Missing Pieces

The Inheritance Murders: The Case of the Ewell Family

The story revolves around the Ewell family from Sunnyside, California. Dale Ewell, a self-made millionaire who built an airplane company called Western Piper Sales, and his wife Lee, a former teacher and civic activist, provided a wealthy but grounded life for their two children, Tiffany and Dana.While Tiffany was ambitious and hardworking, Dana developed into a pathological liar and a severe materialist from a young age. Despite having an IQ of 180, he was highly manipulative and preferred to use others to achieve his goals. Dana fabricated a grandiose public persona, claiming to be a self-made young millionaire who had made a fortune on the stock market and owned his own airplane manufacturing company earning $3 million annually. He even convinced a college newspaper to publish a glowing article about his fictitious success. When his parents discovered this article, they confronted Dana, threatened to cut off his financial support after he finished college, and altered their wills to leave larger shares of the company to Tiffany.In college, Dana befriended Joel Radovcich, a socially awkward student who became entirely enamored with Dana's perceived wealth and popularity. Dana heavily manipulated Joel, promising him a life of luxury and treating him to expensive gifts.On Easter weekend, April 19, 1992, the Ewell family returned to their Sunnyside home from a trip to their beach house in Pajaro Dunes. Dana stayed behind with his girlfriend's family—whose father happened to be an FBI agent—which provided him with a perfect alibi. An intruder waiting inside the home shot and killed Lee and Tiffany upon their arrival, and then murdered Dale when he arrived thirty minutes later. The crime scene was staged to look like a robbery, but nothing was stolen, the alarm did not sound, and there were no signs of forced entry, indicating the killer had a key and the alarm code.Dana's behavior after the murders immediately raised suspicions. He showed little grief and was obsessed with inheriting the family's $8 million estate. However, he was visibly enraged upon learning that his parents' will restricted his full access to the fortune until he turned 35, only granting him an allowance for basic needs in the meantime. To maintain his lavish lifestyle, Dana ruthlessly drained $400,000 from his sick grandmother's trust fund, leaving her with a mere $2,000. He used these stolen funds to finance a luxurious life for himself and Joel, buying cars, paying for flying lessons, and purchasing a small airplane.The investigation progressed when police traced the murder weapon to Joel's high school friend, Ernest. Facing potential prosecution, Ernest confessed the entire plot: Dana had masterminded the murders, promising Joel $4 million—half of the inheritance—to execute the killings. Ernest and Joel's brother, Peter, had helped dispose of the murder weapon and the clothes worn during the crime.Police set up wiretaps, and in 1995, they successfully recorded Dana and Joel implicitly discussing the murders. Both men were arrested, and on July 20, 1998, Dana and Joel were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Ernest and Peter received immunity in exchange for their testimonies. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

Fatal Attraction Online: The Case of Sharee Miller

Cheri was born on October 13, 1971, in Flint, Michigan. After a difficult upbringing, she was left to fend for herself by the age of sixteen. Following a brief marriage at age 19 that produced her first child, she spent roughly nine years leading a party-centric lifestyle. During this time, she had two more children and likely went through two more short-lived marriages, ultimately finding herself as a nearly bankrupt single mother of three by the age of 28.Seeking stability, Cheri changed her lifestyle and found a job in 1997 as an accountant at a scrapyard owned by Bruce Miller, a successful but solitary man twenty years her senior. She seduced Bruce, moved into his house with her three children, and the couple married in 1999. Although they initially wanted children, Cheri had previously undergone a medical procedure that prevented her from getting pregnant.While married, Cheri spent a lot of time in online chat rooms, where she met Jerry Cassaday, a former law enforcement officer working in Nevada. Their online friendship quickly turned romantic, and they eventually met in person. To manipulate Jerry, Cheri concocted an elaborate web of lies. She falsely claimed that Bruce was an abusive mafia member, sending Jerry photos of herself with fake bruises created using makeup. She also fabricated two pregnancies with Jerry's children—even using an old 1994 ultrasound photo—and lied that Bruce had caused her to miscarry them in a fit of rage. Furthermore, she sent threatening emails to Jerry from a fake account while posing as Bruce.Believing he was protecting the woman he loved, Jerry conspired with Cheri to eliminate Bruce. On November 8, 1999, Jerry traveled to the scrapyard and shot Bruce, staging the scene as a robbery by taking a small amount of cash on Cheri's instruction. Following the murder, Cheri played the role of a grieving widow, collected approximately $80,000 in life insurance payouts, sold the business, and quickly moved another man into her home. She completely severed contact with Jerry.Realizing he had been manipulated into killing an innocent man, a devastated Jerry took his own life on February 11, 2000. Before his death, he left behind a detailed suicide note and printed chat logs from the day of the murder, fully exposing the plot and Cheri's instructions.Cheri was arrested and went to trial in December 2000. Her defense argued that the evidence was forged by a rejected, vengeful lover, but she was ultimately sentenced to life in prison in 2001. After a complex legal battle—which included her forming a relationship with a man who saw her on television, and a temporary release upon appeal in 2009—she was permanently sent back to prison in 2012. In 2016, a four-page letter emerged in which Cheri finally confessed to the entire plot, admitting she had manipulated Jerry to get rid of her husband for financial gain. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

The Code and the Catalog: The Hans Reiser Story

Hans Reiser, born on December 19, 1963, in Oakland, California, was an extraordinarily gifted individual raised by a mathematician father and a photographer mother. By age 13, he dropped out of middle school due to a lack of academic challenge and miraculously gained admission to the University of California, Berkeley at age 15. Though his academic path was highly unconventional—taking 13 years to finish his computer science degree and dropping out of a PhD program—he proved to be a brilliant programmer. He created the groundbreaking ReiserFS and Reiser4 file systemsfor the Linux operating system and founded a highly successful company called Namesys, making him a millionaire.Despite his wealth and intellect, Hans lacked interpersonal skills. In 1998, while recruiting programmers in St. Petersburg, Russia, he used a "mail-order bride" catalog to meet Nina Sharanova, a 24-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist. Communicating initially through a translator, they married in 1999 and relocated to the United States. Nina became his company's Chief Financial Officer, and the couple had two children.Their marriage eventually collapsed. Hans's relentless focus on his business meant he was rarely home, leaving Nina feeling isolated and functioning essentially as a single parent. Their relationship was further strained by Hans's father baselessly accusing Nina of corporate embezzlement, and by intense parenting disputes—most notably Hans's insistence on letting their four-year-old son play violent video games to "make him a man". After Nina posted an ad online seeking a male companion, they separated in May 2004. The subsequent divorce and custody battles were incredibly bitter; Nina won sole custody of the children, while Hans was issued a restraining order in December 2004 due to erratic, stalking behavior.The conflict ended in tragedy. On September 3, 2006, Nina dropped their children off at Hans's mother's house, where Hans was living. She subsequently vanished, missing a scheduled evening with a friend and failing to pick up her children from school on September 5. On September 9, her abandoned Honda was found with groceries still sitting inside.Hans immediately became the prime suspect. Neighbors reported seeing him inexplicably hosing down his driveway on the day of her disappearance, and his car temporarily vanished. Investigators soon found Nina's DNA inside Hans's home and vehicle, and noted that a rear passenger seat had been completely removed from his car. Furthermore, records showed that on September 8, Hans had purchased books detailing how to commit and conceal a murder.Hans was arrested and demanded a speedy trial, which began in December 2006. He maintained his innocence throughout, while his defense bizarrely suggested that Nina had fled back to Russia. However, on April 28, 2008, a jury found him guilty. Facing a severe prison term, Hans finally struck a plea deal: in exchange for a reduced 15-year sentence, he confessed and led authorities to Nina's buried remains, which were located just 800 meters from his mother's house. Following his conviction, their children were sent to live with their grandmother in Russia and were later awarded $60 million in damages in 2012. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

The Ambition and Affluence of Ted and Generosa Ammon

Ted Ammon, born in 1949 in Pennsylvania, was an exceptionally intelligent and multi-talented individual who excelled in academics and various hobbies. After exploring several educational paths, he independently studied law, passed the bar exam, and eventually became a multimillionaire by working on lucrative leveraged buyouts for a finance firm in New York. Following an amicable divorce from his first wife, he met Generosa in 1984 when she was working as a real estate agent.Generosa, born in 1956, had endured a difficult childhood characterized by an unstable mother who frequently brought home different men before passing away from cancer when Generosa was ten. Raised by various relatives, she grew up to be ambitious but emotionally volatile, strongly motivated to attain a wealthy lifestyle.Ted and Generosa married in 1986 and, after struggling to conceive, adopted twins from Ukraine in 1992. They enjoyed immense wealth, complete with a massive custom-built estate in East Hampton. However, the marriage eventually deteriorated due to Generosa's highly argumentative, jealous, and vindictive nature, which was further exacerbated by Ted's alleged affair with a coworker. In 2000, Ted definitively initiated divorce proceedings.The separation was incredibly bitter and focused heavily on finances. While Ted's net worth was around $100 million, Generosa was convinced he was hiding money and that his assets were worth over $300 million. During this tumultuous time, Generosa hired and began dating Daniel Pelosi, an unlicensed electrician with a history of legal and substance abuse problems. She flaunted the relationship to anger Ted and actively alienated their children from him. In retaliation, Ted cut her alimony and attempted to limit her financial share.On October 20, 2001, merely days before the divorce was scheduled to be finalized, Ted was murdered in his East Hampton home by an intruder who bypassed the security cameras. Because the divorce was not complete, Generosa inherited his entire fortune and married Daniel Pelosi just three months later.During the subsequent investigation, witnesses came forward stating that Generosa had previously offered $50,000 to have her husband beaten. Additional testimony revealed that Daniel had gone to Ted's house on the night of the murder and returned with bloody shoes, later asking his father how to dispose of evidence. Before the authorities could fully build a case against her, Generosa was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died in 2003, notably cutting Daniel out of her will before her passing. In 2004, Daniel Pelosi was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison, though he continues to claim that someone else committed the physical act. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

The Cost of Pride: The Faleh Almaleki Case

In the early 1990s, Faleh Almaleki relocated his family from Iraq to Phoenix, Arizona, hoping for a better future while attempting to strictly preserve his traditional cultural values. Faleh was deeply concerned with maintaining family honor and exerted intense control over his children, monitoring their social lives, diaries, and adherence to traditional gender roles. He viewed the progressive and emancipated culture of the United States as a direct threat to his family's way of life.Significant conflict arose with his daughter, Noor, who was born in 1989 and grew up immersed in American culture. Unlike her father's expectations, Noor desired independence, wanted to become a teacher, and embraced modern Western styles, such as wearing makeup and modern clothing. Tensions escalated dramatically when Faleh discovered a social media photo of Noor at a gathering with male friends, which he viewed as a profound violation of their family honor. In response, he forced Noor to travel to Iraq to marry an older family friend, expecting this to enforce traditional obedience. However, Noor refused to consummate the marriage and returned to the United States, bringing further perceived disgrace to her father.Seeking independence, Noor repeatedly ran away from home and eventually moved in with a sympathetic neighboring family, the Khalafs, where she began a relationship with their son, Marwan. Faleh was enraged by this defiance and repeatedly harassed the Khalaf family, demanding his daughter's return.On October 20, 2009, Noor and Marwan's mother, Amal Khalaf, visited the Department of Economic Security, where Faleh happened to be present. As the two women walked through the parking lot, Faleh deliberately drove his vehicle into them at a speed of approximately 50 kilometers per hour. Amal survived the attack with broken bones, but Noor suffered severe head and spinal injuries. Despite medical efforts, Noor tragically passed away on November 2, 2009, at the age of 20.Following the attack, Faleh attempted to flee to the United Kingdom but was apprehended and extradited back to the United States. He claimed the incident was an accident and that he merely intended to scare Amal, but investigators found no evidence of him trying to brake or avoid the women. Faleh callously justified his actions by comparing his daughter to a fire burning down his home, implying she needed to be extinguished to protect the family. In 2011, Faleh Almaleki was convicted and sentenced to 34 and a half years in prison, with his actions ultimately driven by dangerous pride and an obsessive need for control. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-pieces--6886558/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].