Trace of Suspicion - Introducing: Trace of Suspicion

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

After seemingly healthy 23-year-old Marine Todd Sommer dies unexpectedly, his widow Cindy’s lavish spending, cosmetic surgery, and wild partying raise investigators’ suspicions. They accuse her of poisoning him with arsenic for his life insurance, setting off a criminal case that takes a stunning turn... Josh Mankiewicz sits down with the woman at the center of it all in Dateline’s newest podcast. Follow and subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts. Early access for Dateline Premium Subscribers begins Tuesday, March 3rd. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

He was a young Marine, handsome in his dress blues. He had a religious aspect to him. She was a free spirit who didn't care about convention. I'm a hippie. I'm a deadhead. They married and made a life together. And then one night, the Marine died. Drums rolled, guns saluted, and a flag. And a flag was folded.

for the widow. All of it by the book, solemn, dignified, appropriate. And then something happened. The widow went off script. She started having a lot of parties shortly after his funeral. A lot of the neighbors were just like she got over that pretty quickly. With her husband's insurance money, the widow lived it up. New bling, new lovers, new look. This case started because of the breast implants. Think about it. If she had a nose jaw, would we even be talking about it? Eyebrows arched, tongues wagged, and an investigation was born. Chemists found arsenic in the Marines' tissues, and his widow was accused of murder.

We need to try to pursue justice for this young Marine and his family. Our latest podcast takes us to San Diego. where an untimely death and some unseemly behavior added up to a murder rap. What am I being arrested for? Like I told you yesterday, there was some foreign substance that was found in his body. So are you trying with murder? Oh, my gosh. Are you serious? Yes.

It's a story about investigators in dogged pursuit of a theory. I told them they might want to get the stuff retested and find out what's going on. It's about prosecutors hell-bent on winning. and about what happens when the wheels of justice go off the rails. It was over a million. My mom sold her house, cashed in all of their retirements, all their, everything. It shouldn't be a game. It shouldn't be a situation where let's see what we can get away with.

And that's what happened in this case. I'm Josh Maykowitz, and this is Trace of Suspicion, an all-new podcast from Dateline. You can listen to all episodes now completely free. To listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or go to Datelinepremium.com.