Sun, May 6, 2007
Martha Freeman led a seemingly normal life in an upscale Brentwood, TN neighborhood. She was married and had started a successful business. But, Martha's relationship with her husband, Jeffrey, was troubled. She became depressed and started taking a cocktail of anti-depressants and painkillers. She also started looking elsewhere for companionship. In 2004, she met three younger Hispanic men after a fireworks display in downtown Nashville and took them to a hotel where they continued the "party." Martha began a relationship with one of them, Rafael de Jesus Rocha-Perez. She separated from Jeffrey and moved into an extended stay hotel with Rafael. But, Jeffrey was determined to patch things up and convinced her to move back. She agreed, but she didn't return alone. Rafael secretly took up residence in the guest bedroom closet and managed to go unnoticed by Jeffrey, who worked long hours and rarely went into that part of the house. But, on Sunday April 10, 2005, Jeffery heard snoring coming from the closet and found the unwanted houseguest. Almost 24 hours later, Martha called police to report a murder. When police arrived at the scene, they found Jeffrey's corpse soaking wet on the bathroom floor with a black plastic bag tied around his head. Martha and Rafael were tried together, and each pointed the finger at the other. But, neither convinced the jury. They were both convicted of first-degree murder in September 2006 and sentenced to life in prison.
Sun, May 13, 2007
Amy Bosley and her husband, Robert, were making a name for themselves in their small Kentucky community. Together they ran a successful roofing and chimney sweep business. But, tragedy struck on the night of May 17, 2005. Police received a frantic call from Amy claiming an intruder had shot Bob and was still in the house. Police launched a manhunt for the intruder, but the lead investigator immediately suspected something was wrong with Amy's story. Bob had been shot seven times while sleeping, and his gun was missing. Also missing were the shell casings, which should have littered the crime scene. When police found the missing casings in the Bosley's washing machine, they placed Amy under arrest. Police also discovered a motive: the Bosleys were deep in debt, and, unknown to Bob, the IRS was literally knocking at their door over a $1.5 million tax bill. Amy first pleaded not guilty, but her case didn't hold up well during a dramatic four-hour pretrial hearing, and she reconsidered. In September of 2006, she pled guilty in a deal strongly influenced by Bob's family. His parents, now raising the couple's two children, wanted to spare the kids from having to testify against their mother.
Sun, May 20, 2007
Kimberly Cunningham had known Coy Hundley for 18 years, and she trusted him. As her sister's longtime boyfriend, Coy was practically an uncle to Kimberly's three children, and he often had them over to his home. He was the farthest thing from Kimberly's mind when she tried to discover why her 16-year-old daughter was depressed. The teenager told her mom that she had a terrible secret that she had been keeping from her mom for seven years: Coy Hundley and his son - her cousin -- had been sexually molesting her since she was nine years old. Furious, Kimberly drove to Hundley's workplace the next morning to confront him. When Hundley laughed and asked her what she was going to do about it, Kimberly pulled out a gun and shot him eight times. She then drove herself to the sheriff's office and turned herself in. When she went to trial, the jury deadlocked. At a second trial, the jury found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter, killing in the heat of passion. The judge sentenced Kimberly to four years in prison. She's still out on bond, pending the outcome of an appeal.
Sun, May 27, 2007
In 1987, four-time divorcee Margaret Frost married Las Vegas real-estate mogul, Ron Rudin. With Ron's $11 million dollar fortune to draw from, Margaret was thrilled to be able to pursue her passion for buying and selling antique furniture. By 1994, however, Ron's penchant for women and alcohol had put some serious cracks in the Rudin's once rock-solid marriage. Things only got worse when 64-year-old Ron mysteriously disappeared on December 18, 1994. A month later, Ron's burnt body was discovered by three fishermen near Lake Mojave, Nevada. Found with him were pieces of an antique trunk that authorities were able to trace back to Margaret. Police built their case against Ron's widow and, by April of 1997, authorities finally had enough evidence for a murder indictment against 52-year-old Margaret. But by that time, she had gone on the lam. In 1999, Margaret was discovered living in Revere, Massachusetts with retired firefighter Joseph Lundergan. She'd been telling people her husband was killed by a terrorist. On May 2, 2001, seven years after Ron was killed, Margaret was found guilty of murder. She received a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Sun, Jun 10, 2007
When 15-year-old Susan Bolling's parents sent her to respected therapist Felix Polk, they had no way of seeing the future, no way of knowing that almost 30 years later, Susan would be would be Felix's wife, the mother of his children - and his murderer. Less than a year after Susan's therapy began, the middle-aged psychologist had fallen in love with his young patient. They married when Susan was 25, and over the next 20 years Susan raised their three sons while Felix's career as a therapist, lecturer and teacher flourished. To the outside world, they were a perfect family; inside, Susan and Felix were waging a violent battle of wills, each at times threatening to kill the other, and forcing their sons to choose sides. The war of the Polks reached its climax in October of 2002, after Susan moved out, and a judge granted Felix custody of their son and the house. Days later, on Monday, October 14, their youngest son came home to find his father's dead body. He had been knocked unconscious and stabbed 27 times in the chest, sides, arms, legs, and feet. Susan claimed she killed Felix in self-defense. During her trial, Susan fired a series of court appointed attorneys and represented herself. She was convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to serve 16 years to life in prison.