Snapped: Women Who Murder - Lisa Suter

Episode Date: December 14, 2025

Missouri police are called to the home of a prominent judge's daughter to find her husband dead.Season 33 Episode 04Originally aired: Nov 19, 2023Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A powerful family rocked by tragedy. Her father is a prominent judge. She found her husband unresponsive on the couch. There's a great deal of blood. Investigators pry into a guarded reputation. The family name was synonymous with law and order. It made the front page of the papers. In a tightly knit community, secrets

rarely stay hidden. She was staying out late into the night, partying. He did everything he could to pursue a relationship. She continued to turn him down. The truth reveals a money-hungry killer consumed by greed. She was one of those gimmie, gimme-gimmy people. She wanted the money she wanted that house. She could get a man to do just about anything for her.

He was a puppy dog after her. She promised him money and marriage. Desper people do desperate things. She was a desperate person. The town of St. Charles sits on the banks of the Missouri River just 20 miles from St. Louis. Back in the 90s, the young professionals kind of flocked this area. Everything was new. St. Charles at that time was a small community that was up and coming.

A lot of everybody knew everybody type of thing. October 12, 1991. A 911 call interrupts a leisurely Saturday. in the middle-class community. Fire an ambulance emergency. Yes, I need somebody to come out here right away. There's something. There's blood all over.

Sometime around noon, the police received a 911 call by Lisa Souter, who had gone home and she found her husband. Alfred, also known as Freddie, unresponsive, on the couch. Okay, is he awake, ma'am?

No, I think he's dead. He's not moving. It was rather calm and collected. There was no hysterics. There was no screaming into the phone. She could have been in shock. That happens quite a bit. You could have all kinds of reactions from people

that walk in on something like this. They're flat everywhere. Okay, how old is that? How old is he? He's 34. 34? Okay. We'll get somebody wrapped her right away, ma'am.

Okay. The police showed up along with St. Charles, Fire Protection District, EMS. They kept her outside. First responders arrived. They went over to Alfred, and they found that he was, in fact, deceased. There was nothing they could do. It was obvious that he had been shot. There's a great deal of blood.

What looked like a wound to the back of the head and an exit wound. in the front of the face, was shot down from an angle, from behind him and downwards. They find a shell casing from a 9mm on the couch. It doesn't seem to be a sign of a struggle. The house is not ransacked. There aren't necessarily valuables missing.

Freddie was an awesome, friendly, sparkling person. It didn't make sense who would do that. Born on June 1st, 1955 in Grindelwald, Switzerland, Alfred Freddie Souter spent his childhood surrounded by the breathtaking Alps. It's very pretty high mountains and the chalets. Lots of snow in the winter, nice in the summer. By his mid-20s, Alfred was a gifted engineer at the International Machinery manufacturer, Hydromat.

Alfred was really talented at the career that he chose. He was really well respected. When Alfred was 26, he was offered a life-changing opportunity. When 1981, Alfred and his mentor and friend Bruno Schmidt are relocate to the United States to start a branch of hydromat. They were really building things from the ground up when they began working here in the St. Louis area. he came over for the American dream. He wanted to get ahead.

He was sort of a little bit of an adventurer, and he wanted to get out and enjoy life. Freddie bought a home in St. Charles and found a group of friends among his fellow expats. He would go up to the bar, and he had his friends that would show up to and play pool. After six years in Missouri, Freddie was out one evening with friends when the unexpected happened. We were sitting at the bar, and the bartender brought Freddy a beer,

and the bartender said the gal crossed the bar, ordered the beer for him. He went over there, and they thanked her, and that's the way he met Lisa. Twelve years, Freddy's junior, Lisa was the youngest of Donald and Carlin. in Dalton's six children. Lisa Dalton grew up in a pretty prominent family in the St. Charles area with a life of privilege, the silver spoon in her mouth. Her father is Judge Dalton.

He's a prominent judge in the St. Charles County Court Systems. For more than 40 years, he had never lost an election for public office. The Dalton name was synonymous with law and order. For Lisa, that meant a little bit of pressure. to live up to the family name. She needed to meet certain expectations. Lisa graduated from high school in 1985,

and after that, she attended college where she seemed to be an average to above average student. While out with her friends, Lisa spotted Freddy across the bar. When they met, Lisa was 20 and Alfred was 32. There was a significant difference there. She was pretty charming. Pretty saw something in her.

a whirlwind romance started on the spot in 1987 less than a year after meeting Alfred and Lisa were married and Lisa moved in with Alfred at their home in St. Charles he was just overjoyed and they were in love with each other she was just a lovely young lady that he was just all excited about. The Dalton family welcomed to the brainy Swiss engineer with open arms. Lisa's family thought that Lisa had finally hit the jackpot. He was a lead engineer at his company. So he was able to provide for her.

Lisa eventually left college to join the workforce. Lisa was going to become a police officer. and she applied for the St. Charles County, Missouri Police Academy. Lisa's career in law enforcement would prove to be short-lived. Lisa was hired by the Hazelwood Police Department. There she went through her field training phase. I don't believe she made it off field training. She had hurt her ankle, and that was the end of her law enforcement career.

In 1991, Lisa embarked on a new venture. Lisa began LA Designs, which was a wholesale fragrance business. She had investors, and then she eventually brought on employees. The perfumes were well known. They were knockoffs, but they were well known. I applied for a job, and I was pretty much hired on the spot to sell perfume. When everybody started, you know, gathered, box full of perfume and get ready to go out.

And it's like, we're going to do this. We're going to sell a ton of it. We were told that there's a few top sellers that they'd go out and they'd come back and their boxes would be empty and everybody's like, oh, well, they can do it. I can do it. As Lisa and Alfred embark on their new business venture, they seem to have a bright future ahead. But after only four years together, all of that comes crashing down when Lisa finds her

husband murdered. As Lisa waits outside the couple's home, St. Charles' homicide investigators get their first look at Alfred's body. As we were examining blood, there were three droplets that led from the couch towards the basement door. Investigators consider whether an intruder broke in and snuck up on Alfred from behind. We went down the stairs into the basement and we found a basement window that had been broken. The glass was laying outside the house rather than inside the house.

Whoever broke the window did so from the inside. It told us that possibly if it was staged. If a stranger is going to knock on the door and force their way in, they're probably going to do the shooting right. then and there, they're not going to let you sit down on the couch to watch TV and then shoot you from behind. Someone was there who Freddie trusted and knew. Alfred knew the person who killed him. We just had to figure out who that was. Coming up, could an innocent crush have turned deadly? He apparently was totally infatuated with Lee

And the investigation takes a high-profile turn. Her dad, Judge Donald Dalton, showed up at the crime scene. St. Charles County Sheriff's deputies are at the home of Lisa and Alfred Souter. Alfred lies dead on the couch from a gunshot wound to the head. When investigators step outside to speak with Lisa, they find she is no longer alone. Her dad, Judge Donald Dalton, showed up at the crime scene and asked to be let in to the crime scene.

Most of the officers on the scene would have known who Judge Dalton was. They still told them that he could not enter, at which point he respected that decision. With the past, Powerful judge's presence looming over the case, investigators make a decision. The St. Charles County Sheriff's Department

called for an activation of the major case squad to keep politics out of it. That meant that police officers from many local police departments, some miles away from the crime, were called and converged to investigate. The first thing we heard was that a judge's daughter found her husband murder.

So everything had to be done absolutely perfect in this case. The same day Alfred's body is found, the major case squad takes over. As their first order of business, they do a thorough sweep of the suitor home. Alfred was on the couch facing the television, kind of slumped over. The kitchen area was directly behind him. and they find some weapons on the kitchen counter along with a cleaning kit. The assumption here is that Freddie had his guns out and was cleaning them. The possibility that there had been a gun there that the murderer could have grabbed and used was an option.

However, investigators discover a significant problem with their first theory. Police found a 9-millimeter shell casing. The firearms that were out on the table didn't match. the bullet casings. None of them had been used as the murder weapon. We had to identify if there were any guns owned by either Lisa or Alfred that were missing. When investigators step outside to ask Lisa,

they find she has been joined by another powerful family member. Her brother, who was a prominent attorney, had showed up. Attorney Gene Dalton announces he is acting as his sister's counsel. He allows Lisa to answer questions about the guns. Lisa told the police about all the weapons that she owned. She had a Beretta 9mm that was not found in the kitchen. They escorted her upstairs and looked for that 9mm burrata. It was nowhere to be found.

The 9-millimeter Beretta is missing. Lisa and her brother head to the station to answer more questions. There, Lisa tells investigators she didn't spend the previous night at home. Did he say what he was going to do last phone? No, I spent about two minutes on the phone. That was it. Just basically that I didn't think I was going to be home. We had a big contest in my office.

Lisa said she was with a friend who actually works for Lisa as Lisa's perfume company. They apparently went to a celebration, and when they returned the next day, she came home and discovered her husband on the couch like that. I'll be real honest with you. The whole population of St. Truff County is a suspect right now. For a fact, you're a possible son. She tells the police that her and Alfred have a happy marriage, they have a normal home life. She had nothing to do with what happened to Alfred.

Who do you think would want her to throw? Nobody that I know him. Nobody? No. She wasn't allowed to say much because her brother, who is a skilled attorney, was with her. After the interview, investigators fought. follow up on her alibi. Her friend confirmed that Lisa was with her and spent the night with her over at her home.

With Lisa in the clear, investigators look to Alfred's closest and oldest friend. They contacted Bruno Schmitter, who was Alfred's friend and mentor. They interviewed him, and he was, of course, shocked and sad by Alfred's death. Like Lisa, he says Alfred had no enemies, but he points out that the suitor marriage wasn't perfect. Freddie was truly in love with Lisa, and at first he was happy. But the longer the relationship went, she became a different person, basically. She also liked her freedom, so she started going out. It got much worse when Lisa decided she decided she'd.

wanted to become a police officer. Lisa brought her work home with her by bringing fellow classmates home with her to party, drink, hang out, do things, up until very late hours of the night when Freddie had to get up the next morning and go to work. I talked to him a little bit about his relationship.

You could tell there was problems. Certain that Lisa's attorney brother will deflect that line of questioning. Investigators instead contact her instructors at the academy. She went to the academy, mediocre grades, but she did graduate.

She was a probationary officer for three months. The field training officer was quite open and honest and said that her evaluation process was poor, barely acceptable. She had a personality that exemplified she expected others to do the work for her. They were going to continue her probation

because she simply was not cut in the mustard. So three days after she was notified about being put on further probation, Lisa had an ankle injury and she simply resigned. He points them to Debbie Young, Lisa's closest friend at the Academy. Debbie told police that she hadn't seen Lisa in a while, but that they were close while they were at the Police Academy.

I asked her what her opinion of Lisa was. Debbie's answer was, Lisa was the kind of person who could get a man to do just about anything for her. Debbie had told me about a gentleman by the name of Richard, and he apparently was... Totally infatuated with Lisa. He would bring her roses, presents offered to do homework for her. He did everything he could to pursue a relationship with Lisa sooner.

At first, Lisa enjoyed the attention, but eventually she told Richard to knock it off. Richard didn't really take that news very well and continued to pursue Lisa, sending her notes and small gifts. he was trying to get her to date him even though she continued to turn him down Debbie described Richard as somebody who was maybe a little unstable and would do strange things like boast about getting into fights over women

he was wanting to get with Lisa if he would get rid of the husband he has free reign to be with her Richard had raised some red flags and we had to get those red flags answered. Police bring Richard in for questioning, and he denies any involvement in Alfred's murder.

He said he had never had any sort of issue with Alfred, and that he didn't know him that well. He seemed totally open and honest, willing to help us in any manner, shape, or form. Richard says the romance between himself and Lisa wasn't a one-way. Street. Lisa went out with him. He said that they had dated. Lisa wanted to cut it off. He wanted her back and she said no. They had a relationship that he tried to get to go further, but that after the academy there had been no further contact. Richard was a police officer. He really didn't have a motive to kill anybody, especially Freddie Shooter. He also had an airtight alibi, that he was nowhere near the crime scene.

We were able to verify that alibi and rule him out. He was no longer a suspect. Richard may be a dead end, but investigators see that the suitor marriage was not as picture-perfect as Lisa let on. There's obvious evidence that that report. relationship is not healthy. Those conflicting statements just throw a bunch of red flags of Lisa's not being

totally honest. There's something not quite right here we need to investigate further. Coming up, Alfred's co-workers disclose chilling allegations. All of us pretty much pointed the finger at her right off the bat.

Alfred had woken up one night and she was pointing a gun at his head. The night after engineer Alfred Souter is gunned down on his couch, authorities begin paying visits to his co-workers. Police decided to ask as many people as they could about Alfred, his relationship with Lisa. We were all just flabbergous.

I mean, we were just like nobody could believe. After the shock wears off, the employees are eager to assist. All of us pretty much pointed the finger at Lisa right off the bat. You know, no hesitation. But we just felt who else would do something like that to Freddie. They report that the marriage had been troubled from the start. Freddie got married to Lisa. to Lisa pretty quick.

It went well for the first couple of years, and then they separated. She went home to her parents, and they said, you can't come home. You're supposed to be married. You go back to Freddie. So here she comes with her tail between her legs.

And then a year later, Freddy's back with her. Soon after, Lisa started her business, L.A. Design Perfume. It became another sore spot in the already tense relationship. Freddie was the financial backing for L.A. design. I don't know the exact amount, but quite a bit of money to Lisa for this company. And he was seeing nothing in return.

Freddie was continually feeding her money to keep it afloat. She would keep going back to him, begging for hell. His coworkers report that Alfred was finally done. It was obvious that Lisa and Alfred were not sleeping in the same bedroom. He had been complaining about how the marriage was over. He was trying to get her to leave him and divorce him. She was refusing to move out of the house because if she had moved out, she wouldn't get the house.

She was going to stay there. She wanted Freddie's money, and she wanted Freddy's house. she was one of those gimme-gimmy-gmy people Lisa dug in her heels and turned to intimidation one co-worker said that Alfred told him that he had woken up one night

and Lisa was pointing a gun at his head Lisa had said see what I could do to you anytime I want it wasn't a healthy relationship in any way and he could tell Freddie was afraid. Investigators look into the rumored financial troubles.

I did a little background on LA design and found it to be kind of along the lines of a pyramid-style scheme or business. She would buy cases of imitation cologne from a company in another state. And then she was allowed to sell them. at whatever price she thought was appropriate. She got these employees to sell them for more than what they would have to pay Lisa for, which was more than what Lisa paid the original company for.

Hoping to gain additional insight, investigators visit L.A. design and speak with several employees. We interviewed various coworkers. I learned that they were losing money and probably going to have to close up shop. Several of the employees observe that Lisa is a little flirtatious with some of the men in the business. Some people described her as promiscuous

and that Lisa could be manipulative with men to get what she wanted. Lisa even bragged about how she was getting in shape and she had a girlfriend who she became friends with and would go out with and pick up guys with. Investigators are informed that Lisa was especially fond of a certain employee, 23-year-old Danny Johnson. There were rumors going around that Lisa and Danny were seeing each other.

Did I notice it? Maybe they seemed real friendly, but was it overtly? No. While Lisa seemed to like Danny, he wasn't popular with everyone. Most of him just got a bad feeling about who he was and how he handled himself. He was off. Danny would have been more submissive.

He was a puppy dog after Lisa. He just didn't seem like everybody else. He wasn't the norm. Neither Lisa nor Danny are present at the time of questioning. Armed with this new and information, investigators leave and refocus on their new potential suspect. Danny told a lot of people that he was a police officer from Salt Lake City. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We found that Danny did have a criminal record in another state. I believe it was assault third. Knowing what we just found out about Danny Johnson is we need to bring him in and talk to him a little bit deeper. we'd had enough information to bring him in for questioning. When police first talked to Danny, he says he doesn't know that much about Lisa and Alfred's relationships, that they didn't really talk about that very much at work. But over time, his story changes. Danny slowly starts to admit that he was friends with Alfred.

She had brought him to meet Alfred. and the two of them hit it off over sports and that he was often over there without Lisa being around. Police aren't buying that Danny was closest with Alfred. They continue to press. He broke down and said, yes, her and I have been seeing each other.

He was under the impression that Lisa was going to leave Alfred and marry him. Investigators know that Lisa didn't fire the shot that killed Alfred. Now they wonder if Danny did. So we then treated him not just as a co-worker or a friend of the family, but as a suspect and started doing a deeper dive into who he was and where he may have been on the night of the homicide. Coming up, a witness connects the die

She had seen Danny cleaning a semi-automatic pistol. And a cold-hearted scheme is exposed. The plan was to make this look like a home invasion. Two days into Freddie Souter's murder investigation, the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad has just learned that Freddy's wife, that Freddie's wife, Lisa, was dating her employee. Lisa was having an affair with Danny Johnson. He and Lisa had been having relations,

that he had been a friend of Alfred's. With Danny denying any involvement, and Lisa protected by her high-powered family, investigators look for proof to back up the rumors that Lisa was in dire financial. financial straits. One of the things we found was that Lisa had major debt problems. She could barely pay her own bills.

If it wasn't for Alfred's money, she wouldn't be able to keep the business up and running. The police found out that Lisa was well over $100,000 in debt. Investigators learned that Freddie's death could give Lisa an out. Alfred had recently gotten a life insurance policy. insurance policy for $100,000. And Lisa had contacted that life insurance company shortly after trying to increase it to $200,000, unsuccessful at the time because she needed Alfred's signature. Lisa saw this money as a way to escape. She could move on with her lifestyle the way she wanted. Lisa's alibi proves she didn't pull.

the trigger. But her lover, Danny Johnson, isn't in the clear. Danny's address led us to a house that this woman and her children lived at, and her name was Dorothy. Dorothy was Danny's landlord, but she would be willing to talk to us. Dorothy told me that Danny was a good kid. She felt that he was kind of a son. She had helped other young adults by giving them a place to say. providing them with a room until they can get on their feet again. And Danny Johnson was one of the people that she had helped out. She knew a little bit about what was going on.

He told her about how Lisa was his girlfriend. Lisa had promised him money and marriage. Dorothy discloses that Danny recently made troubling comments about his. his lover. Dorothy tells the police that Danny said that Lisa had been looking for a hit man on her husband, Alfred. Danny had made a comment just a few days before the homicide that he and Lisa had trouble finding a hitman, so he would have to do the murder himself. A lot of times when people hear statements like that made, they think a person's just ranting and raiding. and they don't mean to follow through with those things.

So a lot of times people will not call the police. Dorothy didn't take the comments seriously, nor did she think much about what she saw on the night of October 11th. She also told me the night of the homicide, she had seen Danny sitting in the living room of her house cleaning a semi-automatic pistol. On October 14th, investigators confront Danny with Dorothy's statement.

By the time they had made it down to the Jennings Police Department, he was in custody as a suspect, a lead suspect. Faced with Dorothy's claims, Danny still denies involvement. They asked him to take a polygraph test. He passed most of the questions. However, when it came to specifics about were you involved in Alfred's homicide and do you know anything about the gun used in Alfred's homicide,

he failed those questions. Authorities confront Danny with the results. Look, you know, you failed the polygraph and it's kind of in your best interest to tell us what you know, because we know you were involved somehow, talk to us. Danny knew that he was boxed into a corner. Danny said that Lisa had told him

that if they were truly to be together and to start alive together, that Alfred would have to be killed. The plan that Lisa had was to make this look like that this was a home invasion. Like an intruder broke into the home, saw firearms at the table, and grabbed it and was able to kill Alfred at the scene.

She told Danny how to stage the house, including breaking a basement window, to look as if it was a burglary gone bad, where the gun would be, and what to do with the gun afterwards. Lisa convinced Danny that he should be the one to kill Alfred. As soon as this was all settled, they would get married. Danny tells investigators he,

He attempted to put the plan into motion on October 10th. He said he also chickened out. He couldn't go through with it. Lisa Souter was absolutely furious and sent him back to her home the next night. Danny on the night of October 11th went over to the house. Alfred let him in. They hung out together. and under Danny's jacket,

he had brought a gun with him. Lisa had given Danny her 9mm gun to use as the murder weapon. They were talking and drinking, watching television. Freddie fell asleep. When Freddy was asleep, he went up behind Freddy

and blew the back of his head off. Once he actually pulled the trigger, he kind of panicked, and he didn't leave the house in as big a mess as Lisa had originally told him to to make it look like a burglar had been there. He haphazardly set up what was supposed to be a break-in. This was a horrible, heinous murder, but it was done in a very amateurish way.

Nothing was done correctly. Danny Johnson said that he went over the bridge crossing the Missouri River and threw the gun into the river. At that point, in his interview, Danny was placed under arrest. He even took us out to that location where he tossed it in, and we sent divers down to try to locate it, but that was to no avail. On October 15th, authorities prepare to arrest the prominent Missouri woman they believe is the mastermind.

All roads led back to Lisa, especially after the statement given by Danny Johnson. So Lisa was arrested by turning herself in. All that was said was basically her husband was murdered. She found him and knew nothing else. Lisa does postpone. It's a half a million dollars bond. She did not have to spend time in jail. Her parents' house was used as collateral on a property bond,

which allowed Lisa freedom to leave after being arrested. Lisa's arrest is big news in St. Charles. The presiding circuit judge's daughter is accused of brutally murdering her husband? Yes, it made the front page of the paper's mouth. Despite the stain of her alleged crimes, Prosecutors learn Lisa's family might be their biggest obstacle. She had a father who was a presiding circuit judge. No judge in St. Charles County or anywhere close by was going to touch that case.

Missouri authorities have arrested Lisa Souter and her lover, Danny Johnson, for the murder of her husband, Alfred. The high-profile case struggles to find a home. There are four circuit judges in St. Charles County, and they all excused themselves because they knew Lisa Souter's father judged all. They went to Boone County, and that is Columbia, Missouri, right in the middle of the state. That is where the case was tried. On February 22, 1993, Lisa's trial begins in Boone County. and a half hours away from where the crime took place.

Lisa pleads not guilty and maintains that she had nothing to do with Alfred's murder. Her lover and co-conspirator stands by his confession. Danny Johnson took a plea deal. He was offered life without parole if he would testify against Lisa Souter, which he did. The prosecution uses Danny as their start. our witness, and he turns against Lisa, telling the jury that it was her idea to kill Alfred to collect the life insurance policy. Danny also described Lisa as manipulative, greedy, and somebody who would do anything to get what she wanted. Danny Johnson told the whole story

exactly the way it really happened. He was promised many things and got nothing. She wanted everything that a single woman could have, but without Freddie. She saw the only way to get all these things was by Freddie leaving the scene with a bullet through his head. Next, prosecutors drop a bombshell. They allege Lisa made previous attempts to have Freddie killed. The state brought in two other men who she had solicited to do the murder.

They were very clear on the stand when they testified. She asked them to kill her husband. She had left a trail of crumbs here that show that she was going to get this done any way she could have. Lisa's defense team takes aim.

The tactic, the only thing you could do is try and discredit the witnesses against her. We crossed examine the two guys. and make them out to be fortune hunters. They just wanted the 15 minutes of fame. If we can show that they are not credible or parts of their story don't make sense, if there's no credible evidence,

then you can't find somebody guilty. Lisa never takes the stand. Her attorneys present her as a lost and lonely young woman. She wanted out. She tried to divorce a guy. Her parents wouldn't let her. She stuck. in a marriage that she doesn't want to be in.

She's in her early 20s, and what's she going to do? She developed the plan to free herself. They allege this led to Lisa's affair with Danny and the deadly consequences that followed. She denied everything and blamed Danny doing this all on his own. Desper people do desperate things. She was a desperate.

person more desperate than anybody realized on february 25th nineteen ninety three the jury reaches its verdict lisa was found guilty of murder in the first degree lisa was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole i was glad that there is justice because she was the instigator even though she had people to actually do the murder it was her she was just evil evil evil freddie was just that friendly and he was taken advantage of to the extreme it just broke everybody's heart you kind of lost a little faith you know in all humanity over it There's certain souls out there that they have that spark, that infectious smile. I was able to take some of that with me.

You know, Freddie had that magic, and this is the best I can do for it, you know, to carry it on. Daniel Johnson is serving his life sentence at the South Central. Correctional Center. Lisa Souter serves her life sentence at the Chilicothe Correctional Center.