A Killer Renovation (Rebroadcast)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "A Killer Renovation (Rebroadcast)"

Introduction

In this gripping rebroadcast of ABC News' 20/20 episode titled "A Killer Renovation," host Greg Warman delves into the mysterious and tragic case of Shanti Cooper Traunas, a wife and mother whose brutal murder shook the picturesque Delaney Park neighborhood in Orlando, Florida. This detailed investigation uncovers the dark secrets behind a seemingly perfect façade, exploring themes of deception, financial stress, and hidden lives.

The Crime Scene

The episode begins with the harrowing discovery of Shanti Cooper Traunas's body on April 24, 2018. Detective Theresa Sprague recounts the initial arrival at the Traunis residence:

"[00:46] Detective Theresa Sprague: Obviously, it's not maintained now, but it was very well maintained."

Upon arriving, detectives found a mansion riddled with ongoing renovations, which created an unsettling backdrop for the crime scene. The main house was devastated by construction, rendering it uninhabitable while the family lived in an upstairs garage apartment.

The Victim: Shanti Cooper Traunas

Shanti was portrayed as a successful, hardworking mother with a vibrant personality. Her dedication to her son, Jackson, and her finance consulting business painted her as a pillar of her community. Friends and family described her as confident and loving, often spending quality time at local theme parks and engaging in everyday activities that made her approachable and admired.

"[07:16] Detective Theresa Sprague: She was also a wonderful mother. That was her biggest thing when she had Jackson."

The Suspect: David Traunis

David Traunis, Shanti's 49-year-old husband, emerged as the primary suspect. Their marriage was relatively new, having been married for just over a year. Both were in their second marriages and shared custody of an 8-year-old son, Jackson. Initially, their relationship seemed idyllic, with Shanti expressing deep love and excitement about their future together.

"[14:58] Detective Theresa Sprague: They were deeply in love. She dotes on me and is very affectionate."

Initial Investigation

The investigation took a dramatic turn when Detective Sprague received a distressing call from an anonymous source claiming that Shanti was in danger. This led to the joint effort of Detectives Sprague and Sharp in uncovering the truth behind Shanti's disappearance and subsequent death.

"[02:36] Detective Barb McClelland: So you get a call?"

Upon arriving at the Traunis home, Detective Sprague hoped for the safety of her own mother, only to find Shanti's lifeless body. The initial assessment indicated a violent murder rather than an accidental death, sparking immediate suspicion towards David.

Uncovering Secrets: Club Orlando

As detectives delved deeper, they discovered that David led a double life. He held a membership at Club Orlando, a local gym catering to gay men, where he engaged in sexual activities contrary to his public persona as a devoted husband.

"[52:31] Detective Theresa Sprague: Yes. Club Orlando is a local gym for gay men. David Traunis had a membership at Club Orlando."

This revelation introduced additional motives, including infidelity and the psychological strain of maintaining dual lives.

Key Evidence

Several pieces of critical evidence emerged during the investigation:

1. Missing Engagement Ring: Shanti's engagement ring was absent from her body, despite no signs of a break-in or robbery. This suggested that the murder was personal rather than opportunistic.

   "[24:07] Greg Warman: And that was something that really stood out because Shanti was really proud of the engagement ring."

2. Bloody Sheets: Initially overlooked during the investigation, bloody sheets later found in David's possession contradicted his claim of Shanti slipping and falling in the bathtub. These sheets became a focal point of forensic evidence linking David to the crime.

   "[62:45] Detective Barb McClelland: You found her engagement ring."

3. Financial Motive: David stood to gain significantly from Shanti's life insurance and their joint bank accounts, suggesting a financial motive behind the murder.

   "[76:03] Greg Warman: Insurance money. Money she had invested. Money she had gotten from her father to invest."

Arrest and Trial

Four months after Shanti's murder, David Traunis was indicted for first-degree murder. The trial was emotionally charged, with Detective Sprague providing compelling testimony about the inconsistencies in David's story and the overwhelming forensic evidence against him.

"[79:51] Greg Warman: ...David Traonus was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Shantae Cooper Tronas."

Verdict and Aftermath

The jury found David guilty, concluding that the evidence definitively pointed to his premeditated actions. Detective Sprague and the investigative team expressed profound relief and satisfaction in achieving justice for Shanti and her family.

"[78:47] Greg Warman: The jury finds the defendant guilty."

Shanti's daughter, Jackson, demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout the ordeal, determined to honor his mother's memory and seek closure.

Conclusion

"A Killer Renovation" serves as a poignant exploration of how outward appearances can mask deep-seated issues and hidden truths. The case underscores the importance of thorough investigative work and the relentless pursuit of justice. Through Detective Sprague's unwavering dedication and the meticulous gathering of evidence, the tragic murder of Shanti Cooper Traunas was unraveled, bringing closure to a devastated family and highlighting the complexities of marital relationships and financial motives in criminal cases.

Notable Quotes

• Detective Theresa Sprague on arriving at the crime scene:

  "[05:01] Detective Theresa Sprague: I've been covering news in Orlando for 20 years. Murders don't happen in Delaney Park."

• Greg Warman reflecting on finding David:

  "[56:55] Detective Theresa Sprague: He was sitting out on his screen porch, and I think they just went up there and he willingly came down..."

• Jackson Cooper's resolve for justice:

  "[72:49] Detective Theresa Sprague: Who is it that's not breathing?"

---

End of Summary

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key elements and emotional depth of the "A Killer Renovation" episode, providing listeners with a clear understanding of the case, the investigative journey, and the ultimate pursuit of justice for Shanti Cooper Traunas.

Transcript

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

This is the way it feels to move through summer in Lululemon iconic aligned.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Softness without the front seam.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

For our smoothest look and feel ever, Summer won't know what hit it. Stretch your limits in the non stop flexibility of the new Lululemon align no line pant in select stores [e-mail].

[Greg Warman]

Tonight, a wife and mother dead. Was the husband leading a secret double life?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And at a money pit of a mansion. All part of a mystery I discovered in Orlando. And all new 2020 begins right now.

[Greg Warman]

Hi, family.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did you have any idea where this case was going to take you?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

None at all.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Lots of twists and turns.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I said, this is like a 2020 epis. I said, what is happening?

[Greg Warman]

And he said, someone's deceased.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I saw crime tape and police tape. I saw police cars.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

This is outside your house.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I was just thinking, I hope my mom's okay.

[Greg Warman]

They said, jeff, your daughter's been found. She's dead.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did they tell you how she was found? Did you have any idea how she had died?

[Greg Warman]

They said the bathtub. Something about the bathtub. The detectives knew that Shanti had been attacked and that it was a brutal, vicious attack.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Obviously there was something horrible going on inside that house.

[Greg Warman]

That's the roof, okay? There is no insulation in this whole house. Holy cow.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

There's no house on the inside of this house.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It was bizarre.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Some of the things that were happening. You don't even want to know the details. It's more twisted than you want it to be. Shanti called her one day, crying and said, I'm so scared. I just need to get out. Hello? Hey, my wife is.

[Greg Warman]

I. She's not breathing.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I'm trying to do cpr. I can't. Okay, listen to me. Okay? Who is it that's not breathing?

[Greg Warman]

Her wife.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Take a deep breath. Listen to me. I'm gonna get the paramedics so we can try and get her some help, okay? Don't hang up.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It's late afternoon, April 24, 2018. David Traunis, the owner of this Orlando home, has just called 911. He sounds distraught as he describes how he just found his wife Shanti unconscious in the shower.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Okay, what happened?

[Greg Warman]

He was hysterical. Almost unintelligible. I mean, you couldn't understand what he's saying.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Okay, is she awake right now?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No. Is she breathing? Is she breathing? No.

[Greg Warman]

I tried to do vpr. I can't get her to breathe. I responded to the scene that played Afternoon when I first saw David Traunis. He was beyond grief. Stricken, screaming and crying. And sobbing. And on the floor next to the bed, a female laying on her back, obviously deceased. She had obvious blunt force trauma. And it was very evident that this was not an accidental death. This wasn't a natural death. This was a murder.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Take me back to April 24, 2018. You both are on duty.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I was called to my corporal's desk at the same time Detective Sharp was coming in. She had heard it on the radio when they were asking for the homicide unit to come to Delaney Park.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Now when you hear that it's Delaney park, what's your reaction? Are you expecting something bad?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Never.

[Greg Warman]

Delaney park is a beautiful historic neighborhood in downtown Orlando.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

When people think of Orlando, Florida, they think of all of the theme parks. But we're about 30 minutes away from Disney and all the hoopla that goes on there.

[Greg Warman]

Good evening, I'm Greg Warman.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And I'm Martha Segowski. Tonight we've uncovered. I'm the main anchor for the ABC affiliate in Orlando.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I've been covering news in Orlando for 20 years. Murders don't happen in Delaney Park. This is a picturesque, perfect, quaint community.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Brick streets, beautiful oak lined sidewalks, beautiful expensive homes.

[Greg Warman]

Every house looks different, has a different feel and makes for a great Mayberry type atmosphere. And people make an effort to know their neighbors. When I first moved here, I noticed we had a Wisteria Avenue and I thought, wow, how apropos. This is so much like Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I hope I'm not interrupting. Welcome to Wisteria Lane with all the.

[Greg Warman]

Manicured lawns and the beautiful streets and everybody knows, everybody, everybody knows what's going on.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What were your first thoughts when you pulled up to this house?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It was a beautiful home when we first got here. Obviously it's not maintained now, but it was very well maintained.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So you make your way back there and begin to check out what turns out to be a crime scene.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

What turns out to be a crime scene. I noticed the gargoyles right away because I just remember looking up and thinking, this is crazy. The first thing I see when I come to this residence for homicide are these gargoyles staring at us from the roof. It was ominous.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

David's wife's body has been found in the upstairs garage apartment separate from the main house.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

They had moved out of the main portion of this house so that it could be renovated and they were living in the garage suite.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Living in that home are 39 year old Shanti Cooper Traunas and her 49 year old husband David.

[Greg Warman]

This was a second marriage for both David and Shanti. And they were living in this house with Shanti's son from a prior marriage. 8 years old at the time. Jackson.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Merry Christmas. It was way too close. Oh, but a beautiful face though.

[Greg Warman]

Shanti was a successful working mother. She had a finance consulting business and it was her own business. She was a hard worker, she was diligent, she was smart.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

A very confident, strong presence. She walked in the room, you noticed her and she knew it. Hi, mommy.

[Greg Warman]

Beautiful young lady, full of life, very strong type A personality.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hi, baby. Hi. She was also a wonderful mother. That was her biggest thing when she had Jackson. She doted so much on him. That was her life. She was a great mom and she was a very good person.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What kinds of things did you like doing together?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We went to a lot of theme parks. There's an aquarium downtown that was really fun. We went to the movies a lot and just like normal day to day basis talking with her, just having a good time.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What made her happy?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

A lot of little stuff would make her happy. Like, I mean me, I'm not trying to be sound like, but I would make her happy, you know, I would imagine that's true.

[Greg Warman]

So Jackson spent some time with Shanti and Dave and the rest of the time with his biological father, Jim Cooper. It was shortly after 4pm when I arrived on scene. School was out for a good hour at that point. There's an 8 year old who hasn't been picked up yet. So I radioed to headquarters and said we need to get ahold of the school. There is a student by the name of Jackson Cooper. He's in second grade, eight years old. Can you see if his father would be able to pick him up? Normally the mom here would pick him up, but it's not gonna be possible.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The school's gonna call him to come pick up his son.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So you get a call?

[Greg Warman]

So I get a call around 4 o' clock from the school saying no one's picked him up. And I knew something was wrong.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Would it be unlike her not to pick Jackson up?

[Greg Warman]

It would be very unlike her, yeah. She would never.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So your radar went up?

[Greg Warman]

Yeah, immediately I went and picked him up. And then I made the biggest mistake of my life and I drove to their house with Jackson.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We pulled up to the house, I saw crime tape and police tape. I saw police cars, I saw a bunch of officers standing outside.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What are you thinking? This is outside your house?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I was just thinking, I hope my mom's okay. I talked to her the night before. Everything seemed Fine. She told me good night. I told her. I told her I love her. She told me, love me.

[Greg Warman]

I told Jackson to stay in the truck and don't get out. And then they came and asked me who I was, and I told them I was her ex husband. I said, what is happening? And he said, someone's deceased.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Meanwhile, Shanti's current husband, David Tranes, has been taken to police headquarters, waiting to talk to investigators.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Thank you.

[Greg Warman]

Just have a seat there and as soon as they get here, they'll be in talk to you.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Okay. I have to start with him because he found her. They live together, they're married, but that doesn't mean that he's responsible for her death.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did you have any idea where this case was going to take you when you started off?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

None at all.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Lots of twists and turns.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Lots of twists and turns. And I think I said to Detective Sprague, I said, theresa, this is like a 2020 episode. It was just crazy. All right, I'll just have you come on in here for right now. Just have a seat. I don't know how long they will be.

[Greg Warman]

Okay.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

David Traunis is waiting at the Orlando police Department where detectives want to talk to him about the unexpected death of his wife Shanti.

[Greg Warman]

So the detectives asked Dave if he would be willing to come to the police station and give a statement. As standard in any homicide investigation as the husband who makes the 911 call.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

There's obviously things that are going to be investigated about that person. I'm detective Theresa Sprague, and this is Detective Barb McClelland.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

He's down at the station. He's cooperative.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah, he was very cooperative.

[Greg Warman]

He turned over his clothes.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He provided all the physical evidence and.

[Greg Warman]

Submitted himself for photographs.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You brought David Traunis here.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

This is interview room six. This is where we interviewed Mr. Traunis. Okay.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So now he is a man who has just lost his wife, clearly upset about it. I mean, you let him know that you feel badly for what has happened.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Right. First of all, on behalf of Yolanda police department, we want to say how sorry we are for your loss, David, and also for everything that you're going through. I know this is very traumatic for you.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What did David tell you about the morning and that day and how things played out?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He said when he gets up just after seven that Shaunti came downstairs to have a cigarette. He said that she had some work calls to attend to.

[Greg Warman]

She went back up and then she came back down again about 9:15 or 9:20. And he says that's the last time he saw her. She usually comes down when she wants to eat or smoke or take a break. He said after that he walked the dogs. He went to a park nearby for about two hours. Then he came back, did some yard work. He cleaned the pool.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

How does he say that he finds Shanti then? Because the day is ticking along, it's getting to the end.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

So he gets home and he didn't say anything to her until around 3:45.

[Greg Warman]

I was just going to check if.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She wanted me to go get Jackson.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

They have to pick up Jackson.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Right. But he said when he entered the loft apartment, the first thing that he noticed or observed was he said hello. And he didn't get a response. And then he heard the sound of trickling water. Slowly trickling water. He proceeds to the bathroom where he says he finds his wife face down in a tub full of rose colored water.

[Greg Warman]

The water's like half full. She's submerged partially and it's just extra truly awful. It doesn't look natural. Obviously she fell or something happened.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You don't know anything much about this couple.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We know nothing about them. So initially I want to start at the beginning. How did you two meet? How long have you known each other? He said that she was divorced from her husband. He was recently divorced from his wife and that they had met on match.com he was living in Minnesota at the time and they started kind of an email affair. I remember her telling the friend group that she had met this guy on Match and he was really nice.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

In emails, Shaunti describes a pretty nasty divorce.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

My relationship with my ex husband became toxic.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Yet she seems excited about her new connection with David.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I am looking for it all, Dave. I want to be in love so deeply, so pure and something that is lasting and a growing living thing. She would just brag about how awesome he is and how great it is. I have had a pep in my step since we started this little email affair.

[Greg Warman]

David described his relationship with Shanti as a second shot at love. That they had a very deep, soulful like connection.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

They started to visit one another. She would go to Minnesota, he would come here.

[Greg Warman]

We just started every other weekend flying.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Oh, back and forth.

[Greg Warman]

David had worked as an engineer at 3M in Minneapolis, was apparently successful as he was able to retire early from that job with a sizable amount of income. He was able to essentially retire in his 50s. In a matter of months, Dave and Shanti went from meetingonmatch.com to David moving from Minnesota, uprooting his life, coming to Florida it happened very fast.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did he talk about the romance? Were they deeply in love? Did he share anything about that?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He did. He said that they were. They were deeply in love. She gushed about him. She was just like, he treats me so great. He, you know, dotes on me. And he would be very affectionate. Shaunti and Dave were overly affectionate to the point where it was almost like, gross. It was a little nauseating at times.

[Greg Warman]

Dave and Shaunti ultimately were married in 2017 at a courthouse wedding in Orlando. Shaunti says, hey, I got some news to tell you. And then she flashed this rock. I mean, this was a rock. And she says, hey, Dave and I just got married. She made a Facebook post, you know, showing off the ring.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

This was a custom ring, and she just glowed about it and always wore it and just loved to show it.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

They'd been together five years and married just over one when Shaunti is found dead. What did he tell you about what the state of their relationship and their situation was at the moment?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He did say that things had been a little bit stressed lately due to her having an illness.

[Greg Warman]

Earlier in the year, she'd had appendicitis, a pretty severe case. She had surgery on a few months previous, and she had been sort of weak and ill from that. She's been in a lot of pain.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

And.

[Greg Warman]

She didn't want to tell Jackson or her clients.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He said that her recovery had been slow and she was just now starting to find foods that she could keep down.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detectives Sprague and Sharp continue talking to David Traunis. Meanwhile, as the investigation ramps up, Shonti's friends and family are stunned by news of her death.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It just was so unreal. I remember all of us just breaking down with the news.

[Greg Warman]

They said, jeff, your daughter's been found. She's dead. I passed out. The chair I was sitting in, I passed out, hit the floor.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You just had so many questions going in your head going, what in the world? What happened?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It's the question police are trying to answer. Who could have possibly killed Shanti?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We're running an investigation on Mr. Traunas. We're running an investigation on any other possible suspect.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

She had been married before. She and her ex husband had had a pretty contentious divorce.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

They did.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Was that factoring into your mind that she could have had some disagreement with somebody outside of the household?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah. Especially after we interviewed him. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. So is he a suspect? Yes, you betcha he's a suspect.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

At the Orlando Police Department, Shanti Cooper Traunas current husband David, is Being questioned.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He's never before in love.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And detectives are also talking to her ex, Jim Cooper.

[Greg Warman]

Jim Cooper was previously married to Shanti, and their divorce was a contentious one, so police had to look into Jim.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He came to the station in speaking with him about his marriage to Shaunti. It was good in the beginning and it wasn't good at the end. So is he a suspect? Yes, you betcha he's a suspect.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Tell me about meeting Shanti.

[Greg Warman]

I went out with some friends of mine and this beautiful woman just walked up and started talking to me. We were together for the next 16 hours. And that's how it started.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So you just hit it off?

[Greg Warman]

Just like that.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hi, Shanti. Hi, Shanti.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Matani.

[Greg Warman]

Matani.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

James Cooper, to be my lawful wedded husband, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Were you blissfully happy?

[Greg Warman]

Yeah, absolutely. I just. I just thought she was the cat's meow.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Merry Christmas, Jim. Merry Christmas.

[Greg Warman]

And then in early 2009, we got the news and we were so happy.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

She was pregnant.

[Greg Warman]

Yep.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And Jackson was born.

[Greg Warman]

Yes.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Say hello, Jackson. 11 months old. Almost gonna walk.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And then things took a turn. How did the marriage begin to have problems?

[Greg Warman]

I guess she got a little detached from us. The circumstances of the divorce were that she had been unfaithful to him because she was unhappy with him.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

There we go.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So there was infidelity?

[Greg Warman]

Yes. I didn't want it to end, but she did. So we started the divorce.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Was it a tough divorce? Was it contentious?

[Greg Warman]

Yes, it was. I was very difficult.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

And I made.

[Greg Warman]

It difficult on her.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It didn't end well. There was an affair. I remember walking out of the interview and looking at Detective Sharp and said, he's not cleared. He's not cleared until he's cleared. We have to clear him right away.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detectives are asking all kinds of questions. It must have made you feel like a suspect.

[Greg Warman]

It did. I was worried that they might waste precious time on me instead of where it should be focused. So, yeah, that was a big concern to me. I knew I wasn't involved. I had nothing to do with this.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did they tell you how she was found? Did you have any idea how she had died?

[Greg Warman]

They said the bathtub. Something about the bathtub. But other than that, I was just trying to figure out, how do I tell our son?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

How do you tell an 8 year old boy that his mom's gone?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I don't know.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

That's gotta be a hard thing to do.

[Greg Warman]

Yeah, the worst.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

And I could tell it was really hard for My dad to say this, but he told me that my mom was gone. And at first, I didn't really understand what he meant, but as it sunk in, it didn't really feel real. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't believe it. I thought that he was wrong and he made a mistake. I was making so many excuses in my head, and just to say, like, she's fine and she's alive, but the.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Days go on and the weeks go on, and you realize that she's not.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Coming back and she's. What he said was true and that she did pass away.

[Greg Warman]

They were able to get an alibi pretty quickly for Jim Cooper. He had just started a new job, and he was off at a job.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Site some distance away.

[Greg Warman]

And so he had alibi witnesses that cleared him.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He had given us a play by play of his day. His alibi up, you know, completely vetted his story.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So Shaunti's first husband, Jim Cooper, is cleared. Back at the crime scene, police notice something odd. Shanti's engagement ring, the one she never took off, is nowhere to be found.

[Greg Warman]

And that was something that really stood out because Shanti was really proud of the engagement ring.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detectives looked into that. They're looking at, what are the other options here? What could have happened? Was this a break in?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We need to know, is there anyone in this neighborhood, anyone that might have been at the home for construction purposes or for delivery purposes? Or a transient that's walking through that.

[Greg Warman]

Neighborhood, being close to downtown, close to a hospital from time to time, they do have transients who pass through there. But when they searched the apartment that.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Day, it became clear that there was a lot of property that would easily be taken, of high value, that just simply wasn't taken.

[Greg Warman]

Her earrings, her diamond earrings were present. One in her ear, one on her nightstand.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Why wasn't the diamond earring stolen? If it was a robbery, why wasn't the cash that was in plain view stolen? Why wasn't her imac computer, her son's game box, the television, her watch, her phone, her wallet, her credit cards, none.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Of those things taken.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Everything's in plain view.

[Greg Warman]

There doesn't appear to be a break in. It doesn't appear to be a robbery.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So if this isn't a robbery gone wrong, what could have happened? Investigators are exploring every possibility, including the massive renovation at the Tranas home. Could that be connected to Shanti's murder?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You don't really know what's going on inside two people's lives.

[Greg Warman]

Nobody ever does what they did.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

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[Greg Warman]

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[Detective Barb McClelland]

The Tronas home is now a crime scene. And what's striking to police is, is that the main house under renovation is uninhabitable.

[Greg Warman]

David bought the house for a little over $600,000 in cash in 2015. It was a lovely historic home, was about 100 years old, one of the most appealing and beautiful homes on our street.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

As a realtor, I was selling the house. It had wood floors, it had a tile roof. It had a gorgeous pool. It was totally a dream home. When Shanti came and saw the house, she loved it.

[Greg Warman]

They started renovating the house pretty soon after they moved in. At first, it seemed to be, you know, typical. Move something here, move something there.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Two or three years since you've been doing the renovation, Right? Right. She left David in charge of that renovation, and it got worse and worse and worse. Worse.

[Greg Warman]

David hired and fired construction crews regularly. It seemed like, okay, Dave's got this contractor. Good. Now we're moving forward. A week or two later, oh, well, we let this guy go.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She would tell me, well, we tore this out and we did this, but now we got to get new blueprints because this is going on. You're just like, oh, my gosh. It's just an open area. There's no floors, there's no walls. There's nothing separating. It's just a big open room. My mom wouldn't let me walk in there because there was nails everywhere. The floor was literally taken off. You had to walk in planks to get around.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It had been Ravaged inside by David.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Everything was stripped. It was beyond gutted.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

To take out the whole interior is just.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I can't even explain.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It's crazy. What does he share about what's happening with the renovation?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He mentioned the TV show Zombie House Flipping.

[Greg Warman]

Wiping out these blights on our city block by block, one zombie at a time. This is zombie House flipping. The Zombie House Flipping show is a show where they profile the worst of the worst homes. I mean, they're trying to renovate nightmare scenarios. Our builder, Keith. This is scraping. This is going down the studs. Keith does a TV show, a home improvement. He asked us to be on the show. When I met with Dave, I walked right through those doors there, and that's when sort of the enormity of the. Of the project hit me. I mean, it's, holy cow. There's no house on the inside of this house. This level of demo is unprecedented. Nobody ever does what they did. It wasn't structurally safe. I was trying to figure out what was holding the house up. Quite frankly, it was absolutely alarming. In home renovation, there's a few movies.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

That are kind of touchstones in our industry, and the movie the Money Pit is certainly one of them.

[Greg Warman]

It's going to be fun fixing it up.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You'll see.

[Greg Warman]

Coming out in high school, this house.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Would be a prototypical Money Pit.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

With the house unlivable. Shanti, David, and Jackson stay in the adjacent apartment above the garage.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Where would you cook meals in the garage? We had a stove and a microwave and stuff, and we used to cook stuff down there.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did it feel strange?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It felt strange at first, but we were doing that routine living upstairs, cooking downstairs for so long, I started to get used to it.

[Greg Warman]

Okay, are you guys ready? There we go. About a week before the murder, David took a cell phone video just to sort of document the state of the house at that time. David just essentially walks around the property. He showed briefly, sort of the main interior of the home where the work was done. Here is the house with the center supports and the first set of trusses up. He walked up and sort of showed the layout of the bedroom. It's about 800 square feet at the top of the stairs, and there's a full bath as well. Back in the corner, you can just sort of see the layout of the house. You're able to see the state of the construction. The project was very important to him, and that came across in the video.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

So where would you sleep?

[Greg Warman]

Shanti was living upstairs with Jackson while David was living downstairs in the garage.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He said that he slept in the garage often. Even with Jackson not there, he would sleep in the garage with the dogs on a couch.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did that strike you as peculiar?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes. Yes. He said, you know, that she snores, and so he doesn't like to sleep up there.

[Greg Warman]

I mean, it's just not a. It's not a way that people normally live for an extended period of time. So anytime you see something like that, that's gonna add, you know, pressure and stress to a relationship.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

From a woman standpoint, Detective Sharp and I could not imagine what Shaunti must have been thinking, that the frustration that she was having, we kept asking him. From our perspective, that must have been very stressful on your marriage.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Your woman's intuition was kicking in.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Now we've got the added stress of the renovation.

[Greg Warman]

We love what we're doing to the house. We love the vision that we had for the house.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Could it be that stress from a home renovation was a motive for murder? So far, there's no physical evidence connecting David to Shawnti's injuries.

[Greg Warman]

The detectives knew that Shawnti had been attacked and that it was a brutal, vicious attack.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Would you mind showing me your chest and neck?

[Greg Warman]

Sure.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I don't need to see anything else. Just your chest, back, and arms. Sure.

[Greg Warman]

David was willing and showed the detectives his body. That didn't show scratch marks, claw marks, something that would be consistent with a person attacking or defending themselves.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Still, detectives are not buying David's story. Their time playing good cop is winding down.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You're not a good liar. You're terrible at it. Terrible. And your story is BS.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

For hours, David Traunis has been at the Orlando police police station and back at his home. Now a crime scene. Investigators are gathering evidence, and what they're finding doesn't seem to match up with David's story of what could have happened to his wife.

[Greg Warman]

He claimed that he had found her in the tub, and he pulled her out of the tub. She slept where she fell, or.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Something.

[Greg Warman]

Caused her to collapse.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We expected not only for her to be soaking wet. The floor should be soaking wet. The carpet should be wet. So if he had just taken her out, why isn't it wet?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

There was no sign of a bath or a shower.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Investigators at the scene noticed some severe injuries on Shonti, Injuries that don't seem to be consistent with a slip and fall in the shower.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She's got swollen eyes, and she's got a puncture wound to her face. She's got a gash on her ear. She's got a lot of Injuries.

[Greg Warman]

The detectives have seen somebody who has been battered, beaten, has hemorrhaging, who isn't sopping wet. There's no water trail. David's telling them a story that is absolutely inconsistent.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Shanti did not fall and get those injuries.

[Greg Warman]

Okay.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Without question. Okay. They're much more significant than that. And I need you to be significantly more honest.

[Greg Warman]

I have told you everything.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We called the medical examiner out to look at her eyes. I wanted him to open her eyelids if he could, to show us if she had petechi.

[Greg Warman]

When you look at those little petechi eyes. Hemorrhages, which is blood vessels bursting. And the marks on one side of her neck. The detectives knew that Shanti was also likely the victim of strangling.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And that's not all. They say that when first responders got to the scene, Shanti's body was already in rigor mortis. That natural stiffening that happens to a body hours after death?

[Greg Warman]

It can happen in eight to 12 hours. It can happen 24 to 36 hours. That's a really wide time span. We needed to approximate the time of the attack. We know that the last contact that Shaunti had was with Jackson at about 8:30 on the night of April 23rd.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Do you remember what you last talked to her about?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I think it was just saying goodnight and I love her and I'll see her tomorrow. I'm just glad that I was the last person she talked to that night.

[Greg Warman]

We know that Shaunti's cell phone had not moved from 11.28pm on 23rd April until a crime scene technicians collected her phone.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

David says he last saw his wife the morning of her murder around 7am and then again around 9, just before. Before he went to go walk his dogs.

[Greg Warman]

So she had received a text related to work at 6:58am that morning. She never responded to, actually, the record shows never read, so that's unusual. Everybody that we talked to said she was a workaholic and very responsive to work texts.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

So the immediate question became, was Shaun T. Cooper alive on Tuesday morning? Because if she's alive that morning, then why is she in rigor? I think whatever happened to her happened before you went to the park. Okay. Do you know how long it takes someone to get stiff?

[Greg Warman]

Two.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Okay. I do. He tells us he doesn't know what we want to hear. He doesn't understand. He's been completely truthful and he doesn't. He doesn't understand why we don't believe him.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So he's not credible in your mind right now?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Not at all.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

David Traunis is sticking to his story, and there's a question about why he'd want to kill his wife in the first place. So detectives Sprague and Sharp decide it's time for a break.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I'm going to direct you to the restroom, and we'll bring you back.

[Greg Warman]

It was at that point in time that detectives started to take of advantage. Different tactic.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hi. You doing okay?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Your tone shifts with him a little bit. You've gone from being cordial now to hitting him with some hard questions.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Now it's an interrogation. How do you explain this woman's head being swollen, lacerations on her face, clumps of hair missing from the back of her head?

[Greg Warman]

Missing? I don't have any explanation.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

This is what I found.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You're not a good liar. You're terrible at it. Terrible. The evidence and her body speak for itself. And Your story is B.S.

[Greg Warman]

It was a psychological fight between the detectives and David. I mean, it was really. It was psychological warfare.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And you hit him hard. You accused him of fake crying.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You went after him as well.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You fake cried for about seven or eight hours. Say not one tear came out of your eyes. Not one.

[Greg Warman]

When he called 91 1, he was hysterical. I mean, you couldn't understand what he was saying in parts.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Okay, is she awake right now?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No. Is she breathing? I can't wake her. I can't wake her. Okay, listen, listen.

[Greg Warman]

But then, you know, he would be asked specific questions like, you know, how do you get into the house? And he was oddly able to sort of modulate and, you know, calm himself down quickly say something clearly, and then go back to just sort of the, you know, we believe was a show of hysterical crying.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Oh, God. Oh, God.

[Greg Warman]

There's a blue dumpster, big blue dumpster in the driveway. They have to turn in. And if they can get past it, they have to drive past it.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The exasperation of the crying or the feigned crying, he shuts it off, and he's completely normal at that point.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You screwed up. You made a mistake.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Whatever it is, I'm starting to believe it wasn't a mistake.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The two did not. Detectives are becoming deeply suspicious of David, but they could never have predicted what they're about to discover.

[Greg Warman]

This case just taught us to expect the unexpected.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Shaunti wanted the perfect life, and she was private about what was happening to her.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So he's leading a double life.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely. Leading a double life.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Do you really know what's going on with your neighbor next door?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Do you maybe not Listen to Shanta Tronas.

[Greg Warman]

She is telling you what happened.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You discovered journal entries. Almost her talking to you from the grave.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

From the grave. And she said, he knows I know too much, and he won't let me go. Why would she say I need to get out? Why did she say she was scared something happened? You don't even want to know the details. It's more twisted than you want it to be.

[Greg Warman]

Public Dave and Private Dave are just absolute opposites.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So he's leading a double life?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You just saw that behind the scenes. He. He wasn't the person who he claimed to be. How did he behave?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He'd get extremely mad. He'd threaten me, scream at me.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Threaten to do what?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hurt me, Break my stuff? You know, you fake cried for about seven or eight hours. Not one tear came out of your eyes. Not one.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

But you're beginning to wonder whether he had poisoned his current wife and ex wife.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah. You cannot wonder. You're not a good liar. You're terrible at it. And Your story is B.S.

[Greg Warman]

The body of Shanty Cooper Trones was found in her Delaney park home in April. Her husband, who we're told found her remains inside this home.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hello? She's not breathing. I'm trying to do cpr. He's saying that she slipped and fell in the bathtub, but she's clothed and the bathtub is dry. And she looks dry. We're looking at her injuries, and she looks like she's been murdered.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

She has bruising on her face. Her skull is cracked.

[Greg Warman]

It was a violent attack of several. Blow after blow after blow.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The evidence and her body speak for itself. And Your story is B.S. i don't have any.

[Greg Warman]

I don't have any explanation for her. The severity of her injuries.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It was a brutal beating and a brutal strangulation. If he's innocent, then he should be adamant that he did not do this.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Outraged.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Outraged at the accusation that I would kill my wife?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

They've only been married a year. Why would this man kill his wife?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Detective Sharp asked him. You know, are you having an affair? Do you think Shaunti was having an affair? Is the marriage ending? Did you guys get into an argument?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Was she pissed about the house?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Every single thing that we suggested could be a motive, he denied.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

After being at the police station for 14 hours, they let Tronas go home. Knowing that he's now the prime suspect. David hires an attorney and a private eye to begin his own investigation into who killed his wife.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We had left a lot of business cards with the neighbors, and they called Us and they said, we've got a private investigator coming to the home asking us about a transient that looks like Woody Harrelson. And they had all said, we don't know what they're talking about. So our 20 year veteran officers who have worked this area for a long time, I call officer Wilson and I.

[Greg Warman]

Said, I know exactly who you're talking about. I said, I've seen this guy in the neighborhood in that general area for years.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Late into the evening, at two o' clock in the morning, they found him. I went out and interviewed him and I asked him if he knew Shaunti Cooper. I showed him pictures. Have you ever seen her before?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

No.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She was actually killed in her house. Were you aware of that? I wasn't aware of it, no. Did you kill her? No.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And you believed him?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely. We had nothing to suggest this was a break in or a robbery.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So detectives shift their focus back to David Traunis, who's painted a happy picture of him and his wife. But was that the reality? Investigators take a closer look at that video David shot inside the house about a week before the murder.

[Greg Warman]

Hi, family.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

My dad. I didn't know. My dad has a new job and he has a tomorrow. Later to AC zone. Come on.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Love you. What's up?

[Greg Warman]

The interaction between David and Shanti in that video seemed a little bit icy. Guarantee we'll talk to everybody we need to talk to. We'll do whatever we can do.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Okay.

[Greg Warman]

Like we always do.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely.

[Greg Warman]

You know, maybe it's just a normal couple's, you know, being irritated with each other, but there was something off there. She seemed to be not pleased with him.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

My thought was that it was just a level of stress living in that garage apartment and just being totally frustrated with the entire situation of the renovation.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

In the weeks before the murder, as the home renovations continue, so does the cost. And detectives find out that was a concern for Shanti.

[Greg Warman]

David had paid cash for this house, but Shonti was the one earning all the money. David wasn't working, and so she was paying for these renovations.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I remember hanging out with her and her sister saying, I'm paying for everything. If all of a sudden something happens, he owns this house and I have nothing to it.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Shanti thought that her name was going.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

To be put on the deed. It came up several times.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

It never happened.

[Greg Warman]

At the time of her death, Shawnti spent well over $200,000 towards the renovation and construction of the house.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She wanted him to go work. I remember her saying, I work. So I would like him to go do something. Because now this house is more than what we anticipated.

[Greg Warman]

Between swimming and yoga, taking care of the plants or whatever. I guess his full time job would have been the renovating of the house.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Shanti's friends and family felt something was off in the way the couple handled their finances.

[Greg Warman]

The story that we were told by Shanti when she first met Dave, he was a millionaire. The question always came up, if Dave has all this money, why doesn't Dave help out? Buy anything? I mean, you go to buy a tv. Oh, Shaunti, you got this.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He was a cheap guy, and we couldn't figure out why.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And Shaunti's friends had even deeper concerns about the relationship.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

One of her friends told us that Shaunti called her one day crying and said, I'm so scared. I just need to get out. That was chilling to me to hear she was crying. And she said, he knows I know too much and he won't let me go. That's when it hit me really hard, like there's something more than I'm even privy to that's going on here. A few hours later, she called and she's like, oh, we're good. I'm just gonna stay. It's as if he was hovering over her, making sure that she didn't say so much. Why would she say, I need to get out? Why did she say she was scared? Something happened. She saw a side of him, perhaps, that scared her.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Did you see anything that worried you about the way they got along?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

They would get into really, really bad arguments, like screaming. Like, I could be upstairs and they could be in the backyard, and I could hear them screaming at each other.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

About what?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Just anything can start an argument. Anything.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Jackson spoke to the officers with the Department of Children and Family Services. What kinds of things did he share?

[Greg Warman]

The truth. There was domestic violence going on in the house. Physical, mental, verbal. I was not aware of any of that, and he never told me any of that.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

But he had witnessed this.

[Greg Warman]

He witnessed it. That's how I found out.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Like, when my mom wasn't around, he wouldn't act like a parental figure.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

How did he behave?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He'd get extremely mad. He'd threaten me, scream at me.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Threaten to do what?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hurt me. Break my stuff.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

That's pretty cruel. Did you ever tell your mom?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Threatened me not to. Or else he'd break my stuff or hurt me.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The Department of Children and Family Services never interviewed David Tranas about these allegations.

[Greg Warman]

What we started to see was public Dave and Private Dave are just absolute opposites.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The more detectives dig the more they're finding. And they're about to unearth a secret that has them wondering if they may have stumbled upon a motive for murder. David had been dozens and dozens and dozens of times.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

That was a big whoa. You don't even want to know the details.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So he's leading a double life.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely leading a double life. Behind the scenes, he wasn't the person.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Who he claimed to be.

[Greg Warman]

Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down.

[Greg Warman]

So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing Mint Mobile unlimited premium wireless. Everybody to get 30, 30, better get 30, better get 20, 20, 20, better get 20, 20, better get 15, 15, 15, 15. Just 15 bucks a month. So give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Payment of $45 for 3 month plan.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Equivalent to $15 per month required new.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow. After 35 gigabytes of network's busy, taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile.com. you know that one friend who somehow knows everything about money? Yeah. Now imagine they live in your phone. Say hey to Experian, your big financial friend. It's the app that helps you check your FICO score, find ways to save, and basically feel like a financial genius. And guess what? It's totally free. So go on, download the Experian app. Trust me, having a BFF like this is a tough, total game changer.

[Greg Warman]

My name is Ron Gordy. I lived down the street from Dave and Shanti. My partner Tom and I live here. This neighborhood feels like an extended family to me. I was out for a jog one morning and I encountered Dave. He was without a shirt, very, very skimpy. Skimpy running shorts. And he was in amazing shape. There was not a shred of body fat on him. And I felt the need to say, Dave, you, you look amazing. And oh, are those new glasses? They look great on you.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

And I'll never forget it.

[Greg Warman]

He lowered them, took one look at me and he said, yes.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Well, now that I have my new.

[Greg Warman]

Glasses, you are much more attractive to me now that I can see. And I thought it was an odd thing to say to me. Made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. I thought he was flirting with me.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

According to authorities, David and Shanti are keeping up appearances. But detectives are learning that their marriage was far from idyllic. They've just gotten a tip about a secret which might explain what happened to Shanti coopertranis. As you're looking into David's life, you discover a place called Club Orlando.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes. Club Orlando is a local gym for gay men. David Tronas had a membership at Club Orlando.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Why would he have a membership at a gay gym? At a gay gym, yeah.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

So that was our question. So we traveled over to Club Orlando. We started asking questions about Mr. Traunas. And he had been a member for 18 months, but he had frequently the club as recently as the week before her murder. We had a witness that worked in the club who had seen his activities in the club with men.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What was the extent of it? Associations? Just friendships with men?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No, it was sexual activity in the club with men.

[Greg Warman]

This case just taught us to expect the unexpected. Detective Sprague talked to this employee.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Do you have any knowledge whether or not David has hooked up or had sex. Sex in the club with any man?

[Greg Warman]

Yes. And I saw David. He was giving oral sex to the sky.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

So my. My understanding was that you walked in the locker room and caught them. Is that not accurate?

[Greg Warman]

Well, twice. I mean, yeah, in the locker room and then behind the building.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes.

[Greg Warman]

Two different men, I imagine.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes. David had been dozens and dozens and dozens of times.

[Greg Warman]

This stack of receipts here shows that he attended that SPA. It was 78 receipts over about a two year period. He was still going there during their marriage.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

In fact, he went there, records show.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The day after they got married. You just saw that behind the scenes, he wasn't the person who he claimed to be.

[Greg Warman]

We found out that David was frequenting Club Orlando from a friend. Neither Shaunti nor Dave. Nobody ever said anything. We were pretty shocked because he had been married 14 years before to another woman. He was married to Shaunti.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

By the time detectives learn about Club Orlando, David has lawyered up and he's no longer talking.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

We asked a lot of questions of her friends and family, and everyone pretty much said the same thing. She wouldn't tolerate it. And we guarantee you she doesn't know. If she knew that was happening, she would have blown a gasket. She would not have continued that relationship. What did she know? Is that maybe a personal thing that she's not sharing with other people that she doesn't want other people to know that she's aware of. Shaunti wanted the perfect life. I think maybe things that were happening that didn't coincide with that were reasons why she was private about what was happening to her. I think a lot of people who had met Dave thought that maybe he was homosexual. That was just kind of the vibe he had.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So he's leading a double life.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Absolutely. Leading a double life.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What does that tell you in this investigation?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

That maybe that she had just found out, Maybe that was what possibility, that that was what prompted her death. We didn't know if she knew, and we didn't know if that was the catalyst for the argument. Something had to have happened that caused them to argue and for it to escalate to the point where he physically harms her in a brutal fashion.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detectives are trying to build their case, and they've put David under surveillance.

[Greg Warman]

While Dave was putting on this public Persona of the grieving husband, and he was doing things behind the scenes to only serve his interest. Within several weeks, David's trying to claim life insurance money. He's transferring money out of their joint bank accounts.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He was the sole beneficiary of her life insurance, which was over 350,000. He stood to gain close to a million dollars if he was not charged with her murder.

[Greg Warman]

David was definitely planning his exit strategy to leave this entire situation with Shanti's money and no worries behind. And when we learned of that, I made the ultimate decision that we needed to make the arrest.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Four months after Shanti Kupertranas is found dead, a grand jury indicts her husband David for first degree murder. He's arrested at his mom's house. Does he put up a fight?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What's his reaction?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He was sitting out on his screen porch, and I think they just went up there and he willingly came down and they said to turn around and put your hands behind your back. He said nothing. You have a picture of that when they're arresting him? To me, it was a moment of defeat.

[Greg Warman]

This is one day that I'll never forget. We got him, Jeff. And I said, hallelujah, we got him. We are continuing to learn new details about the investigation into the murder of a Delaney park woman. Now her husband, David Tronas, is charged with her murder.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

David pleads not guilty. Meanwhile, detectives have gotten a search warrant to comb through his mother's house.

[Greg Warman]

And I'll never forget this. I was driving home from the courthouse, and I get a call from Detective Sprague.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And they find something surprising, the one thing they've been looking for. After David Traunis arrest, investigators are combing through his past. He's been married before and divorced. And detectives want to know what his first wife has to say about him. At some point, you speak to David's ex wife, Carol.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She'd been married to him for 14 years. She was very much in disbelief that Shaunti had been murdered and that David Trunnis was responsible for that. He was not a violent person.

[Greg Warman]

Do you think think they've murdered his wife?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No, it's not characteristic with the person I am. Once we started interviewing people that knew both of them, Carol and David, they said that Carol had suddenly became ill within a year of being married to David Traunas. She was so sick. It was so dramatic of a change for such a lively, fun, close friend of ours. Physical stomach pain and other ailments that had been unexplained and that she'd been to several specialists. So at that point in time, I started thinking, was he poisoning Carol? Because we always kind of suspected it.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Wait a minute. She had has a stomach ailment, and Shanti had had a stomach ailment and.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The exact same symptoms.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

But you're beginning to wonder whether he had poisoned his current wife and ex wife.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah, you can't not wonder. I mean, and she was sick for a very long time. Very sick.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detective Sprague asks Carol Traunis about her mysterious ailment. But once again, she shoots down those suspicions.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Has it ever come into your frame of thought that David Trus cooking or making you drinks was making you sick? No. Have you ever thought that any of your issues related to your health problems was him poisoning you? No.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Detectives are never able to find any evidence that Tron has harmed his ex wife. But they're about to hear from someone who says he's recently gotten to know Traunus in, of all places, jail.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

David had a cellmate, and that cellmate.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Came forward, a jailhouse informant, to say that David said he killed his wife.

[Greg Warman]

Now, how is it that you started to talk to David Trones? He was in the bunk next to mine, but he recognized me. Where did he recognize you? He said that he'd recognize. Recognized me from Club Orlando, which when he said that, I kind of freaked because I was going in there for quite some time.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

At some point, as often happens when you're in a cell with someone, you find out what they're in jail for. And what Mr. Trantas ended up telling him, allegedly, was that he and Shaunti had fought, they had argued, and that he blacked out. And when he awoke, Shaunti was on the floor and she was deceased.

[Greg Warman]

He told me that he. He wears his wedding ring still because he still loves his wife and felt bad. It was an accident is what he told me. He felt sorry for what he did, that he blacked out.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He also offered to us that David had told him that he had learned of a certain type of tree frog that had a certain type of SAP that would allow you to poison someone and kill them. He said, the beauty of it is.

[Greg Warman]

It can't be tested for.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I had kind of always thought, did he try and kill his first wife, and did he try and kill his second wife in a way that wasn't violent? I remember contacting the hospital and asking them if they still had Shaunti's appendix. And if they did, is it possible we could test it for any sort of, you know, substance that might be poisonous? And they said they had the appendix, but it was in a solution that would not allow for. For any testing.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

We reached out to David Traunis, defense attorney, about the allegations of poisoning and the details from that jailhouse informant, and were told that both theories were summarily dismissed by the state's attorney's office. Detectives couldn't verify the information given to them by the jailhouse informant, but they were about to find something else, something they'd been looking for since the day Shanti was murdered.

[Greg Warman]

We had always had reason to believe that Dave was hiding evidence at his mom's house because that's where he was living. And there were several things that were missing from the house still. And I'll never forget this. I was driving home late at night and I get a call from Detective Sprague. I pick up the call. She goes, we found it.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You found her engagement ring.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes, which he had said she was wearing. He had clearly taken it off of her cold, dead body.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

He has that missing wedding ring in his possession.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

There was no break in. No one came in and stole that and didn't take anything else in the apartment.

[Greg Warman]

Why tell the police that you have no idea what happened to it, but it'll ultimately be discovered on you. It was such a crucial piece of evidence.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Tronus team would later say that the ring was never actually missing, that investigators overlooked it when they searched the house. Now detectives are about to get another crucial piece of evidence from a very unlikely source.

[Greg Warman]

I'd been a prosecutor 14 years and handled thousands of cases. Never once got a call like this.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Nearly a year after Shanti Kupatranas was murdered, authorities are still building their case against her husband, David, preparing to take him to trial. He's in jail, he's awaiting trial, and then you get a call from his lawyer.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I was in the state attorney's office meeting with the state attorney on this case, and his lawyer happened to call.

[Greg Warman]

Defense attorney calls my cell phone, says, I've been up all night. I just. I can't sleep. I have evidence that we need to turn over. And my jaw dropped.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

And he said, perhaps detectives failed to collect some things from the scene that were there and they just missed it.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

When they arrive on the scene that first day. There was something that stood out to detectives, something that just didn't seem right.

[Greg Warman]

Detective Sprague had always thought that there was, you know, something missing from the scene. And the bed looks strange. It looks sort of hastily made.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It was a brutal beating and a brutal strangulation. We were looking for these bloody sheets that we thought should have existed and never were found. When I said, ask him if he's got the bloody sheets, I think he's got the bloody sheets. His attorney carefully said, we had a private investigator collect some sheets and we're preserving them as evidence.

[Greg Warman]

Handled thousands of cases, handled homicide cases for years. Never had this happen.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Tronus defense attorney goes on to say that there was blood on the sheets, but that there was an innocent explanation for it, one that David had even alluded to when he was first questioned by police.

[Greg Warman]

Dave's explanation was that over the prior weekend that him and Shanti had sex, but she was menstruating. It did get on the bedspread, and it did get on the side of the bed. These sheets were balled up and put into some shelves with other sheets and bedding and towels. The weeks after the murder, the Orlando police department conducted three searches. When you look at each photo from the individual searches, the closet in search one, the sheets are there. Closet in search two, the sheets are there. In search three, there's now a missing hole on one of the shelves identified by the private investigator as where he took the sheets from. Candidly, law enforcement missed the sheets.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The defense attorneys held that evidence for 11 months. 11 months.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

If you remove bloody sheets from the house, Mr. Tronas had to tell you there were bloody sheets in the house. And if you removed them, he had to tell you where they were, which is proof of your client's guilt.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

But the defense team has an explanation. When authorities interview one of the private investigators on traunus team, he lays it all out.

[Greg Warman]

He asked you to collect some sheets. He says, we want to take the.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Sheets, to have the sheets tested.

[Greg Warman]

Because menstrual blood produces different proteins than regular blood does, then that was the.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Reason he wanted sheets collected. They said they had the sheets in the bottom of a bank building in a locker in Lakeland, Florida, and never conducted any tests on those sheets.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Eventually, investigators do test those sheets and discover both Shanti and David's blood on them. But they say they were never able to determine exactly where the blood came from. Authorities are outraged, even looking into charging the defense attorneys and private investigators with. With tampering with evidence. But after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state attorney's office recommends that no charges be filed.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Hello? This is a prepaid call from David, an inmate at the Orange County Corrections.

[Greg Warman]

After Dave was arrested. It's customary with homicide defendants. We monitor their jail calls. And initially, Dave only had two family members that would contact him. An uncle and his mother. She was in her 80s. Clearly had some level of dementia. I don't remember anymore.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I didn't think that you would be in jail and I would have to be doing your paperwork. Well, I didn't think I would either. So to me, you shouldn't been there. I didn't do anything.

[Greg Warman]

It's not my fault. Dave was so cold and callous.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Okay. What do you. What do you want to know now?

[Greg Warman]

I got a bunch of papers.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Want to talk.

[Greg Warman]

Every time I call, I explain to you. That's how much money is left on your account. It's $2 to have a call with me.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Is that too much? It's just $2. But you.

[Greg Warman]

But I just told you it's $2. You can tell who a person is by how they treat their parents.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And authorities find powerful evidence from Shanti herself, implying that she felt Traunis had been treating her badly. You discovered journal entries, also from her. Almost her talking to you from the grave.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

From the grave. Why do you treat the dogs better than. Is it because they don't question you?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And in that home renovation video David shot, you can hear him talking to his dog.

[Greg Warman]

That's a girl. That's my girl. That a girl.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Sweetheart, do you love me anymore? People who love each other do not act this way. Maybe it is time for a change.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

She felt the relationship was broken, that it was beyond repair, Irreparable.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Right? Yeah. And that gave us an insight into her mindset. Did she say the night before, I'm done. I'm not bankrolling this renovation. Our marriage is over. Did she tell him she was going to leave him?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

That is the theory prosecutors are about to put before a jury.

[Greg Warman]

Jurors want to know why. Why could somebody do something this bad? When you've heard all the evidence in this case, you will conclude that the only reasonable explanation for Shanti's death is sitting right there.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

On WhatsApp. No one can see or hear your personal messages. Whether it's a voice call message or sending a password to WhatsApp, it's all just this. So whether you're sharing the streaming password in the family chat or trading those late night voice messages that could basically become a podcast, your personal messages stay.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Between you, your friends and your family.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No one else, not even us. WhatsApp message privately with everyone. This episode is brought to you by.

[Greg Warman]

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[Detective Theresa Sprague]

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[Detective Barb McClelland]

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[Greg Warman]

Oh, thanks.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

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[Greg Warman]

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[Detective Barb McClelland]

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[Greg Warman]

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[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Right now, an Orange county trial is underway in the case of David Trones.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

He's accused of murdering his wife, Shanti.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Cooper Trones, more than five years ago.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What's interesting is that when you see the pictures of David prior to his arrest, clean cut, in shape, as the months go by in this court case, his hair becomes shaggy and unkept.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

State, do you recognize the presence of the jury? Yes, you, Honor. You may proceed.

[Greg Warman]

The only reasonable explanation for Shaunti's death is sitting right there. David Traunis killed Shaunti Cooper. He intended to do it, he did it. And he's guilty of first degree murder.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

There's now a new prosecution team. Ryan Veschio has moved on from the State Attorney's office and now represents both Jackson and his mother's estate.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The crux of the state's case is the forensics. If she was there as he describes, left side submerged, how does her right arm get into rigor?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Straight up in the air in the courtroom every day. 13 year old Jackson Cooper determined to get justice for his mom.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Who is it that's not breathing?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

My wife.

[Greg Warman]

The strength that Jackson had to sit there and say, I'm going to be here for my mom. It was the most awe inspiring thing I've ever seen in the practice of law.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

How hard was that for you?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

I was just thinking, that wasn't my mom. The stuff that they described, the pictures that I saw, that wasn't her.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So you were able to distance yourself?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah.

[Greg Warman]

We knew that something drove the attacker that we know as Dave to such levels of violence. So jurors want to know, why could somebody do something this bad? The state focused on the home renovations and what sort of stress that that caused?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

To make their point, prosecutors call Keith Horry to the stand.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The house was in a state where.

[Greg Warman]

It could potentially collapse at any given moment.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

The structural engineers I employed at the time had some serious concerns.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The TV host testifies about a meeting with the Traunuses seven days before Shanti's murder.

[Greg Warman]

It was difficult to get them both together.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She was tense, even intense.

[Greg Warman]

Appeared to be, you know, mildly upset.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Annoyed, frustrated at something.

[Greg Warman]

Can you just describe their relationship that you observed?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah, it was very rocky. And I felt a lot of the times that I kind of was a mediator when I would go hang out with them. It felt really good to be a voice for her.

[Greg Warman]

The person we've been talking about is Dave Tron. Is he in the courtroom?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes, he is.

[Greg Warman]

If you could just point him out.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He looked like a wet kitten that.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Was shivering in the cold.

[Greg Warman]

Did Dave ever reach out to you and tell you about her death?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

No, never. And I was her best friend. And his friend. What grieving husband doesn't call the best friend?

[Detective Barb McClelland]

One thing prosecutors don't tell jurors about is that alleged secret double life that David Traunis appeared to be leading.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

To me, it was like, why aren't we including this?

[Greg Warman]

We have no evidence whatsoever whether Shanti knew about it, found out about it, so it just wasn't relevant.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Traunis now has a new defense team. His previous lawyers quit after failing to turn over those bloody bedsheets.

[Greg Warman]

You don't get to fit a square peg in a round hole because it's convenient, and that's what happened here. With the rush to judgment, his new.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Lawyers are arguing that detectives excluded other possible explanations for what could have happened to Shanti.

[Greg Warman]

They sold hard and unhappy marriage and frustration and tension due to this construction project. They bickered like a married couple was the testimony, but quickly made up. There was no tension about the house. At the end of the day, we don't know exactly why David Tronis did this.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What did you think the motive was?

[Greg Warman]

Money.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Insurance money.

[Greg Warman]

Insurance money. Money she had invested. Money she had gotten from her father to invest. Between the life insurance and the bank accounts, Dave stood to gain over a million dollars of financial control if Shanti were to die. That's the motive for this murder. To get rid of her so he can have the house alone. This was their dream home. This was their forever home. They wanted this. This wasn't all about fleecing a woman to slay her, to take her cash.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Though we may not know the exact Motive. At trial, Detective Sprague testifies how, based on the evidence, she believes the murder happened.

[Greg Warman]

You noticed a single earring on the nightstand.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes.

[Greg Warman]

Yeah. What was the significance of that?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Looks like she removed it before bed and didn't get a chance to remove the other one. The evidence shows that the first event that occurs, that she is on the edge of that bed. The moment that she turned her head to remove her left earring, that's when we think the blow to the left side of her head occurred.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And it turns out there was blood found on the side of the bed. Blood that never made sense. If Shonti had actually fallen in the tub, authorities believe it was further evidence that she was actually attacked on the bed.

[Greg Warman]

She never saw what was coming, had no defensive wounds.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He chose to finish her off by strangling her. Watching her suffer for however long, many, many, many minutes, probably.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

The defense chooses not to call a single witness saying prosecutors hadn't even proven that Shanti was in fact murdered.

[Greg Warman]

Government has the murder proving beyond to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that David Trantas committed this murder. If you believe it's a murder, if.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

You believe that they proved that it's a murder.

[Greg Warman]

Because when you go to the point of the things that they missed, and it still leaves the possibility that this was a fall. The attack by the side of the.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Bed is no hunch.

[Greg Warman]

She's the source of blood.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

He killed Shantaonis. Listen to Shanta Tronas.

[Greg Warman]

She is telling you what happened.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Thank you.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

So the jury gets the case.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Almost five years ago, my mom was murdered. And now finally we're here. It just felt surreal. It's my understanding you've reached a verdict. Will you hand the verdict form to the court? Deputy, please. I was terrified that he would get away with it. You're just going. Please tell me that you guys are going to see what we see. Verdict reads.

[Greg Warman]

We, the jury, find the defending.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Want to remind everyone in the gallery that it's incredibly important for decorum after a verdict.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You hear there's a verdict.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah, I started shaking. Almost five years ago, my mom was murdered. And now finally we're here. It just felt surreal. Are you drawing? Jackson, you got chalk? Look what Mama's doing sitting there waiting for it. And we can bring the jury out. Was gut wrenching, really, and just felt like forever. Will you hand the verdict form to the court? Deputy, please.

[Greg Warman]

He handed the slip and the judge looked at it. We're sitting here on pins and needles.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

State of Florida versus David Tronas.

[Greg Warman]

And she says we, the jury. We, the jury, find the Defendant guilty.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Of first degree murder. Dated at Orange County, Florida, on the 18th day of October, 2020 23.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Signed by the court person.

[Greg Warman]

I mean, I was erupting inside. And as. As was everybody there. David Tronus was convicted of first degree murder for the death of Shantae Cooper Tronas.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

It was really, really hard to sit there and contain your composure. I mean, it was. It was hard.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Oh, relief.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Thank God. It's hard. We were so happy, though. At least we have justice for her and we know that he's where he belongs.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What was that moment like?

[Greg Warman]

It was an absolute relief to hear it because I knew anything other than guilty would hinder us moving forward with our lives.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Are you each making a statement? Will you both raise your right hand to be sworn, please? Your Honor, my mom was the best person I ever knew.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You decided you wanted to speak out in court.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yes. I knew I was going to get emotional, and I knew that it was going to be hard for me, so I tried to keep it short. She was taken from me and my family. It's like a hole in my heart that I can't fill or fix. She did not deserve anything that happened to her that night.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Don't cry, sweet pie.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Don't cry. I miss her so much. I was just speaking from my heart, and I just wanted people to know how good of a person my mom was.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

Big one.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Big one. And how she deserved the world. And she was the best person that I knew.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What's your reaction?

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Tears. He did a fantastic job. His mother would have been very proud of him. She was a good lady. She's in her own home, and she's with a man who is supposed to protect her, who's supposed to care for her, who's supposed to love her. She certainly didn't deserve the brutality that she suffered. This coin was given to me by Detective Sprague a few weeks after it happened. And she promised me that she would get justice for my family and I. And that day, she gave me this coin. Justice has a role in helping families navigate grief, but navigating grief is love. With no place to go, it's that hole in his heart that not even what we did for them will ever be able to fix. Say hi, Mommy. This is our first ride at Disney. Give Mommy thumbs up.

[Greg Warman]

Cool, dude.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Cool.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

You said you wanted to do sports.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Yeah, I play basketball right now, and I'm playing football next year. In high school.

[Greg Warman]

She was a fantastic mother. I mean, he's the way he is.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Because of her strong young man.

[Greg Warman]

Yeah, he got it from her.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

She's a very great person and I love her.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

I like the way you speak about her in the present tense. Some ways you feel she's still here with you.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Of course. She's right here. Always will be.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

What a remarkable young man. David Jackson is just really pretty extraordinary. I mean, to endure this loss and to sit through the trial. He's really strong and wise beyond his years.

[Greg Warman]

You could really see that while you were talking with him. Just an extraordinary young man. We should point out tonight that David Traunis has been sentenced to life in prison. He's appealing his conviction. That's our program for tonight. I'm David Muir.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

And I'm Deborah Roberts. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good.

[Detective Theresa Sprague]

Morning. Foreign.

[Detective Barb McClelland]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Greg Warman]

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[Detective Barb McClelland]

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[Greg Warman]

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