Sanctuary

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So I'm pretty terrible at marketing myself, that's for sure,
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even though it's my job. A lot of people that
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have been listening to this show for many years don't
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even realize we have a sister program called Nightmares. It's
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a different kind of a show. It's still about true crime,
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and they're still about true stories, but it's a shorter
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show and it doesn't have any nine one one calls
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or blaring clips. It's great for playing when you're going
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to bed, if you like to hear my voice right
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before going to sleep telling you a true crime tale. Anyway,
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We're going to play you a whole episode right here
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on this feed to see if you like it, and
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if you do, I ask that you search for Sword
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and Scale Nightmares or just Nightmares and subscribe to it.
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If you already do, then apologies for the extra episode
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in your feed. Rohnda Smith sits in the office at
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Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, leaning her head on her hand
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with her elbow on the desk. The computer screen casts
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a soft blue light in the quiet room, shining in
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her eyes. As she scrolls through yet another dating profile.
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She exhales a little louder than she means to. She
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thinks about her last relationship. He lived about an hour away.
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At first, the drive didn't seem too bad, but over
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time it felt longer. Their conversations faded. In the end,
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they both agreed the distance wouldn't work. The breakup was
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mutual and clean, but still disappointing. She clicks to the
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next profile. There was a time when rejection like that
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would have overwhelmed her. Even small setbacks felt like proof
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that something was wrong with her. Those were the years
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when depression crept in and stayed too long. Hospitals felt
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more familiar than home. She didn't trust herself to be
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alone with her thoughts. But that was before she found
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the church. Ronda leans back and lets herself smile. She
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joined the church a couple of years ago not to
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find faith, but because she needed structure. She needed a
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place to go, something steady. Over time, the congregation got
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to know her and accepted her. With Pastor Shreeve's support,
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she started to rebuild her life slowly and carefully. Now
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she has a routine. She has friends, people who count
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on her and who let her count on them. That
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balance means more to her than anything she ever expected
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about her plans for tonight. She's having dinner with Greg,
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a man she met in her bipolar support group. He
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might be someone who understands the hard parts without her
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having to explain. He might be someone who truly gets her.
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She reaches for the mouse to look at the next profile.
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Suddenly she hears a sound that doesn't belong in the
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quiet building. Rnda sits up and turns. She gasps, barely
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having time to raise her hand. Then everything goes dark.
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Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime for Bedtime
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or Nightmare Beginnings Now. Judy Zelner pulls into the church
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parking lot just after noon, gravel crunching under her tires.
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When she gets out, the cold winter air stings her
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nose and makes it hard to breathe. She notices a
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car she doesn't recognize, so she pulls her coat tighter
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and hurries to the door. Judy fumbles for her keys
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in her heavy coat, but finally finds them. When she
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puts the key in the lock, she realizes it's already unlocked.
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She gets ready to scold whoever left it open, since
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everyone knows this door should stay locked during the week.
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She goes inside closes the door and locks it behind her.
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Inside the old church, the familiar smell of wood, bibles,
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and dust greets her. The building is quiet. As she
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walks toward the office, she sees the light is on,
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which wh isn't unusual past her shrieves often leaves it on,
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sometimes the radio also. She steps into the office and
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calls out softly, but no one answers. She sets down
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her purse, hangs up her coat, and her footsteps echo
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in the empty space as she moves through the office.
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As she gets closer to the receptionist's desk, she notices
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something that shouldn't be there. It takes her a moment
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to understand what she's seeing, just long enough for confusion
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to turn into dread. A woman's body is crumpled up
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on the floor in an unnatural position, blood everywhere, her
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dark brown hair matted with it. Judy freezes, her breath
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catching in her throat. Her mind flashes absurdly too episodes
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of CSI. She doesn't touch anything. Suddenly, she worries the
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person who did this might still be there. She grabs
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the cordless phone and runs for the door, panicking. When
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the dispatcher answers, she stumbles over her words. Outside, she waits,
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pacing and crying, trying to keep warm in the january cold.
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The minutes drag on. Every sound feels too loud, and
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the stillness is heavy. When the sirens finally arrive, they
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break the silence with both relief and fear. Paramedics rush
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past her, their boots heavy. Their voice is quick and focused.
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They don't notice her. Judy hears herself speak before she
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realizes it. Look behind the desk, she says. Paramedics find
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the woman and see something Judy missed. The woman is
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still breathing. They kneel, check on her and move quickly.
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Judy notices the air now smells metallic. The paramedics gently
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move the body and roll her onto a stretcher. They
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lift it and the wheels snap out with a hollow sound.
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Judy steps back and gives them space. As they approach
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the door, her heart pounds. As they pass, the sheet
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shifts and the woman's head turns. It's the first time
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Judy sees a face with an audible gasp. She says,
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that's my friend, Rohnda. Pennsylvania State Trooper Joseph Stumpo arrives
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at the church after the ambulance has left. The last
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emergency lights flicker against the stone walls that have stood
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since colonial time. The church was established before the United
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States even existed. It has served the same rural stretch
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of Bucks County for generations. Its cemetery filled with names
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that often repeat on headstones. Stumpau has worked on crashes, burglaries,
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and domestic assaults. He has never worked on a homicide.
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Inside the building remains orderly. The side door shows no
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signs of forced entry. The office light is still on.
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The hallway is quiet, except for low radio traffic as
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officers secure the perimeter. In the small office, the scene
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is clear. The desk sits in the center of the room.
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Behind it, dark bloodstains the carpet in the large pool.
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The paramedics marked the outline of the body with tape
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before moving her, keeping the spot where she fell. The
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shape is unmistakable. Stumpeau looks around the room carefully. Nothing
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is overturned, jars are closed, papers are still stacked on
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the desk. There are no signs of struggle or a
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search for money or valuables. If this were a robbery,
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the room would show it. If it were random violence,
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someone likely would have forced their way in. Instead, the
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scene suggests someone was close. They stood near the victim,
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fired and left without disturbing anything else. Stumpo steps back
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in the hallway and looks towards the sanctuary beyond the office.
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For centuries, this church was a place of routine and ritual.
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Today it is the scene of a shooting. Stumpo finds
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Judy Zelder in her car in the church lot, the
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engine running to keep warm. Her hands are wrapped tightly
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around a tissue as he asks her to walk him
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through the afternoon. Stumpo listens as Judy speaks through sniffles,
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telling him that she didn't know anyone would be there
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and about the unlocked door. She nearly starts crying when
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she gets to the part about finding Ronda. He takes
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notes as Judy talks about Ronda. She says Ronda started
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coming to the church a couple of years ago. Ronda
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spoke openly about her money and her career troubles, all
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related to her bipolar diagnosis. She had been hospitalized before.
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There were times when she struggled deeply, even talked about
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hurting herself, But lately, Judy says, Ronda seemed stable. She
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was dating and making plans for the future. Just a
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couple of weeks ago, she stood in front of the
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congregation and thanked everyone for their support. Judy's tears burst forward,
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but Stumpo has to ask an uncomfortable question. Did she
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ever mention having a gun? He asks, Judy shakes her head. No.
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In a quiet church in the middle of the day,
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with no forced entry and no witnesses, one possibility stood out.
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Rondo was alone, had a history of depression, and was
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found with a bullet wound. Stumpbo writes this in his notes,
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though he doesn't think it really fits. By the time
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Stumpo reached the hospital, doctors confirmed what he suspected. Ronda
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had been shot in the head, but she was shot
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twice at close range. She was hit directly on the
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right side of her head, but also had grazing wounds
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on her hand and forehead, likely from a shot that missed.
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Crime scene texts later found a bullet lodged in the
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church office ceiling. She also had stipeing, a sign that
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the gun was fired up close. Stumpo asks the necessary question,
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could she have done this to herself? He listens and
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takes notes as doctors explained that the way she was
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found makes it unlikely. Two shots to the head are
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rare in suicides, and the angles didn't show any kind
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of hesitation, which is common. It's a little harder than
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you think to put a gun up to your head
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and pull the trigger. Also, there was no gun at
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the scene, Stumpo thought. He closed his notepad and thanked
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the doctors for their work. He asked them to keep
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him updated about her condition, but they didn't think she
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would survive the night. The damage was too severe. Ronda
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was alive, but barely. Her head and right eye were
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heavily bandaged. She lay motionless with her tongue protruding from
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her lips. She was brain dead. Stumpo would learn later
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that her parents made the hard choice to let her
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pass that night. As he leaves the hospital, he thinks
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over the details of the case. His theory has changed.
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What he first thought might be suicide now points to
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somewhere else. Ronda did not shoot herself. Someone else did. Later,
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Mary Jane Fonder, a member of the church, called Ronda's parents,
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Joe and Joanne Smith. She said she wanted to bring
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over a pie. Joanne thanked her, but said she didn't
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want it. They weren't up for company. They were still
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trying to make sense of what happened. Mary Jane came anyway.
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When Joe Anne opens the door, she recognizes her right away.
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She's seen her at church, an older woman who sang
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in the choir with Ronda. Mary Jane stands on the porch,
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holding a pie dish with both hands. Her wig sits
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a little off center. She speaks softly, offering condolences in
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a tone that sounds practiced. Joanne invites her inside. Mary
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Jane sits at the kitchen table and folds her hands
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in her lap. She talks about the church, about how
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shaken everyone is, and about how much Ronda meant to
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the congregation. She asks questions about Ronda as a child,
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her favorite things, and what she was like growing up.
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An hour passes by, then another. Joe thinks to herself,
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this lady can really talk. As they talk, jo Anne
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notices Mary Jane's shoes. They're cracked and worn thin in
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the soles, with the edges starting to separate. Before Mary
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Jane leaves, Joanne offers her a couple of pairs of
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Ronda's shoes from the hallway closet. It feels like a
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small gesture, a way to thank her for coming. Mary
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Jane accepts them, tries them on, and walks back and
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forth to see if they fit. After thanking them and
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saying goodbye, Mary Jane leaves. The pie stayed in the
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kitchen counter after she left. No one touched it. Troopers.
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Stumpo meets with Pastor Greg Shreeves at the church in
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the days after the shooting. He tries to size him
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up before starting the conversation. Shreeves is tall and well built,
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a former professional golfer who entered the ministry as a
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second career. He carries himself with calm assurance, the kind
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that comes from years of public presence. His transition into
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pastoral life had been welcomed by the congregation, mostly the
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women who thought he was just dreamy. When Stumpo asks
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about Rohnda, Shreeves explains that she was a member of
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the church who had struggled in the past with bipolar disorder.
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He had counseled and encouraged her. He helped her find
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structure she was improving. Then Stumpo asks if anyone in
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the church had been behaving unusually in recent months. Shreves
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mentions Mary Jane fonder. She is a long time member, devoted,
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rarely missed a service. At first, she seemed harmless. She
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talked too much, trapping people in lengthy conversations, and she
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never seemed to wear her wig correctly, even backwards sometimes.
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Then she started requesting meetings with Shrieves. She waited after
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services to talk to him. She wanted private conversations that
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drifted beyond church matters. Then it got worse. Mary Jane
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started calling his home and leaving long, rambling messages. She
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would call multiple times a day for days on end.
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The messages became longer, more emotional, and less connected to
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anything specific. It was almost stream of consciousness. Shreeves said.
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Eventually he had to turn off his answering machine and
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block her number. Mary Jane just used her cell phone
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at that and kept calling. Then she started leaving food
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for the pastor, except she would leave it inside his home,
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entering without his permission while he wasn't there. After that,
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he started to lock his door. Then there was the
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time they decorated the church bulletin boards together. Out of nowhere.
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Mary Jane said, you can't deny what's going on between us?
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Treif said he stopped her right there and told her
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that she had crossed a line. There was no romance
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between them. When Stumpo asks whether Mary Jane had reacted
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to his work with other parishioners, Treve's recalls comments she
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made about how often he met with Rohnda. The remarks
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were not confrontational, he says, but they carried an edge.
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Stumpo writes the name down carefully, Mary Jane Fonder. He
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closed his notebook and thanked the pastor for his time
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as he prepared to leave. He couldn't shake what Shrieves said,
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Persistent phone calls, unwanted visits, comments about relationships that didn't exist.
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None of it was a crime, but it was a
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pattern for sure, Mary Jane was worth looking into. After
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leaving the church, Stumpo meets with the police chief to
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update him on the case's progress. When he says the
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name Fonder, he notices the chief's signal for him to stop.
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I know that name, the chief says. Years earlier, in
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nineteen ninety three, when the chief was still a patrolman,
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there had been a call to the Fonder residence. Mary
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Jane's father Edward had disappeared. She said she heard him
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walk out the front door, and he's never been seen again.
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Searches were conducted, neighbors were questioned, the property was examined,
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nothing was ever found, and the case went cold. In fact,
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it's still open to this day. Stumple feels renewed at
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this lead. The last time Mary Jane's name came across
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the chief's desk, she was a person of interest in
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her father's disappearance. The interview room at the State Police
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barracks is quiet. Stumpo sits across the table from Mary Jane.
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Beside him is Trooper Robert Egan, an older, more seasoned
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veteran investigator brought in his backup. Egan doesn't speak much
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at first, he just watches, just like everything they had
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heard about Mary Jane. She starts to fill the silence.
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She starts rambling on about any and every subject on
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her mind. The troopers just let her talk. She talks
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about the church, about how much it means to her.
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She talks about Pastor Shreves. He's a real man. Pastor Shreves,
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He's a hell of a man, a real man, she says.
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The troopers continue to let her ramble. She goes on
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and on, jumping from one subject to another, then back again.
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You know the type. Eventually the conversation circles back to
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pastor shreaths. I'll tell you I always liked the pastor.
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I had very sexual kind of feelings, warm feelings about
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the man, she says. Then the conversation shifts to Ronda.
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She talks about gatherings at the church, dinners and social
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outings where it seems Ronda was welcome but she was not.
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She brings up the Sunday service where Ronda stood up
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and thanked everyone for their help. The whole world's going
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around this lady, and I don't know it, she says.
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She claims she wasn't jealous, but she keeps returning to
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all the attention, support and inclusion Ronda got, so it
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sure sounds like she is. Eventually, the troopers bring her
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back in on January twenty third, the day after the murder.
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Her alibi is precise. She had a hair appointment in
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Quakertown at eleven thirty am. She signed in at the
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salon at eleven twenty two am. The salon confirmed it,
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but Mary Jane wore a wig that day, and she
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left it behind. Investigators collected it and sent it off
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for gunshot residue testing. If she had fired a gun
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that morning, residue would have gotten on that wig for sure.
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The test results showed that two of the three chemical
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components of gunshot residue were present. It wasn't enough to arrest,
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but it didn't call any suspicions either. Egan asks about
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her gun. She acknowledges owning a thirty eight caliber Rossy
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Revolver for protection, the same caliber gun that shot Ronda,
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but she explained she got rid of it many years ago.
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Egan asks how she got rid of it, and Mary
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Jane replies, I threw it in Lake Knock, a Mixon
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years ago. She went on to explain that she got
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depressed after all the negative publicity surrounding her after her
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father's disappearance, and decided to get rid of it after
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thoughts of harming herself. The troopers glanced at each other.
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In their experience, people don't discard guns this way unless
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they have something to hide. Stumpo asks the question directly,
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did you shoot Ronda? Mary Jane leans forward and says,
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I didn't do it. Both investigators noticed that At that moment,
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mary Jane's voice changed. It dropped lower, deeper, Her softness disappeared,
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replaced by something harder, something angrier. As quickly as it changed,
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it changed back, and Mary Jane went back to rambling.
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As the interview stretched on, Stumpo and Egan saw a pattern.
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She admitted having romantic feelings for the pasture. She described
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exclusion from the church and social events. She focused repeatedly
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on what Ronda had and what she did not. She
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denied being involved, but she may have just inadvertently revealed
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her motive. After the interview, the troopers didn't have a confession.
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They didn't have a weapon, but they did have enough
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suspicion to escalate. They decided to seize her car. She
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didn't fight it, but she did mention getting a lawyer.
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Seppo said, that's fine, but we're still taking your car.
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When the forensic test results return, the findings are positive
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for particles consistent with gunshot residue. There weren't heavy concentrations,
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not enough to arrest her, but three separate areas tested positive,
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the turn signal, the driver's door handle, and the driver's seat.
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The troopers decide to apply pressure and tell Mary Jane
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they've found gunshot residue, just to see what she did next.
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Then they waited. Soon after, an eight year old boy
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was fishing at Lake knock Amixon with his dad. The
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water in the lake was low. What the boy and
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his father didn't know was that the lake was low
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because of the police's previous attempts to find the gun.
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After a while, the little boy gets bored fishing for
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trout and gets distracted when he sees a gray heron.
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He tells his dad and he's going to get a
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closer look, and starts making his way towards the large burn.
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Then a glint catches his eye an object sticking out
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of the shallow water. The boy runs over and picks
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it up, thinking he's found a toy gun, but once
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it was in his hand, the weight gave it away.
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It was a real gun. The little boy ran to
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his father to show him. The father panics when he
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sees his son with a gun and gently snatches it
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from him. The gun didn't appear to be rusted. It
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wasn't something you'd expect to find under water. He opens
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the cylinder and finds three spent casings in two live rounds.
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He dumped them in his hand, and at that they
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were done fishing for the day. The boy and his
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father went home and called the police. The revolver recovered
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from Lake Nakamixon is sent to the Pennsylvania State Police
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crime Lab. The thirty eight caliber Rossi revolver pulled from
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the shallow water is the gun that killed Ronda. They
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stake out the church waiting for Mary Jane to arrive.
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When she does, they approached her. She isn't hysterical, she
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isn't combative, According to investigators, She looked at them and said,
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I figured you'd be coming. She's quickly placed under arrest
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and charged with the murder of Ronda. I didn't do it,
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she said, But now the denial has to compete with
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a gun pulled from shallow water. Prosecutors argued that on
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the morning of January twenty third, Mary Jane went to
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the church, knowing Ronda would be alone in the office.
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She brought her a thirty eight caliber Rossi revolver. The
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first shot grazed Ronda's hand and forehead. The second shot
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struck the right side of her head at close range.
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Then Mary Jane left. She drove to a scheduled hair
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appointment and signed in at eleven twenty two am like
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nothing ever happened. Prosecutors would later lay out a simple theory.
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Mary Jane didn't just kill the stranger. She killed a rival.
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For months, she had become attached to Pastor Greg Shreeves.
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She called him a quote real man, admitted she had
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very sexual, warm feelings for him. She interpreted pastoral kindness
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as intimacy. But then Ronda entered the picture. Ronda met
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with the pastor for counseling. She received financial help from
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the congregation. She stood before the church and publicly thanked them.
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She was welcomed to social gatherings. Mary Jane was not
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in the week before the murder, Ronda's life appeared to
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be stabilizing. She was working at the church, dating rebuilding.
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To Mary Jane that attention felt like displacement. Mary Jane
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was convicted of first degree murder. She was sentenced to
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life in prison without the possibility of parole. Even then,
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she maintained her innocence. I didn't do this terrible thing,
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she said. Years passed from prison, Mary Jane started writing
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letters to the authors who documented her case. The tone
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of those letters was different from that of the woman
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who sat in that interview room, insisting she had done
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nothing wrong. She wrote about having vivid dreams in which
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she was back inside the church office. In those dreams,
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she had the gun. The dreams she saw Ronda fall.
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She started to question herself. She wondered whether something had
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happened that she couldn't fully remember. She suggested that maybe
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she had gone to church just to talk, maybe things escalated,
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maybe she blacked out. She never clearly confessed, but she
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stopped insisting she had not been there. Mary Jane died
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in prison years later. No accountability was ever taken. The
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questions about what happened to her father in nineteen ninety
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three remain unanswered, and whatever clarity she may have reached
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in those dreams, if any, is gone right along with
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her life at the church went on. The pews filled
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the choir saying. The office light came on each morning.
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Pastor Shrieves kept Mary Jane's name on the prayer list.
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Long after the trial ended. He prayed for her, just
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as he had once prayed for Rhonda. In the end,
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one woman sought belonging and found it, and the other
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mistook attention for Love. If you enjoyed the show, please
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00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:33.680
consider joining plus at Sword and Scale dot com slash plus,
404
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.839
But if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review
405
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on your preferred listening platform. Sweet dreams and good night,