48 Hours - The Puppet Master

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

In October 1997, newlyweds Heather and John Grossman were targeted in a drive-by shooting. They both survived but a bullet severed Heather’s spinal cord, paralyzing her from the neck down.  Heather was immediately certain that ex-husband, Ron Samuels, was behind the attack. “48 Hours" Correspondent Troy Roberts reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 5/24/2008. 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

Do you have an emergency? Yes, we do. We have people with injuries. Oh my God, she's some. We have come. We're on the way. Even though the shooting happened nine years ago, it seems like it happened yesterday.

He said, do you want to make some good money? Around 20,000, make it look like a robbery. I thought we could get away with it. On that day, the weather was beautiful. was beautiful and warm. Heather and John Grossman were having a normal day. We were driving a black Lincoln Continental. My husband, John, was driving.

And I was in the passenger front seat. And John and I were on our way to lunch. Slum's driving. And he's telling Runyon what to do. I'm in the back seat. And Runyon is sitting in the back seat with a rifle. I remember going down federal highway. And they were about.

out to stop at one place, and then they decided on another place, they made a U-turn. So John and I turned around. We followed them. Come up to a red light. I remember coming up to a stoplight. They're in one lane. We're in the lane right next to him on the left.

I reached down to get something out of my briefcase. Roger Runyon took out a long rifle. Something's like, do it, do it, do it, do it. And I came up and. I stuck. I stuck the weapon out the window and I shot into the back window. I felt the bullet penetrate. She disappears.

I remember my body's shaking. Then Slim pulled up next to the car. Fired another shot and winged John Grossman in the cheek. My name is Alan Johnson. I'm Chief Assistant State Attorney, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. Roger Runyon was the shooter. I attempted to kill people for money. Roger Runyon was one of the puppets.

I'll go to hell. Roger Runyon is the man that shot me. I ruined her life. I ruined her kid's life. I don't hold hatred towards him. Roger Runyon is not on trial. We want the mastermind. The man that paid him to shoot.

The mastermind of the crime. He finally got me. He put me in my wheelchair. The puppet master is responsible for the actions of the puppets. The puppet master. Tonight's 48 hours mystery. Yamato and federal southeast corner reference to shooting two victims.

First we have a real loud bang. About 10 seconds after that, we heard another loud bang. I've got one person shot in a black Lincoln. Also white males sitting on the floor of the vehicle holding his face. The first report on that October day in 1997 was that a woman had been killed in a drive-by shooting. It's right in there. She's dead. I remember tears

crawling down the sides of my cheek. I'm feeling so scared. The bullet that struck then 31-year-old Heather Grossman ripped a fist-sized hole in her neck, severing her spinal cord. Got her husband's outside of the car. He's shot in the face, bleeding everywhere. The bullet that struck her husband, John Grossman,

then 47, only grazed him. But Heather's life was forever, changed. They explained what had happened and that I was going to be paralyzed from the neck down, and I was going to be a quadriplegic. It pains me to see her a crippled and helpless in that chair. Ron Samuels rushed to the scene. He was Heather's first husband and father of their three children.

I was under the impression that these people were shot and killed. police were there. I said, that's my ex-wife, I think. I want to know, were there three children in the car? It was that time of the day when my three kids could have been with them. The welfare of the children had always been a contentious issue in a messy custody battle, a far cry from the happier times the couple enjoyed when they met a decade earlier. Ron met Heather when she was working as a flight attendant. She was prettier than anything. movie star in Hollywood. Samuels, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, fell hard for the former high school cheerleader from Minnesota. I was the only first-class

passenger on the way back from Oregon. I just talked to him a little bit. He was just a passenger. And I said, Dor, you either come home with me now or I'll see you in the movies. He was very persistent. Soon after that flight, they moved in together. What were your impressions of him? He could charm people. They lived in Pensacola, Florida, where Samuels owned a successful car dealership. At the height, what was your net worth? In excess of $30 million. 30 million. That's right. Was he very generous? Yes, he was very generous. You spoiled your wife. I enjoyed it. We took very lavish. We took very lavish, trips. We won everywhere in the world on private jets too.

After living together for several years, in December of 1988, Heather and Ron were married. Their son Ronnie was born shortly afterwards. Two years later, they had twins Lauren and Joe. I sing the Miami Dolphin Pipe song. Miami Dolphins number one. What do you think of that? I had three beautiful children. She was an excellent mother. She was always with the children.

Ben and Helen Bentfeld were good friends. I thought they were getting along beautifully, didn't you? I thought everything was going along great. But if it all seemed perfect, behind the scenes, the marriage was beginning to crumble. I was 18 or 18 and a half years older than Heather was. He became controlling and rude. and scary and intimidating. I expected her to understand that to live the lifestyle

that she wanted, that somebody had to pay the bill. Did your arguments turn violent? Yes, they became violent. How? When I wanted to leave him, he held a gun to my head. Did you ever put a gun to her head? Never. I was terrified of him and I said, I'm out of here.

Heather fled with the children to her parents' home in Minnesota and filed for divorce. When I left him and divorced him, he said, you know, you will pay. Did you say to Heather, if you leave me, you're going to pay? Not that I recall ever saying that. Heather moved on and began dating John Grossman, a son of a business tycoon who was part owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team. Vikings football team. I had a wonderful relationship with John Grossman, and we were in love, and everything was

really pretty much perfect. You weren't jealous of him. No, I wasn't jealous of John Grossman. We were happy. We were starting on our lives, despite all the torture in the background of Ron Samuels. Samuels hired a succession of lawyers to fight Heather over. custody of the children and child support payments. The court ordered you to pay $3,000 a month in child support.

Is that right? You refused to pay. Altogether you spent $650,000. $665,000. In legal fees to fight this. That's correct. He didn't want shared custody. He wanted custody of the children full time all the time without me having any contact.

with them. Samuels also moved on, marrying Debbie Love, a legal secretary in the firm that represented him in his divorce. Debbie and Samuels, who always struggled with his weight, saw his children often during scheduled visitations. It was during one of those visits, Samuel says his children told him that John Grossman was mistreating them. You're a cowardly, motherless son of a bitch.

Samuel confronted Grossman on the phone. That's not very nice. No, what are you? No, I want to see. No, I tell about what you put your hands on the children. You know that's right. All three of them here told me differently. We're getting calls at night and we're getting death threats.

But was Samuel's capable of carrying out those threats? If you want to know, would I have killed John Grossman? Had I had the opportunity, I definitely would have. And what about Heather? I would never do that to the lady that I watch give birth to my three children. There's no reason in the world for that. After our five-year relationship, Heather married John Grossman in June of 1997 and moved back to Florida. This was a happy time for you.

Yes, a very happy time. But their happiness was overshadowed by their fear of Heather's first husband, Ron Samuels, who had accused Grossman of abusing his children. Were you hurt when Heather married John Grossman? Not particularly. What were your impressions of him? I don't think I could say that on camera. Go ahead, try.

He was a rotten, despicable. because of Samuel's unpredictable and volatile behavior Heather and John chose to keep their wedding location a secret that's how afraid I was of him just four months later while driving to a lunch date Heather and John were gunned down there was no doubt in the moment I was shot I knew Ron Samuels was responsible How are you so confident? How are you so sure? Because when I left him, he said that he would destroy me, that he would kill me.

Samuel's vehemently denies having anything to do with the shooting. The one question I have is if I didn't do it, who did and why? I have that question too. And he has a theory. I think John Grossman had a motive to want to get rid of Heather for many, many reasons. But the biggest one is because I was a pain in his ass, and I had just enough money to be that pain. So you're suggesting that John Grossman staged this shooting. He was injured, though, in the shooting.

He was shot. It doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think that was intentional. He shot somebody in a car twice with a rifle out the window. But the evidence the investigators were gathering told a very different story. It began with a great lead, a detailed description of the hitman's car. It's a teal-colored Thunderbird, a newer model, including the license plate. B-I-X-30I.

The car was registered to an insurance salesman named, Hugh Estes. At the time, Estes was a self-admitted crack addict. A lot of money. I got hooked into cocaine and other drugs, and boy, it'll empty your wallet fast. Investigators put the squeeze on Estes who told them all about the plan. He coughed up the names of the two men in the T-Burb. A crack dealer and pimp named Eddie Slim Stafford was the driver. Another peck. criminal Roger Runyon was the shooter. Still another man, Jeff Pollack, was not involved in drugs, but was at meetings where Samuels allegedly discussed the murder plans. He said I want her dead. The motive? Money. It was, you know, hey, here's 10 grand. Do something for me. Yeah, sure, thanks a lot, sucker,

you know, take the money and run. But who was paying? Ron Samuels gave the instructions to Hugh Estes and to Jeff Pollock. Assistant State Attorney Al Johnson. What were the instructions? Get me somebody to kill my ex-wife. Ron, did you hire these men to kill your ex-wife? Troy, I'm from Brooklyn, New York. If I wanted to pay somebody to do this,

I'd have gone to New York, and the professionals would have come there, and no, I didn't want to do that, and no, I didn't want to do that. And no, I did not pay anybody. Ronald Samuels was the puppet master. But could this bizarre conspiracy story hold up in court? Investigators had no direct evidence linking Samuels to the crime,

but they believed he had a powerful motive. The costly custody fight that could see him lose his children. A fight, Samuels was determined to win. What do the children mean to you? I was willing to swap my life. life for theirs. And he was willing to put his children right in the middle of the fight. Come on over here and let's just have a seat.

To document his claims that John Grossman was abusing the children, he had them examined by a psychologist. If you've done something wrong at your house when you're at your mom, what happens? I get spanked. And who does spanking? It's usually John and grandpa and grandma. Little Ronnie was just six years old when he accused John Grossman and Heather's parents of harming him. I said to them, you guys understand these are very serious things you're saying?

Very serious. We promised Daddy it's the truth. We don't want to go back there. Did you ever see John Grossman mistreat your children? No. Did you ever see your parents mistreat your children? Oh, no, not at all. Did you coach your children to lie about the child abuse allegation?

I would never do that. Never. In order to gain the upper hand, it's my belief that Ronald Samuels would call and make these child abuse accusations. They were investigated by the police in Minnesota. They were investigated by the police in Boca Raton. They were found to be unfounded. The claims of child abuse were rejected by a Florida judge.

And Heather was awarded permanent custody of the children. Yeah, that was eight days before I was shot. While investigators were convinced Samuels was the mastermind behind the attempted murders. They felt they just didn't have enough evidence to bring a case against him. The key was getting the alleged co-conspirators to cooperate. But at what cost? It wasn't an easy decision for anybody, but the decision was made, and it was the right decision. The decision was to make a controversial and highly unusual deal.

In exchange for truthful testimony about Samuel's lead role in the conspiracy, complete immunity from prosecution for everyone involved, everyone that is, except for Ron Samuels. In a perfect world, all five. would have done prison time for this. We live in a world of choices and we make the best choice we can. There was no question that we had to make the immunity deal. It was 100% the right thing to do.

The key person to get was Ron Samuels. With a deal made, the investigators were ready to make a move. But before Ron Samuels could be arrested, one, two, three, four, He was gone. Five months after the shooting and just days before he was to be arrested, Ron Samuels was on the run. U.S. Attorney's Office called me and said Larry Samuels didn't show up. We think he's a fugitive. Now retired FBI agent Larry Dasz tracked Samuels to Monterey Mexico, a sprawling city about 200 miles south of the border.

Why did you go to Mexico? The reason that I won. was to eventually bring the three kids there. Legally or illegally, I was going to do it. On the 20th of May 1998, he's now calling from Mexico using a credit card. Can you get the car and meet me somewhere with it safe? On the other end of the line was someone Samuels trusted, his second wife, Debbie Love. Debbie was the only one knew I was in Monterey and what hotel I was at.

Little did Samuels know that Debbie was cooperating with Florida police and allowed them to tap her phone. Debbie, if I can get out of this, I'll straighten our lives out. Oh, not with me, you won't. The Mexican authorities working with the FBI were following Samuel's every move. And as they closed in, he became more desperate. I'm begging you, please. A short time after the surveillance started, he realizes that he's being followed. A high speed chase ensues.

The car gets wrecked. And when they arrest him, an inventory is car. He has six kilograms of cocaine. You were found with six kilos of cocaine. That's what the report said. Not true? Not true. Ron Samuels would serve five years in a Mexican prison for narcotics trafficking,

and his second wife Debbie would divorce him. How does one man have so much bad luck? Some might say I brought it on myself. Did you? I must have been a very bad judge of two women. But amazingly, even behind bars, Samuels found romance. Ron, I want to tell you that I love you. when he had a chance encounter with Elizabeth Pastrana.

I met him when I had a clothing business and I took clothes to the poor at the jail. Three years later, while Samuels was still in prison, Elizabeth became wife number three. He said, do you want to marry me, Elizabeth? And then I said, yes, my love, I want to marry you. To this day, even in light of the charges against him, Elizabeth remains loyal to Samuels. I believe in him. I believe in his innocence. While Samuels was serving out his sentence in Mexico, John Grossman, Heather, and her children moved to Arizona. Okay, hold my legs, honey.

Not long after she was shot, Heather says, John became increasingly abusive, both physically and emotionally. I truly believe John can handle it. And his anger and his rage just took over. In 2003, they divorced. Two years later, John died of a massive heart attack. I forgive him, and I can understand it now. You forgive your second husband, John Grossman, for his abusive behavior.

Do you forgive Ron Samuels? I forgive Ron Samuels, but I am afraid of him still. Ron Samuels was extradited from Mexico and returned to Florida to stand trial here in West Palm Beach on two counts of attempted murder. The co-conspirators under the grant of immunity are scheduled to testify about their role in the plot to kill Heather and her second husband, John Grossman.

He's in good hands, don't worry. Heather makes the long trip across country from Arizona to Florida to testify. Constitutional Airlines 1st,830 would not stop service to West Pole Beach, Florida. She needs to confront the man she believes has caused her so much pain. I have to understand somehow how the individual

that I love so much could have done this to me. It's been nine years since that fateful day. Prosecutor Al Johnson. Heather Grossman woke up today, a quadriplegic. The defendant did that to her. No, he didn't pull the trigger. He wasn't the henchman. He was too clever for that.

Mr. Samuels is saying that I did not commit the crimes that the state is alleging, that I am not guilty. Defense attorneys Ned Reagan and Alex Brumfield planned to attack the credibility of the co-conspirators. Are all of these men liars? I would say yes. So your position is that this immunity deal gave them a license to lie. That's exactly it.

Why would these guys want to harm this woman? Why would they want to execute Heather Grossman? What would be their motive? I don't know what their motive was. On October 14, 1997, did you shoot Heather and John Grossman? Yes, I did. Who was the primary? target that day? She was. Triggerman Roger Runyon's testimony makes Samuels explode.

I'll meet you in hell, you son of a bitch. I'll find you one way or the other. I'm sorry. You will not. Listen to me. Close your mouth. Mr. Samuel stop talking. That cowardly son of a bitch shot my ex-wife in the back of the head. That's why I was angry in the court that. After order is restored, one by one, the other alleged co-conspirators take the stand to testify. Eddie Stafford, the drug dealer in Pimp, who was driving the car, says Samuels talked often about killing Heather. What kind of terms did he use? He wanted to kill that bitch. Jeff Pollack, who worked odd jobs for Samuels, says he was at a meeting where Samuels gave the orders to kill Heather.

When Ron mentioned he wants his ex-wife taken care of, he made a motion of a gun in his hand. So he said the exact words I want her taken care of? Yes. And then he would make a motion, what kind of motion are you... Like a gun. Hugh Estes, the old friend of Samuels, who says he arranged it all. Did there come a time when you provided him somebody that might do this for him? Yes.

Did Ronald Samuels want Heather dead? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You said he wanted his wife, whacked? Are those the words he used? Yes, those exact words. The testimony seems to put all the elements of the conspiracy in place. I think that you could get anybody to say anything

if they think they're not going to go to jail for whatever it is they have pending. But there's no getting around phone records. The prosecution says links Samuels to Estes and Stafford. The linchpin of our case was corroboration through the phone records. And the phone calls ceased after the shooting. Pretty much. After our marriage, Ron immediately changed.

Debbie Love, Ron Samuel's second wife, tells the jurors she was afraid of Samuels. I was fearful of Ron. He's very forceful. He's very domineering, dominating, and controlling. And then she makes the prosecution's day. What terms would he use when he was describing Heather? That she was a gold digger, that she took his money.

Did the defendant ever indicate that he wished ill of heaven? Yes, he did. In what manner, what words did he say? That bitch should be dead. Wish she was dead. She needs to be dead. Somebody needs to kill the bitch. We need to get rid of her.

Deborah is a liar. Everyone's telling the same story of rage and revenge and murder for hire. Everyone, that is, except Ron Samuels. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart starts pounding, horrors, hauntings, and mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen 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. Boy, I'm too nervous. I wish I would have eaten breakfast. So, Heather, what do you want the jewelry to understand? I want them to understand how hard. and difficult my life is every day.

Heather Grossman is about to confront the man she believes was behind the plot to kill her. Oh, Cole, I might have to look away because he still scares me. Just knowing that he's there is eerie enough. Your son is testifying today. Are you worried for him? Yes, I am.

This is going to be very hard. moment in his life. Ronnie, 17, is called to testify about the decade-old allegations of child abuse against his stepfather, John Grossman. The things that you told the social services or children's services persons about the abuse, was that the truth or was it a lie? No, ma'am, it was a lie. A lie that his father, Ronnie says, convinced him to tell. Did Ronald Samuels tell you the reason why he wanted you to make these allegations? Yes, he wanted, you know, to take me away from my mom and John.

Were you afraid not to do what he asked you to do? Yes. He was six foot six. He's a very big guy. And at times did that frighten you? Yes, ma'am. He's just got a very deep voice that's very intimidating. I mean, you know, it scared us when we were younger. Your own son says that you manipulated him into telling these lies. What would you expect my child to say after 10 years of being told his dad did that to his mom

and seeing his mom suffer every day of her life in that chair? And now, finally, it's Heather Grossman. And now, finally, it's Heather's most. moment of truth. I'm not scared of him like I was before. I was afraid to see him at first, but he doesn't look intimidating now. I somewhat feel sorry for him that he chose to do what he did, and it's really messed of his life.

The problems you are experiencing with Mr. Samuels, did they intensify in the latter part of 1996 and into 1997? Yes, they kept getting worse. What was Mr. Samuel's demeanor like when he would pick up or drop off the children? Very loud, threatening, very pushy. Did your children either Ronnie, Joseph, or Lauren, ever complain to you about Johnny Grossman's treatment of them? No. Then, the courtroom is hushed, as Heather recalls.

the very moment she was shot. I tried to scream out for help, and help wouldn't come out. And I don't remember anything after that. To this day, do you have any sensation whatsoever below the neck or the place where you were shot? No, I don't. If the courtroom was riveted by Heather's testimony, Defense calls, Ramo Samuels.

The atmosphere becomes electric when Ron Samuels against the advice of his lawyers takes the stand. Raise your right hand. Mrs. Samuels, did you have anything to do with the shooting of Mr. Grossman? I did not. Did you have anything to do with the shooting of Mrs. Grossman? I did not. I wouldn't want anything like that to happen to her.

Samuels insists he had nothing to do with the murder hire scheme. Did you go to a Denny's and meet with U.S.D. Jeffrey Pollack and Eddie Stafford? No. And that the phone records don't prove anything. There's been numerous testimony with regard to telephone records. Yes, anything can be made sinister. Mr. Samuels, this case never really was about the children. This was about winning. Wasn't it. That's not true. This was about keeping that $3,000 from that bitch heaven. Isn't that true? No, that's not true. Yes or no, sir, did you... Why would you allow the prosecutors to have an opportunity to question you? Because I told the truth. And I didn't want my son to believe like he's been told for the last 10 years that I tried to kill his mom. That's a terrible

thing to live with. You never wanted Heather to be a quadriplegic, did you? I never wanted her to be dead either. That's exactly what you wanted her to be, sir. Dead. And I took on my pills. I'm good. Ron Samuels claims he truly feels Heather's anguish,

but he insists he's innocent. Heather, I'm not the one responsible. You're blaming the wrong person. How do you think your father looked? He looked aged. Very aged. Up until the trial, young Ronnie hadn't seen his father since the shooting more than nine years ago.

You believe your father took out a contract on your mother's life? Yes, I do believe that. As bad as that sounds. Is there anything that he can say to you that would change anything? Oh, not at all. You know, he made his mistake that's his doing, you know. He chose it this way. He chose it this way.

What sentence would satisfy you? Life. He wanted to kill that bitch. Find a shooter or you can do it yourself. After three weeks of testimony, do it, do it, do it, do it. And three days of deliberation. OK, we are ready for the jury.

This is so exciting. Everyone, please rise. Heather Grossman's nine-year wait for a verdict is about to be over. As to count one, victim Heather Grossman, we find the defendant guilty of attempted first degree murder with a firearm as charged in the indictment.

Guilty on two counts of attempted murder, and guilty on four additional charges related to the murder for higher conspiracy. Guilty of shooting into an occupied vehicle. I was like, yes. You know, I had waited so long to hear those words and guilty guilty yes guilty guilty guilty the sentence life in prison is the appropriate sentence life in prison for the attempted murders and an additional 120 years for

the other charges I know that he is out of our lives forever he will never bother us and I know that I'm safe and my children are safe. I'll never forget myself. As for the trigger man, Roger Runyon, under the immunity deal, he won't serve a day in prison, but he's still haunted by his actions. Right now, I wish I never would have been born. As he begins serving out his sentence in a Florida prison, Ron Samuels, who still maintains his innocence,

has grown almost philosophical about him. his fate. I don't understand how a man who has realized so many of his goals could end up here. Stupidity. Stupidity and naivete. What is your greatest regret? My greatest regret is that both of us should have tried harder for the sake of the three children. And I'm hoping that one day,

they'll want to come see their father before I die. Don't you think that your children need to know the truth? I certainly do. And what is the truth? The truth is I would never, ever harm one hair on Heather's head. As part of sentencing, he was ordered to pay restitution. The court ordered Samuels to pay. Heather more than $300,000.

You claim at one time you had close to $30 million. Yes, sir. What is your net worth now? Zero. And then some. But if there's really no money left for Heather, she says that perhaps Samuels has something else he could offer her of value. I would have liked an apology,

but I know I will never get one because I'm sure he was overjoyed that day. that I was shot. Ron Samuels is exactly where he belongs. I don't have to think about him anymore. Is there any chance for rehabilitation? No. Maybe in 20 years there will be rehabilitation.

For somebody in my condition, I don't think that's going to happen in my lifetime. Today, Heather requires 24-hour attendant care. I had to learn how to eat, how to swallow, how to sit up, how to speak on a ventilator, and just deal with everyday life this way. Do you ever feel sorry for yourself? Some days, you know, I might have a difficult day.

It's been very hard. But now I'm, you know, with my faith and the way my life is now, it's great. It might be hard for some people to believe, but it, I mean, I'm... I'm sitting in a very happy place.