April 15, 1954 - Michelle Knotek
Her crimes were defined not by sudden violence but by prolonged domestic control — victims taken in as boarders were subjected to sustained abuse within a private household over an extended period. The domestic setting made the harm both harder to detect and, for those inside it, harder to escape. Knotek's case remains a study in how ordinary social arrangements can conceal extreme coercive dynamics.
From Wikipedia
Michelle Knotek is an American convicted murderer from Raymond, Washington. She was convicted in 2004 of second degree murder and first degree manslaughter for her role in the torture and deaths of Kathy Loreno and Ronald Woodworth, who were both boarders in Knotek's home. Her husband, David Knotek, was also convicted of the murder of her 17-year-old nephew Shane Watson, who lived with the Knoteks. Michelle is also suspected of possible involvement in the death of James McClintock, an 81-year-old whose assets she inherited after he died of head trauma incurred while Knotek was employed as his caregiver on February 9, 2002. The Knoteks' crimes made national headlines due to allegations of abuse and torture.
Michelle Knotek was sentenced to 22 years in prison. She served approximately 18 years at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor and was released on November 8, 2022. Her husband David Knotek was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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