I Am a Killer: These True Crime Stories Will Give You Goosebumps

After a very misguided childhood, James Robertson wound up in prison after a series of petty crimes. After refusing to comply with the system and the other inmates, he was placed in solitary confinement where he completely lost his mind. As a result, he murdered his cellmate to get himself on death row, where he will receive better conditions. He still does not regret what he has done.

Kenneth Foster was just three hours away from receiving his lethal injection when Texas Governor Rick Perry made the call to reduce his sentence to life in prison. Why? Because Foster didn't actually murder anyone, even though the "Law of Parties" says that he's guilty because he was the driver. Foster drove his friends around as they robbed two victims. Things took a heinous turn when his friend Mauriceo Brown shot and killed Michael LaHood Jr.

Justin Dickens was always trying to find his place in the world, and more importantly, a father figure. When known drug dealer and ex-con Dallas Moore took him under his wing, Dickens was elated. However, when Moore's wife stole his cocaine, Dickens was the one who was punished and told to get Moore the money back. In an armed robbery gone wrong, Dickens shot and killed schoolteacher Allen Carter. Dickens says there was a struggle, and he never intended to shoot anyone. The prosecution says Dickens went into that pawn shop with an intent to kill.

Miguel Angel Martinez happened to have a key to Baptist Deacon James Smiley's house because he would sleep there sometimes (the story is already a little murky). In need of money for more cocaine, his group of friends decided to burglarize Smiley's house. Instead, Smiley ended up asleep in the house with two other people. Martinez's friend Miguel Venegas said he received a message from the devil, and he believed he had to take these three lives. Venegas murdered the three victims, and Martinez stabbed Smiley after he was already dead — but Martinez is the one on death row.

Charles Thompson was dating older divorcee Denise Hayslip. She broke up with him and moved on to Darren Cain. Thompson claims he went over to Hayslip's apartment one morning to get his work clothes, and was surprised to see Cain was there, too. Thompson says Cain lunged at him with a knife, so he found a gun and shot the pair in a struggle. Hayslip died six days later in the hospital. The prosecution claimed Thompson was completely at fault, and a danger to society. He claimed it was the hospital's fault.

David Lewis did not know 74-year-old Myrtle Ruby would be home when he decided to burglarize her house. When she stumbled upon him, he shot her with his rifle and killed her. He admitted to the crime, but U.S. Federal law prohibits states from executing the mentally disabled, and Lewis has borderline mental disabilities, according to his defence. The prosecution felt that Lewis should receive the death penalty because he poses a danger to society. He is still on death row 30 years later.

Deandre Buchanan was arrested for the murders of his stepfather, his aunt, and the mother of his two daughters. Buchanan said he smoked a joint laced with an unknown substance and suffered a drug-induced psychotic breakdown, in which he was convinced everybody at the house was trying to kill him. He has very little recollection of the shooting, but the prosecution says he reloaded his gun multiple times, which gave him plenty of time to realise what he was doing. Buchanan is still serving a life sentence.

19-year-old Robert Shafer and 16-year-old David Steinmeyer confessed to police that they had killed two men: Dennis Young and Jerry Parker. Shafer said they hitched a ride with the two victims, but that Young and Parker attacked them and left the killers no choice but to attack back in self defence. Two years later, Shafer changed his story and said they had planned to rob the victims because they were gay and would be "easy to rob." He said they forced the couple to drive them to a remote location where Shafer murdered them both. Shafer asked for the death penalty, but after arriving on death row, Shafer decided to appeal his sentencing.

18-year-old Joshua Nelson and his friend 16-year old Keith Brennan brutally beat and murdered their friend Tommy Owens. Nelson told police he killed him so they could steal his car and escape their hometown. Eventually, it was revealed that Nelson had been sexually abused by his step-father, and he was forced out of his family's home on the day of Owens's murder. Additionally, the defence speculated that Owens had sexually assaulted Brennan's then girlfriend. Brennan managed to avoid the death penalty because of his age, but Owens is still on death row 20 years later.

Wayne Doty shot Harvey Horne II five times in the face over a drug dispute. While serving his life sentence, Doty killed inmate Xavier Rodriguez by stabbing him 23 times. He claimed Rodriguez stole tobacco from him. Doty represented himself at his trial, and asked the jury for the death sentence. They obliged.