20/20 - General Discussion

[TVbitch]

You've Got Jail ~ I actually do think Sharee is FINALLY admitting guilt, expressing remorse and trying to do the right thing. Don't blame any of the victims for not believing or forgiving her. Or for thinking she is up to something self-serving. She pretty much admitted to being a sociopath who was playing a game and thought she would get away with it. But in the interview with the reporter, she did seem to finally have some understanding of the gravity of her deeds. Sharee needs to stay in prison for life, and I just hope she is trying to do some good with her jail life.

Even though the victims said Sharee can burn in hell and they don't forgive her, I actually think it will give them some small measure of closure to hear her fully admit to everything. 

[Melina22]

42 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Even though the victims said Sharee can burn in hell and they don't forgive her, I actually think it will give them some small measure of closure to hear her fully admit to everything

I'm sure it is helpful to the families to have her full admission of guilt. Like them, I'm not sure that her admission is without guile or manipulation. When I froze the screen to read more details of her admission of guilt parts of it seemed very extreme, like she was going way OTP in her efforts, like she was performing repentance, for whatever reason. 

I guess none of us can know for sure. If she stays in prison, I guess it doesn't matter. If it leads to her being released, then it does. 

[Guest]

On 2/13/2022 at 10:41 AM, TVbitch said:

You've Got Jail ~ I actually do think Sharee is FINALLY admitting guilt, expressing remorse and trying to do the right thing. Don't blame any of the victims for not believing or forgiving her. Or for thinking she is up to something self-serving. She pretty much admitted to being a sociopath who was playing a game and thought she would get away with it. But in the interview with the reporter, she did seem to finally have some understanding of the gravity of her deeds. Sharee needs to stay in prison for life, and I just hope she is trying to do some good with her jail life.

Even though the victims said Sharee can burn in hell and they don't forgive her, I actually think it will give them some small measure of closure to hear her fully admit to everything. 

In college I did a rotation at the women’s prison for my degree.   So many stories I could tell but simply some women (and men) in prison have honed their scamming skills because they have so much time to work on them.

In this case I can only guess if she’s being honest or if it’s another scam but as Melina22 stated it really doesn’t matter so I’ll leave it at that.

No amount of breast beating by Sharee will satisfy their need for justice and I get that.  I’m not sure if I were in their shoes I’d be accepting of her statements either. My suggestion is that she should probably continue to do good things in prison and help those she can.  

 

[nora1992]

I hope the team from last night did find Susan Powell (I didn’t see the ending), not just for her family but because it is even more heartbreaking if a second, still unknown person was left behind.

[CrazyInAlabama]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Susan_Powell

The last paragraph talks about the excavation of the mine shaft, and finding bones.    It's going to take a while to do forensics and determine who the bones were from.     I'm hoping that they're Susan Powell's remains, and her family can finally bury her with her sons. 

Edited February 19, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[answerphone]

Re: Susan Powell

 I’d completely forgotten what happened to those two boys. 😞

[iwantcookies]

I rewatched the Diane Downs episode. I truly hope she dies in prison. What a monster.

Becky seems desperate for attention. I am not surprised her half siblings/bio dad are avoiding her. She is a drama lama.

Her bio dad doesn’t have to identify himself.

It seems that Becky doesn’t care about her adoptive parents which is curious. What did they do wrong?

[Melina22]

6 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

It seems that Becky doesn’t care about her adoptive parents which is curious. What did they do wrong?

What's most baffling is that she says at the beginning that she had an idyllic childhood, and felt happy and loved. I can't understand why she went off the rails so badly. 

[iwantcookies]

On 2/21/2022 at 5:20 AM, Melina22 said:

What's most baffling is that she says at the beginning that she had an idyllic childhood, and felt happy and loved. I can't understand why she went off the rails so badly. 

I’m thinking Diane DNA kicked in… and her parents probably disapproved of her wild behavior/drug use. They probably kicked her out. And then she had a baby on top of it and refused to grow up for a long time. 

[Gemma Violet]

Wow, tonight's episode was so disturbing.  A woman, with help from her daughter, poisoned the woman's husband, son, and other daughter (she survived but has life-altering problems) and they also had discussed killing the remaining daughter.  The woman got life without parole and the daughter got 40-something years.  They interviewed the woman which was a waste of time since she now denies doing it, even though she had earlier confessed to it, had written about it in her journal, and had pled guilty. 

eta:  The daughter didn't get 40 years--my mistake.  I think she got life as well but she will be eligible for parole in 40 years, or something like that.  

Edited February 26, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[Pi237]

That mom was creepy. Daughter, too, but she seemed at least capable of pantomiming real human emotions. They all seemed to have that dead eyed look with the flat tone of voice. I kept waiting for her to say the husband abused her and the kids, anything, but it was basically ‘he annoyed me.’ And the murder sister said of her sister ‘she wouldn’t get a job’ So bizarre.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Pi237

[Melina22]

1 hour ago, Pi237 said:

They all seemed to have that dead eyed look with the flat tone

Yes! I was trying to think of a nice way to comment on how the wife and all the children shared the same... look. It's like, if you were casting a horror movie about this story, that's the look and affect you'd be going for. Then again, would you cast as the mother someone who so obviously had something wrong with her? How did she pass as normal for so much of her life? 

To be fair, it seems like only the mother and one daughter shared the trait (gene?) of being psychopaths or whatever they were. It's hard to know.

Either way, this was a VERY disturbing story. It's reminiscent of the Lori Vallow story, except Lori was so pretty, social and bubbly. It's funny what a difference that makes in how the story is perceived by people, even though it absolutely shouldn't. I'm certain someone's working on a Netflix version of the Vallow story, whereas you'll probably never see this one fictionalized. If it is, they're guaranteed to pick two cute actresses to play the leads. 

How sad for the two remaining daughters. 

You know that if they'd somehow gotten away with it, killing four family members, they would have continued. Just basically offering beverages to anyone who got in their way or "annoyed" them. Chilling. 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Melina22

[Mannahatta]

There's something especially chilling about annoyance being a motive for murder.

If the pastor hadn't alerted the police -would anyone else have reported their suspicions? There was no shortage of  people who were creeped out by the mother's lack of emotion. It just seems so odd that they were able to get away with the first two murders since neither was adept at acting or even coming up with a credible script. Of course it would have helped if that police force and the medical examiner's office (or was it a coroner?) had a few more cynics in their ranks.

And the mother had been a nurse! Did she find her patients annoying as well?

[Madding crowd]

The mother seemed so flat and emotionless. When they showed the tape of the police interviewing the daughter she looked thin to the point of skeletal. And who would keep a journal of people you wanted to kill? I would be curious as to what any doctors that examined them psychologically thought.

[Melina22]

6 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

When they showed the tape of the police interviewing the daughter she looked thin to the point of skeletal. 

It's true, and she was all twisted around. For someone who appeared to have no conscience, she certainly didn't look very carefree. 

I too would love to hear some expert opinions about these two. I'll have to look it up. I don't think I've ever seen any two people who were quite like them. I thought I'd heard it all, but when I heard the youngest daughter was supposed to be the next target for... no discernable reason, I was gobsmacked. It's just so hard to believe.

Usually people are murdered for love or hate or money, but these murders seemed to have so little purpose. "You annoy me. I guess I'll kill you. Hmm, who else can we kill?" 

[Court]

That was so creepy and bizarre. I was thinking she was a sociopath but she couldn't even fake emotions. I called antifreeze the second the bandmate said he hadn't been feeling well 

[kathyk24]

On 2/26/2022 at 12:43 AM, Gemma Violet said:

Wow, tonight's episode was so disturbing.  A woman, with help from her daughter, poisoned the woman's husband, son, and other daughter (she survived but has life-altering problems) and they also had discussed killing the remaining daughter.  The woman got life without parole and the daughter got 40-something years.  They interviewed the woman which was a waste of time since she now denies doing it, even though she had earlier confessed to it, had written about it in her journal, and had pled guilty. 

eta:  The daughter didn't get 40 years--my mistake.  I think she got life as well but she will be eligible for parole in 40 years, or something like that.  

Her case was featured on Snapped. She was able to get away with killing her husband and son because they had health problems and people thought they died of natural causes. After the daughter became ill then people were suspicious and the deaths were reexamined. The Snapped episode stated that the family may have had financial problems.

[CrystalBlue]

15 minutes ago, kathyk24 said:

Her case was featured on Snapped. She was able to get away with killing her husband and son because they had health problems and people thought they died of natural causes. After the daughter became ill then people were suspicious and the deaths were reexamined. The Snapped episode stated that the family may have had financial problems.

Diane Staudte in this "Home Sweet Murder" story did receive $20,000 from her husband Mark's life insurance policy, so a case could be made for financial gain in his premeditated murder.  The autistic son Shaun may have been a burden on his loving and caring nurse mother.  But she's anything but loving and caring and just went on and on attempting to dispose of her annoying (to her) family members, all planned out.  That isn't being snapped.

I was waiting for a big reveal of how musician and partying Mark had been molesting his children, or how the devil made her do it, or she heard voices from God telling her to kill off her family for some sacrifice or something weird and wild like that.

I wonder how popular she is in prison being a child murderer.

[Melina22]

2 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

Her case was featured on Snapped

Is this a TV show? 

[Kelly]

3 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Is this a TV show? 

Yes, its a show on the Oxygen Channel.

[Melina22]

38 minutes ago, Kelly said:

Yes, its a show on the Oxygen Channel.

I feel like no matter how many channels and streaming services we get, the things I want to watch are always on something we don't have. 

[Kelly]

3 minutes ago, Melina22 said:

I feel like no matter how many channels and streaming services we get, the things I want to watch are always on something we don't have. 

I know....right?!  

[eel21788]

21 hours ago, Melina22 said:

Usually people are murdered for love or hate or money, but these murders seemed to have so little purpose. "You annoy me. I guess I'll kill you. Hmm, who else can we kill?" 

There is also the possibility of Munchausen Syndrome. She may have loved the attention she got for being bereaved, especially since she was unable to get any attention from having any normal emotion. Once the family and friends decided it was time to move on from providing her with emotional support, someone else had to die to get back the lost attention.

[Melina22]

That's an intriguing theory! 

[IntrovertRed]

4 hours ago, eel21788 said:

There is also the possibility of Munchausen Syndrome. She may have loved the attention she got for being bereaved, especially since she was unable to get any attention from having any normal emotion. Once the family and friends decided it was time to move on from providing her with emotional support, someone else had to die to get back the lost attention.

Could that still be it, though?  I thought they said there was no funeral service or ceremony for the son, so I wonder how much attention she really got after that.  My uneducated guess is she's just a psychopath.

Edited February 28, 2022 by KLJ

[howiveaddict]

I suspect that the murdering daughter would have been victim number 5 if they haven't been caught.

Also suspect that maybe the mother got away with a few of her patients, when she worked at the hospital.

[TVbitch]

Sometimes I wish these shows would just say "We interviewed the convict, but they were a remorseless, lying psychopath, so we are choosing not to give them any air time."

[CrazyInAlabama]

https://nypost.com/2022/03/04/sherri-papini-charged-with-faking-kidnapping-officials-say/

Sherri Papini charged with faking her kidnapping.  She was having a vacation with her ex-boyfriend, and faked everything.    I believe the case was covered on 20/20, Dateline, and a lot of other shows, and stories. 

The California Crime Victims Bureau (I hope I got the name right) gave her $30,000, and I wonder how much other money she ended up with from other sources?    The mail fraud charge is federal, and will definitely get her federal prison time.    What a despicable human being she is.   I wonder if the boyfriend ratted her out?    

The husband, and the future federal inmate spent almost $50k they gathered through a Go Fund Me too.   I'm wonder how many other gifts they received also. 

I was always suspicious that it was faked, after I heard about her other allegations over the years, and they were all lies too. 

I wonder what her fool of a husband is saying now?   

Edited March 7, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrystalBlue]

57 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

https://nypost.com/2022/03/04/sherri-papini-charged-with-faking-kidnapping-officials-say/

Sherri Papini charged with faking her kidnapping.  She was having a vacation with her ex-boyfriend, and faked everything.    I believe the case was covered on 20/20, Dateline, and a lot of other shows, and stories. 

I wonder what her fool of a husband is saying now?   

Here's the 20/20 Super Mom Sherri Papini Full Episode

I'm so glad she's been busted and arrested.

[Dr.OO7]

On 3/4/2022 at 12:46 PM, CrystalBlue said:

Here's the 20/20 Super Mom Sherri Papini Full Episode

I'm so glad she's been busted and arrested.

I'm genuinely floored at this. This is a thoroughly sick woman to injure herself the way she did to make her story believable--and it's the very reason I believed her despite how odd her story sounded. Had she been in pristine condition it would have been obvious immediately (like those two women who claimed to be lost at sea, another story the show should cover if it weren't giving them the publicity they were so pathetically seeking).

 

I was reading several articles today which unfortunately I've lost or I would have posted them where a lot of people who've known her for years says that she's lied about everything. Even the boyfriend she was with the whole time says that she told him that her husband was abusive.

Ironically, this isn't too far off from what I suspected really happened--that she willingly snuck off to meet a lover, only to be genuinely held prisoner when he turned violent and that she invented the two attackers out of fear that she'd be blamed or disbelieved because of the affair.

[DanaK]

It looks like this Friday's telecast will be pretty interesting, as it looks back at the cult Heaven's Gate

 

[mostlylurking]

Good lord last night they used one of those blurry lenses on Diane Sawyer (who I think is absolutely gorgeous) and I literally thought something was wrong with my eyes/my tv a few times. It was even more noticeable because they didn’t use that lens on the person being interviewed.  They had the background blurred when the focus was on the interviewee, but when the camera was on Diane it seemed they just blurred the entire screen. So silly. 

[tljgator]

On 3/10/2022 at 12:18 PM, DanaK said:

It looks like this Friday's telecast will be pretty interesting, as it looks back at the cult Heaven's Gate

I forgot how much I've missed Diane Sawyer's specials -- SO detailed. I really liked this; for once, it felt like they actually got new interviews/materials that I hadn't seen before, so I thought it added to the story. Creepy as hell, though.

[And, yeah, mostlylurking, they had some serious Vaseline on the lens for Diane's appearances -- pretty sure the distance between her and the interviewee was because of COVID, but the blur was a different matter, lol.]

[DanaK]

2 minutes ago, tljgator said:

I forgot how much I've missed Diane Sawyer's specials -- SO detailed. I really liked this; for once, it felt like they actually got new interviews/materials that I hadn't seen before, so I thought it added to the story. Creepy as hell, though.

[And, yeah, mostlylurking, they had some serious Vaseline on the lens for Diane's appearances -- pretty sure the distance between her and the interviewee was because of COVID, but the blur was a different matter, lol.]

I agree, it was very interesting. I’m old enough to remember it happening and learning at least the basics, but this special covered a lot of the cult’s early history which I didn’t know. It’s tragic when groups like this end in suicide (or murder/suicide). I’m also old enough to remember the Jonestown deaths in 1978 with over 900 dead in Guyana. These cult leaders, at least some of them, may start out benign, but too often lose their minds and end up forcing crazy things on their members

[Annber03]

I'd hoped to watch this special last night, but we had issues with our cable, so that was out. I did just watch it online, though, and wow, yeah, just when you think you know everything about this cult and their horrifying, tragic story, this special did a great job of revealing so much more.

All those stories from the loved ones who lost family members and significant others to this cult were absolutely heartbreaking and brought tears to my eyes. The story of the mom who celebrated the twelve birthdays her son was gone from her life, when he came home for one last visit. The poor girl who lost both her parents as a result of all of this. The family who was pleading on phone calls for their daughter Gail to come home - I'd seen an episode of "Deadly Cults" that covered this story a couple years back, and they profiled Gail in that one, so I knew she was one of the victims here going in. And the girlfriend who wanted one last video of her boyfriend before he left again, trying desperately to convince him to not go back. I really appreciate them telling those stories - we hear so often about the victims of these kinds of cults, it's important to also explore what this kind of tragedy does to those left behind as well, struggling to make sense of it all and wondering what, if anything, they could've done to help. 

The story of the mother who came there as one of the most recent members of the cult, to try and deal with her postpartum depression, was harrowing, too. She wasn't even in the group as long as the others were, and yet it didn't take her long to get sucked in to the point of participating in this mass death scheme. It makes you wonder just how aggressive the brainwashing was by that point, how quickly they were able to get her to the level of the others. I can only imagine the guilt her husband feels, too, since he took her out there, and his interest in conspiracy theories was what sparked their interest in this group in the first place. 

Those videos of everyone saying their final goodbyes are so eerie and haunting. As was the footage of the officers investigating the house the night they found the bodies. I fully agree with Detective Scully (a rather appropriate last name for someone working a case like this, given the creepy, sci-fi elements of it all) on his two major takeaways from this: Applewhite absolutely proved how much control he had over these people by virtue of the fact that he was one of the very last to die, as always seems to be the case with these cults - Jim Jones was the same way, and if I recall rightly, he didn't even die the way his followers did*. These absolutely were a series of murders. The fact these people so methodically stood there in groups, helping the others die, is proof of that. They had to have people watching to make sure these followers went through with this, and they had to have a group watching  no less, to make it harder for one of the people assisting in these deaths to say, "Stop!" or "I can't do this!" 

*Having said that, in some ways, it kind of seemed like that Bonnie had just as much power, if not more. She and Marshall seemed to have one of those folie a deux type relationships in which they fed off each other and exacerbated each other's delusions. Makes you wonder what might've happened had their paths never crossed. 

(Those charts showing what the members put down for their estimated time of return right before their deaths was incredibly chilling, too. Especially given how carefree some of their goodbye messages were. I mean, one actually wrote, "Hasta la vista". Really? And the story of that initial attempt at castration, HOLY SHIT. That was....disturbing.)

I liked the commentary from the experts about cult methods, too - talking them into a trance with those hour-plus long rambling meetings, and finding ways to infantilize them. That latter example was made especially stark when you see the video of Gary saying goodbye to his girlfriend Shelly on that video, and then next there's video of him in the cult, smiling and talking like an innocent, naïve child. 

It's so weird to think of these people being out in the world and nobody taking notice of how strange their behavior was. Did anyone, in those final days, find it odd to see this gaggle full of people at a restaurant, all dressed and looking exactly the same, moving as one? If they did, did anyone at the restaurant, or Sea World, or any of the other places they visited, consider saying something to somebody? You just wonder what could've happened had someone's suspicions been raised enough to potentially call attention to the group somehow. It makes their connection to the internet all the more logical - easy way to hide while still connecting with the outside world. 

It was interesting to learn more about Applewhite himself, too, the talent he showed when in college, and the struggle he had to find acceptance regarding his sexuality. I genuinely did feel bad for him during that part of the story, because I can only begin to imagine just rough it would be for him to deal with all of that pain and isolation. I agree with one of his college friends who noted that had the world been far more accepting and diverse, he might've had a better path ahead of him. I liked how they pointed out how easy it was for people to be lured in, because he's saying all this bizarre stuff, but in such a gentle, understanding voice, to where you can see why people would connect to that. Hell, even his initial stance of supporting people of all sexualities, I mean, that on its face sounds great and quite progressive for that time period! Which makes that footage of him towards the end all the creepier, because there's this gentle voice against these wild, crazy-looking eyes - he legit looks like the ultimate stereotype of the crazy cult leader in them. But of course, by then, those who are in are all the way in and it's too late for them. 

I did have to laugh a bit at the "My vehicle is attracted to your vehicle" comment, though - in that contest it was really weird, but it also just sounded like the lamest pickup line ever. 

Yeah. Very fascinating episode - I appreciated the depth of research involved. But so scary and sad, too. 

10 hours ago, DanaK said:

I’m also old enough to remember the Jonestown deaths in 1978 with over 900 dead in Guyana. 

That one is still so stunning just because of the sheer number of victims involved. 39 people is a lot to manage and control, but compared to over 900 people, well... Just knowing someone can control that many people like that is beyond terrifying. 

[DanaK]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

That one is still so stunning just because of the sheer number of victims involved. 39 people is a lot to manage and control, but compared to over 900 people, well... Just knowing someone can control that many people like that is beyond terrifying. 

The thing about the Jonestown tragedy was that once Jim Jones got at least part of his flock down to the Guyana compound, he had almost complete control of them and the isolated area with wild jungle made it very difficult for people to physically leave

[TVbitch]

Almost skipped this one, but glad I checked it out because it was very thorough reporting, and Diane Sawyer did a good job. 

HOWEVER, I was also taken aback by the soft focus they had on Diane, the likes of which I've not seen since Barbara Stanwyck on The Big Valley! Does she request it, or is it just that she has the gall to be an older lady with wrinkles so the producers had to fix that for her? It was pissing me off! You don't see that on Keith Morrison, and his entire face is a roadmap of wrinkles! (Sorry Keith, love you!) I think the audience can handle it if Diane's face is not as smooth and nubile as it once was, for Pete's sake! 

[DanaK]

This Friday’s show is on Robert Durst

[iwantcookies]

On 3/17/2022 at 8:11 PM, DanaK said:

This Friday’s show is on Robert Durst

He got away Scott free for killing 3 people. Rich people are indeed special and get away with everything. His family bought him out for $65 million. Who gets that $? He had no kids. 
 

 

[DanaK]

3 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

He got away Scott free for killing 3 people. Rich people are indeed special and get away with everything. His family bought him out for $65 million. Who gets that $? He had no kids. 
 

 

Well, he got away with Susan’s murder by dying so I’m not sure I would quite call that a clean win. But while alive he did somehow get away with his roommate’s murder and with his wife’s murder, most likely because he’s rich and his family protected him. I suspect his relatives get his money unless he had a will that directed it elsewhere

Edited March 19, 2022 by DanaK

[DanaK]

Special edition of 20/20 on Wednesday March 30 at 10pm ET on the pandemic, called "24 Months That Changed the World". Robin Roberts will anchor

http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/03/24/two-years-into-the-pandemic-abc-news-announces-primetime-special-anchored-by-robin-roberts-on-how-covid-19-disrupted-and-created-lasting-change-across-all-aspects-of-life-31210/20220324abc01/

[LakeGal]

Dead Man Talking

I watched last night's show.  I kept thinking the killer looked like Kelly Clarkson in some of the photos.  They are both from Texas too.  

The mother was a piece of work.  She really hated her son-in-law and kept calling the boys "her babies".  I would not be surprised if she was behind the daughter killing her husband.  She probably kept telling her daughter that she could not let hubby get his son to Maine or he would take the boy across to Canada and she would lose him. They were not kidding when they said they were a close knit family. 

It was pretty obvious the wife killed her hubby.  But I am not sure how she thought she was going to get the pension if she hid the body.  She kept changing her story.  She seemed to love the attention of appearing on TV for the interview.  She kept smiling and she had her makeup on.  

This woman sure got pregnant easy.  I would think after the first pregnancy she would have been using birth control.  Maybe she was hoping to hook him with a kid.  It made no sense that he lived so far from the base.  But it was all about her mom getting her the vet clinic in that location.  I also found it interesting that her family had meetings in a graveyard at night.  They were a strange "close knit" family.  At least the son who was the game warden did the right thing.     

[Cozytea]

I thought she looked Natasha Lyonne. 

I can't see how she did this alone. Moving him alone would have been so incredibly hard. And to have the 2 kids with her.

She keeps whining about not having her day in court but wasn't it her choice to take the plea? What an awful woman.

[CrazyInAlabama]

7 hours ago, LakeGal said:

Dead Man Talking

I watched last night's show.  I kept thinking the killer looked like Kelly Clarkson in some of the photos.  They are both from Texas too.  

The mother was a piece of work.  She really hated her son-in-law and kept calling the boys "her babies".  I would not be surprised if she was behind the daughter killing her husband.  She probably kept telling her daughter that she could not let hubby get his son to Maine or he would take the boy across to Canada and she would lose him. They were not kidding when they said they were a close knit family. 

It was pretty obvious the wife killed her hubby.  But I am not sure how she thought she was going to get the pension if she hid the body.  She kept changing her story.  She seemed to love the attention of appearing on TV for the interview.  She kept smiling and she had her makeup on.  

This woman sure got pregnant easy.  I would think after the first pregnancy she would have been using birth control.  Maybe she was hoping to hook him with a kid.  It made no sense that he lived so far from the base.  But it was all about her mom getting her the vet clinic in that location.  I also found it interesting that her family had meetings in a graveyard at night.  They were a strange "close knit" family.  At least the son who was the game warden did the right thing.     

The way military pensions work, as long as the husband was missing, until declared dead, 100% of his pension goes to the spouse.     If there's a survivor benefit (the spouse can waive this, stupid move to get the full pension amount) then the widow or widowers survivor pension is 55% of the retiree's pension.    So, as long as the husband was missing, and not declared dead, or his body found, the 100% of the pension kept coming.   If the surviving spouse had waived the survivor benefit, then the second the spouse was declared dead, the pension stops.    A big incentive to keep the retiree status as missing, not dead.   

I see no way that the vet wife didn't do this.    The vet drugs in his system convinced me.   And the shady way the vet acted when he died.   

[UsernameFatigue]

I suspected Wendi from the first police interview. Unfortunately I have already deleted the episode, but I am pretty sure Wendi said that after working in her clinic until 3pm on Saturday, she packed up Shane to drive to her mothers to pick up her older son. She said that Michael was watching TV. If Michael was watching TV, why would she have to take Shane with her to pick up her older son? Unless of course Michael was dead or dying. 

Also the conversation she recounted after supposedly coming home and finding Michael missing made no sense. She said that she phoned her mother and asked if she knew where Michael was. Her mother replied "No, do you know where Michael is?".  This isn't Where's Waldo. Judy's answer made no sense, which is why either the conversation didn't happen that way, or they were trying to set up the "missing MIchael" scenario. I would not be surprised at all if the mother was in on it, at least after the fact if not all along. 

I don't know that I think Wendi's family is all that close, given that she was willing to throw them under the bus to throw suspicion off herself. Thank goodness at least her brother had the sense and moral compass to call the police on Wendi.

I'm glad Michael's father/family have been able to help raise Shane. So often in these cases the victim's family are left out in the cold with regards to grandchildren, even when the law is supposedly on their side. 

 

[DanaK]

On 3/24/2022 at 1:43 PM, DanaK said:

Special edition of 20/20 on Wednesday March 30 at 10pm ET on the pandemic, called "24 Months That Changed the World". Robin Roberts will anchor

http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/03/24/two-years-into-the-pandemic-abc-news-announces-primetime-special-anchored-by-robin-roberts-on-how-covid-19-disrupted-and-created-lasting-change-across-all-aspects-of-life-31210/20220324abc01/

At least on my DVR, this isn’t listed as a 20/20 program, so you’ll have to manually set your DVR

[TVbitch]

Do Wendi's parents have primary custody of the kids? The sad thing is Wendi will still be fairly young when she gets out, and will probably come back into her kids' lives. 

She was a piece of work: "Yeah, I know it sounds terrible, but I punched a bunch of holes in his body so it wouldn't float." "Here I am, trying to tie all these things to this body (chuckles)." 

Also, no way she moved the body on her own. 

[UsernameFatigue]

3 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Do Wendi's parents have primary custody of the kids? The sad thing is Wendi will still be fairly young when she gets out, and will probably come back into her kids' lives. 

She was a piece of work: "Yeah, I know it sounds terrible, but I punched a bunch of holes in his body so it wouldn't float." "Here I am, trying to tie all these things to this body (chuckles)." 

Also, no way she moved the body on her own. 

Michael's son Shane is now 17, so Tristan is in his early 20s. The fact that she has not seen either of her kids since they were small hopefully means that they will want nothing to do with her when she gets out. I was surprised that even her parents have not seen her in years. 

I don't know if they said who raised Tristin after Wendi went to prison - her parents or his bio father.  

[Court]

Wow. Wendi is delusional. She definitely killed him. Her parents helped her move him, I bet. She was so callous in that interview when he was missing. She's a terrible liar and I don't understand how anyone could believe a word that comes out of her mouth. 

The dad Lee broke my heart when he said it was his fault for encouraging his son to go and see the world. 

Thank goodness her brother called the police or they might have never found him. 

[iwantcookies]

Not sure if it’s ok to post it here.

 

2 of the Turpin girls have been molested by their foster parent. My heart breaks for them.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10664717/Foster-dad-five-Turpin-siblings-charged-molesting-two-sisters.html