Snapped: Women Who Murder - Sandra Jonas

Episode Date: March 3, 2024

The case of a beloved Kenosha social worker's murder resurfaces nearly a decade after leads run dry when an odd call from another state reveals the gruesome truth about a vengeful pack of killers.Season 30 Episode 33Originally aired: October 31 2021Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does it mean to be black in America? In NPR's Black Stories, Black Truths, a collection of stories as varied, nuanced, and dynamic as black experiences, you'll hear. It means everything. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths wherever you get your podcasts. On the new podcast American Criminal, you'll learn about the fraud theft and murder that marks the dark side of the American dream like the men and as murders was it to greedy kids who killed their parents for money or is there more.

Listen to American criminal wherever you get your podcasts. When a loving mother is brutally murdered, accusations fly. There were many different scenarios going around. Could the murder have something to do with her love life? As the investigation heats up, police wonder if they're dealing with a greedy killer or a sinister setup. He recognized they had black shoes on, like a lot of the policemen wore. I think that they were afraid of her, afraid of the information that she had. At the center of this building, Media Storm, is a blonde bombshell no camera could resist.

Everyone thought she was a knockout. The press would trade her as this beautiful, perhaps conniving, thomphatal. When the gavel finally falls, it doesn't mark the end of this high-profile case. They hatched a plan for her escape. The clock is ticking. Everybody's getting older, and the truth is out there. The truth is out there. May 28th, 1981, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's the dead of night at 2.15 a.m. when 11-year-old Sean Schultz is abruptly awoken from his sleep. Sean feels a wired rope placed around his

neck and he sees an adult figure who then places around Sean's mouth and face, a heavy, strong glove, Sean screams. Sean's terrified scream awakens his seven-year-old brother, Shannon, who's also sleeping in the room in a separate bed. At that point, the person standing over Sean leaves the room, and Sean gets a brief glimpse of the intruder. He heard his mother say, no, don't do that, and then heard what sounded like a firecracker in the room.

Shawn removes the rope from around his neck and races into the hallway with his younger brother and again catches a glimpse of the late night intruder. He sees the person at the foot of the stairs heading towards the back door. He immediately runs to his mother's bedroom. As they reach their mother, 30-year-old Christine Schultz's door, a frightening scene awaits them.

She had a clothesline tied around her left hand, a bandana was tied over her face. She wasn't moving. Sean and his brother barricade their mother's room and then call her boyfriend, Milwaukee police officer Stuart Honick, who just left the home hours earlier. Stu called the Milwaukee Police Department and he immediately rushed over.

Within minutes, Stuart and responding officers arrive at the scene. They're soon joined by another colleague, Christine's ex-husband, Detective Fred Schultz. When they called it in, somebody called her ex-husband and he ends up going to the scene. When Fred learns about the shooting, he goes to the house. He wants to make sure his sons are all right. Responding officers quickly make their way up to Christine's room. He was face down on the bed, dressed in a t-shirt

and underwear, but there was no sign of life. She had a bullet hole in her back that was fired so close that she had burns around the wound. Downstairs, young Sean Schultz tells police what he remembers about the assailants' appearance. He thought it was a man. He described the appearance of the subject. Shoulders were supposedly broad and he was wearing a mask.

But it's another detail that Sean remembers that has the potential to rock this investigation before it even begins. He recognized the shoes, which were low cut black shoes, similar to what police officers wore. Responding officers immediately look to the two men at the scene. Christine's ex-husband, Detective Fred Schultz, and her current boyfriend, Officer Stuart Honek. Police are wondering what is going on here.

Could the murder have something to do with Christine's love life? Could the murder have something to do with Christine's love life? Christine Jean Pennings was born on November 15, 1950, in Menominee, Michigan. Christine was a very sweet, wonderful, kind person. She did grow up with a big family, so it was very important for her to be involved with all the family activities. At 18, Christine married 19-year-old Alfred Fred Schultz. Shortly after, two became four

with the birth of their sons, Sean and Shannon. Fred joined the Milwaukee Police Department, and he actually built the home that they lived in. Christine was a stay-at-home mom. Christine's sons were very important to her. They were very polite children. While Christine kept the home fires burning, Fred worked his way up the ladder

of the Milwaukee Police Department, eventually reaching the rank of detective. When he wasn't working, Fred was known to be the life of the party. His nickname was Disco. He was a clubber, he liked to dance, that kind of thing. But all that partying took its toll on the couple's 12-year marriage. We did find out that he was having affairs on the side.

And that just after a while, you just don't want to deal with that anymore. They divorced in November 1980. In December, Fred met Lori Bembenek at a bar. He was at that time a very good looking guy. She was beautiful, stunningly beautiful. So there was an attraction. Fred was about 10 years older than Lori. She completely fell head over heels for him and couldn't resist him. It was very whirlwind.

She was swept off her feet. That ended up becoming a quick engagement. Within two months of the divorce, Fred was starting a fresh chapter with his new bride, while his ex-wife Christine also found her own love interest. Christine, in the meantime, was getting involved with and associate Fred's, who had been a former good friend, Stu Honick. Stuart Honick was a Milwaukee police officer. She started dating him, looking for a fresh start. As Christine and Fred settled into their respective

relationships, they worked together to care for their two sons. They wanted to get through an amical divorce. They wanted to get through a amical divorce. But in the early morning hours of May 28, 1981, the discovery of Christine Schultz's dead body has rocked her loved ones. I can't even imagine the trauma for those young boys. for those young boys. As detectives arrive, they quickly have officers separate Christine's ex-husband, Detective Fred Schultz, and her boyfriend, Officer Stuart Honick.

Big questions surrounding Albert Schultz, and Stuart Honick is, could they possibly have had anything to do with this murder? While Fred and Stuart wait outside, detectives focus on the crime scene. When you look at the way Christine was left, she had a clothesline tied around her left hand, blue band tan that was hide over her face. She had panties on, she had her T-shirt on. There wasn't any evidence that she had been sexually assaulted. Then you had the bullet wound.

Christine Schultz had been shot in the back with a.38 caliber revolver. The bullet went through her heart and killed her. That was the cause of death. She suffered that wound and tend not to be deadly very quickly. Coming up, a trio of potential suspects rises to the surface. He thought Stored had crossed the line in the trade. Here's Stored. His alibi, if you will, was almost non-existent.

It was extremely flimsy. They had seen a jogger in the neighborhood several times, sometimes standing in front of Christine's house. Detectives investigating the cold-blooded murder of 30-year-old Christine Schultz have reason to believe this was a targeted attack. The intruder brought along the necessary tools, the rope, the glove that could be used to subdue, scare, intimidate the two boys, and bind and gag Christine Childs. Police searched Christine's room for clues to the killer's identity. The police went through the room dusting it for fingerprints.

They found nothing. Then, they found one potential clue. Officers collected some hairs. There were hair from the bandana and a hair strand off of the leg of Christine. It looked like a strand from a wig, reddish hair. As CSI continue collecting evidence, investigators turn back to the crime's surviving eyewitnesses, Christine's 11-year-old son, Sean Schultz, and his 7-year-old brother, Shannon. He recognized they had black shoes on, like a lot of the policemen wore. Don had to describe to authorities what he had witnessed that night.

He told them he saw an assailant. He thought to be an adult male wearing a green jacket. Shawn also noticed that the man who was leaving had reddish hair in a ponytail. The ponytail was about six inches long. Christine's younger son describes the person wearing a green jogging suit and carrying a gun. The description from Christine's sons leaves detectives wondering, could the assailant be one of their own?

At the time, Christine was dating a Milwaukee police officer, Stuart Honick, but she had also been married to another detective, French Schultz, for over 10 years. So she was someone officers knew and liked. Her death was a shock. Investigators immediately moved to question the two men, starting with Christine's boyfriend, officer Stuart Honick.

Stuart tells investigators that he and Christine had spent the afternoon together working in her garden and having dinner. He says the last time he saw Christine had spent the afternoon together working in her garden and having dinner. He says the last time he saw Christine was at 10 o'clock, but the last time the two spoke on the phone was at 11.20. Stewart said he had fallen asleep. The next thing you remember was waking up at 2.20 a.m. when Sean called him. He knew something was wrong and he rushed over, two blocks to Christine's house. Stewart insists he and Christine had a good relationship and he envisioned a future with her. He claims that they were talking about wedding plans.

Detectives asked Stewart if he knew of anyone who would want to hurt Christine and he told investigators no. he knew of anyone who would want to hurt Christine. And he told investigators, no. Well, here's Stuart Connick. He's romantically involved with the victim. His alibi, if you will, was almost non-existent. It was extremely blimsy. As investigators move to speak with Christine's ex-husband,

Detective Fred Schultz, his partner pulls them aside. Michael Durfee had been Fred Schultz's partner that night, and he tells detectives that earlier that evening, Schultz had been making negative comments about his divorce from Christine. Fred was tasked with paying her alimony child support and also the mortgage on the house which made him furious because he had built the house about half of his police salary went into supporting her and supporting house that he

himself could not live in. Plus he didn't have very much to do with children because Christine had full custody. As far as motives go, Alfred Schultz had one of finances and Stuart Honick, Alfred Schultz's good friend from the Milwaukee Police Department, is dating Christine Schultz and that didn't sit well with Alfred Schultz. He became upset, he became angry, he was very jealous. So here's the interesting thing. Fred Schultz, they find out, also had a key to Christine's property.

While the information creates an interesting lead, there is one problem. Alfred Schultz had an alibi at the time. He was on duty along with fellow Milwaukee police officer Michael Durfee. Durfee also said that the two were investigating elsewhere. Detectives ask Fred to come to the station for an interview, and they plan to follow up with Stuart afterwards.

Meanwhile, officers fan out in search of other potential witnesses. While the investigation is going on, other police officers canvass the neighborhood to ask neighbors if they've seen anything. And a number of them mentioned that they had seen a jogger in the neighborhood several times, sometimes standing in front of Christine's house.

Multiple neighbors had seen someone running in a green tracksuit. So police ask around and apparently there's a man in the neighborhood who fits the description. When detectives track down and interview the man later that morning, he doesn't deny owning an outfit like the one Christine's children said was worn by the killer. Christine's neighbor said that the night of the murder someone had taken a revolver from his house and a green jogging suit. Was the killer trying to frame Christine's neighbor? Detectives immediately start looking for evidence to back up his concerning claim. We couldn't find any record of him having bought a gun.

We found out that he was lying about having a revolver. We believe that he had a soft spot for her and was an admirer of her. And I suppose he wanted to get next to her with his story of the gun being stolen. With the neighbor's story deemed as a desperate plea for attention, detectives find themselves at a dead end. It was a made-up story.

It just made the investigation more difficult. Coming up, an unexpected discovery exposes a calculated cover-up. When I started doing a background on where he was during the course of the night, it started getting holes in it. It was clear that he was lying about some things. The story was falling apart. So far, you're not losing. The only thing you're losing is my patience. Quickly, I see that. Ding! The queen of the courtroom is back.

I didn't do anything. You wouldn't know the truth if it came up and slapped you in the face. I see he's not intimidated by anything. I can fix that. New cases. She wanted to fight me. Leap her.

A loan. Okay, so, uh... Not this is not a so. This is a period. Classic Judy. Did you sleep with her? Yes, Your Honor. You married his cousin. His brother.

That's not him. Yes, ma'am. I would make a beeline for the door. The Emmy Award-winning series returns. How did I know that? I have crystal ball in my head. It's an all-new season. It's streaming. You can say anything. Judy Justice, only on Free V.

For most of us, crime is something we see on the news. We never think it could happen to us until it does. I said, like, turn to my mom. I said, something is not right, mom. Just had the worst feeling that it was her. Loved ones are gone, and for the survivors, the scars will never heal. I know that he didn't really think that somebody was going to come in and kill him. You know, there's a father of three family person,

family man that didn't go home to his family. That just, it's such a waste." I'm Nancy Hickst, a senior crime reporter for Global News. And on this season of Crime Beat, I'll take you inside some of the most serious crime stories I've covered. I'll never forget it. You know, like I said, I could children my own similar age. It was a difficult case.

Season 6 of Crime Beat is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and all podcast platforms. Detectives investigating the murder of mother of two, Christine Schultz, are once again exploring the possibility that one of the two men in her life may be responsible for her death. Police officer Stuart Honick or detective Fred Schultz. We have the man that she's involved with and she has an ex-husband who's pretty angry about the fact that she has the house he built. With suspicion surrounding both men, detectives take a closer look at each of them. The detectives followed up on Stu.

There wasn't any evidence that Stu Honig had emotive, that he was angry or had any reason to kill Christine. With Stuart Honig seemingly cleared from the suspect list, detectives shift their focus back to Fred Schultz. Fred Schultz's story is that he was investigating a burglary the night of the murder. When I start doing a background on where he was during the course of the night, it started getting holes in it.

The story was falling apart. It was clear that he was lying about some things. It turned out that two other patrol officers had actually investigated that burglary. Investigators confront Fred with their findings. He said, well, actually I was at such and such tavern, which is out of his district. He wasn't supposed to be there.

They were in a bar drinking, and they didn't want to tell the truth initially because they were afraid that it would come out that they may have been drinking while on duty. So they sit down and ask Detective Schultz straight out, did you kill your ex-wife? He says no. He maintains his innocence both strongly that he agrees to take a polygraph test.

They typically use the polygraph especially back in 1981 to scare people into thinking they'll get caught. He took a test. And he did pass. But just before Fred is released, he makes an unexpected admission to detectives. It turns out Fred Schultz had two guns. One was a service revolver.

The other was his off-duty revolver, a.38 caliber, and the only other person that had access to that was his wife, Lori Bambanik. At least now, a suspected Lori Bambanik may have had a role in this killing. Like Fred Schultz, Lorencia Lori Bambanik was also from Milwaukee. Laurie and I met first time in grade school. We always were together, almost always together. We were just best friends. Laurie grew into a beautiful young woman. She was tall, had a beautiful smile, great style. Everyone thought she was a knockout.

In 1980, Lori felt a calling to public service. Lori Benbenek's father was a police officer. So from a very young age, Lori wanted to become a police officer. Other than adoring her father and following in his footsteps, I think she also wanted to make a difference in society with her life and help people. But in August of 1980, shortly after she graduated from the police academy, Lori's dream came

to an unexpected end. There was an incident with marijuana at a concert at the Milwaukee Arena. She was with other people, and someone was busted and prosecuted for marijuana. She had to file a report as an off-duty police officer. And from what I know, what she told me is that she was let go and fired for filing a false report. I guess in my mind, she tried to not incriminate

certain friends and wanted to be a friend in return, but kind of backfired, I guess. For Lori, it was a devastating turn of events. To a stunned, it was based on filing a false report. She thought it was a minor infraction. After Lori was fired, she took a security guard position at Marquette University and she taught physical fitness on the side. Lori had also taken a three-four-week job as a waitress at the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where

this nickname, Bambi, got associated with her. While Lori struggled to stay afloat, she suspected her termination could be punishment for something else. Before the concert, she was discovering that all the women and minorities were being discharged from the academy for, you know, stupid things, real small incidences. And the Milwaukee Police Department was keeping the Title IX money. They were entitled to recruit these people and run them through the academy. She was going to cooperate in a lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department. She suspects

that that's why she was turned in for the marijuana at the concert. I think she stood up for things and spoke up in ways that maybe offended some people, but from what I know of Lori, it was for trying to do the right thing. All of this was happening around the time Lori met Fred Schultz and the world-in romance began. The complicated past of Fred Schultz's 22-year-old wife

is no secret to investigators. She became a natural suspect that the authorities were interested in talking to her. When Laurie was asked to account for her movements that evening, she and Fred were moving to a smaller apartment that was more affordable. So she and her mother spent till around 11.30 packing, and then she went to bed. She just denied any knowledge.

She had no knowledge of what occurred. Lori had no animosity towards Christine. It was very amicable. Fred had some animosity because of the financial issues. For the next two weeks, the case languishes. Just a few short weeks after the murder of Christine Schultz, Lori Benbenek and Alfred Schultz moved into a different apartment building.

But it's a development at their old complex that soon sparks investigators' interest. On June 10, 1981, a woman called a plumber because her toilet was stopped up. When the plumber gets there, he checks the drain lines. It makes a strange discovery. The plumber found a wig clogging the works. The woman has no knowledge of where this wig came from,

but she says maybe her former neighbors do. The apartment that Lori and Fred were living in shared the plumbing with an apartment next door. The police officers came. Since the neighbors said there was some question of a wig being used in the murder of Christine, worn by the killer. The plumber fished the wig out.

By that time, there was police at the apartment. So the wig was grabbed as a potential evidence. As it turned out, it was evidence. It was a reddish-brown wig, and that was important for two reasons. Her sons had described the intruder as having hair of that same color. And police found one strand of synthetic hair of that color on Christine's leg. Although the wig was suspicious, they still couldn't prove

who flushed it down the toilet. It's very circumstantial evidence. As they continue to dig into Fred and Lori's background, investigators learn the couple lived with a roommate named Judy Zess at their former apartment. Judy Zess was a dear friend of Lori Bimbenik. They had actually met while the two were at the Milwaukee Police Academy. Detectives set up a meeting with Judy and her mother a few weeks after the murder.

Judy lived with Lori and Fred for a while, and she claimed that Lori owned some of the same items that were found at the crime scene. She had seen a blue bandana, and she had seen a clothesline that was like the kind of rope that was used to bind Christine's hand. Investigators ask her about one more detail. She claimed that she had seen a green jogging suit that Lori owned.

But it's what Judy's mother says next that raises the final red flag for detectives. The mother of Judy's zest said that she had overheard Lori say Christine should be blown away. Ben Vanick was disturbed at a certain amount of her husband's money was going to her for the support of the children. And that irritated her to no end.

While money appears to be a strong motive for the murder, detectives are still lacking hard evidence to prove it. On June 18th, Brad Schultz brought his off-duty weapon to be tested at the Cronwap. It was in his possession, I believe, for three weeks before he actually turned it in. This was actually the second time someone was supposed to have examined the weapon.

Hours after Christine's death, Fred Schulte's supervisor asked his partner, Michael Durfey, to examine his off-duty revolver. He made an assumption that the gun hadn't been fired asked his partner, Michael Durfee,ultz's off-duty revolver. Lori Bambenek was arrested at her job as security at Marquette University. Her locker was searched. for lack of research. You took the spot at the hairbrush and snatched it

and said, you mind if we check this out? And she said, no, go ahead. The hair analyst made what we call a gross comparison, looking simply at appearance. Said that the appearance of the strands of the hair from that hairbrush matched with hair that had been found in the blue bandana that had been used on the night Christine was murdered. Coming up, a shocking turn of events leads

to the trial of the century. The TV stations sensationalized the whole thing. The media blew it way out of proportion, and that's where the Playboy Bunny killer headlines came in. It just made no sense. It was horrific. On June 24th, 1981, 28 days since the murder of Christine Schultz, authorities have just arrested Detective Fred Schultz's young wife, Lori Bambenek, for the crime.

People speculated that Fred Schultz was somehow involved with the crime, but he was never charged. Details of 22-year-old Lori Bambenik's arrest quickly make front page news. The TV stations sensationalized the whole thing. The media blew it way out of proportion, and that's where the Playboy Bunny killer headlines came in. The press portrayed Laurie Bambenik as this beautiful perhaps can I think thought the top. We had it out for friends that's why.

Lori's official trial begins in March of 1982. The prosecutor thought Lori wanted Christine out of the picture in part because that way her husband wouldn't have to pay all the support. The state contended that Lori got the spare key to Christine's house, put on the jogging suit and wig, jogged to the house, committed the crime, and jogged back home without anyone seeing her. Prosecutors say she went back home, changed clothes, put the gun where she found it,

and was home when Fred called to tell her about the murder. Things started falling together. She was the one that had access about the murder. Things start falling together. She was the one that had access to the murder weapon. The wig, strands of it matched strands on the victim's body. It would seem prosecutors have a mountain of evidence, but Lori's defense team reminds jurors it's just circumstantial. Detective Michael Durfee initially said

that Alfred Schultz's off-tooty revolver was cold and dusty, giving the insinuation that it probably wasn't fired. Laurie's defense also reminds jurors that Michael initially lied about Fred's alibi. The defense used this information to plant the seed of doubt in the minds of the jurors. The next line of defense is the testimony of Christine Schultz's 11-year-old son, Sean.

He was rather vivid, you might say, in his description. He thought it was a man. He said the man was wearing a green jacket and had shoes similar to that of a police officer. He never changed his story, not even at trial. The defense team also calls into question the wig of founding Laurie's old department. This is 1981.

There is no DNA testing and criminal procedure at that time. Lori's attorney tried to hammer home the fact that there wasn't that kind of exact science. And someone else might have put that wig down the toilet. On March 5, 1982, the one person that could sway the outcome of this trial takes the stand. Twenty-three-year-old Lori Bembenek.

When she got up and did her testimony, she denied everything. For those present, Lori's testimony leaves some expecting more. News accounts of her on the stand portrayed her as cold and aloof, and that clearly hurt her case. Lori was only 23. She was terrified. Many people may have misinterpreted her demeanor. At the conclusion of the two-week trial, a jury retires to deliberate Lori Benbenek's fate. The jury deliberated for four days, and they did return a verdict of guilty of her sweet murder. And Lori was given a life sentence.

She's sad without movement, without emotion. I didn't see any tears. I saw nothing. She was pre-stolic. She tried her very best to tell the truth. She thought she didn't have anything to lose if she told the truth. And it all flipped on her. Coming up, just as the case seems shut,

Lori has other ideas. They hatched a plan for her escape, a quote unquote window of opportunity. This slogan rose up, run Bambi run. It was just unbelievable. I kept thinking this isn't real. This can't be real. MUSIC On March 9, 1982, 23-year-old Lori Bambenek was sentenced to life in prison for the murder

of her husband's ex-wife, Christine Schultz. After Lori was convicted, Fred Schultz divorced her, moved to Florida, and he would later tell people that he was convinced she was guilty. Christine's boys were raised by family. For the next eight years, the former police officer is housed at the Tachita Correctional Facility in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Lori filed several appeals. All of them were turned down. Lori Bambinik always maintained her innocence, and has asserted that she was set up, that she was framed, because she was no friend of the authorities at the Milwaukee Police Department. Lori had lost all three of her appeals and was getting very frustrated.

On July 15, 1990, after eight years behind bars, a new development occurs in Lori's case. Bembenek spent eight years in prison and then escaped. It was on the news, and it was just unbelievable. I just kept thinking, this isn't real. This can't be real. Police have reason to believe Lori isn't alone. This is another very odd thing when

somebody's convicted of murder and they're kind of infamous. And with someone like Lori Bambenek, who was beautiful, she had plenty of admirers, but she saw the brother of one of the women who was also serving in the same place. And he thought he was cute. His name was Dominic Gugliano. He flirted with him, he flirted back when he came to see his sister, they spent time together

and got engaged. Unable to find Dominic, authorities pieced together how they believe he helped her escape. In the laundry room, she saw a window that she thought she could get through. So she formed a plan with Dominic to help her escape and he prepared the getaway car and supplies. A quote-unquote window of opportunity. She slipped through the window, crawled over the fence, she had a little jacket or

something with it, threw it over the barbed wire. She did cut her leg on the razor wire but she was able to get through and ran to a waiting car, and he was there, and they were out of town in a matter of minutes. MUSIC She tried an appeal. She tried to do it the right way, and it was sort of discarded.

It was like, I have to save my life. Nothing's working. That's supposed to work. When Lori escaped, the residents of Wisconsin said if they saw her they would not turn her in because they agreed. You know, she did not get a fair trial and they were rooting for her. One reason public sentiment shifted in Lori's favor is because her friend Judy Zess recanted her statements. Judy's testimony was important because she testified that she had seen the same bandana and jogging suit

that Christine Schultz Killer used in Lori's home prior to the murder. For the next three months, the former Milwaukee police officer and her lover remain on the lam. America's Most Wanted was a TV show that would talk about cases of fugitives. She was working in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

And someone from America was there who had seen the show and recognized her. Following her arrest, Lori Bembenek applies for political asylum in Canada. She claimed there was no chance she was ever gonna get a fair trial. On April 22nd, 1991, Lori is extradited back to the US under the condition that the

Milwaukee courts reexamine her case. When they did get her back, she was in solitary for a year, but then through that year, these attorneys worked on her case. Lori's team exposes seven irregularities in the original investigation. The ruling judge found no evidence of a conspiracy by prosecutors, but he had significant problems with the handling of the off-duty gun and the bullets. So prosecutors decided to cut a deal. Lori was offered a deal that if she pleaded no context to second degree murder

they would give her credit for time already served and then she would be on supervised parole, but she could go free. In 97 Lori had been released and I think to have a more peaceful life moved to Vancouver. It was a new start for her. In about 2004, I finally got the courage to ask her to marry me after everything she'd been through, and we got married in 2005. We only married for two years and had an amicable divorce.

As time passes, Lori's team, headed up by defense attorney Mary Ware and PI Ira Robbins, uncover new evidence that casts further doubt over Lori's earlier conviction. Mary Ware calls for a complete thorough investigational evidence from the case. And now DNA gets involved. So the thought is, hmm, we're going to re-examine all of this. It was circumstantial to begin with.

Maybe, maybe this will change the whole atmosphere surrounding this murder conviction. DNA evidence, presence of male semen that her defense team knew nothing about didn't come out until now. Clearly the fix was in, they wanted Lori convicted

and that's what they got. The DNA evidence uncovered the fact that Christine Schultz had had sex with someone before her death. And Lori's legal team found previously unrevealed evidence that showed the state crime lab had initially investigated it as a sexual assault case. They found blood underneath Christine's fingernails,

which would suggest that there was some type of physical struggle with the attacker. We didn't have DNA back then, but they did have blood analysis and pretty sophisticated blood analysis. But they did not do that. The purported murder weapon, Fred Schultz's off-duty 38 revolver, is also put through a battery of forensic and

ballistic tests. Lori's team had forensic experts test the gun and the bullet, and they found that there was no match from the off-duty gun to the bullet removed from Christine Schultz's body. We end up with this chain of inconsistencies that calls into question the most damning evidence. While Lori and her supporters are hopeful the new findings might clear her name, the emotional damage of the last 21 years takes its toll on Lori.

She wanted the Supreme Court to look at the new evidence so that she could withdraw the no contest please be entirely exonerated, but they declined to look at it. In 2010, Lori Bambenek dies from kidney and liver failure, still fighting to clear her name. Mary Weir from what I know is still working on things. I believe she has evidence now again that can clear her. Hopefully someday justice will be done and her name will be cleared.

But the clock is ticking. Everybody's getting older. After 39 years, Lori Bambenik's arrest and conviction are still highly controversial. We came up with enough physical evidence that we could arrest her. Everything eventually caught up with her. I'm absolutely certain deep down in my heart, my soul and every bone in my body that she is innocent.

Sandra completed the terms of her probation. She is now married and has a family of her own. After serving 25 years of her sentence, Sandra Jonas became eligible for parole in 2023. Hey, it's Guy Razz here, the host of How I Built This, a podcast that gives you a front row seat to how some of the biggest products were built, and the innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists behind them. Every week I speak to someone new, stories like Justin Wolverton, a lawyer who just wanted a healthy alternative to ice cream, so he created Halo Top in his Cuisinart, or Todd Graves, who grew his fried chicken restaurant Raising Canes

into one of the most successful fast food chains in the US. All of these great conversations can help you learn how to think big, take risks, and navigate crises in life and work, from people who've done all of that and more. Follow How I Built This on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to How I Built This early and add free right now on Wondery Plus.