Number 7 Andres Rodriguez
In August of 2018, the Lyons School District 103, in Illinois, hired a teacher unaware that he had
a pending criminal case for attempted murder. 40-year-old Andres Rodriguez beat out five other
candidates for a sixth-grade English Language Arts teaching job. In July of 2017, he’d shot a
man seven times, including several times as he was standing over him, following a road rage incident
in Tinsley Park. Earlier in the summer, he’d been let go from the nearby Cicero School District 99,
after his past transgressions emerged. He was still employed in spite of the fact
that school districts are required to perform a criminal background check. According to school
board officials, the system didn’t flag Rodriguez because his case was pending. Nevertheless,
a simple Google search or a call to his past employers would’ve revealed him to be
a problematic hire. He was suspended when news of his active case emerged. During a meeting,
held in the incident’s aftermath, parents were in uproar. One man was quoted as saying "We got
a teacher that shot somebody seven times coming here to teach? Shame on everybody!”. Consequently,
parents and other board members called for the resignation of two school superintendents
whom they felt had failed to do the bare minimum in researching Rodriguez’s past.
Number 6 Rhys Hancock On New Year’s Day, 2020, Rhys Hancock woke
his mother up, at her home in Etwall, Derbyshire, England, and told her “I feel like I want to kill
them”. Hancock, a former head teacher at Stanton Vale School, in Long Eaton, was referring to
his estranged partner, Helen, aged 39, whom he’d recently found out had started seeing a man named
Martin Griffiths. Earlier in the evening, Hancock had returned home with two women, after drinking
at a local pub, and they shared a few more drinks. After the women had left, he went upstairs, where
his mother, Denise, was sleeping. After waking her up, he started talking about killing his wife and
her new lover, detailing how he could sneak into his old marital home because he still had the key.
He said that he’d be sentenced to 20 or 30 years in prison and that he’d be out in his 60s. Denise
would later report that she’d never seen him so calm. After sharing a final cup of tea with her,
the 40-year-old told his mother that he loved her and then left. Armed with two large knives,
he headed towards his former home, in Duffield. Shortly after 4 am, Denise called the authorities
and told them that Helen was in danger. She and Hancock had three children but they weren’t at
the residence at the time. About 15 minutes later, Hancock also called the police and said “I have
just murdered my wife in her bed. I have stabbed them and slit their throats. There is blood
everywhere.” Arriving officers found Hancock on the pavement near the home, drenched in blood. He
told them that he knew denying the crime would be futile. Inside, the police found a horrific scene.
A senior clinician described it as a bloodbath and claimed it was the most violent incident he’d seen
in his 17 years on the job. Hancock had entered the home through a backdoor and went upstairs
where he butchered Helen and 48-year-old Griffiths as they lay in bed, defenseless. Both were found
dead on the floor, with Helen’s head resting in the man’s lap. Helen, who taught PE at Fountains
High School, in Burton, had suffered 66 knife wounds, which had been delivered with great force.
Griffiths, a father-of-two, had 37 fresh wounds, with several deadly slashes that had severed
his jugular vein. Prosecutors would describe the killings as premeditated, savage and merciless,
executed in cold blood, with an element of sadism. Hancock pleaded guilty to the double homicide and
was sentenced to a minimum of 31 years in prison. Number 5 Chelsea Cook
On November the 25th of 2018, a Utah health teacher shot and killed her ex-husband’s
girlfriend. Chelsea Cook reportedly entered the Midvale home of her ex, Travis, while he was still
in the parking lot, where they’d agreed to meet so that she could drop off something for one of
their 3-year-old twins. According to the police report, 32-year-old Chelsea was asked to leave
multiple times, which she refused before locking herself in the couple’s bathroom.
Travis’ girlfriend, 26-year-old Lisa Williams, was inside the home at the time. There’d been friction
between Chelsea and Williams that involved the teacher harassing the latter at her job and
writing her a threatening letter. In spite of the clear animosity, Williams hoped that they could
resolve their differences. Chelsea, however, had become anxious and depressed, feeling like
she was being cut off from her children, whom she reportedly loved bringing to the classroom. On the
night of the murder, as Chelsea refused to leave the bathroom, Travis called 911. She then opened
the door, reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a handgun. In the presence of her children,
Chelsea fired multiple shots at Williams, three of which made contact, causing fatal injuries. Travis
pinned his ex-wife to a wall until the police arrived at the scene and arrested her. Chelsea’s
legal defense would argue that she’d brought the weapon to the home with the intention of taking
her own life and was under severe psychiatric distress when she shot Williams. As part of a
plea deal that spared her the death penalty, Chelsea pleaded guilty to aggravated murder
and was sentenced to 34 years in prison. Number 4 Tiffani Lankford
In November of 2019, a substitute teacher was caught on cellphone footage
repeatedly hitting a teenage student, dragging her to the ground and then stomping on her head.
The incident took place at Lehman High School, in Kyle, Texas, during a Spanish class, and
videos of it have since gone viral. Some sources reported that prior to the physical confrontation
the teenager had uttered a racial slur directed at 32-year-old teacher Tiffani Lankford. One video
showed that the teenager had swung first after Lankford had leaned over her desk. In retaliation,
the teacher threw a barrage of hard punches to the teenager’s head, pulled her out of her
desk and stepped on her head. The teenager, reported as a member of the basketball team,
was taken to a local hospital and, as stated by an attorney for her family, sustained a brain
injury. She’d reportedly suffered from seizures prior to the brutal beating which may have left
her with lasting injuries. Lankford was fired on the day of the incident and charged with felony
aggravated assault. Her bond was initially set at $10,000 but, after being deemed a low flight risk,
she was released on Personal Recognizance, which meant that she’d promised to return to court.
Number 3 Delane Graham In 2021, a teacher was gunned down by her
estranged husband, who was also a teacher, on a campground in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Delane Graham, from Thunderchild First Nation, and his wife Charlene, from Flying Dust First Nation,
had started dating right out of high school. They graduated with teaching degrees,
got married and had two children together. Their tumultuous relationship had lasted for 16 years,
a time during which Charlene had tried to leave her abusive husband on multiple occasions
but was always pulled back to him. As a teacher, Delane was widely appreciated for his work in
land-based education and Cree culture but, in his private life, Charlene’s family described him as
manipulative and controlling. The couple, both 34, had a tragic final encounter about a month
after they’d separated, with Delane moving to a Meadow Lake campground and Charlene staying
in her home community at Flying Dust First Nation. When Charlene started dating someone new,
her family feared that Delane, who was allegedly abusing cocaine and crystal methamphetamine,
would be coming after her. Charlene told her sister, Della Duquette, to come find her if she
didn’t answer her cellphone, because it meant she was in danger. The following day, Charlene
started a new job at the on-reserve elementary school but disappeared around lunch time. Her
family asked the authorities to perform a wellness check but Duquette decided not to wait and went to
the campground herself. She arrived and tackled Delane as he appeared to be punching Charlene,
whom he’d likely taken there by force. Duquette tried holding him to the ground at which point
she was stabbed in the hand and was forced to back away. It was only then that she realized
Delane hadn’t punched Charlene but attacked her with a knife. The man then pointed a rifle at
the sisters, prompting Charlene, as she lay bleeding, to tell Duquette "Go! Sis, it's OK,
I'm going to die". Duquette ran away, hoping she wouldn’t be shot in the back, and escaped
with her life. Delane shot Charlene, outside his camper-trailer, then turned the weapon on himself
once he was inside. Both died at the scene. Today's topic was requested by instagram follower
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Number 2 Michael Kazecki
Over the course of three days, in August of 2018, a teacher from Joliet, Illinois, repeatedly beat
his wife, inflicting fatal injuries. Michael Kazecki taught 7th and 8th grade language arts,
at Washington Junior High School, while his wife, Rebecca, was an 8th grade special educations
teacher at Gompers Junior High School. Each of them had over a decade of experience within their
respective fields. The couple wasn’t known to have a turbulent marriage up to the events of
early August. It’s been reported that 38-year-old Rebecca had intervened while her husband, also 38,
was disciplining one of their young boys. Enraged, the man punched and kicked her several times, on
different occasions, from Saturday until Tuesday, when he called 911 claiming she was unresponsive
after suffering a medical issue. Responding officers found her lying unconscious on the floor,
next to a couch. She was rushed to a local hospital, where staff concluded her injuries
were consistent with a severe beating. Michael was taken into custody on charges of aggravated
battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated domestic battery. After Rebecca succumbed to head
trauma, the charge of first degree murder was added. His bail was set at $2 million
and his family managed to raise the minimum 10% which enabled Michael to be bonded out.
He continued to live in the home where he’d beaten his wife to death and was free to move
around in the community. Over a year after the murder, Joliet’s school district still hadn’t
terminated Michael’s employment. Even though he wasn’t allowed on the premises of his workplace,
he remained on paid administrative leave, meaning that taxpayers continued to support his teaching
salary. In 2020, three years after the incident, he was one of over a dozen murder defendants
still awaiting trial in Will County. Number 1 James Ball
On the morning of July the 4th of 2017, officers from the Cicero Police Department
and Onondaga County Sheriff's deputies responded to a
911 call at a residence in Cicero, in the state of New York. Upon arrival they found 40-year-old
Christopher Ross with multiple gunshot injuries. The shooter was the victim’s brother-in-law,
55-year-old James Ball. He was a 4th grade teacher at Smith Road Elementary School,
within the Northern Syracuse Central School District, where he’d worked since 2004.
Ball and Ross had got into a drunken fight that spilled from the basement onto other parts of
the former’s residence. Ball’s wife had briefly succeeded in separating them but the teacher
then retrieved a .22 caliber rifle from an upstairs bedroom and opened fire on Ross.
A shirtless, shoeless Ball told officers that he’d shot his brother-in-law, in self-defense, because
he’d beaten him. His mugshot would, indeed, show the teacher with a black and swollen eye. Ball
was indicted on murder charges but the appeals and legal proceedings into the case are still
ongoing to determine if he’d acted within the limits of the law. Ball’s arrest had shocked his
community and the school board as his reputation was that of a friendly man and a great teacher.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather go through high school
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