A troubled 20-year-old loner with a history of autistic behavior is the monster behind a horrific shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 26 people, including 20 children, dead on Friday. Adam Lanza, circled and inset, shot his mother Nancy at the upscale suburban home they shared together and then took three of her guns and drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School about 9.30am.

Robbie Parker, top left, who lost his six-year-old daughter Emilie, left, in the massacre yesterday said: 'I'd live to offer our deepest condolences to all the families who were directly affected. It's a horrific tragedy, and our hearts go out to them.' He and his wife have three daughters, bottom right, ages 3 and 4. The Newtown, Connecticut resident said his daughter Emilie had an artistic flair, and would constantly carry around crayons, markers, and paper to brighten people's day.

Chief state medical examiner H. Wayne Carver II, right, said in a press conference in Newton, Connecticut that in his three decades in practice, the shooting is the 'worst I know of any of my colleagues having seen.' Survivor Kathy Murdy, left, a pre-kindergarten teacher and her husband Rich Murdy react as they look at the list of victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, inset.

Dressed in bright red robes, the New York City Children's Choir sang several verses of the Christmas carol 'Silent Night,' all in unison, paying homage to the 20 children and six adults that were slain Friday morning in the quiet town of Newtown, Connecticut. The uncharacteristic open is reminiscent to how the long-running show has handled other unspeakable tragedies, such as the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Using police reports and eyewitness accounts, MailOnline can now recreate each step school shooter Adam Lanza took on his way to committing the brutal murders at Sandy Hook Elementary. On Friday morning, Adam Lanza, 20, got into his car and left the house he shared with his mother, Nancy Lanza, who's lifeless body was now hidden within after Adam had shot her dead.

All good things must come to an end...and so it is in the case of romance in Hollywood. A collection of black and white photographs show the sad endings to some of the most celebrated marriages (pictured left to right, Liz Taylor weeping in 1951 at the end of her marriage to Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton, Jr., Marilyn Monroe at a Santa Monica courthouse in 1954 to end her marriage to Joe DiMaggio and Elvis Presley and Lisa Marie's calm demeanor following their divorce proceedings in 1973)

Hundreds of people descended upon cities across the country donned white beards and red velvet to dress up as jolly old St Nick for an unusual - and arguably debaucherous - annual tradition. This year’s SantaCon, an annual pup crawl where people dress festively as Santa and Mrs Claus spanned 27 countries across 275 locations.

A new BBC documentary portrays her as a 'domestic tyrant' whose 'insane' desire to control her children's lives scarred her relationship with them for decades. The three-part series – which draws upon Royal diaries and letters plus interviews with historians and biographers – says Victoria even refused to breastfeed them as babies because she regarded them as 'ugly', 'nasty' and 'frog-like'.

Misbehaving celebrities like Snooki and Lindsay Lohan have learned the hard way that running mascara does not look good in a mugshot, but boozy starlets are not the only ones who have been caught looking less than perfect on camera.

Ja'Nielle Gendelman (inset right), 69, was in her Poway, California, home with her dog and two cats when she heard a loud bang, only to discover that an enormous boulder slammed into her garage, severing power lines, destroying her Christmas decorations and emergency supplies. According to fire officials, the huge rock was likely loosened by torrential rains and rolled about 300 feet before rolling into the home.

In one of three apparent suicide notes, Jacintha Saldanha wrote a short letter in which she expressed her deep anger at the Australian radio presenters and blamed them for her tragic death. Ms Saldanha, 46, was found hanged with a scarf at her accommodation at the King Edward VII's Hospital in London, where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for severe morning sickness. Pictured right, Labour MP Keith Vaz comforts Ms Saldanha's teenage daughter Lisha.

Rachel Dilly, 48, is one of a group of brave women identifying themselves as HIV positive. The charity worker from Harpenden, Hertfordshire tells her story about life with HIV. Rachel contracted HIV from a man who contacted her on an online dating website. The pair dater for only a few months - but the short affair would have a grave legacy for her.

The parody mashing together the two shows features Downton's Lord Grantham, who like Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White, has fallen on hard times and began cooking up meth, or in this case, steeping tea. The skit appropriately named Breaking Abbey also includes butler Mr Carson, played by Jim Carter, footman Thomas, as played by Rob James-Collier, and Mark Conseuelos as Spider, the buyer of Grantham's brew.

Shannon Gallagher, 15, (right) from Co Donegal, was found by foster carers she had been placed with, hours after telling them that she was going to bed. The tragedy came less than two months after her sister Erin (left) took her own life, reportedly while she looked after her four-year-old brother.

Sonja Hansen (inset left) said officials at Loveland High School in Cincinnati told her that she would be fired if she refused to step down, even though her Legally Blonde production initially had been approved by the school. The musical is based on the novel Legally Blonde which was adapted for the screen in 2001 with Reese Witherspoon in the starring role. In 2008, a production of Legally Blonde opened on Broadway.

For the low, low asking price of only $13.5 million you too could have a dream home made entirely of corrugated steel with no windows. A drab, one-story structure recently hit the Florida real estate market with an astronomical price tag despite the house having few rooms and being in such poor shape it would likely need to be torn down.

The Chang'e-2 probe successfully conducted the mission to scan the surface of the potato-shaped asteroid Toutatis (inset left). It happened on December 13 at 16.30om Beijing Time, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense announced today. The flyby was the first time an unmanned spacecraft launched from Earth has taken such a close viewing of the asteroid, named after a Celtic god.

The group of young vervet monkeys, pictured, appear to be having a great time as they show off their jumping skills in the cool early morning air on a Kenyan forest floor. Wildlife photographer Manoj Shah caught the primates in action. He said the energy of the little monkeys was 'amazing'.

A heart-warming video posted on YouTube shows a little boy named Dylan, who was six months old at the time, having a laugh attack when confronted by the family dog, a large Rottweiler named Brodie. In the 48-second video uploaded by Dylan's mother, the pooch towering over the baby lying on the floor begins licking his little hand, sending Dylan into a laugh fit.

The despatch, sent by 27-year-old Sergeant William Stott, identified German troop and panzer tank positions in Normandy and highlighted 'Jerry' headquarters and observation posts to target for attacks. It read: 'Hit Jerry's right or reserve battery here. Troops, panzers, batteries, engineers, here. Counter measures against panzers not working.' The message was originally discovered by retired probation officer David Martin, 74, pictured left, when he was renovating his home in Bletchingley, Surrey.

Walking over a delicately balanced two inch-thick piece of wire 100 ft in the air isn't everybody's idea of a good time, but this adrenaline junkie was at least able to enjoy some fantastic views. Highlining is a sport similar to tightrope walking, only the wire used has more slack. Participants are also tethered to the line so they don't fall.