Chapter 1: What circumstances led to the discovery of Dr. Schwartz's body?
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You think you can find your dentist?
I think we can, yeah.
She just said your father's been shot. A massacre. It was just a puddle of blood. This is a horrific way that he died.
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Chapter 2: What evidence pointed to a homicide rather than an accident?
Yes, sir. Okay, I'm going to stay on the phone with you, okay? When were you in the house last?
I left about 8.30 this morning.
Okay.
And my husband was still on bed reading paper, but I haven't spoke with him today. He's a physician, so I don't know where he is, actually.
He's in one of the hospitals, I assume.
Okay. What color is your house? Do you know what the outside?
Well, I will tell you this. It's probably the biggest house in Tarpon. She wasn't kidding. The home was nearly 8,000 square feet with a tennis court, a pool, and its own dog. I cannot believe this.
Yeah, that's unfortunate.
This is crazy.
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Chapter 3: Who were the initial suspects in Dr. Schwartz's murder?
Did this look like something that had just happened?
No. You could tell by the condition of the blood that it was starting to dry. Some of it had already dried. So he had been there for most of the day.
The investigators found the victim's ID. Rebecca's husband, Dr. Stephen Schwartz, wasn't working at some hospital. He was the man lying dead at the bottom of those stairs. Now, they had to break the news to Rebecca. And she had initially thought, okay, this is a burglary and I just can't reach my husband. Now she's being told he's dead inside.
Right. She put her face in her hands and just started to sob.
The next day at the police station, Rebecca was still distraught.
90% of the time, 90% of the time he leaves before me.
I'm always, I mean, I'm usually the last one out.
Because he likes to get a tub on the hospital. Then I'm out having dinner. That makes me seem like a terrible wife. I don't even know where my husband is. What's the truth?
You're not to blame for any of this situation. This is a horrible incident that has happened to you and your family.
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Chapter 4: What role did Leo Strawguy play in the investigation?
Typical dad. Carter is Stephen's son from a previous relationship. He was 24 and had just applied to medical school, ready to follow in his dad's footsteps. He says his father was thrilled.
My dad said he would not only pay for med school, would pay for every living expense, everything. It would have been the happiest check he ever wrote in his life.
Carter was nervous as he awaited the acceptance letter, but his dad never had a doubt.
And he's like, yeah, they're going to get your letter. Just call me when it happens.
He was in Taiwan when he got the good news.
And I got the acceptance. And I tried to call him. He didn't answer. So I catch the flight at the connecting airport. I think it was Tokyo. Try to call him again. No answer.
He finally arrived in the U.S., and that's when his world fell apart. And I remember landing, turning my phone on, and my mother calling me, bawling that my father had been shot. Carter was stunned. Stephen Schwartz was a good father and a great physician. For people who never had a chance to meet your dad, how would you describe him?
I couldn't really have asked for a better father or a better mentor, seeing how kind and generous he was with his patients and how patient he was with nurses and just kind to everybody he came into contact with.
Stephen Schwartz was a nephrologist, a kidney doctor with a thriving practice. He was 74 and had three kids, Carter and two other children, a son and a daughter from a previous marriage. Tell me about your dad and his interests. What did he love to do other than, of course, practicing medicine?
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Chapter 5: How did Rebecca Schwartz's financial situation influence the investigation?
You know, Dr. Schwartz wanted to concentrate on taking care of his patients. Becky was financially motivated and she was all about, you know, kind of making decisions.
Eventually, this man, Kyle Smithy, took over the clinic's day-to-day operations, but Rebecca still helped out. What was her working relationship life with Rebecca? We got along well. We spent a good amount of time together outside of the clinic as well. She would often invite Kyle to join her for drinks and dinner.
just one of the most fun people to be around and so engaging and just kind of, she had this real unique ability when talking to you to really make you feel like seen and heard and just an energy about her that she wanted to, quite frankly, be around.
She was 20 years younger than her husband, but Carter says his father had his own kind of youthful energy. He remembers reading a story about his dad after he was gone.
The one that I think would have brought him joy was the article that said a 50-year-old man was found dead. I kind of laugh now thinking my 74-year-old father would have loved being described as the 50-year-old man.
As detectives learned more about Stephen Schwartz, they had a hard time finding anyone who had it out for him.
Dr. Schwartz couldn't find one person to say a bad word about him. Just nothing but good things. Good doctor, cared about his patients. Half the time, he wouldn't even charge people.
A kindly doctor killed in the worst possible way. Maybe his wife would help solve the mystery. No, I'm not.
You're okay. You're okay.
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Chapter 6: What were the key findings from the civil trial against Rebecca Schwartz?
Eric lived near Portage, Wisconsin, owned a Verizon store there. He was married with a baby on the way.
His fingerprints come back to the areas that were processed by the crime scene technicians.
including a door to the garage close to Stephen Schwartz's body. The door appeared to have been forced open.
His prints were there. His prints were upstairs in the monitor where the DVR was. And also his prints were on some of the jewelry boxes in the master bedroom.
So the forensic evidence comes back.
And points right at him as being the number one suspect now. So I get a team of detectives, and we go up to Wisconsin to interview Eric. We watch it through the store. We did this unannounced. So I just need, we're talking all the family members.
Oh, yeah. It's a murder case. Yeah. I'll fully cooperate. You need DNA or whatever.
When was the last time you were at the house? I flew home for my grandfather's birthday party.
I flew down April 6th, and then I drove back. I'm like the eighth, so I'm sure I was at the house at some point in time between those days.
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Chapter 7: What did the jury conclude about Rebecca's involvement in the murder?
Yeah, very, very close.
Police were convinced the killer was someone close to Stephen and Rebecca. They had looked at Rebecca's two sons, and they soon learned about another man who was close to her and knew the family and the house well, Leo Strawguy. How did Leo come to be on your radar in the sense of someone to talk to? Well, he had been in the house several times. He worked with them.
So he was well known to both Rebecca and Dr. Schwartz.
The handyman.
He didn't like to be called that, but yeah.
What did he like to be called?
Well, he, because we referred to him as handyman, and he would tell me, I'm not a handyman. He does construction. The house that Dr. Swartz and Rebecca lived in, he had helped remodel. And they had like 30 other properties that he would maintain and remodel and take care of.
It had been a long journey from Leo's home country of Albania to Tarpon Springs, Florida. How did you come to live in Florida?
Well, I left my country when I was a little kid. I was 14 years old when I left. I went to Greece. Then I went all over Europe, a little bit in Canada. Then in the beginning of 2000, I was in Detroit.
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Chapter 8: How did the case affect the lives of Dr. Schwartz's family members?
Leo answered their questions and gave a DNA sample. As you talked to him, did he seem to wonder why he was there?
No, no. He just knows that we're doing our job, talking to everybody involved.
Investigators were hitting a wall. Months went by with few answers. Then new information came out. It would change everything they thought they knew about the doctor. What he did, it was horrific. Was Dr. Schwartz's murder payback for something that happened decades before?
Once upon a time in an icy winter world, a wicked woman stole a child. Only the power of love can save him and defeat her, the Snow Queen. New to Morrison Mysteries.
Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Andrew Goldman. No story I've encountered in my 30 years as a journalist has gripped me by the throat, quite like the murder of Martha Moxley and conviction of Michael Skakel. I thought I understood the case. It was a decades-long story about the powerful and the privileged seemingly getting away with murder.
But I discovered a much darker, more shocking tale than I ever could have guessed. They put a sign around my neck that said, Hi, my name is Michael Skakel, and I'm a murderer. He's been talked about a lot, but he's never spoken up until now.
It was like the worst nightmare ever.
Dead Certain, the Martha Moxley murder. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit Down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with Ina Garten in front of a live studio audience for the second ever Sunday Sit Down live event.
We talked about her rise from home cook to culinary icon with some hosting tips and a proper dessert tray mixed in too. You can get our conversation for free wherever you download your podcasts.
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