Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teacher Rachel DelTondo dead in driveway; bought $10,000 wedding dress then groom cancels wedding

Episode Date: May 17, 2018

A beautiful young teacher who had been accused of an inappropriate relationship with a teen was gunned down in her mother’s driveway. The mystery of who murdered Rachel DelTondo is the subject of this Crime Stories episode. Nancy Grace is joined by Atlanta juvenile judge & lawyer Ashley Willcott, forensics expert Karen Smith, Los Angeles psycho analyst Dr. Bethany Marshall, and CrimeOnline contributing reporter Jennifer Dzikowski. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Mr. Otondo, it was a bright light. She didn't bother anybody. She didn't hurt anyone. I heard, like, I counted six shots that I heard. But I had heard them before in this back area. And I thought, well, it's this young guy that lives back there. When he comes home, he must unload his gun. Because I heard the shots and I didn't hear anything else so I went back to sleep I really don't want to believe this for real I really don't she is stunning she is statuesque she's a workout aficionado gorgeous br brunette, a young teacher, everything in front of her, her whole life. She is gunned down dead, shot and a hail of bullets in her driveway, in her driveway.

What happened? What's the motive? Who's responsible? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Why did a teacher get gunned down in the home driveway in a hail of bullets? There was no robbery. There was no kidnap. There was no sex assault. Why?

Straight out to Jennifer Sikowsowski, Crime Online investigative reporter. And Jennifer, what an article you wrote in CrimeOnline.com. You start at the beginning. Don't leave anything out. I want to start with the crime scene. Who, what, where, when, how? So this story is based in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Rachel Del Tondo.

Okay, wait, wait, wait. Let's just right off the top. I live briefly in Philadelphia. Where is Aliquippa? Well, where is that? Aliquippa is a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That's in the western part of that great state. Alan, did I ask you? I asked Jennifer. Jennifer, where is it? It is a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That'll teach you, Alan Duke. Okay, Jennifer, back to the story. So a suburb, from what I understand, it's a fairly well-to-do suburb and very low crime rate. That's what I knew about it.

I didn't understand exactly where it is. So kind of a bedroom community to Pittsburgh. People that work in Pittsburgh that can afford it will drive out as far as Aliquippa is my understanding. It's like, you know what I always think of, Jackie, I always think of the Dick Van Dyke show, not to date myself, but remember, didn't they live in Rochester and he worked in the city and so he would commute. And I had never heard of that growing up in farmland. I didn't know what that was. But that's what Aliquippa is to Pittsburgh, I'm told. So, Jennifer, she's out in the sleepy suburbs, as they call them, and is in her family driveway.

Okay, pick up again. So, Rachel DelTondo, she was previously engaged. And she was a teacher at Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. The charter school, it's an online school where students learn from live certified teachers through webcams. Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. You're just giving me so much information. Hold on just a moment.

Two big red flags right there not red flags but things of interest okay and you know what i always love with me is ashley wilcott judge lawyer founder of childcrimewatch.com forensics guru karen smith out of florida renowned psychoanalyst out of la dr bethany marshall and of course, Crime Online investigative reporter, Jennifer Sikowsky. You know what I love, Ashley, is... Now, what was I going to say? Oh, yes.

You know what I love, Ashley, is when lawyers have their little list of questions, and no matter what the witness says, they just read the next question. I would sit stunned in court as defense lawyers did that, and the witnesses would say some of the most outrageous and mysterious things, just read the next question. I would sit stunned in court as defense lawyers did that. And the witnesses would say some of the most outrageous and mysterious things. And I look at the lawyer and he just asked the next question. It's like he didn't get it. Did you hear what she just said?

Jennifer Tsikowski, CrimeOnline.com just said, you know, she was engaged about six months ago and it didn't go through. Well, right there, to me, that says, is that a potential suspect? What happened with the wedding? Yeah. I mean, you don't plan a wedding and get the dress and all that rigmarole. And then suddenly, bam, the whole thing's called off. And she teaches at a charter school, which, you know, very often is for super smart kids. It's my understanding about charter schools, Ash.

Yeah. So, A, that's true. Charter schools are advanced in terms of some of the curriculum that they can offer and opportunities they can offer students. Number two, absolutely agree. I see it as a judge all the time. Lawyers do that. They don't listen. And it's really important in this case to look at every red flag because being gunned down means most likely it was someone that knew her or targeted her and then number three now i forgot what i was going to say as to it happens when you have children you just forget oh my god right it does it's really awful but whoa whoa whoa actually we don't say omg on uh time. It's just food for thought. Dr. Bethany, jump in. I mean, to have a wedding go up to, you know, a couple of months before,

I mean, I was so overwhelmed doing HLN and Larry King and a radio show and all that. I just can't do the dress and the invitations and all. David and I, one day, it was on a Tuesday, we said, okay, we're getting married. So when should we do it? And I said, how about Saturday? And we got married on Saturday. I did an overnight delivery of a wedding dress from some mail-order catalog in two sizes because I didn't know what would fit me. And I was tempted to wear my cowboy boots, but I didn't.

I went to DSW. You got a little pair, and they're beautiful, the shoe outlet. And we had a bunch of flowers and a bunch of food, and we got a piano player and a preacher and my dad, and I walked down the aisle. Nancy, I remember your wedding photo. I remember you were wearing a satin dress, and you held a Bible. Dr. Bethany.

And you showed it on your show the next day. And you looked gorgeous. And you and David looked so happy. I will never forget that wedding photo. But I like the back story that you ordered two dresses. Alan Duke, don't you dare interrupt this moment for me. Duke, don't you dare. Because you cannot possibly understand what this means.

You just actually made me tear up. That my whole point dr bethany you don't get all the way to a month or two before your wedding and then cancel am i the crazy one here well no i mean this gorgeous young woman 32 33 years old not only was she planning a wedding, she had ordered a $10,000 wedding dress. I mean, this was going to be a big event. And then the wedding. Wait a minute. I'm choking on that.

A $10,000. Jennifer Zagowski. Okay. You're on probation. You did not tell me the wedding dress cost $10,000. Yeah. What? It did.

It did. Good gravy. You know, custom made by a fancy New York City designer. $10,000 dress in which they had to put about half down. Rachel's mother put about half of the payment down. So nearly $5,000. As a matter of fact, it was such a scandal, such a drama in this little community that she had put so much down on her wedding dress and was losing the money because the engagement was broken.

It was actually on TV. Take a listen to this segment. K-D-K-ADKA-TV in Pittsburgh. When Rachel got engaged, mom took over planning a big-time wedding, including a nearly $10,000 gown to be handmade by a New York designer. It was a custom dress. It had to be made to her measurements. The family put down a deposit of more than $4,000. That, according to the contract, was non-refundable and non-transferable under any circumstances. Lisa Del Tondo says she got

that from day one. I was told that this is binding. I knew what this thing said. They bought the dress at Ann Gregory for the bride in Dormont. Rachel Del Tondo was measured. The family put down nearly half. It's made to order. And there's no exchanges, no refunds. I understood that. Four months after the contract was signed, the wedding was called off. Lisa Del Tondo called the New York designer to see if they had started on the dress and asked for a refund. I called New York.

I did. He told me it couldn't be done. DRIVERS. THE DRIVERS SAY THEY WANTED TO GET THE SALON OWNER'S ADDRESS AND ASK FOR A REFUND. I CALLED NEW YORK. I DID. HE TOLD ME IT COULDN'T BE DONE. DELTONDO SAYS SHE TOLD THE LOCAL BRIDAL SALON SHE'D PAY THE BALANCE AND TAKE DELIVERY OF THE DRESS.

I WANTED THE GOWN SO I COULD SELL IT. DELTONDO SAYS THE SALON NEVER DELIVERED THE DRESS AND REFUSED TO REFUND HER MONEY, SO SHE TOOK THE OWNER TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT. IT SAYS DISPOSITION, DEFAULT

JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF. COURT PAPERS INDICATE THE SALON OWNER DID NOT APPEAR FOR THE HEARING. AS A RESULT, HE WAS ORDERED TO PAY FOR THE DRIVER'S ADDRESS AND ASK FOR A REFUND. THE DRIVER'S ADDRESS WAS REFUNDED. small claims court. It says disposition, default judgment for plaintiff. Court papers indicate the salon owner did not appear for the hearing. As a result, he was ordered to pay the Deltandos more than $4,600. He had 30 days to write us a check or file an appeal. And he did neither.

He did neither. Salon owner Gregory Cherico. In an email, he told me, December got by me with two deaths in the family. We will be sending a certified check out to Del Tondo. Thanks for your efforts. His attorney sent us a letter stating, Mr. Cherico denies that Ann Gregory owed any money to Ms. Del Tondo as she was given the purchase contract, had an opportunity to review the terms of the contract, which unambiguously advised her that the custom order for her bridal gown could not be refunded you know she was very close to her mother too in fact that night she was going to the family home they've been out she had been out having ice cream you know what you guys may laugh at me going through all of these details

but that's what i loved about trying cases. Karen Smith, you're the forensics expert. Every detail matters. And I know it may not sound like it matters, but it matters to me. Who was she out having ice cream with? Why was her wedding called off? Why did she believe so much in the wedding that she was willing to spend $10,000 on a teacher's salary. I was teaching school before I got into law school. I know how little they make. And she sunk all that money in, let her mom pay for half of it. I mean, you could buy a used car for that, for Pete's sake. Every one of these details, to me, in my mind, matter. I can't tell you why. But I guarantee you all of this has something to do with her murder. Karen, isn't it true? Absolutely. And one of my mentors told me years ago when I first started

that the devil is in the details. And if you look for the small things, you're going to find the answers. And I think that everything that you just outlined is going to be really critical in this investigation, and the forensics, believe it or not, is probably going to also play a huge deal in this case, and there are some questions that I have that I'd like some answers to as well. Like what? Maybe Jennifer's got them. I mean, she held out on a $10,000 wedding dress. Who knows what she's got in that head first? Go ahead, Karen. What was your question? Because I'm interested. If you're talking about forensics, I want to know

the ballistics, what kind of gun, all from the same gun, things like that. But I've got an idea. You've got a more sophisticated question. You got it. Well, we have neighbor reports and they're conflicting. You have neighbors that are saying they heard six shots. You have other neighbors that are saying they heard 10 to 12. Well, that's going to be looking for shoe prints in that area and any evidence on her body of a possible distance between her and the shooter. You know, gunpowder can be deposited up to three feet away. This was an ambush style shooting from everything that I can glean from it. And she had multiple gunshot wounds to her chest that is a close grouping so what that tells me is the shooter may have not been very far away from her or they may have been

a trained shooter so i have a ton of questions what trained assassin will be hired to shoot to gun down a young school teacher uh interesting question and i'm not saying it wouldn't happen i'm saying that's another forensics clue right there when you're talking about six shots versus 12 shots here's another thing that sprang to my mind six shots could come from one gun 12 shots conceivably could have come from two guns, which would likely mean two assailants. Or it could mean the person stopped and reloaded. Or it could be, as you suggested, a gun that could shoot that many rounds at once. So a lot of clues from just the one conflict in evidence.

Six shots, more than six shots very very important jennifer tsikowsky poor thing you know we stop you every other sentence go ahead go ahead so you left off at she was getting married had gotten a ten thousand dollar dress put down five grand on it call the wedding off there's got to be something um that that night let's go to that night what do we know about the jilted boyfriend or was she dumped well okay so i think where we need to start and this is where things get really interesting um no no no no no no no no hold on guys let's go right now beaveraver County District Attorney David Lozier speaking. Having a meeting right now with all the detectives that are working on the case.

As you know, this is an ongoing homicide investigation. We have an active group with the Pennsylvania State Police, the Beaver County Detective Bureau, and the Aliquippa Police Department working very hard together. It's very sad. You have a very quiet, a very quaint neighborhood where this tragedy happened. We obviously regret this. A prayer to the siblings for the families. The Alquippa name gets thrown out there a lot and it should not. This was a very nice, quiet neighborhood and to have this invade any family is sad. We're working hard to solve this problem together.

The police departments of Beaver County worked very well together. We'll let you know as soon as we have more. It's shameful that this woman was painted with a police report that had been written that did not result in criminal charges. It was a personal vendetta against her at the time. A personal vendetta against a schoolteacher? A broken engagement practically at the altar? Jennifer Zagowski, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What is he talking about, Jennifer? sent out to multiple media outlets, school officials, and also to acquaintances of Rachel on October 26th of 2017. That email contained a report, which was reportedly written by an

Aliquippa police officer who found Rachel in 2016 in a parked car with the engine off and windows steamed with her 17 year old student the report whoa wait wait wait wait wait wait tell me that again so she was found in a parked car at uh aliquippa hospital with the engine and the windows covered with steam with a 17-year-old student. The report said Rachel didn't want her... Was this at night? Yes, that is correct. You know what, Jennifer, how many times have I told juries nothing good happens after midnight okay you need to be at home and this goes for you too bethany marshall you're the newlywed get home get off the roads come on everything happens after midnight i don't get it what is she doing out with a student now this was in the middle of the day and they were parked almost anywhere i would think it was a troubled student

and she was talking to the student when i I was teaching before I got into law school, I never had a student in my car because there was never a point or there was no reason to have a student in my car. But I could have maybe stretched my imagination and thought, hey, it's a troubled kid. They're talking about his grades. But being in a parking lot that's not the school or his house or somewhere where they had gone after school for ice cream or something like that to talk no and the windows all steamed up jennifer that looks bad and well are you telling me there was a police report but no charges of that on that yes that is correct and you know, backing off of what you just said, it certainly didn't seem appropriate by any means. And then on top of it, she told the responding officer she did not want her fiancé to know that she was with the boy, and she claimed that he was just a friend.

In the end, the report concluded that... Well, that could all be true. Wait, wait, wait. That could all be true. It could be. It could be. Were there any? I mean, it looks bad.

It does. It looks bad. But if the first thing that came out of her mouth was, I don't want my fiance to know, no charges were filed, I don't know what was going on in that car, but I am getting a recent report right now. In a recent wire out of Alquippa, it's from their local Channel 11. The dad is breaking down in tears. The dad is breaking down in tears over what's happened to his daughter. And they are saying that she was shot at least 10 times.

That gives us a lot of answers. Forensics expert Karen Smith. Rachel was shot at least 10 times with bullets from a semi-automatic pistol. She was getting out of a car at her mother's home when she was hit by a barrage of bullets, and she died right there in the family driveway. This is what we know. We know her family's devastated, and right now her phones and computers are being searched for information. Wow, that's telling me a lot. Right now, we are live in Aliquippa trying to

find out the latest regarding the death of a beautiful young teacher. Intrigue surrounding her possible relationship with a teen boy she taught. were never any charges on that but apparently that's what led to the breakup of her engagement just before she was to walk down the aisle beautifully friendly knows everybody knew everybody talked to everybody i don't know why that happened i really don. You think you're safe going anywhere, but one house up, you're not. To lose a life like that, to lose a life like Chivante's or Antoine Lawson's or Rachel Del Tondo, they speak to the heart of Alakua because we are so close. Straight back to Jennifer Zagowski, CrimeOnline.com investigative

reporter, also with me, renowned L.A. psychoanalyst, Dr. Bethany Marshall, forensics expert, Karen Smith, and judge and lawyer, founder of childcrimewatch.com, Ashley Wilcott. Jennifer, to you. Okay, we've gone through the whole thing about the wedding dress and what happened, a hail of bullets, but you know what's interesting in that interview? You pointed it out to me, as did Alan Duke. The mom, her mother, is doing all the talking, not her. Now, this had to be by power of deduction

after she was caught in the car with the teen boy. The wedding had been called off. But right there, in that time sequence right there, Jennifer, she said to the cop, I don't want my fiancé to find out. But he did find out. Because they broke off the wedding, right? Correct. That is the way it sounds. Of course, that hasn't been completely confirmed.

But when you look at the timeline of when that segment aired regarding getting the money back and the dress, it also happened in February 2016. The leaked email had not come out yet. So that tells me that the fiancé... Now, let me understand something, Jennifer. The leaked email came out before she was murdered. Is that right? Correct. That came out in October of 2017.

Okay, let me get my time straight. So she's engaged to be married. She gets this custom wedding dress. She's caught in the car with a boy. She says, don't tell my fiance. Somebody did tell the fiance because he breaks off the wedding so in this interview you notice uh dr bethany marshall the mom is doing all the talking not her and the community is trying to help her get her money back and she's sitting there with her tail between her legs because she is the only one

that knows why the wedding was canceled and all these people are trying to help her she's the only one that knows about the teen boy at this point right see i see a young woman in her early 30s who's embroiled in a crisis and may not even know what a crisis she's in. She's been caught in a car with a 17-year-old student. Her fiancé now has called off the wedding. They are in a conflict on public TV with a bridal dress shop. And I just see all these enemies swirling about. And it's kind of like a murder mystery to me.

It's like, who's the enemy? Is it the owner of the wedding shop? Is it the family of the fiance? Is it the fiance himself? What about the parents of the 17 year old? How are they feeling about this? I can't imagine if I had a 17 year old and that child was caught in a car with a school teacher, I might be full of hatred too. So you have this mother talking to the daughter on television and I get the feeling that the family is really rallying around their adult child trying to help her. And then as one of your guests pointed out, the hail of bullets comes on Mother's Day in the family driveway, which suggests a vendetta against the whole family. I mean, the child's in a crisis, the young woman's in a crisis, the family's in a crisis,

the whole family is targeted. I just keep thinking back on hearing her voice in that newscast. We are learning new details right now in the investigation to the death of a beautiful young woman shot dead in her parents' driveway late Sunday night in Aliquippa. Now, I'm understanding, Jennifer Zagowski, that she had just come from an ice cream shop? Yes, that is correct. That is what her family members said, that she was enjoying an ice cream shop? Yes, that is correct. That is what her family members said, that she was enjoying an ice cream with friends and returned and got out of the driveway, Mother's Day, at her mother's home,

and the bullets came right at her, hit her in the chest, and she was gone, just like that. To ask you not, yeah, I'm'm sorry and can i add this is ashley can i add one more theory that no one's mentioned yeah jump in listen i see youth who commit crimes every single day and nobody's talked about what if this 17 year old is a jilted lover who makes a bad choice and guns her down. That's another very real possibility. Guys, I wonder, my mind is going in so many different directions. We know that reports are that Rachel was in the car. It was 1.50 a.m., almost 2 o'clock in the morning with the teen.

Why was he out at that time? That, to me, means it was not innocent that late at night. Why was he out and about at that time, and his parents didn't know anything about it? The window steamed over, the engine running. Again, she begged officers not to tell her fiance quote because he would get mad now police find text messages and snapchat messages suggesting rachel and the teen had some sort of relationship that can't be good and she was suspended for one month after this incident one month now Ashley Wilcott you're the juvenile judge and lawyer founder of child crime watch calm the

school suspended her now if they have believed that there had been a sex relationship between her and the boy under law they would have to report it wouldn't they they would have to report it, wouldn't they? They would have to report it if, and this is where the if is, if he were under 17 at the time it occurred, at least in the state of Georgia. He was. Okay, he was. And they would have to report it. Absolutely. My fear is that the school did an investigation and said, oh, not enough information, not enough evidence,

so we don't need to report it. That's not their decision. That happens, but they should have reported it immediately. Well, the police knew about it. So what was there to report? The police knew about it. It's not like the police didn't know. And not only that, if there had been a sex relationship, which would likely have been a statutory rape scenario, she would have been prosecuted. But nothing happened. That says to me there was not a sex relationship. I don't know what happened. But what I do know is she's dead.

She was murdered. And whatever happened between her and the boy, I mean, does not call for the death penalty. I know that much. And I've got her father and mother breaking down in tears because their daughter's gunned down in their driveway. Jennifer Zagowski, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Pick it up right there. What more do we know?

Well, another interesting aspect to this all, of course, police did know about this. But when this happened in February of 2016, they did not go to the school to let them know. The only way the school found out was through this leaked email, which was sent out anonymously. That tells me someone was out to get her exposed. They wanted this exposed. Right there. Hold on.

That's a major clue, and you're right. Dr. Bethany Marshall and Karen Smith, I need you two ladies on this. Dr. Bethany, number one, if someone is going to go to the extent of leaking that email, or was it the police report? What was on the email, Jennifer? Well, yes, it contained multiple reports from the police, from state and federal agencies. I should say databases.

And those emailed reports contain information such as social security numbers and other identifying information that isn't readily available to the public through public open records releases. And because of that. Because of that what? Because of that, a state investigation followed. There was more than the. Regarding the Aliquippa Police Department. What were you going to say, Alan? Besides the police report, the emails that were sent from an anonymous, actually fake email address said that this teenager had a, quote, relationship with the teacher over text messages and through Snapchat.

Okay. Repeat that one more time, Alan. The anonymous email also said that Del Tondo and the teen had a, quote, relationship through text messages and also over the social media site Snapchat. Guys, Rachel was suspended from her teaching position and removed from the classroom pending an investigation. Now that's according to Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School CEO Brian Hayden. Now this occurred after an email was sent to several people, including the school and members of the media, and it included the Aliquippa police incident report describing the cops finding her and the student together in a parking lot an empty parking lot i might add now the incident report is was two years old but he is a mandatory reporter the ceo brian hayden and he notified Pennsylvania Child Line as well as began his

own investigation. She was never charged by police. That's very significant. Now according to the report you all know what happened. A guy was on a regular patrol about two o'clock in the morning. An officer noticed a car was parked near the old Aliquippa Hospital property. Cops went up to it. The windows were steamed over. The engine, this says, was not running. The officer identified Rachel and asked why she and the boy were there. According to the report, she told officer she was just talking.

He was her former student, and they were friends. She did did not want her fiance to know she was parked here because he would get mad uh she maintained he was only she was only there because the teen was upset and needed somebody to talk to officers drive the teen home and told her there were better places to talk to a teen than in a parked car at 2 a.m. in the morning. Now, to you, Dr. Bethany, back to my original question before I went down a rabbit hole. Who would be so vengeful they would send this email not just to the school, but to media as well? What about that? Could it be the person that murdered her? Absolutely, and so vengeful they sent it from a dummy account. And my understanding is the state police started to investigate the local police because the policemen found her in the car with the steam windows, but never filed a proper child abuse report with authorities.

And as Ashley pointed out, you know, policemen are mandated reporters. They don't have to report child abuse report with authorities. And as Ashley pointed out, you know, policemen are mandated reporters. They don't have to report child abuse. They report suspicion of child abuse. So there was adequate suspicion. The police officer should have filed another report with the local authorities. But I want to know who was stalking Rachel. Someone was stalking her. This is a form of cyber stalking. Was it the fiance? Was it the fiance's parents? Was it the 17-year-old, the 17-year-old's friends, the 17-year-old's parents? Somebody was obsessed with her. But wait, how could some kid get a hold of information like that? Ashley Wilcott, childcrimewatch.com. I don't see a teen boy managing to hack in and get police reports like that. I do. I do see it. And believe it or not, some of these kids, and remember

it was a charter school, right? So he may have had the ability and the skill to do it. These kids can work computers. Now, I don't know that he did, but I think it's absolutely possible. But the one that really my gut, my gut is, are the police looking at the ex-fiancee? Because if he was the jilted fiancee because it got broken off because of her actions and choices, well, then he may have a lot of hostility towards her. To Karen Smith, forensics expert, police are saying in the last hours, well, then he may have a lot of hostility towards her. To Karen Smith, forensics expert, police are saying in the last hours, actually, that this was definitely a crime of passion. Why? Well, you have a significantly narrowed down suspect pool at this point based on everything

that we've heard. You have a jilted fiance. You have a state investigation of a police agency. You have a kid who was apparently involved in some way, shape or form with this teacher and victim. So you have all of these people who have motive, motive, motive. You have motive means an opportunity. It's going to come down to motive. And at this point, did you say earlier that she had 10 gunshot wounds to her chest? Is that correct? At least, at least 10. Listen, that is somebody who was either very close to her, facing her when they fired those shots, or somebody who knew how to use a weapon, how to aim it, and how to do a close grouping. And I'll tell you what, that sets off some serious red flags in my brain and a path that I don't care to go down,

because that says police officer to me. And I hate to say that, but that's how we are trained. You shoot, you aim small, and you miss small. And that... I don't see, are you saying a cop did this? No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, you know, if you have a leaked email that this husband, this fiance got a hold of and it was leaked from the police department. Was it his buddy? Did this ex-fiance do gun training with his buddy? And I know that's kind of a rabbit hole, but it's a possibility.

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things you know you're you're looking into it but you never know you just don't know right now we are investigating and searching for the truth in the brutal murder of a young brunette teacher rachel del tondo gunned down in her mother's driveway also who would do that in the mom's driveway to cause so much heartache to her family right now investigators are saying in the last hours it was definitely a quote crime of passion they say the murder of this young teacher in the driveway a crime of passion and investigators say they will take all the time they need to find who killed racheleltondo. They're canvassing the neighborhood. They're reviewing surveillance tapes. They are looking at cell phones and computers, texts, communications,

and they're investigating everyone driving in El Quipa, that area, that night, and was anywhere near the home. Take a listen to this. We're getting video cameras. We are downloading information. We are interviewing witnesses. We are doing everything we can. Investigating everyone that was driving around Aliquippa that night that was anywhere near this young lady's house. They are confirming they do not have a suspect. Ashley Wilcott, you were speaking. What was your question? Does anyone know what the ex fiance does for a living? Is he in law enforcement, related to law enforcement? Because of the discussion already about the shooting and the 10 shots and where it was and was, you know, law enforcement trained,

would know how to kill someone in that manner. I think we're really extrapolating way, way too far, Jennifer Stokowski, Crime Online, by saying that this is cop-related. Jennifer. Okay, so I think it's important to note, after the first email was sent on October 26th of 2017, the very next day on October 27th, another email was sent to the press and acquaintances of Rachel alleging a cover-up. That email said, quote, the reason this report was not filed in February 2016 with the Aliquippa School District Children and Youth Services and a mandated report to the Department of Education was because it was an attempted cover-up. A cover-up? What could that possibly mean, Jennifer? A cover-up in one way, because the cop leaked it? Yes, I mean, it could be that.

It could be that the cop leaked it, that somehow the fiancé got a hold of it. There's so many questions right now that are not answered quite yet. What we do know, though, is that a state investigation followed the leak reporting, you know, the email, and the investigation was regarding the Aliquippa Police Department. The death of a young woman gunned down in her family's driveway in Beaver County is definitely a homicide. She was shot at least 10 times, but she had already been a victim, the victim of a confidential information leak. Somebody within the police department or someone that could hack into the police department gave out this information,

and it ended in the breakup of her engagement. After that, she's gunned down in the driveway. The family inside had no idea what was happening. Now, one thing they're doing right now, Karen Smith, is they're trying to find out who was in the neighborhood. How can they do that, Karen? You're the forensic expert. Other than getting neighbors surveillance cameras, how about a stingray if they could get hold of a stingray device where they can pick up all the cell phones that were there in the 30 minutes before in the 30 minutes after absolutely that is going to be key get the cell phone tower pings find out who was in the area get her cell phone you know who was contacting her? We talked about stalking earlier.

Was somebody sending her multiple texts or multiple emails, any threatening emails or texts, phone calls that came into her? You want to talk to any of her contacts. Who is this ex-fiance? Again, we go back to motive. Who was in the neighborhood? Who was around her house? This is, you know, it's a small town. You've said it's a small suburb. There can't be that many people, including the neighbors, who were in that area at the time. Well, here's another clue. What about this? Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge and lawyer, the moment, they keep saying this over and over,

the moment she put one foot on the driveway the moment she stepped out of the car coming home from the ice cream shop she was gunned down that says to me someone was lying in wait because the likelihood of them driving by at that exact moment and shooting her is highly unlikely that means in my, somebody was lying in wait. That's a death penalty case, by the way, when you lie in wait, wait and ambush somebody. That also says to me that this could have even been a hit, a hit job. Somebody had it out for her. They leaked this email. They leaked this information to ruin her and then they either killed her themselves or hired somebody to do it can't you just see a bunch of locals in the area

that had it out for her do this now everybody's looking at the fiance he's not a suspect he's not a person of interest all right this is what i do know though jackie has come up with information that the Pennsylvania State Police have opened an investigation into the Aliquippa Police Department on misuse of law enforcement data from the Law Enforcement Assistance Network. A police spokesperson, Ryan Tarkowski, has stated this openly. So Aliquippa police are being investigated for misuse of information. Is it related to Rachel's case where somebody leaked this police report that did not amount to a hill of beans? We don't know, but certainly, certainly it is. Take a listen. Any comment, detective? Not this one. Take a listen. Any comment, Detective? Not this one.

Not this time. Police also were stating they have some home security surveillance video, and they're looking at it right now. So back to you, Karen Smith, what can they do? Look at surveillance video. Maybe use Stingray. Not everybody has that, but you can borrow it. I know New York City has it. That's not, you know, two hours away to trap all the cell phone usage nearby, or maybe they could

do it from cell phone data from a tower. Karen? Absolutely, they can. They can do all of those things, including the video surveillance, which will show the vehicles that were in the area. You know, if it's good video surveillance, you may get a peek of who was driving that car at the time they were in the area. You know, businesses, you can't go anywhere today, Nancy, without being videotaped 56,000 times a day. They have to look at all the video surveillance. Well, we've got another clue. We've got another clue. We have just managed to find out what the teen boy's mother has to say. Target 11's Rick Earl obtained a copy of the police report about that night and took it to the student's mom.

I don't know if you've seen this. This is POLICE REPORT. ARE YOU SERIOUS? A POLICE REPORT? THE FORMER STUDENT WAS HER THEN 16-YEAR-OLD SON. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE THIS FOR REAL, I REALLY DON'T. BUT SHE'S ONLY JUST FINDING OUT ABOUT THE INCIDENT.

I HAVE BEEN HEARING RUMORS GOING AROUND. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT, THE OFFICER ASKED THE TEACHER WHAT WAS GOING ON. BOTH THE STUDENT AND TEACHER SAID THEY WERE QUOTE TALKING AND WERE JUST FRIENDS.

IF THIS IS TRUE, WHY WASN'T I NOTIFIED? POLICE SENT US A STATEMENT SAYING THE INCIDENT WAS NOT A FRIEND, BUT A FRIEND. If this is true, why wasn't I notified? Police sent us a statement saying the incident was investigated twice and was, quote, unfounded. That answer isn't good enough for this mom. I'm looking to obtain a lawyer to find out what is actually going on.

That is from local channel 11 WPXI, and they confront the boy's mother, and she knew nothing about it. Okay, so that's given me a lot of clues to you, Jennifer Zagowski, CrimeOnline.com. Somebody hated this woman, this young teacher, so much. They ruined her reputation. They destroyed plans for her wedding. She was suspended from school. The police decided there was no further action to be taken on the case. She was never charged.

And now she's being gunned down in the driveway. Where does it stand right now, Jennifer? Where it stands right now? Well, they obviously are investigating every possible angle that they can. As you said before, who was driving by, they're investigating it as a crime of passion at this point. They do not believe that there's just a random killer running around in the neighborhood. And I also did want to mention, she, Rachel, spoke with the Beaver County in December of 2017. And she said, she told the newspaper that the relationship with the boy was merely a friendship. But she added that she was receiving death threats

following the emails and subsequent media reports. Man, what a twisted tale. This is all turned out to be from the broken engagement to the $10,000 duress, couldn't get a refund to the leaked emails, the death threats, and now a cold-blooded murder i've ever actually committed a crime but if everything came out that i ever did when i was 30 years old i would be mortified this poor woman has been so exposed by whoever was stalking her rachel del tondo ultimately had no privacy in her life well on the other hand other hand, Dr. Bethany, don't you kind of sign up for that when you have a relationship of any sort with a teen boy? But we don't know what was going on for Rachel. I mean, because I'm a clinician, I think,

was she bipolar, which causes hypersexuality? Did she have lapses in judgment because of substance abuse? Was she being stalked by her boyfriend or her fiance at the time? And because of that, she turned to a student. And again, a fatal, fatal lack of judgment. But I don't think anybody deserves to have their whole private history exposed because somebody hates them and somebody is stalking them. See, this is the problem that we see with stalking. The stalker always investigates the victim, exposes every wrongdoing in the victim's life, puts it on the internet, puts it on the news, puts it everywhere, and then the stalking victim

is the one who gets vilified in the end. And I don't think any of us want our life on trial. You know what's interesting, Dr. Bethany? You know what's interesting? I know she had some sort of an inappropriate relationship with the teen boy. I know that. But my heart is broken for her. I mean, you're right. Everything. Imagine the worst thing you've ever done being exposed to the world. Your wedding's called off. Everybody finds out about this bad

thing you did. And she ended up gunned down in her driveway. And you know, Nancy, I mean, before, I'm sorry to interrupt, but before being gunned down, she loses her job. She has a police report filed. She has to move back in with her parents in her early 30s. That might seem like a small detail, but nobody wants to move back into the parental home at that age. Probably has no financial resources. The wedding's called off. There's social humiliation in front of all of her family and friends.

There's the threat of this police report being continually leaked. Then she's gone down in the driveway on Mother's Day in front of friends. She's coming home from an ice cream shop. So I know because I see stalking victims in my practice, we see pictures of this teacher full of life. She's gorgeous. She's beautiful. But this is a young woman who is truly being terrorized. And we're going to find out pretty soon who is terrorizing her. If you have information as to the murder of this beautiful young teacher, Rachel Del Tondo, please call an anonymous tip line, Crime Solvers, 24 hours tip line,

724-774-2000. Repeat, 724-774-2000. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast. signing off. Goodbye, friend.