Plumas County Sheriffs OfficeCabin 28 at Keddie Resort in 1981. The former Sharp home was condemned and demolished in 2004On the morning of April 12, 1981, Sheila Sharp returned to her home at Cabin 28 in the Keddie Resorts in California from the next-door neighbors house. What the 14-year-old girl discovered inside the modest four-room cabin instantly became one of the most macabre scenes in American crime history and has come to be known as the gruesome Keddie murders.Inside Cabin 28 were the bodies of her mother, Glenna Sue Sharp, her teenage brother John, and his high school friend, Dana Wingate. The three had been bound by medical and electrical tape and had either been viciously stabbed, strangled, or bludgeoned. Sheilas sister, 12-year-old Tina Sharp, was nowhere to be found.Stranger still, in an adjoining bedroom the two youngest Sharp boys, Rickey and Greg, as well as their friend and neighbor, 12-year-old Justin Smartt were found unharmed. They had apparently slept through the entire massacre which had unfolded mere feet from their beds.The Keddie Cabin MurdersPlumas County Sheriffs DepartmentA back view of cabin 28 where the family had lived for a year.The Sharp family had just moved in to cabin 28 the year before. Sue had just divorced her husband and brought her children from Connecticut to Keddie in Northern California. The six of them: 36-year-old Sue, her 15-year-old son John, 14-year-old daughter Sheila, 12-year-old daughter Tina, and 10-year-old Rick and 5-year-old Greg, were friendly with their nearby neighbors at the Keddie resort.The night before the murders, Sheila had slept over a friends house down the street. John and his 17-year-old friend Dana had hitchhiked to a nearby town of Quincy for a party and returned sometime later that evening. Tina had briefly joined her sister at the neighbors before returning home to her mother, two younger brothers, and one of the neighbor boys, Justin Smartt.When Sheila returned home early the next morning to find her mother, brother, and his friend bloodied on the living room floor, she bolted back to her neighbors house. Her friends dad retrieved the three unharmed boys through their bedroom window so they would not have to see the scene.The murders had been notably violent. Investigators were called about an hour after Sheila had discovered her slain family. Deputy Hank Klement was the first to arrive on the scene and he reported blood everywhere on the walls, the bottoms of the victims shoes, Sues bare feet, the bedding in Tinas room, the furniture, the ceiling, the doors, and on the back steps.The prevalence of blood suggested to investigators that the victims had been moved and rearranged from the positions in which they were murdered.Plumas County Sheriffs DepartmentThe Keddie family about four years before the murders.Young John was closest to the front door, face-up, his hands blood-covered and bound with medical tape. His throat had been slit. His friend Dana was on the floor beside him on his stomach. His head was badly damaged as though bashed in with a blunt object and lay partially on a pillow. He had been manually strangled. His ankles were tied with electrical wire which was wound also around Johns ankles so that the two were connected.Sheilas mother had been covered partially with a blanket though that had done little to hide her gruesome injuries. On her side, the mother of five was naked from the waist down, tightly gagged with a bandana and her own underwear secured with medical tape. She had injuries consistent with a struggle and had an imprint of the butt of an .880 pellet gun on the side of her head. Like her son, her throat had been cut. All victims had suffered blunt-force trauma by hammer or hammers. They also all sustained multiple stab wounds. A bent steak knife was on the floor. A butcher knife and claw hammer, both also bloodied, were side-by-side on a small wooden table near the entry into the kitchen.It would take the police hours to realize that a fourth victim, Tina, was missing.The Botched Investigation Into The Cabin 28 MurdersWhen it was eventually discovered that Tina Sharp was missing, the FBI arrived on the scene.The sheriff at the time of the murders, Doug Thomas, and his deputy. Lt. Don Stoy, were not initially able to discern an apparent motive. The murders at Keddie Cabin 28 appeared to be random acts of cruelty. The strangest thing is that there is no apparent motive. Any case without an apparent motive is the toughest to solve, Stoy recalled to the Sacramento Bee in 1987.Further, the home did not indicate forced entry, though detectives did recover an unidentified fingerprint from a handrail on the back stairs. The cabins telephone had been left off the hook and all of the lights had been shut off as well as the drapes closed.More confounding is that the three youngest boys were not only untouched but allegedly unaware of the event, even though a woman and her boyfriend in the cabin next door awoke around 1:30 a.m. to what they described were muffled screams. Unable to discern from where they were coming, they went back to bed.However, though the three boys initially claimed to have slept through the massacre, Rickey and Gregs friend Justin Smartt did later say that he saw Sue with two men in the house that night. One reportedly had a mustache and long hair and the other was clean-shaven with short hair but both in glasses. One of the men had a hammer. Plumas County Sheriffs OfficeA composite sketch of the Keddie murder suspects.Justin reported then that John and Dana entered the home and argued with the men which resulted in a violent fight. Tina was then allegedly taken out the cabins back door by one of the men.Allegedly, a lot of potential evidence was collected at the scene but because this was pre-DNA testing, very little helpful information was found at this time.Sheriff Thomas called the Sacramento Department of Justice which then sent in two special agents from their organized crime unit not homicide, which struck many as odd. Immediately, the two lead suspects were Justin Smartts father and the Sharps neighbors, Martin Smartt and his houseguest, ex-convict John Bo Boudebe who was known to have connections to organized crime in the area. Both men had been seen in suits and ties behaving oddly in the bar the night before. Martin Smartt later told the police that he had a hammer that matched the one discovered and also that his hammer and gone missing shortly before the murders. Later that year, a knife was recovered in a trashcan outside the Keddie General Store; authorities also believed this item to be linked to the crimes. It would be another three years after the Keddie murders that Tina was found.A man discovered a human skull in the adjoining Butte County, about 30 miles from Keddie, in Plumas County. Near the remains detectives also found a childs blanket, a blue nylon jacket, a pair of jeans with a missing back pocket, and an empty surgical tape dispenser. With that, the remains of Tina Sharp had been found, which made the crimes committed on April 11 or 12, 1981, a quadruple homicide.The Butte County Sheriffs Department soon received an anonymous call asking, I was wondering if they thought of the murder up in Keddie up in Plumas County a couple years ago where a 12-year-old girl was never found?Meanwhile, Sheriff Thomas had resigned from the investigation three months in and taken a job instead at the Sacramento Department of Justice. His handling of the case in retrospect would be considered disastrous at best and corrupt at worst. I was told the suspects were told to get out of town, so to me, that means it was covered up, Sheila Sharp told CBS Sacramento in 2016.The Sharps home was demolished in 2004.Evidence At Cabin 28 Ignored And OverlookedRemarkably, the tape of the anonymous tip regarding Tina was found sealed in case files, untouched by Plumas County Sheriffs Dept. until 2013 when the case was reopened with new investigators Plumas Sheriff Greg Hagwood and Special Investigator Mike Gamberg.In 2016, Gamberg located a hammer believed to be one of the murder weapons in a dried-up pond in Keddie. Further, it came to light that Marilyn Smartt, Martys wife and mother of Justin, had left her husband on the day of the murder discovery. Afterward, she provided Plumas County Sheriffs Department with a handwritten letter sent to her and signed by her estranged husband. It read: Ive paid the price of your love & now that Ive bought it with four peoples lives, you tell me we are through. Great! What else do you want?This letter was not treated as a confession nor was it followed up on at the time. Even though Marilyn admitted in a 2008 documentary that she thought her husband and his friend Bo was responsible, Sheriff Doug Thomas contradicted this and stated that Martin had successfully passed a polygraph test. It was later confirmed that Martin was close with this Sheriff.In 2016, Mike Gamberg met with a counselor at the Reno Veterans Administration.The anonymous counselor told him that in May 1981, Martin Smartt had confessed to killing Sue and Tina Sharp. I killed the woman and her daughter, but I didnt have anything to do with the [boys], he purportedly told the counselor. When the DOJ was alerted to this confession in 1981, they dismissed it as hearsay.The Keddie Murders RevisitedPlumas County Sheriffs OfficeProbable murder weapons for the Keddie slaying discovered and submitted as evidence in 2016. Between them lies the forgotten tape of the anonymous phone tip left in 1984, rediscovered in 2013.The most widely accepted theory involves a love triangle between Martin, Marilyn, and Sue. It was believed that Martin and Sue were having an affair and that Sue was supposedly counseling Marilyn to leave her husband, who she had said was abusive to her. When Martin discovered this, he enlisted Bo, his friend, and known mob enforcer who had lived with the Smartts a mere 10 days before the Keddie murders, to take Sue out of the picture.This would account for Marilyn leaving her husband the day of the murder discovery. It would also explain why the Smartt boy and the other Sharp boys in the adjoining room were spared. Additionally, it gives context to Martins handwritten note that Marilyn gave to the Plumas Sheriffs Dept.Some investigators who picked up the case when it reopened in 2013 tie the slayings into an even larger plot. To Gamberg, it is clear that the DOJ and Thomas-run Sherriffs Dept. covered it up, is the way it sounds. He alleges that Bo and Martin fit into a larger drug-smuggling scheme that involved the federal government.Martin was a known drug dealer and Bo was connected to Chicago crime syndicates with financial interests in drug distribution.This might explain why the Sacramento DOJ sent two allegedly corrupt organized crime special agents instead of agents from the homicide department. It also provides an explanation as to why the two lead suspects were seemingly given a free pass and told to leave town by Sheriff Thomas.Furthermore, it suggests an answer as to why this case was handled so sloppily, remains unsolved, and is seemingly not a priority to the Sacramento DOJ.What is known is that this 37-year-old crime is far from a cold case, as new evidence sheds light on what may have occurred at Cabin 28 in Keddie, California. Although both Martin Smartt and Bo Boudebe are now deceased, new DNA evidence has pointed investigators to other suspects who may have had a hand in these murders, and who are still alive. Its my belief that there were more than two people who were involved in the totality of the crimethe disposal of the evidence and the abduction of the little girl, Hagwood said. Were convinced that there are a handful of people that fit those roles who are still alive.After learning about the Keddie cabin murders, read about another unsolved murder, the Lake Bodom homicides. Then, see if you can solve any of these six inexplicable, unsolved murders.The post The Keddie Cabin Murders: Inside The Grisly Quadruple Homicide That Still Haunts California appeared first on All That's Interesting.

From the unsolved disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi in 1983 to a covert collection of documents known as the Apostolic Archive, the Vaticans history is full of secrets. And of all the Vaticans purported secrets, none may be more bizarre than the legend of the Chronovisor.The Chronovisor is said to be a device that gives the user the ability to see through time. Though the existence of the Chronovisor has never been proven, a 2002 book by Vatican priest Father Franois Brune says otherwise.Public DomainFather Pellegrino Ernetti, who allegedly helped build the Chronovisor, was a Benedictine monk, scientist, and exorcist.According to Brune, the Chronovisor was developed by Father Pellegrino Ernetti, a Benedictine monk.Ernetti allegedly kept the device secret until the early 1960s when he confided in Brune and told him that 12 scientists, including famed physicist Enrico Fermi and former Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun, helped him to build it.Made of cathode rays, antennae, and metals that received sound and light signals on all wavelengths, the Chronovisor purportedly allowed the team of scientists to document events of the past, including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The machine, therefore, could validate the teachings of the Bible, simply by providing a firsthand look into the past.The Chronovisor Was Allegedly Built By A Nobel Prize Winner And A NASA EngineerWikimedia CommonsEnrico Fermi, who allegedly helped build the Chronovisor, won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1938.The de facto resource on the Chronovisor is Brunes 2002 book, Le Nouveau Mystre du Vatican. In it, Brune explains how he met Father Ernetti on a boat ride across Venices Grand Canal in the early 1960s. Like Brune, Ernetti was well-versed in the history of ancient languages, which made for natural conversation. But soon, Ernetti directed their chat toward science.Brune had been expounding on the many ways in which the Christian Bible could be interpreted when Ernetti suggested that he had access to the truth via a time-traveling device. Pellegrino Ernetti claimed that he and a group of renowned scientists came together in a mutual quest to uncover the past. One scientist was Fermi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1938, and another was the ex-Nazi von Braun, whose work at NASA got America to the moon.Wikimedia CommonsNazi-turned-NASA scientist Wernher von Braun (center).According to Ernetti, the device had several antennae, three of which were made of mysterious metals that picked up sound and lightwaves across their entire respective spectrums. A direction finder on the device was allegedly tuned into the specific era one wanted to view, while a screen displayed it and a recording device captured the footage.The Chronovisor was thus more of a window into the past than a time machine. Ernetti said it worked like a television, catching echoes from days long gone that had been floating in space and he claimed to have seen some astonishing things.The Device Supposedly Revealed The Bibles Most Important MomentsPublic DomainPurported blueprints for the device.Ernetti recounted how he witnessed Marcus Tullius Ciceros speech to the Roman senate in 63 B.C. His gestures, his intonation, Ernetti effused. How powerful they were! What flights of oratory. Ernetti made additional, increasingly bolder claims, such as having observed the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.From the founding of the Roman Empire to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ernetti alleged that he and his team had taken a peek into some of the most important events in the Bible.On May 2, 1972, an Italian publication called La Domenica del Corriere published his claim. Titled A Machine That Photographs The Past Has Finally Been Invented, the article covered Ernettis shocking statements for all of Italy to read.Alongside the admittedly dubious claims, the magazine published an alleged photograph from the Chronovisor that Ernetti claimed captured the Romans crucifying Jesus Christ. The 1972 article also purported that Ernetti had witnessed the Last Supper and kept a photograph of the Biblical event for himself as a souvenir.Public DomainOne of the many articles documenting Ernettis claims about the Chronovisor.Ernetti maintained until his death in 1994 that the machine had been hidden away by the Vatican in order to safeguard it from falling into the wrong hands. Interestingly, the Vatican decreed in 1988 that anyone using an instrument of such characteristics would be excommunicated.Shortly before he died, Ernetti wrote an open letter adamantly reiterating that the device was real. He claimed that Pope Pius XII forbade us to disclose any details about this device because the machine was very dangerous. It can restrain the freedom of man.The Chronovisor Remains A Vatican MysteryPublic DomainThe purported photo of Jesus (left) and a curiously similar painting (right) created long before Pellegrino Ernetti released this image.As tantalizing as the Chronovisor may sound, many of Ernettis claims about it have since been debunked. Skeptics have maintained that his purported photograph of Jesus was merely a cheap reproduction of a statue housed in an Umbrian church. Another magazine argued that the photo was merely a reversed image of Jesus from a postcard made in the Italian town of Collevalenza. In 1996, Paracelsus magazine issued further critiques of Ernettis claims. The piece questioned why Ernetti hadnt published detailed instructions on how to build the device in order to legitimize his claims. Furthermore, the article revealed how the Chronovisors design bore a stark resemblance to a similar device in a 1947 sci-fi novella.YouTubeFrancois Brune died a believer in the Chronovisor in 2019.Some say that Father Pellegrino Ernetti confessed to having fabricated the whole story before his death on April 8, 1994, but this remains hotly contested. With von Braun, Fermi, Ernetti, and Brune now dead, only the intriguing mystery remains.In that sense, the Chronovisor has stood the test of time as a Vatican mystery for the ages.After learning about the Vaticans alleged time machine known as the Chronovisor, read about the tomb of Jesus being unsealed. Then, learn about the strange, long-fought battle between the Vatican and cats.The post The Story Of The Chronovisor, The Rumored Vatican Invention That Allows You To See The Past appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Wikimedia CommonsFranca Viola was 17 years old when she was kidnapped and raped by her ex-fianc.Up until the 1960s, many Italians followed a legal and social custom known as matrimonio riparatore, or rehabilitating marriage. Under this convention, women who were raped could avoid being dishonored by marrying their rapists. And men who raped women could avoid being accused of a crime by marrying their victim. But a young woman named Franca Viola bravely challenged this cultural norm in 1965.Then, Viola refused to marry her rapist, her ex-fianc Filippo Melodia, after he abducted and raped her. This radical act of defiance sparked a national debate and became a symbol for the growing womens rights movement in Italy and ultimately led to the abolishment of matrimonio riparatore.Franca Viola had set a powerful example. One that changed Italian society forever.Franca Viola And Filippo Melodias Canceled EngagementFranca Viola, born Jan. 9, 1948 in Alcamo, Sicily, lived a relatively peaceful life in the Italian countryside. But when she turned 15 and met a 23-year-old man named Filippo Melodia, things changed. Melodia, the nephew of a Mafioso named Vincenzo Rimi, had taken a liking to Viola and soon asked her parents permission to marry her. They consented to the pairing until Melodia was arrested for theft. As a result, Violas father called off the marriage, enraging Melodia.Cambridge University PressFilippo Melodia with a cigar.Melodias friends and associates tried to intimidate the Viola family, and things eventually escalated. Melodia and several accomplices burned down the Violas vineyard and farmhouse, and one threatened Violas father at gunpoint, telling him, per Sky News, chista chidda che scapcera la testa a vossia (this the gun is the one that will blow her head off). But Violas father stood firm and refused to allow Melodia to marry his daughter. Despite this, Melodia would not give up. On the day after Christmas 1965, a gang of 12 men led by Melodia broke into the Viola family home and kidnapped Viola and her eight-year-old brother, and also attacked their mother when she attempted to intervene. Though Violas brother was quickly released, Viola would not be so fortunate.Held Captive And Sexually AssaultedFor the next eight days, Franca Viola was held prisoner by Melodia in a remote farmhouse owned by his sister. During this time, she was denied food and repeatedly raped by her former fianc. The clear intent, as stated by Melodia himself, was to force her into a rehabilitating marriage.I was fasted for days and days. He mocked me and provoked me. After a week he abused me. I was in bed, in a state of semi-recklessness, Viola reflected, per Vanity Fair Italia. On New Years Day, Violas father was contacted by relatives of Melodia to arrange a paciata, or appeasement, a meeting meant to convince the Viola family to accept Franca Violas marriage to Melodia. The Violas initially appeared to accept this, but this was merely a ruse. They were actually working with the police. Wikimedia CommonsFranca Viola took a brave stand against her rapist, despite enormous social pressure to marry him.The next day, Italian police raided the farmhouse and freed Viola. Melodia and his accomplices were arrested, but whether he would spend any time behind bars rested upon a single question: Would Franca Viola marry him?If she agreed to enter into a rehabilitating marriage with him, Filippo Melodia would be a free man, and her honor would be restored. If she refused, Melodia would face charges, but Viola would be considered a donna svergognata or a dishonored woman. Violas father asked her if she intended to marry Melodia. She said no. She had no intention of marrying Melodia, despite the intense social pressure. And the public declaration of her decision did not go unnoticed.I am no ones property, no one can force me to love a person I do not respect, honor loses him who does certain things, not those who suffer them, Franca Viola declared. The Trial Of Filippo MelodiaSince Melodias marriage proposal had been refused, he was put on trial for the crime of sexual assault, alongside several of his accomplices. Throughout the proceedings, Melodias team tried to paint the kidnapping as a fuitina a secret elopement by a young couple to force their families to allow them to wed. They argued that Viola had wanted to run away with Melodia, and framed her parents as overbearing interlopers standing in the way of young love. Of course, that didnt explain the abuse she had been subjected to, nor the torching of the Viola familys farm.Melodias lawyers were unable to convince the courts of their version of events. In the end, Melodia was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison, though it was later reduced to 10 and a two-year compulsory residence in Modena. His friends, on the other hand, received far lighter sentences and five were outright acquitted. YouTubeFilippo Melodia makes a gesture while in prison.That wasnt the end of the story for Filippo Melodia, though. In 1978, two years after his release from prison, he was killed in what appeared to be a Mafia-style execution. Three years later, the law that would have allowed him to avoid jail altogether by marrying his victim was abolished. Shockingly, sexual violence was still considered a crime against public morality and decency morality until 1996, rather than a crime against another person, meaning that, from a legal standpoint, rape victims were not technically considered victims for another 30 years after Violas case. Despite this, Franca Violas story was hugely inspirational. Many considered her a hero, willing to take a stand against an oppressive system that had, for decades, allowed rapist to get away with horrific crimes. It was a major turning point for the womens rights movement in Italy even if Viola did not feel like the term hero suited her.Franca Violas Life After The TrialFor Violas family, there was legitimate concern that, with everything that had happened, she would struggle still to find a husband. Many saw her as dishonored, and the public spectacle of the incident had made her name known across Italy.Fortunately, this was not a problem for Giuseppe Ruisi, who had known Viola since childhood and still loved her. The two married in 1968, though Ruisi did have to request a firearm license as well to protect them. Still, their union further proved that women like Viola victims of sexual assault could move on from their past in a society that, until then, believed the opposite. I was lucky enough to meet Giuseppe, a wonderful man, Viola told La Repubblica in a 2002 interview. Every day of our wedding was, and is, a happy one. He truly made a greater gesture than I did I was simply reacting to an injustice. He, on the other hand, challenged the countrys mentality, going against everyone.EuropicturesThe Italian film Girl From Tomorrow (2022) is based on Franca Violas story. Several films and stories have taken inspiration from Violas story, including 1970s The Most Beautiful Wife and more recently the 2022 film The Girl From Tomorrow, but the greatest impact of Violas refusal to marry her rapist was the cultural shift that occurred in Italy. It took time, certainly, but she showed the world that women who are unjustly victimized by men are not doomed to become societal outcasts.I only realize Ive done something important when others tell me so. For me, I did the most normal thing in the world, she reflected. Refusing to marry a man I didnt love and who I harbored great resentment toward for the violence he inflicted on me. Does that seem so heroic to you?After reading Franca Violas remarkable story, read the harrowing story of Denise Huskins, the woman who was kidnapped and raped and then accused of making it up. Or, read about the strange history of ghost marriage.The post How Franca Viola Changed Italian Society By Taking A Brave Stand Against Reparatory Marriage appeared first on All That's Interesting.

On August 22, 2005, Stacey Castor called 911. Seemingly distraught, she said that her husband had locked himself in his room and that she feared hed hurt himself. Indeed, police found Castors husband David dead in their bedroom next to a glass of antifreeze.YouTubeStacey Castor and her first husband, Michael Wallace.But in the subsequent weeks, authorities began to doubt Castors story. Theyd found a number of strange clues at the Castor home. And when investigators realized that Castors first husband, Michael Wallace, had also died young, they knew that both deaths needed a second look.What they found would shock Stacey Castors community of Syracuse, New York especially when Castor showed how far she was willing to go to stay out of jail. Who Was Stacey Castor?Born Stacey Daniels, Castor was born on July 24, 1967 to Jerry Daniels and Judie Eaton in Clay, New York. Little is known about her early life her later infamy overshadowed her youth but Castors mother says that her daughter once envisioned great things for herself.Stacey was very intelligent, her mother, Judie Eaton, said. She always wanted to be a paralegal or a lawyer. But although Castor had started taking relevant classes in high school, she abandoned her dreams when she met Michael Wallace at the age of 17. In Castors telling, it was love at first sight. YouTubeStacey Castors first husband, Michael Wallace.Michaels the love of my life, Castor said, years after his death. I knew five minutes after I met him that I was gonna marry him. And on April 7, 1990, Castors prediction came true: she married Michael Wallace.To outsiders, it looked like they had a strong marriage. Eaton recalled that her daughter was as happy as she had ever been, following her wedding. Castor and Wallace had two daughters, Ashley and Bree, and Castor seemed well-suited for motherhood. I knew from [the minute Ashley was born], my whole reason for being here was to take care of her, Castor said. But all was not well beneath the surface. Castor later complained that Wallace drank too much. And they had no money despite both working full-time jobs with opposite schedules. Then, in the winter of 1999, things seemed to get even worse. Michael Wallace got sick. He was having a hard time walking, and he was having a hard time talking, Ashley Wallace remembered. And one time, he sat up, and he just vomited across the coffee table and laid back down went back to sleep like nothing ever happened.Wallace told doctors that he felt drunk, but that he hadnt had anything to drink. They were stumped nothing seemed to help. And, on Jan. 11, 2000, Wallace died. He was 38 years old. Following his death, doctors attributed his early demise to a heart attack. But his family wasnt sure they wanted an autopsy. Castor refused. When the doctors told me that they believed hed died of a heart attack, I believed that, she later said. There was no reason for me to question that.Instead, Stacey Castor quietly moved on. She collected Wallaces $55,000 life insurance policy. And, the next year, she met her second husband: David Castor. David Castor Commits SuicideYouTubeStacey Castor and David Castors wedding. After meeting David Castor in 2001, Stacey Castor married him in 2003. At first, her second marriage seemed as strong as her first. David was very conscientious, very work-driven, Castor later said. David was support and strength and security to me.But on August 22, 2005, terrible luck seemed to strike Stacey Castor again. She called 911 in a panic, telling the operator that her husband had locked himself in their room and wouldnt respond to her. My husband just locked himself in the bedroom for the last day Im really scared, you know? she said. When the police arrived, they found David Castor naked and dead in bed. Investigators noted green liquid in a glass next to the bed, and a bottle of antifreeze nearby. Onondaga Prosecutors OfficeA crime scene photo showing a glass full of antifreeze. It appears to be a simple suicide by antifreeze poisoning, Sgt. Michael Norton of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office later said. But a couple of things struck investigators as odd. Castor claimed that her husband had been depressed following the death of his father but his ex-wife swore he would never kill himself. And David Castor had left his entire $300,000 estate to his wife cutting out his son.Plus, detectives had discovered an unsettling clue in the Castor home: a turkey baster in a trash can. The turkey baster had traces of antifreeze as well as David Castors DNA. Investigators had also found Stacey Castors fingerprints on the bottom of the glass in the bedroom.The fingerprints [were] in such a way that it was as if someone held the glass from the bottom, lead investigator Detective Dominick Spinelli later explained. He knew that the placement of her fingerprints could have a logical explanation. But it could also suggest something sinister. Stacey may have held the glass up to his mouth.The Investigation Into Stacey CastorYouTubeThe exhumation of Mike Wallace, who was buried next to David Castor.Suspicious of Stacey Castors story, investigators decided they needed to get a better sense of Castor herself. They decided to speak to her ex-husband, Michael Wallace. Of course, they found that he, too, had died under mysterious circumstances. So Spinelli decided to exhume Wallaces body in September 2007. The last thing I want to do is disturb someone thats at peace, especially if nothing showed up in his system, Spinelli recalled. However, Spinellis hunch paid off. Wallaces body showed traces of antifreeze poisoning. Suddenly, one of his strange symptoms feeling drunk when he wasnt made sense. Thats a classic symptom of antifreeze poisoning, explained District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick.With a good idea of what might have happened to Michael Wallace and David Castor, investigators decided to ask Stacey Castor some pointed questions. She seemed nervous, Valerie Brogan, another detective on the case, recalled. She was pacing, and she just was surprised that we were there.The detectives went through a number of questions with Castor. Then, Spinelli tossed out a seemingly harmless one: Of the two glasses on David Castors bedside table, he asked, which glass had Castor poured cranberry juice in?Well, Castor responded. When I poured the anti-free I mean, cranberry juice. At that point, she stopped the interview and accused the detectives of trying to frame her. But although investigators thought they were getting close to an arrest, Stacey Castor had one more trick up her sleeve. The Attempted Murder Of Ashley WallaceYouTubeAshley Wallace speaking to ABC News.A few days after Stacey Castors slip-of-the-tongue, detectives informed her 20-year-old daughter, Ashley, that her father Michael had been poisoned. Ashley called her mother for comfort. As detectives listened over a wire-tap, Castor invited Ashley over for a drink because theyd had a hard day.I was like, Cool! You know, what kind of teenager wouldnt think that was awesome? Ashley later recalled. Your parents just gave you permission to drink. Sweet!But after her mother made her a drink, Ashley felt tired. She went to sleep. The next day, Castor suggested they do it again. So, again, Ashley drank something that her mother gave her. She later recalled that it didnt taste good, so her mother gave her a straw. Castor instructed Ashley to put the straw at the back of her throat.Just like the night before, the cocktail made Ashley tired. She went to her room to lie down. But this time, Ashley didnt get up. When her sister Bree tried to wake her the next morning, Ashley was unresponsive. The next thing Ashley knew, she was in the hospital. A grim-faced detective was sitting before her. He told her that the EMTs had found her with a typed suicide note that confessed to the murders of Michael Wallace and David Castor. Im like, What are they talking about?' Ashley Wallace remembered in 2009. I didnt do any of these things that youre saying that I did.'The note, which rambled on for 750 words without punctuation, included lines like: none was ever supposed to know but now they do and thay think you did it but you didnt it was me.But to detectives, one thing in the note stood out in particular: the spelling of antifreeze. The writer had spelled it antifree the same way that Stacey Castor had pronounced the word during her interrogation. The Trial And Conviction Of Black Widow Stacey CastorYouTubeStacey Castor maintained her innocence until her death in 2016. That same day, police arrested Stacey Castor. In February 2009, a jury convicted her of second-degree murder of David Castor, attempted murder of her daughter, and forging David Castors will.Prosecutors had plenty of evidence. They had Castors fingerprints on the glass of antifreeze in David Castors bedroom, the turkey baster with traces of antifreeze in the trash can, and proof that she had written various drafts of Ashleys suicide note on her home computer. Not to mention that both her husbands had died of antifreeze poisoning. But as the media clamored around the sensational trial calling Castor the Black Widow at least one person refused to believe that Stacey Castor had killed her husbands. Castors mother believes that Ashley Wallace is the true killer. Ashley had ample time, Eaton said, although Ashley Wallace was just 11 when her father died. Ample opportunity.Stacey Castor, too, maintained her innocence. I did not kill Michael Wallace, I did not kill David Castor, and I did not try to kill my daughter, period, she said in 2009. And I will never say that I did, ever.Stacey Castor died without ever admitting to killing either of her husbands. In 2016, she had a heart attack in jail.She was my best friend, too, Ashley Wallace said of her mom. She was. And then she took that all away.I would have done anything for her, but she decided she wanted to kill me instead.After reading about Stacey Castor, discover the stories of two other women accused of murdering their husbands. Belle Gunness killed two of her husbands as well as dozens of suitors. And Nannie Doss, the Giggling Granny, spent decades murdering husbands and relatives.The post The Twisted Case Of Stacey Castor, The Black Widow Whose Weapon Of Choice Was Antifreeze appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Ron Galella/WireImageDionne Warwick, Ray Combs, Vanessa Williams during Taping of Grammy Family Feud at CBS TV City in Hollywood.On June 2, 1996, police arrived at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. The sight that greeted them was a man hanging dead in a closet from a noose made from bedsheets. Of course, while the reasons behind suicides are, tragically, often unknown, the identity of the dead man was not. It was Ray Combs.Combs was the longtime host of the reboot one of Americas favorite gameshows, Family Feud. For six years, he had greeted contestants and the viewers at home with a carefree wit that spoke to his background as a popular stand-up comedian.But behind the scenes, the laughter turned to tragedy. As the new Family Feudbegan to slip in ratings, Ray Combs life fell apart.Ray Combs DownfallIt was decided that Combs would befired from the show in 1993 to make way for the return of the original host of the show, Richard Dawson. The show was in a tailspin, with many stations dropping it from their schedules. The hope was that Dawsons popularity could reverse the decline.Combs filmed his final episode in 1994. He left with a revealing joke after a contestant failed to get any points in the final round. Thought I was a loser till you walked up here, he said to the contestant, and you made me feel like a man. As soon as shooting wrapped, he walked off the set and drove home without even a goodbye, leaving the contestants celebrating on stage without him.Wikimedia CommonsRay Combs hosting Family Feud.Combs had once had a promising career, beginning as a warm-up comedian for sitcoms. He was so popular that shows would change their shooting schedules so they could have him perform for their audience.But by 1994, work was hard to come by. Its not unusual for a comedian to go through dry spells in their careers, but it was especially hard for Combs because he was broke.Ray Combs pulled in a healthy salary hosting Family Feud, but he managed his money poorly and was always short on cash. Shortly after being fired from the show, two of the comedy clubs he owned in his home state of Ohio went bankrupt and had to close. Because he could no longer afford to pay his mortgage, his house then went into foreclosure.Then in July, Combs was involved in a serious car accident. The crash shattered one of the discs in his spine, leaving Combs temporarily paralyzed. Though he was eventually able to walk again, the injury meant he was in constant pain.The stress took a toll on Combs marriage and in 1995, he and his wife of 18 years filed for divorce.An Attempt To Restart His LifeRay Combs, desperate to restart his career, spent the year filming several projects that would ultimately prove to be failures. He shot a pilot for a talk show, but no network wanted to pick it up. Finally, he got an offer to host a rival game show called Family Challenge.YouTubeRay Combs hosting Family Challenge.Combs hosted the show for a little under a year. Then in June 1996, police responded to a call about a disturbance at Combs home in Glendale. Inside, they found that Combs had smashed up the furniture and was repeatedly banging his head against the walls hard enough to draw blood.Combs wife, who had recently filed for divorce, arrived and informed the police that he had just been released from the hospital after trying to kill himself with an overdose of prescription medication. Combs was taken into protective custody and committed to the Glendale Adventist Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation.In the early hours of the next morning, Combs hanged himself in the closet of his room. He was just 40 years old.After Ray Combs death, his wife discovered just how much financial trouble he had been in. He owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans and back taxes, with no assets to help pay them off. Combs wife was forced to sell what little Combs still had to cover some of the debt.The stress of overwhelming financial problems combined with injuries, career setbacks, and the end of his marriage had been too much to bear for Ray Combs.Ultimately, it was a tragic end to a life that had once held such promise.Next, read about the tragic life of Ota Benga, the human exhibit at the Bronx Zoo. Then, read about Rod Ansell, the real life Crocodile Dundee. The post The Tragic Life Of Family Feud Host Ray Combs appeared first on All That's Interesting.

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