Cases you're fuzzy on?

[Tap Dancer]

Sometimes I'll think of a random segment I saw but I can only remember a few details about. It drives me crazy!


Here's one that popped into my head tonight:

A man meets up with a woman in a hotel room to sell her a computer (?) and I think he shoots her. Her fiance/husband is with her and he lives. Who are these people?

[Thiussat]

I don't remember the names of the victims like many of the whizzes here do, but I do remember the case well. The computer was state of the art, and the perp found it advertised in the newspaper. They met the perp at a hotel, he pulls a gun on them, ties them up, and knocks them both out with a blunt object (which killed the woman). He then steals the computer. I am not aware of any updates.

I never understood the killer's motive. Obviously it was the computer, but what a lot of trouble to go through for a mere computer. He must have thought he killed them both.

[Awsi Dooger]

That's the Tom Johnson case. There's a thread with recent posts.

The motive was an expensive Mac computer from the late '80s or early '90s, a Quadra 950 with sophisticated video capability for the time.

Computers have dropped in price to such degree that we tend to forget the going rate in that era. I've always used Macs and I remember the prices of my computers in that period or slightly later. My Quadra 610 DOS Compatible with a measly 25 Mhz processor from maybe '93 or '94 was nearly $3000 and that was a much lesser model than the 950. I also had a Powerbook 145B that cost several thousand and a Quadra 650 that cost almost a grand just to upgrade to PowerPC.

[Tap Dancer]

Thanks, Awsi. I'll look him up.

[Tap Dancer]

Here's another one:


An abusive man drags his wife downstairs. I remember the kids are at home too. The husband kills her, but I'm not sure when or how. I think he tells the kids they're going to the hospital and they never see their mother again.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by Tap Dancer

Here's another one:


An abusive man drags his wife downstairs. I remember the kids are at home too. The husband kills her, but I'm not sure when or how. I think he tells the kids they're going to the hospital and they never see their mother again.

Sounds like Marilyn & Dennis DePue. After they left the house he apparently shot her and discarded her body where it was found soon after. Dennis changed his identity and had a new girlfriend he was staying with. Then when he saw his case profiled on UM he abruptly left and after a chase with the police shot & killed himself. There's quite a bit about this case on the board.

[Tap Dancer]

You're right; it was definitely Dennis DePue. I could clearly picture him pushing her down the stairs and I thought he shot her, but I couldn't remember. I did a search and I didn't see anything about their kids. How old were they? Who got custody of them?

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Tap Dancer

You're right; it was definitely Dennis DePue. I could clearly picture him pushing her down the stairs and I thought he shot her, but I couldn't remember. I did a search and I didn't see anything about their kids. How old were they? Who got custody of them?

Not sure on who got the kids. But, the case you are referring to is without a doubt Dennis DePue. What I find shocking about this one is the letter that he wrote to a friend after he killed his wife. There was a line in the closing of the letter that was along the lines of "a life for a life". Very ironic considering how it ended for Mr. DePue.

[mozartpc27]

There's one I remember seeing in college but I haven't seen since about an old man (couple?) who disappeared from their home. UM treated it as a missing person's case, but I remember there was an update and it turned out the next door neighbor had killed him (both?), then buried him/them under his driveway. Anyone remember the one I am talking about? I'd like to see it again.

Another I saw in college but not since was a weird little one which was presented, I believe, as a "Special Alert" and was only a few minutes long. Again, it was someone who had disappeared, and police were searching for him. Then there was an update, and it turns out his body had been discovered in woods behind his house (not sure how deep into said woods). I don't think that, at that time, they presented what had happened to him or who had done it. Anyone recall this one?

There is one last one that I remember from when the show was on NBC that as a kid I thought I had "solved," to the point that I was convinced I should call the telecenter. The problem is, I no longer remember the details of the case. What I remember was that involved the murder of a man in his car (I think), and the police were trying to reconstruct the timeline of his last few hours, but, from witness testimonies, couldn't make it add up. I remember saying at the time that if they "worked backwards" in thinking about the time line, that it would somehow make a lot more sense. THere is a segment I've seen a few times that resembles the one I'm thinking about (a dude is murdered in his car at the top of a hill, and his wife/girlfriend is implicated --- there was a bottle of liquor, I think, left on the front seat in that one, which helped establish or not establish the validity of the wife's version of events), but I don't think it is the same one. This description, I'm sure, is far too vague to elicit any response, but does anyone have any ideas?

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

There's one I remember seeing in college but I haven't seen since about an old man (couple?) who disappeared from their home. UM treated it as a missing person's case, but I remember there was an update and it turned out the next door neighbor had killed him (both?), then buried him/them under his driveway. Anyone remember the one I am talking about? I'd like to see it again.

Another I saw in college but not since was a weird little one which was presented, I believe, as a "Special Alert" and was only a few minutes long. Again, it was someone who had disappeared, and police were searching for him. Then there was an update, and it turns out his body had been discovered in woods behind his house (not sure how deep into said woods). I don't think that, at that time, they presented what had happened to him or who had done it. Anyone recall this one?

There is one last one that I remember from when the show was on NBC that as a kid I thought I had "solved," to the point that I was convinced I should call the telecenter. The problem is, I no longer remember the details of the case. What I remember was that involved the murder of a man in his car (I think), and the police were trying to reconstruct the timeline of his last few hours, but, from witness testimonies, couldn't make it add up. I remember saying at the time that if they "worked backwards" in thinking about the time line, that it would somehow make a lot more sense. THere is a segment I've seen a few times that resembles the one I'm thinking about (a dude is murdered in his car at the top of a hill, and his wife/girlfriend is implicated --- there was a bottle of liquor, I think, left on the front seat in that one, which helped establish or not establish the validity of the wife's version of events), but I don't think it is the same one. This description, I'm sure, is far too vague to elicit any response, but does anyone have any ideas?

The first one may be the Joe Owens case. They were an elderly couple and his wife, Gladys, had disappeared. He told some people she was traveling the country with her elderly mother but told some relatives she had died. When the police were investigating her disappearance neighbors told them how much yard work Joe had been doing recently and they started to get suspicious. Joe called his nephew and told him he was going to commit suicide. The nephew notified police and when they arrived at the house Joe was nowhere to be found. Police found a pillow with blood on it where Gladys slept. They searched Joe's compost box and found Gladys' remains inside. I believe Joe had disappeared right around this time. They do think of course that Joe murdered Gladys. Joe was still missing at the time UM did the segment but there was an update saying Joe's remains had been found and they believe he committed suicide.

The second one is probably Art Jones. There was a huge gas explosion that leveled his house but they couldn't find him anywhere. I researched this a while back and his remains were eventually found near his home and police believe he died in the explosion and body was blown quite a distance which was why he wasn't initially found.

The third one kind of sounds like Mark Groezinger. He was shot multiple times in his car. His wife appeared to be a suspect and there were even allegations (which she denied) that she was gay and had him killed so she could be with a girlfriend. She was never charged with any crime though as far as I know.

[mozartpc27]

I think I remember the Joe Owens case. His car was found in the parking lot of a wooded park, and he was thought to have disappeared, and perhaps been on the lamb. Then, later, his remains were found out in the woods, right?

In the case I'm thinking of, someone was definitely buried under a driveway, and I'm almost certain it was the next door neighbor who did it.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

In the case I'm thinking of, someone was definitely buried under a driveway, and I'm almost certain it was the next door neighbor who did it.

Maybe it was Martha Roberts?

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by justins5256

Maybe it was Martha Roberts?

Yes, that's the one; I searched her name on this site and got this description from a poster named Allierain:

This probably isn't my "favorite" solved case, but I am posting it here because it literally scared the $^#%!&*$ out of me.

It was a Special Alert segment (those are usually very short) shown at the very end an episode of UM from the early 90s. It was about a missing elderly woman who suffered from diabetes. Her name was Martha Doe Roberts. After showing a few pictures of her and listing a description, the UPDATE music abruptly started, the red "update" lable appeared, and Robert Stack described how Martha's neighbor had been charged with her rape and murder. The neighbor lead police to his driveway where he had buried her. And that was it. The segment was over.

I don't know why, but that "update" was so creepy. I'm freaked out right now just typing about it...

Thank you muchly, justin 5256! Is this case on any of your compilations, crystaldawn?

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

Thank you muchly, justin 5256! Is this case on any of your compilations, crystaldawn?

It wasn't a full segment. I believe there were two special alerts (one of which never made it to Lifetime) and then the update which may have been a "Lifetime exclusive".

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

Yes, that's the one; I searched her name on this site and got this description from a poster named Allierain:



Thank you muchly, justin 5256! Is this case on any of your compilations, crystaldawn?

I don't think it is but it may end up on volume 9 if I make one. I also have an "update" concerning it where a man claiming to be Martha's captor called her friends and family and tried to implicate Martha's husband in the crime.

JS didn't you find a newsbank article that talked about the case being solved? Would it be possible for you to post it on here? I didn't realize the segment was updated on Lifetime.