History, true crime, important events. Some pictures have an interesting context, but who could have thought these have such horrifying backgrounds?
Today, we bring you 7 shocking photographs with a disturbing background, and we are sure that the stories we present to you below will leave you chilled.
Trigger warnings: Murder, torture, child cruelty.
1. The Murder Of James Bulger
The cameras at a mall located in New Strand captured two disoriented kids on February 12, 1993. They were Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, two 10-year-old boys from the UK.
After a day of playing truant and committing minor crimes, the two boys intercepted and kidnapped James Bulger, a nearly 3-year-old toddler, taking him by the hand and leading him to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, where they subsequently tortured and killed him.
Jon and Robert repeatedly kicked the child, hit him, threw objects at him, and inserted batteries into his body. After being in prison, the government announced the release of the boys, who received new identities and have been convicted again ever since the tragedy.
Read also: The Disturbing True Story of the Movie Coraline That Will Give You Nightmares
2. Jeff Franklin
In the picture, Jeffrey Franklin smiles from the back seat of a car in Huntsville, AL.
In reality, it is a police car and the 17-year-old teenager is being taken into custody after killing his parents Gerald and Cynthia Franklin, and critically wounding his three younger siblings, who luckily survived the attack. When asked why he tried to kill his whole family, the man admitted to being at the home but not to the attacks, instead, an “evil being with horns began sticking out of his head and eyes and had taken over his body.”
3. Jolee Callan and Loren Bunner
A couple named Jolee Callan, 18, and Loren Bunner, 20, went on a senders trip in Alabama. Loren posted this picture of his girlfriend standing in front of the landscape to his Instagram and proceeded to shoot her twice. Then, he threw her body 40 feet down the cliff she was standing on.
The couple had previously broken up but agreed to remain on good terms. Before the hike, Jolee texted jokingly saying, “If anything happens to me, you know who I was with”.
Finally, Loren Bunner was sentenced to only 52 years in prison.
4. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s Yearbook Picture
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold pose with their friends, mimicking a gun with their hands. Tragically, they would make history a few weeks later by causing one of the deadliest mass shootings and school shootings in history, shooting 12 students and a teacher at Columbine.
5. Tragedy By The Sea
John and Lillian McDonald are by the Pacific Ocean in Hermosa Beach, California, USA, in April 1954.
John L. Gaunt Jr., a photographer for the Los Angeles Times, heard a neighbor shout, “Something is happening on the beach!” The journalist grabbed his camera and photographed the couple minutes after Michael, the 19-month-old baby of John and Lillian McDonald, was swept away by the waves. The image earned John L. Gaunt the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.
6. Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias
Travis and Jodi had a toxic relationship, as they would break up and get back together on various occasions. After cheating on her, Travis replaced Jodi with another woman as his companion for a business trip in Mexico.
Jodi Arias left her home in California, rented a car, and drove to Arizona, where she took a photo of Travis in the shower.
Travis Alexander was found dead with 27 stab wounds, a slit throat, and a single gunshot wound to the forehead.
7. Tyler Hadley
Tyler Hadley invited his friends via Facebook to a party at his house at 371 Northeast Grandeur Avenue, St. Lucie, Florida, USA, on Saturday, July 16, 2011. There, Hadley would host what was supposed to be a great party. “party at my crib…maybe” he wrote.
After hiding his parents’ cell phones, Tyler locked his dogs in a closet, took three ecstasy pills, blasted the song “Feel Lucky” by Lil Boosie at full volume, and killed his parents, Mary Jo and Blake, with a carpenter’s hammer. After the massacre, Tyler hid his parents’ bodies and proceeded with the party, where guests noticed strange behavior from the host and a strange smell coming from somewhere in the house.
The 17-year-old then confessed the crime to his friend Michael Mandell, and after discovering Mary Jo and Blake’s bodies, the two men took this selfie.
