Constance Tomich called 911 to report finding her husband dead in their home. -Snapped, Oxygen (February 11, 2019)
Melissa Zitterman, charged with conspiracy to murder Ronald Tomich, at 16 years old, discusses life after her release. -Snapped, Oxygen (February 12, 2019)
Former Indiana State Police Detective, Jeffrey Deckard confirms Zitterman was actually the shooter. -Snapped, Oxygen (February 13, 2019)
Law Enforcement, reporters, friends of the victim and Melissa Zitterman comment on Tomich’s sentencing. -Snapped, Oxygen (February 14, 2019)
Full Episode (YouTube):
The peace of an Indiana town is interrupted on Valentine’s Day 2003, when police receive a report of a violent murder. -Constance Tomich, Snapped, Oxygen (February 10, 2019)
Dateline featured ‘Prairie Confidential’ on August 13, 2018. It was a 2015 homicide case out of Minot, North Dakota. Nursing student and mom of three Angila Wilder didn’t show up for an important exam at school and her professor knew something was wrong. Angila was discovered stabbed to death in her bedroom in her North Dakota home. The crime appeared personal so the police started their investigation with Angila’s boyfriend and ex-husband. When Angila’s boyfriend Chris Jackson was interviewed, he pointed the finger at her ex-husband Richie Wilder, Jr. Angila met Richie in high school and soon after they married, they had a couple children together. Richie joined the Air Force and was stationed at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. But during their time there, things went awry with the marriage. Richie was court-martialed and convicted of domestic abuse. As a result, he was discharged from the Air Force and soon divorce followed. Richie remarried Cynthia, a kindergarten teacher, and they had a child together. Angila also moved on with Chris Jackson and they too had a child together. Angila was pregnant at the time of her murder.
Investigators found Angila’s blood in Richie’s car and Richie’s DNA was found under Angila’s fingernails. As a result, Richie Wilder was charged with murder and ordered to pre-trial confinement on a 2 million dollar bond. After a couple days in jail, Richie came forward with a “confession.” Richie told police he and Chris learned Angela was cheating on Chris and they hoped to catch her in the act so they could then have custody of their children. Richie said he picked up Chris at his place of employment, drove to Angila’s home, killed her together (an attempt to minimize his involvement yet explain DNA), and then dropped Chris back off at Wal-Mart. But the police looked at the video at Wal-Mart and it blew Richie’s “confession” out of the water. Chris was at work all night and never left the property. In December 2016, Richie Wilder Jr. was convicted of Angila’s murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In May 2018, Cynthia Wilder took an Alford plea hoping the judge would go lenient on her but she was sentenced to life in prison without parole for conspiracy to commit murder. In the course of the investigation, police learned Cynthia and Richie Wilder planned Angila’s murder for two years.
In the News:
Richie Wilder, Jr Murder Trial -KFYR TV (January 17, 2017)
Cynthia Wilder Sentenced -KFYR TV (December 24, 2018)
Dateline NBC:
Trailer: A murder case considered closed by North Dakota detectives is suddenly reopened when a confidential informant comes forward with a tip about an unlikely suspect. -Dateline NBC (S26,E51)
Navy seaman Elizabeth Shelton, 19, stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia survived a brutal assault in her home on August 22, 2015. Police got a call for a suspected home invasion and found Shelton unconscious, lying in a pool of blood. She suffered extensive facial injuries and was having difficulty breathing; she was rushed to the hospital. Shelton’s husband Anthony Johnson was also hurt during the home invasion. He reported that one of them tried to choke him to death while he lay in his bed. Johnson also reported that some of his friends stole his car. This led police to Tristan Reeder who told them that Johnson hired him and two others to kill his wife in exchange for the life insurance. Reeder said Johnson promised to give him $40,000 and Robert Burnette $70,000. Reeder also told police he pretended to choke Johnson unconscious while Burnette actually choked Shelton. Burnette then threw her off the bed and stomped on her head a half dozen times. They took off in Johnson’s car after they saw blood.
Three men were indicted on charges for trying to kill Anthony Johnson’s pregnant wife in a murder-for-hire plot: Robert Burnette, 19; Tristan Reeder, 21; and Joseph Apodaca, 21. They were charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree murder and conspiracy to maliciously wound Elizabeth Shelton. Anthony Johnson, 21, was charged with three felonies connected with hiring the men to kill his wife. Court documents revealed that Johnson promised Burnette and Reeder more than $100,000 after he cashed in Shelton’s $400,000 life insurance pay-out. Reed, Burnette, and Johnson were held in Norfolk City Jail while they awaited trial. Johnson claimed he was framed and Elizabeth initially believed that he was innocent. She thought the men broke into the apartment because they were mad after they kicked them out the day before.
“He [Anthony Johnson] called my mother from jail and told her it wasn’t true,” Elizabeth Johnson said. “She told me he’s innocent. I didn’t have to ask him, I believed him.” -WAVY
In May 2o16, Anthony Johnson was found guilty of plotting to kill his pregnant wife in exchange for money from her life insurance policy. Joseph Apodaca testified in court that Johnson had been pressuring all three of them to kill his wife and make it look like a break-in. Initially Apodaca agreed but then when it came time to execute the plan, he backed out. A civilian jury sentenced Johnson to 35 years: 25 years for attempted capital murder, 5 years for conspiracy to commit capital murder, and 5 years for malicious wounding. Robert Burnette was found guilty of attempted capital murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison with 15 years suspended. Tristan Reeder pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder for hire and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Apodaca was charged with failure to report a felony and sentenced to 12 months in jail. Elizabeth Shelton recovered and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Army spouse Dana Mackay, 42, was found murdered in her Williamsburg home in Virginia on July 27, 2013. The intruders entered Dana’s home and snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night; she was bludgeoned to death by a blunt instrument in the midst of sleeping. She died from multiple blunt force trauma. A concerned neighbor found Dana nude on the floor next to her bed; there was blood everywhere. Initially investigators thought the homicide occurred after a sexual assault. But after further investigation, authorities would learn that Dana’s husband, John Mackay, 45, and his lover, Nicole Houchin, 37, planned the murder because Dana didn’t want a divorce. John admitted to investigators that he wanted a divorce from Dana but she refused and threatened to report his affair to his commanding officer if he didn’t stop. John was a Staff Sergeant (SSG) stationed at Fort Eustis in Virginia and adultery was a crime punishable by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). John did not want to risk his long standing career and apparently wanted to be with Nicole Houchin, not Dana.
John and Nicole elicited the help of Nicole’s Army husband, Nace Houchin, 35, who was also stationed at Fort Eustis, and Gregory Crawford who worked with John and Nicole at an Auto-Zone store in Williamsburg, Virginia. John Mackay promised both Nace Houchin and Gregory Crawford twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) if they would kill Dana. Did John expect a hefty pay-out from a life insurance plan on his wife? Did John promise to pay the deadly duo as soon as the money hit his bank account? John wanted the easy way out so he could be with Nicole. Dana Mackay didn’t want a divorce from John; she wanted to save the four year marriage. And although Dana innocently threatened to report John’s adulterous affair to his commander, how was she to know that it would be a motive for murder? John Mackay wanted to save his career and be with his new girlfriend. John Mackay, Nicole Houchin, and Nace Houchin confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to first degree murder. All three were sentenced to life in prison. Gregory Crawford confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit capital murder; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison with three years suspended (17).
John Mackay, Nicole Houchin (Top); Nace Houchin, Gregory Crawford (Bottom) Photo Courtesy of WAVY.com
Full jailhouse interview with husband charged in wife’s murder -WAVY TV 10 (July 30, 2013)
Investigation Discovery:
Dana MacKay is found viciously beaten to death while her husband is out of town. One suspect comes to mind: a woman who’s been stalking Dana for the last month. But it will take a cellphone with X-rated text messages to unravel this mystery. -Sick and Twisted, Married with Secrets (S2,E8)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. Download the ID Go app and binge away. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 