 The holiday season is often seen as one of the happiest times of the year, but for many of us it can also be one of the most stressful times of the year. But still, the holidays are not a time that you would expect to be littered with true crime stories and countless unsolved cases. But I'll let you in on a little-known secret. More crimes are committed during the holidays than any other time of the year, and today we'll be discussing the 12 crimes that were committed during the holidays. Danny Kelly Jr. was a professional boxer, but he was also a family man. Danny was having a night out with his family and his three children on Christmas Eve back in 2021. They were all out driving around town when, all of a sudden, things took an unexpected turn. He's believed to have been heading home after a shopping trip with his family when things went south. Danny was the one driving that evening, when the family's car drew closer to a man named Markel Lewis. At some point during their journey, Markel seems to have become irritated at Danny, but we don't know exactly why. It seems like Markel believed that Danny had cut him off in traffic or something, but the details have never been publicly explained, at least not in any clear way. Without any warning, Markel whipped his car in front of Danny's, cutting him off in the middle of traffic. Then unprovoked, Markel pulls out a weapon and begins firing at Danny. Unfortunately, Danny was struck by several of these rounds and his life was stolen from him right there in front of his family, including his girlfriend and three children aged 4, 7, and 9. Thankfully, Markel was held accountable and was sentenced to 80 years in prison. It was Christmas Eve of 2002 when Jean Hulaver and her two daughters, aged 20 and 15, were at their home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Jean had recently divorced her husband after he was arrested for allegedly having intimate relationships with his daughters. A judge ordered that he stay away from the family after he was released on bail, but Ernest Hulaver, the father, had other plans. His brother drove him to his wife's home one evening and waited in the car while Ernest went inside and claimed the lives of his entire family, fearing that they would testify against him in court. In the end, police didn't need his family to testify because his own brother came clean with investigators. In the end, Ernest was sentenced to life in prison and his brother was given 25 years in prison for his part in conspiring against the family. This crime takes us all the way back to 1881 in Ashland, Kentucky. Emma Carrico was having a night out with her friends and neighbors, Robert and Fady Gibbons. All three of them were still teenagers at the time, but Emma's mother was right next door, so they weren't allowed to get up to anything too nefarious. At some point on Christmas Eve, three men burst into the home and claimed the lives of all three of the teens. After the deed was done, they set the home on fire and fled the scene of the crime. As soon as Emma's mother noticed the fire, she called for the police, but it was far too late. The charge remains of all three were later recovered from the rubble. The crazy thing is, no one was ever able to determine the motive behind the crime. Quite a while later, a man named George Ellis confessed to the crime and even revealed the names of his two accomplices, William Neal and Ellis Kraft. All three men were convicted, with William and Ellis being hanged, while George was killed by an angry mob. The men never did reveal why they had carried out the crime. Gianni Belvedere was talking on the phone with his cousin while he was sitting in his car in the parking lot of a Macy's in Mission Valley, California. It was Christmas Eve of 2013. Gianni had arrived at the store to pick up his fiance who worked there, but as he waited in the car, a man walked up to the window, fired at him, claimed his life, and then stole his car. The assailant was later identified as Carlo Mercado. He fled the scene of the crime in Gianni's car, but returned hours later to pick up his motorcycle that he left behind. When he returned to the parking lot, he noticed that Gianni's fiance, as well as his brother had shown up, so as not to leave any loose ends, he claimed both of their lives too. Police eventually tracked Carlo down, hoping to figure out the motive behind the crime, but there wasn't one. In fact, Gianni had never even met any of these people before. Even all these years later, Carlo has never revealed his motive. Considering his motorcycle had broken down earlier that day, it could be assumed that he carried out the crime simply because he didn't have a way home, but in truth, we may never know. Between December 25th and 26th of 1996, an unsettling evening unfolded in Boulder, Colorado, as John Benet Ramsey, a six-year-old girl and child beauty pageant star, mysteriously disappeared from the sanctuary of her own home. As reported by CNN, her parents soon stumbled upon a ransom note, instructing them to pay $118,000 for the safe return of their daughter. Her parents immediately called the police. A thorough examination of the property yielded a shocking revelation. There were no signs of forced entry. In the quest for clues regarding the abduction of the young girl, John Ramsey, her father, came across a haunting crime scene. Within the recesses of the family home, he unearthed the lifeless body of his daughter, which had been stowed away in the basement. An autopsy painted a harrowing picture. John Benet had met her demise through strangulation coupled with a disturbing skull fracture. The initial suspicions of the police took a chilling turn, implicating John and Patricia Ramsey in the heinous crime, positing that they'd orchestrated a chilling story with a falsified ransom note to hide their involvement. But despite a highly publicized investigation, no evidence was found to support this theory. The trajectory of the investigation then pivoted towards an alternate theory, that of an intruder who broke into the home in the middle of the night. The intention was presumably to abduct John Benet, yet the outcome proved far more tragic, with the girl losing her life purely by accident. But even this theory has yielded virtually no evidence to support it, meaning all these years later, the case remains unsolved. I'm sure all of us have seen some of those terrible Christmas horror movies where someone dresses up as Santa Claus then carries out a bunch of crimes. It's become a bit of a cliché at this point, but for Bruce Pardo, this wasn't the plot of some cheesy movie. This is a plan that he had carefully concocted for Christmas Eve of 2008. Bruce had recently divorced from his wife, Sylvia Ortega, but he wasn't taking things well. To get back at his wife, he concocted a ridiculous plan, but as ridiculous as his plan was, well, it worked. He showed up at the Ortega family home, unannounced, dressed up as Santa Claus. The family had all been casually hanging out and enjoying their Christmas Eve when Bruce unexpectedly burst through the door. As soon as he entered the room, he opened fire on everyone, literally all of them. In the end, he claimed the lives of nine family members, including his ex-wife. He then used a homemade flamethrower to set the home on fire, then fled the scene of the crime. He arrived at his brother's home a short while later, where he ended his own life in one final act of violence. Once again, a motive was never revealed, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that he was simply angry with his ex-wife. But why? Well, you may never know. It was three days after Christmas in 1987, when Ronald Simmons walked into a law firm in Arkansas and opened fire on a receptionist who he'd had a crush on. He was angry because she had rejected his advances, a cliche situation of, if I can't have you, no one can. But things would only get worse from here. Immediately after this, he headed to an oil company and claimed the life of one executive and injured another. Blinded by his own rage, he then went to his former place of work and fired at two more people, but they both managed to survive. Still not satisfied with what he had done, he then headed to the Woodline Freight Company and fired at another woman that she also survived. He claimed a total of two lives, then he just sacked down and waited for police to show up. But what police found out next was that six days before this, Simmons had claimed the lives of his entire family, but continued to live in the home with their bodies for four full days. In total, he attempted to claim the lives of 16 people that holiday season. He was sentenced to capital punishment for his crimes. 37-year-old Patty White was a lovely young lady who heard about a woman in her area who was down on her luck. 67-year-old Michelle O'Dowd had been having a difficult time during the holidays and was in a desperate need of a place to stay. Patty, being the generous lady that she was, offered to let Michelle stay in her home for a few days around Christmastime. But, unbeknownst to Michelle and the people who knew Patty, Patty had been hiding a very dark secret. Patty's real plan wasn't to just simply let Michelle stay in her home for a few days. Patty planned to rob her, enter life, then stage the whole thing to look like a robbery gone wrong, and that's exactly what she did. Michelle's twin brother was the one who discovered the crime scene. When he entered the home to pay Michelle a visit, he found her body buried underneath a pile of Christmas presents that had been labeled for her nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. Police quickly uncovered the relationship between Patty and Michelle had broken down shortly before the crime was committed, leading Patty to steal several of Michelle's credit and debit cards, using them at various ATMs in the area. Patty White was sentenced to 45 years in prison. On Christmas Day of 2010, Kashmir James, who was 25 at the time, was visiting a friend for Christmas. She brought her three-year-old daughter along for the journey. The two spent some time with friends in Los Angeles, California before deciding to head back home. Kashmir buckled her daughter into her seat, but as soon as she sat down in the driver's seat, three men pulled up in a car next to her in open fire. She lost her life immediately. Her young daughter wasn't harmed, but she witnessed the entire thing. And thankfully, police were able to track down the people who had caused such an incredible amount of trauma for this young girl. In a shocking twist, investigators learned that the crime was nothing more than a gang hit. But things only got worse from here when police learned that Kashmir wasn't even the intended victim. The entire crime had been a simple case of mistaken identity. The three men who were convicted of the crime also didn't even turn out to be men. They were 16-year-old boys who'd gotten caught up with the wrong group of people and were forced to end an innocent woman's life. But they'll now be spending their own lives behind bars, though one of the boys was only sentenced to 40 years. Around Christmas of 2014, 37-year-old Melissa Young approached her neighbor, 47-year-old Allen Williamson, offering him a Christmas present. Allen was inside Melissa's apartment when she handed the gift over, which was a pair of shoes and a calendar. But strangely, Allen refused to accept the gift. It was at this point that things went off the rails. Melissa claims that she was overcome by the spirit of an archangel, Michael, who told her that she needed to claim this man's life to rid him of a demon that had possessed him. She then jabbed the man 29 times. And in the end, Melissa was convicted, but it turned out that she suffered from various mental health issues. Go figure. In the end, her health problems didn't have any bearing on her sentencing, and she was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. As far as a motive, it's believed she was just angry with her neighbor for rejecting her gift. But with her compromised mental state, there's literally no telling what was really going through her mind. Roger Cooper was a manager for a Costco store in the UK, and Samina Imam was the regional manager, technically Roger's boss. The company had a strict policy against co-workers being in relationships with one another, but that didn't stop Roger and Samina from pursuing a romance that lasted at least two years. But the catch is, Roger had also been dating another woman this entire time. He'd been two-timing her for years with his boss. Roger had finally decided that enough was enough, and he was going to break up with his girlfriend and start officially dating Samina instead. At least, that's what Samina was told. In reality, Samina was about to become a victim of a heartbreaking crime, and all because Roger was too much of a coward to fess up to his actions. This all came out around Christmas of 2014. Roger couldn't come to terms with his girlfriend possibly finding out what an awful person he'd been for at least the last two years, so instead of being honest, he opted to claim Samina's life and put an end to this once and for all, and his brother helped him plot the whole thing. Roger plotted to claim Samina's life on December 12th, but when things didn't go according to plan, he moved the date to Christmas Eve. The two left for work separately, but planned to meet up for a sort of mini-vacation, all unbeknownst to Roger's girlfriend. But first, they planned to stop by Roger's brother's house, and this was the final time anyone saw Samina, and she was reported missing by her family soon after. Rather obviously, both Roger and his brother didn't know the first thing about concealing a crime, and they were found out within days. Police were able to track Samina's phone location and determined that it last pinged in the immediate vicinity of both Roger and his brother. Samina's body was found about two weeks after the crime was carried out, and when an autopsy was performed, it was revealed that Samina had passed away after being poisoned by chloroform. Both men were sentenced to 30 years in prison. It was the day after Christmas when CBS News ran a story about a terrible crime that had unfolded on Christmas Eve in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Police received a phone call from Dustin Klopp, who had just taken his children to his parents' house for a Christmas holiday. On the phone with investigators, Dustin reported that he had arrived at his home to find his wife, Stephanie Kilhefner, deceased. Detectives say that the call caught them off guard because immediately after Dustin announced that he found the body of his wife, he also confessed that he had been the one who committed the crime and placed her there. They say they had never before received a call where someone confessed before the crime had even officially been reported. When detectives showed up a short while later, they found that Stephanie had been ambushed with an axe. By March of the following year, Dustin attempted to take his own life while he was in police custody. He wasn't successful immediately, but when he was taken to the hospital for treatment, it was found that he was already brain dead and he was removed from life support shortly afterward. He likely would have faced life in prison otherwise. As far as a motive, the best I can tell, Dustin was just a bad person. He had been reported for abuse against his wife countless times in the years leading up to this. It would appear that this particular situation was just the final straw, and Dustin had finally lost his temper in a way that he couldn't come back from. Reports of violence between the two date all the way back to 2018, meaning that Stephanie had suffered at the hands of this man for at least six years before he finally snapped, claiming her life in a fit of rage. While all of these cases were truly terrible in their own ways, we've got to remember that the holidays are a time to be celebrating and spending time with families, so now that you've had your fix of true crime stories, why not turn off your phone and TV and spend some time with the people you care about, or at least the people that care about you, even if they may have a strange way of showing it. But happy holidays. I'll catch you guys next year.