Susan Grund, Oversexed Murderess

Susan Grund's murder trial, which began on September 27, 1993, was a Freudian psychoanalyst's dream, with family secretsor alleged family secretsas the crucible of the case.

Susan Grund

The usual complement of cops and crime-scene experts testified. But the trial's best tabloid TV moments came from relatives of the victim and the accused. Susan Grund had to testify, of course, to try to explain why she had hidden the gun. She came up with a doozy of an explanation.

Susan testified that she arrived home of the night of the murder, found her husband dead and called 911. She said the murder weapon was lying on the floor. She recognized it as David Grund's gun, so she said hid it inside a teddy bear because "I thought he might have had something to do with it."

When questioned further, she blurted out through tears that she was concerned for David "because we'd had an affair." She explained that she had been having sex with her stepson for two years.

She added, "He said he was going to get rid of his dad."

J. David Grund

David Grund had finished undergraduate school at Indiana University a few months before the trial began. When he got his turn on the witness stand, Grund treated his stepmother's assertions with steely contempt. The first words he spoke were, "I never had an affair with that woman."

Nellie Sanders and Darlene Worden added their own damning assessments of their kin. Darlene said of sister Susan, "She's a liar. She's always been a liar."

At end of her testimony, Darlene broke down, glared at her sister and said, "Why'd you do it?"

Everyone in the courtroom seemed convinced of Susan's guiltexcept certain jurors. After 15 hours of deliberation, the jury declared itself deadlocked, with at least two members insisting they could not find Susan guilty.