48 Hours - Vengeance in Vegas

Episode Date: October 21, 2015

A beautiful mom is brutally murdered while her West Point grad husband was at work.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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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. Real people. Real crimes. Real life drama.

Real people, real crimes, real life drama. Las Vegas is the adult Disneyland of the world. People come here to play. Adults come here to play. The other side of that is there is a community here that services that glitz and glamour, that go to work nine to five, run the banks, run the police department, run the fire department, and have just steady jobs. That's George. You know, an all-around great guy to hang out with and help you get the job done. He's just a very, very kind, generous, and giving person.

And that's the George T. Faye I know. Shona was so young at heart, and she was so fun, and she always made me laugh. She looks like Barbie, you know, blonde, beautiful. Always had the long hair, you know, just looked perfect, like a little China doll. Well, George and Shauna met in the casino environment. He saw this blonde person whizzing past him all the time. She was such a hard worker that he really admired that. She was his world. That was his life.

And then when their daughter came around, they were just the cutest trio ever. Hi. We're at the beach. Maddie's first time at the beach. We're turning everybody around. Turning us around. Maddie was just the light of her life. It was really her number one priority.

She was just all in, you know, 100% there. A little baby. They were like a little cocoon. George was so protective. He waited on them hand and foot. He really did. In the early morning hours on September 29, 2012, Shawna Tiafae would have gotten off work from being a cocktail In the early morning hours on September 29, 2012,

Shawna Tiafay would have gotten off work from being a cocktail waitress at a local casino. She went home. Parked her car in the garage, entered her house. A killer snuck up behind her and beat her to death with a hammer inside her own living room. Were you worried that someone was targeting casino women? Yes.

We were all so scared. That, you know, this person was still out there. Was somebody stalking her? Was somebody obsessed with her? Maybe they're going to, you know, come after one of us. I'm Peter Van Sant. Tonight on 48 Hours, Vengeance in Vegas. 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 bold 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+. 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. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his

name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now, we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear. 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. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there,

and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Shauna Tiafé loved to laugh and sing with her daughter. When she was with Maddie, it was like nothing else was going on around her.

So dedicated and so concerned. Shawna's murder has been a devastating loss for her sister, Paula Stokes Richards, and her husband, John. She just laughed at life. You know, she had this innocence. It's sad because I just miss her. And for something like this to happen to her is just, it's unimaginable. Shauna Tiafe, a Mormon born in Salt Lake City, was 28 when she moved here to Las Vegas. But to Shauna, Vegas was more than one big glitzy party. It was a city of opportunity.

And it wasn't long before she got a glamorous job as a cocktail waitress at one of the hottest casinos in town. She loved the Palms. I think she really felt like the Palms was a family environment, which might sound contrary to what you would think, but I think the people that worked there were really like family, and they looked after each other. I never hardly saw, like, Shawuna with a frown or anything. She was just so bubbly and laughing at everything. Cindy, Randy, and Sienna all worked alongside Shauna for about 10 years.

She loved her job, though. She loved cocktailing. And customers loved Shauna. She made close to $100,000 a year in salary and tips, often paid in casino chips, which in Vegas is the same as money. In 2002, Shauna hit the jackpot when she met George Tiafé at the Palms. George was a star athlete and homecoming king at his California high school. Just to look at him, he's very handsome, very charismatic. What more could you ask for?

In fact, George is a West Point graduate who served in the Army Corps of Engineers. Maria and Bernadette are George's sisters. He likes to serve people. That's what attracted him to being a fireman. He likes to serve people. That's what attracted him to being a fireman. And George is so handsome, he was even featured in this firefighter pinup calendar. The old American boy, he sounds like. Yes, he was. He looked like it. He acted like it. He was that guy.

His sisters also say George is a devoted family man who sent money home to help their mom care for their disabled younger sister. If you need a helping hand, there he is. George and Shauna started dating. George was in love. Oh, yeah. Head over heels. Yeah, yeah. She was his world. That was his life. And life only got better for George and Shauna. Just one year into their relationship, Maddie was born. Hey, there's daddy. There's daddy and mama and little baby.

And all of us. Three years later, they were married in Hawaii. Mama and dada just got married. There's Shauna Castleton. Now she's Tia Faye. Look at that dress on mama. What a smoking body. They really suited each other. It was really nice. They're both hardworking people. They're both good looking people. They made a lovely couple. But looks, as they say, can be deceiving. After two happy years of marriage, things started to change. When George lost money in the housing market crash, Shauna told friends he had become jealous, controlling, and critical of her. He would tell her that she dressed like a slut when she would get dressed for work in front of Maddie, which, of course course would tear Shauna apart, you know,

for her little girl to hear these things. Shauna also complained when George brought a homeless man into their lives who he paid to do odd jobs around the house, her friend Stephanie Vargas. You should call him creepy. God, he's so creepy. Why is he around my house? But George's friend from West Point, Rock Ryder, says he was as kind-hearted as he was handsome. And befriending the homeless was something he had done for years. Every Thanksgiving, he'd be serving soup to the homeless people. He's just a very, very kind, generous, and giving person. But even though he had a gracious heart, the strains continued in the marriage, and after nearly 10 years of being together,

she had enough and moved into this townhouse. They shared custody of Maddie, but Shauna was reluctant to file for a divorce. She was sad. Her family was breaking up, and this isn't something that she wanted. She wanted the picket fence and the husband and the daughter she wanted the fairytale and the fairytale was falling apart

determined to save their marriage Shauna and George both agreed to start seeing a marriage counselor I think Shauna was an both agreed to start seeing a marriage counselor. I think Shauna was an eternal optimist. You know, she just kept hoping that things were going to get better. Then, weeks before her murder, Shauna's townhouse was burglarized. Her wedding ring was missing. Strangely, a pair of her bathing suit bottoms were taken. And strangest of all, the robber left something behind.

A pair of boxer shorts, size small. Did this burglary, did it shake her up? It did. But I just don't think that in her mind she ever thought that any harm would come to her. ever thought that any harm would come to her. But in an ominous twist of fate, just three weeks later, someone was back in her house, this time waiting for her. It is now the early morning hours of September 29, 2012.

This is Shauna, seen on casino surveillance video, clocking out at 3.01 a.m. These are the last images of her life. After a 30-minute drive, Shauna arrives home, letting herself in through the garage. She enters into the hallway. It's dark. There's no light. Dan Long and Terry Miller are investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. She moves towards the stairway to go upstairs to her bedroom. When suddenly, Shauna was attacked by someone wielding a hammer. Her hands were up at some point to protect her head and her face. Her fingers were broken and she was savagely beaten with this metal head of that hammer until she was dead. At approximately 9 a.m., George and Maddie arrived to pick something up when they walked in and he discovered Shauna's badly bludgeoned body.

George immediately called 911. 911, emergency. I think I need to report a break-in and a murder. My wife, my wife is on the floor, bloody, stiff, not moving. Naturally, George is going to be our number one suspect. A woman that he's separated from, he finds dead inside of an apartment. Detective Miller interviewed George in a police car at the scene. She was lying on the floor.

She was covered in blood. I just want to die. And she was surprised with what he told her. What shift did you work yesterday? A 24-hour shift. He said he was on call at the firehouse before he picked Maddie up. with what he told her. What shift did you work yesterday? A 24-hour shift. He said he was on call at the firehouse before he picked Maddie up. Maddie had spent the night at her grandmother's house

while Shauna went to work. He had an alibi. And what did that tell you? He's not our killer. Hot shot 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+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. More Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. 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 reach the age of 10 that would still a virgin. 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. not just Dan and I. You want a full mag in the weapon? Yeah. We had our entire team with this. Muscle down. Lead detectives Terry Miller and Dan Long of the Las Vegas Metro Police had their work cut out for them. The obvious initial suspect in a case like this is the husband. But George TFA had that airtight alibi. They learned right away that he was at work at the fire station and was not the man that killed Shauna. Shauna's murder was brutal and chilling.

I remember thinking, do we have a sexual predator? And you've got to be wondering to yourselves, do we have some sort of monster out there on the streets? Yes. We're like, who are we looking for? Are we looking for a male? Are we looking for a female? But 48 hours into the investigation, detectives get a crucial tip from an unlikely source, William Penix, known as Big Will. I've been trying to live a straight life under the hands of the Lord.

Big Will had lived in Las Vegas for years, working as a maintenance man at an apartment complex. He got an urgent call from a friend. He said, Big Will, I need to talk to you. The friend came to see him and dropped a bombshell. He just

murdered a woman. When he told you that he had killed this woman, what was the expression on his face? He was happy. Happy like he just completed a mission. A mission to where he's going to get paid a lot of money. He's going to leave town and live a happy life like that.

Did he tell you how he killed this woman? Yeah. Yeah. He told me that he was laughing when he said it. He said, I hit this woman with a hammer over and over and over and over until the hammer broke.

The man who called Big Will was nicknamed Greyhound because he was lean and fast and lived in a tent in the foothills far from the glittering lights of downtown. Greyhound was an ex-con, and Big Will was helping him straighten his life out. But after the two men spoke, Big Will's mission became bringing Greyhound to justice. This is a damn tragedy. I said, so if I hear this on the news tomorrow morning, the best thing I can do is follow his tracks, try to hunt him down, so that I can try to bring some kind of closure to this woman's family. A gorgeous cocktail waitress, a mother, brutally murdered in her own home.

That was it. A woman murdered. And Big Will knew exactly what he had to do. He called police. At first, detectives Long and Miller were skeptical. Initially, I was thinking to myself, you've got to be kidding me. He is giving the story about this man who lives up in the mountains in a tent, who is homeless, and it's kind of a crazy story. Crazy, but cops felt they had to check it out. Big Will told them Greyhound often walks miles from his desert tent to this Albertson's grocery store, where he'd been spotted before stealing food.

So right away, they went with Big Will to look for him. I got out of the vehicle and went in to talk to the Albertsons employees in hopes that they would know who somebody named Greyhound that matches this description is. Big Will knew Greyhound sometimes sold drugs at the Chevron station right next door. Then a stroke of luck. I see Greyhound. He says, hey, Big Will, what you doing over here? So I said, wait one minute. I'll be right back. Big Will then whispers into my ear and goes,

that's Greyhound. We got lucky. To the grace of God, he was there. I'm like, this can't be happening. I walk outside. I want to get as close as I can to him before he identifies me as a police officer. Cops identified themselves and immediately find drugs in Greyhound's possession. So they take him to police headquarters. And he's volunteered to come to our office and help us with our investigation. Greyhound's real name is Noel Stevens. He denies he has anything to do with Shawna TFA's murder.

I have nothing to do with it. It's not me. You have the wrong guy. He tells us that he does live in the desert. He has a tent. Alright, meet you there. While Greyhound is held on drug charges, a massive police search is launched to find his campsite. Terry and I walked in. That fence, we had to climb through that fence. That was tough.

This case came down to shoe leather. We ran it all down. Right on top of that little hill was where his tent was. It was out here, in these rocky desert foothills, about eight miles from the Vegas strip, which is behind me, that detectives, making their way through this treacherous landscape, discovered some important evidence. We brought a helicopter with us and a bunch of people to search, and we searched every one of these hills. Remote?

Remote, yes. I walked past a small shrub, and rolled up underneath the shrub was a pair of pants and looked out of place. Detective Sam Smith had found a crucial piece of evidence near the campsite, a pair of Stevens' pants. They were bloody. Police tested them on the spot. And what did you learn later about the blood on those jeans?

Whose blood was it? That was Shauna T. Fay's blood. Back at headquarters, police confronted Noel Stevens with what they had found. Then they used an old trick to pry more information out of him. A lot of people don't know this. Investigators are allowed, I'll use this word, to mislead a suspect. No, we're allowed to lie.

They bluffed Greyhound, saying someone fingered him for the murder. Stephen stuns the detectives by admitting he killed Shauna Tiafé. But why? More clues were found when police examined Noel Stephen's cell phone. What kind of numbers do you find on that phone? We find a guy by the name of George in his cell phone. And when we ask him, who's George? He says, that's my friend, the firefighter.

George was George Tiafé, Shauna's husband. And Noel Stevens was that homeless handyman who had caused friction in the Tiafé marriage. We looked at each other. Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. You hit, this is Vegas. You just hit all sevens, right? Yes, we did.

Exactly. Yes, we did. Exactly. Jackpot. Yes, we did. There's Mama. She's looking hot with the shades on. As soon as she heard about the tragic murder of her beautiful sister, Paula Richards, and her husband, John, immediately had one suspect in mind. Look at everybody. We all thought that George was involved, but we couldn't figure out how he did it. So they decided to call George, who was still standing outside Shauna's townhouse with police. So I thought, we need to record this. Hello?

George? Yes, ma'am. This is Paula. Can you tell me what's going on? Shauna passed away. And what did they do to her? Oh, God. I don't know. She was laying on the floor and flat on her head. How...

Is she still... Is Shauna's body still there? Yes, I think so. There's Daddy and my mom. George then hands his cell phone to a grief counselor. No one else can hear what I'm saying, correct? Correct. Paula then makes a startling accusation.

I have my suspicions that her husband may be involved in this. Based on, you know, many, many conversations I've had with my sister, I highly suspect that he may be involved. The day after the murder, the couple caught the first flight to Las Vegas from Nashville. When we landed on the flight out to Las Vegas, we had both shifted into this investigator mode. While John and Paula were conducting their amateur investigation, detectives Miller and Long were continuing their professional one. You see the telephone poles? Right along there. Armed with a good luck charm, a casino chip that belonged to Shauna.

And I said, I want you to hold on to this because this has allowed me to feel like Shauna is near us. And you can give it back to me when you get an arrest. Soon into their investigation, detectives had discovered dozens of phone calls between Noel and George before the murder. You said 87 calls? That's correct, 87 phone calls in one month. That's more than I talked to my husband. TFA and Stevens met years earlier when both were living on this middle-class street.

Noel at his sister's house. This house right here is the sister's house, which is where Noel was living. And the TFA's down the block. Right down here. Yes. Noel got to know George, asked him if he could do yard work for George.

Cops soon learned from Noel Stevens their relationship was complicated. Noel idolized George. He genuinely thought that he and George were very, very close and would never turn on one another. But detectives believed George was manipulating his friend, who may have suffered from mental illness. He has a pawn. He has an implement, a tool in Noel Stevens. And he's going to use that tool big will told detectives that george gave noel stevens six hundred dollars in cash to kill shauna with the

promise of thousands more to come he said well uh he gave me a key to get in this lady's house, and I murdered her. And my heart dropped. And I said, what? I said, you just signed yourself a death warrant. You don't know if this man is going to try to kill you or what. When cops were scouring Noel Stevens' desert campsite, another intriguing clue they found was a barcode tag. They scanned it.

It matched the style of hammer used to kill Shauna. We figure out that Lowe's sells those hammers. That launched investigators on a tedious mission, reviewing hundreds of hours of video surveillance tape. Finally, they hit pay dirt when they spotted George and Noel Stephens shopping together for hammers. We have our definite connection between Noel and George. Stephens was singing to cops like a canary. So he gave you a road map and you're following it and you're finding exactly

what he said you'd find. Absolutely. Even leading them to where he had buried the murder weapon. This hammer, which broke in two during the brutal attack. And there was blood on it. They also discover

a possible motive for murder. Money. New floors, new carpet, new bathtub, new sink, new dishwasher. Boy, Mama's happy about that, huh? Shauna liked to spend it, and George liked to save it. There are some financial transactions that appear like he's trying to hide money through his mom. With the noose tightening on George TFA, detectives meet with his family nine days after Shauna's murder.

So at the end of the interview, I tell mom and sister that George is involved in killing Shauna. How do they react to that? It's traumatic to them. No, no, no. They're crying. They're telling us that we are absolutely 100% wrong. Minutes after that conversation,

police, who had George under surveillance and were monitoring his phone calls, overhear his sister calling him. Suddenly, George... Jumped back into his truck and took off, quote, unquote, like a bat out of hell. George weaves erratically through city traffic

and onto the Summerlin Parkway. He accelerates to 90 miles per hour and smashes head-on into a barrier. Cops believe it was a suicide attempt. He's trying to end his life right now because he can't face the fact of what's going to come. Amazingly, George survived the crash because, cops say, he was wearing a seatbelt. He was rushed to a local hospital where detectives later arrested him. And I said, George, you're under arrest

for the murder of your wife, Shauna Tiafay. And his reaction was simply to look up from his hospital bed and say, okay. That's when police also charged Noel Stevens with Shauna's murder. Oh, look at this. There's Shauna Castleton. Tiafe.

Now she's Tiafe. Whoa. It was a feeling of relief. All we wanted was justice for Shauna. Are we ready to arraign Mr. TFA? Detectives believe George TFA was just one step away from getting away with it all. Commit the murder and then do away with Noel. If he can get that done in the right way, he's going to commit the perfect crime.

But George is steadfastly maintaining his innocence. State versus Noel Stevens. And prosecutors are worried about their key witness, Noel Stevens. He's at the heart of the murder conspiracy, right? He is a very important factor in the case. He's mentally ill, right? He has a violent criminal history, and he's your star witness? You know, the defense wants him to be our star witness. George TFA's defense attorney, Robert Langford, knows how to take command. Whether as an actor in front of a live theater audience, or before a jury in a Sin City courtroom. There's circumstantial evidence and there's direct evidence.

circumstantial evidence and there's direct evidence. And now Langford is front and center in a case that even a playwright would find difficult to imagine. It's a good story. It's real interesting, but it's not evidence yet in the case. Who is responsible for the murder of Shauna Tiafé? Noel Stevens. Noel Stevens says he is. Noel Stevens beat her to death with a hammer. Was he hired by George Tiafé to do that? There's no evidence of that. It's been three years

since the murder, and Shauna's family and friends, like Lacey Green, are apprehensive. I'm not confident. It's very scary not knowing what's going to happen. I fear that he will be found innocent. At no point during the communication with the police... Does George TFA ever mention Noel Stephens?

In his opening statement, prosecutor Mark DiGiacomo knows he has to make Noel Stephens and George TFA partners in crime. He calls Noel Stevens 87 times in the month of September. The prosecutor's biggest challenge will be getting a jury to believe George TFA is capable of murder. You're going up against an all-American boy. That's a tough challenge. It is. As a prosecutor, it's highly unusual to have the resume of George TFA and then him be a murder suspect. I think George TFA is someone who had numerous successes in his life. Pam Weckerle, Assistant Clark County DA, has scrutinized what she thinks makes TFA tick and what may have driven him to murder.

When his marriage is crumbling, I think that's something that he just can't cope with. The idea that he wouldn't have complete control over his daughter and Shauna ultimately. Shauna, ultimately. Unraveling the complicated tale of George TFA's intertwined relationship with Noel Stevens is left to prosecution witnesses. Big Will Penix remembers exactly what Stevens told him the day Shauna was killed. He said, I got something to tell you. And I said, well, what is it? He said, I just murdered a woman. And right then and there, I said, you've got to be a damn fool. Did you believe everything that Noel Stephens-Greyhound told you? It depends on the day. Yet Penix admits, under defense questioning,

that trusting what Stephens has to say is a dubious prospect at best. At a scale of one to ten, I would put him at a scale of maybe one and a half. Ten being very honest and zero being... One and a half meaning not honest at all. That's correct. And prosecutors admit that honesty may be the least of Noel Stephens' problems. He's an alcoholic. He's told a ton of lies before and oh, and he's a multiple-time felon on top of it. Despite all that, the courtroom falls silent as a very different-looking Noel Stephens, perhaps the most unlikely star prosecution witness in Clark County history takes the stand.

He looks like a maniac. I literally felt like my heart dropped into my stomach when I saw him walk through that door. Stevens, who pleaded guilty in 2013 to Shauna's murder, agreed to testify against TFA once prosecutors in a pretrial deal promised not to seek the death penalty against him. Where did you grow up?

I kind of find when you get nervous, do you have sometimes a little trouble speaking? I spend. And you guys, are you thinking to each other, are we nuts? Yes. I don't know if we're thinking it to each other. We're nervous. We're saying it to each other. How did nuts? Yes. I don't know if we're thinking it to each other. We're saying it to each other. How did you meet George? But Stevens soon settles in and prodded by DiGiacomo recites

details of his relationship with TFA. Are you just doing work for him or is there something? What kind of things have you done together? We worked out stuff like that. He recounts breaking into Shauna's townhouse three weeks before her murder and admits he's the one who left behind those size small boxers. Who told you to make it look like a robbery? George did. And without a hint of remorse, Stevens coldly describes how he killed Shauna with that hammer. I hit her in the head. What happens when you come out that door and you're holding that hammer?

She tells me why I'm doing this. She says, why are you doing this? Yes. Who told you to kill Shauna? George. He is a zombie parrot in that he had a response which was always, George, George did it. George told me. George. Itching to cross-examine Stevens, Langford rips right into him,

getting the state star witness to admit he not only hears voices, but has visions. Because I hallucinate. What kind of hallucinations? I see shadows sometimes. Sometimes? Yes. Do you see other people? Sometimes.

Do you hear voices? Yes. Noel Stephens is the craziest person I've ever seen take the stand. What is reasonable doubt if not Noel Stephens? I think the more Noel talks, the more believable he is. It seemed impossible to me that he could have fabricated this notion of a conspiracy with that level of detail unless it really happened. Prosecutors replaced some of the most damning evidence, that footage, of George TFA and Noel Stevens buying hammers, knives, and other items.

You have this defendant buying two hammers in five days. TFA himself sits calmly through the trial, showing no emotion. He never takes the stand. They have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and they didn't. So there's no reason to put George on the stand. The only defense witness, TFA's sister, Maria. In all the years that you've known George, have you ever known him to be a violent person? Never, ever, ever.

I have no further questions. Along with TFA's family, friends from his childhood and West Point days are in court to show their support. I'm here because I'm willing to stand behind and defend George's character. George is not the person that is being depicted by the prosecutor. After a week-long trial, hearing from some 40 witnesses, and with 400 exhibits and evidence,

12 jurors will now decide the fate of George Tiafé. Juror Roy Wright had questions. Were they just buying these things for Noel to be a handyman with, or were they buying them for a murder? My fear is that the defense is able to discredit Noel enough that it causes reasonable doubt. out. So cute. Oh, look. You can clap. Good girl.

It has been three years since Shauna Tiafé was found brutally murdered, and today her family hopes their long, agonizing wait will end in justice. I'm just on pins and needles. My stomach has been in knots for days, and I don't think I've ever been so nervous. A jury will decide if George Tiafé was the mastermind behind his wife's murder. George TFA is the evil one. On one side of the courtroom sits Shauna's family. Some are dressed in her favorite color, pink. On the other side sit George's supporters. His sister Bernadette takes a moment to pray. He's been called a monster.

People call him a monster. It's just ridiculous and shocking. After three long days, finally a verdict. The clerk will read the verdict. The defendant will rise. We, the jury, in the above-the-title case find the defendant, George M. TFA, as follows. Count one, conspiracy to commit murder, guilty. Guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder. Seven counts in all.

George stands silent with the same emotionless stare he has had throughout the entire trial. Guilty of robbery with a deadly weapon. His family is simply devastated. In your opinion, was an injustice done here? Yes, because I believe that the evidence showed reasonable doubt. Paula, who knew from day one that George was behind her sister's murder, is humbled. It was almost three years ago that Shauna was brutally murdered and we're so happy that justice was served. Prosecutor Mark Tachacamo says he never lost sight of his good luck charm, that casino chip that belonged to

Shauna and given to him by her family. And for you, what did that chip represent? It represented their hope of justice. It sat on my computer for three years, and when I walked over for the verdict, I put it in my pocket. Everyone deserves mercy. At his sentencing, a jury must decide George's fate, life in prison or life with the possibility of parole in as soon as 20 years. We hope he gets the maximum penalty. George is a controller, manipulator, and I think the worst hell for him will be staying

in prison the rest of his life and not being able to control anything. Paula takes the stand to remind the jurors of her loss. Shawna's greatest joy in this world was being a mother. I remember her always running her fingers through Maddie's ponytail, and she would call her little monkey. George's family and friends also speak, hoping their words will persuade the jury to show mercy. George is one of the best of us.

He's hardworking, compassionate. You will not find a better firefighter on the job than George. I'm George's brother. That's pretty much who I am. How did you feel about that? I was proud. The clerk will read the decision. The sentence? Impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

George Tiafoe will spend the rest of his life in prison. Next one. Juror Roy Wright says that while Noel Stevens is troubled, they never doubted his story. I think the general consensus was he wasn't really smart enough to make up a elaborate story that would fit the timeline so perfectly. And the jury also believed this witness. I said, praise the Lord. Justice has been served.

Big Will, who jump-started the investigation. Is Big Will a hero in this case to you? He is, and he doesn't believe in being an individual who turns a friend in. But when he heard the story from Noel, he felt a moral conviction to make the phone call. And for that, you know, he is a hero. With the trial behind them, Paula and John Richards worry about Shauna's daughter, Maddie, who is now 11 years old. She has lost both of her parents.

Maddie lives with George's family, but Paula and John visit her as often as they can. I'm sure she was hoping her daddy would come home, but when she's old enough, I'll explain to her why that's not the case and why it shouldn't be the case. Oh, we're finally Mr. Right. One more surprise. Here. This is her first big dress. Sometimes when we're talking about Shauna with Maddie, I can tell when Maddie's reflecting in her face that she laughed a lot with her mom. I can't explain it, but I know that Maddie found a lot of laughter, you know, with Shauna. She's so pretty. What a pretty girl.

Shauna's family is channeling their grief by raising awareness for domestic violence victims. Noel Stevens will be sentenced in November for Shauna's murder. He faces a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 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.