48 Hours - Who Killed Rachael DelTondo?

Episode Date: December 12, 2021

A man on police radar for the shooting death of a school teacher is convicted of murder in a different case. Both times the victims had been out for ice cream. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.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. There is a possible breakthrough in the nearly three-year-old unsolved murder mystery of 33-year-old Rachel DelTondo. It has been almost three years since Rachel DelTondo was shot outside her parents' home. How would you describe the investigation today? The investigation right now is active.

My detectives, my prosecutors are working continuously. 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.

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. 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 want people to know who the real Sheldon Jeter is, not the one you see on TV. I'm a minister in Alacopa, Sheldon's uncle, and also a daddy figure to Sheldon. Sheldon's a good-hearted person. 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'm Frank Atropa, ex-fiance of Rachel Deltondo. Why would people think you had to have been involved somehow? Well, maybe just, you know, we had a long relationship.

Your dad was a former police officer in Aliquippa? Yeah, he was. And you're still tied to the police department? Well, 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. She contacted me and saying that, you know, that people were bothering her. 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. Please don't lie to me. I want you to tell me the truth. Do you believe that someone will be arrested in this case? I think we'll have answers. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder?

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now by joining Wondery Plus. 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 Aliquippa Police Department has gone through years of upheaval. Is it in any better shape today than it was when Rachel Del Tondo was murdered? It's just a different kind of bad. 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 the city has struggled to fund a proper police force, with officers reportedly working as many as four back-to-back shifts. That's a 32-hour day. The same sort of problems continue. You've got a department that's underfunded and a city that is underfunded. We're on to chief number four since Rachel had been murdered. chief number four since Rachel had been murdered. And John Paul says Aliquippa's problems run deeper than anyone guessed.

She's always smiling. Yeah. Not long after Rachel Del Tondo was shot, I spoke with her parents, Lisa and Joe. That's a nice picture. That sums it up. Lisa was extremely close with her 33-year-old daughter, who was still living at home. She'd come in every night, sit at my bed, and give me a synopsis of the whole day. That Sunday night, May 13, 2018, 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 fiancé, Frank Catropa, 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.

When as adults they started dating, they became Aliquippa's it couple. When as adults they started dating, they became Aliquippa's ick 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 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. 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 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. I don't think some of her family wanted her to still talk to me, but she still did, and she still came around. 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 was like, it became common for her to

like almost mislead or lie. Frank says the more he pulled away, 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 and told him there were people bothering her. Who were those people bothering her? 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. 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. 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 Matas, hadn't seen Rachel in months. Both say she didn't seem herself, that she was drawn and jumpy. 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. 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. coming to her that Super Bowl weekend in tears. She was bawling, hysterically crying, you know, shaking.

Jen says Rachel told her there was an incident involving her and then 17-year-old Aliquippa High School football star Sheldon Jeter. Seen here in an online sports series called The Rundown. My name is Sheldon Jeter. I represent Alapupa 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 gonna ask you two 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, 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. 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. 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 Catropa'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. Frank says that as time passed, he became increasingly bothered by Rachel's story about her encounter with 17-year-old Sheldon Jeter. So we 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. Reports like this are not immediately available to the public. A formal request is required to obtain a copy. 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 chief told me 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. 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 not to be seen.

Is that fair? You come here to not be seen. The police said the windows were stained, 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 fiance to know because he would get mad and he was upset about it he's upset when he was about to leave his eyes were watering you know I was more confused than anything angry wouldn't say that I was angry. Frank was allowed to take home that copy of the report. And not long after, someone used it to strike a devastating blow at Rachel Del Tondo's reputation. That was the most negative. Nasty.

Nasty thing that could have happened to her. 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. And 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 emails 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, 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. I also did, you know, show other folks and ask questions to the 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, that's, 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 that should never be shared with the public.

All of 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... Sent it out, but he gave it to somebody. Days after the report's release, 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?

Tell me about that. Psych ward. Seriously? 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. He was a star. He was an athlete. And most girls or women love athletes. Sheldon's uncle, Michael Moreland, says he knew his nephew was seeing someone. But I didn't know it was her. Sheldon's uncle, Michael Moreland, says he knew his nephew was seeing someone. But I didn't know it was her. He says he began to suspect that Sheldon was involved with an older woman when the young athlete started receiving expensive gifts. Christmas time, three years ago, he had a nice expensive watch.

I asked him, where'd you got the watch from? He said, a girl that I'm talking to. I asked him where you got the watch from. He said, a girl that I'm talking to. But 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. So, I mean, 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. Every window in the house he pounded on. Through his attorney, Sheldon denies the incident, but Lisa stands by her account. 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. 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,

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And listen to 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 them. that we're 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. By December 2017, Rachel Del Tondo was jobless and humiliated.

She had 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 turn to the media. Hi, Mr. Paul. My name's Lisa Del Pondo. 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 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 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 Aliquippa 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's trying to discredit me. Rachel told John Paul, as well as family and friends, that in late 2017, she began speaking to the Pennsylvania State Police about what 48 Hours has confirmed to be an ongoing investigation

into possible corruption in the city of Aliquippa, its police department, and Frank Catropa's business dealings. 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. 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, then 32-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. So how did Sheldon feel when Rashaun started going out with Rachel? Well, it wasn't like the papers and everybody said.

Michael Moreland says that while his nephew was initially upset, Sheldon quickly moved on. When another brother is dating a woman that I'm dating, of course I'm gonna get a little upset and ask, man, what are you doing? Okay, that's all that was. It wasn't all the hyped up stuff of that much jealousy because Sheldon had other women that he was seeing because of who he was. As for Rachel, when she wasn't with Rashawn, she was spending time with another high school student, then 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. Little did I know those were the last words from my baby?

Last words. On the way, they picked up then 25-year-old Tyree Jeter. He is 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. Who are 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. Lauren says that she dropped Rachel off and waited until her friend 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 door? I think I would have heard it. It was right in that chair where I always had it. 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. Do you believe that Sheldon was upset enough to hurt Rachel, to have been involved in her murder? Why would he be that upset when it was just a woman? You got caught up and that's it. What would he gain from it? Michael Moreland also insists that his nephew was home that night with his grandparents, where he lived.

He was at home with my dad because he took care of my dad at nighttime. There's no evidence there that ties into 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. Go inside the case at 48hours.com. 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. Defense attorney Michael Santacola insists it's not his client's fault that cops picked up the wrong clothes. But that same warrant application also states that 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. He felt bad. Everybody that heard about it felt bad. Not long after Rachel's death, Lauren Watkins told us that she couldn't imagine

Sheldon capable of committing murder and said she never once heard Rachel 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. For nearly two years, Michael Moreland says Sheldon lived under a shadow of suspicion and tried to go on with his life. He was working. He worked doubles. He got involved in the church, dedicated his life to Christ. And then, seemingly out of the blue, this happened. An Aliquippa man who was a key figure in the unsolved murder of an Aliquippa woman, is now charged in another homicide. On May 17, 2020, almost two years to the day that Rachel was gunned down,

Sheldon Jeter was arrested and charged for a different murder. The victim in this case, Tyreek Pugh, was reportedly like a brother to Sheldon. In fact, he lived on and off with Sheldon and his family. We raised him. He's not biological, but he's a relative through the love we had for him. Moreland says that he was with Tyreek and Sheldon just hours before the murder. They were out getting, of all things, ice cream. There was a report that the two had argued earlier in the day. Is that not true?

That is not true. We were happy. Wasn't no fuss or no argument. Just want to go through your timeline again, make sure everything checked out. Sheldon would later tell police that he last saw his friend late that night when Tyreek left home for work. He left the house.

He left your house? Yeah. He left your house on foot and that's the last time you saw him? Yeah. Okay. But at 11.10 p.m., a surveillance camera across the street captured Sheldon and Tyreek leaving home together. across the street captured Sheldon and Tyreek leaving home together. Then cameras throughout the city show them driving toward the area where Tyreek was killed. We have you and Tyreek leaving together, but we don't have you guys returning home together.

At 11.39 p.m., Sheldon could be seen returning home alone. At that same time, a motorist who discovered Tyreek's body called 911. Like Rachel Del Tondo, Tyreek Pugh had been shot multiple times. Tyreek Pugh had been struck seven times, five times in the head. Within hours, investigators were questioning Sheldon Jeter. Sheldon didn't ask for his lawyer. Sheldon was being open and with them. He was interviewed three times.

And for whatever reason, they didn't like his answers or they thought that he was being inconsistent. It doesn't look good for you. It doesn't. I mean, I'm telling you, I told you everything. I mean, I don't know how it can look good for me if I told you. During this interview, detectives got a warrant to search Sheldon's home and found this gun under his mattress. According to the State Police Crime Lab, it's the gun that shot Tyreek Pugh.

Gunpowder residue was also found on the steering wheel of the car Sheldon was driving. Do you fear that Sheldon may have been involved in Tyreek's death? I don't see no motive for it, that's all. I don't see no motive. I'm not going to comment on any motive that Sheldon Jeter may have had in killing Mr. Pugh. Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier. We have DNA evidence. We have video. Michael Santacola told us that

prosecutors tried to pressure Sheldon into making a deal, but only if he would confess to the murder of Rachel Del Tondo. It's been indicated to us that if we were going to entertain a plea on this second case, that they would only consider it if there was a plea on the other case. Is there any possibility, are you at all working out any kind of deal in the Pew case that would help resolve the Del Tondo case? That would be presuming several things that I will not talk about. There was no deal made. In early June 2021, Sheldon Jeter stood trial for the murder of Tyreek Pugh.

Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. Jeter did not take the stand, but the jury was shown about two hours of his police interviews. I've seen him walk out the house. Yes, and that's not on video anywhere. No motive was given for the murder, but after just several hours of deliberation, the jury found 23-year-old Sheldon Jeter guilty. In Pennsylvania, first-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. I'm very proud of the work that my team did. I believe Sheldon Jeter has a flash temper. And Sheldon Jeter's troubles may not be over yet.

48 Hours has learned that a secret Pennsylvania statewide grand jury has heard evidence in Rachel Del Tondo's murder. There was testimony brought before the grand jury involving Sheldon Jeter. The district attorney's office hasn't officially named a suspect or person of interest, but certainly he has been the focus of a lot of their efforts. Frank Catropa's new attorney told us his client was cleared of any suspicion in Rachel's murder and agreed to testify before that same grand jury. David Lozier confirmed that Catropa is not a suspect in the murder of Rachel Del Tondo, but would only say this about a possible suspect or charge in her death. We're pleased with the quality of the evidence that we have,

and we'll make an announcement when we believe that we can win a case to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. Oh, look at this picture. It's gorgeous. I wish she were here, baby. Shortly after losing her daughter, Lisa Del Tondo predicted that Rachel's killer would never be brought to justice. Still, the Del Tondos pray for answers

and that their daughter is remembered not for how she died, but for how she lived. What do you want people to know about Rachel? I just want everybody to know she was a good person. She had a big heart. Big heart. A young woman disappears after a Snapchat rendezvous. I try to keep my hopes high, but after six months, it's a little hard for that. The murder that created a law. Nikki's story has allowed us to take a giant leap forward.

And started a movement. A new 48 Hours, Saturday on CBS.