Sandi

When I tell this story I can barely breathe, and I actually get chest pains, so bear with me.

My ex-husband had a step-mother named Sandi. She had two sons, Jonathan and Russell. In 1997 Jonathan was 18 years old, and Russell was 15. Sandi was one of the most amazing women I had ever met. I loved her dearly, and wanted to be her when I grew up.

In March of 1997 Ex's father had moved to California, and Sandi was supposed to follow him as soon as the house sold. Jonathan was still living with her, and Russell had already moved to California. We were living about 3 hours away at the time. 

Sandi went to California to visit with her husband, and while she was there she tried to pay for something with her credit card. She discovered it was maxed out. She knew immediately that it was Jonathan, and when she got home to NC she confronted him with it. She then had him arrested to teach him a lesson.

Within the evening he appeared in court and when the magistrate asked him if he had ever been in trouble before he said no, and was released on his own recognizance. It was a lie, and the magistrate never checked. Imagine that.

Ex and I got a phone call from his uncle a few days later saying the Sandi had gone missing. I immediately knew she was dead and that Jonathan had killed her. We packed up our dog and drove to Raleigh to wait for something, anything, any kind of news. Ex's father and step-brother were to fly home from California the next day.

When we got to their house the CCBI met us there to scour the house for clues as to her disappearance. Jonathan was also missing, but he had left the house a complete wreck. There were soda cans and cigarette butts all over the carpet, and it appeared as if he had had a party. We watched and waited as the investigators went through the house and supposedly checked from top to bottom. We spoke to the detectives handling the case and let them know that Jonathan had been trouble since he was a child. Neighborhood pets kept going missing, and he had once shot a puppy just for fun. The investigators left, and we set up our air mattress in the living room to go to bed for the night.

We were lying in the dark and the Ex asked me if they had checked the bedroom. I told him yes, and he then asked me if they had flipped the mattress. I told him no. We grabbed a flashlight and went up to check things out. When we got up there I spied a bit of blood on the quilt, and told myself it was nothing; that possibly Sandi had cut herself shaving at one point. We got ready, and as Ex lifted the mattress I shone the flashlight between it and the box spring. That's when we found the entire contents of Sandi's skull squashed between the two.

I lost my mind and ran downstairs screaming. Ex was a paramedic and handled things much more calmly, as he picked up the phone and called the police and demanded that they send officers out Right Now. I remained a basket case, sitting in the kitchen and rocking back and forth while shaking uncontrollably. The detectives arrived with CCBI again, and they asked us to leave the house while they searched. They used luminol and found washed away blood everywhere in the bedroom. Ex's aunt and uncle came to pick us up, and we spent the night at their house, but never slept.

The next day they dragged the lake by the house and searched the woods. Eventually they returned to the house to continue their search there. One of the officers spied what he thought was a window in the bedroom, but upon moving a piece of furniture they discovered it was a door to a balcony. They opened it and found Sandi, She was wrapped in a shower curtain and tarps, and she had been there for several days including when Jonathan partied in the house. 

Apparently when he got out of court that night he had been arrested he got himself a 357 Magnum and returned to the house where his mother was already asleep. He then put the gun to her head and blew out her brains. He dragged the body into the bathroom and washed her in the shower and took a shower as well. They found blood traces in the stall.

He hid for several days until someone tipped off the police as to where he was. A standoff with the SWAT team then occurred and lasted several hours. He refused to go back to jail, and after much negotiation with the police a shot was heard and they moved in. He had shot himself in the head.

I have never been the same since.