20 Most Notorious and Infamous Crimes of the 90s
These 90s crimes shocked the world. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most publicized and high-profile crimes from 1990 to 1999. Our countdown includes the Murder of Phil Hartman, Attack on Nancy Kerrigan, Rodney King Beating, World Trade Center Bombing, Columbine High School Massacre, and more! What infamous crimes do you most remember from the ‘90s? Tell us in the comments.
10. Murder of Phil Hartman (1998)
The world was stunned when comedian and actor Phil Hartman was tragically killed by his wife, Brynn Hartman, who then took her own life. The murder-suicide left fans and colleagues in shock, grieving the loss of a beloved entertainer.
9. Attack on Nancy Kerrigan (1994)
The figure skating world was rocked when Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a man hired by the ex-husband of her rival, Tonya Harding. The scandal dominated headlines and led to Harding being banned from the sport.
8. Rodney King Beating (1991)
The brutal beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers was captured on video and sparked outrage and protests across the country. The subsequent acquittal of the officers involved led to the infamous 1992 Los Angeles riots.
7. World Trade Center Bombing (1993)
In February 1993, a truck bomb exploded in the parking garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring over a thousand. The attack was a precursor to the devastating events of September 11, 2001.
6. Columbine High School Massacre (1999)
The tragic school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado saw two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, kill 13 people and injure 24 others before taking their own lives. The massacre led to widespread changes in school security and policies.
10. Murder of Phil Hartman (1998)
The world was stunned when comedian and actor Phil Hartman was tragically killed by his wife, Brynn Hartman, who then took her own life. The murder-suicide left fans and colleagues in shock, grieving the loss of a beloved entertainer.
9. Attack on Nancy Kerrigan (1994)
The figure skating world was rocked when Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a man hired by the ex-husband of her rival, Tonya Harding. The scandal dominated headlines and led to Harding being banned from the sport.
8. Rodney King Beating (1991)
The brutal beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers was captured on video and sparked outrage and protests across the country. The subsequent acquittal of the officers involved led to the infamous 1992 Los Angeles riots.
7. World Trade Center Bombing (1993)
In February 1993, a truck bomb exploded in the parking garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring over a thousand. The attack was a precursor to the devastating events of September 11, 2001.
6. Columbine High School Massacre (1999)
The tragic school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado saw two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, kill 13 people and injure 24 others before taking their own lives. The massacre led to widespread changes in school security and policies.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00It was the high society murder that stunned the world.
00:03Gianni Versace was murdered in broad daylight this morning.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:08and today we're looking at 20 of the most notorious and infamous crimes of the 90s.
00:13The lead story is the FBI is investigating
00:15Tanya Harding's husband in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan.
00:19Oh my god.
00:21For this list, we're looking at the most publicized
00:24and high-profile crimes from 1990 to 1999.
00:27What infamous crimes do you most remember from the 90s?
00:31Tell us in the comments.
00:33Kidnapping of J.C. Lee Dugard.
00:36In the summer of 1991,
00:37the young J.C. Lee Dugard disappeared in Myers, California,
00:41on her way to the school bus stop.
00:42She reaches the road.
00:44A gray car pulls up.
00:45A stranger rolls down the window.
00:48And his hand shoots out, and I just feel numb.
00:52Witnesses, including Dugard's stepfather,
00:54Carl Probin, saw a man and woman force her into a gray vehicle,
00:57and the perpetrators were later identified as Philip Garrido and his wife, Nancy.
01:02For 18 years, Dugard was held in a shack behind their home in Antioch,
01:06where she gave birth to two girls.
01:08The story was featured on America's Most Wanted within days of the abduction.
01:12Dugard and her daughters were finally found in 2009,
01:15after Philip was ordered to attend a parole meeting.
01:18It wasn't until two suspicious campus police officers uncovered the truth
01:23that J.C. was reunited with her mother after 18 torturous years.
01:28They're like, you can see your mom.
01:29And I'm like, I can see my mom?
01:32In 2011, he received a 431-year-to-life prison sentence,
01:37while Nancy was sentenced to 36 to life.
01:40The Murder of Phil Hartman
01:42Actor-comedian Phil Hartman was a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1994,
01:47earning an Emmy in 1989 for writing.
01:50Fine, but please, don't tell Mrs. Clinton.
01:54Jim, let me tell you something.
01:56There's gonna be a whole bunch of things we don't tell Mrs. Clinton.
02:01Fast food is the least of our worries, okay, buddy?
02:04Hartman married his third wife, Brynn Omdahl, in 1987,
02:08and the couple had two children together.
02:10Omdahl struggled with multiple substance use disorders for years,
02:13which put a strain on their marriage.
02:15She also reportedly had anger issues,
02:17leading to many fights between the couple,
02:19including one on the night of May 27, 1998.
02:23In the early hours of May 28,
02:25she shot Hartman multiple times in his sleep,
02:28then confessed to two friends before taking her own life.
02:31Distraught neighbors and friends of the couple say they had marital problems.
02:35One woman said she had feared that this would happen.
02:38Hartman's murder shocked the entertainment industry at large.
02:41Family, friends, and fans continue paying tribute to the comedian.
02:45John and Lorena Bobbitt
02:47Less than a week after their four-year anniversary,
02:50John and Lorena Bobbitt made headlines for a shocking reason.
02:53According to Lorena, her husband assaulted her the night of June 23, 1993,
02:58in their Manassas, Virginia home.
03:00When he was asleep, she took a knife from the kitchen and removed his manhood, so to speak.
03:04She went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and she saw the knife.
03:10It was so many things coming into my mind, I don't know how to describe.
03:17Lorena alleged that John was emotionally and physically abusive.
03:20She was found not guilty due to insanity and irresistible impulse.
03:25In years since, John has been arrested and charged for several alleged instances of battery
03:30involving wives and girlfriends. He and Lorena continue to talk to the media about the incident.
03:36How quickly did you know that what happened that night was going to be a very big story?
03:42No, I knew it was big because they were trying to,
03:46you know, keep the reporters from coming out to the hospital.
03:49The shooting of Mary Jo Buttafuoco
03:51In 1991, 35-year-old auto body shop owner Joey Buttafuoco
03:55allegedly began an affair with teenager Amy Fisher.
03:58When she approached his wife Mary Jo on May 19, 1992,
04:02a heated confrontation led to Fisher shooting her in the face and fleeing the scene.
04:07She is accused of an affair with a married man more than twice her age.
04:10She is in jail on charges of trying to kill his wife. But who is Amy Fisher?
04:15Mary Jo survived and was able to help officials identify the young woman who shot her.
04:20Fisher, whom the press dubbed the Long Island Lolita, was arrested and charged.
04:25Meanwhile, Mary Jo suffered partial face paralysis and lost hearing in one ear.
04:30In December 1992, Fisher was sentenced to 5 to 15 years,
04:34serving 7 before being paroled in 1999.
04:37It's not about me anymore. It's not about the person who got shot and
04:41assassinated on the front of her own home. It becomes about Joey and Amy.
04:46And it did. It took on a life of its own because that's what the public was seeing.
04:50That's what they wanted.
04:51The West Memphis Three
04:53In May of 1993, three young boys from West Memphis, Arkansas were found murdered in Robin Hood Hills.
04:59Due to the shocking nature, officials speculated there was evidence of an occult ritual.
05:04Eighteen-year-old Damian Eccles, known for his interest in Wicca,
05:07was later arrested along with his friend Jason Baldwin and acquaintance Jesse Miskelley Jr.
05:12Despite a lack of evidence, Baldwin and Miskelley got life sentences,
05:16while Eccles was sentenced to death.
05:18They argue that the boys' predilections, along with the strange and brutal nature
05:22of the crime scene, are proof that the murders were committed as a satanic ritual.
05:27Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sanofsky directed three HBO documentaries beginning with trial coverage.
05:32The case gained attention when Metallica allowed their music to be used in the first film,
05:36and high-profile celebrities like Johnny Depp publicly supported the boys' innocence.
05:41In 2011, the West Memphis Three were released after agreeing to an Alford plea.
05:46Today, the West Memphis Three walked free.
05:50It's been an absolute living hell.
05:51The attack on Nancy Kerrigan
05:53On January 6, 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was practicing for the United
05:58States Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Michigan, when she was suddenly
06:02struck in her right leg with a baton.
06:04Kerrigan was clubbed on the right knee with a baton by an unidentified man.
06:11The whack heard round the world, as it came to be known.
06:14Rival skater Tonya Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gallulli were suspected of orchestrating
06:18the attack to eliminate Harding's competition.
06:21The attacker was later identified as Shane Stant, an associate of Sean Eckert,
06:25who acted as Harding's bodyguard and Gallulli's friend.
06:28Stant and his getaway driver Derek Smith accepted plea deals and were both convicted
06:33of conspiracy, while Eckert and Gallulli pled guilty to racketeering.
06:36Just three weeks after the attack, her ex-husband, Jeff Gallulli, pleads guilty,
06:41but accuses Tonya of being the mastermind.
06:45Tonya categorically denies those allegations.
06:47You know, I haven't done anything wrong.
06:49Harding was banned from the U.S. FSA and didn't skate professionally again.
06:54In 2017, interest in the infamous attack was renewed with the release of the film I, Tonya.
07:00The Murder of Matthew Shepard
07:02In October of 1998, 21-year-old University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was robbed
07:08and brutally attacked by two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who left him for dead.
07:13Shepard succumbed to his severe head injuries six days later in the hospital.
07:17The tragedy would become one of the most notorious anti-gay hate crimes in American history.
07:24Matt's funeral and the murder trials, which led to multiple life sentences, dominated the media.
07:30In December, Shepard's parents founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
07:34In 1999, Henderson received two life sentences after pleading guilty to murder and kidnapping
07:40charges and testifying against McKinney, who got the same sentences.
07:44While McKinney and Henderson maintained that they didn't target Shepard because he was gay,
07:48the case sparked discussions surrounding hate crimes against the LGBTQ plus community.
07:52You know, I just saw this very bright, intellectual, worldly,
07:56young person. It's one of the mysteries that keeps you going. I can't ever really know what
08:02he might have been able to accomplish, but I have a pretty good idea of what
08:05we can accomplish in his name if we keep doing it. And so we do.
08:09In October 2009, then-President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.
08:15Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.
08:17The assassination of Gianni Versace
08:20After Giovanni Gianni Versace opened his first boutique in 1978,
08:24the Italian fashion designer quickly made a name for himself in the industry.
08:27I have a beautiful house, I have a beautiful life, but that isn't the media. What I desire is more.
08:33His life was cut short at 50 years old when Andrew Cunanan shot him in front of his Miami
08:38Beach home on July 15, 1997. Eight days later, Cunanan took his own life.
08:44The cross-country spree killer had previously killed four other men before Versace,
08:48including his friend Jeffrey Trail in Minneapolis,
08:50and well-known real estate developer Lee Miglin in Chicago.
08:54Andrew Cunanan makes the top 10 FBI list. You had people in all parts of the country
09:00wondering whether Andrew Cunanan was going to show up at their house.
09:04Authorities admit that by now, Cunanan could be anywhere.
09:08While his exact motivations are ultimately unknown,
09:11experts speculate Cunanan was jealous of Versace's fame and fortune.
09:14In 2018, the second season of American Crime Story revisited the crime and the aftermath.
09:20The death of James Bulger
09:22One of the most shocking criminal cases in British history took place on February 12,
09:261993, when two of the country's youngest offenders took the life of the even younger James Bulger.
09:32After all this time, 17 years,
09:34there's no doubt in your mind that it wasn't just a prank gone wrong? It was evil?
09:39Yes, there's no doubt in my mind at all. It was complete evil intent.
09:43The now-widely-viewed CCTV footage shows Robert Thompson and John Venables leading Bulger out of
09:49the New Strand shopping center. Days after the boys' unspeakable acts, Bulger's body was found
09:54in Walton, Liverpool. Professionals determined Thompson and Venables knew right from wrong
09:59despite their young ages. In November that year, they were found guilty of first-degree murder
10:04and kidnapping. In 2001, both were released from youth detention centers at the age of 18
10:09and given new identities. They got no punishment whatsoever. They got rewarded
10:14for murdering James. That's why I've never let it go and I won't let it go.
10:18You think they were rewarded?
10:19Of course it was a reward because they never spent no time in a prison.
10:22Venables returned to prison on several occasions for possession of explicit material involving
10:26minors. The Rodney King beating
10:29While driving home with friends on the morning of March 3, 1991, Rodney King was allegedly
10:34speeding on the highway and refused to stop for police, and a high-speed chase ensued.
10:39They were eventually pulled over by five officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.
10:44George Holliday, a nearby witness, filmed the officers tasing King,
10:48repeatedly striking him with batons and kicking him.
10:51Rodney King struggled in many ways for the rest of his life.
10:54He would have nightmares. I mean, you could hear him, like,
10:57you know, yelling in his sleep, like kind of like moaning, like he was literally having a nightmare.
11:02According to officers, he resisted arrest, though King and witnesses denied this.
11:08The footage was sent to a local news station and ignited widespread criticism of the LAPD
11:13and law enforcement's excessive force. After the four officers avoided conviction in 1992,
11:19public outrage in the African-American community led to the six-day Los Angeles riots.
11:23Well, my reaction is shock first and then disappointment. Obviously, we feel the
11:30evidence warranted a conviction on the defendants, and the jury disagreed with us,
11:36and we must abide by their decision.
11:39The Death of JonBenet Ramsey
11:41On December 26, 1996, the young JonBenet Ramsey went missing from her home in Boulder, Colorado.
11:47Her parents, John and Patsy, allegedly found a ransom note demanding a suspiciously specific
11:53amount of money. The note demands $118,000 and threatens the immediate execution of their
12:00daughter. Just hours after she was reported missing, Jon found his daughter's lifeless
12:05body in the basement. Her death was ruled a homicide. And lo and behold, when Jon Ramsey
12:11finds the body, you now have Jon Ramsey at the crime scene. Documentaries and TV programs still
12:17revisit the case, analyzing the evidence, going over statements, and uncovering secrets surrounding
12:23the family members. The persisting mystery of her death will seemingly always captivate
12:27the nation. Despite many ongoing theories and suspects, the case remains unsolved to this day.
12:33I believe there is some evidence to suggest
12:36strongly that he may have come in through a basement window.
12:39The Centennial Olympic Park Tragedy
12:42In 1996, Atlanta, Georgia hosted the Summer Olympics. Security guard Richard Jewell
12:48discovered what appeared to be a pipe bomb under a bench in the park. He immediately
12:52called the police and helped lead people to safety before the blast.
12:56The bombing resulted in one death and 100 injuries.
12:59He was hailed a hero.
13:01And I just hope that we catch the people that did it.
13:04Jewell was labeled a hero, but then quickly became the FBI's main suspect. For almost three
13:10months, the FBI investigation and the media attention ruined his life.
13:15Some of the coverage, while acknowledging that Jewell was only under investigation,
13:19still cast him in the worst possible light.
13:22His name was eventually cleared, but the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, wasn't caught until 2013.
13:29Jewell was the subject of a Clint Eastwood film,
13:31as well as season two of Discovery Channel's anthology series, Manhunt.
13:36Until the day I die, there will be people who believe that I'm a murderer.
13:40The Murders of Tupac and Biggie Smalls
13:42In the late 90s, two of hip-hop's most influential artists were killed within six months of each
13:47other. On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was gunned down, dying six days later.
14:04Then, on March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls, also known as the Notorious B.I.G.,
14:10a suspect in Tupac's murder, was shot and killed.
14:18The two started off as friends, but quickly became enemies in the East Coast-West Coast War.
14:25Suspects range from former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight to corrupt officers in the LAPD.
14:31New theories still arise today from lifelong fans
14:35hoping to solve the murders of two young rappers at the height of their careers.
14:44The World Trade Center Bombing
14:46Eight years before the September 11 attacks, the World Trade Center was hit with a bomb.
14:52On the afternoon of February 26, 1993, a bomb went off inside a rental van,
14:58killing six people and injuring over 1,000. The van was located in the underground parking garage.
15:10Shockingly, one of the men who planted the bomb actually went to the rental agency to
15:15get his security deposit back. Not so shockingly, he was brought in by the FBI.
15:20Mohamed Salama and his three accomplices were arrested and later convicted.
15:24Yesterday, federal agents raided Salama's apartment,
15:27where they found the evidence that led to his arrest.
15:30The granite memorial fountain built to honor the victims was destroyed in 2001,
15:34but the names of the victims are included in the North Pool of the 9-11 Memorial.
15:39Ninety-three bombing was the powder keg. It was the start of America being vulnerable.
15:45The Murder of Selena Quintanilla Perez
15:48Selena Quintanilla Perez was just 23 years old when she was killed by her fan club president
15:54and friend Yolanda Saldívar on March 31, 1995.
15:58Selena has been shot dead at a Corpus Christi motel.
16:02Yolanda was caught embezzling the singer's money, and Selena confronted her at a motel
16:07to collect tax papers. Rather than face the consequences of her crimes,
16:11Yolanda fatally shot her supposedly best friend.
16:14It's not like we thought that this person was possible of the act that she committed.
16:19Given Selena's bright and bubbly presence that touched so many,
16:23her sudden death is still a shocking reality. It's impossible to listen to
16:28Dreaming of You and not cry thinking of the heartbreaking ending of the 1997 film.
16:33Love for the iconic singer was revitalized with Netflix's Selena the Series.
16:45The Crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer
16:47He's sometimes called the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster,
16:52but everyone knows the name Dahmer. From 1978 to 1991, he killed 17 young men,
16:58doing unspeakable things to their remains.
17:01Jeffrey Dahmer was responsible for killing more than a dozen people.
17:04The killer was finally caught on July 22, 1991, after an intended victim escaped and
17:10flagged down police. A lot of media attention has focused on his upbringing, attempting to
17:16explain why anyone would commit such horrific crimes.
17:19Milwaukee newspaper is reporting the man has confessed to killing at least 11 people.
17:23What makes him enduringly fascinating is just how normal he looked.
17:27Ryan Murphy's Netflix original series starring Evan Peters is based on Dahmer's life,
17:31but told through the eyes of his victims.
17:34The Waco Siege
17:35Beginning February 28, 1993, the FBI led a siege against David Koresh,
17:41leader of the Branch Davidians and his cult followers. Suspecting that the group was
17:46stockpiling illegal weapons, ATF agents had arrived at Mount Carmel Center outside Waco,
17:51Texas, to serve a warrant. Instead, a deadly gunfight ensued,
17:56resulting in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians.
18:00Even when the agents all left, we felt that they would be back that night and kill us.
18:06The siege continued for 51 days, finally ending April 19,
18:11when the FBI flooded the building with tear gas, attempting to force everyone out.
18:16This is not an assault. We are not entering the building.
18:19A fire consumed the building, and by the end, 76 Branch Davidians were dead.
18:25Official reports alleged that cult members lit the fires,
18:28while surviving cult members blamed the FBI.
18:31Huge numbers of Americans watched this play out on their television sets,
18:35and the ending was incredibly horrifying.
18:38The Oklahoma City Attack
18:41Two years to the day after the Waco siege,
18:44a bomb went off under the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
18:48A massive car bomb exploded outside of a large federal building in downtown Oklahoma City,
18:53shattering that building.
18:54The bombing killed at least 168 people, including 19 children, wounding over 680 others.
19:03The nine-story building contained offices of 14 federal agencies,
19:07Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, two soldiers turned anti-government extremists,
19:12targeted this location because it housed the DEA and ATF,
19:16two of the three agencies they sought to attack.
19:19McVeigh was sentenced to death for this act of domestic terrorism,
19:23one of the worst in U.S. history.
19:25It was an act of cowardice, and it was evil.
19:30The Columbine High School Massacre
19:32When you say Columbine, everyone knows what you're referring to.
19:35Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado became front-page news on April 20, 1999,
19:41after two heavily armed students killed 13
19:44and wounded over 20 others before taking their own lives.
19:54This wasn't the first school shooting in the U.S.
19:57There had been a string of others around the country,
19:59but at the time, it was the deadliest in U.S. history.
20:03This infamous attack forever changed how security and safety protocols are handled in schools.
20:08Victims of the shootings suffer lasting trauma,
20:11some continuing to speak about their experience in the hopes of preventing more tragedies.
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20:36The Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman
20:41On June 13, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman
20:47were found in front of her Brentwood home, having been stabbed to death the night before.
20:51She was absolutely terrified for her life.
20:54Nicole's ex-husband, former football star O.J. Simpson, became the number one suspect.
20:59The trial, dubbed the Trial of the Century,
21:01began seven months after the murders on January 24, 1995, and would last 134 days,
21:09with the shocking verdict being announced on October 3.
21:12We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant,
21:16Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187.
21:22In the media, it's often forgotten that it isn't all about Simpson.
21:26The families of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman lost their loved ones.
21:30The infamous Bronco chase, trying on the gloves, the theatrics in and out of court,
21:35all distract from the reality of the case. Two people were brutally killed.
21:40A mostly white jury found Simpson liable, ordering him to pay $33.5 million
21:45to the families of the murder victims in 1997.