1. TED BUNDY, 1979
Shortly before he was executed in 1989, convicted serial killer Ted Bundy copped to murdering 30 women across the country between 1974 and 1978 (though some believe the true number to be more than that). Handsome and charismatic, Bundy’s arrest made worldwide headlines. More than 250 journalists from around the globe descended on Miami in the summer of 1979, when proceedings began in the case of the Chi Omega murders, where Bundy broke into a sorority house at Florida State University and attacked four women in less than 15 minutes, killing two of them. Bundy’s trial was the first to be televised nationally, and it didn’t end well for him; a guilty verdict brought him two death sentences, with a third following six months later after a separate trial in Orlando.
2. JEFFREY DAHMER, 1992
When it came time for cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to stand trial for the murder of 15 boys and men, Court TV was there–but on a 10-second delay, in order to carefully edit out those exhibits and discussions that might be too disturbing to viewers. On February 17, 1992, more than 60 global news organizations were on hand to broadcast the guilty verdict. Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences for his crimes; on November 28, 1994, he was beaten to death by a fellow prison inmate.
3. THE OFFICERS WHO ASSAULTED RODNEY KING, 1992
From the violent beating that begat the trial of four LAPD officers to the explosive riots that occurred in the wake of the verdict, the brutal assault of construction worker Rodney King went beyond “gavel-to-gavel” coverage. Assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force were the charges lodged against four officers, whose attack on King following a high-speed chase was caught on video by a nearby resident and ignited a national conversation on police brutality. On April 29, 1992, the acquittal of the officers sparked immediate riots around Los Angeles, in which 54 people were killed, 2328 were injured and more than 7000 fires were ignited causing $900 million in property damage.
4. O.J. SIMPSON, 1995
Interest in the trial of O.J. Simpson–who was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman–was certainly bolstered by the ex-NFL star and occasional-actor’s celebrity status. The trial also made a household name of Johnnie Cochran, Simpson’s prone-to-theatrics defense attorney, who famously declared during his closing arguments, in reference to a pair of gloves assumed to be used by the killer that did not fit the accused hands, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” The jury agreed, delivering a “Not Guilty” verdict as more than 100 million interested parties watched from home (which is about as many people as tuned in for the 2010 Super Bowl).
5. LINDSAY LOHAN, 2010
TV trials went high-tech in 2010, when troublemaking trainwreck Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 90 days in rehab for repeatedly violating the terms of her probation (following two arrests for drunk driving in 2007). TMZ.com attracted a record number of viewers when 2.3 million people logged on to watch the verdict stream live from the courtroom on July 7, 2010.
