Does Murder Sleep?

Ben Oxley is shot in the head at point-blank range while sleeping in bed; his wife becomes the focus of the investigation, but it will take years before investigators bring the killer to justice; sometimes crimes occur when key characters are asleep.

When we sleep, we are at our most vulnerable. Sometimes crimes occur when a few or even all key characters are fast asleep. These stories tap into the primal fear, present since childhood, of what happens once we shut our eyes.

In June 2009, 61-year-old Wendy DiRodio's elderly mother discovers Wendy's body in the bedroom of their shared Ventura County, Calif., home; another murder weeks earlier leads investigators to wonder if a serial killer is on the loose.

In Palm Beach County, Fla., detectives discover pregnant mother of three, Makeva Jenkins, brutally murdered in her sleep; they delve into her extensive use of social media as they look for clues, uncovering a twisted plot and betrayal.

In 2010, Greg Fleniken was found murdered in a Texas hotel. The case runs cold until a Long Island PI uncovers a chilling conspiracy that no one saw coming.

When a home invasion leaves Bill Ross murdered in his sleep, detectives in Shelbyville, Tennessee, scramble to uncover the identity of a pair of masked men.