Over the years, the holiday dedicated to giving thanks has instead inspired crimes ranging from stabbings and bombings to dismemberment and cannibalism.
Thanksgiving is a time for American families to gather together around the table, gorge themselves on turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and celebrate the people and things they are thankful for. However, as the stories of these chilling Thanksgiving crimes show, things sometimes take a darker turn.
Despite the good nature of the holiday, it doesn’t magically make people behave well. For some families, the celebration might be ruined by angry disputes over politics or sports. In other cases, the day can turn deadly.
From murders and bombings to unruly Black Friday shoppers, read about nine horrifying Thanksgiving crimes and the victims left in their wake.
The Thanksgiving Crime That Ended In Cannibalism
California Department of CorrectionsOmaima Nelson in a 2006 mugshot.
On Thanksgiving 1991, while most American families were celebrating gratitude and togetherness, Omaima Nelson committed one of the most horrifying crimes in California history.
That day, the Egyptian-born model bludgeoned her husband to death in their Costa Mesa apartment — then spent the holiday weekend disposing of his remains alongside the leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
The 23-year-old woman had married Bill Nelson, a 56-year-old pilot, just weeks earlier. But the Thanksgiving that should have been their first holiday as newlyweds turned into a nightmare that would draw comparisons to the crimes of Hannibal Lecter and Jeffrey Dahmer.
According to Omaima, the violence erupted on Thanksgiving weekend when Bill sexually assaulted her. She claimed self-defense, stating that he tried to rape and strangle her before she grabbed a lamp, struck him, and then stabbed him with scissors. But what happened after the killing shocked even seasoned investigators.
Omaima dismembered her husband’s body, boiled his head, fried his hands in oil, and reportedly even castrated him in revenge. Then, she barbecued his ribs and ate them. As reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2011, Omaima admitted to a psychiatrist, “I did his ribs just like in a restaurant. It’s so sweet, it’s so delicious. I like mine tender!”
YouTubeBill Nelson, the man Omaima Nelson cooked and cannibalized.
The grisly Thanksgiving crime continued as Omaima mixed Bill’s remains with leftover holiday turkey and ran the meat through the garbage disposal. Neighbors later reported hearing the machine run all night.
When Bill failed to report to work the Monday after Thanksgiving, the police launched an investigation. Officers found body parts in the apartment, including Bill’s hands in a fry cooker and his head in a cooler. However, roughly 130 pounds of Bill Nelson were never recovered.
At Omaima’s 1992 trial, prosecutors argued that the Thanksgiving murder was a premeditated robbery, claiming Omaima had a history of conning older men. Her attorneys maintained that she was a battered woman who had acted in self-defense.
In January 1993, Omaima Nelson was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to at least 27 years in prison. She remains behind bars to this day, having been denied parole multiple times. At subsequent hearings, she has vehemently denied the cannibalism she once confessed to, insisting, “I am not a monster.”
But her grisly Thanksgiving crimes tell a different story.
