Valentine’s Day isn’t always candy and roses, dinner dates, romance – or even a night alone.
Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius gunned down his girlfriend, shocking cold cases remain unsolved, a freshly dumped felon opened fire on his departing ex, and a wife-killing doctor’s cover-up plan fell apart.
Here are five deadly Valentine’s Day cases – some of which remained unsolved decades later.
‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius
A photo combination of Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius attending events before her 2013 murder. On the left, the couple is on their first date at the SA Sports Awards Gala Dinner Nov. 4, 2012, in Johannesburg, South Africa. On the right, the couple attend the Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards Feb. 7, 2013, also in Johannesburg. (Stephanie Makhlouf / Lefty Shivambu both via Getty)
Oscar Pistorius, a former Olympian, in 2013 shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, through a bathroom door.
He and the 27-year-old had been dating for three months.
He claimed he thought an intruder had snuck in through the window of his Pretoria, South Africa, home and that he opened fire in self-defense.
Prosecutors tore apart his claims, alleging that his story didn’t add up, but a South African judge found him guilty of a lesser charge.
South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius competes in the men’s 400 meters during the Golden Gala IAAF Golden League at the Olympic stadium in Rome on July 13, 2007. (Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters)
Authorities appealed and later secured the murder conviction – for which his sentence was revised in 2015.
Last year, he began the process to seek an early release.
Pistorius was born with no fibula bones in his lower legs, and he became famous for running with a pair of carbon fiber prosthetics.
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His career reached a highpoint in 2012 when he became the first double-leg amputee runner to compete in a track race at the London Olympics.
Jesse McBane, 19, and Patricia Mann, 20
This undated photo, provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, shows Patricia Mann, 20, and her boyfriend, Jesse McBane, 19. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
Jesse McBane, 19, and Patricia Mann, 20, were last seen at a Valentine’s Day dance in North Carolina on Feb. 12, 1971.
Although the murders are not believed to have happened on the holiday itself, the double slayings became known as the “Valentine’s Day killings.”
Police found the young couple tied to a tree on Feb. 25.
They had both been strangled and investigators found signs of torture, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“It wasn’t one continuous pulling tight of a rope around their neck to strangle them to death,” Maj. Tim Horne told the Raleigh-based WRAL in 2018. “It appeared to be a situation where the rope was tightened, then they let it go, let them regain their breath, regain consciousness possibly, and then they were strangled again.”
Cassandra Rundle, 37, Detrick Sturm, 12, and Melanie Sturm, 10
Cassandra Susan Rundle was found dead alongside her 12-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter in 1985. (Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Cassandra Rundle, a 37-year-old office worker and mother of two from Colorado Springs, was found dead with her 12-year-old son, Detrick Sturm, and 10-year-old daughter Melanie Sturm in 1985. All three had been strangled.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the autopsy revealed both Rundle and her daughter had been sexually assaulted.
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The bodies were discovered by her second ex-husband, David Peltzer, who was reportedly dropping by with a Valentine’s Day gift.
The Associated Press reported in 1985 that Rundle, twice divorced, had put out a pair of personal ads in the local newspaper and received 85 responses. She was believed to have met about 12 of them in person by the time of the slaying.
The case remains unsolved.
“For Colorado Springs Police Department, it’s our only unsolved triple murder, and not only that, but there are two children involved, so the case itself is pretty traumatic,” Colorado Springs Cold Case Detective Rachel Cruz-Rodgers told FOX 21 in 2020, 35 years after the slayings.
John Hamilton
Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections)
Dr. John Hamilton placed the initial 911 call after his wife was strangled and beaten to death in Oklahoma on Valentine’s Day 2001.
Police arrived to find a pair of cords wrapped tight around her neck and her skull fractured, according to the Mirror.
Hamilton was a gynecologist and abortion provider, according to the report, and his wife had allegedly received threats from pro-life groups. Investigators, however, zeroed in on her husband as a suspect.
He was convicted of first-degree murder after a blood-spatter expert testified in court that stains on his shirt were likely obtained during the brutal beating and not after.
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He remains behind bars at the R.B. Dick Conner Correctional Center in Homin, Oklahoma.
Gibson Paul
Gibson Paul found himself getting dumped on Feb. 14, 2011, grabbed a gun and opened fire on the car as his live-in girlfriend, Tomicka Peterson, was trying to leave with friends.
Gibson Paul, 41, was convicted of gunning down girlfriend Tomicka Peterson after she tried to leave him on Valentine’s Day 2011. (Florida Department of Corrections)
He struck her five times and injured another passenger, who survived. Three others in the car, a male driver, another woman and a 3-year-old girl, escaped physical injury.
After the shooting, Paul fled from Riviera Beach to Tennessee, where police arrested him on the Florida charges.
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He was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The judge sentenced him to life in prison.
He is currently housed at the Liberty Correctional Institution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
