Oxygen Insider Exclusive!

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!

Sign Up for Free to View
Crime News In Ice Cold Blood

Ice-T's Takes On 5 'Sick' And 'Soulless’ Crimes Of Passion

“In Ice Cold Blood" has told the shocking stories of Brittany Killgore’s S&M murder, the Ewell family massacre, and more. Season 3 continues this September with more unsettling crimes.

By Erik Hawkins
In Ice Cold Blood Returns on Thursday, February 13th

This article has been updated in September 2021 to reflect the newest season of "In Ice Cold Blood."

The legendary Ice-T returns to Oxygen in September with new, shocking true stories of lust, greed, and murder as Season 3 of “In Ice Cold Blood” concludes. 

The Grammy and NAACP Image Award winner brings his one-of-a-kind charisma straight from “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” — on which he plays NYPD Detective Fin Tutuola — to the world of true crime. As host and executive producer, Ice-T takes viewers on a tour through stories involving sex, money, obsession — or a fatal cocktail of all three. 

Each episode of Oxygen's “In Ice Cold Blood” uses in-depth interviews, real-life footage and recreations to bring to life a shocking mystery full of brilliant detective work, unforeseen twists and jaw-dropping discoveries.  

Human desires for sex and money are universal, but when taken to the extreme, things can get dangerous fast. These 12 new cases tell the stories of people who become unhinged from wanting — and eventually kill for it. The real detectives who worked the cases, as well as friends and family of the victims, tell the stories. 

Before In Ice Cold Bloodairs on Sunday, September 12 at 7/6c and 8/7c and Sunday, September 19 at 7/6c and 8/7c on Oxygen, check out five of the most shocking crime stories from the first two seasons — along with Ice-T's take on the cold-blooded culprits. 

The Not-So Happy Ending 

“There’s a lot of sick sexual fantasies out there. But getting turned on by murder? That’s clearly only for someone who’s dead on the inside … And in this case, someone who’ll never be on the outside again.”Ice-T

Jason Andrews and Amanda Logue

Dennis “Scooter” Abrahamsen was a thrill-seeker, and he died amid lurid circumstances that shocked even Ice-T.  

The 41-year-old biker was found lying naked, face down on a massage table by his cousin on May 16, 2010. Abrahamsen had been stabbed multiple times, and the back of his head was completely caved in, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

A long night of partying preceded Abrahamsen’s death. He’d gone from a strip club to his New Port Richey, Florida, home with some friends, and he’d eventually called a prostitute named Sunny Dae to join the fun. 

Police were stumped at first, but after reviewing Abrahamsen’s text messages, a picture of a twisted murder plot emerged. When Abrahamsen was texting Sunny Dae that night, the messages were being forwarded to Jason Andrews, 26, and Amanda Logue, 28. Sunny Dae was Logue’s street name, and Andrews was a bisexual actor who worked in gay porn films, according to the Associated Press. There was clearly something going on between the two, police told “In Ice Cold Blood” — but after an initial interview, they had to release them. 

However, new text messages between the two were soon reviewed, and police found that Andrews and Logue had been planning to murder Abrahamsen as a thrill-kill. They were talking to each other about how they couldn’t wait to have sex after the murder. 

“In my career, I’ve never come across somebody talking about getting sexually excited about committing a murder,” Sgt. William Lindsey, of the New Port Richey Police Department, said on “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

A grand jury indicted both thrill-killers on first-degree murder charges, according to the Associated Press. Andrews confessed once he was in police custody, describing how Abrahamsen would “twitch” with each strike of a hammer, and how he could see the hammer “disappearing into the back of his skull.” 

Andrews was sentenced to life without parole, while Logue got 40 years, according to the Huffington Post

Watch the “In Ice Cold Blood: Death and Sexting” mini episode now

Her Pain, Their Pleasure 

“Thanks to investigators and prosecutors, this sadistic, soulless trio received life without the possibility of parole. They’ll get to experience a new type of pain — behind bars.” — Ice-T 

Pain and pleasure made for another cruel and tragic end with the story of Brittany Killgore, a 22-year-old Missouri girl who made the fatal mistake of hanging with three roommates one night in 2012. 

Killgore was a military wife. She had just filed for divorce from her husband, who was deployed in Afghanistan, when she met a neighbor named Louis Perez — a U.S. Marine Corps staff sergeant. He convinced her to come out one night, even though he had a girlfriend — a fact that made Killgore uneasy. 

Perez didn’t just live with his girlfriend, Dorothy Maraglino. The couple’s roommate, Jessica Lopez, lived with them as part of their “master, mistress and slave” fantasy. Their home held an elaborate sex dungeon, investigators would later find as they probed Killgore’s untimely death. 

Late that night, Killgore texted her friend. It read simply, “Help,” and it raised her friend’s antennae — especially when it was followed up by the odd message, “Yes, I love this party,” when she asked if everything was OK. 

Killgore was reported missing and police spoke with Perez. He told them that he had left her at a club. Investigators were interested, however, by mud they noticed in the wheel wells of Perez’s truck. Perez claimed he had been off-roading to collect firewood. Investigators then found stolen guns inside his truck and brought him in on firearms charges, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

Investigators eventually came upon the kinky couple’s sex dungeon in their apartment and learned about the three-way relationship. They then followed the trail to a nearby hotel, where Lopez was hiding out. She was bloodied and had a note in her possession insisting that she had murdered Killgore and dumped her body near a lake.  

When they found Killgore’s body, it was obvious that she had been tortured for hours before being killed. Lopez claimed that she had “shot the victim with a stun gun, wrapped a rope around [her] neck, buried her face in a pillow and strangled her,” according to CBS News

Her body indeed bore signs of being attacked with an “electrical weapon” and marks suggesting “attempted dismemberment,” NBC News reported

In October 2015, Perez, Maraglino and Lopez were all convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole, according to The Los Angeles Times

Watch the “In Ice Cold Blood: Deadly Fetish” mini episode now

The Smell Of Death 

“It’s a sad day when someone’s unhealthy obsession robs the world of a promising young woman. But, Lauren Gidding’s memory continues to live on with her family and friends.” — Ice-T 

Bright young law student Lauren Giddings sparked the desire of a deeply disturbed classmate who lived next door to her in Macon, Georgia, in 2011. As told on "In Ice Cold Blood,” her neighbor, 28-year-old Stephen McDaniel, developed a sexual obsession that started with sick web searches and culminated in Giddings’ brutal murder and dismemberment. 

Giddings, 27, was reported missing toward the end of June 2011. Days later, authorities searched her apartment for clues, and were blasted with a rotten odor coming from outside the building, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

“I smelled an odor that I was very familiar with,” one of the detectives told show producers. “We all smell things in life that smell bad. And that of a body, or a decomposing body, is one of the worst things you’ll smell. But it has a very distinctive smell.” 

And that smell led them to Giddings’ torso, rotting in a trash can on the side of the building.  

McDaniel was interviewed and regarded as a person of suspicion, but wasn’t charged with Giddings’ murder until Aug. 2, 2011. As investigators pieced together what happened to Giddings, they made alarming discoveries in McDaniel’s Internet search history. 

In the weeks and months before he strangled and dismembered Giddings, McDaniel had apparently searched for “nude ‘lauren giddings,’” the Telegraph newspaper reported

He obsessively followed Giddings’ Twitter account, and Googled the phrase “molest sleeping girl,” according to the Telegraph. Hours before, McDaniel later confessed, he strangled Giddings to death, the man visited her Facebook profile a last time. 

The same day that investigators found Giddings’ torso, McDaniel was Googling ways to delete his browsing history, according to the Telegraph report. 

McDaniel was initially arrested for burglary — which he admitted to. When the murder charge came down, he initially denied it, but eventually changed his plea to guilty when the evidence — including video footage in his apartment of his apparent spying on Giddings — piled high enough to make a conviction likely. 

Chillingly, in his confession, McDaniel said that during his attack on Giddings, she managed to pull off a mask that he was wearing and recognize him. “Stephen? Please stop,” she allegedly said to her murderer. 

McDaniel was handed a life sentence. He won’t be eligible for parole until 2041, the Baltimore Sun reported

Watch the “In Ice Cold Blood: Master Obsession” mini episode now

Family Ties Severed By Savage Greed 

“What happened to family is forever? Choosing the almighty dollar over one’s blood is guaranteed never to work out. It’s another tale of how basic greed can lead one to kill in ice cold blood.” — Ice-T 

Dana Ewell and Joel Radovcich

When three members of the Fresno, California, multimillionaire Ewell family were found shot to death in their mansion on Easter Sunday in 1992, a variety of theories were in the wind.  

Dale, 59; his wife, Glee, 57, and their daughter, Tiffany, 24, were murdered over a drug-smuggling operation, some said, according to the Los Angeles Times. Some guessed that the CIA or Filipino mob were involved. 

The truth, however, wouldn’t come out for years, and it was more shocking than anyone had guessed. Dale and Glee’s son, 26-year-old Dana, was away at school at the time of the murders. While away, he had been plotting along with his friend from school, Joel Radovcich, to wipe out his family and split his inheritance, according to the Associated Press

Evidence was scarce at the scene. The most notable thing investigators found was a box of Dale’s 9mm ammunition with some rounds missing, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” After the autopsies, authorities found traces of yellow-green fuzz on the bullets recovered from Glee’s body. 

Because of the big inheritance involved, authorities probed Dana closely and questioned Radovcich, who was belligerent, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” The two students separately denied being close to one another in their interviews — which didn’t jibe with what their classmates had told authorities. 

Further raising eyebrows, Dana was visibly upset at the reading of the will. When he found out he wouldn’t be able to get his hands on his inheritance until age 30, he threw a fit, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

Shortly after the murders — when blood was still drying on the walls — Dana and Radovcich were rooming together at the Fresno house, too. Police began surveillance. They witnessed thousands of dollars changing hands between the two men, and their curious habit of only contacting one another with payphone and beepers, according to “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

A pair of suspicious books Radovcich ordered and an interview with an associate of his brought investigators closer to the truth. The associate, Jack Ponce, eventually confessed to buying a gun for Radovcich and told them that Dana’s friend had shaved his entire body before murdering the Ewell family. Ponce had disposed of the gun in pieces for Radovcich after the murders, and he showed investigators where part of it was buried. 

Radovcich and Dana were each charged with three counts of capital murder. They were found guilty in 1998 and are both serving life sentences without the chance of parole. 

Watch “In Ice Cold Blood: Deadly Greed” now

Voyeurism Turns To Violence 

“This brutal, senseless murder, driven by a secret obsession, robbed the world of a radiant life. But Corey will live on forever in the hearts of those that loved her.” — Ice-T 

It was one of the most viscerally upsetting crime scenes experienced investigators had come across. Jacksonville Beach waitress Corey Parker, 25, was found dead in her apartment around Thanksgiving 1998, having suffered more than 100 stab wounds. 

Almost half of them had come after she was already dead. 

“In all of my years in law enforcement, this had to be the most haunting thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Jacksonville Beach Police Officer Joey O’Neil told producers of “In Ice Cold Blood.” 

Blood painted the crime scene. One bloodstain appeared to belong to Parker’s killer, and there was a stray hair from someone else’s head found in her underwear. There were signs that Parker had put up a fight during the brutal attack, blocking one knife strike with her knee, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Investigators began the search for a DNA match, questioning those who knew Parker and taking samples from them. 

A year went by without a substantial lead. Then, investigators took an interest in a teenage neighbor of Parker named Robert Denney. The 18-year-old had allegedly told friends that he had a crush on Parker that extended to him spying on her and fantasizing.  

Denney proved craftier than investigators expected when they brought him in for an interview under the guise of asking him about another case, and he managed to avoid giving them a DNA sample. So, he was put under surveillance. 

Luckily, investigators saw him spit on the ground during a work break, and as soon as he went back inside, they swooped in and scooped up the precious sample. It was a match for the DNA found at the murder scene.  

He was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, but he has filed an appeal in hope of a new trial, alleging mistakes and lying on behalf of the prosecution’s DNA experts, according to News 4 JAX

Despite Denney’s continued insistence that he was innocent, Corey’s father, Bruce Parker, angrily confronted him at sentencing, according to the Florida Times Union.   

“When you murdered Corey, you killed a piece of so many people,” he said. “I can’t even begin to imagine what was in your mind when you crept into her room, hacked her body and did your other perverted things to her. The only explanation is that you are a monster.” 

Watch the “In Ice Cold Blood: Peeping Perv” mini episode now

Tune in on Sunday, September 12 at 7/6c and 8/7c and Sunday, September 19 at 7/6c and 8/7c for all-new episodes of In Ice Cold Blood to see the new true-life tales of lust and murder that Ice-T has in store for viewers. 

Read more about: