He Found New Brides To Love Him. All Diane Bertalan really knew of her new husband, John, was that he was a widower, he lavished her with gifts, and he preferred to keep his past a secret. What she didn't know was that the FBI had been watching him for years. In the Fall of 2000, she found out why-it was a crime that had been haunting authorities for decades. They called it the mystery of the Lady in the Box.
Fifteen Years Later, Police Found The Remains . . . A decaying body that had been left along an Indiana roadside ditch in 1980 had finally been identified as Janice Hartman. In 1974, the Ohio woman had been reported missing by her estranged husband . . . John David Smith. The gruesome discovery was only the beginning of Diane Smith's brutal awakening-for Hartman was only the first of Smith's wives to have vanished off the face of the earth.
The Stranger in My Bed is the chilling true story of one woman who escaped the deadly hold of the killer she loved and married; and of the grieving families of his victims who banded together after nearly thirty years to prove that justice never forgets. Or forgives.
LOVE GONE BAD. MURDER GONE WRONG.
West Coast doctor Kenneth Stahl would do anything to free himself from his wife Carolyn. Then Adriana Vasco—Kenneth's former receptionist and mistress of nine years—obliged by introducing him to ex-con Dennis Earl Godley. The deal was set. Godley would murder Carolyn for thirty-thousand dollars. On the day after her 44th birthday, the trusting victim was lured to a lonely stretch of road. The deadly rendezvous took a shocking turn. Not only was Carolyn gunned down with a .357 Magnum, but Kenneth would also be killed.
The hit man's getaway driver was the other woman, Adriana Vasco.
In a sensational trial, a tangled web of lies, sex, and betrayal unfolded as Adriana and Dennis turned against each other…and Michael Fleeman tells the whole shocking story in his true crime book Deadly Mistress.
He Called It A Tragic Accident.
On a May evening in 1998, the idyllic marriage of wealthy Lake Tahoe couple Peter and Rinette Bergna ended in a crush of metal as their truck plunged 800 feet down a Sierra-Nevada mountainside. Peter was thrown from the vehicle and lived. Rinette, strapped in her seat, died on impact. In time, the grieving widower would meet a new woman, and put the tragic past behind him. Two-and-a-half years later, his life took another fateful turn...
Authorities Called It A Crime.
Bergna, esteemed art appraiser and son of one of California's most prominent attorneys, was indicted for the murder of his wife. Was Rinette's death really an accident-or deliberate homicide to free a controlling killer from a financially and emotionally trying marriage? The contradictory twists and turns of the case resulted in a hung jury. But it was the second trial that would yield even more surprises as a divided community waited for the final stunning verdict.
He'd been shot in the head, decapitated, and set on fire. Who could have turned on the real-estate ace with such bloodthirsty fury? Even before the remains were found, circumstantial evidence was building against Rudin's 52-year-old wife, Margaret, who stood to inherit a handsome share of her husband's fortune. Rudin's friends also suspected Margaret, and the victim had thought that his wife was trying to poison him when he was alive. Then a chilling caveat was discovered in Rudin's living trust: should he die under violent circumstances, an investigation should be conducted. By the time authorities closed in on Margaret Rudin she'd disappeared. It would take two and a half years to hunt the Black Widow down, and to discover the secrets at the heart of poisonous marriage...
Now, reporter Michael Fleeman delivers a startling glimpse into the mind of a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Fleeman also details the relentless pursuit of justice that would lead authorities from the glamorous facade of Las Vegas to a squalid apartment on the outskirts of Boston, to hold the remorseless wife accountable for her shocking crimes.
A MAN IN UNIFORM
He was a captain in the U.S. Air Force. She was a psychologist in Fayetteville, North Carolina. On the surface, Marty and Michelle Theer appeared to be the perfect married couple. But no one knew of the double life Michelle was leading. Tired of spending one too many nights apart from Marty who was often away on his flight missions, Michelle turned to the Internet to meet men and relieve her loneliness. With each encounter, Michelle became more daring in her sexual escapades. But one man stood out among all the rest: former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant John Diamond.
A WOMAN IN HEAT
The more time Michelle spent with Diamond, the less she wanted to be with her husband. Then on December 17, 2000, Marty was gunned down on a street outside of Michelle's office building. Suspicion first turned to Diamond, and she watched him take the fall for a murder she had masterminded. When authorities went after her, Michelle vanished. For months, federal marshals hunted desperately for Michelle, who had resorted to plastic surgery to avoid the law. In 2002, authorities finally captured her.
A CASE THAT SHOCKED THE AMERICAN MILITARY COMMUNITY
For three months, a jury would hear graphic testimony delving into the sordid details of Michelle's swinging sex life as the happy veneer of the Theers's marriage was quickly peeled away. But when it came time to decide Michelle Theer's fate, her own shocking actions would finally seal her doom...
As an exotic dancer at The Great Alaskan Bush Company in Anchorage, Mechele Hughes Linehan knew how to captivate men. Three of them were convinced she was engaged to them. Then one spring morning in 1996, one man, Kent Leppink, was found in the snow, shot in the head…
Days before his death, Kent had removed Mechele's name from his million-dollar life insurance policy. He wrote a letter to his family stating that, should he meet foul play, Mechele would likely be among those involved. But she wasn't charged with Kent's death. She married a doctor, moved to Olympia, Washington, and began a new life.
For years, Mechele's suburban friends never suspected a thing. She went to school meetings, hosted backyard barbeques, and was beloved by her neighbors. But authorities eventually found enough evidence to mount a case against her and an alleged accomplice. Did Mechele conspire to kill her ex-fiancé? Or is she the innocent victim as she claims? Seduced by Evil is the shocking true story about a love triangle that ended in mystery—and murder…
She was his second wife - to die. Coming off a failed marriage, a beautiful woman named Toni joined an online dating site, hoping to find true and lasting love. Harold Henthorn seemed like her dream come true, a handsome man who said he had "a heart for others." Only weeks after meeting, they were wed. But Toni's family began noticing Harold's dark side, especially his controlling nature, which Toni didn't seem to mind. Until she met her end at the bottom of a ravine. Was he a grieving husband - or a black widower? Harold's tearful story of his wife's hiking "accident" just didn't hold up with Toni's family, or the police. Then a shocking truth was uncovered: twenty years before, Harold's first wife had also died suspiciously in a remote area with no witnesses. Soon, more questions arose: Who was Harold Henthorn - a devoted, grief-stricken husband or a cold, calculating killer? Could authorities find a way to connect his wives' deaths and expose the truth?
When Laci Peterson-8 months pregnant-disappeared in December of 2002, friends, family, and neighbors swept the area for her, by helicopter, by foot, and everything in between. It would be 4 months before her body and the body of her unborn child was found.
While initially looking the part of the grieving widower, Scott Peterson's behavior began to look more and more suspicious as the police-and the media-turned distrustful eyes in his direction. He'd had multiple affairs. His alibi didn't quite hold up. He altered his appearance and got defensive with the press.
But does the evidence hold up or is it merely circumstantial? Michael Fleeman examines the complexities of the crime in this fast-paced exploration.
