While the nation followed every development in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, a very different set of cases played out almost entirely in silence. From July 24 through Aug. 31, 2026, seven men killed or were suspected of killing members of their own families in separate cases across six states — and most of their names never reached a national audience. The violence unfolded in the same weeks Clancy’s trial ran, from roughly July 20 until a mistrial was declared Sept. 4.
The pattern begins in Michigan. Kristopher Karolkiewicz, 47, shot his wife, Amanda “Mandy” Karolkiewicz, and their six children, ages 5 to 15, in Grand Haven Township. He set fires in the home and died by suicide.
In Billings, Montana, Alan Michael Smith, 44, shot eight relatives at a Sunday family dinner. His parents, his 92-year-old grandmother, his sister and four children were killed across four generations. Smith set the house on fire and died by suicide.
In Winfield, Kansas, Ronald H. Williams Sr., about 53, called 911 after his four children, ages 3 to 9, were shot. Early coverage portrayed Williams as acting alone, but the Kansas Bureau of Investigation later said his partner, Kelly L. George, shared culpability in planning the children’s deaths. Williams died by suicide.
In Minnesota, Nathan Brown, 41, killed his wife, Kristen Brown, and their 7-year-old daughter, Evie, with a screwdriver at Kristen’s in-home daycare. Other children there were unharmed. Brown was also suspected of killing an elderly relative earlier that day before taking his own life.
Also in Minnesota, Jaymison Samuel Shaw, 22, killed his mother, Jamie Lee Charles, 43, and his younger brother, Willie Samuel Shaw Jr., 19, in their townhome. He then died by suicide.
In Oregon, Benjamin Charles Parker, 36, killed five people: his girlfriend, Stella Jade Kimsey, 26, her mother, her grandmother, Kimsey’s best friend and the friend’s partner. Multiple pets were also killed, fires were set, and Parker fled to Washington before confessing to his mother by phone and dying by suicide.
And in Wisconsin, Jeffrey Manke, 57, shot his daughters, Jaelyn, 16, and Lenora, 11, hours after his contentious divorce was finalized. He also died by suicide.
All seven men died by suicide at or near the end of the crimes, so none of them ever faced trial. Several of the cases followed a job loss, pressure to move out, a divorce or a custody conflict, and three involved fires.
Clancy’s case, by contrast, ended with an 11-1 hung jury after she killed her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. She remains at a forensic psychiatric facility while prosecutors decide whether to try her again.
The seven men were Kristopher Karolkiewicz, Alan Michael Smith, Ronald H. Williams Sr., Nathan Brown, Jaymison Samuel Shaw, Benjamin Charles Parker and Jeffrey Manke.