True crime cases in New York span decades of criminal history, from unsolved disappearances in rural communities to high-profile investigations in the state's largest cities. New York law enforcement agencies, from local police departments to the state bureau of investigation, have tackled cases ranging from cold-case homicides and serial offenders to fraud schemes and domestic violence tragedies. CaseSleuth tracks each New York case with comprehensive timelines, profiles of victims and persons of interest, evidence summaries, and links to media coverage and court documents. Browse the cases below to explore the full scope of criminal investigations in New York.
7 cases found
Brian Thompson, the CEO of the American health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on December 4, 2024. The shooting occurred early in the morning outside an entrance to the New York Hilton Midtown. The suspect, initially described as a white man wearing a mask, fled the scene. The words "delay", "deny", and "depose" were inscribed on the cartridge cases used during the shooting. Thompson had previously faced criticism for the company's rejection of insurance claims, and his family reported that he had received death threats.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after billions in customer funds were secretly funneled to his hedge fund Alameda Research. He was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in March 2024, capping one of the largest financial fraud cases in American history.
The Gilgo Beach serial killings were part of a series of murders on Long Island, New York, spanning from 1993 to 2011. Many of the victims' remains were found over a period of months in late 2010 and 2011 during a police search of the area along Ocean Parkway, a road near the remote beach town of Gilgo in southern Suffolk County, New York.
Financier Jeffrey Epstein operated a sex trafficking ring abusing dozens of underage girls. He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by over 80 women, sparking the #MeToo movement. He was convicted of rape in New York in 2020 and again in Los Angeles in 2022, though the New York conviction was overturned on appeal in 2024.
Ghislaine Maxwell, British socialite and longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and conspiracy for recruiting and grooming underage girls for Epstein. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in June 2022.
In April 1989, five Black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were wrongfully convicted of the brutal rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park, based on false confessions extracted through coercive interrogations. They were exonerated in 2002 after the actual perpetrator confessed and his DNA matched the crime scene evidence.