Episode 294

Summary

Podcast Title: Sword and Scale
Host/Author: Sword and Scale
Episode: 294
Release Date: May 19, 2025
Description: Sword and Scale delves deep into true crime stories, uncovering the darkest corners of human nature and the criminal justice system’s response. Episode 294 presents a harrowing tale of deceit, addiction, and tragedy within a seemingly perfect family.

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1. Introduction

Narrator: (00:00)
Sword and Scale introduces Episode 294 with a stark warning:

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

2. The Incident Unfolds

Mark Eric Punsati's 911 Call:
The episode opens with Mark Eric Punsati's frantic 911 call from his home in Gilbert, Arizona. At [00:14], Mark exclaims,

"My children. Oh, my God. No."

Dispatcher Interaction:
Mark urgently informs the dispatcher at [02:04] that his wife, Sherry Ponsotti, is unresponsive in the bathroom:

"We have children in a house. I just saw my wife. I think she's dead."

Scene Description:
At [02:25], the narrator sets the scene:

In a tan two-story house adorned with palm trees and cacti, 36-year-old Mark Eric Punsati crouched next to his unresponsive wife, 33-year-old Sherry Ponsotti.

Mark describes the scene with visible distress:

"She's in the bathroom and there's water and soap everywhere and there's blood." ([02:37])

3. Mark's Personal Background

Military and Professional Life:
Mark presents himself as a disciplined military man and a certified EMT. At [03:13], he states,

"I'm EMT certified. I am in the military, okay? I'm a soldier, so I am used to this, but not with my wife."

Family Dynamics:
Mark recounts his marriage to Sherry, whom he met via a dating app in 2008 while attending law school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Their life together involved multiple relocations due to Mark's military career, living in states like Hawaii, Connecticut, and eventually Arizona.

4. Signs of a Troubled Marriage

Professional Success vs. Personal Struggles:
Despite outward success—Mark's promotion to major and Sherry's published children's book—the marriage was fraught with hidden issues. At [27:30], Sherry's best friend, Danielle, reveals:

"He has very mentally unstable. So he's had a lot of instability regarding suicide."

Addiction and Infidelity:
Danielle exposes Mark's darker side, mentioning his addiction to pornography and infidelity:

"He was constantly looking at porn. He had solicited prostitutes in Turkey."

5. Sherry's Perspective and Family Insights

Desire for Stability:
Sherry longed for a stable life closer to her family in Wisconsin. Despite her fears, she remained with Mark due to their children. Danielle shares,

"She never wanted to divorce Eric right now. She stayed with him for one reason and one reason only."

Evidence of Abuse:
Sherry confided in her brother about Mark's threats:

"He verbally threatened her and even threatened to kill her family if she left."

6. Detective's Investigation and Revelation

Initial Suspicions:
Detective Bishop begins to doubt Mark's account. Physical evidence from the autopsy contradicts Mark's story of an accidental slip and fall. Injuries to Sherry's head and back indicate a violent struggle, not a mere accident.

Interviews and Confessions:
Upon interviewing friends and family, including Sherry's brother, the detective uncovers:

• Mark's history of mental instability and violent behavior.
• Sherry's awareness of his pornography addiction and past infidelities.
• Sherry's attempts to leave Mark and her fears for her children.

Detective's Theory:
At [48:31], Detective Bishop theorizes:

I believe she was killed in the master bathroom of her home. I believe that she received multiple injuries to her upper back and neck and head through a physical altercation.

Physical Evidence:
Luminol testing reveals that Mark moved Sherry's blood to stage the scene, contradicting his claims of an accidental fall.

7. Arrest and Trial

Mark's Arrest:
A week after Sherry's death, Mark is arrested for murder with a bail set at $1 million. During the trial, he maintains his innocence, embellishing his efforts to save Sherry:

"I did try to give her mouth to mouth, but there was so much blood."

Courtroom Testimony:
Mark's testimony is riddled with inconsistencies and excuses, further weakening his defense. He attempts to justify his lack of action, saying:

"I felt like a bull in a china shop after my fall and that I would only make things worse."

8. Conclusion and Aftermath

Verdict and Sentencing:
Mark Eric Punsati is convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to the maximum term, set to conclude in September 2042.

Impact on Family:
Sherry's children are placed under the care of their aunt and uncle, while Mark faces a future of isolation and continued addiction behind bars.

Reflection and Lessons:
The episode concludes with a somber reflection on the importance of recognizing and addressing hidden domestic issues:

If you can hear my voice right now and you're thinking that maybe some of your traits are similar to Mark's, maybe rethink your life, maybe rethink a lot of things.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mark Eric Punsati:

  "We have children in a house. I just saw my wife. I think she's dead." ([02:04])
  "I've seen death overseas. I know what death looks like." ([05:58])
  "I did try to give her mouth to mouth, but there was so much blood." ([57:12])

• Detective Bishop:

  "I believe she was killed in the master bathroom of her home." ([48:31])
  "There was a lot of blood that just wasn't at the scene." ([52:50])
  "If she had slipped and hit her head on that ledge, the ledge would have caused the bleeding to start, but her head would already be gone." ([50:05])

• Danielle (Sherry’s Best Friend):

  "He has very mentally unstable. So he's had a lot of instability regarding suicide." ([28:21])
  "She told me that he threatened to kill her and her family." ([47:53])
  "She was the best mom. Never complained, just did everything." ([34:16])

Key Takeaways:

• Facade vs. Reality:
  Mark presented a perfect image to the outside world—successful career, loving family—while hiding deep-seated issues like addiction, violence, and abusive behavior.

• Importance of Support Systems:
  Sherry's attempts to seek help and confide in trusted friends highlight the crucial role of support systems in abusive relationships.

• Detective Work:
  The meticulous investigation by Detective Bishop, including autopsy analysis and interviewing loved ones, was pivotal in unveiling the truth behind Sherry's death.

• Lessons on Domestic Abuse:
  The case underscores the importance of recognizing warning signs in relationships and the need for accessible resources for those seeking to escape abusive environments.

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Final Thoughts:
Episode 294 of Sword and Scale serves as a chilling reminder that appearances can be deceiving. Beneath the surface of a seemingly happy family lies a tragic reality shaped by addiction, abuse, and ultimately, loss. It emphasizes the necessity of vigilance, support, and intervention in preventing such dark outcomes.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

My children. Oh, my God. No.

[Detective]

Fuck. Oh, no.

[Narrator]

This one was produced by one of our longtime producers, Ms. Barbara Way. Season 12 Episode 294 of Sword and Scale. A show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.

[Detective]

SA.

[Narrator]

It's Thursday night, 9:58pm.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Oh, my God.

[Dispatcher]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. What's going on? Give me your address.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

1329 North Jamaica Way, Gilbert, Arizona.

[Narrator]

All right.

[Dispatcher]

1329 North Jamaica, Jamaica Way.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

We have children in a house. I just saw my wife. I think she's dead.

[Dispatcher]

What happened?

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Dispatcher]

Is she breathing?

[Mark Eric Punsati]

No, he looks dead.

[Dispatcher]

Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let. Let me just get you over the fire. Hold on.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Oh, my God.

[Narrator]

In a tan two story house adorned with palm trees and cacti, 36 year old Mark Eric Punsati crouched next to his unresponsive wife, 33 year old Sherry Ponsotti.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay, and what's going on there tonight? There are children in the house. I think I just found my wife. She's not breathing. She's. I believe she's dead. She's in the bathroom and there's water and soap everywhere and there's blood. I think there's a big.

[Narrator]

Mark was hysterical. He kept repeating that he and Sherry's children were home. He didn't know what happened. All he saw was a wet bathroom and his beautiful wife lying naked in a mess of blood and liquid soap.

[Dispatcher]

Sir, do you mean.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Take a deep breath for me, Okay? I need to have a clear understanding of exactly what's going on. I have. I just found my wife. Okay. Sorry, I'm in shock. Okay. Okay, okay. All right, I understand. Sir, I'm gonna. Okay. Okay, okay. My wife is on the bathroom floor unresponsive. Look, I'm EMT certified. I am in the military, okay? I'm. I'm a soldier, so I am used to this, but not with my wife.

[Dispatcher]

And.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay. She's unresponsive. Okay. Can you do me a favor? Let's start CPR. Okay. How old is your wife? My wife is 33. My God. I'm telling you, she's not screaming. There's no. There's no Malari lungs.

[Detective]

There's no pulse.

[Dispatcher]

There's no.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

What the fuck?

[Narrator]

Mark was a certified EMT and a military man, but to see this much blood pooling around the woman he shared his life with. Washington. Unbearable.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Was she underwater or. How did this happen? Do you know we were taking a bath early in the day. As I left her in the bathtub, I went to sleep and I woke up and she wasn't next to me so I went to shoot for her and I couldn't open the bathroom door and her legs were in the way and they were really pale. And now I see her on the fucking floor. Okay. All right. So my understanding is you were with her earlier. You guys were in the bath, you went to take a nap and then you came back and she is not responsive to you, right? Do me a favor, let's get her flat on her back. What?

[Detective]

She's in her back.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

She's in her back.

[Detective]

She's in her back.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

There's a big M by her head.

[Detective]

I think she.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Oh my God. I think she split. I know she hits a corner. Oh my God. Oh my God. She slipped and fell. Okay, okay, let's, let's, let's start cpr. Okay. All right, instructions. Okay. The children in the house, however, please don't traumatize them, okay? I don't know how to deal with this with them. I don't want them to be traumatized. Give me a fair. Maybe have them leave the room and then you can start. They're sleeping.

[Dispatcher]

They're sleeping.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

They're sleeping. We're all sleeping. Okay?

[Narrator]

Six year old Maddie and her baby brother, 18 year old Max were asleep in their bedrooms down the hall. Mark continued to cry and struggle as he talked to 91 1.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Do me a favor, get the heel of your hand in the center of her chest. Put your other hand on top and let's start cpr. Okay, sir, she's purple. She's fucking. I'm telling you, I know what death looks like. I'm an Afghanistan war veteran. Okay. Okay. She's gone, sir.

[Narrator]

Mark had seen death overseas. He assured the dispatcher that Sherry was long gone.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I'll tell you what, let me get your name and do me a favor, step outside so that you can talk to the medics, okay? Okay, okay, okay. All right, sir, let me get your name. Don't go with fucking sirens glaring, okay? I don't want my kids to be fucking traumatized, okay? What is your name? Mark Erickson. Sorry. Oh my God. Okay, may I call. May I call 200-364-57588? Yes. May I cover her with a. She's naked. May I cover her? Let's not do that. Let's let medics get their assemble. I don't have my children. Okay, well, you sit There. In bed, right? No, I'm. The bathroom now.

[Dispatcher]

Okay.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I thought you said they were in bed, so let's.

[Detective]

They're in bed. I'm trying to.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Sorry. Yes, they're in bed. They're in bed. Okay. So do me a favor. I'm losing it. I'm sorry.

[Detective]

I'm losing it.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I understand. Take a deep breath. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead.

[Detective]

Go outside.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Talk to the medics. Okay. Go outside.

[Detective]

Okay.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I'm going outside. Okay, perfect. They're almost on scene for you. Okay. Okay.

[Dispatcher]

Fire PD is on their way out.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay, perfect.

[Dispatcher]

We're arriving on scene.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay. Sir, do you see the police officers?

[Narrator]

Mark ran outside the front door to meet the officers as they quietly pulled up the short driveway. He was in a frenzy as he explained what happened and pointed towards the upstairs master bathroom. The police rushed inside. Mark made sure his children were still asleep and begged the first responders to be quiet. He was terrified of traumatizing the kids. Officer Mike Bishop was one of the first on the scene. He found Sherry in the bathroom and immediately bent down and started doing chest compressions. The knees of his pants soon became wet with crimson suds. After 20 compressions, he got up and let the EMTs take over. Cheri was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors assured Mark that she was in good hands. They would do their best to save her life. Mark called Sherry's aunt and uncle to come pick up the kids before he went to the police station. With his head buried in his hands, Mark sat across from the detective in his cargo shorts and flip flops as his leg bounced up and down while he wept.

[Detective]

This is a digital recorder. You mind if I run it while we're talking? That way I don't have to take such so many notes.

[Narrator]

Mark nodded and also allowed the police to search his home. He said he wanted all the help they could get. He wanted to know why this happened to his wife.

[Detective]

Why don't we start with a general history of your family and what's been going on in your life and stuff like that?

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay.

[Detective]

I married. I met my wife in Wisconsin when I was attending law school.

[Narrator]

Mark and Sherry had met on a dating app back in 2008, when Mark was finishing with his legal degree at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

[Detective]

Ever since, we've been together, joined the military. I'm a judge advocate and branch army. We went to live in Hawaii together. Our daughter was born there. Okay. She was born at the same time that tsunami was hitting the island. So the whole time there was, like, the alarms going off. Oh, My gosh. She had the contractions and stuff. So. Born in an army hospital. Yeah. Timcy.

[Dispatcher]

Careful.

[Detective]

Army Medical Center. The Bing Palace.

[Narrator]

The Punsottis had lived all over the U.S. alabama, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Georgia. This was due to Mark's career in the army and his higher education pursuits.

[Detective]

So I was with the 25th Infantry Division, and then I deployed with CAB Combat Aviation Brigade to Kandahar. And my wife stuck with me. Was that pretty soon after the baby was born that you were deployed? That's tough. So Maddie was 14 months old. I deployed for seven months. It felt a lot longer anyways. Very strong experience. But my wife was there throughout. I came back and we worked together and tried to buy a house in Hawaii. Didn't work out. Moved to a different place. Anyways, we traveled. We went to the Big island with my cousin from Spain that came to visit. We went to Japan, where my daughter was treated like a star. A little blonde girl and stuff. I mean, the Japanese are such cute people and stuff. And then I was approached by. So it was aviation helicopters. So it was approached by a Sikorsky attorney who offered me a job in civilian. So I went to Reserves and then we moved to Connecticut. We were there for about year and a half, 15 months doing civilian legal for Sworsky and. Right. So Detroit still in the reserve? Correct. Right. So I work with Cyber Warfare Command, Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. I assume you're an officer. Yeah, I'm a captain and I just.

[Narrator]

Like major all the while. Mark was thriving in his army career and working his way up to major. Sherry had gotten her degree in social work and was pursuing her own talents and income. Sherry had even published a children's book and was working on a second for her publisher. They were flourishing, but after a few months in Arizona, Mark lost his job.

[Detective]

Yeah. And then for the remainder of the year, I've been unemployed in the civilian side. So, I mean. Is that this year? Hearing, sir. And I was just offered a job in Kentucky. Great job. Super happy. Finally, after all these months, my wife really stepped up. I mean, she was the breadwinner. Anyways, we found a home together that we like. We got new furniture for Max because his furniture is kind of. I don't know if you saw it, but your son. My son.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Okay.

[Detective]

How old is he? 18 months. 18 months.

[Narrator]

Marc and Cherry had a role reversal when he was unemployed and she stepped it up as the family's primary earner. Mark told the detective that he was proud of his wife for doing that. He was grateful and embraced his role as the main parent.

[Detective]

Anyways, everything's been going great. I've been selected for major BDC below the zone. I'm ranked really high, I think, among my. I haven't had the appraisal yet, but I think I'll do really well. She's been super supportive, like moving to Kentucky. She likes the job she has here, but she's been supportive. She knows we have to pay off our debts and everything. It's very positive and strong and it's a good school for Maddie. And Matt is starting to talk. He said, good morning back to my wife, who's afforded. They wait for routine and stuff, like it's beautiful anyways. And so I'm just. That's what's happening right now where we are. And my wife was. She was. What's the word? Anyways, she was ready to have a third child, essentially.

[Narrator]

Even though Sherry liked Arizona and her job there, Mark had been offered a new position in Kentucky and it made sense to move. Sherry had posted on her Facebook page just before her death.

[Dispatcher]

We've been in Arizona for a year now.

[Detective]

So guess what time it is? Time for another cross country move. Never a dull moment.

[Narrator]

Mark said Sherry had been ovulating and they were trying to have another baby. According to him, things were looking up.

[Detective]

And yesterday she had a headache and so she has heart issues, she has vision issues, she had a piercing headache. Anyways, so, yeah, so yesterday she wasn't feeling too good. And then I've been juicing, you know, the juicer, liquid diet, whatever. The Australian dude, you know, I got to know all that stuff, you know. And so she's been eating healthy, I mean, making her breakfast and the family and flossing for my daughter. And my son is starting to talk and everything's going so, so well.

[Narrator]

Mark just couldn't understand why it all had to fall apart now. Things were just perfect.

[Detective]

I do need to know what happened tonight so I can understand what I see at the house. Okay, so we'll go on into that. All right. Okay, so I'll focus on tonight. So she came home at like 5:15.

[Narrator]

Mark explained that after Cheri got home from work, he cooked the family a healthy dinner, watched some movies, put the kids to bed, and then decided to spend some quality time together.

[Detective]

We were trying to have like a romantic night, like a together night. And so I drew a bath for us. And so anyways, I was in there and I was putting Despacito the music on my cell phone. And so anyways, by the time my wife came, she Was pretty excited, I guess, or laughing or whatever. Then she put her clothes and other clothes downstairs in the wash, came back upstairs, and then we kind of hung out in the bathtub. Cut her nails, her toenails. I could wash her hair, massaging her and stuff. And we just had beautiful evening. Just a very. I don't know, like a positive evening. It wasn't necessarily going through sex or anything like that either. It was sort of just to be happy, you know. The past eight months was really stressful, really difficult with the bills, with everything. Now I have a job and the house we like. We just bought a bedroom set for Max. Like everything is coming together. Everything's so wonderful.

[Narrator]

As romantic as it was, Mark soon needed to get out of the tub. He gets warm, you know, I'm always.

[Detective]

Too hot in bathtubs, so she likes to stay longer. So I got out and I went to bed essentially. And I take sleeping pills and the rise of pamper anxiety. I've had to do this since my deployment. And so anyway, so I slept. What do you take to sleep? Simply sleep. So it's over the counter? Yeah, I take three of those. I'm trying to lower the amounts I take. I used to take four. Lately I've been taking three and trying to weed myself off.

[Narrator]

Mark took his antidepressant and then three of his over the counter sleep meds. A diphenhydramine based medication, basically. It's like taking a handful of allergy medication like Benadryl. You know how much I love Benadryl. It can make you really sleepy, knock you out for the whole day. It was around this time that the detective got a phone call and he excused himself and left the room. When he returned, he had some bad news for Mark.

[Detective]

I never want to be the person to have to tell somebody this, but your. Your wife has passed away. No.

[Dispatcher]

No.

[Detective]

I'm going to have the officer outside the room call counselor. Would you. Would you be able to talk to a counselor? Would that be helpful? I can talk to you, man. All right, we'll keep talking. But I want somebody here that has good resources for you, okay? So I'm gonna have him come. And you can. You can if you want.

[Narrator]

No, no. After Mark calmed down and stopped crying, the detective made sure to get one thing straight.

[Detective]

I want to make sure you fully understand any news. Anytime, anytime there is a serious injury, we're there. And you're a lawyer, so I assume that you understand all the. You're here voluntarily. So for me to ask you questions about what Happened tonight. I'm just trying to get enough information to determine what's going on. I got you. So I don't want you to feel like. Okay. From the Sam's Bank. Well, you're not a suspect. You're the only source of information I have. If you were a suspect, I'd read you Miranda, I would take you into custody, that kind of thing. You're free to leave all those.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

I want to.

[Detective]

Okay.

[Narrator]

Mark was the only source of information. And being a lawyer himself, the cops knew he wouldn't be talking with them unless he had nothing to do with this. I mean, why would he? Unless he's an idiot. Of course. Everyone was just trying to understand the mysterious way that Sherry had died. Mark may have been the only one the cops knew to talk to. But as news of her untimely death spread throughout her friends and family, others would come forward and the investigation would change from an accidental death to something much, much worse. Lawyer and army major Mark Eric Punsati had found his wife Sherry Pincotti, dead on their bathroom floor from what appeared to be an accidental fall out of the tub. The couple's young children were still sleeping down the hall when Mark called 911 in hysterical tears. Now he found himself alone and terrified us to what the future would hold for his family. Mark told the police that he had a happy marriage. He had just received a new job offer in Kentucky. So the family was preparing to pack up and move yet again. They were trying for a third baby and enjoying every day as it came. Very Hallmark, you know. But now suddenly Sherry was dead and the police had to figure out what happened on the night in question. Despite his emotions, Mark composed himself and continued speaking with the detective.

[Detective]

All of a sudden I woke up, which is surprising because usually when I take the pills and stuff, I wake up later. Like one o' clock maybe or something. Two o' clock. It was kind of a pattern, like a cycle. And this time it was something different. I kind of woke up. Which bed were you in? Number six. And I was kinda listening and I could hear the TV still playing downstairs. So there was still a light bathroom. So I'm like, she's still in the bathroom. So I was gonna tell her to come over. And I tried to open the door and I couldn't. Something was blocking it. And I pushed. And I can fucking see your face.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

And your feet are like really white.

[Detective]

And. And so I call out for her, I'm like, what the fuck? Like Sherry. And finally I push. Had to push quite a bit. I was, like, pushing her body, like, with a door. Like her legs were going sideways.

[Narrator]

Mark said he was groggy from the sleep medication, but after he saw his wife's cold white feet on the floor, his adrenaline kicked in.

[Detective]

And then I noticed her head. It looked fucked up. There was blood and she had, like, hematomas and stuff. And I recognized that. Was she face down or she was on her back? She was on her back. And was her head towards the door or her feet towards the door? The feet were toward the door. The feet were blocking. The legs the feet were blocking. Inside moved. I don't know, because I did push her, so I wasn't sure how she was originally, like, we're thinking. You said you saw hematomas. Where were they? Yeah. The first thing I noticed was the blood on that fucking corner. God damn it. A fucking corner. I thought about it several times with. With Maddie and stuff. Because they always make everything so wet, you know, I had to put towels in the ground and stuff and slipping and stuff in a fucking corner. Like, I put, like, the corner of the sink or the corner of the. Like, between the shower and the bathtub. There's a really dangerous freaking corner right there.

[Narrator]

Mark said there was a sharp, dangerous corner between the bathtub and the sink. When they bathed the kids in the bathtub, he would put towels down to cover it. He was convinced that Sherry had hit her head on that.

[Detective]

And I noticed there was blood all over that fucking thing. And anyways, I freaked out. I fucking called her name and I slipped. It was, like, slippery. I just. You went in, though? You went into the bathroom?

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Oh, yeah.

[Detective]

Yeah, I went in there. And were you wearing any clothes or were you naked or. I was. What was I. I think I was wearing these clothes. I wasn't wearing these clothes. And I did the. I'm CPR certified and stuff, you know, So I did the. I was observed listening, all that stuff. It didn't look good. The face colors, discoloration. There was the patches. And she had, like, her. I mean, she didn't look good. And I freaked out. I noticed the logs weren't moving. I immediately called 911.

[Narrator]

Mark was an army major, a trained EMT and a lawyer. If anyone would be useful in this situation, it was him. Mark said he didn't remember much after he got on the phone with 911. His memory was just a blur of chaos.

[Detective]

I remember the rest, honestly. It was only to do, like, mouth to mouth. But I knew that was not. It was too far for that. I could tell like it was blood and like it was purple and stuff. So did you ever do the mouth to mouth? No. No, sir. Okay. No, sir.

[Narrator]

Now, let me ask you a question. If your wife, the mother of your children, was lying unresponsive on the floor, cold, white, you know, don't you think you would maybe, oh, I don't know, attempt maybe possibly to save her life somehow? I mean, am I the only one who would actually do that? I don't think so. Right. But apparently Mark is one of the other types.

[Detective]

But did you ever do any compressions? No, sir. Okay, so you just, you just evaluated it. I did. And I did. Touch her. Touch her. I did touch her. You've been through the same military training. Exactly. So I did the arteries and all that stuff, like the legs. So you checked for a pulse? Listen, listen and feel for breathing and stuff like that. I could tell she slipped. I mean, it looked like she slipped in some of its corner. And I noticed water and soap and all that stuff. And then the carpet was all like. So was the bathtub overflowing or was it just from, like getting out the water flashing? Yeah. No. So there was no water. You didn't have to turn the water off? No, no, no, no.

[Narrator]

So the tub was not overflowing. Mark did not do chest compressions or try CPR on his wife. Mark's theory was that Sherry got out of the bath, slipped, fell, and hit her head. This was all feeling a little off.

[Dispatcher]

Mark.

[Narrator]

Mark had painted a picture of a happy marriage and a family life. But Jerry's best friend Danielle had something different to say about Mark. Danielle actually refers to Mark as Eric. He went by Mark Eric professionally, but sometimes just Eric to his family and friends.

[Dispatcher]

Her husband Eric. How do I say it? Looks really great on paper. So he's a lawyer, he's charming, he's well liked, he's good looking, he likes to cook. All his these different things. Things were good in their beginning of their relationship, but then things kind of took a turn. So there's some information. He lived, he. He was in the military. He was stationed in Alabama. They were in Hawaii. Then they were in Connecticut and then Arizona.

[Narrator]

Danielle's tale lined up with Mark's. But she knew some much darker things.

[Dispatcher]

There's been some things that have happened in the past. He has very mentally unstable. So he's had a lot of instability regarding suicide. I know this was more in Connecticut. He sought treatment. He was on medications. There was times where he would just take a dose of medicine and not Be able to wake up or she'd find him with the kids running all over the place. He'd be out of it.

[Narrator]

And there was more, I guess what.

[Dispatcher]

We labeled him as. And I don't know, he did see a psychiatrist as a sex addict. So he was constantly looking at porn. He had been always doing porn websites. Porn, porn, porn. He had a job where he traveled a lot. He was in Turkey. At one point he had solicited prostitutes there. And she was pregnant with her second son. So she. I remember when he came back, she found out about this, I think via on his phone and computer. And she had gone into the doctor and had all kinds of STD testing to make sure that, you know, she was pregnant and things like that. He also has had issues maintaining a job. So I think something happened in the military where he was also walked in on looking at pornography and things like that. But anyways, please let me know if you have questions or anything. Yeah, I'm just taking it in.

[Narrator]

You can say that again. Danielle was like a floodgate of information. And the detective was dumbfounded by this seedy side of Mark that couldn't have been further from the composed, kind and well spoken man he consoled at this very same police station. Danielle said that Mark's porn and cheating loomed all throughout the time Sherry was pregnant with their second child. Then things hit a breaking point while they were in Connecticut.

[Dispatcher]

I do know Sherry does have evidence, and I don't know where it is, of some child pornography. There was one time she walked in on him. This was in Connecticut, by the way. This is probably in the last three years. She walked in on him masturbating to a five or six year old girl getting anally raped.

[Narrator]

After catching Mark in the act with violent child porn. Sherry had had enough.

[Dispatcher]

She left him. Her Uncle Joe, who has the kids right now, he came to Connecticut to get her out of there. And he left when he was at home and he drove her and she came here. Her goal was, was to leave him and she didn't have any money. And when she came here, he pretty much put all the, you know, I mean, he controlled the money. He did not give her any money. She stayed at her mother's house. I tried to help her out as much as possible. I invited her to my house, groceries, my, you know, things like that.

[Narrator]

Danielle tried her best to help Sherry get out of her marriage. But Sherry wanted to make it work. She had no money and leaving Mark wasn't financially viable right then and there.

[Dispatcher]

Yeah. So things were Worse. I know in Connecticut, when she went back, they had agreed Eric was going to seek help. They sought help. Sherry was not religious, but he said, well, let's, you know, go talk to a priest. And so they were kind of doing some type of marital counseling with a priest in Connecticut. And Eric also was getting on meds. He was seeing a psychiatrist. They wanted to have him go to a treatment center. He didn't want to. And I know the priest. I remember being surprised because the priest told Sherry to leave him. And I was surprised at that. I was raised Catholic, so I thought, oh my gosh, that's interesting.

[Detective]

It's like last resort type stuff.

[Dispatcher]

Exactly.

[Narrator]

Being a Catholic herself, Danielle figured things were really grim if a priest had agreed that Sherry should leave Mark.

[Dispatcher]

And so that was that. And then things just kind of got worse. Max was born, and that's kind of ensued.

[Narrator]

After Max was born and Mark was seeking help, the family relocated to Arizona, where things didn't really get much better. The family was dwindling their savings, and between Mark's high student loan payments and cost of living, they were drowning in debt. When they moved from Connecticut to Arizona, they had to take out a loan of $45,000 for closing costs, which put an even bigger strain on their marriage.

[Dispatcher]

So he's had higher up jobs and unfortunately authority figures haven't. It's been habitual issues with him because he's really lasted a year or less. He's often fired from job. The recent one, he was fired in Arizona. He's been unemployed for nine months. And Sharon did not work until the last three months. So they've been living off of savings. He borrowed money from someone in Florida. I do know because she confided in me about everything. So I know they were really in financial ruins. She and I have this.

[Detective]

She.

[Dispatcher]

He said they were probably about $140,000 in debt.

[Narrator]

Then Sherry got a job, which felt like a glimmer of hope, but it only made Mark worse.

[Dispatcher]

Sherry got a job three months ago. It was her first job back from being a stay at home mom. Eric has always been very controlling. They got into a lot of fights about cleaning, ironing his shirts. That was her job, to iron his shirts. If he was going to go anywhere, she had to pack a bag. She had to wake up in the morning and, you know, make him bra, you know, that kind of thing. And so since he lost his job, I know he was working out a lot. That was his thing. He'd go to the gym, he lift weights, he worked out A lot. And he really did his own thing. Now, since Sherry was working for the first two months, she was working, I feel like she was working for about 90 days. For the first two months. He was home with the kids, kids by themselves. And then Maddie, who's 6, started school about a month ago.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Right.

[Dispatcher]

And so that was a huge change. Sherry would go to work. She was very worried for the safety of her children. She confided in me that Max, her youngest son, who's almost 20 months, has fallen down the stairs a couple times because Eric was on the computer the.

[Narrator]

Whole time with his oldest daughter in first grade and just baby Max to take care of Mark started slipping back into his old online addictions. Mark was a negligent, resentful father who did not want to be at home with his kids while his wife earned money for the family.

[Dispatcher]

I believe it was about a month ago, she took in max, maybe two months. Took in max for his 18, 19 appointment. Eric went to the doctor, and Maddie, the daughter, had told the doctor that Max fell down the stairs two times. And I don't know if the doctor was asking questions or anything, but he got very angry and said in front of the doctor, maddie, you get over here, I'm going to smoke you. And that was something interesting because I had never heard Sherry ever say anything about that. And I asked Sherry, did he ever thank Maddie? She said, no, not that she was aware of. And then the doctor appointment was done. He was waiting in line to, you know, for paperwork, and he lost it in the doctor's office. He, you know, punched, threw down the paperwork, walked out, slammed the door. It was like this big ordeal.

[Narrator]

Danielle said that Mark had really been going downhill since Sherry became the breadwinner, and his emotions were off the charts.

[Dispatcher]

I want to say it was maybe four to six weeks ago. They had gone somewhere in Arizona, maybe for a hike or something, and he had lost it in the car over. I don't recall. He took her phone. He said he was going to throw it out. Kids were screaming in the background, stopping the car. It was a very, you know, dramatic, you know, something had happened, Right. The thing about Eric was that he could turn his mood like that. And so Sherry was kind of like sitting on eggshells. I know he, you know, punched a wall, you know, a hole in the wall in their house in Connecticut, that kind of thing. He was very hot tempered.

[Narrator]

Mark was an angry, emotional guy, and Sherry felt stuck. But to the outside world. On social media, the couple were very active and presented only the very Best parts of their family life. Cheri would post pictures of their hiking trips to the Grand Canyon. She'd boast in videos about her daughter going off to school. And she'd give her friends updates on the forts that kids would build. When it was too hot to play outside, Mark did the same. He showed off being promoted to major and had recently posted a picture of a meal a civilian bought him at a fancy restaurant after she thanked him for his service. Thank you, ma' am, he wrote. I feel humbled and grateful to the world. Sherry and Mark looked like a happy, loving family of four. But inside, they were bubbling over with secrets. That all stemmed from Mark's disgusting porn habit.

[Dispatcher]

She had found a picture of a girl or something, a woman on his phone, and asked him about it. And he said, oh, she's from some pornography website. And so she said to him, well, show me, show me the website. And he couldn't. And he got very, very upset about that. And she told him that she was there for the kids and that she really wanted nothing to do with him sexually and that he could do whatever he wanted, that he was there for the kids. And he, like that completely blew up. Now, I don't. That was the only time we talked about that. I don't know anything about that.

[Narrator]

But what Danielle did know was that Mark's issues with violence and sexual perversion all stemmed from one person.

[Dispatcher]

His dad was. She told me about how he was in prison. He used to have a lot of money. And Eric had told Sherry that he had introduced Eric to pornography when he was 7 or 8 years old. Your dad has always tried to get mail order bribes, things like that. I don't know anything more than that.

[Narrator]

Oh, and the reason his porn peddling dad was in prison, it was no big deal, just for, you know, killing someone in a fit of rage.

[Dispatcher]

So Eric's dad was in prison for killing a man in Spain. It was a Dutch tourist over road rape.

[Narrator]

Just chew on this for a second. Things in Arizona were bad. But then Mark got a job offer in Kentucky and the family was set to move again. Remember, Sherry had written on her Facebook page just four days before her death.

[Detective]

We'Ve been in Arizona for a year now, so guess what time it is? Time for another cross country move. Never a dull moment.

[Narrator]

Hints of resentment hung in her post and behind closed doors. She told Mark she was sick of the instability in her family, but she agreed to go to Kentucky because of one reason.

[Dispatcher]

And Kentucky came up and she wasn't thrilled about it, but her Main thing, because I was always trying to be positive with her, was that she was going to be closer to Wisconsin. Her main dream was she wanted to get back to Wisconsin. She had family and friends here. She wanted just kind of down to earth life for her family. And she was only going to be a couple hours away, eight hours away. Now, I know this last week, she texted me and said, oh, my gosh, Eric got a call from a job. And Oshkosh. Oshkosh is an hour and a half away from her parents. Okay. And I said, oh, my goodness. Wow, that's excellent. But she said at that point that Eric said absolutely not, that he had already signed the contract for this new job in Kentucky.

[Narrator]

The idea of moving to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was a dream come true for Sherry. Finally, she would be closer to her family and friends. The possibility of leaving Mark was in bloom. But he stomped out that dream. Of course he did. If Sheri was closer to the safety of her family and friends, then she would surely leave him. Mark may have been sick, but he was not stupid. But Danielle and Sherry talked every day like best friends do. Sheri had an exit strategy, and she told Danielle everything.

[Dispatcher]

And her plan was that she wanted to leave in a couple of years. She was very fearful for her children. She was fearful to leave the house and have 50, 50 custody and have him taking care of the kids when he couldn't even take care of himself in that regard.

[Detective Bishop]

All right, so no.

[Detective]

No discussion with her about having more children.

[Dispatcher]

Absolutely not. She said. The thought of a third child sounds really great to me if I had a different life, if I was with someone else.

[Narrator]

Danielle had spilled the tea, as they say, and boy, was it potent. Mark had put up an excellent front for the police. He'd come across as believable, kind and caring, but that, if you haven't guessed it already, was all a lie. Even Sherry's mother, who knew less than Danielle, knew that Mark had made unthinkable threats to his daughter.

[Dispatcher]

Sherry and Eric have had issues with their marriage ongoing for, I would say, probably the last three years. And last year, last March, she asked me to come visit, and I did. And when I got there, she said.

[Detective]

That things weren't going well, that they.

[Dispatcher]

Weren'T getting along, and she wanted to come back to Wisconsin. She told me.

[Narrator]

That Cherry's mom broke down into inaudible sobs.

[Detective]

Try to relax. And that way I can clearly understand what you're saying. It sounded like you said that she had concerns that he was going to kill Her.

[Dispatcher]

That's right. That's the way.

[Narrator]

Okay.

[Dispatcher]

She told me that he threatened to.

[Narrator]

Kill her, but Cherry wasn't ready to leave Mark yet. She made a point of repeating that over and over. She stayed with him for one reason and one reason only.

[Dispatcher]

She never said that she was looking to divorce Eric right now. She never said anything like that to me. But I remember her saying, I would say in the last month, she said something about, my kids are legal residents of Arizona. And that's when, you know, she had said something about, well, you know, I might stay, work my job a little bit. Maddie just started school and whatever, and then, you know, that's all I know.

[Detective]

So she wanted a more stable life.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

For the kids as far as, yes, school.

[Dispatcher]

And so. Absolutely. And when. I can tell you, the only reason she told me this over and over again, the only reason why she never left Europe was because of her children. If it wasn't because of her children, she would have been gone a long time ago. She was the best mom. Never complained, just did everything. And even though her. Her life at home was horrible with her husband and all of that, you know, she was definitely the rock for her children.

[Narrator]

Meanwhile, the detectives had an autopsy performed on Sherry's body and began examining the scene in a new light. Detective Bishop noticed many physical pieces of evidence that did not line up with Mark's story. Mark was now their prime suspect, and he was going to have to face the truth. Maybe Mark had been able to keep Sherry physically away from her friends and family. Maybe he was able to make sure she held a brave face to the world. But he couldn't stop her from confiding in the people that she loved and revealing all of his dirty, disgusting secrets.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Sam.

[Narrator]

After speaking with Sherry Ponsati's best friends and other family members, Maricopa county detectives now realize that the image Mark painted himself as was a far cry from reality. Mark was a porn addicted, violent, angry, jobless man in debt and on the brink of losing his sanity. I think that describes most men these days, actually, but I'll leave it at that. Anyway, Sherry had caught him with child porn, and that's a crime that she should have definitely turned him in for, but she didn't. Sherry had plans to go. She had to think of herself, and the couple was in a ton of debt. She had to be strategic. Sherry's aunt and uncle had taken the Pincates children after she died, and they had overheard Mark on the phone telling a different story than the one he told detectives.

[Dispatcher]

I thought that he told the coroner that they had been watching Netflix downstairs.

[Detective]

Right.

[Dispatcher]

That she hadn't come back.

[Detective]

And he.

[Dispatcher]

I think he used the word to the coroner that he was maybe frustrated and annoyed. I'm pretty sure I used the word annoyed.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Agitated.

[Dispatcher]

So he went to look for her, and she wasn't in the bedroom.

[Narrator]

And Sherry's brother confirmed that all the things Danielle had said about Mark were true. He also revealed a little more.

[Sherry's Brother]

She was afraid of Eric, and that Eric literally told her that if he filed for a divorce against him, that he would kill her family.

[Detective]

And that's something that she told you?

[Sherry's Brother]

He said yes.

[Detective]

Or did she tell your mother and your mother told you?

[Sherry's Brother]

No, she told me that directly. And she had told me that if anything ever happened to her, like if she died unexpectedly, that we should suspect that Eric was the cause.

[Narrator]

Armed with this new information, Detective Bishop began to examine the scene differently and came up with a new theory about how Sherry died.

[Detective Bishop]

I believe she was killed in the master bat bathroom of her home. I believe that she received multiple injuries to her upper back and neck and head through a physical altercation. Also, her nose and upper lip were injured. I believe she succumbed to those injuries, and her body was staged in the master bathroom for police to find. Well, my theory, and if the prosecutors are okay with me giving my theory, is that the linear. Linear injuries on her back and upper neck and head were probably a result of being forcefully thrown against the tile ledge at the back of the bathroom bathtub. Rather, the blood that was visible to me on that night was diluted with water and appeared to me like a. Maybe a head that was already bloody had been placed there.

[Narrator]

Detective Bishop believed that Mark killed Sherry in the tub, using the sharp edge of the tile between the tub and shower to repeatedly bludgeon her head and back until she bled out. Remember, Mark kept saying he thought that corner was dangerous. He relentlessly repeated that he was sure Sherry slipped and hit her head on that tile.

[Detective Bishop]

I found out later that not only had he pushed the thought or tried to convey clearly the dangerous situation in the bathroom with the ledge and how he had pointed it out before, and he knew that this ledge was going to hurt somebody at some point, he passed that along to other people as long as me. I felt like when I found out that this was included in his conversations to almost everybody, that that was an indicator that there was more to the story than this slip and fall that he had portrayed to me. If she had slipped and hit her head on that ledge, the ledge would have caused the bleeding to start, but her head would already be gone. It would be down on the floor. So that's why I would expect more blood on the floor than I was. I wouldn't even expect to see much or any blood on the. On the ledge itself.

[Narrator]

Sherry's blood was telling a new story. Not only did luminol testing reveal that more blood had been cleaned up, but it had also been moved around. This sick fuck moved around his wife's blood to stage the scene.

[Detective Bishop]

There was a lot of blood that just wasn't at the scene. And I did notice that, and I did make that statement in my first. First or second supplement to the case is that there was just not enough blood on the floor to account for the stains and for the injuries. But I wasn't fully aware of the injuries at that point. You have to understand that I didn't. I never saw the body until the autopsy. And that was after the fact, okay? So I gained more information and more suspicion and more knowledge about her injuries after the fact. That let me know that this top where there was no blood visible, should be checked for blood that wasn't isn't visible. And that's what luminol is used to do. Or Blue Star or whatever chemical she used that used to see blood where there is no visible blood.

[Narrator]

The autopsy showed that Sherry had injuries to her head and back, which would not have been possible if she just slipped. She had bruising on her spine consistent with violent shaking. And strangulation could not be ruled out. She had multiple blunt force injuries to the back of her head, upper neck and back. That would have been one violent thrashing and repeating fall. And there were other physical details that Detective Bishop noticed were suspicious.

[Detective Bishop]

I found it odd that two people took a bath and their clothes were downstairs in the washer.

[Narrator]

Mark had planned this all out very well. And he was using his legal training to cover his tracks. Feeding the same believable story about Sherry slipping on some soap due to her own negligence. Blaming the victim, they call it. I don't think people like it these days. Anyway, here's Sherry's brother describing what Mark told him after she died.

[Sherry's Brother]

He told me, you know, what had happened. And basically, like, he said that Sherry had a history of the house of, like, not putting things back. Like, for example, you know, when she'd cook, she'd leave the cooking oil out and not put the cap on it and things like that. And Eric was really particular about that kind of stuff. And he said he'd always nag at her about It. Yeah, which I can totally see that. And he said that Sherry would do it so often that eventually he stopped nagging at her. He said one of the things that she would do is in the bathroom, she wouldn't put the cap on like the bubble bath and stuff when she'd give the kids a bubble bath.

[Detective]

Right.

[Sherry's Brother]

And honestly I totally believe that she, I could see her doing that because, I mean, I lived with it too. And he thinks that she didn't put the cap on the bubble bath and somehow it got tipped over when she was in the bathroom and when she went to get out of the shower, you know, the ground was some completely soaked in soap and she slipped.

[Narrator]

Mark even told this story to his six year old child, believe it or not, who then relayed it back almost verbatim to the police psychologist.

[Dispatcher]

Guess what? He was sleeping when that happened.

[Narrator]

And then guess what just woke him up. Oh, that woke him up. And then guess what?

[Dispatcher]

What?

[Narrator]

He didn't know where to find him. He Little Boo Peep. He was.

[Dispatcher]

He didn't know where to find his sheep.

[Detective]

Like Little Bo Peep.

[Narrator]

Oh, okay.

[Dispatcher]

Like my mom.

[Narrator]

Okay. And guess what?

[Detective]

What?

[Dispatcher]

And she pooped in the bedroom. Then there, there we saw the blood on her head upstairs.

[Narrator]

Did you see that blood with your very own eyes?

[Mark Eric Punsati]

No.

[Dispatcher]

Oh, I didn't see any of that. Only my dad.

[Narrator]

Then he called me mama.

[Dispatcher]

Come here.

[Narrator]

Detective Bishop believed that there was no way the soap could have landed the way it did if Sherry slipped on it. Mark's story was good, but gravity's way better.

[Detective Bishop]

Yeah. The soap especially was odd because the soap container was found in a tipped over position on the floor. And I think you probably got the gist from our experiment that if you, if you knocked over a bottle of soap, the soap would be emanating from the area where the container is. The officers that were first on scene and from my recollection there was visible blue soap on top of the bath mat and throughout the, throughout the scene that I don't believe it would have been possible for the soap to emanate from the area where the bottle was on top of the. To get up onto the bath mat. And I don't think that the amount of soap that was missing is physically possible from turning that container over. So if you knock over a container of blue soap, it's only going to drain to the area where the lip of the spout is. It won't drain the inch and a half, two inches below that spout because gravity won't allow it to flow upwards and out of the bottle.

[Narrator]

Mark did his best to cover all those tracks. He had a carefully thought out plan, like some demented version of Gone Girl. But even with his law degree, military background, EMT training, and perfectionism or autism, Mark could not get one over on the detectives. They were too thorough. And only a week after Sherry's death, Mark was arrested for murder. His bail was set at $1 million. When it came time to pull Mark in front of a jury of his peers, he stuck to his story. He took the stand and added some more elaborate details about how he tried to save her life before he called 911. He said that his EMT training kicked in and he did try to give her mouth to mouth, but there was so much blood and, you know, he just couldn't. You know, it's just some people are so stupid and they think you're stupid, too. They think they can get away with things because they think you're just as stupid as they are. He even said that he thought about getting a turkey baster to suck the blood out. He said this on the stand, I swear. He also tried to justify the injuries to her face by saying he slipped and fell on her. But he didn't admit that to the police. He never said that until that moment. So he claimed that was why he refused to try CPR or chest compressions when the dispatcher asked him to. He claimed that he felt like a bull in a china shop after his fall and that he would only make things worse. I mean, his wife was dead, but he would only make things worse. That's what he said.

[Detective]

Just time to wake up, man. Just wait. Fucking make me wake up, please.

[Mark Eric Punsati]

Oh, my God. Her father, her brother.

[Narrator]

Mark Eric Punsati, presented well to the world. He was handsome, fit, accomplished and successful. On social media, he bragged about his career advances and his happy family. But behind closed doors, he was a porn obsessed cheater and a pedophile who slept with prostitutes and threatened his wife. He masturbated to child porn and he was such a negligent dad that he let his baby fall down the stairs multiple times under his watch. What a piece of shit. He knew that Sherry was going to leave him. I mean, why wouldn't she leave him? I'm sure that he thought that if he were Sherry, he would leave him too. But he was afraid of this and he wanted control over the situation. Mark had to control his wife like he couldn't control his own life. What he didn't have control over was the people in her life and who she chose to share her secrets to. And his disgusting secrets, too, as well. They knew everything. Sherry may have been sickened by her husband's perversions, but she wasn't too embarrassed about it to let everyone around her know who was actually hiding behind Mark's smile. So when his perfect little murder plan was missing a few, few important pieces, the humiliating confessions Sherry had made about her husband became the most powerful ammo for cops. Now Mark Pincotti will be in prison until September 7, 2042. He received the maximum sentence for second degree murder. When he gets out, his daughter will be 31 and his son will be 26. I'm sure they will want nothing to do with him. He will be alone, left to sink deeper into his porn addiction and drown in his own loneliness. But I think there's a better way to end this story. There's a lesson to be learned here. Perhaps a little safety. Psa. If you can hear my voice right now and you're thinking that maybe some of your traits are similar to Mark's, maybe rethink your life, maybe rethink a lot of things.

[Detective]

Foreign.

[Narrator]

Out a lot of free episodes right now, but that's going to stop soon and they're all going to be behind a paywall, so you might as well join now. Sword and scale.com it's called Plus. Starts at 10 bucks a month. Sword and scale.com.

[Detective]

Sa.