Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead. These Deadly Women think they’ve committed the perfect murders when they “Hit and Run.” -Hit and Run, Deadly Women (S11, E6)
Dateline:
Preview: The death of a beloved Tennessee man is believed to be a suicide. But when a son questions his mother, he uncovers a dark family conspiracy. Keith Morrison reports. -Secrets in the Smoky Mountains, Dateline NBC (October 24, 2016)
Oxygen:
Preview: Robert McClancy was found dead in his home, but was it suicide triggered from his PTSD, did his best friend who found him turn out to be the one who killed him, or was it his seemingly loving wife behind it all? -Martha Ann McClancy, Snapped (S21, E2)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
A tattooed NCIS agent with a black belt goes undercover to find the killer of a Navy petty officer — can he get what he needs without getting caught? -48 Hours: NCIS
Norma Small was arrested in May 2001 and charged with murder for the death of her husband and Navy sailor Sonny Grotton at his Belfast, Maine home on December 16, 1983. She was accused of hiring someone to murder him, convicted, and sentenced to 60 years in prison. Norma felt Sonny was worth more dead than alive. Investigators believed the crime was financially motivated. If Sonny died, Norma would get a death benefit from the Navy, the real estate that she owned with Sonny, and she received a monthly payment from the VA that over 15 or 17 years had amounted to almost $100,000.
“This thing comes up every 15 years. My dad wasn’t an international superstar or politician. Why this case? I haven’t seen a lot of true crime that really portrays the crime in a true life way. And for people who are trying to move on, it’s unfair in a big way.” [says Michael Grotton]. When asked why CBS was interested in the case all these years later, a producer for “48 Hours,” said the network is creating a series that will feature real cases solved by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS. He told the BDN the production team’s reporting “turned up a twist” that may shed doubt on some of the facts that people have believed for the past 15 years. –Bangor Daily News
When some brides vowed to love and honor their husbands, they lied. These Deadly Women made a mockery of marital commitment. They only promised “To Have and To Kill”. -To Have and To Kill, Deadly Women (S8, E14)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
ID Go: For these women, one good man wasn’t enough. A middle-aged woman used looks to prey on elderly gentleman; an army wife didn’t want a soldier but a squad; and a serial wife cooks up meals to die for. These Deadly Women married for the money, honey. -Deadly Women (S8, E11)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
A growing number of military families are facing temporary denial of the $100,000 death gratuity benefit the Defense Department typically provides after service members are killed while on active duty.
At least 17 troops have died — including six killed in Afghanistan — since the government shutdown began Oct. 1. But their family members have not immediately received the lump sum payments known as a “gratuity benefits.”
Full Episode: A beautiful, vibrant young woman fell to her death from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Initially, investigators thought it was just a terrible accident. But after a closer forensic examination of photographs taken at the scene, police had a very different story of what had happened. -The Financial Downfall, Forensic Files (S9, E12)
Name: Virginia Reardon, Billie Joe McGinnis Occupation: Reardon was a Retired Hospital Worker; McGinnis-Unknown Pathology: Conspiracy, Premeditated Murder, First Degree Murder Dates: April 2, 1987 Location:Big Sur, California (Central Coast) Motive: Greed, Financial Gain, Life Insurance Money Victims: Deanna Hubbard Wild (son’s wife) M.O.: Purchased Life Insurance Policy, Pushed off Cliff Next Day, Claimed Accident Conviction: Reardon Sentenced to Life, No Parole Status: McGinnis Dead in 1991, Reardon Dead in 2011 Appearance: Financial Downfall (Forensic Files), Vicious Vixens (Deadly Women)
Investigation Discovery:
ID Go: Cross these deadly vixens at your own risk. An English beauty spars with her boyfriend, a middle-aged woman sacrifices lives for money, and a couple of game players lure an innocent man into a deadly trap: these women will certainly fight to the death. -Vicious Vixens, Deadly Women (S7, E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Dark Secrets are the stock-in-trade of Deadly Women (S2,E4)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
“Monroe County judge calls crime the most evil he’s seen.” -WATE.com
Robert ‘Bob’ McClancy, 47, and Martha Ann McClancy worked in the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department in Florida. Martha was a secretary and Bob was a detective. They fell in love later in life and Bob decided to take an early retirement from his job. The two decided to move away from the fast paced life in Florida and settled in Tellico Plains, Tennessee which is nestled in the Smoky Mountains. Bob suffered with severe stress after years of working as a detective and his time in the Marines. Bob was a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was also diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Bob went through some very traumatic combat experiences and was on strong medications. Bob would often take the wrong dose so Martha Ann decided it was time for her to take control.
In the meantime, Bob was grateful for his friend and fellow veteran Charles Kaczmarczyk because he understood what Bob was going through. Chuck said he had seen combat as well and was also awarded the Purple Heart. The pair had a lot in common. Over the course of time, Martha Ann quickly warmed up to Chuck, the “military hero.” Their relationship blossomed beyond a friendship over time and Bob was never aware of their ongoing affair. Martha Ann and Chuck frequently got together in Bob’s home. They fell in love and soon Bob was looking increasingly like a troubled third wheel. Martha often told Chuck things would be better if Bob went away. One night, Martha claimed to find Bob barely conscious after he had taken an accidental overdose of his medications for PTSD. When she got to the hospital, she claimed Bob was always messing up his medications.
On May 15, 2006, Chuck said he discovered Bob dead after another accidental overdose on his medications. Chuck found his friend dead in his chair with an empty pill bottle in one hand and a 38 revolver in the other hand. Chuck appeared distraught after finding his friend as did the sobbing Martha Ann after she found out. Everything pointed to a tragic suicide and Martha Ann leaned harder on her friend Chuck. Five months later, Martha and Chuck got married and embarked on a new life with a whole new look. They didn’t even look like the same people when they started their new careers as fraudsters. Martha Ann took on the role of a veteran pretending to be a Purple Heart recipient and claimed she earned it after the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. And Chuck doesn’t have PTSD, he was faking it for the veteran benefits. Chuck had been in the military but he never saw a day of combat.
Martha Ann and Chuck both faked permanent injuries and had this whole scam going at the Department of Veterans Affairs. They used a wheelchair or a cane to make it appear they had physical injuries as well. Over six years, the two defrauded the federal government of nearly $800,000 dollars until Chuck told one war story too many. Other veterans came forward and said he was lying because what he was describing was not what happened as they were there. Martha Ann and Charles both ended up behind bars and their criminal history was over. And then one day, Martha Ann’s son made a surprise discovery on her computer. Martha Ann’s son found pictures of his step-father, Bob, dead in a chair. In each picture, Bob was in a different position. There were pictures of Bob with the gun in his hand, then there were pictures of Bob without the gun in his hand.
Martha Ann’s son knew the photos would implicate his mother in the murder of his step-father Bob but he loved Bob and didn’t hesitate to contact authorities. Martha Ann’s son cooperated with the police fully in a sting operation to nail his mother. Martha Ann asked him to get rid of all the photos. The police knew where to find the person who took the pictures because Chuck was spending 30 months in jail for his part in the disability fraud. Chuck immediately wanted to know what was in it for him so the police agreed to tell the district attorney that Chuck cooperated with them in the investigation. Chuck confessed that Martha Ann had crushed up Bob’s pills and put them in his drink and then confessed to the entire twisted tail. Martha called the crushed pills her “magic dust.”
The police would learn that Martha Ann crushed up the medication and put it in Bob’s drinks in an effort to slowly kill him. And on May 15, 2006, Martha gave Bob a lethal dose of “magic dust” and then went to work to create her alibi. Chuck was supposed to check in on Bob later that afternoon and it was his job to pretend to find him dead. Martha Ann was sure Bob would be dead by then. But when Chuck arrived to check in on Bob, he was laying on the floor and wasn’t dead yet. So Chuck lifted him up, placed him in the chair, and fed him more of the crushed pills. Then Chuck sat there and waited until he died. Martha Ann told Chuck to keep it simple and make it look like a suicide. But Chuck went overboard, placed a gun in his hand, and took pictures of Bob in various positions. Martha wanted to see the pictures.
Despite Chuck’s confession, Martha Ann claimed Bob took the wrong medication and she had nothing to do with it. She never admitted to any involvement whatsoever. The detectives said she was one of the coldest people they had ever interviewed. In 2013, Charles Kaczmarczyk pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first degree murder and was sentenced to twenty-five (25) years in federal prison. Nine years after her husband’s death, Martha Ann McClancy was convicted of attempted first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. She was sentenced to the maximum of fifty years in prison and is eligible for parole in 2028. Those involved with the investigation claimed Martha Ann never showed an ounce of regret or remorse or guilt for what she did to her husband.
Dateline:
Preview: The death of a beloved Tennessee man is believed to be a suicide. But when a son questions his mother, he uncovers a dark family conspiracy. -Secrets in the Smoky Mountains, Dateline NBC (October 24, 2016)
Oxygen:
Preview: Robert McClancy was found dead in his home, but was it suicide triggered from his PTSD, did his best friend who found him turn out to be the one who killed him, or was it his seemingly loving wife behind it all? -Martha Ann McClancy, Snapped (S21, E2)
Investigation Discovery:
Two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead. These Deadly Women think they’ve committed the perfect murders when they “Hit and Run.” -Hit and Run, Deadly Women (S11, E6)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
When some brides vowed to love and honor their husbands, they lied. These Deadly Women made a mockery of marital commitment. They only promised “To Have and To Kill”. -To Have and To Kill, Deadly Women (S8, E14)
Tyshee Prokop and her childhood friends from Killeen, Texas murdered Gary Prokop, an Army soldier stationed at Fort Hood in 1998. Tyshee married Gary shortly after meeting him and they had a child together. But Tyshee wasn’t ready for family life. About a year and a half after they were married, they filed for divorce. Gary was going to get out of the Army and move back home. Tyshee conspired with her friends to have Gary murdered before he got out of the Army so she could collect medical benefits and the $100,000 dollar life insurance policy. He was murdered on June 25th with a single gunshot wound to the head while he was sleeping. One of the co-conspirators, Rodney Barfield, felt remorse about his involvement with the crime. He confessed his full involvement in the murder and detailed everyone’s roles. In 2002, Tyshee Prokop and her friends were arrested and charged with the murder of Gary Prokop. They were sentenced as follows:
Tyshee Manik Prokop – pled guilty, sentenced to life in prison
Charles Edward Turnbull III – convicted, sentenced to life in prison
Rodney Barfield – pled guilty, sentenced to 25 years
Reuben James Salgado – pled guilty (tampering with evidence charge)
Jacob Luther Harris – pled guilty (to a conspiracy charge)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Virginia Reardon, 55, and Billie Joe McGinnis, 52, pushed Navy spouse and roommate Deanna Hubbard Wild, 20, off a 400 foot cliff at Big Sur in California on April 2, 1987. Deanna was living with her husband’s parents while he was at sea with the U.S. Navy. The motive was life insurance and Virginia had a string of insurance claims she cashed in on including Deanna’s death. The couple lured Deanna to the location under the guise of sight seeing, drugged her at lunch, and then it appears Billi Joe pushed her off the cliff. In the meantime, Virginia Reardon is taking pictures the entire time; investigators theorized she wanted a trophy of the homicide. After Deanna’s mother, Bobbie Roberts, found out her daughter was dead, she questioned the accidental ruling. She hired her own private investigator and attorney and they learned that Virginia Reardon had purchased a $35,000 life insurance policy the day before Deanna’s death. Reardon and McGinnis were arrested in 1989 for the murder of Deanna Wild. In 1991, Billi Joe McGinnis was charged with first degree murder but died from complications from pneumonia before his trial started. Virginia was charged and convicted on March 2, 1992 of first degree murder for financial gain. She was sentenced to life in prison, no parole. Virginia Reardon died while serving out her sentence on June 25, 2011.
One of the infamous photos taken before the murder. Investigators believe in this photo Deanna Wild was feeling the effects of the drugs she was given to make her vulnerable.
Forensic Files:
A beautiful, vibrant young woman fell to her death from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Initially, investigators thought it was just a terrible accident. But after a closer forensic examination of photographs taken at the scene, police had a very different story of what had happened. -The Financial Downfall, Forensic Files (S9,E12)
Investigation Discovery:
ID Go: Cross these deadly vixens at your own risk. An English beauty spars with her boyfriend, a middle-aged woman sacrifices lives for money, and a couple of game players lure an innocent man into a deadly trap: these women will certainly fight to the death. -Vicious Vixens, Deadly Women (S7, E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch 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. 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. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 