48 Hours - A Crime Before Christmas

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

On December 22, 1990, sisters Linae and Tricia Tiede were held hostage by two men when their family was spending Christmas at their Utah cabin. Their mother, father, and grandmother were shot and the two men planned to burn the house down. The sisters owe their survival to their heroic father, Rolf. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 3/9/2013. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My family owns a beautiful cabin in Oakley, Utah. The sound of the river, the horses that are down in the pasture, the birds, it's absolutely heaven on earth to me. My mom had given it a name, Tita's Tranquility, because of the serenity and peace. The cabin was an awesome place to go to. It was a young child. I loved going up there, bringing aunts and uncles and cousins.

The cabin was a good child. was about two and a half miles off the road. You have to snowmobile in during the wintertime. It was an escape from the world for our family. It was winter of 1990. I was 20 years old and my little sister was 16. It was Christmas time. We're off for the holidays.

There's a large Christmas tree with lots of gifts around it. I have great memories of spending Christmas with my mom and dad. My mom even had our Christmas stockings. hung under the fireplace mannall, ready for Santa to come. Three days before Christmas, our family had to finish up our Christmas shopping and head back up to our family cabin. My mom and Grams and I arrived at the cabin first, and my hands were freezing.

It was a bitter cold winter that year. I asked my mom to hurry and unlock the door. I needed to run in and run my hands under some water, and I would be right back down to help her. I got to the top of the stairs and saw a gray flash go behind the refrigerator. And the first thought that popped in my mind was, oh, a cousin's here already and was going to jump out and say, boo. It didn't turn out that way. Behind the refrigerator came a frizzy-headed man in a gray sweatshirt with his pistol pointed at me.

I assumed that he would want to just rob us and be on his way. As soon as my mom came to the top of the stairs out from the back bedroom, another robber with thick coat bottle glasses on was pointing a gun at my mother. My mom was saying to him, what is it you want? Why are you here? I'll give you anything.

Seconds after she had said that, gunfire started imploding, exploding explosion from everywhere. I saw my mom go down, I turned at that point and looked over my shoulder to my grams and saw her get shot in the head and blood spray everywhere. I heard her gasp for some breath, and then it was just dead silence.

I felt pretty certain that they were dead. My thoughts were turned to knowing that within minutes my dad and sister would be coming. I can remember hearing snowmobiles coming in the distance and my heart sinking to my gut knowing that was my dad and sister.

It felt like slow motion and quick all at once. I can remember the screams and grams falling off the stool and my mom reaching over her chest saying I'd been shot. I started to

plan ahead I knew that there was a car. I knew my dad left the car keys underneath the mat. If I got these men out of the cabin and into the car, my dad and my sister would be safe. As the noises of the snowmobiles came closer, the man in the gray sweatshirt grabbed me from behind around the neck, put his gun to my back. Dad and I arrived at the cabin, and as soon as we got off the snowmobiles, a man jumped out from the garage with a full ski mask on and a gun and demanded that we come inside right away. Don't move, don't move. Don't move. Don't do anything. My dad could see tears in my eyes and it was an unspoken communication and he knew at that point that something awful had happened to mom and Grams.

The men asked my dad if he had any money. He reached into his pockets and pulled out what he had and threw it to. down to the ground. The man in the Coke bottle glasses was instructed by the other to shoot my dad. He pulled back the hammer. I heard it. And he refused to fire. So then the other man restraining my sister

pulled his gun out, pointed it at my dad, pulled the trigger once, click, no fire, twice, click, no fire. And then the third one went to the trigger. off, that blast was so close I could feel it. I had no doubt in my mind that he was dead, just like Mom and Grams. I was terrified to just think that the trauma would not stop. It kept going.

It didn't make any sense to me. I had no idea what was happening or why. These men that were in the cabin, I knew that they had been there for a while. There was food eaten, there was Christmas presents open. It wasn't just that we walked in and startled them or scared them. They had actually waited for our family to return home. Their plan was to destroy their evidence and burn it to the ground. There was always gas cans full of gas for the snowmobiles.

They immediately got busy doing things. They pour gas everywhere and set the cabin on fire. I can remember hearing the smoke alarms going off as the fire was already ablazing inside the cabin. There was a sense of urgency. They began telling us, we've got to hurry and load the snowmobiles and get out of here. I had this feeling inside of me that we needed to listen

and do what they said until the moment came to where Lenae and I could make our escape. My sister and I drove these awful men on the snowmobiles out of the cabin. I drove one man behind me, and my sister drove the other man behind her. I had all kinds of different plans of how to wreck the snowmobile, how to throw him off into a tree, how to get rid of him. But all I could think of is I couldn't leave my sister. I can remember wanting to stay close enough that I could still see my sister.

I felt a sense of security knowing that she was still there. There was no one to help us. There was nowhere to go. We're in the middle of the mountains on snowmobiles. We headed up to the main gate and saw my Uncle Randy. I seen the snowmobiles come up the trail, two snowmobiles. And I go, oh look, there's my nieces. I knew it was the girls with two people on the back.

And I go, wow, they got boyfriends. I walked over there and tried to greet him and say hi. And I waved my hands in there, and they just drove by. And they just drove by me. And I go, hmm, that's weird. That's not my nieces. They don't do that to me. I saw my uncle.

My uncle pulled up, and he waved at us, and we just kind of looked at him and turned back. And the men said, who was that? Somebody that must live up here just being nice. I knew his life could be in danger. I knew if these men knew Randy was our uncle there, that they would have killed him. We were up there in the mountains.

There was no one around. It was just my sister and I and two men that were dangerous that had a gun. There was a feeling of being completely vulnerable. Once we arrived at the family car, they had two guns. Each of them had a gun, and the dark-headed man loaded his gun in the trunk. And as he loaded his gun in the trunk, he pulled his jacket open, and he had a knife. And he looked at him and goes, don't worry, I'm just as good with a knife as I am a gun. And then I seen the Lincoln come out across the street.

And I go, well, there they are again. I was walking up to the car as they were pulling out. And I was actually looking in the back. And I think I seen Lanay in the back. I wave my hands again. I go, stop. I knew that if we were to call out or ask, plead for help or act like we knew Randy,

that Randy would be shot as well. So he was waving his arms, and my sister and I just pretended we didn't know who he was. The car just drove right by me. I knew something's wrong. I don't think it was a minute. I seen another snowmobile come up with this person on it,

and I look, and I go, well, he's no coat on, and, you know, no gloves, no helmet. And I go, wow, who is this? I look and I go, oh my God, it's my brother. Rolf, his face is just huge and full blood and just big. His eyes swolled shut, blood sickles. Because it was cold. He was in a really bad shape, and he says I've been shot.

My wife has been killed, and my daughters have been kidnapped. I start heading down the canyon as fast as I could. I'm in panic. Rolf's in the back, full of blood, laying on the back seat. 20 years ago, your cell service did not work up there whatsoever in that canyon. And I kept trying and trying and trying. There are two things on my mind. Save the girls, get him onto life flight.

I come up to the back of the Lincoln. I know the girls are kidnapped. I know the guys who got guns in the car there. You know, I'm going, what do I do? Do I run them off the road? Still trying to call out on the mobile. You know, and my mobile kicked in. I got 911.

She says, tell me what direction they're going. We got police, we got people in the area. I go, well, they're turning on the road. They're heading towards Camas. I go, I need a helicopter, and the phone went dead. I pulled in the gas station, went over the pay phone, and got 911 back on the phone again. I go, guys, I need a helicopter now.

We noticed a cop car pass us and turn around and begin to follow us. Both men began to panic. I remember looking over at the speedometer going over 90 miles an hour. We turned right down towards a canyon and went another mile or so and then fell. The car fell off in an embankment. I remember looking up because the car was at an angle and noticing the entire road above us that we came down was full of maybe a couple cops, but mostly people in common clothes,

drawn down with pistols and shotguns and rifles at us. I just remember how amazed I was that there were so many people there were so fast. There was cops pointing guns at me, and my little sister says, no, no, that's my sister. And I don't think they'd received information that there was even hostages in the car. I reached back from my sister's hand

and grabbed her hand and said, duck. We both ducked and we were praying and just squeezing each other's hand. We've always had a connection even as little children, a special connection where we couldn't feel each other. She's always been a great comfort to me. The suspects were taken from the vehicle and then were secured by officers who'd arrived at the scene. These guys are obviously cowards. As long as they were in total control of a situation by use of fear and food. then they continued to function.

When that control went away, that's when it stopped, and they surrendered to authorities. The men were down on their knees with their arms behind their neck, and the cops were yelling at them to get down, get down, and surrender. And I started to yell at the cops to kill him. I said, kill them. They just killed my mom, my dad and my grams. Kill him.

Shoot them now. Kill him. A member of feeling of not necessarily being safe, but have survived. We're no longer in the custody of those two evil men. The helicopter showed up. They got Rolf out of the back of my blazer and got him into care, and he was in pretty bad shape, critical condition. And when it lifted off, I'm just praying that he makes it.

I can't imagine what had been going on three days. dad's head after he'd been shot and then shot again. And he's laying there, playing dead, trying to breathe as shallow as possible. I later learned that dad had actually been doused with gasoline and he caught on fire himself. And he had to run into the shower and tear off his snowsuit while on fire.

Having the strength to get on the snowmobile and race down that mountain to save my sister and I. How much blood he'd lost, how he couldn't see, getting down the mountain and freezing freezing temperatures. My whole life my dad was my hero, and that just put an exclamation point on that. My dad was the most amazing hero that I've ever known.

Beautiful, kind, blue eyes. He was extremely kind and generous in every way. The number one concern in this particular case is rescuing anybody who might need assistance. Secondly, is to preserve the evidence at the crime scene. One of the most significant pieces of evidence was a video camera. Inside the video camera was a videotape. We had no idea what might be recorded on that.

So at a number of junctures in that film, I was saying, oh my God. Oh, my God. Hundreds of crime scenes later, it still ranks right up there. You know, it's still very vivid to me. Probably when I got about maybe 10 feet from the door, I picked up a faint smell. It was kind of like burnt hair and maybe burnt fabric, like clothes burning.

As I entered a garage, there was maybe a 12 to 18 inch puddle of blood that was fresh. As I started up the stairs, well, I could see holes in the wall, bullet holes coming from one wall across the stairwell into the other wall. There was a blood smear on the wall. It looked like a bloody hand had wiped down the wall. And it almost looked like a mini-war zone. There was two bodies. I checked for a pulse, but I knew in my mind they was deceased. I actually walked into the smoke before I really realized that the top floor of that cabin was

on fire. Then our mindset went to protecting the victim's property because we thought the cabin was going to burn down. On top of the coffee table, there was a VCR camera and some tapes. There was a double funeral for my mother and grandmother. My grandmother's name is Beth Tidwell Potts. My mother's name is K. Tidwell Tida. I remember just so many people and families that came to love us and help us build their

love and support. Aunt Claudia was my mom's older sister. When mom passed, Aunt Claudia stepped in letting us know that she was there and it gave us all a sense of that we weren't alone. I wanted to be there as much as I possibly could because they needed support. This was a horribly traumatizing thing for them and we were what they had left. Grams had a lot of energy. She was full of life. She was a very fun, vivacious, energetic, happy grandma. She would give me permanence in my hair

and make it curly awful. I remember mom called the Aspen Trees Quakies. She loved the noise that the quaking aspen made in the wind. That was one of her fondest memories, and it is mine as well. My sister was one of the most devoted mothers that I have ever known. She would give up anything for her children. She was strong-willed, and they were strong-willed, and, you know, that relationship was not with that.

conflict but they always worked it out. The morning of the crime, I remember turning and walking over to give my mother a hug as I always did. And she and I had gotten a little argument earlier that morning over something silly. And she and I both looked at each other and me at 16 years old, just turned and wasn't going to give her a hug. I'd turn and I walked the other way. And that's last time I saw my mom. You tell me what's your justification for taking these lives and doing this to these people that you don't even know. When I watched the videotape that had been taking from the crime scene,

I expected to see pictures of family talking, playing games, doing what family folks do. But as it turns out, there were the two suspects. I don't know. They were opening the family's Christmas presents. What is it? This is Bobcar. I remember thinking of the pure malice and hate that these men must have. What heartless jerks, why would you do this to our family?

The two men were in there early to mid-20s. Both spent time at Utah State Penitentiary. Vaughn Taylor. had been previously convicted of an aggravated burglary. What I gather is he was a normal kid, a very normal and decent family, but that at some point he got into some conflict with the law. I don't think I got all of this. I'm not aware of a violent history on Mr. Edward Daly.

He had been convicted of an arson. They'd been released from the penitentiary to a halfway house facility. So apparently they were done. given the ability to go out and look for employment. At that point, they just absconded. I later learned these men had hitchhiked their way up there and chose that area because one of the men had family that had a cabin in the area.

They'd robbed several cabins and eventually came to our cabin because they knew we were there. They wanted to find a way to get a vehicle and get out of the country. They waited for us all night long to return. This might appear to be a slam dunk case, to some folks, but from an investigator's point of view, it was very complicated and very complex.

Sure, it's not a whodunit. There's no question who committed the crimes, but being able to determine what criminal act each suspect committed, that was a challenge. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart starts pounding, horrors, hauntings, and mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me and Kailan Moore. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror and more.

So if you're looking to join a passionate community of The Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. Von Taylor and Ed Deli very much each took their own separate part in murdering my mom and Grams. I do not feel one man at any way she performed was more responsible. They were charged with the murders, the aggravated kidnapping, the arsons, the high-speed chase. I don't remember the exact number, but in addition to the murders, there were something like eight to ten felonies and some misdemeanors. I wanted them both to be sentenced to the death penalty.

I want both of them to know that they were going to die. Approximately five months after these crimes, Vaughn Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder, and the state dropped all of the other charges against him in exchange for that plea. I believe Taylor pled guilty to his crime because there was so much cold evidence against him that that was all that he could plea was guilty. Taylor was an evil man. he had no remorse, no regard for life whatsoever.

You could see it in his eyes, you could see it in his countenance. From the moment we saw him to the last time we saw him in court, he just had this air about him of anger and zero remorse. Taylor opted to go to sentencing in front of a jury instead of in front of a judge. The jury sentenced him to a death sentence for both murders. So he has two death sentences. I felt relieved that Taylor would be put to death for his crime.

Justice had been served. Short period of time after that, a couple of weeks, I believed, and Mr. Dele went to trial. We were as prepared, if not maybe even a little bit more prepared, to go into the Delhi trial as we were with the Vaughn-Taylor trial. I felt a great burden. I felt like they practically wanted me to be able to see the bullets coming out of the guns. That they expected me to point the exact gun in the direction of every bullet

and where it hit at any given moment. I actually just had a whole epiphany of new thoughts come to that, that I don't think that that was helpful for a victim to have to put a weapon that they watched their family murdered with to even have to touch it. What is the point? The weapons were already on the table. Why would I have to touch it? Those trials are somewhat of a blur to me.

I was 16 years old, and I wanted to go back and live that life I loved and not having to relive a nightmare. Della's lawyer argued that he didn't do any of the shooting. These men were guilty. They committed a crime. They need to be punished, and we needed to move on. Leney and Trish Teta were excellent witnesses. They were very sure about the things they had seen, and very articulate,

able to relate these very, very sensational things in an unemotional way. So they're extremely valuable witnesses. But we had another survivor of the case. Mr. Tita survived the assault and the attack. Incredible guy. I remember sitting and watching the look on Delly's face as he came in seeing my father, and it was very apparent to me that he did not know my father had survived. And the look on his face was just priceless.

Like he had been defeated. My dad survived. We won. He's lucky that they used the wrong gun. When they shot him, they used birdshot, very ineffective. They didn't know that. You know, I think his odds of having made it and survived an incident like that are probably one in a thousand. He was kind of an ace in the hole, and he brought the prosecution together in an outstanding way.

I expected Edward Dely to be convicted of first-degree murder. The case had been thoroughly investigated, and the prosecutor's office had done an excellent job. I heard the verdict came out second-degree murder with life imprisonment, and I never really understood that. I said, something's wrong. It can only be them that did this. How can he be not sentenced to death? Daly was not convicted of first-degree murder. He was convicted of second-degree murder, and a death sentence was no longer an option once that conviction came in. Edward Daly received second degree murder instead of first degree due to one jury member deciding to hold out. I felt like the courts did an injustice to our family.

I felt like that he deserved to be on death row as well, just like Taylor. Dely murdered, Taylor murdered. This was such a horrific experience for everybody here that I think we all, this. didn't know what to say or buried it inside to where we didn't talk about this a lot. I went through periods of anger and frustration and not understanding why. And for years and years that follow, I'd cry in silence. I spent a good 10 years hiding that pain and suppressing that pain. I went through trying to find happiness in areas where happiness doesn't exist.

I went through fear, fear of putting my heart out there, fear of loving someone or letting someone love me, that they would abandon me. I believe it was 2001. I received a letter from Delhi. I thought about it for many years and would go to write him a letter, and it just never felt right.

It took me over nine years to respond to Delhi's letter. I held on the letter, and I reread it probably 20, 30 times. I was just very careful and guarded with my feelings. I basically wanted to get a feel if he was truly sorry. Dely has shared with me that he has grown into a man, not the same evil boy that committed the crime. I believe that I gained my freedom back for myself by choosing to forgive Deli.

For me, forgiving does not mean forgetting. I do not believe Edward Deli has a place outside of prison, but when I came to the place of forgiveness, I felt a tremendous burden, relief off my shoulders. I felt free. Linnae is flawed perfection. Lena had been married a little over three years now. She's my best friend.

She's everything to me. There is something in her eyes that is just, it's like pure. And she's as flawed as the rest of us, but she has this innocence that still is there that I just love. Nathan changed my life by opening his heart and sharing his true self and giving me the freedom to do the same. I have four kids and five beautiful stepkids.

And I just feel like it's a beautiful start of a due beginning. For me to be a survivor has become a beautiful gift. I believe that I can share it with others. After the cabin had burnt, we went and rebuilt it and made it even better than it was before. I can remember my dad. He would say this to me quite often. He would say, Lennie, I know lightning strikes. He says, but lightning never strikes twice in the same location. And I would find great peace in that. Sometimes, if I ever would have fear, I would just hear my dad say, Linnae, you're going to be safe. It's fabulous. We love it there.

We need to do a hike before I go down. We actually go up there and enjoy family and friends. We play and we relax. We bond. They're not going to take away from us the things that we love and we enjoy in our life. They took our mom. They took our grams. But that's where it ends. The cabin's magical.

The cabin is healing. When my father was diagnosed with cancer, our whole family came together and that last six to eight weeks of his life were so absolutely incredible he pulled me aside

spent about an hour and hour and a half with me just me and him probably gave me one of the greatest compliments I had in my life and I'm still just a touch uneasy about it that he knew Lennay would be okay

and that he could go because he knew I would take care of her. When my father passed, it was very peaceful. I had the privilege of being right by his side as he took his last breath, and his spirit has never left me. Anytime I need my dad, he's there.

He comes in some of the most unique and special times. I very much still feel that my father is there. I have two beautiful little girls, and when I look into their eyes, I see both my mother and my father and everything that's loving and pure. I'm an awesome life. I love my life now. And I wouldn't say that the incident in 1990 defines me,

but I would say it's helped make me who I am today. Can you hear the wind blowing through the trees? Can you hear the wind when it's talking to the leaves? I think my sister would be absolutely delighted if she looked down to see the healing that Lanay and Trisha have gone through in what they've done with their lives. Let the wind blow. Let it tell you where to go. I feel very much so that this experience has changed me as a person. I choose that it's a part of who I am. It's my life story.

behind every door and if you let the wind blow what we experienced together that created a bond that obviously I couldn't have with anybody else and I'm glad that we were there together and I couldn't ask for more let the wind blow

let the wind blow just don't let the wind don't let it blow you down