For those who do not remember this segment, it is the case of Maria Armstrong, who was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. She stopped taking her medication, was taking drugs and terrorized her boyfriend, Ron Argenti, during her paranoid psychosis, even physically beating him. In the end, she bludgeoned him to death in in his sleep with a hammer, hid his body under a pile of cushions and fled through Arizona first with his van, then hitch-hiking her way out of the State.

I am fascinated by this segment. I cannot help but constantly ask myself whether she had really killed her boyfriend during a psychosis or if she had premeditated her murder and then faked her symptoms to alleviate her case. IHMO, this case stinks of first-degree murder. The fact that she got only 15 years is inexcusable given the fact that all the signs pointed to a capital offense.

I do not contest her illness, but at the time of the crime was obviously capable of distinguishing right from wrong. She was legally sane, and thus should have been prosecuted with the full weight of the law : She hid the body; she fled the scene immediately after the murder without watching back; she changed her name to Sandy; she was constantly evasive when approached by the policeman and the other witnesses in the Indian reserve; she tried to sell Argenti's van in which she fled the scene, finally abandoning it; she dyed her hair blonde to avoid recognition, and finally she refused to surrender herself until she was captured in an airport from an anonymous tipster.

All of this does not sound at all like a schizophrenic who would attack someone during a short psychotic moment. On the contrary she seemed perfectly in control when she committed the homicide. It looks more like a mentally ill, abusive woman who mistreated her boyfriend like **** and killed him when he finally decided that he couldn't bear it anymore. Argenti's body was even found sitten upright, demonstrating that he was sleeping sitting in his couch because he was so afraid of Armstrong attacking him during his sleep. Well, that is exactly what happened.

What do you think?

Speaking as a psychologist I think her bout with schizophrenia did contribute to her violent actions against Ron Argenti which resulted in his death. I do think however she should be held responsible for her actions because she was aware of her condition, abandoned seeking treatment for it and apparently was also seeking out drugs from other people which probably took an already bad situation and made it worse.

Her actions after Argenti's death makes it seem like while mental illness could've played a factor in her not being able to control her emotions resulting in the acts of violence against Mr. Argenti, her behavior after the murder becomes paramount as she concocted a well thought out plan of escape which would lead some to believe that this could've been essentially a crime of passion committed by a mentally disturbed person. I think Maria Armstrong's mental illness did play a part in these tragic events but I also think that Armstrong due to her actions in both not seeking treatment for her illness which could've prevented the tragedy from ever taking place to her systematic plan of escape after the fact, leads me to believe that she was very much responsible for the death of Mr. Argenti.

I do think however she should be held responsible for her actions because she was aware of her condition, abandoned seeking treatment for it and apparently was also seeking out drugs from other people which probably took an already bad situation and made it worse.


I'm not sure what the legal ramifications are of what you said, but I definitely agree. Knowing you are sick and not being treated should not allow you to plead insanity later. That is like someone with diabetes not taking insulin and then going into diabetic shock and driving into a crowd of people.

Suffering from illness is one thing. Ignoring a known condition is something else.

I do think however she should be held responsible for her actions because she was aware of her condition, abandoned seeking treatment for it ....

I totally agree!

Speaking as a psychologist I think her bout with schizophrenia did contribute to her violent actions against Ron Argenti which resulted in his death. I do think however she should be held responsible for her actions because she was aware of her condition, abandoned seeking treatment for it and apparently was also seeking out drugs from other people which probably took an already bad situation and made it worse.

Her actions after Argenti's death makes it seem like while mental illness could've played a factor in her not being able to control her emotions resulting in the acts of violence against Mr. Argenti, her behavior after the murder becomes paramount as she concocted a well thought out plan of escape which would lead some to believe that this could've been essentially a crime of passion committed by a mentally disturbed person. I think Maria Armstrong's mental illness did play a part in these tragic events but I also think that Armstrong due to her actions in both not seeking treatment for her illness which could've prevented the tragedy from ever taking place to her systematic plan of escape after the fact, leads me to believe that she was very much responsible for the death of Mr. Argenti.

Cool that you are a psychologist. :)

According to you, did the behavior we know she has exhibited during and after the murder pass the M'Naghten rules? I am not a psychologist, but would I be a member of a jury, her whole behavior after the crime shows that she attempted to gain time to escape justice. By attempting to crudely dissimule the body and by changing her identity, she showed she knew that what she had done was wrong at the moment the crime had been commited. Thus, I think she was legally sane and her schizophrenia should be considered only as a mitigating circumstance.

What I find unbelievable, however, is that the prosecution bargained with her so that she may plead guilty to second-degree murder, instead of going for for first degree murder.

I'm wary about rendering any type of opinion in a legal sense based on an UM segment. My wife is a D.A. so we have many spirited conversations on the subject at my house quite regularly. I will say this though regarding Maria Armstrong - There was a great deal of sympathy for her both in the courts and also in the UM segment. Robert Stack on the original broadcast before she was captured actually made a personal plea to her to seek help for her disorder. This is probably the closest I've ever heard Stack showing compassion for a fugitive.

I basically agree with your assessment Drakken regarding Armstrong but there might be some mitigating circumstances we are unaware of that caused Armstrong to recieve such a light sentence. It was mentioned that Armstrong suffered with schizophrenia for many years and schizophrenia aside even some of Argenti's family seemed to have some degree of sympathy towards Maria Armstrong in the segment. I believe one sister referred to her as someone who would be a "good friend" when she wasn't symptomatic. So I dunno, Armstrong may have loaded up on character witnesses and used her schizophrenia as a scapegoat in order to recieve a lighter sentence.

As I said using just the UM I can't really judge how much of a mitigating factor was Armstrong's mental problems in causing this tragedy. Obviously the fact that she abandoned taking her medications and may have been exacerbating the problem with illicit drugs is something of a red flag as is her behavior after the crime was committed but then again we really don't have the whole back story on Maria Armstrong. There seem to be pieces missing here which could have cast her in a more sympathetic light which resulted in a lighter sentence.

and fled through Arizona

I was thinking this was in New Mexico.

I think she should be locked up in a mental institution for the rest of her life and forced to take her meds. Any way you slice it, 15 years is certainly not enough for the brutal way that she killed Ron Argenti by crushing in his skull with a hammer.

I think Maria should have been sentenced to life in a mental instituion even though she had ignored her illness and later killed her boyfriend. Not all people with mental illness are threats to society but people like Maria are and should be kept out of public.

Another for joshypiano: it appears Maria was sentenced to 15 years for this. By now she's out of course.

She was released in 2005, served 13 years according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. She had a few violations in prison including drug possesion and disobeying orders so she didn't learn her lesson during her first few years behind bars but wasn't in trouble for drugs since 1995 so maybe she is clean now and hopefully keeping out of trouble in the free world again.

I think the discussion here shines light on how we view mental institutions in this country. Here we have a woman who committed a violent murder. Now, I'm in agreement that her symptoms preempted or at least aggravated her actions, and also that the sentence was just as Armstrong was aware of her illness. However, being incarcerated and being "locked" in a mental institution are not comparable (in the strictest sense, anyway). On a basic level, the former implies she could determine right from wrong, the latter does not. But that's not my point.

I find it a little scary when words like "locked" and "forced" are used to describe a court order to a mental institution. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't that seem to imply that Armstrong (assuming that she cannot determine right from wrong) is being punished, or should be punished? Those institutions are in place for treatment and rehabilitation, not penitence.

I totally agree!

I agree as well.

If I had been the boyfriend, I would have left that situation a long time ago. Those kind of things often end badly.

Do you guys think this could be her?

http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate_datasearch/results.aspx?InmateNumber=090945&LastName=ARMSTRONG&FNMI=M&SearchType=SearchInet

That is her.

I still don't understand the attraction that Ron had for her. Did he really think he could "cure" her or something?

That is her.

I still don't understand the attraction that Ron had for her. Did he really think he could "cure" her or something?

I think maybe when Ron first met her she was in a better state of mind and maybe her condition was better controlled and she wasn't taking non-prescription drugs. Maybe he thought her disease would always be controlled or maybe he didn't think she could relapse or anything.

That is her.

I still don't understand the attraction that Ron had for her. Did he really think he could "cure" her or something?

Yet, we do not understand why "moral" women like Diane Brodebeck elope with a rapists and murderers and help them escape from jail, or why attractive females were sitting in awe in the courtroom listening to Ted Bundy defending himself, standing accused of murdering the exact same kind of attractive women who would have sitten at this same courtroom with them. :crazy:

But these are extreme cases...

People, both male and female, get involved with people with mental illnesses and/or personality disorders out of compassion, and also a little sense of danger and excitement. They think their love and their support will help these partners to cope with their illness and seek professional treatement.

Most of the times, the partner is benign, cooperative, or healthy enough not to be a life-threatening hurricane. But Maria was neither of these.

At least at first, Ron probably thought that his loving support would steer Maria into seeking treatment and following through, like stopping using drugs. The problem is, she seemed not to be interested to seek treatment, she continued to use drugs nonetheless, and she didn't care about how Ron was feeling and how he suffered. She probably thought him to be weak-willed, not having the guts to defend himself or leave her.

Inverse the roles, and it becomes a "regular" abusive pattern. The only difference is that, from what we know, the abuser was a schizophrenic female.

I think that until the end, he had at least a glimmer of hope that Maria would change and attempt to improve, that it was just her illness making her so awful to be around with. When he finally decided it was enough, she got angry or upset that she would lose him (whether it is because she really loved him despite everything or because she saw him as her provider as a walking wallet), and she killed him by bludgeoning him to death with a hammer, hid the body, and ran away from the scene.

My hypothesis that they probably quarreled the evening before and Ron told her he was leaving her. He couldn't expel her from the apartment, however, and he Ron couldn't depart and risk to leave his stuff around Maria without surveillance, or even Maria all by herself. So Ron went to sleep in the same upright position as usual, thinking about packaging the next morning... and we all know what happened.

There are lots of things that we do not know about the kinds of interaction inside the couple in the weeks or months before the murder. Yes, we know that Maria was physically abusive toward Ron. But did he threaten several times to leave and she laughed at him? Did she flout him openly with lovers and drug transactions? Etc.

Hmm, not surprisingly, I disagree with a lot of folks on this one. Personally, I feel this woman is dangerous when not properly medicated and not receiving other proper psychiatric care. I am not a shrink by any means but I have taken college classes in psychology. It seems that from what I have read on schizophrenia that most schizophrenics overall respond positively to medication. It is not a cure all by any means but it does make them so they can handle day to day tasks and take care of themselves and not be violent or have delusions.

However the problem appears to be that after a period of time of taking medication that the schizophrenic feels better and feels normal and thinks they are 'cured' of the problem so they stop taking their medication and obviously when they stop taking the medication they deteriorate quickly. Plus when they are off their meds they tend to view the meds as 'poison' in fact it is quite freaky how they view things and it is not their fault but I can see why some schizophrenics have a very real potential of being violent even to the point of homicide.

Maria Armstrong was originally charged with first degree murder however I do feel the plea bargain to 2nd degree murder was appropriate in this case. She pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and on April 27th, 1992 was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She had been in custody since 1990 when she was arrested. Armstrong was released from prison on August 13th, 2005. It is unclear where she is today. She is now 44 years old and will be 45 in November.

To be honest, I do not think Ron Argente was going to leave his own apartment. I think he was going to kick Maria out. I mean this was a man that was so scared of Maria Armstrong he was sleeping in an upright position on his couch. So that tells you there were serious issues there. According to what was said in the segment, Maria Armstrong had been physically abusive towards Argente, even to the point of striking him so hard that she ruptured his eardrum.

But as his sisters said, the night he was killed, he was having a phone conversation with one of his sisters and he was telling her he was going to have Maria either kicked out or forcibly removed the next day and Maria was evidently in the same room listening to this. I imagine that this got Maria's already rampant paranoia going into overdrive and thinking everyone was 'out to get her' in fact, while this is pure conjecture, I would venture that after Ron Argente got off the telephone that he and Maria had an argument about him kicking her out. Sometime either later in the evening or in the early morning hours, before dawn she beat Ron Argente to death and it is assumed he was asleep because I think that is the only way she could have overpowered him to the point of beating him to death with the hammer.

I would imagine Maria's impulse control when not medicated is quite pour. So my guess is when she started swinging that hammer she 'lost it' or was in a state of psychosis and instead of just slapping him or hitting him with her hand like she had in the past,she used the hammer and just kept hitting him until he was dead. When I say psychosis I do not mean insane per se as she certainly was aware after the fact what she did was wrong as she covered up Ron Argente's body with clothes and the like. However that is also a sign of a person that clearly was not all there to think she could cover up his body and no one would ever find it.

What amazes me is how no one though to check on Ron Argente for four days. I am also amazed that Maria Armstrong was able to safely and successfully operate Ron Argente's truck from Mesa to the Flagstaff area which is at least a two hour drive. Basically, it appears Armstrong just had a bunch of lucky breaks more than anything else in that she was even able to escape the Mesa, Arizona area, let alone the state of Arizona and be on the run for two years.

I just feel bad for everyone in this case, Maria Armstrong included. Killing her friend and a waste of a life and having to live with severe mental illness. Ron Argente from what I saw in the segment was basically a good samaritan and was abused verbally and physically and eventually killed because of it. It seems he was in love with Maria and I think he also probably viewed her through 'shades' in that it seems he tended to minimize her mental illness or perhaps did not realize how serious it was until she moved in with him. But he viewed her through 'shades' in my opinion because he probably viewed her as the way she used to be and not the way she presently was.

But as his sisters said, the night he was killed, he was having a phone conversation with one of his sisters and he was telling her he was going to have Maria either kicked out or forcibly removed the next day and Maria was evidently in the same room listening to this. I imagine that this got Maria's already rampant paranoia going into overdrive and thinking everyone was 'out to get her' in fact, while this is pure conjecture, I would venture that after Ron Argente got off the telephone that he and Maria had an argument about him kicking her out. Sometime either later in the evening or in the early morning hours, before dawn she beat Ron Argente to death and it is assumed he was asleep because I think that is the only way she could have overpowered him to the point of beating him to death with the hammer.

What amazes me is how no one though to check on Ron Argente for four days. I am also amazed that Maria Armstrong was able to safely and successfully operate Ron Argente's truck from Mesa to the Flagstaff area which is at least a two hour drive. Basically, it appears Armstrong just had a bunch of lucky breaks more than anything else in that she was even able to escape the Mesa, Arizona area, let alone the state of Arizona and be on the run for two years.

It seems he was in love with Maria and I think he also probably viewed her through 'shades' in that it seems he tended to minimize her mental illness or perhaps did not realize how serious it was until she moved in with him. But he viewed her through 'shades' in my opinion because he probably viewed her as the way she used to be and not the way she presently was.

She also stabbed him - there was a knife found next to the body.

That's a really good point about no one checking on Ron. He had a full time job, and I'd assume that they would notice if he missed 4 days of work. Also, after the conversations with his sisters, wouldn't they call him to see if he sent Maria back?

And sadly, I think your last statement is only too accurate.

I will also make a few other comments. Yes Maria Armstrong was held accountable for her actions as she should have been. But, I do feel the plea bargain was appropriate as much as the general public dislikes plea bargaining it is how over 90 percent of cases are resolved. There are some folks out there, where she could have got a life sentence and it would not have been enough.

Well, to be honest, it would not surprise me if Maria Armstrong was institutionalized when she was released from prison. To be honest, this woman needed proper mental health care more than anything else and I am sorry to say prison was and is not the place to receive that. I guess it reflects the sorry state of affairs in the mental health care system in this country more than anything else. Mental illnesses in my opinion are illnesses which are just as bad if not worse than physical illnesses. It is just sad. I myself take medication for depression and anxiety, so while I am not claiming to know what schizophrenia is like per se, it is still an illness where from what I have read, if a person is not medicated, there are times they are simply not capable of understanding what they are doing.

In this instance, yes, it is obvious that Maria Armstrong, at the very least, understood after the fact that she had committed a murder and that it was wrong and illegal. Hence why she covered up Ron Argente's body and then fled in his truck to northern Arizona and hid from the cops. But it is also obvious that she was not all there either. But I am not saying she should not have been held accountable, just that I view the plea bargain as appropriate.

But as I said, why was Ron Argente attracted to Maria Armstrong? Again, this is conjecture, but it seemed to me that Ron Argente viewed Maria through shades. He viewed her as the way she used to be, when they were younger. I think he really did not fully understand just how ill she was until he saw it on a day by day basis. I also think that Maria Armstrong, when she first moved to Arizona, was on her medication, was drug free and was receiving psychiatric care, so she probably, overall, seemed normal to Ron Argente.

But obviously things, unraveled, she stopped taking her meds, stopped her visits with the psychiatrist and had a contact in the apartment complex that was supplying her with drugs that only aggravated her already severe mental illness. It is common for schizophrenics to abuse alcohol and or drugs when not medicated.

I'm kinda torn on this and think it could go either way. I think deep down Maria probably isn't/wasn't a "bad person" and wouldn't have killed or even hurt Ron if she'd been in a clear mind at the time. But she also clearly showed enough evasiveness to know she did something wrong (i.e. half covering his body, trying to sell his truck at the Indian reservation or hiding from the cops).

It's even more of a tragedy since Ron seemed like a super nice guy who just felt compassionate enough for her and probably thought he could've changed her just by being a sense of support.

I actually think it might've been possible if she hadn't started taking drugs again when she was living in his apartment complex. That probably made a bad (or iffy) situation worse.

Forgive me if this has already been answered on another thread somewhere, but does anyone know why they blurred out Maria Armstrong's face during the update when she was shown in the courtroom?

Since UM seemed to take a sympathetic slant towards her in the segment, was this a case of wanting to protect her identity just in case she was found not mentally competent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity?

Forgive me if this has already been answered on another thread somewhere, but does anyone know why they blurred out Maria Armstrong's face during the update when she was shown in the courtroom?

Since UM seemed to take a sympathetic slant towards her in the segment, was this a case of wanting to protect her identity just in case she was found not mentally competent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity?

That's what I always assumed, because I've wondered that myself. I can think of no other case in which that's happened, although I'm sure there must be.

Do you guys think this could be her?

http://www.azcorrections.gov/inmate_datasearch/results.aspx?InmateNumber=090945&LastName=ARMSTRONG&FNMI=M&SearchType=SearchInet

Creepy, yeah thats her alright!

I've never been a big supporter of the way we gauge whether or not a person was insane at the time of their crime. The current "knew what they were doing was wrong" approach makes it much more a black and white issue than it really is. Certain types of mentally ill people know what they are doing is wrong, but they are mentally ill and have poor impulse control. I was once punched in the face by a schizophrenic who knew it was wrong, but could not control his impulses at the time. This was a medicated schizophrenic mind you. I was his caretaker in a group home and I know he was taking his meds because we had to check. He wasn't properly medicated due to his developing a tolerance to his medication. This was not his fault nor ours, it was his doctor's fault for not properly adjusting and monitoring his medication.

Now, I do believe that a person who refuses their medication is culpable to a certain extent. Some people are not able to understand the need for their medication. Those people need to be supervised when taking their medications. That doesn't appear to be the case here. She knew that not taking her medication and taking street drugs on top of it could lead to something this bad. I don't think she deserved life in prison or being locked in a mental institution for life though. The fact is, she is mentally ill and was mentally ill at the time of the killing because she has a diagnosed mental illness. It's really a horrible situation all the way around.

I too have to wonder why his sister didn't check up on him the next day. She knew he was fearful. Not that I blame her, hindsight is always 202/20 and I'm sure she would have rushed right over and made her brother leave had she even had a inkling he would be killed.

That is her, yup.

She's still rather good looking. :D

That's too bad about her childhood. Sad, really. She needs help. Whether or not if she wants it.h

I have a brother in law who is schizophrenic and his case and Maria's case are almost identical. My brother in law attempted to kill his dad in 2003 with a hatchet to the head. The only difference is that he did not kill my father in law, but he suffered a massive head injury and is handicapped to this day. My brother in law only served 5 years. He got out and moved back in with his parents. (Yes, that's right) My mother in law is scared of him, but she didn't know what else to do. So they lived like a happy little family til of course my bro in law started using crack and became violent again.

Long story short he went back to prison for 3 more years and will be out in a couple of years much to the dismay of his family. The system is broken. You can not force him to take his meds. So, even though he has had a violent past, he can walk around un- medicated, sick and using drugs. Scary.

This is a rather old topic, but I was astonished that I came across the mention of an episode on UM that I remember from 20+ years ago. The reason that I remember this episode so vividly is because I had actually been around Maria a couple of times when she was on the run. Obviously, I didn't realize who she really was until well after she had been arrested.

Aw the link doesn't work.

Still no explanation as to her face blurred

Its an old topic, but I was thinking of this case the other day when I actually drove through Bitter Springs on my way up to Utah. I was really kind of surprised by just how small the place is. Its not really a city, its more like a small housing complex in the middle of the desert.

I think her mental illness definitely played a huge role in what happened, but I don't think it excuses the crime. I believe she's actually out of prison now.

That is her.

I still don't understand the attraction that Ron had for her. Did he really think he could "cure" her or something?
Idk women do that to men all the time too. There is that stereotype that girls go for the bad guys and think they can change them to be good. I think we believe in our hearts that love can cure all but some people just can't be reached. She clearly had a mental illness but she is a murderer. She fled and hid from police so that tells me she knew what she did was wrong.

Does anyone know what town in southern New Jersey Maria was from?

Maybe it's just me but every time I see her faced blurred at the end of the segment it for some reason reminds me of Ellen DeGeneres

She wanted to cut her hair and dye it blonde and ditch her car with the Navajo Nation. She knew exactly what she was doing.

She wanted to cut her hair and dye it blonde and ditch her car with the Navajo Nation. She knew exactly what she was doing.

That is what I fear. I have bipolar 2 with depression as well as chronic anxiety, and I know I do things sometimes that are very illogical. Maria's behavior though didn't seem illogical or psychotic, and she knew what she was doing and tried to cover up the crime.

With regards to psychiatric medication, let me just share this brief story: I went for a long time without psychiatric help for my problems. I had no proper medication so I self-medicated with weed among other things. About six months ago I finally got decent insurance and was able to begin seeing a psychiatrist. None of the medications this doctor ever tried me on really worked for my problems, not even ativan or klonipin. After he put me on Abilify in August, I became suicidal (which I had NEVER been before) and it scared me so badly that I voluntarily checked myself into a rehab facility for a week to have my meds adjusted and the abilify removed. Last month I found out that hubby and I are expecting so it became necessary to remove the medications I was taking. I actually feel better now that they are gone. It's very strange, because I thought this stuff was supposed to help me. I actually felt worse when I was on the meds.

I guess my point is, I can understand why mentally ill and emotionally broken people self-medicate. Psychiatric treatment can be extremely expensive and frustrating.

Does anyone know what town in southern New Jersey Maria was from?
Willingboro, our families were very close.

Willingboro, our families were very close.

Thank you for answering my question. My biological father grew up in Pennsauken, FWIW. Are there any memories of the Armstrongs you would like to share?

Yet, we do not understand why "moral" women like Diane Brodebeck elope with a rapists and murderers and help them escape from jail, or why attractive females were sitting in awe in the courtroom listening to Ted Bundy defending himself, standing accused of murdering the exact same kind of attractive women who would have sitten at this same courtroom with them. :crazy:

But these are extreme cases...

People, both male and female, get involved with people with mental illnesses and/or personality disorders out of compassion, and also a little sense of danger and excitement. They think their love and their support will help these partners to cope with their illness and seek professional treatement.

Most of the times, the partner is benign, cooperative, or healthy enough not to be a life-threatening hurricane. But Maria was neither of these.

At least at first, Ron probably thought that his loving support would steer Maria into seeking treatment and following through, like stopping using drugs. The problem is, she seemed not to be interested to seek treatment, she continued to use drugs nonetheless, and she didn't care about how Ron was feeling and how he suffered. She probably thought him to be weak-willed, not having the guts to defend himself or leave her.

Inverse the roles, and it becomes a "regular" abusive pattern. The only difference is that, from what we know, the abuser was a schizophrenic female.

I think that until the end, he had at least a glimmer of hope that Maria would change and attempt to improve, that it was just her illness making her so awful to be around with. When he finally decided it was enough, she got angry or upset that she would lose him (whether it is because she really loved him despite everything or because she saw him as her provider as a walking wallet), and she killed him by bludgeoning him to death with a hammer, hid the body, and ran away from the scene.

My hypothesis that they probably quarreled the evening before and Ron told her he was leaving her. He couldn't expel her from the apartment, however, and he Ron couldn't depart and risk to leave his stuff around Maria without surveillance, or even Maria all by herself. So Ron went to sleep in the same upright position as usual, thinking about packaging the next morning... and we all know what happened.

There are lots of things that we do not know about the kinds of interaction inside the couple in the weeks or months before the murder. Yes, we know that Maria was physically abusive toward Ron. But did he threaten several times to leave and she laughed at him? Did she flout him openly with lovers and drug transactions? Etc.
Thinking about packaging the next morning? The word is packing. Your English and your hopethis are ridiculous. Just stop talking. You are clueless.

You guys are ridiculous defending a murderer who clearly knew what she was doing just because she was pleasant looking. That is sad. That is why society is failing. You have a dog who attacks and kills a child, you don't try to figure out the dog's puppy life, you put it down because it's a danger on the innocent. It's because of people like you guys that murderers get out in a few years in prison insted of at minimum getting life in prison. What's even more vile is that you are only saying all this because she is a female. Had a male done the same thing from the murder to everything after, you would say he is a monster and he should be away from society for life for murdering his girlfriend. It's sickening seeing your bigotry.

We get it. You don't have to spam your discontent.

We get it. You don't have to spam your discontent.

Spam? What are you, 90 years old?

I'm wary about rendering any type of opinion in a legal sense based on an UM segment. My wife is a D.A. so we have many spirited conversations on the subject at my house quite regularly. I will say this though regarding Maria Armstrong - There was a great deal of sympathy for her both in the courts and also in the UM segment. Robert Stack on the original broadcast before she was captured actually made a personal plea to her to seek help for her disorder. This is probably the closest I've ever heard Stack showing compassion for a fugitive. (SNIP)


Stack definitely seemed to have that "law and order" persona onscreen. When he did make a personal plea, it was usually to people who were sympathetic like the missing woman that thought she hurt someone. "If you are watching, no one was hurt. Your family and friends just want you to come home."

Spam? What are you, 90 years old?

Beats being 9 years old ��

Thinking about packaging the next morning? The word is packing. Your English and your hopethis are ridiculous. Just stop talking. You are clueless.

What’s a hopethis?

Beats being 9 years old ��

that made me think of the Jim Kimball segment. What are you 5 years old? No I'm 4, get out of my face you idiot.

Spam? What are you, 90 years old?

There’s really no reason to be rude ok? You are clearly pretty angry about something in your life but you don’t need to be taking it out on people here. You haven’t posted here since 2016 and your history shows you can discuss things at least a little constructively, so why are you being a troll after nine years?

All I can say is that as someone who got a TBI in 2021, I know a damaged or ill brain can do weird stuff. It’s exactly like trying to successfully operate a computer with a damaged CPU.

Willingboro, our families were very close.

Do you know what happened to her? Is she still alive? Always wondered what happened to her.

This is a rather old topic, but I was astonished that I came across the mention of an episode on UM that I remember from 20+ years ago. The reason that I remember this episode so vividly is because I had actually been around Maria a couple of times when she was on the run. Obviously, I didn't realize who she really was until well after she had been arrested.
How did you know her? Do you know if she's alive still today or what she's up to?

I believe it was murder one. She waited till he was asleep, stabbed him multiple times, tried to conceal the body, ran off in his truck, tried to sell it, hide it, passed herself off as “Sandy.” All planned and premeditated. Yes, she has schizophrenia, but that doesn’t render her incapable of planning, plotting, deceiving, evading, lying, etc.