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Katherine Schaffstall

Katherine Schaffstall is a Senior Writer, True Crime for Us and joined the team in December 2025. She previously worked at McClatchy with the In Touch and Life & Style team as an Associate Editor, where she covered all things entertainment, reality TV, pop culture and true crime. Katherine has also written for publications including The Hollywood Reporter, The Sun and Parade. Originally from Buffalo, New York, she moved to New York City in 2014 to attend Marymount Manhattan College. She was a double major in Digital Journalism and Communication Arts and graduated in 2018. Katherine is currently based in New York City.

3 Adults Arrested After 15 Kids Were Found in ‘Deplorable’ Apartment With No Food or Toilet Paper

3 Adults Arrested After 15 Kids Were Found Alone in ‘Deplorable’ Apartment

Three Georgia adults were arrested after 15 children were found living in a “deplorable” two-bedroom apartment. Ashley Jackson, Derrick Jackson and Briana Reynolds were arrested on Thursday, September 24, and charged with multiple felony counts of first and second-degree child cruelty and a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge, according to online jail records. The three […]

How Long Has Christa Pike Been on Death Row? Inside Her Sentence Before Halted Execution

How Long Has Christa Pike Been on Death Row? Inside Her Murder Sentence

Christa Pike has spent nearly three decades on Tennessee’s death row — and on September 30, 2026, she came within an hour of becoming the first woman killed by the state in more than 200 years before a federal appeals court halted the execution. Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, was sentenced in […]

Pennsylvania Teacher and Wrestling Coach Arrested for Allegedly Sexually Assaulting 3 Victims

PA Teacher, Wrestling Coach Arrested for Alleged Sexual Assault of 3 Victims

A gym teacher and coach in Pennsylvania was arrested after he allegedly engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with at least three underage victims. Jason Theodore was arrested on Friday, September 25, according to a press release issued by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and is currently in jail after he was charged with involuntary […]

Cornell Gang Rape Victim Told Campus Police She Had '100 Percent Confidence' She Was Sexually Assaulted

Cornell Victim Told Police She Had '100 Percent Confidence' She Was Raped

Two weeks after a former Cornell University student filed a civil lawsuit claiming she was gang raped by seven fraternity brothers in 2024, new details have emerged from her report to Cornell University Police. A transcript of the alleged victim’s interview with campus police was obtained by CBS News on Wednesday, September 30. While speaking […]

When Is Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Scheduled to Be Executed in Tennessee? Details

When Is Christa Pike Scheduled to Be Executed After Her Killing Was Halted?

Christa Pike, the only woman on Tennessee’s death row, was set to become the first female inmate executed in the state in more than 200 years — but her legal team raced against the clock to change that. Pike had been scheduled to be put to death on September 30, 2026, for the 1995 torture […]

TikTok Couple Dakota Harper, Felicity Eatmon Charged With Arson After Setting Abandoned Home on Fire

TikTok Couple Dakota Harper and Felicity Eatmon Charged With Arson

TikTok stars Dakota Harper and Felicity Eatmon have been charged with arson after they allegedly burned down an abandoned home. Harper, 21, and Eatmon, 22, were arrested on Tuesday, September 29, and hit with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson charges, according to the criminal complaint that was filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court […]

Why Was Death Row Inmate Christa Pike's Execution Halted in Tennessee? Inside Her History of Abuse

Why Was Death Row Inmate Christa Pike's Execution Halted in Tennessee?

Just one hour before she was scheduled to be executed, the federal appeals court announced their decision to halt Christa Pike’s execution in Tennessee on the morning of September 30. Pike is currently the only woman on death row in the state of Tennessee after she was arrested for murdering her classmate Colleen Slemmer in […]

Mom Arrested 1 Year After Allegedly Abandoning Baby in Dumpster Just Hours After Birth

Mom Allegedly Abandoned Baby in Dumpster Just Hours After His Birth

A mother in California found herself behind bars after she allegedly abandoned her baby just hours after his birth and left him in an outdoor dumpster in the rain. Authorities announced that Astrid Nohemi Lopez Ramos was arrested on September 17 and has been charged with one count of child endangerment more than one year […]

How Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos' 'Self-Defense' Argument Fell Apart, According to Detective

How Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos' 'Self-Defense' Argument Fell Apart

Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries Unmasking a Monster: Aileen Wuornos not only sheds new insight into the serial killer’s murders, but reveals what ultimately made her “self-defense” argument fall apart. “This guy gave me a problem and so I whipped out my gun and I said, ‘Hey, you know, I don’t want to shoot you,’” Aileen […]

Lindsay Clancy’s Lawyer Claims There’s ‘Lack of Evidence’ of Murders 1st Court Hearing Since Mistrial

Lindsay Clancy’s Lawyer Says There’s ‘Lack of Evidence’ She Killed Her Kids

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, is arguing there’s a “complete lack of evidence” to suggest his client killed her three children in her first court appearance since her triple-murder trial ended in a mistrial. Clancy, 36, appeared in Plymouth Superior Court for a status hearing on Tuesday, September 29, more than three weeks after Judge […]

Mom Taken Into Custody After 6-Month-Old Baby Was Found Dead in Los Angeles Dumpster

Mom Taken Into Custody After 6-Month-Old Baby Was Found Dead in L.A. Dumpster

A mother in Los Angeles was taken into custody after her young daughter was found dead in a dumpster. The LAPD confirmed to Us that the baby’s body was found in the trash receptacle around 10:30 p.m. on Monday, September 28, in South Los Angeles. It’s not currently clear when the baby died, but the […]

Cornell Gang Rape Case DA Says What Frat Brothers Did Was ‘Morally Disgusting’ and ‘Wong’

Cornell Gang Rape Case DA Says What Frat Brothers Did Was ‘Morally Disgusting’

The District Attorney overseeing a former Cornell University student’s claims that she was brutally sexually assaulted by seven fraternity brothers for at least seven hours in 2024 admitted — despite never pressing charges — that “something untoward did happen” at the frat house on the night of the alleged assault. The woman, identified under the […]

Elderly Woman Allegedly Threatened to Kill Husband After They Got Into Fight 'Over the Water Hose'

Elderly Woman Allegedly Threatened to Kill Husband After Fight Over Hose

An elderly woman in Florida landed behind bars after she allegedly threatened to kill her husband with a knife during an argument “over the water hose breaking” inside a shed on their property. Cynthia Correll was arrested on the night of Saturday, September 26, after police responded to the couple’s home following reports of a […]

Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Says She Feels a ‘Kinship’ With Lindsay Clancy Before Her Execution

Why Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Feels a ‘Kinship’ With Lindsay Clancy

Christa Pike said she feels “a kinship” with Lindsay Clancy just days before the death row inmate is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee. Pike, 50, is expected to become the first woman to be executed in over 200 years in the state of Tennessee on Wednesday, September 30. The execution comes more than 30 […]

South Carolina Mom Accused of Severely Injuring Her 2 Kids After Attacking Them With a Knife

Mom Accused of Severely Injuring Her 2 Kids After Attacking Them With Knife

A mother in South Carolina was arrested after she allegedly attacked her two kids with a knife, injuring her 6-year-old son so badly that he may be facing an amputation. Taylor Gosnell has been charged with two counts of attempted murder following the alleged incident, according to Fox Carolina. Officers with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s […]

Former Cornell Student’s Lawyer Slams Fraternity Brother’s Denial of His Involvement in Alleged Gang Rape

Cornell Victim's Lawyer Slams Frat Brother's Denial of Gang Rape Involvement

Nearly two weeks after a civil lawsuit was filed claiming a Jane Doe was gang raped by seven fraternity brothers at Cornell University, the victim’s attorney slammed one of the alleged assailants after his attorney claimed he wasn’t involved in the assaults. Thomas P. Giuffra, who is representing Jane Doe, told TMZ on Monday, September […]

Corie Walsh Texted Family About Disney World Trip for Son Hours Before Killing Him

Corie Walsh Texted Family About Disney Trip for Son Hours Before Killing Him

Corie Walsh, who was allegedly “invested” in Lindsay Clancy’s murder case, texted her family about a planned trip to Disney World for her son, Barrett, just hours before she killed him, according to new legal documents. During her September 8 arraignment hearing, defense attorney Robert Kerr tried to explain that Walsh, 40, was a loving […]

Parents Arrested After Child, 2, Was Found Wandering on Dark Road Alone Late at Night

Parents Arrested After Child, 2, Was Found Wandering on Road Late at Night

Parents in Florida were arrested after their 2-year-old child was found, wandering a dark road in the middle of the night. Johnny JeanBaptiste and Stacia McMillian have been charged with child neglect without great bodily harm following the alleged incident, which authorities claim took place on Saturday, September 26, per the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office […]

DA Says Office Didn’t Do Independent Investigation in Cornell Gang Rape Case, Relied on Campus Police

DA Says Office Didn’t Do Independent Investigation in Cornell Gang Rape Case

The District Attorney who initially oversaw the investigation into a former Cornell University student’s claims that she was gang raped by seven members of a fraternity in 2024 is admitting his office didn’t conduct an initial, independent investigation into the case. Instead, the DA simply relied on campus police. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van […]

Husband Fatally Shoots Wife Before Taking His Own Life in Apparent Murder-Suicide in California Home

Husband Fatally Shoots Wife in Apparent Murder-Suicide in California Home

Authorities in California believe that a husband fatally shot his wife before he took his own life in an apparent murder-suicide at their home. The Santa Monica Police Department announced in a news release that officers responded to a residence on 3100 block of Pico Boulevard, which is a major road in Los Angeles County, […]

Mother Arrested After Her Son, 4, Found Her Gun in Her Purse and Fatally Shot Himself

Mother Arrested After Son, 4, Found Her Gun and Fatally Shot Himself

A mother in Florida was arrested after her 4-year-old son found her gun in her purse and fatally shot himself in the head. Diamond Phillips has been charged with culpable negligence involving a firearm, according to Manatee County court records. The incident took place on June 21 when the sheriff’s office responded to a home […]

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