away with murder and cannibalism is another. Issei Sagawa was studying at the Sorbonne in 1981 when he was found with a suitcase containing parts of his classmate. He had killed Renee Hartevelt the day before and cannibalized her, which he admitted to the police. The French authorities found him legally insane and unable to stand trial, so he was sent back to Japan.
Due to diplomatic complications between the French and Japanese governments, Sagawa has lived mostly as a free man. The fact that his father was extremely wealthy and could afford the best lawyers available certainly helped. Sagawa's father might have also paid off some of Sagawa's victims.
Made famous by the HBO documentaryThe Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Durst's alleged crimes are well known. Durst's notoriety is partly due to the fact that he committed not just one major crime, but three. Durst has been suspected in conjunction with three different murders and/or disappearances: his first wife Kathleen Durst in 1982, his neighbor Morris Black in 2001, and his friend Susan Berman in 2000.
The real estate mogul's son admitted to dismembering Black, but was acquitted of murdering Black. Why? He claimed self-defense and the prosecution could not prove otherwise because Black's head was never found.
On September 17, 2021, a Los Angeles jury found Durst guilty of first-degree murder for slaying Berman.
John Du Pont Was Obsessed With Wrestling - And It Drove Him To Murder
When John du Pont shot and killed Dave Schultz, an gold medal-winning Olympic wrestler training for the Atlanta games in 1996, it was the violent conclusion of a lot of bizarre and erratic behavior. Hailing from one of the richest families in America and obsessed with wrestling, du Pont built a state-of-the-art Olympic training facility on his vast estate, having wrestlers train and live there.
His behavior became increasingly strange. He never left the compound and had wrestlers check for ghosts and spirits. Things finally erupted when he shot and killed Schultz. The story has been told in a documentary and a movie starring Steve Carell.
Allen Blackthorne Hired A Man For $54,000 To Kill His Ex-Wife
In 1997, Sheila Bellush was killed by a gunman on the orders of her ex-husband Allen Blackthorne. The couple - who had four children together - had broken up in a nasty way. Blackthorne was a millionaire businessman who wanted custody over their children and took matters into his own hands.
He hired Jose Luis Del Toro Jr. to kill her for $54,000 after she won custody of their two children. He died in prison at the age of 59 while serving two life sentences.
