Bellevue is a high-tech city in King County full of top retailers and shimmering high rises. It’s considered a beautiful place to live, a wonderful place to raise a family, and a fun place to visit.

But two decades ago, Bellevue was the setting of some strange and brutal murders that will never be forgotten. And the worst part is, the motives—or lack thereof—will never really be known.

Bellevue certainly looks like a tranquil town... and for the most part, it is.
Christopher Patterson / Flickr
For a city of its size (around 140,000), the crime rates are relatively low.
But in 1994, the brutal murder of a family shook this city to the core.
Ken Lund / Flickr
Tariq Rafay, his wife, Sultana, and their 21-year-old developmentally disabled daughter, Basma, were bludgeoned to death in their new home just months after moving here from Canada. The police have accused the couple's teen-age son, Atif, of killing his family with the help of a friend out of greed for the life insurance policy. He and his friend were convicted, but both men claim they were coerced by undercover police.
The Bellevue community was appalled by the murders.
Pearisa / Flickr
And then a few years later, it happened again.
On the night of January 3rd and the early morning of January 4th, 1997, two 17-year-old boys lured 20-year-old Kim Wilson to a Bellevue park and murdered her.
Laural B. / Yelp
They didn't stop there. Alex Baranyi and David Anderson entered Kim's family home and murdered Bill Wilson, his wife Rose Wilson, and their other daughter, Julia.
As horrific as the crimes were, the reason may be even more disturbing.
David Doan / Flickr
When Alex Baranyi was questioned about his motives, he said he committed the murders because he was "in a rut." It seemed that the boys killed the Wilson family for the sheer experience of killing.
Bellevue is a beautiful place, but those who have called it home for a few decades will never forget those dark times.
chicabrandita / Flickr

As brutal as those Bellevue killings were, at least they’ve been resolved. These disturbing unsolved mysteries never were.

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