Snapped: Women Who Murder - BONUS: Dolores Delgado & Maliek Kearney (Snapped Killer Couples)

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

We are bringing you a special bonus episode featuring a case from Oxygen's hit series, “Killer Couples.” The brutal murder of a young army specialist leads investigators to explore a complicated love affair fuelled by obsession and jealousy.Originally aired: May 22, 2022 Watch full episodes of Killer Couples live or OnDemand for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

She was a romance mystery writer. They glommed on the fact that she writes stories like this. There are murders in all of the books. From Wondery, the makers of Ghost Story and Feta, this is a story about a murder that rocked my little community. Binge all episodes of Happily Never After ad-free right now on Wondery+. At these family dinners, dysfunction is served. I can't have you all messing things up my entire adult life. Oh, I'm sorry, do we embarrass you? Dinner next Friday, everyone?

Wouldn't miss for the world. Dinner with the Parents, Season 1, stream free only on Freevy. Hi, Snap listeners. We're bringing you a special bonus episode today from Oxygen's hit series, Snapped Killer Couples. You can also watch full episodes on demand on the free Oxygen app or on Peacock by clicking the link in our description. Enjoy.

Tragedy strikes a close-knit southern town. You see these types of killings a lot of times with the cartel or mafia. This is probably one of the most complex homicides that I've been a part of. Family and friends are left wondering who could target such a beloved member of his community. He treated us like each of us were part of his family, and he was just simply taking care of us. That was my only son. It hit hard that somebody had taken my baby from me. In search of justice, investigators unearth a disturbing plot.

I need you to ask me honestly, did they kill my brother? I mean, she asked me honestly, did they kill my brother? She was just turning around. She was trying to keep quiet. One born both out of greed and deadly romance fueled by a macabre obsession. He described dancing around in a ritualistic manner. He told me, I think she just wanted to play with a dead body.

She's crazy. It was kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde situation. We can do whatever ride it died. I don't believe they could have done it without the other because they both had sinister intentions and they relied on each other. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of meeting people online because you don't know what their true intentions may be.

It's hard to imagine that kind of evil to live in the world. In the heart of the Deep South, Metro Atlanta is a mix of vibrant city life and pastoral settings. The further out you move from the Metro Atlanta area, such as Indicob and even to Palding, the more rural things get. You expect that there's going to be a lesser crime rate. But on the evening of June 3, 2016, the Palding County Sheriff's Office receives an alarming phone call. A man was walking his dog when he came across what from our dealership on Old Griffin Road.

A man was walking his dog when he came across what he suspected to be a decomposing body. He became alarmed, and he went to a neighboring business and called 911. Well, that's what I don't know yet. I'm watching any other. Do not know. The body was found off of a major sort of four-lane roadway in Palding County. The first responders arrived, and they

discovered that it was, in fact, human remains. The deceased victim had been wrapped in a tarp and lit on fire. Despite extensive injuries, police determined their victim is an African-American male, approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall. Even though the remains had been burned and charred, you could tell that there was a bullet hole in the left temple area of the head. It was apparent that they were dealing with a homicide. Police searched the area around the body and find no obvious signs of a struggle.

You can imagine that if somebody was alive in that situation, they would be flailing, and there would be a tremendous amount of turmoil in that area, and there was none of that. Palden County quickly realized that this body had been dumped at this site and had been lit on fire post-mortem, probably because the perpetrators were trying to cover up the crime

and distance themselves from what they had done. You see these types of killings or these types of body dumps a lot of times with the cartel or mafia where people are just killed. They're killed and then they're burned. So I thought he had to be linked to something that would be so bad to where these people had killed him and mutilated his body. They searched the area around the remains and they searched the actual

remains themselves and they did not find any identification or anything that could help identify that person at the scene. Our coroner did contact the GBI and requested an autopsy for this decedent to give us more information to proceed with the investigation. In the meantime, authorities turned to reports of missing persons in search of a match for their John Doe. The GBI agent who was assisting us with this case was viewing the local news and saw a family on the local news making a broadcast about a missing person. It's a very short male matching the description of the human remains that were discovered in Paulden County.

The missing person was a Howard Sewell. We kind of put it together that this could very well be, in fact, our person. Howard Lewis Sewell, Jr. was born on May 29, 1981, in Vicenza, Italy. My parents both were in the Army, and they were stationed in Italy, and that is how Howard came about. Faith and Howard were close. They played together all the time when they were younger. And he was a protector, too.

So he looked out for her. Howard Sewell was in between Faith and I. So he was like our little watchman, watched over us at all times. And he was always comforting for us. Howard remained close to his sisters throughout his life. In his 30s, he and his sister Faith shared an apartment in Smyrna, about 10 miles

from downtown Atlanta. They also found jobs together at a beauty salon. He was the housekeeper, but he was the best. It goes more beyond the task. It was just the amount of effort and pride he put into his work. It was just the amount of effort and pride he put into his work. It was inspiring. Howard was the MVP,

and that was because he treated us like each of us were part of his family, and he was just simply taking care of us. He loved working around the people that he was with. He had a lot of good people, positive people. I could say that his second family were the people that he were with. He had a lot of good people, positive people. I could say that his second family were the people on his job.

On the eve of his 35th birthday, Howard Sewell's future looked bright. When I saw him on that Thursday, he asked if we could move his birthday party from Sunday to Monday. He said that he had plans. I said, oh, Howard, that sounds like a lady. And he just smiled and kind of grinned.

But that was the last time any of Howard's friends or family heard from him. any of Howard's friends or family heard from him. On Tuesday, mid-morning, the location that he worked at actually called me and said, hey, we've tried calling Howard. He was a no-call, no-show. And that's very unusual for him. So I tried calling him multiple times, and I didn't get an answer. I know my brother, and I know he wouldn't ignore my calls

unless something was going on, something was wrong. And it just didn't feel right with me. Faith called me, she said, mama, I don't want to worry you or scare you, but Junior didn't show up for work today. He's not at his apartment. She said, I've been calling him all day. I can't reach him. Me being a mother, immediately I know my son.

And at that particular time, I have to say that my heart dropped. My heart actually dropped because I know him. And I knew something was wrong. Because I know him and I knew something was wrong. That's when we dropped everything and went to the police to file a missing persons report. Local agency Cobb County Police Department documented the last time that they saw and spoke with him and began their investigation. They also wanted to get some stats on him, how much he weighed, how tall he was, so that they could circulate that around the metro Atlanta

area in the hopes that we could discover where Howard had gone. Days pass with no news or leads on Howard's whereabouts. Then, one week after his family reported him missing, police in nearby Palding County, Georgia find the remains of an unidentified male matching Howard's description. Detectives contact Howard's family. They said they found a body.

And I was very hopeful that it wasn't him. I was just like, you know, I hope it's, just hope it's not him. It just can't be him. They asked us a lot of questions about Howard, about his job, about where he lived, and all the things that he did. The family made it very clear to us that this is not like Howard and that he would not

go a length of time without speaking to his family, whether it be by phone or in person. He was very involved with his family. On June 6, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducts an autopsy on their victim. The autopsy was rather revealing. We learned very quickly that he had died from multiple gunshot wounds, at least

four gunshot wounds. They could also tell from the recovery of the projectiles that this was done with a 9-millimeter handgun. The autopsy also confirms the family's worst fears. Looking at dental records, the GBI was able to confirm for us that indeed this was Howard's body. The police called and they gave us the information and that was probably the moment I remember probably the most. He said, Mrs. Edmond, are you all together? I said, yes, we're all together.

And he said, the coroner just came back into the room and he has informed us that the body that we found is your son's body. At that point, I lost my breath. Like, I almost began hyperventilating. I remember it just vividly getting out of the car and screaming, and literally screaming to the top of my lungs.

We stood at the truck screaming and crying and hurting because that was my only son. It hit hard that somebody had taken my baby from me. Coming up, an anonymous tipster comes forward. So they all got to fight and stay put, all for me. And the investigation uncovers a sordid romance with sinister intentions. He kind of had a bad boy thing going on that she liked, and she really started spending all of her time with him.

They fell in love with each other. Investigators in Pau Palding County, Georgia have identified the remains of 35-year-old Howard Sewell. And both law enforcement and Howard's family are desperately searching for answers on why someone would do this. We were torn into pieces because of the way he was done, more than anything.

The way he was abandoned, you know, and left there to die. When we learned that this is Howard, we have to go back and look at his victimology even closer. We have to look at his last footprint, if you will, where he was seen, who he was talking to. Just hours after Howard has been identified, his family meets with detectives at headquarters. They indicated to us that the last day that they talked to him

was his birthday, May 29. that they talked to him was his birthday, May 29th. I called my brother that morning, kind of early, and wished him a happy birthday. And he hadn't really woke up yet, so I was like, you know, I'm sorry, I just wanted to tell you happy birthday. I told him, you know, I'll let you sleep, and you just call me when you wake up.

It was on Sunday, as a matter of fact. After church, I gave him a call. I said, what are you going to do today? He said, I'm going to rest for a while, and then I'm going to get up, and I'm going to clean up my apartment, and then I have a date. He planned on meeting up with a young lady that he had met online.

He was from Virginia. But that's about as much information that investigators were able to ascertain. I didn't question him about the young lady that he was going out with. That's when the family reveals they had received a disturbing phone call from an anonymous woman earlier that morning.

She told us that she had overheard some guys talking about my brother, and one of them was her boyfriend. I put her on speaker phone for my mom and my sister to hear because we were all sitting together, and my sister took her phone out, and she was like, just record. She explained to us that she had a son and that she was expecting at that moment, and if it was her child,

she would want someone to come forth with information to help her find her child. The family tells detectives that the caller said Howard had planned to meet a woman for a date the night of his birthday. Yeah, she's gonna be the female. She's her boyfriend. Okay.

When he got there, their whole plan was to drop him instead of him, you know, do what he had to do with the girl. Yeah, they're gonna set him up, uh-huh. Okay. They set him up and I guess, you know, they all going to set him up. Uh-huh. OK. OK. She was like, he's been shot. And I asked her, and by then, just tears were flowing.

And I said, you know, did they kill my brother? I need you to ask me honestly, did they kill my brother? I'm sorry, I just want to know if they killed my brother. Please, I need to know. I know you are, I know you are. We have to know this information. We have to know. I actually got on the phone with her, and I said, sweetheart,

this is Sonja. I'm Howard's mother. And I said, I really need to know all that you know as to what happened that night He's my only son I am so proud of you for coming forth I know you're scared, but we are Christian people and we will promise you we're gonna ask God's protection upon you as We're going to ask God's protection upon you. As detectives listen to the recording,

they learn Howard's death might be connected to a man in neighboring Cobb County. Our homicide team learned that Howard Sewell had went to an apartment in the Marietta area, and the apartment belonged to a person that this source identified as Chris Hanna's. Chris Hanna. Chris. Chris Hanna's.

While the informant never reveals her name, she indicates she's a friend of Chris Hanna. We immediately contacted the Marietta Police Department and give them this information. And they were able to research and locate Mr. Hanna's apartment and learned of several calls to that apartment. And they were able to research and locate Mr. Hannah's apartment and learned of several calls to that apartment. Detectives discovered that in the early morning hours of May 30th, the same night that Howard went missing,

a 911 call had summoned Marietta police to Chris Hannah's apartment building. The law enforcement had not only been called to that apartment complex, but actually called to Christopher Hannah's apartment on the night in question due to a fireworks or shots fired complaint. Officers investigated the exterior area of the apartment complex, but was unable to determine if shots were fired

or if they were fireworks. The police went back into service. Nothing came of it. But detectives learned that later that same night, Marietta police became involved in another incident involving Chris Hanna. They received a second call from an officer that was working a part-time job at the local hospital.

The officer had a car drive up into the emergency room ramp. Three people got out of that car. One of them had been shot. Answers for Claudia, a new podcast available exclusively on Wondry Plus, explores a 15 year old mystery, the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence on March the 18th, 2009. Claudia was a seemingly happy 35 year old when she vanished without a trace.

There was no crime scene, no CCTV of Claudia leaving her home, and nobody found. She simply finished her shift, phoned her mum for a chat, and was never seen again. Claudia's mum Joan is now 80 years old, and she thinks this might be her last chance to find answers. I'm journalist Tom McDermott, and when I offered to help Joan, I had no idea what was in store. In Answers for Claudia I speak to the people who knew Claudia, interview past suspects and investigate the rumours and theories that surround this case. Why are the residents

of the village Claudia lived in still so frightened and what can we find out about the people who were closest to Claudia? You can binge Answers for Claudia exclusively on Wondry+. Join Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. Ruby Franke was known by millions as a very tough mom. That's exactly the way she wanted it. The social media star amassed a huge following of supporters and detractors alike, preaching the values of strict discipline. But you'll learn in a new podcast available exclusively on Wondery Plus, how the small empire built by this momfluencer crumbled the moment

her 12 year old son escaped their home and called 911. Wondery and Law and Crime bring you the new podcast, The Rise and Fall of Ruby Franke, which explores the allegations of starvation, torture, and emotional abuse leveled against Franke and her business partner, Jodie Hildebrandt. Learn about the family's path to stardom, the depravity investigators uncovered inside the home, and hear in-depth analysis of the ongoing criminal trial.

Follow the rise and fall of Ruby Frankie on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of the rise and fall of Ruby Frankie early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Less than a week after police in Palding County, Georgia found the body of 35-year-old Howard Sewell, his family struggles to cope with the tragic loss. We weren't able to have a proper funeral for my brother. You know, there was nobody there for us to even glance at one last time. We decided as a family not to even buy a casket to put any charred remains in because that

wasn't my boy. That was not him. So we ended up cremating his body. We weren't able to really say goodbye. Thanks to a tip from an anonymous informant, detectives believe they have connected Howard's death to a man named Chris Hanna. Police have also just learned that Chris Hanna

was involved in a second shooting the same night Howard disappeared, and that the victim had been treated at a local hospital. He had sustained gunshot wounds to his arm and his leg, however, that they were non-life threatening. The gentleman that was shot, he was identified as Omar Saviar. The female was identified as Tadeja Clark. The male who had driven the car was Chris Hanna.

Detectives learned that an officer working on duty at the hospital that evening had attempted to question the group, but they were unwilling to provide many details. Marietta detectives told us that they did not buy the story that they were given. However, there were not many leads to pursue at that time. When the uniformed officer went out to the car to look inside the car, right dead center

in between the two front seats, he saw the butt of the 9mm handgun sticking out. Marietta detectives contacted Chris and said, you have a handgun in plain view in your car. And his words to them was, it's not mine. Go ahead and take it. At that point in time, it was abandoned property. The fire arm and the vehicle were seized by police that night on May the 30th. Police had no reason to hold Chris or Tadeja, so they left the hospital, and Omar Xavier was treated and released the next day. But police still had very little information

about the shooting, and now authorities from Palding County, Marietta, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation theorize that the incident may be related to the murder of Howard Sewell. It was apparent to the police that Chris Hannon was somehow involved. We now had two additional names of people that

might be involved as well, Omar Saviour and Thadasha Clark. We created BOLOs or lookout forms for those people, and then they were sent out to various agencies in the metro Atlanta area. We were now gathering all the information and intelligence that we could pertaining to Chris, Omar, and Tadasia. We searched all of the social media that each of the three may have. What we learned about Chris Hanna is that he lived

at an apartment complex here in Marietta. His profession was working as a personal trainer at a local gym. Chris Hanna met Tadeja through the gym. Detectives learned that 20-year-old Tadeja Clark had moved to Atlanta from Hampton, Virginia five years earlier. I looked into Tadeasha Clark quite extensively. She was living with Chris Hanna. She was actually, at the time of this investigation, was taking classes at a local community college

and how to become a mortician. Detectives also connect Tadasha to 21-year-old Omar Xavier. Omar and Tadasha were involved in a romantic relationship. What we knew about Omar, he wasn't from around here. We knew he was from the Pennsylvania area. We believe that due to the arrest or some criminal activity that he had there, he actually left Pittsburgh, fleeing from that area and coming

to Georgia to try to start a new life. It seemed like he had actually only been in this area for a very short period of time. He was basically homeless. Omar didn't really seem to have a steady job or home. He did have family in the area, but they couldn't really tell police much. He seemed to honestly be drifting through when he met Tadasia. Authorities run a background check on Tadasia

and discover her record is clean. When detectives reach out to her friends and family, they're surprised to learn police are searching for the 20-year-old college student. Tadasha, she was like the smart person, then it was like everybody else. She never really been the type of person to follow anybody, you know?

She had a lot of energy. She was open to a lot of people. I mean, she stayed to herself at the same time, but never really had problems. But what did Tadasha, Omar, and Chris have to do with Howard Sewell's murder? Detectives scour Howard Sewell's phone records in the hopes they'll find a connection to the trio.

We knew from Howard's sister he intended to meet up with a young lady from Virginia. Once we were able to get those records from the provider, we were able to see that he was indeed in communication with the Deja Clark. According to messages exchanged through a personal ads website, Howard planned to meet to Deja for a date. We know that he also contacted the taxi cab company in the early morning hours of May the 30th. He had gone to the area of Roswell Road near this apartment complex where Chris, Hannah and Tadasha live.

That was the last time Howard Suell placed a telephone call. We were very concerned at this point that this was going to be our homicide location. On June 10th, investigators serve a search warrant at Chris Hanna and Tadasha Clark's apartment. We gathered the City of Marietta SWAT team together because we did not know what was potentially there or who was potentially there. We knew that the people responsible for Howard's death had a strong propensity for violence. So dynamic entry was made into the residence. I can remember the SWAT team exiting the apartment with a dumbfounded look on

their face. And I said, what's going on? One of the SWAT team members looked at me and said, there's nobody here and there's nothing in the house. Coming up, a forensic search leads investigators to discover a key piece of evidence left behind by the suspects. I can remember the crime scene technician walking over to the bench and opening the bench up. And I looked inside and it was full of blood. And the manhunt for the missing suspects leads to a shocking tell-all confession. The next thing he recalled was hearing gunshots, waking up to the sound of these gunshots.

She's like, do you want to burn him and say her prayers or some sh-? In Marietta, Georgia, homicide detectives are searching the apartment of Chris Hanna and Tadasha Clark, where they believe 35-year-old Howard Sewell was shot and killed on May 30, 2016. The apartment was abnormally clean. There was no furniture. Each room had a very strong order of bleach

or cleaning solution in it, which raised a huge red flag in my investigation. Police were able to recover projectiles, bullets from the wall. They also found some shell casings that had been missed during the cleanup process. have been missed during the cleanup process. Those projectiles were then linked back to a 9-millimeter handgun. Which was very significant because we

know that Mr. Sewell was killed with a 9-millimeter and that a 9-millimeter firearm had been found in the car that Chris Hanna had drove to the hospital with Omar Savior and Tadisha Clark. As detectives continue processing the apartment, they make a crucial discovery in one of the few remaining pieces of furniture. It appeared to be a piano bench. I can remember the crime scene technician

walking over to the bench and opening the bench up, and I looked inside, and it was full of blood. There was blood that had leaked down, like the lid was open, and then the blood was leaking down into or leaching into the middle of the piano bench. We took swabs from the blood located in the bench, and that blood was later matched to Howard's soul. Now you have DNA shell casings and projectiles

from the back room of this apartment. We all but confirmed that the shooting happened at this apartment, and this is where Howard was actually killed. Unfortunately, there are no signs in the apartment of where the suspects had fled. Then, five days later, on June 15, detectives receive word that one of the three suspects

has been taken into custody, but on unrelated charges. As it happens, Omar was arrested for an unrelated assault charge in a neighboring city. We were contacted by another agency stating that Omar Saviour was actually in custody in our local jail, and I decided that we were going to go interview Mr. Saviour. When detectives sit down with Omar for a formal interview, the 21-year-old is less than cooperative.

Police did bring up Howard Sewell by name to Omar and asked if this was somehow related to this missing persons report and the discovery of Howard's body in the neighboring county. He denied any involvement in it whatsoever. somehow related to this missing persons report and the discovery of Howard's body in the neighboring county. He denied any involvement in it whatsoever. You could tell that he was getting mad. He was getting frustrated with us asking these questions

until the point to where he just said, I don't want to talk to you guys anymore. I want to go back to my jail. So I need to talk to an attorney. And we ended the interview right after that. Omar essentially shut down. But police let him know in no uncertain terms that they believed he was involved in this fatal

shooting and that charges could be forthcoming. Two days later, investigators catch another big break. Chris Hannah got picked up on a pandering charge. And we found that he was in jail. So we attempted to interview Mr. Hannah about our investigation. Chris volunteered to speak with us. When we met with him,

we went through essentially his life history and we went all the way up to the point of this case. Chris is giving background into his relationship with Tadasia. They had actually been friends and roommates for several years, but Omar had just recently come into the picture a few weeks ago. Tadasia Clark met Omar's savior at a park.

They had run into each other and had an interest in each other. She found out that Omar was homeless. She then in turn went to Chris Hannah, who she was living with, and requested that he allow Omar's save yard to either stay on the couch or in this back sunroom. Chris tells detectives that while the relationship between Tadesha and Omar was new, the couple had already formed an unbreakable bond.

I think what she was trying to do is she was trying to help Omar feel like he had a family, like he had some self-worth, because she saw good in him. And in turn, he took care of her. He protected her. They fell in love with each other. When detectives press Chris for information about what happened in his apartment

the morning of May 30th, he doesn't mention anything about the murder of Howard Sewell. But he does go into detail about how Omar's savior was shot. According to Chris, he was asleep when the shooting occurred. Chris Hanna articulated to detectives that he had gotten so drunk the night of the shooting, he actually went and passed out in his room.

The next thing he recalled was hearing gunshots, waking up to the sound of these gunshots and seeing Omar run into the room where he said, she shot me, she being the Deja Clark. He said, she shot me, she shot me. I need to go to the hospital, take me to the hospital. He just kept saying, take me to the hospital, take me to the hospital.

I'm like, all right, man, chill out. Just get out of the room, and I'll take you to the hospital. Christopher stated to me in the interview that it took him a second to gather his thoughts. He didn't really know what was going on, but he knew that Omar was hurt. He was shot, and he needed help. So he stated that he had gotten up out of bed,

and they drove to the hospital. Chris explains that after dropping Omar off at the ER, and then he was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back.

He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back.

He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. He was shot in the back. Chris tells police he had no idea who Howard Sewell was, but he assumed Tadeisha had killed him after she made several bizarre comments. She makes this to you that she may want to embalm this guy? She told me she did or something. She said she did something like four bleats in his mouth or something. I don't know.

She told you that? Yeah. Or that she wanted to or something. Something to that nature. She said she wanted to embalm the guy. Did she ever talk to you about any of this before? I mean, obviously, you said that she was. She said she wanted to be a mortician,

but that was as far as it went. And then it's like she was starting to get with it, like, don't f*** with me. He told me, I think she just wanted to play with a dead body and she's crazy. He became afraid of her. However, he wanted this body out of his house. And so he assisted her in wrapping the body,

packaging it, and they worked together to load this body under the cover of night, and they removed the body from the apartment complex. Did you guys have this predetermined location, or did you just drive along and you're like... Just driving along, and she decided whatever, she just stopped here. It's at... Just driving along and she decided wherever she was, just stop here. It's at that point that Deja had actually lit the tarp

with Howard's body inside on fire. He described her activity as very bizarre. He described her activity as very bizarre. Dancing around Howard's body while it was burning in a ritualistic manner, he decided to get back in the car and just wait on her. Once Chris and Thadasia Clark had abandoned Howard's body in the field, they quickly went back to Chris's apartment so that they can continue to clean up.

Chris claims that the next morning, Tadasia left. Tadasia had packed up her things and left the apartment. Chris left the apartment, and Chris said he hadn't seen Omar since they left the hospital. So at this point, he couldn't say where anyone had gone. Following his confession, police charge Chris with concealing a death. They also continue their search for Tadasha Clark,

putting pressure on her known associates to help bring her to justice. Undoubtedly, word got back to Thadasia that police were quickly honing in on her. Lieutenant Mike Hill and I were in my office at the City of Marietta Police Department when we received a telephone call, and I just so happened to answer the phone, and it was Thadasia Clark.

She said, hey, I know you guys are looking for me. It's time for us to meet and talk. Coming up, detectives finally hear Tedasia's side of the story. But what she reveals changes everything police thought they knew about the case. Howard was kind of in a fight for his life, and he managed to get the upper hand on Omar.

Two weeks after the murder of Howard Sewell, Jr., 20-year-old Tadasha Clark surrenders to law enforcement. We met with her at a place of business in a parking lot, and we conducted an interview with her. Tadasha starts her story by admitting to police that late in the night on May 29, she had lured Howard Sewell to her apartment under false pretenses.

He was intended to be the first of several victims that Omar and Tadejia had planned to target. What was revealed through the interview with Tadejia was that this was a scam. That their whole intent was to lure people to this apartment so that they could rob them of their money. And that Tadejia had met Howard online. She had made some promises to him. Howard showed up at this apartment,

thought that he was gonna celebrate his birthday, thought that he was going to maybe have a hookup with Thadasia. So initially, it was amicable. They were kind of flirty with each other. And then all of a sudden, Thadasia and Omar pulled a gun on him and started trying to rob him. Omar starts demanding money from Howard Sewell.

I believe Howard Sewell felt that he didn't have any other recourse. He attacked Omar's savior. Omar was significantly bigger than Howard. Howard was kind of in a fight for his life. And he managed to get the upper hand on Omar, such that Omar actually lost the gun during this physical fight.

Tadeja picked up the gun at Omar's request. She said that Omar instructed her to shoot Howard. She picked up the gun and began shooting. She mistakenly struck Omar, but she also struck Howard a couple of times as well. And it's at that point that Howard was incapacitated enough that Omar could retrieve the firearm. He fired the fatal shot into Howard Tech. In interviewing to Deja, she discloses to us that once Howard is killed and that he

is lifeless there on the bench that we had found during the first search warrant that Omar essentially removes all of Howard's personal effects, part of which is $400 in cash, and when asked about her receiving any of those funds, she explains to us that she didn't get any of the money. He never gave Thadasia Clark any money. He took all the money, kept it for himself. Set the conclusion of the interview that we did take Thadasia into custody,

and she was ultimately charged with felony murder. Based on her confession, authorities charged Thadasia Clark and Omar Xavier with malice murder, felony murder, and concealing a death. We felt grateful that they had now been arrested, but we also were angry. We were upset. We wanted justice to be served.

In April 2018, nearly two years after the murder of Howard Sewell, Jr., Tadasha Clark appears in court for a pretrial hearing. Ultimately she pled guilty to murder. She also agreed that she would testify against Omar. Three months later, on the eve of his trial, Omar's savior also pleads guilty. To our surprise, he said, I'm going to get convicted anyway. It's time for me to just plead guilty

to the murder counts too. Chris Hanna was also convicted. For his lesser offenses, he received a total sentence of 15 years with eight years to serve, the balance on probation. he received a total sentence of 15 years with eight years to serve the balance on probation. Omar and Tadeja were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

I think they were equally responsible in this case. I don't believe they could have done it without the other because they utilized Tadeja to lure Howard Sewell, and Omar handled the robbery aspect. I think that they both had sinister intentions in this case, and they relied on each other to carry it out. I felt like she got into a relationship and was probably so deep in love with this person

that she would do whatever. It's kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde situation. Maybe she had a certain type of feeling for this guy that I'm gonna stick with you through thick and thin and do whatever, ride or die type of situation. It's heartbreaking to know that you have someone out here that can be so cruel. that you have someone out here that can be so cruel. Howard was always the person that was the calm in the storm.

And so they robbed the earth of someone that was the calm in the storm. I want this message to get out. I want people to hear about this. I want them to learn to be cautious in situations. If you're doing online dating, be very cautious. Just understand that your life is precious and that you need to be careful.

When the matriarch of a prominent Princeton family is found stabbed to death in her locked basement, investigators look from a serial attacker to her family, to Princeton University students. One hot-blooded investigator sees a conspiracy. Is he way off base, or does privilege let you get away with murder? You can listen to In the Shadow of Princeton exclusively and ad-free with Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts.