Ted Loseff

[spark19]

This case was on today (5/29), and I've honestly never seen this one before, or heard anything about it. I searched through the archives here, and on google - and found absolutely nothing on it.

For those of you that have seen it, any theories as to what happened? Or any updates? Personally, I definitely think that the wife hired hitmen to do the job, but it was just all very odd. Like it definitely didn't add up to a suicide with the change of clothes and the phone being off the hook...but, ya never know.

[UMLongtimefan]

Spark,

Some if it seems to rely too hard on "mom's" memory... how does she know the garage wasn't cleared out? As I recall she only had a dream that it was full.

Plus the timeline seems kind of fuzzy.. how do the hitmen know the housekeeper fled the house with the ex-wife? Then the suggestion that they poisoned Dr. Loseff to knock him out to put him in a car to CO him?... vs shooting him? strangling/lynching him?

Seems like an elaborate crime scene to set up.... without the neighbors or anyone seeing anything in the late afternoon?

I'm not saying I agree 100% with the suicide theory, definately another case where the policework could have been more thorough.

[greatgarrett2]

I might think that the wife/ex-wife might have had something to do with Ted Losef's death. Either it was a poisoning OR the ex-wife hired hitmen IMO.

Just a thought.

[Beetlejuice69]

Originally Posted by greatgarrett2

I might think that the wife/ex-wife might have had something to do with Ted Losef's death. Either it was a poisoning OR the ex-wife hired hitmen IMO.

Just a thought.

Yeah, I think she hired a hitman too. That's why I'm not married.

[UMfan77]

The ex-wife was "by all accounts an alcoholic", per Robert Stack.

[Mr. Fuji]

Suicide.

[Beetlejuice69]

Originally Posted by UMfan77

The ex-wife was "by all accounts an alcoholic", per Robert Stack.

The man told it the way it was, ALWAYS!

[TheCars1986]

This one was always a no brainer for me. It's obvious that based off of the house keepers' account that Loseff was murdered. She kept getting a busy signal when trying to phone Loseff's home, and then after eight hours she got through. If Loseff killed himself, who hung up the phone? His wife kept insisiting she was scared because he had a gun, but he wasn't found shot to death. His wife also wanted to accompany the house keeper back to her house, which IMO is probably because she wanted to be away from the scene because she knew Loseff was going to be murdered. I think Loseff's mother's scenario is almost exactly what happened. He was forcefully poisoned, and then the scene was staged to look like a suicide. His wife died from an overdose when a witness came forward and said the "suicide note" written by Loseff was actually written TWO YEARS before he was found dead...is that a coincidence? Seems to me like she overdosed to avoid prosecution/being found out. Any other thoughts on this case?

[cocytus]

W/O know Loseff's mental state it's impossible to completely rule out suicide. However, his wife's suicide after evidence was found possibly implicating her in his death, makes his death being a murder a possibility.

For this to have been a "hit" though, this would have taken the work of a skilled killer that apparently can keep his/her mouth shut. There aren't many of them and their services would cost quite a bit. How did Mrs. Loseff pay the killer?

I lean towards Mrs. Loseff giving her husband something and then leaving him in his vehicle w/ the engine running. That explains the lack of a traceable payment to a killer.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by cocytus

W/O know Loseff's mental state it's impossible to completely rule out suicide. However, his wife's suicide after evidence was found possibly implicating her in his death, makes his death being a murder a possibility.

For this to have been a "hit" though, this would have taken the work of a skilled killer that apparently can keep his/her mouth shut. There aren't many of them and their services would cost quite a bit. How did Mrs. Loseff pay the killer?

I lean towards Mrs. Loseff giving her husband something and then leaving him in his vehicle w/ the engine running. That explains the lack of a traceable payment to a killer.

Never thought about the wife acting alone, but that seems more likely. She could have poisoned him, but then again if it were murder she would have had to have at least one accomplice to move him into the car, and to move his car into the garage. Unless of course he started to feel sick and attempted to get into his car to get help and them died, that's also possible but less likely.

[WishfulDreamer]

I always thought this seemed like a murder.

1) The garage was filled to the brim with Ted's belongings and as he had recently had back surgery, it would have been extremely difficult for him to completely clear it out to use the garage. According to his mother, he always parked in front of the house.
2) Ted's complete change of clothes from the time he was last scene to a few hours later, when his body was found. It's been some time since I last saw the segment, but weren't those other clothes missing?
3) The vomit on the bedspread would help support the poison theory. Also, didn't the autopsy show that he seemed to have put up a great fight?
4) The telephone. Off the hook for 8 hours and then hung up? How would he have been able to do that himself?
5) The suicide note being two years old.

I think Zel was definitely on to something and I'm sorry she didn't get to have some answers before she passed away. Overall, a very sad case.

[MegtheEgg86]

The fact that Ted's wife insisted she leave with the housekeeper was the thing that stood out the most to me. I think she had a pretty good idea that her housekeeper would get out of there if a potentially violent scene was about to take place, and she planned from the start to leave with her in order to get away from the scene and have a witness to testify as to her whereabouts during the time of Ted's death.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

The fact that Ted's wife insisted she leave with the housekeeper was the thing that stood out the most to me. I think she had a pretty good idea that her housekeeper would get out of there if a potentially violent scene was about to take place, and she planned from the start to leave with her in order to get away from the scene and have a witness to testify as to her whereabouts during the time of Ted's death.

Exactly. The housekeeper kept trying to get ahold of Loseff for about 8 hours but kept getting a busy signal when she called the house. IIRC, Loseff was dead during this time. Then after 8 hours, the phone began to ring. Zel knew that Ted was going to be murdered during that time period. The phone being hung up was the way to let her know it was over, IMO.

[Victoria81]

I think murder too, however, the moms dream is what led to anyone investigating lol I dunno....seems off.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by Victoria81

I think murder too, however, the moms dream is what led to anyone investigating lol I dunno....seems off.

The dream was a reminder that the garage used to be filled to the brim and Ted never parked in there; because of back surgery, he couldn't have been the one to have moved everything out and neither the housekeeper nor the wife ever came forward about cleaning out the garage. So who did? If it was just a dream I would be skeptical, too, but the rest of the evidence is pretty solid that Ted was murdered.

To be honest, of all the suicide or murder cases on UM, this is probably the one I feel most certain about being a murder. It seems most people in this thread concur, as well as LE, even if the case was initially classified as a suicide. The wife was definitely involved and I doubt it would ever have been so evident had it not been for the housekeeper.