48 Hours - Chasing Catherine Shelton (Part 1) - Encore

Episode Date: December 18, 2022

A journalist finds herself in a game of cat and mouse with a skilled former attorney dogged by mayhem and suspicions of murder. Why do bad things happen to the men in Catherine Shelton’s life? "48 Hours" contributor Jenna Jackson reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. For years, I've been tangled up in a bizarre game of cat and mouse with a woman named Catherine Shelton. Controversy has swirled around me for 25 years. She's a really, really smart woman.

She had a touch of genius and a touch of evil. Well, I wish I'd always been the perfect lady, but I don't know. It just didn't work out that way. Men just seemed to drop dead all around her. That's a lot of coincidences. I'm almost there. I'm not Luca Brasi from The Godfather. And I don't go around shooting people. My name is Jenna Jackson, and I'm a Texas girl. And a true crime journalist. Back in 2003, I covered the Shelton story for 48 hours. You remember her?

Yeah, I'm afraid I do. She tried to kill me. Catherine denies that, and I was hooked. Wow. There was a doctor, an ex-boyfriend, beaten to death in his garage. That was the garage. I think the homicide detectives looked like it was something pretty personal.

She says she had nothing to do with it. If you had to have a number one prime suspect, it's Catherine. A man named with Catherine in a lawsuit was found with a bullet in his head. Authorities said he was playing Russian roulette. And the whole Russian roulette thing just doesn't make sense. Playing Russian roulette by yourself. Right. I wouldn't buy that.

If you knew the guy, I wouldn't buy it. I'm not a vengeful person. She was a lot of fun when she wasn't trying to kill me. This ex-boyfriend says he's lucky to be alive. I opened the door and as I slowed down, yeah, that bitch shot me. She really, she shot me. There was a former client. This is where the case kind of goes from bad to weird. He turned up in Catherine's house, dead and naked. His death ruled an accident. I lead a dull life. The list goes on and on.

Probably some people say it's that Catherine, she's done it again. A husband and wife shot up in an ambush. And she screamed, shoot her, shoot her again. I know it was her. Katherine Shelton. Not me. I wasn't there. Her husband, Clint, is currently serving a life sentence for that crime.

Shelton, do you have anything to say? Was your wife involved in any way, sir? She has never been charged with murder. I've never killed anybody. And did I mention she was once a criminal defense attorney? She knows all of this forensic stuff. Seems to me Catherine enjoys all the intrigue and attention. And then she proceeds to snip a lock of her hair and hand it to me and say,

I think you're probably going to need this at some point. No way. What? For a DNA sample. That's a little cocky to me. After nearly 20 years of pursuing Catherine, she finally agreed to talk with me again, even though she once said...

She's like, I just wanted to let you know I seriously considered killing you, but I decided not to. I'm a little nervous. I may throw up, don't get that on camera. Am I crazy to do this? I have to admit, I'm really not sure what to think of Katherine. And why she would even agree to talk to me.

Maybe, just maybe, she feels guilty about something? You may have done some outlandish things to earn your rep. Well, there's a little more than I've been telling, of course, but... Thank you. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story

that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Hotshot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing

some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases. And this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access,

I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join join wondry plus in the wondry app apple podcast or spotify and listen to more exhibit c true crime shows early and ad free right now I've heard a lot of outrageous crime stories in my life, but nothing comes close to what's in these boxes. Assaults, arrests, trials, disbarments, records and documents from years of Catherine Mahaffey Shelton's wild and mysterious life. But this is also really the story of my obsession with Catherine. It all started more than 20 years ago.

I first met Catherine for a show I was producing for 48 Hours. A special 48 Hours mystery. On the controversy that has surrounded this defense attorney for decades. In the years since, I've met her a few more times. And it's always been the same. She's coy, even playful. But often, I leave feeling confused. I wonder if she's not the cat and I'm the mouse.

She's just batting around. I have done a few things, yes. I do admit that I've... Well, I've never stabbed anyone, all right? And I've never shot anyone with a shotgun. Is she guilty of anything, some things, or is this all a coincidence? I've decided I'm going to look into it all again and see if I can dig up any new information. The goal? To meet with her one last time and see if I can get some answers.

From the start, I knew I was going to need help. We have fraud, elder abuse, assaults, theft, tax evasion, fraud again, criminal mischief, shootings. It's not black and white, but as you can tell from all these pictures and different cases on your table, that's a lot of coincidences. That's Brian Behnken, a private investigator and now a defense attorney. We're going to keep an open mind, you know, no tunnel vision here. And Lisa Andrews, a former prosecutor.

They used to call her the ice queen. But let's be real here. There are a lot of coincidences. Both Brian and Lisa are consultants for 48 hours. Like almost everyone in Houston, they've heard a lot about Katherine Shelton. She's a legend around Harris County because I almost go back 40 years down at the courthouse and if you talk to any of the old prosecutors and defense attorneys from back in the day, they know all about Catherine. They all know her name. And they can tell you plenty of stories. Catherine Mahaffey Shelton began practicing law in the 70s.

She was intelligent. She was very witty. That's Gary Taylor. He was a newspaper reporter in Houston covering the courthouse. He got to know her pretty well. She was well-known around the courthouse. He got to know her pretty well. She was well known around the courthouse because of the reputation she had. She thought she was smarter than everybody else in the rest of the world. I knew that she was a tough, tough gal.

She decorated her home with stills from old Humphrey Bogart gangster movies. He's going to be a much bigger part of this story later on. But listen to some other memories of Catherine. I dare say probably the prettiest criminal defense lawyer in the Harris County courts. Lloyd Oliver is a longtime attorney and a well-known figure around the Harris County courthouse. She just had a vivacious personality,

just charmed everyone. I hadn't spoken to him in years, but we caught up with him recently, and he still had some crystal clear memories. She had beautiful blonde hair. She was shapely, and she attracted men. Lloyd and Catherine were friends. How did you not fall prey to her charms? We weren't involved romantically or physically.

The way you can tell that is I'm still here, I'm still around. We're having this conversation right now. Some of her relationships turned pretty ugly. When they said it was over, I remember her saying once, it ain't over till I say it's over. So if you're her boyfriend, you had to wait till she got ready to step away, apparently. Sometimes she'd just come unglued. And as I was about to hear, some say you didn't necessarily have to be romantically involved with Catherine to see that side of her.

Hello? Hi, is this Robert Pelton? Yeah, yes, ma'am. Hi, Robert. I'm here with Lisa Andrews and Brian Binkin. I know them both very well. They're both fine lawyers. They are. Well, they are helping me on a project

about Katherine Mahaffey Shelton. Oh, my God. You remember her? Yeah, I'm afraid I do. She tried to kill me when she was on trial, in trial. Wait. Which trial was she in? Wait, what?

I knew I had to meet with him in person, so I tracked him down. Robert Pelton is a defense attorney. I remember Catherine Mahaffey well. He says he was in the courthouse back in 1980 when Catherine apparently had a very bad day. A fellow attorney took Pelton aside. He said, Catherine said she's just taking sleeping pills or Valium. She's going to commit suicide. Will you take her in the hallway?

I said, okay. The hallway was, I mean, the door was right there. There was a very small courtroom. And all of a sudden, Catherine grabs my tie and pulls me in and opens the door. And the judge has got a pistol laying on his desk. And the window's open on the fourth story of the courthouse building. She says, you're going to die with me. And she grabbed me. And I think, OK, in my mind, I think I'm either going to get shot or fall dead from the fourth story of the courthouse building. Oh, my gosh. And, of course, I was hollering.

She was hollering. The bailiffs got the door open. I don't remember how. And got her. And, of course, I was scared to death. And strapped Catherine down, as I remember. Took her to the hospital on a stretcher. And come to find out, she had not taken sleeping pills.

Do you think she was serious that day? Was she trying to kill you? I don't. I would hate to think so. I think she had temporarily lost sight of her faculties. I think she was just scared and acting out. I'd hate to think she was trying to really do something bad to me, but I don't know. I mean, thank God, I never had to find out. bad to me, but I don't know. I mean, thank God, I never had to find out. Catherine admits she went to the hospital that day and had her stomach pumped, but denies the rest of Pelton's account and says she never tried to hurt him.

But that story was just one of the many swirling around her. And there were darker stories. Perhaps one of the darkest would involve an ex. And there were darker stories. Perhaps one of the darkest would involve an ex-boyfriend of Catherine's. This one was a pretty brutal one. Right up here through this gate. He had been found murdered in his garage. This is what we believe to be the first case linked to Catherine.

Oh, wow. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with

and the bolder risk-takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products.

Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. This is the location that I'm talking about right here. The first case linked to Catherine. Which garage was it? The second garage right here.

They find him beaten to death in that garage right there. I mean, severely beaten to death. The victim was a doctor, an anesthesiologist named George Tedesco. He and Catherine had once dated. It's a crazy, crazy murder, and it's still unsolved. Correct. And there's no statute of limitations. His Corvette was missing, but it didn't

look like a regular robbery. Homicide detectives looked like it was something pretty personal. There was actually a tire iron there similar to this that they believe was probably the weapon that was used. He suffered major, several skull fractures and hematoma. You know, he bled out from the beating that he took. These are some of the crime scene photos from that location.

Looking at the crime scene photos, I understood why it looked personal. But why couldn't it be just a robbery that may have turned violent? After all, his car was missing. He still had jewelry on him. His wallet was still on him. You know, things of that nature that a person who's robbing you would probably take. The other thing interesting about a scene when people typically, oftentimes when they're found dead in their garage, it's because it's somebody that knows that they're going to be there at a particular time.

The timing of Tedesco's murder was also curious. Wasn't he supposed to show up in court for the lawsuit that Catherine filed against him, claiming they were married, and then he was a no-show on the day of trial? Tedesco was discovered murdered the day he was supposed to go to court in a dispute with Catherine. discovered murdered the day he was supposed to go to court in a dispute with Catherine. Detectives discovered that Catherine and Dr. Tedesco had been fighting for months. Catherine sued him for half his assets, claiming they were common-law married. She said they had been together for a little over a year, but an investigator for Tedesco's family says they had only dated three or four months. The whole thing turned very ugly,

with Tedesco alleging that Catherine made threatening phone calls, stalked him, and even committed burglary. There seems to be a lot of rage in this crime, and so you might wonder, okay, was she strong enough to do this? Was she still angry enough at him to do this? Good questions, and we'll come back to this case in a second. But first, it's worth talking about the kind of trouble Catherine had with another boyfriend once they broke up. It was God-awful. It was God-awful.

It's the worst thing I've ever been through. This is a lawyer named Ferris Bond. We talked with him when I was first reporting this story. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I wouldn't even wish it on her. They dated in the 70s, and he says things started out fine. She was a very pretty, petite, little blonde girl, and she was available. We actually dated probably a period of months. But Bond says after he saw her get into a fight with her roommate, he decided to get out. It became clear to me that she had some violent tendencies,

and I should try and get away from her. But he said with Catherine, breaking up was hard to do. Probably the worst thing was burning my apartment, all my possessions. I stole my automobile, shot at me with a shotgun. No charges were ever filed against Catherine. When we spoke to her back then, she denied those allegations and didn't really want to talk about Ferris Bond. But she did admit she may be too much for some men to handle. There are some sorts of men who are really, really offended by me. I think it's my propensity to probably say exactly what I think to them at a certain point

when I just can't hold it in any longer. at a certain point when I just can't hold it in any longer. To get away from her, Ferris Bond told us he joined the Marines. Frankly, I didn't think that there was any way she'd follow me into the Marine Corps. With that story in mind, we took a closer look at that Tedesco murder case and started digging a little deeper. We found out that after Dr. Tedesco was murdered, things got stranger fast. For starters, Catherine broke into the crime scene,

claiming that she was retrieving some property that belonged to her. After they found Tedesco's body, Catherine and an attorney that was representing her at the time. They actually get a locksmith. They go into his townhouse. An attorney went with her to do that?

An attorney went with her. She has an uncanny way of getting other folks, talking other folks into doing her bidding for her. And I'm no exception to the rules. That attorney was Lloyd Oliver. She talked, okay, let's go do it. So we went over there and I walked, she couldn't get in. She called the locksmith. He lets us in. I mean, that didn't raise any flags to you? I don't know.

In a deposition later, Catherine admitted she took, amongst other things, a TV, pottery, $140 in cash, her driver's license, and an antique sword. And what would ever make her think that that was a smart thing to do, to go in there and remove property when a lot of people are going to think that it's a financial motive to begin with. She's already trying to claim that she's the common-law wife when everybody apparently in his family and said no they're not even close. He was just beaten to death. He's just beaten to death. I just thought it was my stuff, I'm taking it. She just does what she wants to do, right? She does what she wants to do and doesn't damn the consequences. In that same deposition, Catherine claimed that Tedesco was involved in some illegal activity and was allegedly violent with her. But when we asked her about Tedesco back then, she didn't want to talk about him.

All right, so I have to question if she's upset about him being killed. She wasn't in blubbering tears. I mean, she wasn't that upset. Okay. She still had her wits about her. All right. And Catherine's wits are pretty sharp. There were many lingering questions about the case,

and for some, red flags. The DA's office apparently thought there were red flags too, so they decided to secretly record some of Catherine's phone calls. Her anger at yet another ex-boyfriend was captured on tape. Just calm down. I've got to beg for my mercy. He's hurting me. I've done nothing.

I'm trying to get away. We'll leave him alone. Ask me for mercy. So I promised we'd get back to Gary Taylor. Remember him? He was the Houston newspaper reporter who covered the courthouse and Catherine. He first met her in 1979 after her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Tedesco, was murdered. She was a hot item at the courthouse. She was intriguing because of the mystery of her past and the danger,

the danger that seemed to be lurking underneath. Gary says he was intrigued, and that intrigue turned into something else. His relationship with her started because he was covering the Tedesco case, trying to get a story. So, like many of the men in her life back at that time, they started dating and having an affair. And, you know, lines were blurred, I think, a little bit. It does seem like it was like party all the time back then. I mean, not that it's tame now at the Harris County Courthouse, but in the 70s, it's like all these wild parties. It was a different atmosphere back then. Yeah, totally.

Yeah. Gary was not shy about the details of this torrid affair. He says our roadmap to the bedroom was marked in scarlet letters from the moment we met. Taylor even wrote a book about that time in his life. Listen to this. She also had the hard look of a bad girl and that played to my weakness. A menace? She just looked like fun to me. I was looking for a little excitement in my life and she certainly delivered in that category. I talked with Gary Taylor about this years ago. We had a sexual relationship that went on for about four weeks, and then I spent about three months trying to disengage from that relationship. Catherine, by the way, disagrees with

all of that. She doesn't even admit that they dated. I don't consider him a relationship or anything. He's nothing. For a couple of months he followed me around and went to court, followed me there. Taylor told me Katherine came with some very sharp edges. She's very abrasive, very aggressive, and she can walk into a room and have people arguing with her in a matter of minutes she has a temper that that comes out and she can't always control it you know Tedesco's name was always coming up I heard her say this to several people you better do what I say you know what happened to George you know about George but Taylor says he really saw a scary side of her when he told her it was over.

One night, after I had told her we were going to have to break up, I saw her tear up a suitcase, and she tore it all to smithereens. The association, such as it was, was broken off with some verbal acrimony. Taylor says she once even put a pistol on her bedside table. He thinks just to remind him who was boss. With trouble now brewing between Taylor and Catherine, Taylor went to his friends in the DA's office. They were still investigating Tedesco's unsolved murder.

It was suggested that he and his roommate could secretly record Catherine on the telephone. But when Catherine found out that Taylor was working with the DA, let's just say she wasn't pleased. Taylor's roommate called her and got her reaction on tape. And you guys haven't heard this. No, we've been dying to hear this. So I'll just play a couple seconds of this for you. He doesn't need to make a fool of me, for God's sake.

I've never killed anybody in my life. I've never really wanted to. But he's doing so much to me. Do you understand? He better stop. Now. He's got to to me! Do you understand? He better stop! Now! He's got to beg for my honesty! That stresses me out.

And my understanding is, back then, the friend of Gary's who recorded this played it in the press room for all the reporters, and she found out. So her anger at Gary was escalating. I didn't know how much violence would come down on me, but she had told me that I had entered, she was very dramatic, overly dramatic.

She liked to tell me that I had entered the arena of death. I think it made her angry so mad because in early January of 1980, she actually shows up at the press room where Gary works with other reporters. And my understanding just went crazy there and started throwing stuff around. Taylor says Catherine started stalking him, following him on a date with another woman, approaching and scaring off another. Catherine, however, says that's not true,

and he was the one pursuing her. I don't think anything about him at all, except why doesn't he get a life? But then Taylor says there was a burglary at his home, and that would lead to what he said was attempted murder. She was holding the gun on me in a police position with both hands. I just threw the door open. I came at her with the chair.

She fired one round. What do you think of Catherine Shelton's explanations? Take an in-depth look at the timeline of events at 48hours.com. This is where the next drama connected to Catherine happened, on a leafy street near downtown Houston. You guys know Gary Taylor is one of the men in Catherine's life over, you know, over the years. So it's my understanding. So at some part, you know, Gary and her relationship start going south. Gary Taylor says after he and Catherine ended things, someone broke into his apartment and stole some of his stuff. Catherine did not admit responsibility for the burglary,

but Taylor says she did offer to help get his belongings back. A few years ago, Taylor told us about that night. She insisted that I come over to her place and that she would have the stolen goods delivered over there. When he got there, he says Catherine told him there was something for him in the bedroom closet. Taylor walked us through what he says happened next.

Yeah, she had told me that there was something for me in the closet. So I went back, I looked in the closet, and it was empty. I went in to make sure. As soon as I got in the closet, the lights went out. I heard her coming down the hall, and I heard a gun cock. She stepped into the bedroom, and she backed up against a wall, and she took a policeman's position like this with the pistol, pointed at the closet. It looked like she was going to use it.

She took a position across from me where I could use the door as a shield and I could still peek out through the jam here and watch her. Now she looked different than I'd ever seen her. This was a new Catherine. She had a, there was like a hazy look in her eye, like she was in a far-off place.

I had the door between us, and she started talking to me. I remember she said, you know, don't worry about the next life because there isn't one. Yeah, I mean, I thought, yeah, she's for real. And I tried to formulate a plan in my mind as to how to get out of here. There was a chair by the door. She looked down at the gun or something, and that's when I made my move. I just threw the door open. I came at her with a chair, like a lion tamer or something.

She fired one round through the chair. I was vaguely aware of a bullet coming through the chair, and what I found out later was she fired off a round, the bullet came through the chair and nicked me right above the ear, right here. And I threw the chair at her. I ran down the hallway. When I got to the door, I stopped, I clicked the deadbolt, I opened the chair at her. I ran down the hallway. When I got to the door, I stopped. I clicked the deadbolt.

I opened the door, and that's when I felt the shot in the back. I was laying face down on the grass outside of her place. That bitch shot me. She really, she shot me. Taylor says he went to a nearby store and someone there called 911. And they loaded me in the ambulance and I guess they figured I was getting ready to die or something because they said, tell us who shot you, tell us who shot you.

And I said, Catherine Mahaffey, Catherine Mahaffey. Taylor says he almost died that night, that the bullet came within a centimeter of his heart. If she wanted me out of there, I was running down the hallway on my way out. She should have said, adios, you know, but instead she shot me in the back. So I've got to believe that one and one equals two. The cops arrested Catherine.

She told police that night that she was just protecting herself, that it was all self-defense. There were a lot of facts that weren't favorable to her, like he was shot in the back. They have to explain, you know, why this was self-defense, but yet the victim is shot in the back.

That gets kind of tricky to explain, and it gets hard to explain very credibly. Although Catherine wouldn't share the specifics about what happened that night with us back then, she did seem to put the blame squarely on Gary Taylor. I mean, if somebody had shot at me in their own home, which is really a violation of hospitality, I'd wonder a violation of hospitality, I'd wonder what kind of a guest I was to merit that kind of behavior. For the first time, Catherine was facing a serious charge, attempted murder. And then things in Catherine's life got more complicated.

As if the Gary Taylor shooting wasn't enough, a few months later, another man linked to Catherine turns up dead. His name, Tommy Bell. So many connections. That's crazy. The Tedesco, Gary Taylor, Tommy Bell, all of those cases are very intertwined. You really have to pull the threads on all of those cases to make them all make sense. Yeah, for sure.

Tommy Bell. It was a name I'd come across before, but I had no idea. I was about to discover some new clues about his very strange death. In early 1980, back at the courthouse in Houston, Catherine went on trial. Okay, so she goes to trial pretty quickly on the Gary Taylor shooting, right? Yeah, the shooting happens in January and they go

to the first trial in April of that same year, which is pretty quick. She admitted she shot Gary Taylor but maintained that it was self-defense. And what happened? How'd that go? Good for Catherine because it was a hung jury, seven to five, seven for guilty, five for not guilty. And I'm told that it was split along gender lines. The men went with Gary Taylor and the women went with Catherine. At her second trial, she claimed Taylor had confronted her with a gun. She was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years. But she never served one day.

Her conviction was overturned on appeal and rather than go through a third trial, she agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault and got probation. Catherine was temporarily barred from practicing law. Taylor says it didn't matter to him that she didn't go to prison. I actually thought she would be in more agony if she couldn't practice law, because she reveled in this. Catherine didn't care to elaborate on any of it. I just can't think of anything to add to it that would make it anything more than it is, which was an unfortunate incident, certainly.

And I'm glad no one was killed, including me. So I'll leave it at that. But she did share another opinion on Gary Taylor. I think of an oyster, just a gray, formless substance, shiny, but not with polish. When we asked Catherine why she always seemed to be in the middle of a brewing storm, she had this to say. seemed to be in the middle of a brewing storm, she had this to say. I'm in the middle of life, and I'm supposed to work through this and work these things out, do the best I can.

It's not for me to reason why. But I would wonder why when I learned about another death, this second one that had a link to Catherine. Remember Dr. Tedesco? He's the ex-boyfriend who turned up beaten to death in his garage. A year before his murder, someone broke into his house. They stole some guns and art. A short time later, a man named Tommy Bell was arrested. Tom Bell was arrested in New Jersey in possession of a number of these items,

including some firearms that had serial numbers. That's Kent Ferguson. He's a former FBI agent turned private investigator. And they belong to George Tedesco. Then, after Tedesco was found murdered, Tommy Bell came into the picture again. This time, police wanted to talk with him, because they thought he might be connected with the crime. Ferguson says Bell actually knew Tedesco. And as it turns out, Bell was once a client of Catherine's. When the police wanted to talk to Tom Bell about the murder of George Tedesco, she said that he couldn't, she was not going to allow her client to speak.

Catherine denies that Bell was a client of hers at that time. Tedesco's family, however, didn't wait for the criminal investigation to be over. They filed a wrongful death suit against both Catherine and Tommy Bell. They accused both of them of conspiring to kill the doctor. But the lawsuit never made it to trial, and neither did Tommy Bell. So fast forward a very short amount of time. Tom Bell is found dead. Roommate said he was in there in his room by himself playing Russian roulette.

Shot himself in the head. You don't play Russian roulette by yourself. That was my first thought. Exactly. But while I was looking through the police files on the case, I discovered something new. So there are some investigator's notes that say the roommate, the one witness in the apartment to Belle's Russian roulette death, his fingerprints were actually on the gun that killed Belle.

Oh, wow. Right? So we tracked down this investigator. He confirmed all of this. He remembers it all. So when they found the roommate's fingerprints on the gun, was he questioned, I assume? Yes.

And he said, you know, when he heard the shot, he ran into the room, Tom Bell, his roommate, on the ground, and he moved the gun out of the way. So that's why his fingerprints were on there. And wait, there was more, according to the investigator I spoke to. He claims the roommate had been dating Catherine. He told me how he found out about it.

He asked the roommate if he knew Catherine. And the guy goes, it's the weirdest story. There's this, you know, one night I'm on my way home, you know, several months back. And there's this little Mercedes by the side of the road, flat tire. So I stopped to help her. And her name was Catherine. And we started dating. We, you know, hit it off that night and we started dating.

And I'm like, what? I mean. That's nuts. Another coincidence. That none of us knew until right now. I mean, this investigator knew it. He said, unfortunately, while they thought that was a pretty clear connection to all this craziness, they had no real evidence to go forward with.

Catherine told me she didn't even know the roommate. Neither of them were implicated in Belle's death. In the end, it was just another curious, unsettling situation. It's been a wild ride. A beating death, a shooting, a tape that some say sounds like The Exorcist, He's got to beg for my ass, baby. An odd Russian roulette death.

And one woman with links to it all. A woman who seems to enjoy the intrigue surrounding her and baiting me in particular. She once even offered me a sample of her hair for DNA. What? Katherine Shelton hair. In case I wanted to compare it to something. When you get to know me, you realize I don't have any interesting,

bizarre, glittering life. Nothing. Nothing. Here it is. This is it. Believe you me, if there was anything going on, I'd know about it. I mean, my biggest thing around here is that I've got this bad cat. I mean, maybe she didn't do any of it.

But the reason we and law enforcement officers in Houston and Dallas over 40 years can't connect her is maybe she didn't do it. It's possible. In the years to come, Catherine's conviction for shooting Gary Taylor would be set aside. But she would be linked to three more deaths. A young man discovered dead and naked in one of her homes. Another man shot dead in his driveway. His wife, a witness, claims Catherine was involved.

And I knew it was her. I knew it was her. Catherine Shelton. Not me. I wasn't there. And yet another man died while he was staying with her. Come with me as I meet up with Catherine again after many years. Why am I doing this? Katherine once admitted she considered killing me. Was she joking? Did she mean it? We'll see how she is today. I'm a little nervous.

I may throw up. Don't get that on camera. Will she finally put to rest all the questions about her. Men around her have died from unnatural causes. For the record, I've never killed anybody. A journalist's obsession. Do you have anything to confess? Inside a years-long game of cat and mouse.

48 hours, next on CBS. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.