48 Hours - What Happened to Rachael?

Episode Date: September 8, 2019

A popular teacher is gunned down in a quiet Pennsylvania city. Who would want her dead? It turns out, there might be a few people. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty investigates. 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. Intrigue surrounds the brutal murder of Rachel Del Tondo. Rachel Del Tondo stepped onto her mother's driveway and into a hail of bullets. She was getting out of her car. That's whenever shots rang out. A shock and a mystery to neighbors on this quiet Aliquippa Street.

This is Rachel Del Tondo. She was a beautiful young woman. She was very poised, very charismatic. She had a love of children. She was a teacher, taught elementary school. She was very loving and caring and just had a great heart. Rachel's type of person, when she walked in the room, everybody noticed her.

Everybody that knew her knew she was a good person. Rachel's was my baby. For 33 years, I was blessed. In the late night of Mother's Day, at the foot of her parents' driveway, she was shot at close range multiple times. I miss her walking in that door. She was our life.

She was our life. In that community, you could probably find a long list of suspects. The day after Rachel Del Tondo was gunned down on her mother's driveway, suspicion fell on 20-year-old Sheldon Jeter. He was obsessed with her. He told me he's in love with her. I'm Michael Santacola, and I represent Sheldon Jeter, person of interest in this particular case. I think it's fair to say that he's a suspect,

but there is a cast of characters that all could be considered suspects. I would say her fiancé is a possible suspect. I'm Frank Atropa, ex-fiancé of Rachel Del Tondo. Why would people think you had to have been involved somehow? Well, maybe just, you know, we had a long relationship. She told me a long time ago her ex-fiance was going to kill her. Your dad was a former police officer in Aliquippa? Yeah, he was.

And you're still tied to the police department? It's one of those communities where everyone knows everyone. She was afraid of the police, deathly afraid of police. She said, they're following me, Ma. They're following me. My first fear was that she had been killed because of what she knew. Do you think that anyone in the police department was involved in any way in Rachel's death?

You just never know. Aliquot was a small community with New York problems. The puzzle pieces keep on dropping surrounding a murder investigation here. She started getting death threats, and she told me she feared for her life. Rachel went from being an honest, loving person to, like, somebody that was hiding something all the time. Something was going on with her.

I could tell. Please don't lie to me. I want you to tell me the truth. This is probably the biggest story that this county has ever seen. 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 Marcia 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 Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now.

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? 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. The night Rachel Del Tondo was gunned down at the foot of her parents' driveway, there were already eight unsolved murders in the city of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.

The police departments we have are populated largely by part-time officers. departments we have are populated largely by part-time officers. John Paul is an investigative journalist and a CBS News consultant. He grew up near Aliquippa and has seen its decline. A small city outside of Pittsburgh, Aliquippa was once home to big steel, big money, and big NFL stars who came up through the renowned high school football program. But today, the city can't even afford a fully staffed police force. What you're seeing is patrolmen working not in one town. They're having to work at two, three, or four different police departments to support themselves. And when you start having services run that way, you start having problems.

And John Paul says Aliquippa's problems run deeper than anyone guessed. That's a nice picture. That sums it up. Lisa Del Tondo was extremely close with her 33-year-old daughter. Rachel was still living at home with Lisa and her father, Joe Del Tondo. Every night, she'd come in every night, sit at my bed, and give me a synopsis of the whole day. That night, there would be no bedside report. After supper, Rachel went for ice cream with friends. And then just minutes after being dropped back home around 10 45 p.m. Rachel was shot several times at close range the information I have from law

enforcement is that they do believe she knew her killer they believe it to be a crime of passion that's probably why Rachel's former fiance Frank a tropa was one of the first people questioned by police. Frank, I'm going to ask you directly. Did you have anything to do with the death of Rachel Del Tondo? Absolutely not. I've known her since we were kids. Rachel was dating a wonderful young man.

Frank was engaged. But they both agreed to break up with his significant others and came together. They quickly became Aliquippa's it couple. Frank, the son of a retired police officer, was building an empire in trucking, cable, and energy. So successful that a local online magazine dubbed Catropa the Wolf of Aliquippa. Rachel was a teacher with a soft heart who liked to help troubled students. And at first, were you happy with the relationship? Yes. Frankie was generous.

What drew you to her? Obviously, she's a pretty girl. She's nice, genuine, big-hearted. She was a good girl. Were you in love with Rachel? Yeah, one time I was. Absolutely. They had good times and they had bad times. Jen Glovin says she and Rachel were once best friends.

When they were together and happy on a Tuesday, they could have been broken up and miserable by Sunday. I mean, it went back and forth a lot. That went on for several years, says Jen, with Rachel wanting stability and Frank resisting. She wanted to get married and she wanted to have kids. And she's getting a little frustrated, like, when am I going to get this ring on my finger? And Jen says Rachel was not leaving her parents' house without a commitment from Frank. I asked her, you know, why didn't you want to move out? And she said, I'm Italian, and usually they stay at home until they get married,

and I don't want to disappoint my dad. Was she pushing you to get married? Yeah. She gave me about three deadlines. But it seems that Rachel wasn't acting on her own. Maybe we were pushing her. Like, you've been dating this kid five years. Come on. It don't take five years.

But it did take five years. Yeah, so we went to Paris. We got engaged in Paris. She was excited when she called me. I don't know if it was because she was marrying him or because of the ring. It was a six-carat oval. It was beautiful. Wedding plans commenced immediately, and so did a Shakespearean battle over who was running the show. You know how you get engaged and you let the woman take over? Frankie didn't want to do that.

He was in charge of everything. Wanted to go to the hall, wanted to see the flowers. Wanted, I mean, if he could have saw her dress, he'd be happy. There was just a lot of outside interference with some of her family. Particularly her mom? Yes. Lisa bought her daughter a $10,000 wedding dress and a pair of $3,000 shoes. Never got to wear them. They're brand new. Frank asked for a prenuptial agreement.

I said, you know, how do you feel about that? She's like, I'm fine with it. I'll sign it. I don't want him to think that I want him just for his money. But in the end, Rachel refused. It wasn't Rachel, I don't believe, that didn't want to sign it. Her mother didn't want her to sign it. I didn't want her to sign a prenup, any prenup. And that's when the wedding planning stopped,

and we were still together, but we weren't, I guess, engaged anymore. So that created some friction. As Jen recalls, nothing really changed. They were still going out together, pretty much doing what they were doing before. But according to Frank, the relationship wasn't the same. I don't think some of her family wanted her to still talk to me, but she still did, and she still came around. So she started to not tell people that she was talking to me. So it became common for her to almost mislead or lie.

Frank says the more he pulled away, the more jealous Rachel became. the more jealous Rachel became. Super Bowl weekend 2016. Frank was at the game with some buddies, and they weren't alone. There were some girls on the trip, and Rachel was upset about that. Well, because you were still dating her.

Yeah, we were still dating. It's, you know, one of those awkward situations. Not long after that weekend, Frank says Rachel became paranoid. She contacted me and saying that, you know, that people were bothering her. Who were those people bothering her? What do you mean? She would never really give names,

but she would always just, you know, lump in the police department. It turns out that Rachel had at least one good reason to be nervous, a secret that only a few people knew. Jen, one of them. She grabbed my hand and she just said, please just don't tell anybody. You have to promise me, promise me, promise me. see in the pacific ocean halfway between peru and new zealand lies a tiny volcanic island

it's a little known british territory called pit can 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+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free with a 48 hours plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. It had been a little over 10 months since Rachel Del Tondo and Frank Catropa called off their engagement. But the final chapter of their relationship was still being written. Was Frank actually interested in being with Rachel at that point?

Yeah, I think that they still were on and off. They were still just doing what they were always doing. Every year, Frank throws himself a big birthday party at a bar in downtown Aliquippa. In December 2016, Rachel Del Tondo was there to help celebrate. Jen and her boyfriend, Matt Modis, hadn't seen Rachel in months. Both say they worried that she looked like she might be doing drugs. I was just like, oh my God, like, who is this person?

Like, it wasn't the Rachel that I knew. Rachel's parents say they never saw evidence of drug use. Nothing. But Jen confronted her friend. I just said, Rachel, I said, I just feel like something's wrong. I don't know what it is, but you're doing something that's just not good. And I'm worried about you. And she got very angry at me.

And she's just like, nothing's wrong with me. I'm not doing drugs. We both stood up and we were in each other's, you know, faces at that point. And she just kind of, you know, swung at me. She swung at you? Yeah. She had hit me in the face. Jen says she was stunned and furious. When Frank ran over to see what happened, she retaliated and broke a promise, revealing that secret Rachel had begged her to keep. I just broke down in tears, and I said,

please ask her what she was doing in the car with some kid at night. And I told him. What Jen told Frank is that nearly a year earlier, on the same weekend when he was away with other women at the Super Bowl, Rachel had done something that had put her job and her relationship with Frank at risk. Jen recalls Rachel coming to her that Super Bowl weekend in tears. She was bawling, hysterically crying, you know, shaking.

Jen says Rachel told her that there was an incident involving her and a 17-year-old Aliquippa High School football star named Sheldon Jeter. Seen here in an online sports series called The Rundown. My name is Sheldon Jeter. I represent Aliquippa every time I'm on the field. I do my best to the people that support me. Rachel first met Jeter years earlier when she worked as a substitute teacher at his elementary school. The two had recently reconnected. And she told me that at like 11, 12 o'clock at night, he was messaging her on Facebook and said he needed someone to talk to. And so Rachel said, okay, I'll come meet you.

They were in the parking lot at Circle K and he had gotten into her car and he was on the passenger side. And they were just talking. And then she said that a police officer pulled up and just wanted to check on them. And she said, everything's fine, officer. We're just talking.

And that was it. And I just said, you're my best friend. And I said, I'm going to ask you two questions. And I said, please don't lie to me. I said, were you doing drugs with this kid in the car? She said, no, no, no, I wasn't doing anything like that. And I said, okay, I believe you. I said, the second question is,

were you doing something with him sexually? Are you cheating on Frankie? She said said no. Did you believe her? I told her that I believed her. But like in my gut and in my heart, I knew she was lying. Jen now felt Frank needed to know, but Rachel insisted the encounter was innocent. She was just trying to help a teenager in need, she told Frank, and he says he believed her.

Rachel basically told Frankie that myself and Matt, we were spreading rumors about her, saying that she's on drugs, and saying that she's, you know, sleeping around with people around town. And after that night, Frankie and Rachel did not speak to us for an entire year. An entire year. Frank stood by Rachel, but about a year later, he would decide he needed to know more about what happened between Rachel and Sheldon Jeter. After Frank Atropa's birthday party, it's now early 2017, he and his former fiancée, Rachel Del Tondo, were quietly spending time together again. But the wedding was still off, leaving Rachel's mother fuming over all the money lost on those $3,000 shoes.

I paid for them. And the deposit on that $10,000 wedding dress. $4,500 wasn't chump change. Determined to recoup some of her losses. When Rachel got engaged, mom took over planning a big-time wedding. Lisa pushed Rachel to go public, and with the help of local CBS News consumer reporter Marty Griffin... My husband saw you on TV. He said, Lisa, why don't you call Marty? Lisa fought for a refund of the dress deposit.

Del Tondo says the salon never delivered the dress and refused to refund her money. In the end, Lisa got her money back. Was that embarrassing when they went public trying to get this dress deposit back? It kind of is what it is. I mean, I guess so. There's a lot of money, too, that I lost, deposits on halls and churches. That's what they chose to do.

It really didn't bother me. What did eventually bother Frank was Rachel's story about what happened with 17-year-old Sheldon Jeter. So Frank went to the Aliquippa Police Department and asked Assistant Police Chief Joe Percival if there was an incident report. He told me she was trying to get back with him, and he just wanted to know if it was true because he don't want to look stupid. As it turns out, there was a report, and Percival had a copy on his desk. Why did you have it there?

Just put it in there just in case somebody came. But strangely, it was written more than a year after the actual incident. Percival says that's because he heard about the encounter months after it happened. And although police found no evidence that Rachel had engaged in improper behavior, the assistant chief wanted a record of the event. I asked, they did a report, they didn't do a report. So I said, get that report done.

But why? It didn't appear that anything was illegal, right? Well, I think it was just so late at night, and he was 17, still in school. Reports like this are not immediately accessible. To obtain one, it requires a formal request. So Percival says he first refused to give it to Frank. I told the chief I didn't feel comfortable giving it to him. And the chief told me to give it to him. He's like, why not? It's Frankie. Him and Chief Couch was good friends, I guess. Don Couch contradicts that. He says his relationship with Catropa is purely professional.

says his relationship with Catropa is purely professional. He insists he told Percival that Frank could see the report, but only after proper procedure was followed. Whatever the truth, Frank read that report that day, and it didn't quite match the story that Rachel had told him. I was kind of just shocked. According to the report, it was nearly 2 a.m. when Rachel and Sheldon were discovered in her car. Not 11 p.m., as Rachel had said. And not at the Circle K, but in this abandoned lot. You obviously come here not to be seen. Is that fair? You come here to not be seen. The police said the windows were steamed,

which made them believe that the vehicle had been parked for some time, and the passenger seat was fully reclined. The report states that Rachel told police that Sheldon was once a student of hers and now a friend, and they were just talking. But it also says she didn't want her fiancé to know

because he would get mad. And he was upset about it? He was upset. When he was about to leave, his eyes were watering. You know, I was more confused than anything. Angry? Um, I wouldn't say that I was angry. Frank was allowed to take home that copy of the report, to take home that copy of the report. And a day or two later, someone used it to strike a devastating blow at Rachel DelTondo's reputation. That was the most negative... Nasty.

...nasty thing that could have happened to her. Someone anonymously emailed and texted the incident report to Rachel's school, the local school board, the media, and the mayor. Even Jen got it. I just sat there and I read it and I was like, oh my God, I wasn't going to text back and be like, who's this? But who did send it to you? Do you know? I do not know. No, I have no idea. It's unknown whether authorities ever traced the source of the anonymous e-mails and text messages, but Lisa and Joe Deltondo say they have no doubt who sent out the damaging information. Frank Catropa. They tried to ruin my daughter and my family. He was jealous.

Yeah, no, it wasn't me. Frank Catropa. They tried to ruin my daughter and my family. He was jealous. Yeah. No, it wasn't me. And it's just a coincidence. Just days after you got it, it went out to everybody. Yes. I never, you know, denied receiving it from that day. And I also did, you know, show other folks and ask questions to people that were close to her. Is this true?

You know, what do you know about this? So you showed it to a lot of people. I did show it to people, yeah. But it's just a coincidence, though, that right after you get it, it's suddenly made public. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. But Frank wasn't just given the report. He was handed a folder that also contained paperwork with sensitive personal information, like social security and driver's license numbers.

Information never shared with the public. All that was also released in the cyber blast. As you sit here, do you believe that Frank Atropa had to have at least been involved? He might not have been the one who actually... He sent it out, but he gave it to somebody. The day after the reports released, Rachel was suspended from her job. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't eat. She had to go to a doctor.

And wasn't she even hospitalized a little bit? Yes. Tell me about that. Psych ward. Seriously? She was in the psych ward for three days. Joe and Lisa insist their daughter did nothing wrong. She was trying to help this poor kid.

Through his attorney, Michael Santacola, Sheldon Jeter says that Rachel was never his teacher. But according to him, their relationship was much more than a friendship. It didn't start in the car. They had a relationship going on for quite some time. Even if true, the age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16. She was engaged at the time she was having a relationship with Shelton, so they'd see each other when they could. But you know that Rachel's mother disputes that completely. I'm sure.

The fact that she didn't tell her mother that she was having a relationship with a 17-year-old boy doesn't surprise me. Kids don't always talk to their parents about their sex lives. It's possible. You want to bet? Rachel told you everything? Rachel told me a lot.

Lisa, who insists that Sheldon mistook Rachel's kindness as romantic love, says he became obsessed with her daughter. He came here one night drunk. How did you know he was drunk? Because I watched him leave as I pointed an air pistol at him. But he pounded on a window. He was pounding on it. Every window in the house he pounded on.

Through his attorney, Sheldon denies the incident. But Lisa stands by her account. She also insists that Sheldon wasn't the only man fixated on Rachel. Do you think Frank was obsessed with Rachel? Yeah. After the release of the report, Rachel was finally finished with Frank. But Lisa wasn't. Hi, Mr. Paul. My name's Lisa Del Pondo.

Lisa called John Paul, who runs an online news service called The Beaver Countian, and said her daughter had damaging information about Frankotropa and claims of corruption in the Aliquippa Police Department. Spend some time in Aliquippa and you'll be able to create a bestseller. At some point then, did you start talking to Rachel? Yeah, Rachel was reluctant at first. She started getting death threats. She feared for her life. By December 2017, Rachel Del Tondo was jobless and humiliated. She cut all ties with her ex-fiance, Frank Catropa, and distanced herself from Sheldon Jeter.

Rachel had become socially isolated. Frankie made people take sides, so her friends had all, like, kind of went away. Lisa, infuriated at what had been done to her daughter, decided to take things into her own hands and turned once more to the media. Hi, Mr. Paul. My name's Lisa Del Tondo. Her mother had called our tip line, and she wanted to tell me what she believed to be the real story of Aliquippa, and those were stories of crime and corruption.

Lisa put Rachel in touch with John Paul. And while the two never met in person, he says he spoke to Rachel several times. And she claimed to have information about city officials. Rachel described a city that was rotten to its core. A city where she said officials were being paid to turn a blind eye to illegal behavior. But John Paul says Rachel offered no proof. I am not able to independently verify the things that I have heard. That's not the type of thing that I can report yet. Rachel also told John Paul that she had received death threats,

including a text that said she wouldn't live to see the end of 2018. And she feared she was being followed by the Aliquippa police, Rachel's aunt, Jackie Belcastro. I know my Rachel was afraid of them. What would she tell you? That the Alcoa Police were stalking her. Jackie's theory was that Frank had something to do with it. At any point, did you have Rachel followed? Did you follow Rachel? No. It's just ridiculous. It's just Rachel. She says things and they're not exactly true. Maybe she was trying to discredit me. And I think there was a part of her, too, that was just upset that we never got married.

So she kind of wanted to kind of paint me in a bad light at times. Rachel told John Paul, as well as family and friends, that in late 2017, friends that in late 2017, she began speaking to the Pennsylvania State Police in connection with an ongoing investigation they had into possible corruption in Aliquippa. She told me that they were asking her questions about Frank, and she told me that she didn't tell them a lot, but she knew she was at some point going to have to tell them more. I don't know what she could possibly tell them. How could I do corruption? I'm not a city official. I'm not a government official. I'm not a police officer. If the things that she said proved true, they would be problematic for him. That all being said, I continue to believe that what led to her

death was the choices she made in her personal life. As winter turned into spring of 2018, Rachel Del Tondo was trying hard to put her fears behind her. She was spending time with Sheldon Jeter's half-brother, 31-year-old Rashawn Bolton. He gave her strength. I don't know how. He's built like, you know, the Hulk. Maybe that's why she felt safe. Maybe that's why. She felt safe with him. But Rachel's mother, Lisa, says the friendship did nothing but anger and already obsessed Sheldon. And when Rachel wasn't with Rashawn, she was spending time with former student, 17-year-old Lauren Watkins. Rachel is family to me. But some

people would say, you were a teenager, she was in her early 30s. What did you two have in common? She helped me with everything. She took hours out of her day to help me with my college resumes. Just was the best friend anyone could have. But Rachel's mother was concerned about the age difference. Her therapist told her to stay away from Lauren. She was too young, but she said that she doesn't want to hurt, she didn't want to hurt her feelings. On the evening of May 13, 2018, Mother's Day, Rachel's protector, Rashawn, was out of town, and Rachel decided to go out with Lauren. We would drive around, listen to music, talk.

That was like our thing. While driving, Lauren says they passed Sheldon Jeter in a car full of people. Did Sheldon Jeter see you? He did. He had messaged me on Facebook and was like, did I just pass you guys? And I'm like, yeah.

And then he goes, well, what are you doing? And at that point, I had stopped answering. Lauren says she took Rachel home to pick up a sweatshirt, and then the pair headed out again, this time to Hank's for ice cream. She said, we're going to Hank's to get ice cream. And little did I know, those were the last words from my baby. Last words. On the way, they picked up 26-year-old Tyree Jeter.

He is yet another half-brother of Sheldon. In the hour leading up to Rachel's death, search warrant applications indicate that Sheldon was texting Tyree. The text suggests Sheldon may have been trying to track Rachel's movement. 10.07 p.m. Is y'all there already? 10.15 p.m. I got left, huh?

10.19 p.m. Who all you with? 10.30 p.m. Hank's closed. Sheldon knew exactly where Rachel was that night. He knew, and he knew what time she was going home, didn't he? I don't think that that's true. I don't think I would know what time they're going home.

Sheldon's attorney argues that if anyone knew what time Rachel was going to be home, it was Lauren Watkins. There's only one person that got her outside her house, and that was Ms. Watkins. Nothing to do with Sheldon. Curiously, Lauren sent a text to Rachel, even though Rachel was sitting in the same car. She texted,

Go for a walk. I'll come pick you up after. Minutes later, Rachel was gunned down. Why are you texting someone who's sitting right behind you? So it was one of those things that were, like, kind of trying to get, not necessarily rid of Ty, but, like, whatever her and I had planned for, like, in the evening, like, he could just go back, and it would just be our time together to, like, talk and gossip and stuff like that. And I'm like, well, I don't want him to hear, like, I'm coming back.

So I kind of just sent it to her. I don't know, like, stay, go for a walk, stay in the car. I don't know, like, I don't know. But Michael Santacola doesn't buy it. Lauren Watkins is 17 years of age. You're saying that she had something to do with Rachel Del Tondo's murder. I'm saying that her story doesn't make sense. So it needs to be explained.

I'm going to ask you point blank, sense. So it needs to be explained. I'm going to ask you point blank because I know you want to answer this question. Did you have any idea what was about to happen to Rachel? I did not. Lauren says she dropped Rachel off and that she waited until Rachel reached the side door to her house and opened it before driving away. I don't leave until anyone gets to their door and especially her. I always check my surroundings with her. There was nothing unusual, no unusual car, no person anywhere in sight. Is there any chance that Rachel did try to come in this side of the house?

I think I would have heard it. It was right in that chair where I always have it. Right by the door. Right by the door. Right by the door. The shooter either followed Rachel or was lying in wait, less than four minutes after Lauren says she dropped Rachel off. Rachel wound up dead, not by the side door of her house, but all the way at the foot of her driveway. Rachel's parents believe an obsessed Sheldon killed her.

That night, I knew it was him. There's no evidence there that ties him to the crime. And if you look at the way this girl was shot, and if you look at the close range that she was shot, this was somebody who was comfortable with a gun, somebody that did not waver, did not have emotion involved in this. To us, it looks like a hit. Just hours after Rachel Del Tondo was killed, police were at Sheldon Jeter's doorstep looking to question him.

And a search warrant application indicates that that visit raised questions. It states that they asked Sheldon for the clothing he was wearing that night, and he gave them other clothing. That's not how it went down. There was a pile of clothes laying on the floor next to his bed where he was sleeping. They got up and said, are these the clothes that you were wearing? Yeah, all my clothes are right there. So they scooped it up. Sheldon's attorney insists it's not his client's fault that the cops picked up the wrong clothes. But the warrant application also states Sheldon failed to display any emotion when he was informed of Rachel's death. That's absolutely untrue.

He was shocked. He was in shock. Lauren Watkins, who has known Sheldon since elementary school, says she doesn't believe he's capable of murder. She says she never knew Rachel and Sheldon to have any type of romantic relationship and never once heard her friend say she was afraid of him. Did Rachel ever indicate to you that Sheldon was obsessed with her or wanted to be with her? No. You had no sense of that at all? No. Sheldon wasn't the only person police initially questioned. Remember, they also turned their attention to Frank Catropa, who was dating someone new when Rachel was murdered. Steve Calafella is Frank's lawyer.

He was certainly a person of interest, I think, initially. We took great pains to provide an alibi, answer questions, make him available so that he could be eliminated early. Did you have anything to do at all with her death? No. Push anyone to do it? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. We'd never do that.

I was at my apartment with my girlfriend. There was video footage of me going into the building and not leaving. Authorities won't say whether they were able to verify Frank's alibi. And eyebrows were raised when Frank appeared on social media wearing a T-shirt that read, fake alibi. He says it was a joke. There was no ill intent.

It's a shirt. It's nothing serious. Have the police actually cleared you? They haven't actually used the term cleared, but I've had a number of conversations with them, and he's no longer a person of interest. When we asked, officials wouldn't confirm or deny whether Frank Catropa is a person of interest in Rachel's murder, or whether he, Sheldon, or anyone else has been cleared. Oh, look at the pictures. It's gorgeous.

I wish you were here, baby. A year has passed, and investigators have yet to make an arrest in Rachel's murder. Her family has begun to lose hope that they'll ever see justice. I said that night, you know, this is going to be a cold case, I could tell. You know, this is going to be a cold case, I could tell. One reason the Deltandos doubt they'll ever get answers is their distrust of the Aliquippa police and the fact that the department was overseeing the investigation at its most crucial early stage. If it was up to them, we knew nothing was going to happen.

I knew that. We're talking about a population of roughly 9,000, give or take, where there are nine unsolved homicides. Less than a month after the murder, the Aliquippa Police Department had three different police chiefs in one week. Chief Don Couch was placed on leave for reasons not made public. He's currently working at Lowe's. Assistant Chief Joe Percival took over briefly. Until he was arrested on charges,

he shared an obscene text message with Lauren Watkins, a minor. He says it was an accident and meant for someone else. It was the third and current chief, Robert Seelock, who decided the department should no longer handle Rachel's murder investigation. The Beaver County Detectives Bureau has since taken it over. Did, in fact, Rachel Del Tondo's murder shine a light where people didn't want it to be? Certainly they shined a light in a place that was very dark,

that a lot of people felt wasn't even a place worth bother looking at. After Rachel's death, that investigation by state police into possible corruption in Aliquippa seems to have stepped up. A grand jury has been hearing evidence. I can say, based on my reporting, that Frank Catropa is the subject of a grand jury investigation being run by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office. Frank's attorney would not confirm whether Frank is the subject of a grand jury investigation. And it's unclear exactly what he would be investigated for. But it no longer matters much to Rachel's parents, who say nothing can give them what they really want. I mean, you need justice for your daughter.

Who should I call? We haven't talked to anybody. But the point is, she's still not here. She is not here for me to hug and kiss and love. Not here. Another Mother's Day has come and gone. and kiss and love, not here. Another Mother's Day has come and gone. Rachel Del Tondo's death is the ninth unsolved murder in her hometown of Aliquippa,

a city that John Paul says can no longer protect its own. I believe there were a series of events that occurred before her death that could be looked at as the dominoes that kept falling, one after another, that led up to her killing. And I firmly believe that if things in Alquippa aren't the way they are, that Rachel Del Tondo would still be alive. the way they are, that Rachel Del Tondo would still be alive. On May 28, 2019, the felony charges against Joe Percival for sending an obscene text to 17-year-old Lauren Watkins were dropped. Anyone with information on Rachel Del Tondo's murder

should call the Beaver County Detectives Bureau at 724-773-8569. 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.