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- [00:01]
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- [01:13]
Narrator
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- [02:08]
Witness
An individual walked into room, pulled a handgun out and shot him.
- [02:16]
Investigator
His girlfriend was in bed with him at the time.
- [02:19]
Family Member
It was just unbelievable. And in such a ferocious way too. It was horrific.
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Narrator
Investigators search for a killer and uncover a deceitful past filled with possible suspects.
- [02:33]
Family Member
They lived a lavish lifestyle. They always had a boat, nice cars, nice houses.
- [02:38]
Witness
She believed that it was a Puerto Rican hit squad that came up to kill him.
- [02:45]
Narrator
Or was the real danger much closer to home?
- [02:50]
Detective
His daughter said she had been a witness to a fight that her father and a neighbor had had earlier in the day.
- [02:57]
Family Member
He said to me, I don't want his eye. And I was like, why would you ever say that?
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Detective
He had asked her what's going to happen. And she said, you're better off if you don't know.
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Investigator
All she could see was a figure and she heard a click. And the shooter said, this is your lucky.
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Narrator
May 12, 1997. It's a quiet night in Middleburg, New York, a small rural town nestled roughly 45 miles west of Albany. At 11:50pm the peace is shattered when 911 operators receive a shocking call.
- [03:49]
Witness
A 911 call was made stating that subject had been shot.
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Narrator
The call came from a neighbor of 31 year old Nicole Braun.
- [04:01]
Detective
Nicole Braun said she had just witnessed the murder of her boyfriend Frank Arroyo. She wasn't alone with Frank that night. She had Frank's 13 year old daughter.
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Investigator
His girlfriend who was in bed with him at the time, had left the house in her nightgown.
- [04:20]
Detective
Nicole ran out of the house and down the street. She ran to some neighbors houses and 911 was called.
- [04:29]
Witness
She said someone walked in the room, pulled a handgun out and shot Frank. Turned around and walked out.
- [04:40]
Narrator
With no time to lose. New York state troopers race to the scene. Upon arrival they are met by Frank's 13 year old daughter and his 31 year old girlfriend Nikki.
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Investigator
His girlfriend Nikki was a bit hysterical.
- [04:57]
Witness
First responders when they get there, they have to clear the house, make sure that this person left. They have to be sure that the house is clear and safe.
- [05:07]
Investigator
The door was unlocked. We didn't find any evidence of forced entry.
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Narrator
Troopers enter the home checking each room before finding Frank.
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Witness
There was a victim shot multiple times.
- [05:25]
Investigator
There was no pulse, no breathing, no heartbeat, Anything to indicate that he was alive at that point.
- [05:33]
Detective
The police found some casings, some bullet casings. But other than the body and blood splatter, there was no evidence of a struggle. There was no evidence of a robbery or burglary. This was a straight out shooting and that was it. In a homicide like this, the background of the victim becomes important. Who had a motive to hurt him? Who had a motive to kill him?
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Narrator
To his family, Frank Arroyo always seemed larger than life.
- [06:11]
Family Member
He was just awesome. He was just always making you laugh, always cracking a joke.
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Narrator
Born in puerto Rico in 1948 at age three, Frank moved to Queens with his parents and three sisters.
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Family Member
My aunt got really sick. There was a really good doctor in New York. So they sold their chickens and Their cows. And they all moved to New York and they struggled a little bit. You know, they weren't wealthy, but they were very loving. Then when he graduated high school, he went to the army.
- [06:44]
Investigator
He was cool. He was a great guy. He loved life.
- [06:47]
Narrator
Very skilled, talented. Family was everything to Frank and he couldn't wait to start one of his own. And in 1971, at the age of 23, he fell in love and married fellow Puerto Rican, Gladys Rentas.
- [07:03]
Family Member
My mom came from Puerto Rico also. When she was three years old, both of them ended up in Queens in the same building. My mom was a sweetheart, she was a dollar. And my dad was funny. He was a prankster, I guess. They were a little opposite of each other.
- [07:20]
Narrator
Though. Gladys had a six month old son from a previous marriage. Frank welcomed her child with open arms and by 1977, they had grown to a family of five.
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Family Member
I was born in 74 and then Amy came along in 77.
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Narrator
Frank embraced fatherhood and loved taking family adventures.
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Family Member
My dad loved going camping, hiking, going to the beach.
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He always loved playing his music. He was always with his guitar and playing his songs.
- [07:56]
Investigator
Family man, his kids, his daughter. He was raising his kids, taking care of the family. It was his life.
- [08:03]
Narrator
Frank worked as a handyman to make ends meet and eventually landed a job as a building superintendent.
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Investigator
He told me, I put up ceiling fans, installing air conditions, buffing the floors.
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Narrator
Frank and Gladys seemed to have the picture perfect life together. But that all changed when Frank met Donna Salerno, a spirited New Yorker, 11 years his junior.
- [08:31]
Family Member
My dad was a superintendent of a building and she works for the management company that was in charge of the superintendents. There was a lot of flirting going on.
- [08:40]
Investigator
Donna came into the picture when I first met her. I told him, I said, she's wild, bro. Like, she did what she want. They didn't care.
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Narrator
She wanted to have fun.
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Investigator
She can have fun.
- [08:49]
Family Member
He was unfortunately so madly in love with Donna and taken by her for some reason, she tore our family apart.
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Narrator
By 1982, Frank had divorced Gladys and married Donna.
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Family Member
My mother was very resilient. It was hard for her, but she, she bounced back and she raised three kids. She did what she has to do and she did it on her own. My mom and dad were fighting for custody of us. I wanted to go home to my mom. I was a little girl.
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Narrator
Frank and Donna relocated to Florida where they started a successful real estate venture.
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Family Member
They were like selling properties. They were basically flipping, flipping properties.
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They lived a lavish lifestyle. They always had a boat, nice cars, nice houses.
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Narrator
Frank and Donna eventually had a daughter and son of their own. And Frank loved getting all of his children together.
- [09:53]
Family Member
We just visited them, we didn't live the everyday life with them. It was mostly fun. Whenever we got to see him, we didn't really see him much, not as much as I would have liked to.
- [10:04]
Narrator
When the couple traveled to Puerto Rico for real estate ventures, they would bring the children along.
- [10:11]
Family Member
We went to Puerto Rico with him a few times. I remember he taught me how to do the merengue dance.
- [10:20]
Narrator
In 1996, Frank and Donna's lavish life went up in smoke when they found themselves in legal hot water.
- [10:30]
Investigator
Frank and his wife Donna had been involved in some sort of scam in Puerto Rico in regards to some phony mortgages.
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Narrator
Donna and Frank were extradited from Sarasota, Florida back to Puerto Rico and placed under arrest.
- [10:47]
Investigator
Frank was in jail for a short period of time. That's when the marriage really went south, when he got out of prison.
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Narrator
Frank was released after seven months in prison and shortly thereafter he and Donna separated. He moved back to New York with the couple's 12 year old daughter while Donna and the couple's 4 year old son stayed in Florida.
- [11:13]
Family Member
My dad ended up back upstate New York in Middleburg. He was coming around to, to our house lot in Staten island thinking about moving there. So we were excited.
- [11:24]
I was just so happy that he was around again.
- [11:27]
Narrator
By 1996, Frank and Donna's divorce was pending and both seemed to be moving on with their lives. Donna was living on a 40 foot yacht in Florida with her boyfriend Carrie and her five year old boy.
- [11:45]
Family Member
My dad finally moved on. He finally met someone. He found a pretty girl that he was happy with. He would go to her house and play his guitar and he was happy as could be.
- [12:03]
Narrator
But Frank's third act is snuffed out in an instant when he is gunned down. On May 12, 1997, while a forensic team searches for clues inside New York State investigators speak with Frank's girlfriend, Nikki Braun.
- [12:22]
Witness
She just witnessed her boyfriend murdered right before her eyes. She was extremely upset.
- [12:32]
Investigator
Nikki said she was in bed with Frank and Frank was on the phone with his mother at the foot of the bed, sitting up. And she noticed someone come in through the bedroom door which was backlit, so all she could see was a figure. And she heard a click. And the shooter said, this is your lucky day. At that point she thought this was a joke and I guess Frank did as well. And then she heard metal, which was the shooter pulling back the slide on the Automatic and chambering around and fired off four shots, which all of them hit Frank.
- [13:12]
Witness
Frank's daughter did hear the gunshots and came out of the bedroom to see what that was. An individual unknown to them shot Frank four times, Three times in the chest and one time in the head. Turned around and walked out.
- [13:29]
Narrator
It's a haunting story, but investigators can't take it as gospel just yet.
- [13:37]
Detective
When you have a murder like this, pretty much everybody's a suspect.
- [13:45]
Narrator
Coming up, investigators look into Frank's new girl.
- [13:51]
Investigator
She just witnessed a homicide. Could she have set this up?
- [13:56]
Narrator
And they uncover a number of dangerous enemies.
- [14:00]
Detective
He said he had gotten into a fight that day about money.
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Narrator
May 13, 1997. Puerto Rican Native Frank Arroyo has just been gunned down in his girlfriend's home by an unknown assailant. New York state investigators study the crime scene.
- [14:31]
Witness
He was shot multiple times, so there.
- [14:34]
Investigator
Was a lot of blood. He was found lying on his back, like he had been sitting on the end of the bed, talking on the phone.
- [14:46]
Narrator
Amidst the grisly scene, investigators are also able to locate four shell casings.
- [14:54]
Investigator
The forensic team let us know what we were looking for, and in this particular case, it was a.40 caliber weapon.
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Narrator
The casings are bagged and sent for processing.
- [15:09]
Investigator
There was nothing to suggest that this was a robbery or burglary. And we didn't find any evidence of forced entry. The house was not broken into. Door was unlocked.
- [15:20]
Witness
It seemed to be just a cold blooded murder. And the obvious question is why someone would want to murder him. And the next question, of course, is who?
- [15:33]
Narrator
Investigators circle back to Frank's girlfriend, Nikki Braun, the only eyewitness to the shooting.
- [15:40]
Investigator
I've got to handle her with kid gloves, so to speak. She just witnessed a homicide, but she's also a suspect. Could she have set this up? She said she saw the outline of a person, so she couldn't really see the. The shooter's face. He was on the shorter side, you know, between five and six feet tall, slender, but she couldn't tell colors in terms of hair color or dress. She was the only one in the room besides the shooter and Frank. So you have to look at her pretty closely.
- [16:10]
Witness
One way to do that was with a GSR test.
- [16:14]
Investigator
The shooter's gonna have residue on his or her hand. We did do a residue test on her hands and clothing and actually found no residue on her hands and nothing on her clothing either.
- [16:27]
Detective
Because of her immediate cooperation with the police, Nicole was dismissed quickly as a possible suspect.
- [16:37]
Narrator
Next, investigators turned to Frank's daughter.
- [16:41]
Investigator
Frank had custody of the 13 year old. Unofficially, she was in the house at the time of the shooting and she was asleep in another bedroom. Nikki and the daughter corroborated each other.
- [16:52]
Narrator
She tells police that her mother, 37 year old Donna Arroyo, lives in Florida, but is currently visiting her grandmother in.
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Investigator
Yonkers, N.Y. during the daughter's interview, she said that her mom came up from Florida to try to visit or see her daughter and tried to ask her daughter to come to Florida with her, but she wanted to stay in upstate New York. She had a very good relationship with her father, Frank, and had friends in middle and relatives and just did not want to go to Florida.
- [17:26]
Narrator
Police take down Donna's phone number from the teenager and they ask if she knows of anyone who would want to hurt her dad. She points to a neighbor, John Giacomakis, a family friend to both Frank and Donna.
- [17:43]
Detective
John Giacomakis, a friend of Donna's and also knew Frank. Frank's daughter said she had been a witness to a fight that her father and John had earlier in the day.
- [17:57]
Narrator
Detectives immediately head across the street to try and question John.
- [18:03]
Detective
The police went and spoke with John and he gave a statement to the police. He said he had gotten into a fight that day about money that Frank had lent to John. And John basically had told Frank that day that he didn't intend to repay him and it was worth about $5,000. So they got into it and there was a bit of a tussle.
- [18:26]
Narrator
When they ask John for his whereabouts at the time of Frank's murder, he tells them that he was at home all night with his girlfriend.
- [18:35]
Detective
John Giacomakis had a girlfriend named Tiffany. Tiffany gave John an alibi and she said he was with her. But in any criminal investigation, the police are going to take everything sort of with a grain of salt until they get the full facts.
- [18:50]
Narrator
Detectives make a note to come back to John once they have more information. Officers escort Nikki Braun and Frank's young daughter to the police station while investigators break the news to the rest of Frank's family.
- [19:11]
Family Member
And I remember being asleep and my phone rang and I remember just jumping out of bed and right away we were in shock. It was just unbelievable and in such a ferocious way, too. He was murdered. Like, you know, they didn't shoot him on stay, shot him multiple times. It was horrific.
- [19:26]
My mom and my older brother told me the news. They were like, it's your dad. I just, obviously I was, you know, upset. My little sister was in the house when it happened. She was only 13 at the time. So we went and got her. It was just heart wrenching, devastating.
- [19:47]
Narrator
Next, investigators call Frank's estranged wife, 37 year old Donna Arroyo, who had been visiting her mother in Yonkers three hours away. She is shocked to learn of the shooting.
- [20:01]
Investigator
When we interviewed her, she said that her relationship with Frank was pretty good. They just grew apart. She immediately denied any involvement in this. She just said she came up to visit her daughter and drove to Middleburg, tried to ask her daughter to come to Florida with her. She said her daughter by choice did not want to go to Florida, did not want to leave with her, and wanted to live with her father, Frank.
- [20:23]
Narrator
Donna's statement supports what her daughter told police earlier, and she's able to provide an alibi for the shooting.
- [20:31]
Investigator
Donna was pretty adamant that she's at her mom's during the homicide, and her mother did corroborate that.
- [20:39]
Detective
One of the key pieces of information was that the shooter was a male. We know this because Nikki heard him say, this must be your lucky day. And it was clearly a man's voice.
- [20:52]
Narrator
When asked about John, Donna doesn't hold back.
- [20:57]
Witness
She was saying that John and Frank did not get along and she thought that John could possibly have been the one who did it.
- [21:09]
Narrator
When asked who else might want Frank dead, Donna says the list of Frank's enemies is quite long.
- [21:17]
Witness
Frank got involved in this land scheme in Puerto Rico for which he did get arrested. But during that, he had made off with some significant money, and she believed that it was a Puerto Rican hit squad that came up to kill Frank over the money that he owed him.
- [21:36]
Narrator
Not only that, Donna claims that Frank recently became involved with the Puerto Rican drug trade.
- [21:43]
Detective
Because the shooting occurred without another assault involved, without a burglary, police looked at the possibility that this could be a drug hit, some other type of retaliation for some other activity that Frank may have been involved in.
- [22:03]
Narrator
Coming up, did Frank's criminal past make him a target for murder?
- [22:08]
Investigator
I don't want to disparage the dead, but Frank wasn't an angel.
- [22:13]
Narrator
And later, bizarre details emerge about Frank and Donna's tumultuous relationship.
- [22:20]
Investigator
Donna made her relationship with Frank look a lot rosier than it really was.
- [22:25]
Witness
They were fighting over the daughter. Something had to be done with him.
- [22:35]
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- [23:47]
Narrator
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- [24:58]
Investigator
I don't want to disparage the dead, but Frank wasn't an angel. I would describe Frank as a small time drug dealer, drugs being marijuana, but nothing that would rise to this level of a drug deal going bad or murder someone over a couple ounces of marijuana. We also learned early on that Frank and Donna had been involved in some sort of scam in Puerto Rico in regards to some phony mortgages.
- [25:24]
Narrator
However, investigators find nothing to connect Frank's murder to his time in Puerto Rico.
- [25:31]
Investigator
We did look into a land scam in Puerto Rico and they all came up dead ends pretty quickly.
- [25:40]
Narrator
On the evening of May 13, detectives circle back to John Giacomakis, the neighbor that Frank argued with on the day of his death.
- [25:51]
Detective
John apparently didn't give a full statement the first time. That's not unusual in a criminal investigation, especially one where there's a killer still out in the public somewhere.
- [26:02]
Narrator
John confirms that he argued with Frank on the day of his murder, but reveals he wasn't the.
- [26:10]
Detective
John gave the police information about a fight with Donna that Frank had had as well that day on the street. And he says she clearly knew that Frank had a new relationship and he was intending to move to Long island with their 13 year old daughter. And it became evident quite early on that Donna was very unhappy about that. Donna feared that Frank was so called abducting their daughter and she did not want that to happen. John said Donna was just beside herself. I mean, swearing and yelling and expletives and threatening Frank's life. She was very, very angry at him. Donna kept repeating that she was gonna have her husband Frank killed.
- [27:03]
Narrator
John says that Donna eventually left, unable to shake the incident. He called Donna later to check on her.
- [27:11]
Detective
He had asked her what's going to happen? And she said, you're better off if you don't know. He heard in the background a male voice saying, Frank's going to get his effing brains blown out.
- [27:29]
Narrator
The call ended. He didn't hear from Donna again.
- [27:34]
Detective
When the police get information like what Giacomakis gave to them, they have to make the assessment whether was it just that he was being maybe afraid to come forward with everything at once, or was he trying to get the spotlight taken away from him and put on somebody else.
- [27:56]
Narrator
Investigators turn to Frank's family for more insight and they don't hold back when it comes to Donna.
- [28:06]
Family Member
She wasn't a good person. She was cheating on him forever. For the longest time she was bringing guys around in front of his face. She had him like under her spell. It was crazy.
- [28:19]
Narrator
Frank's family says when they heard that Frank and Donna separated it, it didn't come as a surprise.
- [28:26]
Family Member
I stayed with him when he finally moved away from Florida and he was upset, very upset and said to me, I don't want to die. And I was like, why would you ever say that? He said, well, I don't trust her. She's very manipulative and calculating. He told me he thought Donna was going to kill him. He Told me outright, like, I think she's going to try to kill me.
- [28:48]
Narrator
It's clear to investigators that it's time to pay Donna a visit. On May 14, two days after Frank's murder, investigators track her down at her mother's house in Yonkers.
- [29:08]
Investigator
We sent state police investigators there to the mother's home to interview Donna.
- [29:13]
Narrator
Investigators confront Donna with their suspicions, and she shares some alarming new information about her estranged husband. Donna says she heard that Frank was jealous because she had a boyfriend. Donna believed Frank was putting a hit out on Carrie.
- [29:33]
Witness
She said Frank was connected to different things, and he had the connections to have somebody kill him.
- [29:39]
Narrator
According to Donna, in a desperate move to save her boyfriend's life, she hired two men to teach Frank a lesson.
- [29:49]
Witness
She said, I didn't tell him to shoot him. I told him to just come up and beat him up a little bit.
- [29:57]
Narrator
Despite Donna's stated intent, someone did kill Frank that night. However, Donna stopped short of naming her accomplices.
- [30:08]
Witness
She was arrested for criminal facilitation based on what we knew at the time.
- [30:14]
Investigator
She was subsequently transported back up north to Middlebrook, New York, where she was remanded to the Schoharie County Jail.
- [30:26]
Narrator
Just as investigators begin looking into Donna's past associates, a call comes in that blows the case wide open.
- [30:35]
Investigator
The command post received a call from an attorney out of Orlando, Florida.
- [30:42]
Witness
He said, I have a client here in my office that was there. He did not take part in it, and he's looking for immunity, but he can tell you who did it and how it all happened.
- [31:00]
Narrator
Coming up, who really killed Frank Arroyo?
- [31:05]
Investigator
I think he was in love with Donna, but realized he had been manipulated.
- [31:09]
Witness
She convinced him that the only way around it was that Frank had to die.
- [31:15]
Narrator
And later, shocking details emerge about the master plan.
- [31:21]
Investigator
She said, now remember how I told you to do it? I wanted to make it look like a Puerto Rican hit.
- [31:36]
Narrator
After Frank Arroyo's estranged wife is arrested for facilitation of murder, New York State investigators receive a tip about a potential informant in Florida, Donna's home state.
- [31:51]
Investigator
We enlisted the help of the FBI and the FDLE, Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
- [31:58]
Narrator
Within 24 hours, New York State investigators touched down in Florida and set up a meeting with the attorney and his client, a frightened man named Steve Hannam.
- [32:12]
Investigator
Steve was horrified in what had happened. His words. He started to name names, in particular Donna's boyfriend, Kerry McKinley and Daniel Edwards as being the participants in the murder.
- [32:25]
Narrator
Steve says he and Carrie worked together at a refrigeration company.
- [32:31]
Investigator
Steve knew a little bit about Kerry's relationship with Donna and knew that they had gotten engaged.
- [32:37]
Witness
Kerry said he had to take a few days off to go to New York to settle some affairs that he had going on up there with his, involving his fiance Donna.
- [32:46]
Investigator
Steve offered to drive him up to New York. He said, I've never been to New York. I'd like to see it.
- [32:55]
Narrator
On May 11, 1997, Steve arrived to pick Carrie up.
- [33:01]
Investigator
On the way out of town, Kerry said, listen, my, my half brother Daniel is going to come with us too. Is that all right? He goes, sure, he can share the driving and et cetera.
- [33:10]
Witness
They picked up Kerry McKinley's half brother, Daniel Edwards, and the three of them drove non stop from Florida to New York. Steve said that McKinley was getting phone calls from Don Arroyo stating that things had gone sour, that she was fighting with her ex husband.
- [33:32]
Narrator
Steve says they arrived in New York on the evening of May 12th.
- [33:37]
Investigator
The three of them got a motel room about 40 minutes from Middleburg.
- [33:41]
Witness
And then Donna shows up about a half hour after they're at this hotel. That's when Steve meets Donna for the first time. And she's telling Carrie that Frank had been abusive, that they were fighting over the daughter. Something had to be done with him and she wanted Carrie to go up to Middleburg and to beat him. According to him, he wasn't privy to a lot of the conversations because they would go into a different room.
- [34:11]
Investigator
As the night wore on. They said, we're going back to Frank's house. And since Steve had rented the car, he said, I'll drive.
- [34:19]
Witness
The idea when they got there was for Carrie to go in and confront Frank. And he was supposed to intimidate him to leave Don alone, to let her take the daughter Jamie, back to Florida.
- [34:32]
Narrator
But Steve says on the drive over, everything changed.
- [34:38]
Investigator
That's when the guns came out, in particular the.40 caliber murder weapon. He said that Kerry had handed it to his half brother Daniel. And Donna said, now remember how I told you to do it. Shoot him in the head. I want it to make look like a Puerto Rican hit.
- [34:53]
Narrator
Steve tells investigators when he realized what was going on, he felt sick when.
- [35:00]
Investigator
He was driving, he got so upset he couldn't drive. And Carrie took over the wheel.
- [35:07]
Narrator
According to Steve, once they arrived at Frank's house, Daniel got out of the car and went towards the house with the gun.
- [35:16]
Witness
The three of them went, drove away and drove around the block once or twice and eventually once they came around. Daniel was out front by this time and he got in the car and they asked him what happened. He said that. So Donna took care of it.
- [35:32]
Narrator
Steve says the four of them then went their separate ways.
- [35:37]
Witness
Kerry McKinley and Donna Arroya went to Yonkers and Steve and Daniel drove back together in the Reddit car to Florida.
- [35:46]
Narrator
Steve tells investigators as he and Daniel crossed the Hudson river, they made a pit stop.
- [35:53]
Investigator
Daniel said to Steve, slow down, pull over. I'm going to throw the gun out, the murder weapon over the bridge, which he did do.
- [36:00]
Witness
That location on the Hudson, it's a few miles wide, big current. There's no way they're going to put divers into that kind of situation.
- [36:09]
Investigator
Daniel was calm, cool, collected. According to Steve, they drove back, straight back down to Florida. Ken just parted ways immediately.
- [36:22]
Narrator
Now investigators need to determine if Steve really was an unwitting witness or is he just trying to save himself.
- [36:32]
Detective
Within a week of the murder, they go down to Florida and they find Daniel Edwards.
- [36:39]
Investigator
Steve told us where we might find Kerry and Daniel. We actually went to a work location that Daniel was doing in H Vac. When we arrived at the convenience store to arrest Daniel, he made a spontaneous statement. I was expecting you guys to show up.
- [36:58]
Narrator
Authorities locate Kerry.
- [37:00]
Investigator
Next, we arrested Kerry at a in his motel where more he was residing in Florida.
- [37:06]
Narrator
Both men are arrested and taken to a temporary field office where they are separated and interviewed. First, Investigators speak with 29 year old Kerry McKinley.
- [37:21]
Investigator
He was very emotional. He was, I think he was in love with Donna, but realized he had been manipulated.
- [37:27]
Narrator
Carrie tells investigators he met Donna in Florida only six months earlier.
- [37:34]
Witness
She was there near a job site that he was working at and they became friends and then next thing you know, they became lovers.
- [37:40]
Narrator
Kerry says Donna always told him that her ex was dangerous.
- [37:46]
Investigator
Donna provided him with a lot of information that concerned him, to say the least, that Frank was going to abduct the 13 year old daughter and take her away.
- [37:55]
Witness
She wanted Carrie to come to New York, intimidate Frank, scare him and try to force him into allowing the daughter to go with her.
- [38:06]
Narrator
Kerry admits that he asked his friend Steve and his half brother Daniel to come along. But when they got to New York, things spiraled out of control.
- [38:18]
Investigator
She told Carrie that Frank had ordered a hit. In other words, a contract on Kerry's life.
- [38:23]
Witness
She was saying the only way you can get out from underneath that contract is that he has to be killed.
- [38:30]
Narrator
Kerry says he had brought his.40 caliber handgun for protection.
- [38:35]
Investigator
Kerry did everything but pull the trigger. He was up to his ears in this. He just couldn't do it.
- [38:45]
Narrator
Kerry tells investigators his friend Steve is completely innocent.
- [38:51]
Witness
Gary's interview was substantiating what Steve had told us, that he had no part in the planning of what they actually did.
- [39:02]
Narrator
Next up, investigators speak with Kerry's half brother, 26 year old Daniel Edwards.
- [39:11]
Investigator
He said he wanted to watch his brother's back and he was led to believe there was an actual hit on his brother Kerry.
- [39:20]
Witness
Donna convinced him that the only way around it was that he had to be killed. So Kerry couldn't do it or wouldn't do it. But Daniel said, I'll take care of it, I'll do it.
- [39:32]
Investigator
He was just there for the ride and there to pull the trigger and didn't get too emotional about the whole thing. Pretty cold.
- [39:42]
Narrator
According to Daniel, on the night of May 12, 1997, they drove to Frank's house with one intention.
- [39:51]
Investigator
After Daniel shot Frank, Donna said, did you do it as I told you? And he said, yes, I think I shot him twice. I can't remember. Everybody in the car said Donna was happy, relieved, like a weight off her shoulders.
- [40:09]
Narrator
After Daniel and Kerry's interviews, Steve is officially cleared of any wrongdoing.
- [40:16]
Investigator
We felt that he was there solely as an unwitting participant and would be better served as a witness.
- [40:23]
Narrator
Carrie McKinley and Daniel Edwards are charged with murder and transported back to New York. Donna's charge of facilitation is officially bumped up to murder in the first degree.
- [40:41]
Investigator
Once you arrest someone for murder, the work doesn't end there. In fact, you got to put as much effort into the prosecution and proving it. And beyond a reasonable doubt.
- [40:52]
Narrator
As predicted, the murder weapon is never found. However, investigators are able to verify that Kerry purchased a 40 caliber firearm March 2, 1997, just two months before Frank was killed.
- [41:08]
Investigator
We did a search warrant on his 40 foot Bayliner boat, which was essentially his residence, and we found.40 caliber ammunition. We didn't find anything of relevance other than ammunition.
- [41:21]
Narrator
Investigators find no evidence that Frank was abusive toward Donna or that he had taken out a hit on her new man.
- [41:30]
Family Member
That was a lie.
- [41:31]
Narrator
I don't think there was any thought in Frank's mind to kill anybody. And Carrie believed it because he was in Donna's weapon. Coming up, more details emerge about Donna's deadly scheme.
- [41:52]
Investigator
Money had been mentioned that Donna would give them $100,000 each from life insurance.
- [41:57]
Narrator
And one of the alleged killers walks free.
- [42:02]
Family Member
I thought that was disgusting. I don't think any of them should have gotten.
- [42:13]
Narrator
New York State investigators have charged Donna Arroyo, Kerry McKinley and Daniel Edwards for their roles in the murder of 48 year old Frank Arroyo. With trials quickly approaching, Donna decides to take a plea deal.
- [42:32]
Detective
When she pled guilty to murder in the second degree, that took off the table. Her going to trial and being convicted of murder in the first degree.
- [42:42]
Investigator
Custody can be and is a motivating factor to crime. And in this particular case, I think led Donna to have her husband killed.
- [42:51]
Family Member
She knew what she was doing and she had a mission and she was gonna see that mission through, and she did.
- [43:00]
Narrator
Donna concedes that she had even, even offered the brothers a share of her husband's life insurance policy as payment money.
- [43:10]
Investigator
Had been mentioned that Donna would give them $100,000 each from life insurance, which there was no life insurance that we're aware of. Donna was giving them lies and false information.
- [43:21]
Narrator
Donna is sentenced to 25 years to life.
- [43:29]
Investigator
25 years to life, which means after serving your 25 years minimum, you'd be eligible for parole.
- [43:37]
Family Member
I don't feel like justice was served, to be honest, because she gets to come out and enjoy her children. My dad didn't get to see his children grow up.
- [43:52]
Detective
Daniel Edwards pled guilty to murder in the second degree for intentionally killing Frank Arroyo.
- [44:01]
Narrator
Daniel Edwards is also sentenced to 25 to life.
- [44:06]
Family Member
They think that he's a terrible, horrible person and I wish he would have got more time also.
- [44:17]
Narrator
As for Donna's boyfriend Kerry, In November of 1998, he takes his chances at trial.
- [44:24]
Detective
He was charged with conspiracy in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. As an aider and a better. His lawyer was crying saying his man.
- [44:37]
Narrator
His guy, his client, was innocent. He didn't know what Donna was going to do. Kerry takes the stand and renounces his earlier confession with law enforcement. Not only that, but Kerry denies being in the car during the crime and says the murder weapon wasn't even his.
- [44:59]
Investigator
Since we don't have the gun, we couldn't prove it either way.
- [45:02]
Narrator
And on December 7, 1998, the jury comes back with a shocking verdict. Not guilty.
- [45:15]
Investigator
I was disappointed, to say the least. I think one of the contributing factors to Kerry's acquittal was the fact that, that the jury did not think much of Donna's credibility and they were placing most of the blame on Donna.
- [45:31]
Family Member
I thought that was disgusting. I thought that they should have all been held accountable for what they did. I don't think any of them should have gotten off.
- [45:39]
Narrator
Donna and Frank's two children are placed in the custody of Donna's mother.
- [45:45]
Investigator
The sad thing about this is the kids lost both the mother and the father, one going to prison for 25 to life and the other being dead.
- [45:58]
Narrator
Roughly 25 years later, in the spring of 2022, Donna is released on parole along with her co conspirator, Daniel.
- [46:09]
Family Member
It's horrible. It's not fair. You know, he's gone and she gets to walk around.
- [46:16]
She gets to go, come out now and stay with her daughter and her son and meet the grandkids and live this happy life at only 60 something years old. And my dad never got that. How was that justice?
- [46:30]
Narrator
In spite of everything, his daughters do their best to keep their dad's memory alive.
- [46:38]
Family Member
He's gonna be remembered by. He was just so happy. Go lucky. He was so fun to be around. He was always singing with his guitar and just the life of the party. He was so kind and he was just a great guy and he didn't deserve to go out like that.
- [46:56]
Think of him often. We do get together every year for a family reunion in his memory to honor him.
- [47:06]
Sponsor Announcer
Donna Arroyo was released from prison in May of 2022 at the age of 62. Daniel Edwards was also released in May of 2022. He was 51 years old. Following his acquittal in 1998, Kerry McKinley lived the rest of his life as a free man until his death in 2008.
- [47:27]
Investigator
In the early hours of December 4, 2024, CEO Brian Thompson stepped out onto.
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Narrator
The streets of midtown Manhattan.
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Detective
This assailant pulls out a weapon and.
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Narrator
Starts firing at him. We're talking about the CEO of the biggest private health insurance corporation in the world.
- [47:43]
Investigator
And the suspect he has been identified as Luigi. Nicholas Mangione became one of the most.
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Narrator
Divisive figures in modern criminal history. I was targeted, premeditated, and meant to sow terror.
- [47:54]
Investigator
I'm Jesse Weber, host of Luigi, produced by Law and Crime and Twist.
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Narrator
This is more than a true crime investigation.
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Investigator
We explore a uniquely American moment that.
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Narrator
Could change the country forever.
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Detective
He's awoken the people to a true issue. Finally, maybe this would lead rich and.
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Sponsor Announcer
Powerful people to acknowledge the barbaric nature.
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Narrator
Of our healthcare system.
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Investigator
Listen to Law and Crime's Luigi, exclusively on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery in the Wondery.
- [48:23]
Narrator
App, Spotify or Apple podcasts.