13 "Unsolved" True Crime Cases Where The Public Already Reached A Verdict And Basically Considered Them "Case Closed"

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Some crimes get solved with a conviction. Others get solved with something messier — a civil verdict, a jailhouse confession, a deathbed indictment, or a documentary that finally puts a name to a decades-old file. In r/AskReddit recently asked, "What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?" Here's what people shared:

1. A coroner's inquest jury literally found Lord Lucan guilty of murdering his children's nanny in 1975 — but he vanished the same night and was never seen again. "Killed his nanny and strangled his wife. Then disappeared," is how u/Significant_Role4308 summed it up, adding that the working theory has always been that Lucan's wealthy friends helped him flee the country, and that his actual victim, Sandra Rivett, "became a footnote in her own murder" according to u/Send_me_hedgehogs, because of the media circus around him.

What Happened: On the night of November 7, 1974, nanny Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in the basement of a London townhouse belonging to the Earl of Lucan and his estranged wife, Veronica. Lady Lucan, who was attacked in the same incident, said she recognized her assailant's voice as her husband's, and that he later confessed to killing Rivett, mistaking her for his wife in the dark basement. Lucan fled that same night, abandoning his blood-soaked car near a ferry port, and was never found. An inquest jury took the unusual step of formally naming him her killer, and he was eventually declared legally dead decades later. Sightings of him have been reported on nearly every continent since, none of which has ever been substantiated.

2. Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in a verdict most Americans polled at the time said they disagreed with. The general feeling on the Reddit thread was said best by u/Toys_before_boys, who noted, "There was so much evidence, I think she had to be placed in witness protection for her own safety because people were so outraged and wanted justice for her daughter."

What Happened: Casey Anthony's 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, went missing in June 2008 and wasn't reported to police for over a month; her skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near the family's Florida home that December. Prosecutors argued Anthony used chloroform and duct tape to kill her daughter, then went on with her life — including partying and getting a tattoo — while telling people she didn't know where Caylee was. In July 2011, the jury acquitted Anthony of murder, manslaughter, and child abuse charges, convicting her only of lying to police. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken right after the verdict found roughly two-thirds of Americans believed she was involved in her daughter's death.

3. The Susan Powell case, suggested by u/MTGemini1980. Susan Powell's husband was the only real suspect in her 2009 disappearance, and police say they believe he did it, but he murdered their two sons and completed suicide before they ever got the chance to charge him.

What Happened: In December 2009, 28-year-old Powell disappeared from the Utah house she shared with her husband and two young sons in West Valley City, Utah. Investigators found her blood inside the house and a handwritten note in which she'd expressed fear about her husband, Josh — but he was never arrested or publicly labeled a suspect by name, largely because the case against him remained circumstantial. In February 2012, a court ruling handed temporary custody of the two boys to Susan's parents — and during a supervised visit meant to transfer them, Josh let the boys into his home, locked the caseworker out, and detonated gasoline he'd stockpiled inside, killing himself and both children.

4. Ken McElroy, the "town bully" of Skidmore, Missouri, was shot dead in front of roughly 50 witnesses in 1981, and every single one of them has kept the secret of who pulled the trigger for over 40 years. One redditor, u/Weary-Program-2162, couldn't get past the sheer number of witnesses: shot "in front of 60 witnesses," they wrote, and yet, "they know who did it, they just won't say anything" — because, in their telling, McElroy had it coming.

What Happened: Kenneth Rex McElroy terrorized the small farming town of Skidmore, Missouri for years. He was accused of theft, arson, assault, and worse, but always managed to avoid conviction through witness intimidation. In June 1981, he was finally convicted of second-degree assault after shooting a grocer, but was released on bail pending appeal and immediately returned to town, making armed threats against his victim. On July 10, 1981, while townspeople met to discuss what to do about him, McElroy was shot dead in his truck outside a local tavern in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses. Despite an FBI investigation, nobody has ever been charged. The entire town has simply refused to say who fired the shots.

5. Martin Smartt allegedly confessed to a therapist that he killed two people in the Keddie Cabin murders, but he was never charged, and he died in 2000. "Most people know it was the next-door neighbor," one redditor wrote, pointing to the threatening notes he'd left and a motive tied to the victim trying to help his wife leave him.

What Happened: On the night of April 11, 1981, Susan Sharp, her teenage son, and his friend were bludgeoned and stabbed to death in a rented cabin in Keddie, California; her 12-year-old daughter, Tina, was abducted, and her remains weren't found for three years. Neighbor Martin Smartt and his houseguest were questioned and were found to be behaving suspiciously. Smartt told police his own hammer had gone missing, matching the one found at the scene, but investigators let both men leave the county within days, and no charges were ever filed. Both men have since died.

6. Kathy Page's own father spent years renting billboards along a Texas highway naming her husband as her killer, and a civil jury agreed enough to hold him liable, in the real case that reportedly inspired Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. "Everyone knows the husband did it," u/Self_Righteous_Biddy wrote, "the man was filmed kicking flowers off her grave."

What Happened: Investigators found 34-year-old Kathy Page's body in her car, strangled, sitting in a drainage ditch outside Vidor, Texas, in May 1991 — arranged, they believed, to look like she'd simply run off the road. Her father, James Fulton, became convinced police were protecting her estranged husband, Steve, and began renting billboards along the interstate, accusing both Steve and the Vidor Police Department of covering up the crime. Steve Page was never criminally charged, but in 1999, a civil jury found him liable for Kathy's wrongful death and awarded her family $150,000. Director Martin McDonagh has said that billboards he saw on a road trip inspired his Oscar-winning film, though he's never confirmed exactly which ones.

What Happened: On December 20, 2004, armed men took bank employees' families hostage overnight, then forced two Northern Bank workers to help load £26.5 million in cash into a van the next evening — still one of the largest cash heists in UK and Irish history. The PSNI, the British government, and Northern Ireland's Independent Monitoring Commission all publicly attributed the robbery to the Provisional IRA, a claim the organization and Sinn Féin denied. Only peripheral figures were ever convicted of money-laundering charges.

8. Jonathan Bettez was the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of 9-year-old Cédrika Provencher in Quebec for over a decade, and was only ever acquitted of anything because the evidence against him was ruled illegally obtained. "It's a tragic story,” u/slinky18222 wrote, describing a suspect who "refused to talk to the police" and matched a car witnesses seen near where she vanished.

What Happened: Nine-year-old Cédrika Provencher disappeared in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, in July 2007 after apparently agreeing to help a stranger search for a lost dog. Her remains weren't found until 2015. Investigators zeroed in on Jonathan Bettez after narrowing down a red Acura seen near the scene to just a handful of matching vehicles in the province. He was the only owner whose alibi couldn't be confirmed. Bettez refused a polygraph test and was reportedly the subject of an unsuccessful year-long undercover "Mr. Big" operation designed to elicit a confession.

9. A judge formally called Terri Horman "the prime suspect" in the 2010 disappearance of her stepson Kyron. 15 years later, a newly elected DA has reopened the investigation. “Step-mother did it, everyone knows it," u/kritterkins34 wrote bluntly. "Still, she is free, and he was never found."

What Happened: 7-year-old Kyron Horman vanished from his Portland-area elementary school in June 2010, hours after his stepmother, Terri Horman, dropped him off for a science fair, making her the last person known to have seen him. Terri failed two polygraph tests and refused a third, and Kyron's biological mother later filed a civil lawsuit against her seeking $10 million and demanding she disclose his location. The judge overseeing that suit went so far as to formally refer to Terri as "the prime suspect," though she's never been criminally charged and has consistently denied any involvement.

10. Michelle Liard was acquitted of murdering a 13-year-old girl that her boyfriend was convicted of killing, even though she admitted helping him clean up afterward. One redditor, u/BabyNonna, who knew people close to the case, shared: "Plainly though, it's clear she was in on it and escaped a life sentence" and compared it to the infamous Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka case.

What Happened: In December 2008, 13-year-old Aleksandra Firgan-Hewie was murdered in the Mississauga, Ontario, bedroom of Rafal LaSota, who stabbed her 37 times. LaSota's then-girlfriend, 19-year-old Michelle Liard, was in the house, and Canada's Supreme Court case summary later confirmed that she helped LaSota clean up the scene. Both were charged with first-degree murder; in 2012, a jury convicted LaSota and sentenced him to life in prison, but acquitted Liard of the same charge. The trial judge reportedly told jurors there was "no mystery" about who did the actual killing — the only real question was Liard's degree of involvement. Her acquittal was appealed and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

11. Jule Caylor has been the prime suspect in his wife Dottie's 1985 disappearance for nearly 40 years. Police once listed 29 separate reasons they believed he was responsible in a 140-page search warrant. "The husband absolutely killed his wife and buried her under newly poured cement," u/bobloblaw8922 wrote, recalling a family friend's certainty that he was responsible.

What Happened: Dottie Caylor vanished in June 1985 after her husband, Jule, said he dropped her off at a BART station near their Pleasant Hill, California home. Her car, purse, and ID were found at the station, but she was never seen again. Years later, police obtained a 140-page search warrant affidavit listing 29 separate reasons they believed Jule was responsible, including documented abuse allegations and inconsistent statements to investigators. A neighbor also reported that a concrete patio was poured in Jule's backyard around the time Dottie disappeared, prompting a 2004 search of the property that turned up no physical evidence.

12. "We know her husband killed her," u/goe4it wrote about Stacy Peterson's disappearance. A reply agreed that it seemed "obvious that arrogant creep did it."

What Happened: In 2004, Kathleen Savio, Drew Peterson's then-wife, was found dead in a dry bathtub. Her death was initially ruled accidental. That changed in October 2007, when Peterson's fourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, vanished from their home without a trace. Her disappearance prompted investigators to reopen Savio's case, and her body was exhumed; a second autopsy ruled her death a homicide.

In 2013, a jury convicted Peterson of first-degree murder in Savio's death, and he was sentenced to 38 years in prison. In Stacy's case, he has always maintained his innocence. Stacy has never been found, and while Peterson has been publicly named a suspect in her disappearance, he has never been charged.

13. Lisa Marie Young's mother was told by an RCMP officer that police "feel strongly about an individual" in her daughter's 2002 disappearance, but 23 years later, no one has ever been charged. u/Mulawooshin described Young's case as one that "still affects the community to this day," noting how much detail and history surround it locally.

What do you think about these cases? Tell us in the comments.

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