275. The Acid Lady - The Murder of Tim Schuster

Summary

Murder With My Husband - Episode 275: The Acid Lady - The Murder of Tim Schuster

Published by OH NO MEDIA on June 30, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 275 of "Murder With My Husband," hosts Peyton and Garrett Moreland delve into the chilling true crime case of Tim Schuster, exploring the intricate dynamics of his marriage and the events leading to his tragic demise. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting key points, critical insights, and notable quotes with timestamps for an engaging and comprehensive overview.

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Background of Tim Schuster and Larissa Foreman

Tim Schuster, a 45-year-old resident of Clovis, California, had established a solid career in the medical field. Originally from Columbia, Missouri, Tim moved to California in 1988 after completing his nursing degree at Chapman University. He rose to prominence as the manager of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Agnes Hospital, earning respect for his intelligence, compassion, and dedication.

In 1982, Tim met Larissa Foreman, a biochemist from Clarence, Missouri. Larissa was equally driven and intelligent, working as an aide at a hospital in Columbia before pursuing a prestigious role in an agricultural research lab in California. The couple quickly fell in love, marrying the same year they met and soon welcoming their first child, Kristen, in 1985. Their family expanded with the birth of their son, Tyler, in 1990.

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The Breakdown of the Marriage

The Morelands highlight the evolving power dynamics within Tim and Larissa's marriage. As Larissa's career flourished, she became the primary breadwinner, earning double Tim's salary. This shift led to increased pressure and higher expectations for household management and parenting.

[10:45] Peyton Moreland: "Larissa demanded more and more from Tim. Her standards and expectations for what he and the kids were supposed to do and how they were supposed to behave got higher and higher."

The tension escalated when their daughter Kristen entered her teenage years, defying curfews and rules. Larissa's stringent disciplinary measures, including sending Kristen to Missouri to stay with relatives, clashed with Tim's more lenient approach. This disagreement intensified the strain on their relationship, culminating in February 2002, when Larissa filed for divorce and demanded Tim move out.

Despite the divorce filing, neither party was willing to relinquish the family home, leading to a tumultuous cohabitation where Tim resided in a guest room. The escalating resentment culminated in Larissa gaining primary custody of Tyler and retaining ownership of the family home.

[13:54] Garrett Moreland: "She got awarded the family house because she was taking care of the kid."

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Tim Schuster's Disappearance

A year after the separation, on July 9, 2003, Tim faced a series of misfortunes. He was laid off from his position at St. Agnes Hospital, compounded by a recent burglary at his new condo where personal belongings were stolen. Social interactions suggested Tim was beginning to rebuild his life, including a dinner with coworkers and plans to meet Mary, a fellow laid-off colleague, for support.

However, Tim never showed up for a scheduled brunch with Mary the following morning. Concerned, Mary contacted a mutual friend to check on Tim, discovering his phone left in his unlocked condo but no sign of him.

[17:26] Peyton Moreland: "But he still continues to try to get this new life in order."

Amid speculations of suicide, police investigations revealed underlying tensions stemming from Tim and Larissa's acrimonious divorce. Larissa's inconsistent statements about contacting Tim and suspicious behavior further raised red flags.

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Investigation and Evidence

The investigation uncovered disturbing behaviors from Larissa and her personal assistant, James Figone. Larissa had previously orchestrated break-ins to Tim's property, enlisting James to assist in stealing and disposing of evidence against Tim. These actions reflected her deep-seated resentment and desire to sabotage Tim's new life.

[30:30] Garrett Moreland: "So she could put some of the things she stole from his house in there."

James eventually confessed to the murder, revealing that on the night of July 9th, he and Larissa attacked Tim. James admitted to using a stun gun to incapacitate Tim, followed by Larissa applying chloroform to ensure he remained unconscious. They then transported Tim to Larissa's laboratory where he was brutally killed by being submerged in hydrochloric acid.

[35:32] Garrett Moreland: "That's insane. That's insane."

The police discovered critical evidence linking Larissa and James to the crime, including the stun gun, chloroform containers, and premeditated purchases of chemicals needed for the murder.

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Arrest and Trial

Larissa fled to Missouri with her son following Tim's disappearance. She was apprehended at the St. Louis airport and extradited to California, where both she and James faced first-degree murder charges.

During the trial, James took the stand, detailing his coerced involvement under Larissa's intimidation. Despite his attempts to distance himself, the prosecution's robust evidence against both conspirators led to his conviction and a life sentence without parole.

Larissa's trial commenced in October 2007, relocated to Los Angeles due to media attention. The prosecution presented damning evidence, including Larissa's own emails and search histories related to acid digestion, underscoring her role as the mastermind behind Tim's murder. In a surprising turn, Larissa maintained her innocence, casting blame solely on James.

[45:21] Garrett Moreland: "Oh, my gosh."

The jury found Larissa guilty of first-degree murder on December 12, 2007, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her daughter Kristen, who had estranged herself from Larissa, voiced her condemnation during the sentencing, expressing her desire for her mother's punishment to reflect the gravity of her actions.

[47:45] Garrett Moreland: "Good for her."

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Conclusion and Reflections

Peyton and Garrett reflect on the Motive behind Larissa's actions, emphasizing the destructive power of resentment and hatred in dismantling seemingly stable relationships. They discuss the rarity of such cases where the wife is the perpetrator, aiming to shed light on the fact that domestic homicide transcends gender roles.

[48:55] Garrett Moreland: "It just. I mean, it can happen to anyone, is the bottom line. Like it can happen to anybody."

The episode concludes with the hosts underscoring the importance of recognizing and addressing deep-seated emotional turmoil within relationships to prevent such tragedies.

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Notable Quotes

• Peyton Moreland at [10:45]: "Larissa demanded more and more from Tim. Her standards and expectations for what he and the kids were supposed to do and how they were supposed to behave got higher and higher."

• Peyton Moreland at [17:26]: "But he still continues to try to get this new life in order."

• Garrett Moreland at [35:32]: "That's insane. That's insane."

• Peyton Moreland at [48:55]: "And I think that the motive, honestly feels like it's coming at least from the same route for both male and female. It's like this anger and rage and resentment and. And just hatred."

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Final Thoughts

The case of Tim Schuster serves as a harrowing reminder of how personal vendettas and unresolved marital conflicts can escalate into irrevocable violence. Through meticulous investigation and unwavering determination, justice was ultimately served, highlighting the crucial role of law enforcement and the judicial system in unraveling complex domestic cases.

For listeners interested in exploring more such true crime stories, "Murder With My Husband" continues to provide in-depth analyses and gripping narratives that shed light on the darkest facets of human relationships and criminality.

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Disclaimer: This summary is derived from the podcast transcript and aims to provide an accurate and comprehensive overview of the episode. All names and details are based on the provided content.

Transcript

[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

I love you. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast.

[Peyton Moreland]

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My husband. I'm Peyton Moreland.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I'm Garrett Moreland.

[Peyton Moreland]

And he's the husband.

[Garrett Moreland]

I'm the husband.

[Peyton Moreland]

Does a Walla sponsor you?

[Garrett Moreland]

No.

[Peyton Moreland]

You got that set up perfectly for the camera.

[Garrett Moreland]

No, they don't. I feel like I should turn it because.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, turn it. Ah. Ah.

[Garrett Moreland]

Could be anything. Could be my own cup.

[Peyton Moreland]

Take that.

[Garrett Moreland]

Take that, everybody.

[Peyton Moreland]

Hi, everyone.

[Garrett Moreland]

Hope everyone is doing great. Having a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to another episode. If you're watching on YouTube, I just got back from golfing, so that's why I'm dressed like this. And if you're listening on audio, then get ready for another case. Reminder. We have bonus episodes ad free content over on Apple subscriptions or Spotify or Patreon. You can check it out there.

[Peyton Moreland]

We actually just dropped bonus episode.

[Garrett Moreland]

Did we just drop the bonus episode? Yeah, I mean, I don't have too much for my 10 seconds. I've just been golfing quite a bit. Pickleball golf. Summer working. We've been hanging out. We're trying to make plans for fourth of July. Seeing what we're doing. Huh. Anything else? Nothing too crazy?

[Peyton Moreland]

No. Garrett got our. Our daisies bloomed.

[Garrett Moreland]

They did. Our daisies finally blue.

[Peyton Moreland]

We have daisies planted in our yard. You would never guess why. And they all bloomed. I've been waiting.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Because Garrett fixed the sprinklers.

[Garrett Moreland]

Sprinklers are fixed. We're good to go. Grass is getting green. Yeah. I didn't do great today at golf.

[Peyton Moreland]

You said you did good.

[Garrett Moreland]

I did good. But I mean, like, I got. I shot an 86, which isn't amazing, but I'll take it. Solid day of golf. And I actually did count every single ball. Then she counted everything. Played it how it's supposed to be played. It was a fun day.

[Peyton Moreland]

Nice. You good? You ready to go? You ready to hear the story?

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay. Our sources for this episode are NBC news.com muddyrivenews.com cen.acs.org abc30.com fresnob.com case law.findlaw.com morbidology.com findagrave.com medium.com and murderpedia. The power dynamics in a relationship can definitely be tricky, especially in A marriage, and especially in one that you've been in for a long time, A lot of the traditional marital roles are no longer being practiced. Things like the mother staying at home to raise a family while the husband goes off to work. These days, women are just as successful. They make just as much money, even sometimes more money than their partners. It just kind of depends on the relationship. But sometimes that sort of power imbalance can lead to things like resentment. In long term relationships, feeling like one is doing more than the other, has more worth than the other, is entitled to, more than the other. And when years go by and that resentment festers, it can start to get ugly. Resentment is powerful enough that it can put an end to what seems like even the strongest marriages. And today's case shows resentment can actually grow so out of control that it can become a motive. Her murder. So for today's story, we are headed to central California, to a town just out of Fresno called Clovis. This is where in 2003, 45 year old Tim Schuster has been calling home for some time.

[Garrett Moreland]

I feel like we just covered another case from here recently from Clovis. Yeah, I don't know why.

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't think so.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's. That sounds familiar for some reason.

[Peyton Moreland]

All I know is Tim Schuster's like Will Schuster on, on Glee the Teacher. Have you never seen Glee?

[Garrett Moreland]

Not ringing bells in my ear.

[Peyton Moreland]

You've never watched Glee? I mean, what were you doing back then? What were you watching?

[Garrett Moreland]

Boards.

[Peyton Moreland]

Boring.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wasn't really a Glee person.

[Peyton Moreland]

Anyone who's watched Glee, all I got to say is Will Schuster. And you know, you know, okay, so 45 year old Tim Schuster has been calling this place home for some time. Tim had moved to California back in 1988 from Columbia, Missouri. Before that, he had been working in a few hospitals as an emergency medical technician. But California would be a new chapter for Tim. He completed his degree in nursing at Chapman University and worked his way up over time to the role of manager at the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Agnes Hospital. All to say, Tim was smart, compassionate and driven. But even before achieving a lot of that, Tim actually met a woman that he thought he would grow old with. In 1982, he met Larissa Foreman. Now, Larissa also came from Missouri, growing up on a small farm in the town of Clarence. And like Tim, she was also very intelligent and driven, going on to study biochemistry at the University of Missouri. She was working as an aide at a hospital in Columbia when she met Tim Schuster. And the two honestly fell for each Other fast. They were married by the end of that same year. So now, in 1985, the two welcomed their first child together, a girl named Kristen. And it was four years after that that they moved to the Fresno area. So they get married, they welcome their first child, and then they move to California. Now, Tim took that manager job at the St. Agnes Medical center at that point in California, but they were really moving there for Larissa, who had been offered a prestigious job working as a biochemist for an agricultural research lab. A year after that, in 1990, they welcomed their second child, a boy named Tyler. And for the next few years, Larissa's job really took off at the lab in California. She was making great money. She was the clear breadwinner for the family. It was enough to buy them a beautiful home in the suburbs of Fresno, in the more residential town of Clovis. So soon after that move, where they're really establishing themselves, they. They've bought a better house. Larissa was ready for the next chapter. She decided she wanted to open her own laboratory called the Central California Research laboratories, nearby in Fresno.

[Garrett Moreland]

You know what that reminded me of?

[Peyton Moreland]

That. Not Dexter.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yes, Dexter. Well, not Dexter, but his name's Dexter, right? Yeah. Laboratory. How do you say it?

[Peyton Moreland]

Laboratory.

[Garrett Moreland]

No, but he says like, laboratory.

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, what is this? It's the cartoon network.

[Garrett Moreland]

Dexter's name in the show.

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't think it's called Dexter. Is it. Is that his name?

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. Yeah, it's the name of the show.

[Peyton Moreland]

Wasn't the Power Powder Puff?

[Garrett Moreland]

Powder Puff Girls. What about them?

[Peyton Moreland]

Powerpuff. Are they Powerpuff or Powder Puff? I feel like I'm having Mandela effects right now.

[Garrett Moreland]

I don't know. Laboratory. Okay. Anyway, sorry.

[Peyton Moreland]

They were in a lab, too, but for Tim, that meant letting his own work take a back seat while he did more of the parenting. Because Larissa was working tirelessly to get the labs staffed and running. So Tim became the one to make sure the kids were getting off to school, eating dinner, getting to their sports or doctor's appointments on time.

[Garrett Moreland]

And.

[Peyton Moreland]

And the dynamic really did seem to work well between the two of them for a while. And that might be because Tim had to sort of dim his light a bit with Larissa. People who knew him both professionally and personally said, at work, Tim was a different person than he was at home. At work, he was a leader. He was someone who wasn't afraid to speak their mind and take charge. And at home, he was a little bit more introverted, quiet, submissive. It was very clear to the outsiders this is their words, not mine, that Larissa ran the show. And maybe that was due to the fact that Larissa was making more money than Tim at the time. She was actually making double his salary. But over time, Larissa demanded more and more from Tim. Her standards and expectations for what he and the kids were supposed to do and how they were supposed to behave got higher and higher. And when their daughter Kristen became a teenager, it kind of started to reach a breaking point in the dynamic in this family. So Kristen began defying a lot of her mother's rules. She started sneaking out of the house to meet up with boys. Typical things teenagers would probably do. But when Larissa found out about it, the punishment she gave her felt severe, especially to Tim, her father. So Larissa decided she was gonna ship Kristen off to Missouri to stay with her parents for a while. And this is something that Tim thought was over the top. And when Tim stood up to Larissa about this parenting decision, it caused major tension between the couple. Tension that really started to boil over to the point of exploding over the next several months. So eventually, Larissa went to Tim and told him, you need to pack your things and move out of the house. And then she files for divorce. So. So that was in February of 2002.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

But Tim wasn't going to stand for Larissa any longer. He told her, I'm not leaving this house. He said, I'm going to continue to live there, and if you want to live separately, you can leave. He also hired a lawyer to help him fight for custody of their now 12 year old son, Tyler, because he felt like he had been the primary parent in Tyler's life. And of course, Larissa wasn't going to budge either. Which meant even through their separation and divorce, they lived under one roof because neither of them would give up the house. And Tim slept in one of the guest rooms. Now, meanwhile, the hatred and resentment as they are separated but going through a divorce and living under the same roof only escalates from there.

[Garrett Moreland]

Interesting. That would be. I mean, that'd be hard, right? Living under the same roof. But you're.

[Peyton Moreland]

I think some people can make that.

[Garrett Moreland]

Some people can. But like, if you're really not wanting to be together anymore, if you're divorcing.

[Peyton Moreland]

Because you low key hate each other and not because you're just ready to move on. Yeah, I don't know if that dynamic's gonna work well. So at this point in their relationship, Larissa would tell her friends how much she hated Tim, that she was having an affair. That she felt Tim wasn't a real man, that he never wanted to have sex with her. And this is all during like the separation slash divorce, man. And then Larissa wins in court. She got primary custody of their son Tyler.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

She got awarded the family house because she was taking care of the kid. And so Tim not only lost primary custody, but he was also forced to move out. But it wasn't until Tim was gone that Larissa started to realize how much work Tim had actually been doing for her all these years. Because remember, Larissa is running a really large company on her own. She's gotten used to Tim taking care of everything around the home, including their children. So when she now finds herself.

[Garrett Moreland]

So then what the freak happened in court?

[Peyton Moreland]

I think they just tend to side with the mother usually.

[Garrett Moreland]

Unless they were lying and she was saying she was taking care of the kids.

[Peyton Moreland]

I mean, I don't even know the dynamic of that. Like, what was their case?

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, many ways.

[Peyton Moreland]

So when she now finds herself a single mom in charge of a 12 year old son on a day to day basis while also being a full time working mom, she realizes this is a lot of work. And that's when she finds a solution. She recruits her 21 year old lab assistant named James Figone. She said, hey, James, I'm gonna not only have you be my assistant at work, but you're also going to be my 12 year old son Tyler' babysitter and now my personal assistant because I need help. So meanwhile, Tim's having his own problems, living on his own. Not only is life a bit lonely without his family around on a day to day basis, it's sort of taken away his purpose. And it's also made him a bit vulnerable because In August of 2002, a month after he moved out of the home he shared with Larissa, Tim's new condo was robbed and a bunch of his things were stolen from the place.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is not going well for him.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. This is the last thing he needs. But he still continues to try to get this new life in order. He refocuses on his career and is looking towards the future and a life without Larissa now in it. And I think this is something, you know, even when you hit your breaking point and you decide to get divorced and move on, even if you hate that person when you have lived so long a life like waking up every single day, kids, it's just the same routine every single day that's going to shake anyone no matter how bad you want out of it. Like eventually that adrenaline is going to wear off and your life is going to feel different. And that that will be just transition. Right? So the next year or so goes by with the occasional jabs and digs from Larissa, but for the most part, Tim really does seem to be doing well moving forward until July 9, 2003. So this is a year after he moved out. Because that day he hears he's actually being laid off from his job.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh gosh.

[Peyton Moreland]

At St. Agnes Hospital, bro. He was. He has this dinner with his friends that night. It's another co worker who got let go, named Mary, her husband, and then a third friend. And at that dinner, Mary makes plans for her and Tim to get brunch the next morning to figure out their next steps. She's like, hey, I got let go. You got let go. We work in the same field. Let's meet and figure out if we can like navigate this together. And Tim agrees it's a good idea. So they pick a spot. The night ends. The next morning comes and Tim doesn't show up to meet Mary.

[Garrett Moreland]

What is going on?

[Peyton Moreland]

Now Mary knows this also divorce.

[Garrett Moreland]

Look at the kids.

[Peyton Moreland]

Robbed.

[Garrett Moreland]

Robbed loses his job.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. Hit after hit.

[Garrett Moreland]

Geez.

[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

Okay.

[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

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[Peyton Moreland]

So now Mary, his friend and co worker, knows this isn't like Tim to just ditch her and not say anything. So she calls a mutual friend of theirs who lives close to Tim's house and says, hey, can you just drive by, stop and check on him like he didn't show up and I just want to make sure he's okay. And when this friend gets to Tim's condo, he does see Tim's truck is still in the garage and so he decides to let himself into the house, which is seemingly unlocked. It's either that or he has a key because they don't clarify. But either way he easily gets into the house and when he goes in he finds Tim's cell phone sitting on his dresser. But there's no Tim. So this is alarming because his phone and his car is there, but he's not. So this friend goes back to Tim's car and decides to look through it and there's Tim's wallet sitting in the glove box with all of his credit cards, his id. And when Mary hears this, the co worker he was supposed to meet with, she and her husband decide to call the police. They also tell the officer, and by the way, Tim bought a handgun after a break in that he had last year at his new apartment. Because that's what they're thinking, maybe with these layoffs and everything that was happening with his family over the last year, was Tim mentally in a bad place and contemplating suicide? Now? Maybe because the police sort of agree with them, they don't actually bring Larissa in for questioning right away, despite the fact that she's the spouse. But I do believe if these roles were reversed, he would have probably been brought in right away.

[Garrett Moreland]

No. I think so, too, though.

[Peyton Moreland]

People in Tim's life actually told the police that he didn't really see or hear from Larissa, really. Like, it's not like they were still involved in each other's lives very much. They really only communicated through their kids or their lawyers. But Tim's other friends say. But on top of that, we really don't think he would have died by suicide. We just. We don't think he was that broken up about the divorce. He was moving on. And sure, the job was certainly a pitfall, but. But it's. They didn't feel like he had reached that point to make that drastic of a decision, especially since Tyler, his son, was still in his life. And slowly, the police start learning from the same people that Larissa and Tim's divorce really wasn't pretty. They start to. The police start to get the full picture of this divorce, that there was bad blood there, and that the couple never really cleared the air with one another. So after speaking to everyone but Larissa, police decide, k. Let's get her in here. Next for questioning.

[Garrett Moreland]

They still can't find him?

[Peyton Moreland]

No. Now, when the Clovis police first speak to Larissa, she says the last time she heard from Tim was on July 8th. It was a short and sweet text saying he'd be by on July 10th to pick up Tyler at around 6pm But Larissa says when she heard about the layoffs on the afternoon of the 9th, she tried calling Tim to check on him. And when he didn't answer, she claims she actually went over to his house and knocked on his door that same night at around 10:30pm so he's done with his friends.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yep.

[Peyton Moreland]

He's going home, planning to meet Mary. She says she comes over at 10:30pm and when he didn't answer the door either, Larissa says she just gave up. Like, she was like, hey, well, apparently he doesn't want to hear from me. I'm trying to be nice and, like, offer some condolence for the layoff, but he doesn't care. So she didn't Try to call him. And. And then when Tim doesn't show up the next day to come retrieve Tyler, like he had texted her saying he would, she doesn't report him missing. So she goes, can't find him the night before. The next day, he doesn't show up to pick the kid up, and she doesn't call police. So police quickly learn. Okay, Larissa, this seems sus. And we don't actually think you're telling the truth. And so they look into Larissa's records, her phone records, and they discover that she did call Tim after she left at 10:30, when she says, I just went home and never tried again. It was around 2am that morning that she placed a call to Tim.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

But Larissa has an answer for that. She's like, oh, well, I didn't. I swear I didn't talk to him. I must have just butt dialed him. I have him on speed dial like, he's the father of my child. And when the cops are like, okay, prove it. Like, show us your phone. Show us that he's on speed dial, she gets really weird about it. Like, she won't just pull it up and show.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I'm sure she won't.

[Peyton Moreland]

So instead of doing that, she changes her story and says, wait, I mean, maybe it wasn't a butt dial. Maybe I did call him to make sure he was gonna come get Tyler.

[Garrett Moreland]

Guilty. Just guilty as charged.

[Peyton Moreland]

So here's what's even more interesting, though, that's so funny. When Larissa is asked by police whether she thinks Tim might have wandered off and died by suicide, she says, no. She's like, no, I definitely don't think he would have done something like that. So the phone calls are sketchy, but then police are like, why wouldn't she set up a perfectly, like, reasonable scenario if she did this? For why Tim would be missing. So they don't have enough to hold her. They let her go. Though what she does next is arguably even more suspicious than anything she's done so far. So that day, after she's questioned, this is July 12th, Larissa goes to see her friend and co worker Tammy. She leaves police, goes to Tammy, and she says, hey, I just talked to the police, and I think they think I did something to Tim. Tommy's, like, trying to calm her down. I doubt that's the case. If they did, they would probably get a search warrant for your home and business. And that's when her friend Tammy sees Larissa's gears start turning. And Larissa immediately says, hey, can you Actually, keep an eye on Tyler for me for a few hours. I have to go to my office and take care of some stuff. Now, Tammy finds this strange because it's a Saturday, but it's her friend, so she does her the favor and watches her kid. But Larissa doesn't come back to pick Tyler up for hours.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then the next day, Larissa spontaneously takes Tyler on a trip to Disney World in Florida, with a stop after to see her family in Missouri. Now, remember, they live in California, so they travel all the way across the United States.

[Garrett Moreland]

I'm just trying to figure out Larissa killed him. Why? Like, what. What was in it for her at that point? Like, she was. She had the kid, she was making more money. Like, it can't be a money motive. She was just mad that they were divorced. Like, I'm really curious to see where this motive ends up, because it. Obviously, murder never makes sense, but this doesn't make sense.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, I think when a motive doesn't have, like, it is hard to. More hard to understand. But I do think anger and rage and resentment is also a common motive that we.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's just interesting. It seems like he should be the one that has more resentment than her.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right.

[Garrett Moreland]

In this situation.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. So now it's two days later. It's Monday. Tammy goes to the office for work, and keep in mind, Larissa's talked to by the cops. And then the next. And then drops her kid off, disappears for hours, and then the next day, travels all the way across the United States. So Tammy goes to the office for work, and she speaks to this woman named Leslie. And Leslie casually mentions to Tammy, like, not on purpose. Oh, I was here on Saturday when Larissa came in, and she told me to do something kind of strange. So now. Now Tammy's, like, kind of digging and learning about what was happening when she was watching Tyler. And Tammy's like, okay, what? And Leslie goes, larissa had me rent her a U Haul, but use my name.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, my gosh. Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

And even weirder, though, Leslie says, but this actually isn't the first time something like this has happened. Larissa came to her a year ago or so to say, wanted Leslie to rent out a storage unit in her own name as well that she could use. Larissa would pay the bills, but she had a few personal items she wanted to hide from Tim, so he didn't try and take them. She's like, hey, we're getting divorced. Like, I need you to do this in your name. So he doesn't know about It. Oh, and one other thing. Leslie told Tammy that when Larissa came back from using that U Haul, that she had her rent in her name. She had cuts and scrapes all over body. All over her body. And she looked dirty, like she looked like she had just not gone out to eat with the U Haul. She had been doing something. So Lindsay didn't report this or say anything to anyone because Larissa owns the lab she works at. She's her boss. She's a very intimidating woman. She's going through a divorce, and she uses that as an excuse for this kind of strange behavior. But now that she and Tammy are talking about it, they are becoming little true crime investigators. They are putting two and two together, comparing stories, talking about how weird this timeline is, talking about what their intimidating, kind of scary boss was doing. They're getting suspicious. And in the meantime, the police have found someone else of interest to speak to, since Larissa has just up and left the state. And that's Larissa's 21 year old personal assistant, James Figone.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yep.

[Peyton Moreland]

Now, Larissa wasn't the one to tell the police about James. In fact, he wasn't even on their radar until they searched Tim's condo and found a notebook with James's name in it. And then when they searched the name and learn that he was kind of Larissa's errand boy and that he kind of did pretty much whatever she told him to, whether that was assisting her around the office, babysitting her son, or even possibly breaking into her ex husband's house. So, yeah. Remember how I mentioned earlier that Tim had his condo broken into a month after he moved out of the house? That was actually James and Larissa who broke in.

[Garrett Moreland]

How did they not catch them?

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't know. But that's why she actually had asked her colleague. Her colleague to rent out the storage unit.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

So she could put some of the things she stole from his house in there. Apparently, there were a few items he got in the divorce that she just didn't want him to have. And it sounds like she really just wanted to mess with Tim's head, maybe scare him a little bit. According to Tim's friends, he kind of always suspected who broke into his house. He knew it was Larissa and her new henchman, James, but he didn't press charges. He didn't want to add any more drama. He couldn't. He didn't really have any proof. He just wanted Larissa out of his life. At that point, he wanted the torment to stop. Apparently, Larissa Wasn't shy about it either. She told several of her own friends that she and James had broke into Tim's condo, stole stuff, and trashed the place. She even told her manicurist all about this after it happened. And she said she went back and broke into Tim's house a few more times after because the feeling was, quote, better than sex. So she's telling her now, lady, what? I actually get a rush out of breaking into my separated, hopefully divorced husband's new.

[Garrett Moreland]

What do they take? What do they do?

[Peyton Moreland]

She just likes the feeling. I mean, they took. They took stuff that he got, but she just kind of kept going back and doing it.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

She a little obsessive.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, I see.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then on top of that, Larissa had been openly telling friends how much she hated him and that she wanted Tim dead. How she had been leaving him threatening voicemails, calling him a spineless wimp who should burn in hell.

[Garrett Moreland]

Why? Okay, why is she so mad? Like, why is she so upset? Who is this person?

[Peyton Moreland]

Rage, anger.

[Garrett Moreland]

What a loser.

[Peyton Moreland]

So the police learn about all of this. Obviously, it starts to come out as they talk to more people. This is how they finally get James in the hot seat. They're like, hey, remember that guy's house you broke into last year with your boss? Well, he's actually missing now, and we think you and your boss, Larissa, probably did it. And that's all it takes for James to cave. He says, all right, look, I was at Tim's house the night he disappeared.

[Garrett Moreland]

All right, look. Wow. He really.

[Peyton Moreland]

I mean, he's young.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. He's like, okay, fine, fine, fine.

[Peyton Moreland]

He said. And I had a stun gun with me.

[N/A]

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[Peyton Moreland]

Before Garrett and I started murder with my husband, I knew that there was something about this business that I would struggle with. Like, I knew I could do the creation. I knew I could do the content. I was worried about the business aspect, but honestly, you just got to take that step and stop overthinking. And one of the easiest ways to bring your idea to life is by using Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started to us. I mean we use Shopify. And what if I don't have a big team? Shopify helps you handle anything from website design to managing inventory to customer service to global shipping and more all in one place. I'm honestly not sure how you sell anything online without Shopify. And what if you're looking to grow your business? Shopify's award winning point of sale connects your online and offline sales in the same place. And if you need a boost, cells with 99.99% uptime and the best converting checkout on the planet, you'll never miss a sale again. Only with Shopify. Turn those what ifs into and keep giving those big dreams the best shot with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com husband for go to shopify.com/husband shopify.com/husband so James says on the night of July 9th, Larissa told him she needed her help. First James says he agreed because he was scared of his boss, Larissa. But then he says she was offering to pay him 2,000 extra dollars for this job. So James, like I do what I'm told, he goes out and purchases a stun gun on Larissa's orders. And then the two went to Tim's house together. Remember, they've done this before. This is after Tim got home from that final dinner with his coworker and friends. James waited in the bushes while Larissa knocked on the door and demanded Tim come outside. When he answered, James popped out of the bushes and tased him with the stun gun and Tim collapsed to the floor.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's insane. That's insane.

[Peyton Moreland]

According to James, actually insane. Larissa then got on top of Tim with a chloroform soaked rag.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh my God.

[Peyton Moreland]

Just to make sure he remained unconscious. James said he then helped Larissa dragged him out of his own house and back to to her place. A place that Tim had lived in for years with her and their children.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, I don't. James, the guy that's helping her. Yeah. He's just like, oh yeah. I'm just going along with it.

[Peyton Moreland]

I mean he tells police he's very afraid of her, but. Yes, I don't think.

[Garrett Moreland]

Come on, man.

[Peyton Moreland]

So I'm sure that there's been some grooming, manipulation.

[Garrett Moreland]

I get that. I understand that, but.

[Peyton Moreland]

So he says that once they get to the house, they bound Tim's hands and feet with plastic zip ties. This is just, like. Honestly, making me, like, this story makes me nauseous, because the fact that he's back to a house where he raised his kids and was the best dad he could be, and they're just tying his hands and feet up with zip ties.

[Garrett Moreland]

Horrible. This is so sad.

[Peyton Moreland]

But the next day, things got unimaginably worse. So they don't kill him. That night, they bring Tim to Larissa's labs, where they placed the now conscious but bound Tim into a blue barrel that was filled with hydrochloric acid. And they just. I don't want to go, like, into detail.

[Garrett Moreland]

Kill them alive, basically, with chemicals.

[Peyton Moreland]

They're just mixing, like. Yeah. So.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, this is insane.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, it's gross.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is crazy.

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't know. I understand. Like, I can fathom hating someone, but you were married to this person at one point. Like, I understand that love goes away, and love can even turn into hate, but to kill a conscious person in that way, in a barrel.

[Garrett Moreland]

James must be insane, too, because how do you just go along?

[Peyton Moreland]

That's not. Like, that would make. I feel like that would make.

[Garrett Moreland]

Grow up.

[Peyton Moreland]

I. I'm using, quote, like normal. What's normal? But a normal person throw up like, that is not something you could watch.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

You know what I mean?

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah. It's a gross.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then according to James. No, it gets. According to James, once he had been murdered, Larissa couldn't seal the barrel shut, like, with all the chemicals in his body, so she used a handsaw to remove his feet so that she could get him further. Anyways, now, as James is giving this confession to the police, Larissa's CO worker, Leslie, calls the police. This is the one who rented the U Haul and the storage unit for her. And she says, hey, I've been talking to some of my co workers. And now I'm starting to think that my boss's behavior is strange considering that Tim Schuster is missing. And she says, I think I have some information for you. She tells them all about the weird behavior she saw from Larissa in the days after Tim went missing. She tells them about the U Haul and the storage unit that was purchased in her name. And with that information, police are thinking she probably moved that Barrel from the lab to the storage unit.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, 100.

[Peyton Moreland]

So the police get all the info about that unit and they like, they are headed down there immediately. Sure enough, open the storage unit and Inside is the 55 gallon barrel that James had described in his confession. Literally, just barely. And when they open it up, they find I. The remains.

[Garrett Moreland]

I'm mind blown right now that she. That this is disgusting. I'm just mind blown. I don't understand. I don't understand how someone can do that.

[Peyton Moreland]

That's just bad. Like.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I know, again, a lot of people are gonna disagree with me, but okay, life in prison.

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't think no one.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, life in prison. No, that. That's not cutting it these days. It's just not. It's not cutting it. It's obviously not cutting it anymore because people aren't scared to go to prison for life. Like, I truly think that people aren't scared to go to prison for life. So we gotta. We gotta. We gotta up this stuff. We gotta up it. I don't know how else to say it. Eye for an eye.

[Peyton Moreland]

I hear your thoughts.

[Garrett Moreland]

I kind of just think that. And everyone I know, a lot of people are gonna disagree because Peyton disagrees. However you kill someone, you should just be killed back. Very aggressive. But we can keep moving on past that.

[Peyton Moreland]

And I hope you guys know there's no, like, tension between us that we disagree on that we're totally.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, no, I don't care.

[Peyton Moreland]

I mean, just the barrel that they found even is. Still has chemicals, but also remains half dissolved.

[Garrett Moreland]

Remains in there. Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

So a day later, on July 16, 2003, police now have a warrant for Larissa's arrest. But remember, she has left town with her son. She's actually in Missouri now with her family, and police track her down there and end up arresting her in the St. Louis airport. That day, she is transported back to California where she is charged with first degree murder. Meanwhile, she's not denying anything. And by the way, James, he's also charged with first degree murder. And when people hear that her assistant slash babysitter helped her commit murder, it starts sparking rumors in the area that was there more to this relationship were the two romantically involved? But when police look into it, it seems like he just was kind of terrified of her, but also kind of worshiped her because she was his boss. And Larissa maybe, like I said, used a tad bit of manipulation. Kind of turned him against Tim in a way. But also, he had obviously full choice of what he was doing. So as Prosecutors are building their case against Larissa and James. They do uncover a few more things that confirm James's confession. They find the stun gun he used, which he said he threw into a random porta potty. It was still in there when police went to locate it. And over at Larissa's lab, they confiscated files and computers, including Larissa's computer that a month earlier had searched for terms like acid digestion tissues, acid digestion, animal tissues, and sulfuric acid. A month?

[Garrett Moreland]

I'm gonna.

[Peyton Moreland]

Premeditated.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is kind of sidetracked. I'm not making fun of anything, but if Peyton ever died. Don't check my chat in GPT history.

[Peyton Moreland]

You're gonna look sus.

[Garrett Moreland]

Not sus. I just. I'll. I look up, like, anything and everything. I'll just look up, up random shiz. And nothing. None of it has to do with murder. I'm just sure they'd be like, why are you looking this up? Well, I think random stuff. I'll be like, oh, I wonder what this.

[Peyton Moreland]

I think the difference here is, like, it's one thing to just be looking stuff up, and then it's another for your spouse to go missing and be found in a barrel. And your. Your little evil sidekick also helped you do it and said you did it. And then they find this.

[Garrett Moreland]

I just can't believe James went along with it. What a horrible person, too.

[Peyton Moreland]

They also find six empty acid bottles that had been thrown away in the lab's trash. In James's house, they find an empty glass bottle, which James confirmed held the chloroform that they used to render Tim unconscious after he stun gunned him in the kidnapping. And they also found that Larissa had ordered the chemical resistant barrel back in April. So this is now three months.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I mean, first degree murder she'd been planning.

[Peyton Moreland]

So premeditated. So while Larissa might have been a brilliant chemist, she was kind of a pretty lousy criminal. All signs, witnesses, and physical evidence point in her direction. However, James's trial comes first. And this was actually a strategic move because prosecutors were hoping that James would actually just take a plea deal and then they could use him to testify against Larissa. Only that didn't happen. James maintained his innocence. So in November of 2006, James maintained. Yes, he confessed, and then was like, never mind. I'm not pleading guilty. So James had his own trial, and his defense was that he was only an accessory to murder. So he said, I'm not pleading guilty to first degree, and that Larissa was the Mastermind behind it. They also argued that James was forced to help Larissa under duress and that she had threatened his life. Problem was, like I said, James had already confessed to the crime, and the details that he said were more than accessory to murder. And he had no problem accepting the $2,000 cash that Larissa gave him after they did this. Which is why the jury found James guilty of first degree murder. He was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.

[Garrett Moreland]

I don't feel bad. I don't feel bad. James neither.

[Peyton Moreland]

It wasn't until almost a year later that Larissa's trial began in October of 2007. And because of how much media attention the case was getting in the Fresno area, they actually moved the trial to Los Angeles. Now the defense argues that it was James and only James who killed Tim. That he was obsessed with her. And after hearing how many problems she was having with Tim, he wanted to help her out. So she comes forward and is like, actually, James was just in love with me, so he killed my ex husband.

[Garrett Moreland]

Please put this woman in prison for life.

[Peyton Moreland]

The prosecution says there's absolutely no way. And in order for them to prove this, they show a bunch of really awful text messages that Larissa had sent Tim through their separation and divorce. And they are like, so horrible. I'm not repeating them.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

Maybe one of the biggest pieces of evidence, though, was the proof that Larissa herself had purchased a huge supply of hydrochloric acid through her company. Oh, and the fact that at trial, it comes out Larissa had apparently tried to hire a hitman before she murdered Tim.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, my gosh.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then as for motive, what is stated at trial is that Larissa was the breadwinner. And apparently Tim's life insurance policy was only 30k and was meant to be set aside for kids in a trust anyways, so money was obviously not the primary motivator. Although she did benefit from his debt.

[Garrett Moreland]

She just hated him.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, because now she wouldn't have to go through. Not even that.

[Garrett Moreland]

She's just messed up.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah.

[Garrett Moreland]

She's a bad man, honestly.

[Peyton Moreland]

Larissa's biggest motive, it seems, was just her resentment and hatred of Tim. Perhaps the most explosive part of the trial, though, was when Larissa herself took the stand. The defense painted her like before she testified as this God fearing woman who went to church regularly, who was a great mother, cared for her family. And when she gets on the stand, Larissa herself acted level headed and calm and cast most of the blame on James. As expected. She said it wasn't until she got home that night, and James was at her house babysitting Tyler, that he actually admitted to her that he had done all of this by himself and killed Tim. And it seems like Larissa's manipulative personality was actually kind of benefiting her. Like, for. It's very rare, but her testifying seemed to help her defense, because as Larissa stepped down from the witness stand after five days of testifying, by the way, one of the jurors gave her a thumbs up. And then, even more shocking, that judge didn't dismiss the person from the jury. They were like, yeah, it's fine. Let them keep serving.

[Garrett Moreland]

How. How's that possible?

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't know, but it seems they won't.

[Garrett Moreland]

They won't put me on the jury because I have a true crime podcast. But people can be thumbs up, and people.

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, that's crazy. Honestly, it doesn't really seem to matter. Apparently, the rest of them swayed that one person who gave her a thumbs up. On December 12, 2007, the jury came back and declared Larissa was guilty of first degree murder. In May of 2008, Larissa was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And at that sentencing hearing was a pretty surprising attendee. Larissa's daughter, Kristen, the one she had sent away to live with her parents in Missouri, and her dad had fought so hardly for her to stay so much that that was like the main crack of the marriage. Apparently, this was the first time Kristen had seen her mother in person since her father's murder. And let's just say she did not show up to the sentencing hearing to defend her mother.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Kristen told the judge that that day, that life in prison was not enough punishment for her mother. She called her mother a disgrace and a pitiful excuse for a human. And she ended her speech by saying, quote, I pray that you are continually haunted at night by the sight and sound of my father fighting for his last breathing moments on this earth.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, my gosh. Good for her.

[Peyton Moreland]

And that is the case of Tim Schuster.

[Garrett Moreland]

Good for her. Horror girl. That she has to live with that. And that's really hard, but good for her.

[Peyton Moreland]

I think this case might seem odd to people because I feel like when we see cases like this between a husband and wife, usually the roles are reversed, so.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, I'm gonna be honest. I feel like the last four, three cases we've done about a husband and wife, it's been the wife.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. I've tried to, like, kind of implement that just because those crimes do happen. And I You guys are crazy. No, it's just that I don't want to not represent the fact that men are also victims, for sure, of homicide, of domestic homicide.

[Garrett Moreland]

It just. I mean, it can happen to anyone, is the bottom line. Like it can happen to anybody.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. And I think that the motive, honestly feels like it's coming at least from the same route for both male and female. It's like this anger and rage and resentment and. And just hatred.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Like you. I cannot have you live. I can't stand it. All right, you guys, that is our case for this week, and we will see you next time with another one. Don't forget to check out our bonus content. I love it.

[Garrett Moreland]

I hate it.

[Peyton Moreland]

Goodbye.