7 Millionaire Murderers: Wealthy Criminals Who Killed Other People

Over the years, the world saw poor people at greater risk of being fined, arrested and even incarcerated for their crimes while rich people who have the money and the power get away with their crimes.

Here, we take a look at the life of seven murderers who are also millionaires.

Robert Durst, a wealthy New York real estate heir, is one of the wealthy individuals in the world who got convicted of murder.

He was sentenced to life in prison in October 2021 for killing his best friend, Susan Berman, who was shot and killed in 2000 in her Los Angeles home. Prosecutors alleged Durst killed Berman because he feared his close friend would reveal details of his wife Kathie Durst's death.

Durst had long been suspected of killing his wife, who went missing in 1982 and has been declared legally dead. He was finally indicted in November for second-degree murder in her death.

In January, Durst died of natural causes while in custody. He was 78.

Who could forget Allen Blackthorne? The Texas millionaire got convicted in 2000 for arranging his ex-wife's murder in Sarasota.

Blackthorne reportedly paid someone $54,000 to kill his ex-wife Sheila Bellush, often referred to as the "Quad Mom” for being a mom of quadruplets.

The former couple had long battled for custody of their two daughters after a nasty divorce. Blackthorne died while in custody in November 2014.

You can't talk about millionaire murderers without mentioning Harold Landry, a U.S. businessman who stabbed his wife 23 times after she began a relationship with another man on Facebook.

Landry, who made his fortune designing cranes for offshore oil platforms, was found guilty of murder in February 2011.

Nobody could forget the case of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who killed their parents.

They staged the scene to look like a burglary and then got to spend their huge inheritance afterward. What brought them down? Erik confessed to a psychotherapist and an ex-girlfriend.

They cited emotional and physical abuse, among other reasons, for the gruesome 1989 killing of their parents.

Getting away with murder is one thing, and getting away with murder and cannibalism is another.

Issei Sagawa was studying at the Sorbonne University, considered one of the most prestigious universities in Europe, in 1981, when he was found with a suitcase containing parts of his classmate Renee Hartevelt, whom he killed and cannibalized.

The French authorities found him legally insane and unable to stand trial, so he got sent back to Japan.

Due to diplomatic complications between the French and Japanese governments and his father’s wealth, Sagawa has lived mostly as a free man.

Millionaire Phil Spector was once a respected music producer behind songs of the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers and the Ramones.

In 2003, actress Lana Clarkson was found with a fatal gunshot wound in Spector's home. Spector insisted it was suicide.

Due to previous firearm convictions, the jury was convinced of Spector's violence. In 2009, he was sentenced to 19 years for murder.