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Sleeping with the Enemy, Part 4

The Rise and Fall of Thomas Capano
An upstanding citizen, the eldest son of a family who had risen to wealth and influence, he'd been a trusted political strategist, the city attorney, a successful prosecutor and legal counsel to one of the governors.

Anne Marie Fahey, a beautiful young woman who worked in the Delaware governors office, was the latest of Capanos mistresses. She had tried to break off the secret affair, but he could not tolerate the idea that she initiated the break-up. She belonged to him. Her act damaged his belief in his omnipotence and he couldnt live with that.

When she disappeared, suspicion fell on him, but there was no evidence to arrest the wealthy and well-connected Capano until a year later when there was a major break in the case. The amazing and highly publicized murder trial was the subject of Ann Rules best selling book, And Never Let Her Go: Thomas Capano, The Deadly Seducer.


Christa Worthington
She had reached the top of her game: the daughter of a prominent New England family and Vassar graduate, she lived a very glamorous life as a fashion writer for Women's Wear Daily, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and the New York Times, traveling to Paris and London, interviewing celebrities.

While Christa's career had soared to new heights, she was not content in her personal life. She longed to have children, but she was unmarried. She wanted to have the time to make a serious mark with her writing, perhaps a play. So right around her 40th birthday, she left New York and went to live in the quaint little town of Truro on Cape Cod, where a couple years later after an affair with a married man, she had a daughter. Motherhood changed Christa's ambitions and she found contentment raising her little girl.

All that came to an abrupt end when Christa was brutally murdered with her daughter as witness. The toddler was found days later trying to revive her mother and sustain herself by suckling her mother's breast and eating bits of cereal.

The investigation focused on the Christa's relationships and even the heroin-addicted prostitute that was her father's mistress, but when the real killer was found through DNA evidence 3 years later, it was a real shock. The trial of this fashion-writer mom's killer leaves many troublesome questions unanswered.


The Woodchipper Murder
On December 1, 1986, the Newtown Police Department in central Connecticut received a phone call from Keith Mayo, a local private investigator. He said that his client, Pan Am stewardess Helle Crafts, had recently disappeared and he feared that she may have been murdered by her airline pilot husband, Richard Crafts. Mayo was adamant and insisted that the Newtown Police investigate the crime immediately. Helle left her home on November 19 to drive to Richard's sister's house in nearby Westport. But Helle never showed up at the sister's home and hadn't been heard from since that day. Her car was later found in an employee parking lot of Pan Am airlines at Kennedy airport.

And so began one of the most ingenious murder cases in forensic history. Enter Dr. Henry C. Lee, possibly the worlds best-known forensic scientist who was then in charge of Connecticuts state police lab. Investigators were convinced that Crafts had killed his wife, but they needed a body in order to arrest him. Following up on reports that a man had been seen late one night in a blinding snow storm with a truck and a woodchipper in tow, an incredible scavenger hunt brought the amazing case to a close.


Colin and JoAnn Thatcher
Handsome and distinguished-looking, Colin Thatcher successfully pursued a political career like his father Ross, the premier of Saskatchewan from 1964 to his mysterious death in 1971. But as Colins career blossomed, his overt philandering and physical abuse destroyed his marriage to his dutiful wife, JoAnn.

During the court battles that followed, Colin made sure JoAnn remained in a state of fear, hoping that it would dissuade her from continuing with the suit against him. He continuously harassed her by stealing her car, making threatening phone calls and at one point even slashing her tires. JoAnn feared for her life and for the wellbeing of her children, yet remained determined to see the divorce and custody fights through.

This is a story about obsession. Colin was so obsessed with destroying JoAnn that he lost sight of what he was doing to himself, his family, and his once promising career.



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