Secrets of the Sliding Door

Summary

Dateline NBC: Secrets of the Sliding Door

Release Date: July 22, 2025
Host: NBC News
Episode Overview:
"Secrets of the Sliding Door" delves into the harrowing true-crime story of Simonette Mapes, a beloved high school teacher in Staten Island, whose life was tragically cut short in a brutal murder. The episode intricately unpacks the investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of her husband, Jonathan Croupy, revealing the dark secrets that lay beneath their seemingly perfect marriage.

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Introduction

The episode opens with the serene image of Staten Island, contrasting sharply with the impending tragedy. Host Tom Yamas sets the stage by introducing Simonette Mapes, a dedicated educator whose commitment to her students made her a cherished figure in the community.

The Crime: A Peaceful Home Shattered

On a hot July day in 2012, Simonette Mapes was found dead in her Staten Island home, brutally stabbed with multiple wounds.

• Detective's Account (01:18): "She was laying on the floor. Multiple stab wounds, lots of blood."
• Scene Description (04:58): "There was no shell casings or bullet holes. I think the assumption was that she might have been stabbed."

The crime scene was ransacked, suggesting an intent beyond a typical burglary. Key evidence included a sliding door left ajar and a mixed DNA sample found on it.

Initial Investigation: A Suspected Burglary

Detectives initially considered burglary as a motive, noting the extensive disarray and lack of valuable items stolen.

• Detective's Observation (07:17): "If it was a burglary, that person took an awfully long time looking for something."

However, the excessive violence indicated a more personal motive, prompting a deeper investigation into Simonette's life and relationships.

Uncovering Secrets: The Ms. Pumpkin Connection

A pivotal breakthrough occurred when investigators discovered a mysterious contact on Simonette's phone labeled "Ms. Pumpkin," leading to the identification of an escort service.

• Detective's Revelation (21:12): "So her tag name was Ms. Pumpkin."
• Tom Yamas (21:17): "A phone number for an escort named Ms. Pumpkin on Simonette's phone. Which seemed to make no sense at all."

Detectives orchestrated a sting operation, posing as clients to engage Ms. Pumpkin, revealing her longstanding affair with Jonathan Croupy.

• Detective's Strategy (24:17): "We made a plan that we would call up Ms. Pumpkin and I would order her up as a john..."

Jonathan Croupy: The Perfect Alibi Shattered

Jonathan initially presented a solid alibi, supported by video footage and receipts from his various daytime activities.

• Prosecutor De Oliveira (13:01): "He claims he was out running errands," demonstrating his time-stamped whereabouts.

However, inconsistencies emerged when DNA evidence linked Ms. Pumpkin directly to the crime scene, contradicting Jonathan's alibi.

• Detective's Insight (27:39): "So when the DNA swab was compared... it came back to Ms. Pumpkin."

The Broken Marriage: Motive Revealed

The investigation uncovered deep-seated marital issues, including Jonathan's failure to complete his required master's degree and the strain it placed on their relationship.

• Teresa Croupy (32:02): "She was to the point where either you get your masters or you're out of here."
• Detective's Analysis (38:25): Highlighting Jonathan's computer searches as potential premeditation tools for murder.

The Trial: Unveiling the Truth

In June 2015, the trial commenced with strong prosecution evidence painting Jonathan as a deceitful husband driven to murder.

• Prosecutor De Oliveira (37:34): "If this was a burglar who went to the trouble of living literally trashing this house, they left everything of obvious value behind."

Defense attorney Mario Gallucci challenged the prosecution's narrative, attempting to cast doubt by suggesting an alternative suspect in a botched burglary.

• Defense Argument (39:36): "He was teaching Shakespeare, and I think he was teaching Macbeth. And he was trying to develop his knowledge of how somebody, you know, would stab somebody..."

Despite the defense's efforts, the overwhelming evidence against Jonathan, including the DNA link and the hidden green shoulder bag containing incriminating data, led to a swift verdict.

Verdict and Aftermath

After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury found Jonathan Croupy guilty of second-degree murder, sentencing him to 25 years to life.

• Teresa Croupy (43:13): "The jury met us outside and hugged us and said how sorry they were."

The community and students mourned the loss of Simonette, reflecting on her positive impact and the tragedy that befell her family.

• Vaughn Steven Duvalle (17:44): "I love this woman. She didn't deserve that."

Conclusion: A Family's Unending Grief

Despite the closure of the case, Simonette's family continues to grapple with their loss, striving to find meaning in her untimely death.

• Teresa Croupy (44:30): "There is a reason for everything. And I still haven't found the reason for this."

The episode underscores the complexities of hidden lives and the devastating consequences that secrets can unleash, leaving listeners reflecting on the fragile veneer of seemingly perfect relationships.

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Notable Quotes

• Teresa Croupy (03:44): "She was just an amazing, amazing soul. I always consider her my gift from God."
• Vaughn Steven Duvalle (11:12): "She's like, Vaughn, please. Just please don't. You're special. You have to get your education, Vaughn."
• Teresa Croupy (08:07): "It got worse and worse and worse."
• Detective (35:08): "I don't have a murder weapon. I don't have an eyewitness. I don't have a video. I can just keep stacking and putting the pieces together."

Key Takeaways

• The Complexity of Crime Investigations: The episode illustrates how initial impressions of a crime can be misleading, necessitating thorough investigations to uncover hidden truths.
• Impact of Personal Secrets: Jonathan Croupy's double life played a crucial role in both the investigation and the ultimate conviction, highlighting how personal secrets can have severe ramifications.
• Community and Familial Grief: Simonette's murder had a profound effect on her family and community, emphasizing the lasting emotional toll of such tragedies.

Final Thoughts

"Secrets of the Sliding Door" masterfully weaves together personal narratives, investigative breakthroughs, and courtroom drama to present a comprehensive and emotionally resonant true-crime story. For listeners who crave depth and detail in their true-crime podcasts, this episode stands as a compelling case study of hidden lives and the pursuit of justice.

Transcript

[Advertiser]

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[Lester Holt]

Taking over the helm of NBC Nightly News, a 75 year old broadcast. It's a great responsibility.

[Teresa Croupy]

Good evening.

[Tom Yamas]

I'm Tom Yamas.

[Lester Holt]

You have to go out there to bring people at home closer to the store.

[Tom Yamas]

Wildfires continue to be a threat.

[Lester Holt]

With that massive hurricane comes the massive response. The best reporters in our business know how to listen. And when you listen, you get the truth.

[Detective]

For NBC News, for NBC News, NBC News, I'm Tom Yamas.

[Lester Holt]

That's what we do every night.

[Tom Yamas]

NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Evenings on NBC. Tonight on Dateline, I turn on the.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

News and it says, high school teacher are murdered. I was just distraught. Just distraught.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

You see them bringing her body out? Oh, my God. I'm sorry.

[Detective]

She was laying on the floor. Multiple stab wounds, lots of blood.

Mattresses were turned upside down. Drawers were taken out and turned upside down.

If it was a burglary, that person took an awfully long time looking for something.

[Tom Yamas]

There was a strange number on her cell phone.

[Detective]

Yes.

[Tom Yamas]

Who was it?

[Detective]

Her tag name was Ms. Pumpkin.

We told her we needed to talk to her in regards to an investigation.

[Tom Yamas]

Man, I would like to have been a fly on the wall in that conversation.

[Detective]

Inside that bag was the laptop. There are thousands and thousands of searches to sift through and my God, Keith, I did it.

There's a pattern of lies that I'm uncovering.

[Teresa Croupy]

We were in shock. This really can't all be happening.

[Detective]

Now. We were in bizarro land.

[Tom Yamas]

A teacher murdered in a case that was a study in secrets. I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Keith Morrison with secrets of the sliding door. Manhattan, perhaps the most recognizable cityscape in all the world. And yes, this is a New York story, but not this New York. This one.

[Detective]

We'Re kind of what we would call the forgotten borough.

[Tom Yamas]

Staten Island. So close to the great moneyed monuments of the city, but really a world away.

[Detective]

It doesn't have the hustle bustle like the rest of the city does.

[Tom Yamas]

The difference is night and day. These quiet streets seem a haven from the big city and the crime that comes with it. But sometimes the very thing you're trying to escape is already there. Staten island is home for many of the city's police and firefighters and teachers, like the remarkable Simonette mapes. Croupy as Simonette's mother, Teresa wanted the whole world to know.

[Teresa Croupy]

She was just an amazing, amazing soul. I always consider her my gift from God.

[Tom Yamas]

She was, said just about everybody, a giver devoted to her students, to her family, to her pets. And she was a dreamer who believed in angels and fairy tales until a hot July day in 2012. Now, one operator was an emergency. I just came home. My wife is dead. Oh. Oh, my God. I think my house was robbed. The man on the 911 call was Jonathan croupy, Simonette's husband. He had been running errands and then came home to a nightmare and utter chaos. I know you're scared, but what? Like, why do you say she's dead? Like, is she? There's blood all over. Oh, my God. This is a giant puddle of blood. The next door neighbor, Bob Garbarino, heard the commotion. I came out, I came about here, and I saw croupy standing over there on the phone, and he was just.

[Detective]

Going up and down, going, they killed her.

[Tom Yamas]

They killed.

[Advertiser]

She's dead.

[Tom Yamas]

She's dead. He was in, like, a little bit of hysterics. Joe Metzopoulos was the first detective to arrive to what was indeed a horror inside the house. There was a female body laying face down in a pool of blood. There was no shell casings or bullet holes. I think the assumption was that she might have been stabbed.

[Detective]

I got a phone call from detective Matsopoulos telling me that we had a.

[Tom Yamas]

Homicide Detective Michael Burdick got over there pretty quickly, too. It was his turn to take the lead.

[Detective]

The amount of stab wounds was excessive. I think you got somebody who's very angry and intent on making sure that she is, in fact, dead.

[Tom Yamas]

It fell to Jonathan to break the news to Simonette's mother, Teresa. She rushed to her daughter's house.

[Teresa Croupy]

By the time I got there, the place was full of cops and full of helicopters.

[Detective]

Police are still closely guarding the scene of a brutal stabbing death on Staten Island.

[Teresa Croupy]

It was just horrible.

[Detective]

Neighbors say her family showed up destroyed and confused.

[Teresa Croupy]

I wasn't thinking straight. I just wanted to see my daughter. I didn't care where she was, how she looked. I just wanted to touch her one more time.

[Tom Yamas]

Did you get two?

[Teresa Croupy]

No.

[Tom Yamas]

Simonette's father, John, a stoic career military man also raced over, of course. He found his wife in front of their daughter's house. Inconsolable. I grabbed her and she said, they killed our baby. They killed our baby. And just she collapsed because of course they couldn't see her. Couldn't go inside. Not while the detectives scoured the place for evidence for any kind of clue. In all the mess, there was disarray.

[Detective]

Drawers were taken out of the kitchen, drawers were taken out of dressers.

[Tom Yamas]

Like a burglar who didn't know what the heck he was looking for or didn't know where to find it or something.

[Detective]

I would agree with that.

[Tom Yamas]

And there was a door open, right?

[Detective]

Yeah. Sliding door was ajar by about 2 to 3 inches. I took notice of that.

[Tom Yamas]

Okay.

[Detective]

Multiple things were sent for DNA. Knives that were discovered inside of the dishwasher. We swabbed the back handle of the door.

[Tom Yamas]

While the crime scene was being processed, Detective Metzopoulos drove a distraught Jonathan to the station. The first thing that I did was I offered my condolences to Jonathan. He seemed like he was just more numb. Numb. Easy to understand why in the days after she was killed, Simonette's family would be overwhelmed with so many emotions. Grief, of course, but also rage. Her mother went to the media with a message for the killer. Whoever it was, I will find you.

[Teresa Croupy]

I will get you. You will pay. It's not going to bring my daughter back. But she'll know that her mother will not leave any stone unturned.

[Tom Yamas]

Turn over enough stones and, well, you never know what you'll uncover.

[Teresa Croupy]

It got worse and worse and worse.

[Detective]

It's kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. Eventually, Hyde's gonna dominate.

He was an animal. He was disgusting. Disturbing to say the least.

So now we were in biz.

[Tom Yamas]

School was out for the summer. So Simonette Mapes, Krupy's students, got the news like the rest of the city, impersonal and devastating.

[Detective]

Police say a 29 year old woman was found dead.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

I turn on the news and it says, like, high school teacher murdered. Drop to the floor and just start crying, bawling my eyes out.

[Tom Yamas]

Simonette was Carmen Sita, Majeed's teacher and was supportive, understanding, kind.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

It was like, who would kill her? Like, who has a problem with her?

[Tom Yamas]

Certainly not her students. They adored her. This is Von Steven Duvalle.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

You see them bringing her body out and you can tell by the body bag the shape of her body, you know. Oh, my God. I'm sorry.

[Tom Yamas]

The crime scene here on a busy road in Staten island, was no Better word for it. Ransacked. This is the NYPD's Mike Cosenza.

[Detective]

We're conducting canvases to determine if there are any similarities as far as burglaries in the area.

[Tom Yamas]

Detectives considered the burglary angle, but the level of violence suggested passion, rage. It just didn't make sense. Thing was, everybody seemed to love Simonette, or Sissy, as her family and close friends called her.

[Detective]

As part of our investigation, we have to dig deep into her life, you know, see if she had any secrets. And you know what, Keith? She was an angel.

[Teresa Croupy]

Everybody thinks their children are special. But I always said that God sent Simonette to me because I needed Simonette.

[Tom Yamas]

Simonette was so respected. She could have worked anywhere. But she chose a school in a high crime section of Brooklyn. There, she taught social studies and raised money to help her students. From buying them prom dresses to treating them at restaurants where they'd never been. Couldn't afford to be. She explained to them, says, go to school, get your degree, and this can be yours.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

We called her Mommy Mapes. She would always bring up Disney. And for me, I'm obsessed with Disney. I remember we would just be in class bored, and she would love to just break out singing the Little Mermaid. I'm part of your world.

[Tom Yamas]

Vaughn told us her kindness and encouragement changed his life. He was bullied in school, ready to quit until Mommy Mapes stepped in.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

She's like, vaughn, please. Just please don't. You're special. You have to get your education, Vaughn. You don't want to become left behind.

[Tom Yamas]

Simonette's devotion to others and her deep faith once led her to consider becoming a nun. And then she met him, the love of her life, Jonathan Croupy.

[Teresa Croupy]

Simonette went on a date with him. She came home that night and she said, mom, oh, my God, he's so nice. You know, I really like this one.

[Tom Yamas]

This is Simonette's little brother, John, as a match. How did this look?

[Lester Holt]

It looked great. And every time they were together, they always had a good time. As long as my sister was happy, I was a happy. A happy brother.

[Teresa Croupy]

I used to tell people I couldn't buy a better son in law. That's how good he was.

[Tom Yamas]

Wonderful woman, great marriage. Still, of course, they had to look at everything, including the husband. Standard procedure, but, you know, you gotta.

[Detective]

Treat him with some compassion, to say the least.

You hung up, Mama.

[Tom Yamas]

Detectives learned Simonette helped Jonathan get a job teaching English at the same school where she worked. And he was good, too.

[Detective]

Both teachers were known to be charismatic, able to relate to the students on, you know, a deeper level than Most.

Sup, Sally?

[Teresa Croupy]

Mr.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

Stunt?

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

Yeah, he was funny. He would do cartoon voices. I remember one year he dressed up as Wolverine. He was just like a little big kid, like you can just. His class was a joy.

[Tom Yamas]

But did he have an alibi? Yes, he did. Jonathan told the police he last saw Simonette when he left their condo at 7:30 in the morning. Assistant DA Wanda de Oliveira was there. As Jonathan recounted his day. A busy one.

[Detective]

He said, it's our wedding anniversary this weekend. I'm going to get cheap tickets for a Broadway play for my wife and I to attend.

He then went to his school to pick up books for summer school because they had both opted to teach summer school in order to earn some extra income. Upon leaving the school, he had went to get his car inspected.

[Tom Yamas]

Jonathan also dropped by a sneaker store. And then one final stop before heading home.

[Detective]

He tells his wife via at least two texts, I'm going to stop at Home Depot and get paint for that painting project that you wanted to do in the bathroom. So he pulls into the Home Depot but decides not to go in because he hadn't heard back from her and comes home.

[Tom Yamas]

Detectives checked out his story and found video of Jonathan at the school and at the sneaker store, as well as a time stamped receipt from his car inspection.

[Detective]

The times that he gave us were consistent with the times he was at the locations that he had visited that day.

[Tom Yamas]

In other words, they looked like a good alibi.

[Detective]

It did.

[Tom Yamas]

Jonathan and Simonette were not wealthy. But if this was a burglary, well, there was something that might have attracted the intruder. Jonathan had a side hustle selling pricey sneakers. He stored them in the condo on the top floor.

[Detective]

There were very, very expensive designer and I mean 3, 4, $500 sneakers. Dozens of those. So there were sneakers upon sneakers.

[Teresa Croupy]

The first thing we thought was, oh no, he was selling sneakers and some guy came in to rob the sneakers while Simonette was at home.

[Tom Yamas]

A burglary turned violent? Or did someone set out to kill Simonette because of something she witnessed? Something she wasn't supposed to see? Just one week earlier, as Simonette and her husband walked from school to their car in one of Brooklyn's most dangerous neighborhoods.

[Lester Holt]

There was a shooting and they ducked down behind the car once they heard the gunshots go off.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

It was scary. It was dangerous. Dangerous.

[Advertiser]

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[Tom Yamas]

It looked like a pleasant summer day, but was was in fact a spectacular summer day. Perfect for lounging and listening to Dateline. Subscribe to Dateline Premium and get a free one month trial. Add some bonus episodes and early access to new original series. This Special offer expires July 30, so subscribe now to Dateline Premium only on Apple Podcasts. You don't want to miss out, do you?

[Detective]

Hey everyone, I'm Jenna Bush Hager from the Today show and I'm excited to share my podcast Open Book with Jenna. It is back for season two. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors will share candid stories with me about their lives and new projects. Guests like Rebecca Yarros, Kristin Hannah, Ego Wodom, and more. Like a good book, you'll leave feeling inspired and entertained. Join me for my podcast Open Book with Jenna. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.

[Tom Yamas]

Five days after her murder, a funeral mass was held for Simonette at Our lady of Pity Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island. An overflow crowd turned out to show their respects the amount of love that was shown by the school and the students and our family and friends. Obviously it took me aback. Some of the parents came to Teresa and I and said, you don't know what impact your daughter had. We did it on my my daughter's life. I never knew.

[Teresa Croupy]

Never.

[Tom Yamas]

On her way to the funeral, student Carmen Sita Majeed messaged Simonette's husband and fellow teacher, Jonathan.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

And the message that I had got back was like, your fairy godmother got her wings. And it just broke me.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

I remember going up to the casket and looking at her and you can tell that her body went through something traumatic. That even hurt me even more. I love this woman. She didn't deserve that.

[Tom Yamas]

Police were there a sharp eye out the whole time.

[Detective]

Maybe you might get information from a student that is not looking to come forward initially but might find an opportunity to approach you and see if there's information that could be had.

[Tom Yamas]

What information? Maybe about the scary things that have been happening around Simonette School in that high crime neighborhood.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

Our school was right across from Cypress Projects, so there was, you know, gangs, fights, shootings.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

When you stepped out of that building, it was Scary. It was dangerous.

[Tom Yamas]

Were you afraid for her working at such a tough school?

[Teresa Croupy]

Oh, yes. I used to beg her all the time, please, Simonette quit. Please come to Staten island to work and. But she wouldn't do it.

[Detective]

The school where Simonette worked is. It could be considered a high crime area. And it wouldn't be unusual to hear gunshots in the distance.

[Tom Yamas]

Yeah, gangs and so on around there.

[Detective]

Yeah, there were gangs everywhere.

[Tom Yamas]

Unfortunately, just a week before the murder, Simonette witnessed something frightening as she and Jonathan were walking to their car.

[Lester Holt]

There was a shooting nearby, and they ducked down behind the car once they heard the gunshots go off. I was concerned because I know the reality of where she works. I was always afraid for her working in that area. Always.

[Tom Yamas]

Police didn't think Jonathan and Simonette were targets, but she posted about the incident on Facebook. She didn't say anything describing the shooter, but if it was a gang member and they learned she was there, they sure wouldn't want her talking about it. I assume they went and looked into it, right?

[Detective]

Absolutely. Yes. They went to check out, you know, well, maybe this was in retaliation for, you know, being present for the drive by shooting.

[Tom Yamas]

Maybe what she saw was enough to get her killed. But then at the funeral, Simonette's brother John looked around and was amazed.

[Lester Holt]

My sister taught several Bloods and Crips. These two organizations do not like each other. I do remember a high ranking member of the Bloods gang telling my mother that for today, they made a truce to say goodbye to my sister. They respect her that much.

[Tom Yamas]

That is something.

[Lester Holt]

There was roughly 50 of them.

[Tom Yamas]

That's amazing, really. They never did find out who was shooting whom near the school.

[Detective]

She hadn't identified anybody. Neither one of them did. So there would be nobody out there that would even know that they were.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

Connected to that drive by these gang members. They're too busy killing each other. They're not worried about any outsiders. They're not hurting any outsiders.

[Tom Yamas]

So was the shooting a motive for murdering Simonet? No. But a promising lead emerged when the DNA lab came back with a result from the sample taken from the condo's sliding door.

[Detective]

They swapped it. It comes back a mixture of DNA.

[Tom Yamas]

Some of it would be Jonathan's.

[Detective]

There was Jonathan's DNA and a unknown female. In other words, it was not Simonette's DNA.

It was shocking because the DNA didn't belong to his wife. So, you know, you say to yourself, well, if it's not Simonette's DNA, then whose DNA is it?

[Tom Yamas]

And when investigators searched Simonette's phone, they discovered another unknown female.

[Detective]

The contact came up as woman in her cell phone.

[Tom Yamas]

Woman. Well, that's intriguing. An unknown female's DNA on the door. A phone contact marked only woman. What could it possibly mean? Who was it?

[Detective]

So her tag name was Ms. Pumpkin.

[Tom Yamas]

For a mother in mourning who'd pledged to find her daughter's killer, each passing day without an arrest was torture.

[Teresa Croupy]

It was very, very hard having to put up with what was going on. I mean, it's not like we've ever been through anything like this before. We didn't know.

[Tom Yamas]

No, of course not. And months dragged on, right? Months.

[Teresa Croupy]

Yes, months.

[Tom Yamas]

The detectives had conducted a lot of interviews during that time, trying to find out everything they could about Simonette and her relationships. They also explored electronic devices, both hers and those closest to her.

[Detective]

The detectives started looking at all the information. Who are they calling? Who are they looking up? Who are they emailing? Who are they texting?

[Tom Yamas]

Secrets are harder to maintain these days.

[Detective]

No such thing anymore.

[Tom Yamas]

No such thing indeed. The search of Simonet's phone is what led to that odd contact listed only as woman.

[Detective]

So part of our normal investigation would be to Google the numbers, if they're an unknown number, and see if there's any information that we can uncover.

[Tom Yamas]

That led to a classified ad on backpage.com in the adult services section. The number on Simonette's phone was for an escort. Who was it?

[Detective]

So her tag name was Ms. Pumpkin.

[Tom Yamas]

A phone number for an escort named Ms. Pumpkin on Simonette's phone. Which seemed to make no sense at all. Of course, they had to talk to Ms. Pumpkin. But how, without scaring her? Their solution, you won't find in any police manual.

[Detective]

I was tasked with calling her up and ordering her up as a john in order to get her to show up at a local motel on Staten Island.

[Tom Yamas]

Say that again.

[Detective]

Detective Cassenza and I had made a plan that we would call up Ms. Pumpkin and I would order her up as a john in order for her to produce herself at the local motel and think that she was, you know, about to turn a trick.

[Tom Yamas]

Detectives Burdick and Cosenza headed to the motel. Ms. Pumpkin was there expecting to meet a new client.

[Detective]

We identified ourselves, told her that we needed to talk to her in regards to an investigation.

[Tom Yamas]

Man, I would like to have been a fly on the wall in that conversation. How'd she take it?

[Detective]

She knew what she was there for, which had to do with prostitution, and she didn't want any trouble to come her way.

[Tom Yamas]

No, the alternative Would not be very pleasant for her.

[Detective]

No, sir.

[Tom Yamas]

That is when they told her they were investigating the murder of Simonette Mapes. Croupy. Never heard of her, said Ms. Pumpkin. And then they asked about Simonette's husband, Jonathan. Did she know him? Again, a hard no. But then detectives started describing him.

[Detective]

She only had one schoolteacher that she was dating at the time.

[Tom Yamas]

Well, well, well.

[Detective]

We showed her a picture. She knew Jonathan Croupy as Mike. That was the name that he gave her.

[Tom Yamas]

And suddenly she knew a whole lot. Jonathan, Mike, to Ms. Pumpkin was a regular client.

[Detective]

He was having, in fact, a relationship for multiple years with her.

[Tom Yamas]

Multiple years with her.

[Detective]

Multiple years.

[Tom Yamas]

Really? The man so in love with his wife, the devoted husband had been keeping a sex secret from everyone for years. After that, shocker, the detectives figured it best to invite Ms. Pumpkin to the station, get the whole story.

[Detective]

That way, she showed up and provided them with a wealth of information. When asked when she last saw him, she said the date that his wife was found murdered.

[Tom Yamas]

The very day Simonette was killed, he was having sex with another woman. Oh, my. But there was more.

[Detective]

So normally, Jonathan would call her weeks in advance to arrange a date on this day. He called her the day of from a different number, demanded, I need to see you today.

[Tom Yamas]

Very unusual.

[Detective]

Very unusual. So she agreed, and she met him at the local motel.

[Tom Yamas]

But hadn't Jonathan provided alibis for the whole day? Alibis that certainly did not include a dalliance with Ms. Pumpkin. Well, yes, he did. And his story was mostly backed up by video. Mostly. Investigators were never able to confirm one part of it. The visit to Home Depot. And now they knew why Ms. Pumpkin was his Home Depot.

[Detective]

You got it. Pit stop.

[Tom Yamas]

With Ms. Pumpkin in the picture, that unknown female DNA recovered from the crime scene suddenly became much more interesting. So detectives collected her DNA.

[Detective]

And when the DNA swab was compared to the mixture of DNA on the sliding glass living room door, it came back to Ms. Pumpkin.

[Tom Yamas]

So did you think she could have been involved somehow? That she was just hiding it from you?

[Detective]

So we knew at that time that they were intimate. It's telltale sign of a good detective to make sure that you let the evidence speak to you and tell you the story.

[Tom Yamas]

And, oh, what a story they were about to hear.

[Detective]

So now we were in bizarro land.

[Tom Yamas]

Wow.

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[Detective]

As the day wraps up, get the scoop on what's been happening with here's the Scoop, a new podcast from NBC News, with me, your host, Yasmin Vesugian, along with Morgan Chesky and Brian Chung. We'll take a deeper dive into the day's top stories with NBC News trusted journalists. It's a fresh take that's sharp, thoughtful and it's informative, bringing you closer to the headlines and conversations that are shaping our world. From the front page to the zeitgeist, all in 15 minutes or less, here's the scoop from NBC News. Listen daily on Apple Podcasts.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz and I hope you'll join us for season four of Dateline Missing in America. In each episode of Dateline's award winning.

[Tom Yamas]

Series, we will focus on one missing person's case and hear from the families.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

The friends and the investigators, all desperate to find them.

[Tom Yamas]

You will want to listen closely. Maybe you could help investigators solve a mystery. DATELINE Missing in America all episodes available now wherever you get your podcasts. Detectives learned that Simonette's sneaker collecting, comic book loving teacher husband was in a secret long term relationship with an escort named Ms. Pumpkin. Clearly a very bad look for Jonathan. And when Ms. Pumpkin's DNA was a match to a sample found at the crime scene, well, that wasn't a good look for her either.

[Detective]

It made me think that she could have been involved or not been involved.

[Tom Yamas]

Ms. Pumpkin admitted she had met Jonathan at his house before, but denied that she was there the day of the murder. So to see if she was telling the truth, detectives checked her cell phone and sure enough, it did not ping near the house that day. So what was her DNA doing there? The answer, said prosecutor De Oliveira, was pretty simple. Jonathan put it there unwittingly. Are you suggesting that, you know, he picked up her DNA when they were intimate together during that meeting that day, went home, put his hands on that sliding glass door and got her DNA on the door in addition to his.

[Detective]

No, not suggesting. I know. That's what happened.

[Tom Yamas]

Ms. Pumpkin was cleared, but Jonathan? Not at all. Detectives were learning that behind the happy facade, his marriage was in crisis and for reasons other than his secret sex life, one issue was this. Teachers in New York City public schools are Required to have a master's degree. Jonathan and Simonette decided to earn theirs at the college of staten island. And she graduated with flying colors, but then discovered Jonathan had registered but never attended classes.

[Detective]

This was a big point of contention in the marriage because the gravity of not having your master's degree to paint the picture means you don't have a job.

[Tom Yamas]

With the deadline approaching, the high school principal gave him an ultimatum.

[Teresa Croupy]

She was to the point where either you get your masters or you're out of here. You're not coming back.

[Tom Yamas]

Simonette was ready with an ultimatum of her own.

[Detective]

She had shared with her mom that she was going to confront him.

[Tom Yamas]

As far as Simonette's family knew, that meant confronting him about work. And what happened to the money he was spending, supposedly on school? Well, investigators knew now where a lot of it was going to. Ms. Pumpkin. How much money did he spend on this stuff?

[Detective]

He spent a lot of money. Her fee was $300 for an hour. Apparently, all her money went to the bills and the food, and his money went to his sneakers and his extramarital affairs.

[Tom Yamas]

Might be a good time to search the house again, Go deep this time. It was still a declared crime scene, and Jonathan hadn't set foot in the place since just after the murder. So had they missed anything? Why, yes, they had. Shoved out of sight in a downstairs closet was a green shoulder bag. Here's Jonathan at his school with that very green bag the day of the murder. He told detectives when he returned home, Simonette was already dead, lying on the floor right in front of that closet door. Meaning that when he stashed the bag.

[Detective]

In order to get to that closet, he had to step over his wife's dead body to pull that door open. Which is disturbing, to say the least.

[Tom Yamas]

That is pretty disturbing.

[Detective]

And inside that bag was the laptop.

[Tom Yamas]

The laptop on which more of Jonathan's secret life was revealed in lurid detail.

[Detective]

Porn site. Escort site. Porn site. Escort site. Porn site. Escort site. So now we were in bizarro land.

[Tom Yamas]

Strange, strange existence, Living with an angel and behaving like a devil secretly.

[Detective]

Yep, it's sad. It really is.

[Tom Yamas]

From the looks of it, everything came to a head after Simonette discovered Jonathan didn't get his master's degree. She was finally going to do something about it.

[Teresa Croupy]

Yes. She was leaving. And she promised me she was going to leave. She was done. I said, just come home. That's all you have to do. Bring the dogs and come home.

[Tom Yamas]

And since Ms. Pumpkin's number was in Simonette's phone, Detectives figured she knew about Jonathan's secret relationship, so the confrontation she promised must have been about that too. And they had reason to think it happened the night before she was found murdered. That's when Teresa had an emotional conversation with her daughter.

[Teresa Croupy]

She answered the phone call crying. She goes, I don't feel good. I said, please promise me you're going to go to the doctor tomorrow. She said, I promise you, mom. And that was the last words I ever said to my, my daughter.

[Detective]

She would never be hysterical crying like that because she was ill. That just wasn't her. Something was going on in that house that night.

[Tom Yamas]

A story of the crime was coming into focus, but it was still just a theory.

[Detective]

I don't have a murder weapon. I don't have an eyewitness. I don't have a video. I can just keep stacking and putting the pieces together.

[Tom Yamas]

One of the biggest pieces came from the medical examiner. Simonet's time of death was sometime before 7:30 in the morning.

[Detective]

If Jonathan left when he claimed to have left, she had to have been murdered during the hours that he was present in the home.

[Tom Yamas]

Before 7:30am Absolutely. Before 7:30aM the prosecutor was convinced that only one person had the motive, the means and the opportunity to kill Simonette. On November 13, 2012, Jonathan Krupy was arrested and charged with murder. Can you tell me about the arrest and what that was like for you?

[Teresa Croupy]

We were in shock. Like, how could he have done this to us? Why did he do this to my baby? Why?

[Tom Yamas]

Nobody who knew him wanted to believe it, especially the students who loved him.

[Vaughn Steven Duvalle]

It was just unbelievable that this person who showed one side in school was a totally different person to his wife.

[Tom Yamas]

But there was no avoiding the other Jonathan Croupy. Now his dark secrets were about to be put on public display at his murder trial.

[Detective]

It's kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. Eventually, Hyde's going to dominate.

[Tom Yamas]

Forget the secrets, said Krupy's defense. Start looking for the real killer.

[Mario Gallucci]

Why are you not out trying to. To find who it is?

[Tom Yamas]

For those convinced they knew him, Jonathan Coopy's arrest for murder was hard to believe.

[Carmen Sita Majeed]

I told my friends and they were like, nah, nah, he didn't do that. He didn't do that.

[Tom Yamas]

The trial got underway in June 2015. Wanda de Oliveira took the lead for the prosecution. The job of defending Croupy fell to Mario Gallucci, one of Staten Island's most experienced defense attorneys and no stranger to the prosecutor.

[Mario Gallucci]

I've probably tried at least five or six homicides against Wanda. And it's a war. It's war.

[Tom Yamas]

Prosecutor De Oliveira made a preemptive strike on what figured to be a theme for the defense. That Simonette was killed during a botched burglary. Not likely, de Oliveira said, since jewelry and credit cards and even Jonathan's high end sneakers were not stolen.

[Detective]

If this was a burglar who went to the trouble of living literally trashing this house, they left everything of obvious value behind.

[Tom Yamas]

The jury heard about Krupy's sexual obsessions from his computer searches and also from Ms. Pumpkin, who testified using a pseudonym. We brought her in dramatically, I gather.

[Detective]

So this is gonna sound odd, maybe coming out of my mouth, but what a lovely woman. Very pleasant, very well put together, educated.

[Tom Yamas]

The centerpiece of the prosecution's case was to give jurors a look at a deeply troubled marriage and get inside Krupy's head to offer a motive to the jurors for such an atrocious crime.

[Detective]

The strategy was to place them literally in the lives of Simonette and Jonathan. His job, everything was going in the garbage. Once she exposed for the final time what a fraud he was and that he was patronizing prostitutes, his life as he knew it was going to completely end.

[Tom Yamas]

Prosecutors showed the jury other searches from Krupy's computer look like a manual on how to kill your wife.

[Detective]

There are searches for how to slit a throat, how to break a person's neck, does a fall actually break someone's back, how to clean up a crime scene.

[Tom Yamas]

Defense attorney Gallucci challenged virtually every piece of the state's case and suggested no surprise, that the murder was in fact a result of a bungled burglary. He gave the jury evidence to back that up. DNA of an unknown person found on a jewelry box in the condo.

[Mario Gallucci]

To me, there was the person that did it. And why are you not out trying to find who it is? I don't think they ever took this home invasion seriously.

[Tom Yamas]

Ever. Prosecutors had taken great care to pick apart the timeline of Croupy's day to show how it didn't hold up as an alibi. Because the M.E. said the murder happened before 7:30 that morning. Not so, said the defense. Did you argue that the timeline of the murder was inaccurate?

[Mario Gallucci]

I argued that the timeline of the death was inaccurate. Time of death was inaccurate.

[Tom Yamas]

They put it too early. Is that the idea?

[Mario Gallucci]

Too early? They made it so it didn't fit into his alibi. We had our own expert that put the time of death in line with his alibi.

[Tom Yamas]

Gallucci's expert Put the time of death later when Coopy was out running errands. An alibi supported by timestamped video and receipts. With one exception.

[Mario Gallucci]

The only bit of the alibi that's not corroborated is this embarrassing act that this man was with a prostitute. No married man is going to admit that, you know, that he was with a prostitute. So he came up with the Home Depot argument. I actually remember trying to pick more men than women on this jury.

[Tom Yamas]

Why did you want to do that?

[Mario Gallucci]

Because a man could understand that that would be an embarrassing thing to have to disclose. And I'd rather say I was buying a hammer at Home Depot than having activities with a prostitute.

[Tom Yamas]

Gallucci even had an explanation for those how to kill searches on Kruby's computer. Nothing unusual, he said, for an English teacher.

[Mario Gallucci]

He was teaching Shakespeare, and I think he was teaching Macbeth. And he was trying to develop his knowledge of how somebody, you know, would stab somebody, slit somebody's throat.

[Tom Yamas]

Did anybody roll their eyes in the jury box as you went down that road?

[Mario Gallucci]

I don't recall that, but I have to answer it. I can't just let it sit out there and dangle.

[Tom Yamas]

Gumucci told the jury to focus on evidence about the murder and not get distracted by his client's behavior. All those issues about Ms. Pumpkin, did that not make you think that? Hmm. Here's a guy you have to look at pretty seriously for the murder case.

[Mario Gallucci]

So that's troubling, but that doesn't make him a killer. It makes him a bad husband. It doesn't mean I'm gonna kill my wife.

[Tom Yamas]

In the end, Gallucci felt pretty good about his chances with the jury.

[Mario Gallucci]

I sat down in that chair and I said, you got this. He's going home. I really was that confident.

[Tom Yamas]

Prosecutor De Oliveira would have the last word with the jury. She had a very different take on Jonathan Croupy.

[Detective]

It's kind of like Jekyll and Hyde. Eventually, Hyde's gonna dominate. And that's kind of what I would say happened that day.

[Tom Yamas]

The jurors deliberated for less than two hours before returning a verdict. Jonathan Croupy guilty of second degree murder.

[Teresa Croupy]

The jury met us outside and hugged us and said how sorry they were.

[Tom Yamas]

I heard you had a big hug for the prosecutor, too.

[Teresa Croupy]

Yes.

[Detective]

She was falling down to her knees, and I had to hold her up and grasp her. It was literally just this sobbing, you know, just like really grief stricken. It was not joy. She was really overcome.

[Tom Yamas]

Groupe was given a sentence of 25 years to life. Case closed.

[Teresa Croupy]

Remember that Christmas Eve.

[Tom Yamas]

But for Simonette's family, the grief is still very raw. They still think about her every day. They're beautiful. Sissy. And they wonder what might have been. Sissy always wanted her happily ever after. Her Disney life, right?

[Lester Holt]

Yeah.

[Teresa Croupy]

Yeah.

[Tom Yamas]

And he took that from her. Took it away.

[Lester Holt]

He did. He did. So I hope she's having her Cinderella life now in peace.

[Teresa Croupy]

There's a reason for everything. And I still haven't found the reason for this. I'll never find the reason for this.

[Tom Yamas]

Maybe there isn't a reason for everything. I don't know.

[Teresa Croupy]

We don't know. We don't know. But I'm so grateful she was my daughter. God gives the mobs this gift of love, loving them so unconditionally. And when it came to Simonette, that's how I feel.

[Tom Yamas]

That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again Friday at 9, 8 Central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight. For NBC Nightly News, I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night. A real Etsy buyer review for handmade home decor by a real Etsy seller. They are truly beautiful to look at and absolutely original. Discover pieces created and loved by real people. Shop the Etsy app.