What To Know About The Houston ‘Tourniquet Killer' Before ‘Living With A Serial Killer' Returns

Every family has secrets — some more bone-chilling than others. Consider the relatives of Anthony Allen Shore. Shore’s family was in the dark about the fact that he was behind several murders committed in the 1980s and ’90s, leading to him be nicknamed "the Tourniquet Killer."

Those relatives speak out in “Living with a Serial Killer” Season 2, which premieres Saturday, July 9 at 9/8c on Oxygen. The series dives into the experiences of people who discovered their loved one was a serial killer.

“I knew he was a terrible person,” his daughter Tiffany told the show’s producers about the moment she learned of her father’s arrest for the murders. “But that’s a hard one to believe.”

But it was true. Before the show returns, here’s what you need to know about the case.

Born in 1962 in South Dakota, Shore’s parents were in the military. The family, which came to include his two sisters, settled in Houston. Shore alleged that as a youth he was abused — physically by his father and sexually by his mother.

Shore had his own “long history of violent behavior,” NBC News reported in 2017. Those actions included killing a neighbor’s cat, harming a sister with a screwdriver, and groping girls. 

Anthony Shore

Shore married Gina Lynn Worley in 1983, and they had two daughters before divorcing in 1997. The same year he tied the knot with Amy Lynch. Their marriage ended in divorce and she accused him of abusing his daughters. 

To avoid jail, he took a plea bargain requiring him to register as a sex offender and submit a DNA sample to authorities. 

But the killings had already begun. In 1986, three years into his first marriage, Shore strangled 15-year-old Laurie Trembley. While using a cord to choke the life out of her, he hurt his hand, he later told police. That led him to use a tourniquet.

Shore’s murder spree continued undetected until 2003, when he was arrested for the 1992 rape and strangulation of 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada. Her body had been dumped behind a Houston Dairy Queen. The case went cold for years, but DNA analysis using genetic material under Estrada’s fingernails eventually led detectives to Shore.

Along with Estrada and Trembley, Shore confessed to the rape, torture, and murder of 9-year-old Diana Rebollar and 16-year-old Dana Sanchez. Murders were linked by homemade ligatures found around the victims’ necks.

Shore was tried only for killing Estrada, which prosecutors saw as the strongest case thanks to the DNA evidence.

Shore’s trial began in 2004. His wife, daughters, sisters, and former girlfriends testified against him at the proceedings. They told the court that Shore had drugged and abused them, reported nbcnews.com. 

To find out the verdict in the Shore case, where he is today, and what he has to say, watch “Living with a Serial Killer” when it returns Saturday, July 9 at 9/8c on Oxygen.