889 articles
Kidnapping
Kidnapping: the unlawful taking, carrying away, or confinement of a person by force, threats, or fraud, without consent. Distinct from false imprisonment and abduction; felony with penalties up to life in the US, England, and Canada.
Kidnapping in the United States
Kidnapping in the United States is a state and federal crime; the federal Lindbergh Law, 18 U.S.C. § 1201 (1932), covers interstate, protected-person, and federal-officer kidnappings, with up to life or death penalties.
Kidnapping of Colleen Stan
Kidnapping of Colleen Stan, the "girl in the box" case: 1977 Red Bluff, California abduction by Cameron and Janice Hooker, seven-year captivity, 1985 trial, 104-year sentence, and parole developments.
Kidnapping of Hannah Anderson
The 2013 kidnapping of Hannah Anderson, 16, by family friend James Lee DiMaggio, who killed her mother Christina and brother Ethan in Boulevard, California, and took her to Idaho's Frank Church wilderness, where an FBI team rescued her August 10 and killed DiMaggio.
Kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard
Jaycee Dugard kidnapping: the 1991 abduction of an 11-year-old from South Lake Tahoe by Phillip and Nancy Garrido, her 18-year captivity in a hidden Antioch backyard compound, the 2009 discovery, parole failures, and legal aftermath.
Kidnapping of Jayme Closs
The kidnapping of Jayme Closs, also called the disappearance of Jayme Closs, was the 2018 abduction of a 13-year-old girl from Barron, Wisconsin, minutes after her parents were shot dead.
Kidnapping of Shannon Matthews
Shannon Matthews case: staged 2008 kidnapping of a nine-year-old in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, planned by her mother Karen Matthews and Michael Donovan to claim a £50,000 reward; eight-year sentences.
Kidwelly sex cult
Kidwelly sex cult: occult-inspired group led by Colin Batley on Clos yr Onnen, Kidwelly, Wales. Convicted 2011 of 35 offences including 11 rapes; indeterminate sentence, minimum 11 years; Parole Board open-prison recommendation in 2025.
Killing of Breonna Taylor
Killing of Breonna Taylor: the March 13, 2020 fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Louisville EMT by LMPD officers serving a narcotics warrant; led to Breonna's Law, a $12 million settlement, federal civil rights charges, and one conviction.
Killing of Chandra Nagamallaiah
Killing of Chandra Nagamallaiah (Chandra Mouli Nagamallaiah), 50-year-old Indian-born Dallas motel manager beheaded 2025 at the Downtown Suites motel by coworker Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, a Cuban national charged with capital murder.
Killing of Damilola Taylor
Killing of Damilola Taylor: fatal 27 November 2000 stabbing of a 10-year-old Nigerian schoolboy with a broken bottle in Peckham, south London; Danny and Ricky Preddie convicted of manslaughter in 2006 after three trials.
Killing of Gabby Petito
Killing of Gabby Petito: 2021 murder of a 22-year-old Long Island travel vlogger by fiancé Brian Laundrie during a van trip; body found at Spread Creek, Wyoming; case fueled debate on missing-white-woman media coverage.
Killing of JonBenét Ramsey
Unsolved December 26, 1996 homicide of six-year-old beauty pageant contestant JonBenét Ramsey, found strangled in her Boulder, Colorado home basement after a $118,000 ransom note; grand jury, 2008 DNA exoneration, and open BPD investigation.
Killing of Jordan Neely
Killing of Jordan Neely: the May 1, 2023 F-train chokehold death of the 30-year-old homeless Michael Jackson impersonator by Marine veteran Daniel Penny, ruled homicide by the medical examiner, ending in Penny's December 2024 acquittal.
Killing of Latasha Harlins
Killing of Latasha Harlins: 1991 fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Black girl by Korean American shopkeeper Soon Ja Du at Empire Liquor Market, South Los Angeles; Du's probation-only manslaughter sentence fueled the 1992 LA riots.
Killing of Rachel Nickell
Killing of Rachel Nickell: 1992 Wimbledon Common murder; Colin Stagg wrongly prosecuted after honey trap; Robert Napper convicted 2008 via DNA; IPCC errors, £706,000 compensation, Broadmoor detention.
Killing of Tim McLean
Killing of Tim McLean: 2008 Greyhound bus beheading near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, by Vince Li (Will Baker), found not criminally responsible, discharged absolutely in 2017.
Killing of Trayvon Martin
Killing of Trayvon Martin: February 26, 2012 shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida's Retreat at Twin Lakes; led to a second-degree murder trial, 2013 acquittal, DOJ review, and Black Lives Matter.
Kim Dotcom
Kim Dotcom (Kim Schmitz, also Kim Tim Jim Vestor), German-Finnish founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, shut down by the FBI in 2012; fighting US extradition from New Zealand since his January 2012 arrest.
Kinahan Organised Crime Group
Kinahan Organised Crime Group (Kinahan cartel): Irish-led transnational drug trafficking and money laundering organisation founded by Christy Kinahan, based in Spain and Dubai, US-sanctioned in 2022, in feud with the Hutch gang.
Kinkaku-ji arson
The Kinkaku-ji arson: on July 2, 1950, novice monk Hayashi Yoken burned down Kyoto's Golden Pavilion, a National Treasure; it was rebuilt in 1955 from 1904 drawings and inspired Mishima's 1956 novel.
Kisangani massacres
The Kisangani massacres were the May 2002 mass killings of civilians, soldiers, and police in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, by RCD-Goma forces after a mutiny.
KK Park
KK Park is a large cyber-scam compound in Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar, on the Moei River border with Thailand. Built from 2020 under Karen BGF protection, it trafficked thousands of workers into online fraud until the Myanmar military's October 2025 raid and disputed demolition.
Kkangpae (깡패)
Kkangpae (깡패), Korean for gangster, combines English "gang" (kkang) with pae (group). Coined after the Korean War, originally meaning a politically tied criminal; now the informal name for South Korea's organized crime groups.
Kneecapping
Kneecapping: extrajudicial punishment by shooting a victim in the leg, originating in Northern Irish paramilitary punishment attacks (2,303 shootings 1973-2000) and later documented in Bangladesh and Gaza.
Knights Templar Cartel
Knights Templar Cartel (Los Caballeros Templarios), Mexican drug cartel formed in early 2011 from a La Familia Michoacana split, based in Michoacán; issued a Templar code of conduct, ran meth, extortion, and iron ore, and was dismantled by autodefensas and federal forces by 2015.
Kobe Bryant sexual assault case
The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case: 2003 Colorado felony charge under CRS 18-3-402 after a 19-year-old hotel worker's complaint; charges dropped September 1, 2004; civil suit settled.
Kyoto Animation arson attack (京都アニメーション放火殺人事件)
The Kyoto Animation arson attack (京都アニメーション放火殺人事件) was a 2019 gasoline arson at the studio's No. 1 building in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward that killed 36 people; perpetrator Shinji Aoba received a finalized death sentence in 2025.
La Familia Michoacana
La Familia Michoacana (LFM) is a Mexican drug cartel founded 2005-2006 in Michoacán by defectors from Los Zetas and the Milenio Cartel; known for pseudo-religious ideology, extortion, and violence, it fragmented in 2011 into the Knights Templar and persists through La Nueva Familia Michoacana and United Cartels.
La Línea (gang)
La Línea ("The Line") is a Mexican criminal group founded in the early 2000s by police officers in Ciudad Juárez as the Juárez Cartel's enforcement arm; it fought Sinaloa in 2008–2011, was linked to the 2019 LeBarón massacre, and now dominates parts of Chihuahua.