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50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History

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A great way to uncover clues to your family history or to get great quotes for journaling in a heritage scrapbook is a family interview. By asking the right open-ended questions, you're sure to collect a wealth of family tales . Use this list of family history interview questions to help you get started, but be sure to personalize the interview with your own questions as well.

Questions About Their Childhood

• What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname ?
• When and where were you born?
• How did your family come to live there?
• Were there other family members in the area? Who?
• What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
• Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
• What is your earliest childhood memory?
• Describe the personalities of your family members.
• What kind of games did you play growing up?
• What was your favorite toy and why?
• What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, go to the beach, etc.)?
• Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
• Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?
• What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
• What school activities and sports did you participate in?
• Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
• Who were your childhood heroes?
• What were your favorite songs and music genres?
• Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
• What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?
• Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
• Who were your friends when you were growing up?

Questions About the Family

• What world events had the most impact on you when you were a child? Did any of them personally affect your family?
• Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods ?
• How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
• How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
• Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
• What do you know about your family surname ?
• Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?
• What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
• Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
• Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
• Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
• Are there any special heirlooms , photos, bibles, or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?

Questions About Their Adult Life

• What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?
• When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
• What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
• Where and when did you get married?
• What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
• How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
• What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
• How did you find out you were going to be a parent for the first time?
• Why did you choose your children's names?
• What was your proudest moment as a parent?
• What did your family enjoy doing together?
• What was your profession and how did you choose it?
• If you could have had any other profession, what would it have been? Why wasn't this your first choice?
• Of all the things you learned from your parents, what do you feel was the most valuable?
• What accomplishments are you most proud of?
• What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

While these questions make great conversation starters, the best way to uncover the good stuff is through more of a storytelling session than a Q&A. 

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• Family Life

How to Write About Your Family

Last Updated: March 18, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. This article has been viewed 91,850 times.

Writing about your family can be a daunting task, especially if you are worried about getting your family’s story just right. You may be writing about your family history for a class or for personal reasons. Or you may decide to write about your family and create a personal memoir for publication. You may be writing about your family to practice your English. No matter the method, writing about your family can be a rewarding venture when done right.

Writing a Family History

• There are also several online tools you can use to build a family tree. You may then print out the family tree and use it as a guide when writing about your family.

• For example, you may say to your family, “I want to write about our family because I think we have a valuable story to share with others, a story about perseverance, sacrifice, and joy. I feel like a story like ours is not represented properly right now and I want to try to do it justice.”

• Make a point of talking to the older generation in your family, such as grandparents, great aunts, or old family friends. Often, the older generation will have more information on your family history.
• You may need to interview your family members several times. At first, they might not know what parts of their past are important for your work. Over time, they will get a better sense of what kind of information you're looking for.

• If you are not sure how to search for your family in the public records, you may ask a reference librarian at your local library for guidance. You may also be able to speak to a representative at the city records office for advice on how to search for information.

• For example, you may write a character profile for your father by writing, “60 year old Chinese-American man who came to America in the 1920s with his mother. Has a fascination with Chinese culture. Tends to speak up only when spoken to.”
• Keep in mind that you can share your impressions of your family members when you write about them. Make sure you clarify that you are writing from your perspective and try not to embellish any aspects of your family. You are writing non fiction, after all, not fiction.

• For example, you may realize that you have always wondered why your father is so estranged from his family and why your grandmother left China in the first place to come to America. You may then use this question to structure and organize your story. You may also research your family with this question in mind.

• You may also have several major conflicts throughout the story, such as the time your grandmother ran off to marry your grandfather, or the moment your great-grandmother stepped on the boat to America. Use these conflicts and successes to propel the story forward and make the story engaging.

• Keep in mind your family members may have more edits or opinions on the draft than others. Try to accommodate their feedback, as you are writing their family history too. But you should also be willing to argue against their feedback if you think it will be detrimental to the overall story or not in keeping with the facts of the family history.

Writing a Personal Memoir

• As you do your research, you should talk to your family about your plans to write a memoir. Let them know that you are researching your family for a book. Discussing the book with them will make the memoir more compelling and give you more information to work with.
• Keep in mind your family may not all be thrilled at the idea of the memoir at first, especially if they are nervous or worried about certain family details coming to light. Be tactful and patient with your family. Explain to them that you are writing a memoir from your perspective and that there is never one side to any story. Assure them that you'll let them read the final draft before you share it with anyone else.

• Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
• The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
• Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

• For example, perhaps you notice the theme of assimilation keeps coming up in your research of your family. Or maybe there is the common issue of the women in your family overcoming obstacles to raise their children in America.

• A plot diagram contains five parts: the exposition, the inciting incident, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution.
• You can also try using the snowflake method, where you write a one sentence summary of the story, followed by a one paragraph summary, character synopses, and a spreadsheet of scenes.

• If you are writing about a memory or experience that is difficult to confront, such as a memory of abuse or neglect from a family member, you may need to write several drafts of the memory. Take your time and try to focus on sensory details in the memory. Be honest about how you feel about the memory on the page and don't be afraid to dig deep.

• You should ask yourself several questions as you revise, including: Do the characters in the story feel like fair representations of my real family? What's the conflict or theme of the story? Is it conveyed in a meaningful way? Do I need to include more reflections on my family from my perspective?

• Depending on what you write, some of your family members may be upset or unsettled by your story. This may occur if you are writing about a family secret or a difficult period in your family’s history. You should be prepare to defend or explain the choices you made in your story to your family members.
• You may also get feedback on the draft from close family friends or colleagues that you are close to. If you are looking for professional guidance on your draft, you may enroll in a writing workshop that focuses on non fiction and memoir writing. You may then get valuable feedback on your draft from other writers who are also exploring their family history.
• You may be able to find non fiction writing groups online or at your local college or university. If you have friends or colleagues who have experience writing memoir, you may approach them and ask if they’d be willing to start a writing group.

Writing About Your Family to Practice English

• For example, you may use a prompt like: “Think about your favorite family memory. Why is it your favorite? How did your family members make that moment special?”
• As part of the prompt, you could pretend you are talking to someone you just met who asked you to tell them about your family.

• For example, you may write: “Let me tell you about my family. I have a mother, a father, two brothers, and one sister. We also have a dog named Pepper. We all live together in a house in Reno, Nevada. We have lived in the house since I was born. After they were married, my mother and my father moved to the house to start a family.”

• You may end up adding in more details into the draft based on your teacher’s feedback. By the end of the revision process, you should have a strong, completed draft that showcases your English skills.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://thewritepractice.com/tell-stories-and-keep-families/
• ↑ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Writing_Your_Family_and_Personal_History
• ↑ https://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul02/writing-a-non-boring-family-history-7024
• ↑ https://www.genealogy.com/articles/research/74_sharon.html
• ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-nonfiction/3-rules-on-writing-about-your-family
• ↑ https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing/a1-writing/about-my-family

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French Open 2024: Meet Andy Murray's Wife Kim Sears - In Pics

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U.S. Figure Skating Coach Gets Lifetime Ban After Investigation Finds Multiple Misconduct Violations

Dalilah Sappenfield, a former U.S. Figure Skating coach of the year, previously coached three-time national champions Alexa and Chris Knierim

Matthew Stockman/Getty

Longtime U.S. Olympic pairs figure skating coach Dalilah Sappenfield has been banned from the sport for life after an investigation determined that she had committed multiple violations including emotional and physical misconduct, USA Today reported .

A former U.S. Figure Skating coach of the year, Sappenfield coached three-time national champions Alexa and Chris Knierim at the 2018 Winter Olympics and had been actively coaching despite being the subject of a 2 1/2-year-long investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

“Culture change is happening,” SafeSport CEO Ju’Riese Colon said in a statement to the newspaper.

Colon continued, “Actions that were once tolerated or ignored are no longer accepted, and accountability is taking root. That’s progress, but creating long-term culture change requires steadfast commitment by everyone in the sport community to fostering safe environments for athletes to fulfill their potential. Those who cling to toxic tactics will be left behind and on the wrong side of history.”

Among Sappenfield’s alleged violations include verbal abuse, which U.S. national pairs champion Tarah Kayne said led her to cut her wrist with a razor blade, per USA Today .

Kayne also told the publication in 2021 that she had reported to a SafesSport investigator that Sappenfield’s verbal abuse frequently included sexual comments. 

“She was constantly talking about sex, about who I was dating, about my sex life,” Kayne said at the time. “It was completely inappropriate, but that’s what Dalilah does. She uses gossip from other skaters in the rink against you. She knew I was struggling with my mental health, but instead of helping me, she chose to make fun of me. She even went to other skaters and told them about it, calling me names and asking the guys why anyone would want to date me.”

Sappenfield did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The coach was a good friend and ardent defender of the late figure skater John Coughlin , who died by suicide in 2019, one day after SafeSport temporarily suspended him from the sport due to allegations of sexual abuse.

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• World Biography

Sigmund Freud Biography

Born: May 6, 1856 Freiberg, Moravia (now Czech Republic) Died: September 23, 1939 London, England Austrian psychologist, author, and psychoanalyst

The work of Sigmund Freud, the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, marked the beginning of a modern, dynamic psychology by providing the first well-organized explanation of the inner mental forces determining human behavior.

Freud's early life

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia (now Czech Republic). Sigmund was the first child of his twice-widowed father's third marriage. His mother, Amalia Nathanson, was nineteen years old when she married Jacob Freud, aged thirty-nine. Sigmund's two stepbrothers from his father's first marriage were approximately the same age as his mother, and his older stepbrother's son, Sigmund's nephew, was his earliest playmate. Thus, the boy grew up in an unusual family structure, his mother halfway in age between himself and his father. Though seven younger children were born, Sigmund always remained his mother's favorite. When he was four, the family moved to Vienna (now the capital of Austria), the capital city of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (the complete rule of Central Europe by Hungary and Austria from 1867 to 1918). Freud would live in Vienna until the year before his death.

Youth in Vienna

Because the Freuds were Jewish, Sigmund's early experience was that of an outsider in an overwhelmingly Catholic community. However, Emperor Francis Joseph (1830–1916) had liberated the Jews of Austria, giving them equal rights and permitting them to settle anywhere in the empire. Many Jewish families came to Vienna, as did the Freuds in 1860, where the standard of living was higher and educational and professional opportunities were better than in the provinces. They lived in an area that had a high concentration of Jewish people, called the Leopoldstadt slum. The housing was cramped and they had to move often, sometimes living with his father's family. By his tenth year, Sigmund's family had grown and he had five sisters and one brother.

Freud went to the local elementary school, then attended the Sperl Gymnasium (a secondary school in Europe that students attend to prepare for college) in Leopoldstadt, from 1866 to 1873. He studied Greek and Latin, mathematics, history, and the natural sciences, and was a superior student. He passed his final examination with flying colors, qualifying to enter the University of Vienna at the age of seventeen. His family had recognized his special scholarly gifts from the beginning, and although they had only four bedrooms for eight people, Sigmund had his own room throughout his school days. He lived with his parents until he was twenty-seven, as was the custom at that time.

Pre-psychoanalytic work

Freud enrolled in medical school in 1873. Vienna had become the world capital of medicine, and the young student was initially attracted to the laboratory and the scientific side of medicine rather than clinical practice. He spent seven instead of the usual five years acquiring his doctorate.

Freud received his doctor of medicine degree at the age of twenty-four. He fell in love and wanted to marry, but the salaries available to a young scientist could not support a wife and family. He had met Martha Bernays, the daughter of a well-known Hamburg family, when he was twenty-six; they were engaged two months later. They were separated during most of the four years which preceded their marriage, and married in 1887. Of their six children, a daughter, Anna, would become one of her father's most famous followers.

Freud spent three years as a resident physician in the famous Allgemeine Krankenhaus, a general hospital and the medical center of Vienna. He spent five months in the psychiatry (the area of medicine involving emotional and mental health) department headed by Theodor Meynert. Psychiatry at this time was rigid and descriptive. The psychological meaning of behavior was not itself considered important; behavior was only a set of symptoms to be studied in order to understand the structures of the brain. Freud's later work changed this attitude.

Freud, during the last part of his residency, received some money to pursue his neurological (having to do with the nervous system) studies abroad. He spent four months at the Salpêtrière clinic in Paris, France, studying under the neurologist (a person who studies the nervous system and treats people with neurological problems) Jean Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Here, Freud first became interested in hysteria (an illness in which a person complains of physical symptoms without a medical cause) and Charcot's demonstration of its psychological origins.

Beginning of psychoanalysis

Freud returned to Vienna, established himself in the private practice of neurology, and married. He soon devoted his efforts to the treatment of hysterical patients with the help of hypnosis (the act of bringing about a change in a person's attention which results in a change in their bodily experiences), a technique he had studied under Charcot. Joseph Breuer (1857–1939), an older colleague (a partner or an associate in the same area of interest), told Freud about a hysterical patient whom he had treated successfully by hypnotizing her and then tracing her symptoms back to traumatic (emotionally stressful) events she had experienced at her father's deathbed. Breuer called his treatment "catharsis" and traced its effectiveness to the release of "pent-up emotions." Freud's experiments with Breuer's technique were successful. Together with Breuer he published Studies on Hysteria (1895). At the age of thirty-nine Freud first used the term "psychoanalysis," (a way to treat certain mental illnesses by exposing and discussing a patient's unconscious thoughts and feelings) and his major lifework was well under way.

At about this time Freud began a unique project, his own self-analysis (the act of studying or examining oneself), which he pursued primarily by analyzing his dreams. A major scientific result was The Interpretation of Dreams (1901). By the turn of the century Freud had developed his therapeutic (having to do with treating a mental or physical disability) technique, dropping the use of hypnosis and shifting to the more effective and more widely applicable method of "free association."

Development of psychoanalysis

After 1902 Freud gathered a small group of interested colleagues on Wednesday evenings for presentation of psychoanalytic papers and discussion. This was the beginning of the psychoanalytic movement. Swiss psychiatrists Eugen Bleuler and Carl Jung (1875–1961) formed a study group in Zurich in 1907, and the first International Psychoanalytic Congress was held in Salzburg in 1908.

Later years

In 1923 Freud developed a cancerous (having to do with cancer cells that attack the healthy tissues of the body) growth in his mouth, which eventually led to his death sixteen years and thirty-three operations later. In spite of this, these were years of great scientific productivity. He published findings on the importance of aggressive as well as sexual drives ( Beyond the Pleasure Principle, 1920); developed a new theoretical framework in order to organize his new data concerning the structure of the mind ( The Ego and the Id, 1923); and revised his theory of anxiety to show it as the signal of danger coming from unconscious fantasies, rather than the result of repressed sexual feelings ( Inhibitions, Symptoms and Anxiety, 1926).

In March 1938 Austria was occupied by German troops, and that month Freud and his family were put under house arrest. Through the combined efforts of many influential friends who were well connected politically, the Freuds were permitted to leave Austria in June. Freud spent his last year in London, England, undergoing surgery. He died on September 23, 1939. The influence of his discoveries on the science and culture of the twentieth century is limitless.

Personal life

Freud was an intensely private man. He read extensively, loved to travel, and was an avid collector of archeological oddities. Devoted to his family, he always practiced in a consultation room attached to his home. He valued a small circle of close friends to whom he was intensely loyal, and inspired loyalty in a circle of disciples that persists to this day.

For More Information

Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Time. New York: Norton, 1988.

Jones, Ernest. The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. 3 vols. New York: Basic Books, 1953–1957.

Wollheim, Richard. Sigmund Freud. New York: Viking, 1971.

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Grayson Murray death: What to know of PGA, Arizona State golfer who passed away at 30

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Grayson Murray's parents confirming his cause of death.

The golf world is reeling from tragedy this weekend after it was announced that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray died on Saturday . He was just 30 years old.

Murray had withdrawn Friday from the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas with what was described by the PGA Tour as an illness .

A Raleigh, North Carolina native, Murray finished his college golf career at Arizona State. Even before arriving in Tempe, he had displayed prodigious talent, winning the Junior World Championship in San Diego three consecutive years and becoming the youngest player ever to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event when he was 16 years old. At 19 years old, he competed in the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Haverford Township, Pennsylvania as an amateur.

REQUIRED READING: PGA Tour star Grayson Murray dead at 30

Murray had been admirably open about his struggles with depression and alcohol consumption, both of which he discussed after winning at the Sony Open in January.

“I would drink during tournament weeks," Murray said . "It was my outlet. I thought I was invincible coming out here as a 22-year-old, winning as a rookie, played three days hungover when I won. Best thing and worst thing that ever happened to me was winning my rookie year, but also feeling like I was invincible.

"It took me a long time to get to this point. That was seven years ago, over seven years ago. I'm a different man now. I would not be in this position right now today if I didn't put that drink down eight months ago."

On Sunday, Grayson Murray's parents, Eric and Terry Murray, released a statement confirming he took his own life.

Here’s more on Murray, his life and career:

Grayson Murray PGA Tour career

After his U.S. Open appearance in 2013, Murray began competing in PGA Tour events in 2016, taking part in what was then known as the Safeway Open just two weeks after his 23rd birthday. He didn’t officially join the tour until 2017.

Over the course of his career, Murray earned two PGA Tour victories, winning the 2017 Barbasol Championship and the 2024 Sony Open. He picked up the latter of those two wins in dramatic fashion, hitting a wedge to within 3 feet of the hole for birdie on the final hole to force a playoff with Keegan Bradley and Ben An. He won the tournament in the playoff by sinking a 39-foot putt .

Murray had three top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, earned $6,277,049 in PGA Tour winnings during that time.

Those achievements came with occasional struggles.

The PGA Tour placed Murray on probation three years ago for an incident at a hotel bar in Hawaii. Murray later posted on X , the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying, “Why was I drunk? Because I’m a f—ing alcoholic that hates everything to do with the PGA Tour life and that’s my scapegoat.” He went on to say that the PGA Tour didn’t provide him with the proper help he needed, a claim that the tour denied.

A run of poor performances caused him to lose his PGA Tour card for the 2023 season, but he improved his game on the Korn Ferry Tour, on which he won two tournaments and eventually earned his PGA Tour card back for the 2024 season.

Murray credited his turnaround to a renewed sense of faith and the supportive presence of his fiancée, Christiana Ritchie, whom he met at The American Express Tournament in 2021.

In addition to his victory at the Sony Open, he finished in the top 10 at the Wells Fargo Championship in May and in the top 25 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He was 51st at the Masters and tied for 43rd at last week’s PGA Championship, the latter of which would ultimately be his final full tournament.

At the time of his death, Murray was 58th in the Official World Golf Ranking .

"My story is not finished,” he said in January after his win at the Sony Open . “I think it's just beginning. I hope I can inspire a lot of people going forward that have their own issues."

REQUIRED READING: Arizona State athletic department's $300 million debt 'eliminated' in restructuring

Grayson Murray college

Murray began his college career at Wake Forest, where he played the fall season in 2012 before transferring to East Carolina for the spring semester. From there, he completed his college career at Arizona State, where he competed until turning pro.

PGA statement on Grayson Murray death

The PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan released a statement Saturday confirming Murray’s death. The statement read:

"We were devastated to learn — and are heartbroken to share — that PGA Tour player Grayson Murray passed away this morning. I am at a loss for words. The PGA Tour is a family, and when you lose a member of your family, you are never the same.

"We mourn Grayson and pray for comfort for his loved ones. I reached out to Grayson's parents to offer our deepest condolences, and during that conversation, they asked that we continue with tournament play. They were adamant that Grayson would want us to do so."

If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org .

Watch CBS News

Michelle Troconis sentenced to 20 years in Jennifer Dulos murder conspiracy

Updated on: May 31, 2024 / 7:01 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Michelle Troconis was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday but could be released after more than 14 years following her conviction of helping plan and cover up the killing of Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared from her Connecticut home in 2019. Troconis, 49, had faced up to 50 years.

Judge Kevin Randolph said Troconis' 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder would be suspended after 14 and a half years and she would serve five years probation. Her sentences for lesser offenses would be served concurrently with the 20-year sentence.

Prosecutors say Dulos' estranged husband Fotis Dulos, who was also Troconis' boyfriend, killed his wife at her home in New Canaan and drove off with her body, which has never been found. He died by suicide in 2020 shortly after being charged with murder. He had denied killing his wife.

Some of Jennifer Dulos' family and friends said in the courtroom that Friday's sentence wasn't nearly long enough. Troconis' lawyer Jon Schoenhorn asked the judge to release her on bond pending an appeal. Randolph denied the request.

Before Randolph handed down his punishment, Troconis said in brief remarks she regretted being in a relationship with Fotis Dulos.

"I am deeply saddened by this tragedy that has affected so many lives," she said. "I found out things before and during trial about a man, Fotis Dulos, I thought I knew and loved."

Troconis' sentencing comes five years and one week since Jennifer Dulos disappeared after dropping off her five children at school on May 24, 2019.

Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber, said she knew "something terrible had happened" when her daughter did not return calls or texts that day. Farber said her daughter "only wanted to give and get love and be a loving mother" to her children, who are now ages 13 to 18.

The oldest child, Petros, 18, said his mother's death has left him with "a hole inside of me that I know I will never fill." Petros Dulos said he had been close to his mother but had struggled during his parents' divorce. "The defendant's actions mean that I will never be able to tell my mom how sorry I am for not being a better son when she needed me," he said.

Theodore Dulos told Troconis he would never forgive her and urged her to provide information about his mother's remains.

"Until you give us more answers, you will be considered evil, violent and most definitely a coward," he said before speaking to the judge. "An appropriate sentence, your honor, would be 50 years, 10 years for each child who lost their mother that day."

Troconis was Fotis Dulos' girlfriend and lived with him when Jennifer Dulos vanished. Troconis was convicted by a jury in March of conspiracy to commit murder, hindering prosecution and evidence tampering.

Lauren Almeida, the Dulos family's nanny, said she and Dulos' friends had been afraid for the safety of themselves and the children after her disappearance.

Almeida asked Troconis, "Where is she, Michelle?" referring to Dulos' remains.

Troconis  insists she is innocent and intends to appeal her convictions. She has been detained at the state women's prison.

About 80 people packed the courtroom Friday, with Jennifer Dulos' family and friends on one side and Troconis' supporters on the other. Troconis' family and friends, who were angry and heartbroken after she was convicted , also testified Friday, describing her as an upright and caring person.

Her pastor, the Rev. Christopher Solimene of Avon Congregational Church, said Troconis attended Bible study and cooked for the church soup kitchen. "Her heart is big for all of God's created, especially for children and those afflicted with disability," Solimene said.

Troconis' mother, Marisela Arreaza, said her daughter was a loving mother to her teenage daughter and was not the homewrecker portrayed by Dulos' friends.

"When Michelle met Fotis Dulos, he presented himself as a family-oriented man going through an amicable divorce," Arreaza said. "Michelle believed Fotis and had no reason to doubt him. However, we were all deceived by Fotis."

Troconis' daughter, Nicole, 17, told Randolph: "Michelle isn't just my mother. She's my best friend, my rock and my guiding light."

As he issued the sentence, Randolph said: "From what the court has heard, she has a great deal to offer."

Following the sentencing, family and friends of Jennifer Dulos issued a statement saying, in part: 

"For us, there is some relief in knowing the defendant will serve substantial time for her crimes, starting now. This painful chapter has come to a close, but the legal process continues, and none of it will bring Jennifer back. The courageous, eloquent, and powerfully loving statements from her five children today made that achingly evident. We will continue to honor Jennifer's memory and spirit in every way we can, day by day."

Meanwhile, Troconis' relatives have remained adamant in saying she would never hurt anyone. They say they have an innocent explanation for every bit of  evidence the prosecution presented .

The case drew widespread attention and was the subject of news documentaries and a made-for-TV movie, Lifetime's "Gone Mom."

The background of the people central to the case

Jennifer Dulos was a member of a wealthy New York City family whose father, the late Hilliard Farber, founded his own brokerage firm, Hilliard Farber & Co., after running Chase Manhattan Bank's bond trading desk. She also was a niece, by marriage, of fashion designer Liz Claiborne.

"We miss her every day, in every way," some of her relatives and friends said last week in a statement released by Dulos' friend, Carrie Luft. "For us, five years is not a milestone but a marker of cumulative loss and longing. Life goes on, yet grief goes on alongside it, a shadow, a current, the presence of absence."

Troconis, a dual American and Venezuelan citizen, has described herself as a co-founder of horse riding therapy programs who once had her own TV production company in Argentina and hosted a snow-sports show for ESPN South America. Fotis Dulos was a luxury home builder originally from Greece.

When Troconis was convicted in March, Schoenhorn said he couldn't understand how the jury could have reached guilty verdicts.

Troconis' family, including her parents and sisters, expressed the same disbelief .

"Choosing and putting my sister as the guilty person is not the right thing to do because she is innocent," Claudia Troconis-Marmol said tearfully outside the courthouse shortly after the convictions.

An alleged motive and the floated alibis

Authorities suggested Fotis Dulos killed Jennifer Dulos because of growing frustrations he had with their divorce and child custody proceedings.

At the time, Jennifer Dulos was living with the children in New Canaan while Fotis Dulos stayed in the family's 10,000-square-foot home about 70 miles away in Farmington.

Hours after Jennifer Dulos was last seen alive, Troconis was recorded on surveillance video accompanying Fotis Dulos on a trip to Hartford, where he discarded trash bags from the back of his pickup truck. Police later found some of the bags after seizing Fotis Dulos' cellphone, looking at its location data and obtaining the surveillance video from the locations.

In one of the most jarring moments in Troconis' trial, the prosecution and state forensic experts showed a shirt, bra and zip ties with blood-like stains on them that were found in one of the trash bags. Testing showed that DNA on the items was highly likely that of Jennifer Dulos.

Troconis told police she didn't know what was in the bags or why Fotis Dulos was dumping them in Hartford.

In an interview with "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty that aired in April, Troconis-Marmol insisted  her sister was "fooled" by Fotis Dulos into coming along for what was just supposed to be a Starbucks run. "At the beginning, he was this amazing guy. But it turns out, he was this monster," she told Moriarty.

Prosecutors also said Fotis Dulos left his cellphone at his home on the day Jennifer Dulos vanished and Troconis answered a call to it from his friend that morning. They say that was evidence Troconis was in on the plot and tried to help him create a bogus alibi. She denied the allegation.

Another defendant in the case, Kent Mawhinney, a friend of Fotis Dulos and his one-time lawyer in a civil case, is awaiting trial on a murder conspiracy charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

Although Jennifer Dulos' body has never been found, a probate judge declared her legally dead last year. The Dulos children have been in Jennifer Dulos' mother's custody in New York City since she vanished.

• Michelle Troconis
• Connecticut
• Fotis Dulos
• Jennifer Dulos

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Harold Shipman

British serial killer Harold Shipman, who worked in England as a medical doctor, killed over 200 of his patients before his arrest in 1998.

(1946-2004)

Who Was Harold Shipman?

British serial killer Harold Shipman attended Leeds School of Medicine and began working as a physician in 1970. Between then and his arrest in 1998, he killed at least 215 and possibly as many as 260 of his patients, injecting them with lethal doses of painkillers.

Born the middle child into a working-class family on January 14, 1946, Harold Frederick Shipman, known as "Fred", was the favorite child of his domineering mother, Vera. She instilled in him an early sense of superiority that tainted most of his later relationships, leaving him an isolated adolescent with few friends.

When his mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he willingly oversaw her care as she declined, fascinated by the positive effect that the administration of morphine had on her suffering, until she succumbed to the disease on June 21, 1963. Devastated by her death, he was determined to go to medical school, and he was admitted to Leeds University medical school for training two years later, having failed his entrance exams first time, before serving his hospital internship.

Still a loner, he met his future wife, Primrose, at the age of 19, and they were married when she was 17, and five months pregnant with their first child.

By 1974, he was a father of two and had joined a medical practice in Todmorden, Yorkshire, where he initially thrived as a family practitioner, before allegedly becoming addicted to the painkiller Pethidine. He forged prescriptions for large amounts of the drug, and he was forced to leave the practice when caught by his medical colleagues in 1975, at which time he entered a drug rehab program. In the subsequent inquiry, he received a small fine and a conviction for forgery.

A few years later, Shipman was accepted onto the staff at Donneybrook Medical Centre in Hyde, where he ingratiated himself as a hardworking doctor, who enjoyed the trust of patients and colleagues alike, although he had a reputation for arrogance amongst junior staff. He remained on staff there for almost two decades, and his behavior incurred only minor interest from other healthcare professionals.

The local undertaker noticed that Dr. Shipman's patients seemed to be dying at an unusually high rate, and exhibited similar poses in death: most were fully clothed, and usually sitting up or reclining on a settee. He was concerned enough to approach Shipman about this directly, who reassured him that there was nothing to be concerned about. Later, another medical colleague, Dr. Susan Booth, also found the similarity disturbing, and the local coroner's office was alerted, who then contacted the police.

A covert investigation followed, but Shipman was cleared, as it appeared that his records were in order. The inquiry failed to contact the General Medical Council, or check criminal records, which would have yielded evidence of Shipman's previous record. Later, a more thorough investigation revealed that Shipman altered the medical records of his patients to corroborate their causes of death.

Hiding behind his status as a caring, family doctor, it is almost impossible to establish exactly when Shipman began killing his patients, or indeed exactly how many died at his hands, and his denial of all charges did nothing to assist the authorities. Indeed, his killing spree was only brought to an end thanks to the determination of Angela Woodruff, the daughter of one of his victims, who refused to accept the explanations given for her mother's death.

Kathleen Grundy, an active, wealthy 81-year-old widow, was found dead in her home on June 24, 1998, following an earlier visit by Shipman. Woodruff was advised by Shipman that an autopsy was not required, and Grundy was buried in accordance with her daughter's wishes.

Woodruff was a lawyer, and had always handled her mother's affairs, so it was with some surprise that she discovered that another will existed, leaving the bulk of her mother's estate to Dr. Shipman. Woodruff was convinced the document was a forgery, and that Shipman had murdered her mother, forging the will to benefit from her death. She alerted the local police, where Detective Superintendent Bernard Postles quickly came to the same conclusion upon examination of the evidence.

Grundy's body was exhumed, and a post-mortem revealed that she had died of a morphine overdose, administered within three hours of her death, precisely within the timeframe of Shipman's visit to her. Shipman's home was raided, yielding medical records, an odd collection of jewelry, and an old typewriter which proved to be the instrument upon which Grundy's forged will had been produced.

It was immediately apparent to the police, from the medical records seized, that the case would extend further than the single death in question, and priority was given to those deaths it would be most productive to investigate, namely victims who had not been cremated, and who had died following a home visit by Shipman, which were given priority.

Shipman had urged families to cremate their relatives in a large number of cases, stressing that no further investigation of their deaths was necessary, even in instances where these relatives had died of causes previously unknown to the families. In situations where they did raise questions, Shipman would provide computerized medical notes that corroborated his cause of death pronouncements.

Trial and Aftermath

Police later established that Shipman would, in most cases, alter these medical notes directly after killing the patient, to ensure that his account matched the historical records. What Shipman had failed to grasp was that each alteration of the records would be time stamped by the computer, enabling police to ascertain exactly which records had been altered.

Following extensive investigations, which included numerous exhumations and autopsies, the police charged Shipman with 15 individual counts of murder on September 7, 1998, as well as one count of forgery.

Shipman's trial commenced in Preston Crown Court on October 5, 1999. Attempts by his defense council to have Shipman tried in three separate phases, i.e. cases with physical evidence, cases without and the Grundy case (where the forgery differentiated it from other cases), as well as to have damning evidence relating to Shipman's fraudulent accumulation of morphine and other drugs, were thrown out, and the trial proceeded on the 16 charges included in the indictment.

The prosecution asserted that Shipman had killed the 15 patients because he enjoyed exercising control over life and death, and dismissed any claims that he had been acting compassionately, as none of his victims were suffering a terminal illness.

Woodruff appeared as the first witness. Her forthright manner and account of her unremitting determination to get to the truth impressed the jury, and attempts by Shipman's defense to undermine her were largely unsuccessful.

Next, the government pathologist led the court through the gruesome post mortem findings, where morphine toxicity was the cause of death in most instances.

Thereafter, fingerprint analysis of the forged will showed that Grundy had never handled the will, and her signature was dismissed by a handwriting expert as a crude forgery.

A police computer analyst then testified how Shipman had altered his computer records to create symptoms that his dead patients never had, in most cases within hours of their deaths.

As the trial progressed onto other victims and the accounts of their relatives, the pattern of Shipman's behavior became much clearer. A lack of compassion, disregard for the wishes of attending relatives and reluctance to attempt to revive patients were bad enough, but another fraud also came to light: he would pretend to call the emergency services in the presence of relatives, then cancel the call out when the patient was discovered to be dead. Telephone records showed that no actual calls were made.

Finally, evidence of his drug hoarding was introduced, with false prescribing to patients who didn't require morphine, over-prescribing to others who did, as well as proof of his visits to the homes of the recently deceased to collect up unused drug supplies for "disposal".

Shipman's haughty demeanor throughout the trial did nothing to assist his defense in painting a picture of a dedicated healthcare professional. Despite their attempts, his arrogance and constantly changing stories, when caught out in obvious lies, did nothing to endear him to the jury.

Following a meticulous summation by the judge, and a caution to the jury that no one had actually witnessed Shipman kill any of his patients, the jury were sufficiently convinced by the testimony and evidence presented, and unanimously found Shipman guilty on all charges: 15 counts of murder and one of forgery, on the afternoon of January 31, 2000.

The judge passed fifteen life sentences, as well as a four-year sentence for forgery, which he commuted to a "whole life" sentence, effectively removing any possibility of parole. Shipman was incarcerated at Durham Prison.

The fact that a doctor had killed 15 patients sent a shudder through the medical community, but this was to prove insignificant in light of further investigations that delved more deeply into his patient case list history.

A clinical audit conducted by Professor Richard Baker, of the University of Leicester, examined the number and pattern of deaths in Shipman's practice and compared them with those of other practitioners. It found that rates of death amongst his elderly patients were significantly higher, clustered at certain times of day and that Shipman was in attendance in a disproportionately high number of cases. The audit goes on to estimate that he may have been responsible for the deaths of at least 236 patients over a 24-year period.

Separately, an inquiry commission chaired by High Court Judge, Dame Janet Smith, examined the records of 500 patients who died while in Shipman's care, and the 2,000-page report concluded that it was likely that he had murdered at least 218 of his patients, although this number was offered by Dame Janet as an estimation, rather than a precise calculation, as certain cases presented insufficient evidence to allow for certainty.

The commission further speculated that Shipman might have been "addicted to killing", and was critical of police investigation procedures, claiming that the lack of experience of the investigating officers resulted in missed opportunities to bring Shipman to justice earlier.

He may, in fact, have taken his first victim within months of obtaining his license to practice medicine, 67-year-old Margaret Thompson, who died in March 1971 while recovering from a stroke, but deaths prior to 1975 were never officially proven.

Whatever the exact number, the sheer scale of his murderous activities meant that Shipman was catapulted from British patient killer to the most prolific known serial killer in the world. He remained at Durham Prison throughout these investigations, maintaining his innocence, and was staunchly defended by his wife Primrose and family. He was moved to Wakefield Prison in June 2003, which made visits from his family easier.

On January 13, 2004, Shipman was discovered hanging in his prison cell at Wakefield, having used bed sheets tied to the window bars of his cell.

There remains some mystery about the whereabouts of his remains, with some claiming that his body is still in a Sheffield Morgue, while others believe that his family have custody of his body, believing that he may have been murdered in his cell, and wishing to delay his interment pending further tests.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Harold Shipman
• Birth Year: 1946
• Birth date: January 14, 1946
• Birth City: Nottingham
• Birth Country: England
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: British serial killer Harold Shipman, who worked in England as a medical doctor, killed over 200 of his patients before his arrest in 1998.
• Crime and Terrorism
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• Leeds University
• Death Year: 2004
• Death date: January 13, 2004
• Death City: Wakefield
• Death Country: England

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