Shad Gandy Kaydea (2 of Spades, Rhode Island)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Deck

Episode: Shad Gandhi Khedia (2 of Spades, Rhode Island)

Host: Ashley Flowers
Date: January 14, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Deck examines the cold case of Shad Gandhi Khedia, known as the "2 of Spades" in the Rhode Island cold case deck. In 2013, the 22-year-old aspiring rapper was found strangled and set on fire in a Cranston, Rhode Island cemetery—a violent, unresolved crime surrounded by family disputes, a suspicious life insurance policy, and a key suspect whose story keeps shifting. Nearly 13 years later, Shad’s family is left with unanswered questions and hope for justice.

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Detailed Breakdown of Key Points

The Crime Scene and Initial Investigation

• Discovery of the Body ([00:04]-[03:10])

  • On a cold March night in 2013, a fire reported at Cranston’s Pocasset Cemetery led firefighters to Shad’s burning body.
  • Detectives John Cardone and Bob Lindsay described a horrifying, unprecedented scene:

    “It was unprecedented. It was like one of those things where in my experience...we had never run into something like that where it was a fire being used in that manner.”
    — Detective Bob Lindsay [02:58]

  • The victim had no identification or phone, and the body appeared to have been moved—implying another crime scene.

• Clues and Connections ([04:01]-[04:37])

  • Key clue: a tattoo reading “RIP David Dela Cruz”—a nod to a local gang figure also buried at the cemetery.

• Autopsy Findings ([04:37]-[05:22])

  • Shad was identified by fingerprints; cause of death was strangulation with a cord, not the fire.
  • Fire likely set to destroy evidence or obscure identity.

Witnesses and Follow-up

• Eyewitness Accounts ([05:37]-[07:22])

  • Kevin, a car-savvy witness, saw a white Toyota Corolla leaving the cemetery around the fire’s start.
  • A second witness corroborated seeing the Corolla.
  • Cemetery security signs turned out to be a bluff—no actual surveillance footage was available.

• Shad’s Last Known Movements ([08:54]-[13:02])

  • Ex-girlfriend Masiel Ortiz (mother of his daughter Milan) was last to see him at her family’s restaurant.
  • Friends note his “straight laced, even a little nerdy” nature, mostly focused on music and his daughter.

    “He was into his music, his daughter and his music. That's the order right there.” — Detective Bob Lindsay [12:40]

  • No evidence found of actual gang involvement despite rumors.

• Relationship Turmoil and Family Tensions ([13:16]-[15:40])

  • Shad and Masiel’s split; ongoing custody and access disputes; friction with Masiel’s Dominican, religious family.

The Days Leading Up to the Killing

• Confrontation and Escalation ([16:19]-[17:59])

  • March 18, two days before the murder: Shad tries seeing his daughter; confrontation at restaurant with Masiel and her uncle, Ruben Ortiz.
  • Ruben berates and physically intimidates Shad.

    “He's like, yeah, your cousin up for the last time. He up for the last time.” — Dee Conway [17:59]

  • After a tense car ride, Ruben arranges a visit at Masiel’s aunt’s—Shad has to wait apart from the family.

• Significance of Tensions ([19:32]-[20:48])

  • Family recalls Ruben’s ominous “for the last time” comment—highlighted to police.

Building Suspicion

• Chain of Lies and Shifting Stories ([20:48]-[26:32])

  • Ruben confronts Shad’s friend Tony, after hearing Tony told others Ruben was last with Shad; Tony initially lies to police out of apparent fear.
  • Surveillance shows Shad leaving the Institute for Nonviolence at 12:26pm on March 20, getting into a white car, presumed Ruben’s.
  • Restaurant surveillance footage from March 18—conveniently missing.

• Life Insurance Policy Bombshell ([22:09]-[25:00])

  • Shad, with no job or stability, took out a $250,000 policy months before his death, naming Masiel as sole beneficiary; Ruben arranged and helped pay for it.
  • This discovery reframes family suspicions:

    “When Julie found out about this, it reframed everything for her...But she didn’t think they would kill him. Over that money, though...that was different now.” — Ashley Flowers [24:08]

Police Dig Deeper; Ruben’s Car Becomes Critical

• Vehicle Evidence and Timeline Unraveling ([26:32]-[27:46])

  • Ruben lied about which car he rented (actually a 2012 Corolla, not Maxima, on the day of Shad’s murder).
  • Detectives find both involved cars at Ruben's house.

• Confrontation at Station ([27:47]-[28:00])

  • Ruben, after initially cooperating, lawyers up mid-interview and insists he's not a suspect.

Contradictions and Lack of Evidence

• Masiel’s “Selective Memory” and Phone Records ([28:00]-[32:20])

  • Masiel insists Shad had no insurance and knew little about the arrangements for him to see Milan.
  • Phone and bank records show Ruben paying Shad’s premiums; cell data puts Ruben at critical locations.
  • Despite strong circumstantial case, lack of direct proof—prosecutors decline to proceed.

• Ruben's New Story, More Lies ([32:53]-[35:29])

  • In May, Ruben admits (with lawyer) to picking up Shad in Corolla, describes a benign outing with incongruities.
  • Claims of dropping Shad at the library disproven by surveillance and cell records.
  • Cell location—Ruben near cemetery minutes before fire, not in Massachusetts as claimed.

Frustration and Grief: Stalled Justice

• Mounting Circumstantial Evidence—But No Arrest ([37:04]-[38:12])

  • Recap: Lies, motive (life insurance), opportunity, and timeline all implicate Ruben, but prosecutors want more.
  • Key Quote on Frustration:

    “Like, we just didn't understand, why are you not arresting him? And my mom could not understand it.” — Julie (Shad’s sister) [38:52]

  • Detectives empathize with family’s pain, struggle to explain inaction.

• Civil Case Over Life Insurance ([40:08]-[41:15])

  • Legal battle: Shad’s family fought to block insurance payout to Masiel.
  • In absence of criminal conviction, insurer pays Masiel.

Ripple Effects in the Family

• Ongoing Loss and Heartbreak ([41:15]-[42:12])

  • Shad’s mother never recovered; died in 2020, another son died in 2019.
  • Family mostly lost contact with Milan, Shad’s daughter.

• Appeals to Witnesses ([42:15]-[43:08])

  • Detectives believe potential witnesses are still afraid, warn that “the street knows” but won’t risk coming forward.

    “The people that would know...don’t want to end up as a brush fire. So that’s a real...weight on their shoulders.” — Detective Bob Lindsay [42:49]

  • Above all, investigators plea for witnesses to come forward, promising protection:

    “I don't think there's any reason to be afraid. To be honest with you.” — Detective [43:00]

Unresolved Details & The Ongoing Mystery

• Crime Scene Gaps and Theories ([43:08]-[44:00])

  • Still unknown: what cord was used (possibly Shad’s own headphones, never recovered); where murder occurred.
  • Police searched all possible vehicles for signs—found nothing conclusive.
  • Murder likely “planned and more than one person was involved.”

• Ruben’s Elusive History ([44:00]-[45:54])

  • Ruben uses variations of his name, different social security numbers, lives in several states and Dominican Republic.
  • Multiple criminal accusations since Shad’s murder—no progress on Shad’s case.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Shad’s Character:

  “He was into his music, his daughter and his music. That's the order right there.” — Detective Bob Lindsay [12:40]

• On the White Corolla:

  “He said he was very good with cars. And he said it was a newer model white Toyota Corolla...” — Ashley Flowers [06:03]

• On Ruben’s Threat:

  “He up for the last time. He up for the last time.” — Ruben (quoted by Dee Conway) [17:59]

• On Family Grief:

  “I'm never going to get my brother back. But I just don't think that it's okay to just kill somebody and just move on. Even though it's been a long time, we're still hurting.” — Julie (Shad's sister) [45:54]

• On Prosecution Threshold:

  “More, they said it's not there. It's close. Pretty close. But it's not there.” — Narrator/Investigator (on AG’s decision) [38:12]

• On Witness Fear:

  “The people that would know that would say whatever that do know the particulars, don't want to end up as a brush fire.” — Detective Bob Lindsay [42:49]

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:04-05:22]: Fire at cemetery; discovery and autopsy of Shad’s body
• [05:22-08:54]: Eyewitnesses, white Corolla, and lack of cemetery security footage
• [08:54-13:02]: Shad’s background, relationships, and last known movements
• [13:02-19:28]: Family dynamics, escalating tensions with ex’s family
• [22:09-26:00]: Life insurance policy details and Ruben’s involvement
• [26:32-28:00]: Police uncover contradictions in Ruben’s car rental and story
• [28:00-32:20]: Interview with Masiel and further evidence linking Ruben
• [32:53-37:40]: Changing stories, cell location evidence, and breakdown of Ruben’s alibi
• [40:03-46:40]: Family grief, unresolved case, and appeals for witnesses
• [46:48-End]: Investigators’ and family’s final messages; call for tips

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Conclusion & Call to Action

Despite a compelling circumstantial case implicating Ruben Ortiz and his possible co-conspirators, prosecutors have yet to pursue charges for Shad’s murder, citing lack of direct or physical evidence. The case has torn apart Shad’s family, leaving his loved ones grieving and searching for justice. Police and relatives alike urge anyone with information to come forward—hoping that one truth-teller could finally crack the case open and deliver overdue answers for Shad Gandhi Khedia.

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Have information about Shad’s murder?
Contact Cranston Police at 401-942-2211 or text a tip (keyword “Cranston PD”) to 847411.

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[This summary omits advertisements and focuses exclusively on the main content and investigation.]

Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

Our card this week is Shad Gande Kedia, the two of spades from Rhode Island. On a cold night in March 2013, firefighters responded to what they thought was a brush fire at a cemetery in Cranston. What they found instead was the body of a 22 year old aspiring rapper, strangled and then set on fire. Their investigation would uncover volatile disputes, A suspicious life insurance policy, and a man whose story kept changing. And when you hear what police have, it's hard to understand why this case isn't solved. But over a decade later, Shad's family is still waiting for answers. I'm Ashley flowers and this is the deck. It was late Wednesday night, March 20, 2013, in Cranston, R.I. a guy named Kevin had just parked his car getting ready to meet up with some friends, when he noticed flames flickering across the street in an old graveyard that borders the neighborhood called Picasset cemetery. Kevin called his friend who could see the fire from their apartment upstairs, and they called 911.

[Detective John Cardone]

Class the fire department.

[Dee Conway]

Hi.

[911 Caller]

There's a fire right across the street from my house in a graveyard.

[Detective John Cardone]

Okay, what's your address?

[911 Caller]

438 Dyer Ave.

[Detective John Cardone]

Okay. What's it like, some brush on fire or something?

[911 Caller]

I don't know.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

It's just.

[911 Caller]

It looks like it's getting there bigger. I don't know how to.

[Dee Conway]

I don't know.

[911 Caller]

I never reported something like this before.

[Detective John Cardone]

Okay. I mean, it doesn't look like a building, though.

[911 Caller]

No, no, it's a graveyard, but it's near buildings, so. Okay.

[Ashley Flowers]

Crews found a patch of burning brush just past a small bridge near the cemetery entrance. And at first it seemed routine, but this was anything but. When they realized something in the flames looked human, they quickly changed course, locking down the scene and calling for homicide. By the time Cranston detective John Cardone arrived, the fire was out.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

It was wooded. It was tough to really get a good gauge because of the lighting and what the fire may have burned down that was there originally.

[Ashley Flowers]

The man lying in the brush near the roadside was mostly on his side, kind of leaning towards his back. His sneakers had melted, and his clothes were warped from the heat.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

It was unprecedented. It was like one of those things where in my experience, and I'm pretty sure in Bob's experience, we had never run into something like that where it was a fire being used in that manner.

[Ashley Flowers]

Bob is detective Bob Lindsay. He was on the scene that day, too.

[Narrator/Investigator]

The disposable body that way is just gruesome and cruel.

[Ashley Flowers]

And detective Lindsay was first struck by all the things that weren't at the scene. The victim had no id, no wallet, no phone, and there was no blood pool or anything that suggested a struggle.

[Narrator/Investigator]

I think you would have seen more of a disturbance in that area than there was. I mean, it looked like the body was. I felt it looked like the body was placed there.

[Ashley Flowers]

If he was right, that meant that there was another crime scene out there somewhere.

[Narrator/Investigator]

The first 24, 48 hours, you're putting a puzzle together and you're still trying to figure out what's going on here. We didn't have that piece of a puzzle.

[Ashley Flowers]

Even without id, Investigators had a potential clue to who the man was, or at least who he might be connected to. On his chest was a large tattoo that read RIP David Dela Cruz. According to Providence Journal reporter Amanda Milkovitz, David, who was shot and killed in 2009, had alleged ties to a local gang called C Block. And he was actually buried in the very cemetery there that the victim was found in.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

At that point, we were just. We were kind of trying to figure out first and foremost who the victim was.

[Ashley Flowers]

Detectives began running David's known associates through their databases, thinking that this young man probably had gang ties too. But at the same time, an autopsy was being conducted, and that got them their answer much quicker. Thursday morning, March 21, the medical examiner took fingerprints and within hours, investigators knew who this was. 22 year old Shad Gandhi Khedia. Though he sometimes went by Gandhi Shad, the autopsy revealed another major detail. The fire wasn't what killed him. Shad had been strangled, likely with some type of cord. And the fire, the ME concluded, was set after he was already dead. And Detective Lindsay has a good guess as to why.

[Narrator/Investigator]

We felt they lit him on fire to destroy any kind of evidence on him. It was probably done for that reason to try to maybe obscure his identity or any evidence that might have been transferred to him to pin down when.

[Ashley Flowers]

That fire was set. Detectives circled back to Kevin. They knew that that call came into 911 at 10:49pm but they wanted to know if he'd noticed anything else before that call was made. And it turns out he had. Kevin said that along with the flames, he had also seen two people in a four door vehicle idling near the cemetery entrance. Now, Kevin didn't know the people or anything, but he did know cars.

[Narrator/Investigator]

He said he was very good with cars. And he said it was a newer model white Toyota Corolla that was leaving the cemetery.

[Ashley Flowers]

He was able to narrow it down even further, said that if he had to guess, it was a 2011 or 2012. And police were confident that he was right. After a second witness came forward, she said that she was driving down Dyer Avenue around the same time and she saw a white four door car that looked like a Toyota Corolla in the same spot that Kevin had pointed out to police. So you've got two independent witnesses, same kind of car, same place, same window of time. Couldn't be a coincidence. But detectives wanted to confirm it and get eyes on whoever was inside. And they should have been able to, based on a sign at the cemetery entrance warning would be intruders that the area was under surveillance. But unfortunately, when they went to the cemetery staff to collect the footage, they were told that there were no cameras, the sign was a bluff to scare off vandals. So they didn't get the money shot inside the cemetery. But that didn't mean that there wasn't other video footage that could be helpful. Cranston is a suburb south of Providence, Rhode Island's capital and largest city.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

It's fairly busy. There are a lot of businesses up and down that street, decent amount of residents, and it's. It's funneling out of Providence. We had a portion of the unit going out trying to see what we could find, footage wise.

[Ashley Flowers]

Right away, they got a hit. Video showed a white car traveling southbound on Dyer Avenue pulling into the cemetery at 10:40pm it stayed about five minutes out of view and then left. This made them sure that they were onto something with this white car. But the footage didn't drive them to their next lead. It wasn't clear enough to read a plate or see who was inside. So instead of chasing the car, they decided to turn to Shad himself. Who was he who might have wanted him dead? And could they maybe tie a white car to that person?

[Josh Dean]

Every true crime story has one thing in common. Nothing is as it seems. And no podcast knows that better than Chameleon. I'm Josh Dean, and my podcast, chameleon explores hidden identities concealed by con artists and scams. So mind blowing, it'll have you questioning everything you know. If you're ready to uncover the biggest lies in history, listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ashley Flowers]

On March 21, detectives began at Shad's last known address in nearby Providence. But the young woman who answered the door informed them that Shad didn't live there anymore, though she didn't know him intimately. Her name was Masiel Ortiz. She was Shad's ex girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, Milan. She said that she and Shad split almost a year ago, around the time that Milan was born, in July 2012. And since then, he'd been crashing with friends, and they really didn't talk much. But she had last seen him on Monday, March 18, when he stopped by her family's restaurant with some girls that she didn't recognize. The detectives hadn't told Masiel why they were there, asking about her ex, and her lack of curiosity still strikes them as odd.

[Narrator/Investigator]

She was kind of indifferent, which kind of shocked me.

[Ashley Flowers]

They couldn't tell her why they were there, not until they notified next of kin, which Maciel wasn't super helpful with. She just said that they might live in the Philadelphia suburb of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, but she wasn't close with any of them and couldn't help them more than that. Now, Shad's mom did, in fact, live in Pennsylvania, but she had lived in Rhode island before and a few other places. Turns out Shad's family fled Liberia during the first civil war when Shad was a baby. It was a violent time. Loved ones were killed, including Shad's father. He'd actually been a prominent figure, a close ally of the former Liberian president, and his death was allegedly a poisoning tied to the political chaos consuming the country. So Shad's mom raised her kids mostly on her own, but bouncing between Rhode Island, Virginia, and eventually Pennsylvania. She'd moved there in the mid to late 2000s, but Shad was already a teenager by that point and his whole life was back in Providence. So he kind of kept drifting back, staying with relatives, all that to say it took another full day of working through out of state departments and chasing down outdated addresses before they finally found Shad's mother and delivered more terrible news to a family that had already experienced so much. So that was on March 22nd. But from there, word spread quickly within the family and even beyond.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

I was getting out there that, you know, something had happened.

[Ashley Flowers]

Actually, people were piecing together what might have happened even before Shad's family was notified. A group of his worried friends even showed up at the Cranston police station, like an hour and a half prior to detectives making the next of kin notification. They were concerned because they couldn't reach Shad. They said his phone had been off for three days, which was totally unlike him.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

We weren't at liberty to say anything until after the family were notified.

[Ashley Flowers]

Shad's sister Julie, was away at college when her younger brother called, and she remembers him saying that something Terrible had happened to Shad, but she told us she couldn't have imagined what it was.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

So I'm thinking he's in the hospital because you're not going to think what actually happened to him happened, and certainly.

[Ashley Flowers]

Not to a guy like Shad. That was the consistent message detectives heard early on from friends, from family, and from people who came into the station. Shad was an aspiring rapper who, according to most, wasn't in a gang. Many described him as straight laced, even a little nerdy. And listen, some of his friends had connections to local crews. But at that point, the only person telling people Shad was in a gang was Masiel, who said that he was part of C block. And while detectives thought Shad leaned into that image maybe as part of his rap Persona, they couldn't find any evidence that he was actually a member of anything.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

Even though he would associate with people that had alleged gang affiliations, he wasn't part of that. As far as, like having a long criminal pedigree, it wasn't there. And he was more focused by the people closest that he called friends. He was into his music, his daughter and his music. That there's the order right there.

[Narrator/Investigator]

We felt like we got to know him a little bit. I think he was getting that reputation from the people that he was friends with. I think he was a. A young man that was trying to find his way in life. That's all.

[Ashley Flowers]

He'd been taking GED classes at the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, a Providence based nonprofit. And based on everything they pieced together, it seems like that is where Shad was last seen leaving the institute, which is less than three miles from the cemetery. Shad's friends had been hearing that he left shortly after noon on Wednesday, March 20. That's the day that his body was found. And when he left, apparently he wasn't alone. One of Shad's close friends, a guy named Tony, had told them that Shad left the institute with a 30 year old man named Ruben Ortiz. That's Masiel's uncle. Now, according to Shad's friends, Reuben acted as kind of the mediator between the two exes, helping arrange visits with baby Milan. And apparently they really did need a mediator because things were tense between Shad and Maciel. Had been for a while, and it seemed that things had only gotten worse as time went on. Shad and Massiel met in Rhode island and eventually spent a little time living with Shad's mother in Pennsylvania. But once Maciel found out that she was pregnant. They moved back to Providence to live with her mom. Shad's cousin Dee Conway told us that there were concerns about the young couple's relationship, which only deepened once there was a baby in the picture.

[Dee Conway]

I think we were all happy, but his mom, you know, mother's instinct, I think she kind of was like, this is. This is going to lead to some like, I'm happy. I'm having my first grandchild. But she was foreseeing, like, trouble in the future. I feel like a lot of friction came into the relationship.

[Ashley Flowers]

When she did get pregnant, Massiel's mother let them stay in her home and helped Shad get a job. But it didn't last, which frustrated Masiel's family. They didn't think that he was stepping up in what was about to be a huge responsibility. Add to that, Shad's loved ones say that there was another layer that Masiel's relatives, who were Dominican, didn't want her dating a black man.

[Dee Conway]

They were very like, hyper religious and stuff like that too. So it was like having a baby out of wedlock and all this stuff. So I think her family kind of frowned upon the situation, which probably made her feel away about it. And then that kind of presented itself in the relationship as other problems.

[Ashley Flowers]

Chad was kicked out of the family house before Milan was born, and the rift only grew. He wouldn't go back to Pennsylvania since he wanted to stay close to his daughter, but that didn't mean that he got to see her. A few months before his death, Shad showed up hoping to take Millan for a visit. And it turned into an argument with Ruben and Massiel's family, which police had to come and break up. But a more recent incident, one just two days before he was killed, is what really caught detectives attention. On Monday, March 18, Shad gathered some friends and family to go see Milan, including then 13 year old Dee.

[Dee Conway]

It was supposed to be the one chance for, like, everybody from his side to meet the baby all at once.

[Ashley Flowers]

Shad was late getting there, and by the time they showed up at Massiel's apartment, which she shared with Millan and her family, no one was home. And Shad was upset. Now he found out that Maciel was working that day at her family's restaurant, La Grande Parada. So he went there to confront her. Masiel threatened to call the cops when he got there, but instead she called her mom, who contacted Ruben. And when Ruben showed up, things just escalated.

[Dee Conway]

When he's talking to him, he's like.

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah, what are you doing here?

[Dee Conway]

You're not supposed to be here. Why would you come to her?

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

Job?

[Dee Conway]

Just, like, berating him, hands in the face, mushed his hat off his head. Growing up, I looked up to him, can do no wrong. So I'm looking at my sister like, did he just do that? And he just let him do that. Shad's not going to do anything. He's not going to, like, punch him.

[Ashley Flowers]

Shad didn't fight back. He didn't want to risk losing the chance to see his daughter.

[Dee Conway]

Shad was just quiet. He just. When he mushed the hat off his head, he didn't even flinch. He just stood there, let him say what he was saying. And then he was just like, I just came here to see my baby. He just kept saying that.

[Ashley Flowers]

Then suddenly, Reuben switched gears.

[Dee Conway]

He's like, all right, you know what? I'll take you to go see her. I'll take you guys to go see the baby. I'm gonna get in the car with you guys, and I'll tell you guys where to go to go see the baby.

[Ashley Flowers]

After what they just witnessed, Dee didn't want to go anywhere with Ruben. But they split up in two cars anyway. Shad with his buddies, Ruben with some more of Shad's friends and cousins, and they headed to Massiel's aunt's, where Milan was. Dee remembers how agitated Ruben was during that car ride.

[Dee Conway]

That's when the monologue started. He's just basically telling us about all the stuff that he did for Shad. He's like, yeah, your cousin up for the last time. He up for the last time. And he just kept saying that.

[Ashley Flowers]

Rubin seemed to assume that Shad's cousins were just visiting from Philadelphia and that Shad didn't have people nearby. And in the middle of this rant, he started bragging about his alleged criminal history, things that he'd supposedly gotten away with in the past. This tense ride finally came to an end at Maciel's aunt's house, but the mood did not shift. They weren't allowed inside, so Shad's friends and family passed the baby around outside. Shad wasn't even allowed to do that, though. He waited down the street until the visit was over.

[Dee Conway]

That's when we found out that that's what the rule was set by Massiel's mother, that he's not allowed to see the baby.

[Ashley Flowers]

On the drive home, Shad was quiet, defeated. It was the last time that Dee saw him. And on Friday, she learned that he was dead. And at first, she couldn't believe it.

[Dee Conway]

Because to me, he was invincible. How does he. He can't die. Gandhi cannot die. Like, do you know who that is? That is Gandhi. He cannot die. There's no way he's dead. I was very much in shock, and it wasn't until, like, his siblings and his mom got down there that it became real for me, because I'm like, okay, they wouldn't be here if it wasn't something serious. They're actually here.

[Ashley Flowers]

And, of course, her mind went straight to that confrontation.

[Dee Conway]

Me and my sister, we just kept replaying that. Like, when the family came down and everything happened, we were like, he said he for the last time. And that was what we highlighted to the police. He said, for the last time.

[Ashley Flowers]

Finding out Reuben was the last person seen with Shad, then hearing this story from family intrigued detectives. And every time they dug in, they found more to make them suspicious. Remember Shad's friend Tony, who first told everyone about seeing Shad leave? In Reuben's car, police even found a text Tony sent saying exactly that. But when they interviewed him, Tony all of a sudden denied it until they confronted him with the text message. And he wouldn't say why he lied, but I think it's possible he was scared. According to Shad's family, on Thursday Morning, this is March 21st, before Shad was even identified, Rubin went to Tony's, demanding to know why Tony was telling people that he had been the last one to see Shad. And Rubin wasn't exactly someone you would want pounding on your door. After all, he'd apparently bragged about crimes he committed, and his record included a 2007 felony assault conviction, reduced from the original charge of attempted first degree sexual assault after he pled no contest.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

He definitely had a history. I'm not quite sure how far it went and how far it was embellished as compared to what he's really been responsible for.

[Ashley Flowers]

When detectives pulled security footage from the Institute, there was Shad walking out at 12:26pm getting into a waiting white car. They couldn't identify the driver, but they would bet it was Reuben behind the wheel. And it was the last confirmed sighting of Shad alive. Soon after that, his phone went dark. No calls, no texts, no nothing. And speaking of surveillance footage, police tried to verify Shad's family's account of that blow up at the restaurant on March 18. But when they went to collect the surveillance video, staff at the restaurant said that the footage from that day, and only that day, was just gone, supposedly damaged or lost. Due to a system issue. What are the chances the restaurant owner, Ruben's brother in law ultimately lawyered up. And that might mean that police couldn't talk to him. But that wasn't going to stop Shad's family from doing their own investigation. Early Saturday morning, March 23, his sister Julie and other relatives went to confront Masiel and her family.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

I wasn't playing with them because I already knew. And I told her, I said, your uncle killed my brother. Straight up to her.

[Ashley Flowers]

Rubin showed up. While they were there, Julie caught a glimpse inside his car, and she saw Shad's stuff in the back, including his distinctive pink tv. Now, Reuben told her Shad packed everything up because he'd been planning to head back to Pennsylvania. And he was supposed to give Shad a ride there, but his schedule changed, so he just never did. But Julie wasn't buying that. If that was true, she would have known he was not coming back to.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

Pennsylvania because he was by. He was trying to get custody of his daughter.

[Ashley Flowers]

Julie took her brother's things from Ruben's car. She didn't know why they were in there, but she definitely wasn't going to let them keep his stuff. Later, she'd been sorting through it all, looking for something. She didn't really know what. But she did know it when she found it. There was this business card for a life insurance company. Now, she passed this on to detectives, and they ran down this strange path. They found out that Shad, a young man with no steady job, no stable address, and no real track record of financially supporting his daughter, had an active policy on his life at the time that he died for $250,000. The policy named Masiel as the sole beneficiary of the payout. And Chad listed her as his intended spouse, which really didn't make sense since he'd gotten the policy in late November, less than four months before his death and months after Shad and Masiel broke up. And guess who helped arrange all of this? Ruben. Police records show that he was the one who set up the meeting between Shad and the insurance agent, of all places, at the gym where Rubin had trained for years in boxing and mma. And by the way, since Shad didn't have any money, Rubin even paid some of the $18.63 monthly premiums himself. When Julie found out about this, it reframed everything for her. She'd long felt that Maciel's family didn't like Shad because he was black, but she didn't think they would kill him. Over that money, Though that was different now. Detectives had already talked to Rubin the day before finding this out. He'd shown up at Maciel's on Friday while they were interviewing her and her mom, and he hadn't breathed a word about life insurance, although he was happy to discuss other things. He confirmed seeing Shad at the Institute Wednesday around noon, less than 11 hours before his body turned up. Reuben said that he'd been driving a rented Nissan Maxima, which police later learned was white, and he'd been driving it because his SUV was in the shop after an accident. But he insisted that Shad never got in that car, that they just stood outside and talked. Arranging for Shad to visit Milan that night. Rubin said that he went to Maciel's around 7pm he waited for a couple of hours, and when Shad never showed up, he said he left. He needed to go home to East Providence. And that was all a fine story on Friday. But by late Saturday, police had way more info, and they wanted to talk to him again. So on Sunday, March 24, detectives went to Rubin's place, and guess what they saw when they pulled up to his house? Two white cars sitting in the driveway. The Nissan Maxima he told them about. And a 2012 Toyota Corolla, just like the one witnesses had described.

[Josh Dean]

Every true crime story has one thing in common. Nothing is as it seems. And no podcast knows that better than Chameleon. I'm Josh Dean, and my podcast, Chameleon explores hidden identities concealed by con artists and scams. So mind blowing, it'll have you questioning everything you know. If you're ready to uncover the biggest lies in history, listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ashley Flowers]

Reuben's story on Friday was that he'd been driving a rental Nissan Maxima because his SUV was out of commission after an accident. Right? Well, part of that is true. You know two truths and a lie. This is two lies and a truth. The truth is that his SUV had been in an accident, but the accident happened in early March, weeks before Shad's murder. First lie, he didn't rent a car right after the crash. He rented one on March 20, the day Shad was killed. Lie number two, the rental wasn't the white Nissan Maxima. That was his fiance's car. The vehicle he rented that day was a white 2012 Toyota Corolla. Now, Reuben gave detectives permission to search the car, even agreed to come in for an interview with Detective Cardone.

[Detective John Cardone]

Appreciate you coming in.

[Ashley Flowers]

But when Reuben got to the station, he changed his mind.

[Detective John Cardone]

I thought I was coming here to react. Questions in regards to everything else that's been going on, I don't know. But here's the thing. If. If this is something that I can advise you off, I'll read everyone. You can read it?

[Ashley Flowers]

Yeah.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

No.

[Detective John Cardone]

Right. It's just a formality.

[Ashley Flowers]

Okay.

[Detective John Cardone]

I'd rather do all this when I go to present, if you don't mind. No, that's. That's. That's completely your. You know, your. I don't get looked at as a suspect for his man, and I had nothing to do with it.

[Ashley Flowers]

With Rubin stonewalling, detectives turned back to someone else who might help connect the dots. Maciel. But when she sat down with them on March 29, she denied knowing anything about what happened to Shad or who'd want to hurt him. She said they hadn't talked in months, not until he showed up at the restaurant that Monday before his murder. She said any issue her family had with Shad was about his lifestyle, not his skin color. And she explained that she'd been keeping him at arm's length because of his gang ties. It made him a target. She said that Rubin had even told her Shad was shot at recently, and she didn't want her daughter near that. Still, she wasn't concerned when Rubin and his family stopped by around 7pm on March 20 with news that Shad wanted to see the baby. She said that Rubin texted Shad, but when he didn't hear back, after a couple of hours, he went home. And what struck detectives was how selective Masiel's knowledge seemed to be. She had all the neutral logistics down cold, but anything substantive, especially if it reflected badly on her family. Suddenly, she didn't know, didn't see, never thought to ask. I mean, take March 18th. Masiel could tell them exactly how long her mom waited for Shad to arrive before she left with the baby. She knew that Reuben arranged that group visit at her aunt's house, even that he caught a ride there with Shad's friends. But the confrontation between Rubin and Shad outside the restaurant? No idea that Shad had to wait down the street while everyone else saw his daughter. News to her. Same thing for March 20th. She knew that Rubin met Shad outside the Nonviolence Institute, that Shad didn't get in Rubin's car, and that Shad was waiting on a ride when Ruben left. But what plan they made for him to see the baby. Big question mark, Detective. Lindsay and Cardon pressed her on it.

[Detective John Cardone]

Explain what was the conclusion of that meeting. Uncle Ruben had to share that. What terms did they come to as far as this arrangement?

[911 Caller]

I just know that he showed up at my house at night and he said, oh, I talked to Shad earlier. He said that if he could, you know, set something up and talk to you guys about seeing the baby. And then.

[Detective John Cardone]

No times, huh? He had no time set that.

[911 Caller]

No, I guess we just.

[Detective John Cardone]

No days that shot agreed to. Okay, so what was the conclusion of the meeting?

[911 Caller]

I don't know what they talked about. Honestly. All he told me was that. That he met with him for that purpose. Well, but he did.

[Detective John Cardone]

Visiting the child.

[911 Caller]

Yeah.

[Detective John Cardone]

Okay. And what was. I mean, you're the child's mother.

[911 Caller]

Yeah.

[Detective John Cardone]

Okay, so what was the. What was the result of the meeting? And you have to have told you it was your child.

[911 Caller]

He just said that he talked to him about that, and then he just, you know, he left.

[Detective John Cardone]

Yeah, I know, but, I mean, what was the outcome?

[911 Caller]

I don't know.

[Ashley Flowers]

Then there was the life insurance. Masiel told them that Chad didn't have any, but four days earlier, on March 25, the agent who sold Shad that policy notified the company of his death. So someone obviously told him. Meaning either Maciel was lying, or another person did the honors and didn't bother to mention it. Masiel's memory might have been selective, but records aren't. Detectives pulled phone data and bank statements. They confirmed Reuben paid some of Shad's monthly life insurance premiums, and that cell tower data placed Rubin near the Non Violence Institute around when Shad got into that white car. A car they believe Rubin was driving. But even with all of this circumstantial evidence mounting over the next few months, they just couldn't prove anything. They needed someone to come forward and confirm some of their suspicions. And two months after the murder, someone did. And it was the last person they ever expected.

[Josh Dean]

Every true crime story has one thing in common. Nothing is as it seems. And no podcast knows that better than Chameleon. I'm Josh Dean, and my podcast, Chameleon explores hidden identities concealed by con artists and scams. So mind blowing, it'll have you questioning everything you know. If you're ready to uncover the biggest lies in history, listen to Chameleon wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ashley Flowers]

In early May, Reuben came in for an interview, this time with his lawyer. And by then, his story had changed a lot. I mean, he still denied any involvement with Shad's murder, but, you know, now that he thought about it, yeah, he did pick up Shad at the institute that day, driving the white rented Toyota. He said they had started hashing out visitation stuff the day before, and this was just like a quick follow up. They cruised around for a couple of minutes, agreed that Shad would go to Massiel's that night to see the baby, and then Reuben dropped him off a block away from the institute in front of a library. Rubin said that Masiel knew about the visit and agreed to the time, contradicting what she had already told police. And Rubin stuck to the part where he waited at Massiel's for a couple of hours. But now he added that when Shad never showed, he took his family home to East Providence, then drove nearly 30 miles southeast to his brother's place in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he spent the night. Reuben had plenty to say about his relationship with Shad. He said he tried to help him, but he didn't approve of Shad's choices. Selling marijuana, maybe even cocaine, and getting caught up in gang violence, including an alleged recent incident where he was in a car that got sprayed with bullets.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

I just think he was trying to put insulation, trying to, you know, cast shade on Shad, trying to make him look like the. Where it just wasn't there.

[Ashley Flowers]

As for the insurance policy, Rubin said that it was Shad's idea. All he did was connect him with agents and kick in some cash to get the policy going. Rubin claimed that Shad1 and Milan provided for and maybe also wanted to get back in Massiel's good graces, which doesn't really track, considering she told police she didn't even know about it.

[Narrator/Investigator]

He tried to portray himself as like he was in the best interest of Shad. I did this for him. I did that. Opened a banking account for him. I got the life insurance, you know, like he was. He almost presented himself like a father figure to him. There was more animosity between the two of them than him being a father figure.

[Ashley Flowers]

Nothing, Rubin told them, checked out. Detectives pulled video from the library for the window of time when Rubin said that he dropped Shad off. Shad wasn't on the footage.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

At minimum, being devil's advocate, which I don't like to do, you would see him get out of a car at some point or be seen walking.

[Ashley Flowers]

Next, they drove to New Bedford to talk to Reuben's brother. And at first he was cordial. But when they asked if any of his Rhode island relatives visited him around that time, his demeanor shifted. He said no. Then he got nervous and agitated, but it didn't really matter because Reuben's own cell data told a different story.

[Narrator/Investigator]

We had the room basically everywhere he went that day, right? Mapped out for us.

[Ashley Flowers]

Spoiler alert, he wasn't in Massachusetts. Cell records put him in the Cranston Providence area that night. Detectives also learned that Rubin texted a friend at 10:32pm asking him to open up because Reuben was outside his house. That friend's house is less than a mile from Pocasset Cemetery, and 10:32pm is just minutes before the fire was set. The friend told investigators that he was asleep and never saw Rubin. But either way, Rubin wasn't where he said he was. So zoom out. Look at what detectives were sitting on. Rubin had lied to police from the start. Days before Shad was killed, Reuben got physical with him, then told a car full of people that Shad effed up for the last time. The restaurant surveillance footage from that day was mysteriously gone. Shad's brand new quarter million dollar life insurance policy was arranged by Rubin, paid for at least in part by Rubin, with Rubin's niece as the sole beneficiary.

[Narrator/Investigator]

Plus, I mean, you have him getting into a car with a guy he had a disturbance with two days earlier. As soon as he gets in my car, his phone goes dead. They have a. You have him on video getting into a really compact car. You have a way compact car tomorrow, the cemetery when the body's burning in the background or the brush at the time. And you have eyewitness saying it was a Waitoi and a Karola. We find a way Toyota Cruel at his house. And then we have him saying, I dropped him off at the library on the corner. But yet there's no activity on this kid's phone right after Reuben picked him up.

[Ashley Flowers]

Then there's Ruben's alibi that he was out of state, disputed by his own cell records. Detectives also found out that before the public even knew he was dead, Rubin asked a friend of Shad's if she thought Shad was involved with the murder in the graveyard at the time. It was a strange question, but in hindsight, it is downright chilling. So how much more do you need? Right. Well, according to prosecutors from the Rhode Island Attorney General's office.

[Narrator/Investigator]

More, they said it's not there. It's close. Pretty close. But it's not there.

[Ashley Flowers]

Presumably, they wanted a confession. Wouldn't that be nice? Or an eyewitness to the killing or some physical evidence before moving forward with prosecution. Obviously, we know the fire destroyed most of the physical evidence that would have been on Shad's body. But our reporter Nina asked detectives if they ever were able to get any. Anything from the white Toyota.

[Narrator/Investigator]

I know they went to the. The trunk. They vacuumed the trunk out several times, different parts of the car. And really nothing was revealed from it.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

Like, we just didn't understand, why are you not arresting him? And my mom could not understand it.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

It's difficult because you're trying to explain you can't jump the gun. You have to do it a certain way. But there's so much passion and so much emotion. You know, he was loved. And just to see that in the mom's face, and it's. I don't know. It's tough.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's tough for me to understand. And I'm not even related to Shad. Yes, this case is circumstantial, but a lot of cases are. So I wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth. The AG's office. What exactly should we tell our audience? That police need to bring this to prosecution. So we reached out to the AG's office multiple times for clarity, but after an initial acknowledgment, we never heard back. Which should be incredibly disappointing to hear for the people of Rhode island paying the bills or anyone in Rhode island who expects answers when a loved one is killed. Julie says that their mom never recovered from the loss of her son.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

She just wasn't the same. She just didn't know how to handle it. And she was just too sad.

[Ashley Flowers]

She fought for years to try and keep the life insurance money from paying out to Massiel. She wanted it to go into a trust for Milan, and police did what they could to help. I mean, based on the state slayer statute, if Massiel was found responsible for Shad's death, she wouldn't be entitled to a dime. And investigators told the insurance company that Masiel and family members were persons of interest.

[Narrator/Investigator]

We were in touch with the insurance company and their investigators, and they tried to hold off as long as they could because we did tell them our concerns.

[Ashley Flowers]

Caught between a valid policy on paper, messy facts, and competing claims, the company asked a federal court to decide who, if anyone, should get the money. And this case dragged on for years. But Shad's mom stopped contesting. And eventually the policy paid out to Maciel. Now, Maciel has always denied having anything to do with Shad's murder. And Shad's loved ones, including Dee, also seemed to believe that from the beginning.

[Dee Conway]

I always thought that Mossy was innocent in it.

[Ashley Flowers]

To where?

[Dee Conway]

Like she didn't know.

[Ashley Flowers]

But they do think that she learned more after he was killed. We tried to ask Massiel about it. According to her handyman, she was home when our reporter Nina knocked on her door, but she never came out or responded to the note we left. Whatever she did or didn't know at any point, she didn't let Shad's family see Milan, and that was the next loss that they suffered. And then in 2019, they were hit again when one of Shad's brothers died of a heart attack. And the next year, so did their mom. Investigators have kept trying to get the magical missing piece prosecutors are looking for. In 2021, they got a search warrant for Google geofence data, hoping that they could pull location history from any device near the cemetery. When the fire started, they came back.

[Narrator/Investigator]

With absolutely no records at all.

[Ashley Flowers]

Detectives think that the missing piece might be witnesses out there, people who could break this case wide open if they were willing to talk.

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

The street knows exactly how this went down, but the street's not talking. The people that would know that would say whatever that do know the particulars, don't want to end up as a brush fire. So that's a real. That's a real weight on their shoulders where they may have been closer, maybe Cad family, but that's a real realistic threat.

[Ashley Flowers]

That fear made sense back then, but detectives think the danger has faded. And Detective Lindsay says that the AG's office could help protect anyone who wants to talk.

[Narrator/Investigator]

They could set something up for somebody who's been wanting to come forward, that's afraid, but I don't think there's any reason to be afraid. To be honest with you.

[Ashley Flowers]

There's still a lot that detectives don't know. They never determined what sort of cord was used to strangle him, although there is speculation among his family that it was Shad's own headphones. Julian D. Said that he never went anywhere without them, and it doesn't appear that they were ever recovered. And they're still not sure where he was killed. I mean, there's no noticeable damage inside the Toyota or in Ruben's fiance's Nissan, which police also searched. And investigators say that they would expect to see some sign of a violent struggle if it happened there. Do you think he was killed in a car?

[Detective Bob Lindsay]

It's tough to say. It's tough to say if it. If it was that or another location close by. I can't see it. For what it's worth, based on past cases, when you're fighting for your life, that's a different level. And he was a Good sized kid. He's a young kid.

[Ashley Flowers]

Reuben's digital trail gave them a solid picture of his movements that day. So if they ever pin down a specific potential murder site, they can compare it. What detectives feel more confident about is that Shad was likely killed soon after he left the institute, that it was probably planned and more than one person was involved. Shad wasn't someone that you could easily overpower, and strangulation takes time for one person to manage that alone. While he fought back. It's hard to imagine, but exactly how that day unfolded remains a mystery. Rumors have tried to fill in the gaps. I mean, Shad's family heard one about a video showing him being tortured in a trunk, but police don't seem to know anything about that. Throughout our reporting, we have tried to make contact with Rubin, but he's been hard to find. Records list him under multiple spellings of his first name. He used at least three different last names, sometimes in combination, plus two different birth dates and Social Security numbers. On top of that, he's got connections to at least four states in two countries, the US And Dominican Republic. All of which makes it hard to follow his criminal history. But records and news coverage show that since Shad's death, Rubin pled no contest to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. And he's been arrested on accusations of extortion, extortion, and impersonating a police officer. Those last two charges still appear to be open, though. Like everything else with Reuben, it's confusing as hell. We tried phone numbers, certified letters, everything we could think of, but we weren't able to reach him. And I don't think detectives have been in contact with him since their interview. For Shad's family, the passage of time hasn't made any of this easier.

[Julie (Shad's sister)]

I want people to think about if it was them or their family. They would want somebody to say something because it's never going to go away. I'm never going to get my brother back. But I just don't think that it's okay to just kill somebody and just move on. Even though it's been a long time, we're still hurting. Like, this is something that we still thinking about every day. Every day in my life, I have to think about that.

[Ashley Flowers]

Milan is a teenager now. One of Shad's brothers managed to reestablish contact, and some of his relatives do get to see her occasionally, but no one mentioned Shad. Dee says it's basically like an unspoken rule.

[Dee Conway]

We don't want to overstep any boundaries and then lose the access to her that we've been trying to get for all these years.

[Ashley Flowers]

As for investigators, they have a message for whoever is staying silent and whoever is responsible.

[Narrator/Investigator]

I don't know how anybody can live with themselves. We just need somebody to come forward just to get us over that hump. And I think it could be on Ruben's side of the equation, you know, somebody closer to them and that knows something. It's still being looked at and we're still optimistic it'll be solved. So don't sleep either. Easier, I would say.

[Ashley Flowers]

If you have any information about the murder of Shad Gandhi, Khedia Cranston police want to hear from you. You can reach them at 401-942-2211 or submit a tip anonymously by texting the keyword Cranston PD and your tip to 847411. The Deck is an audio Chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com I think Chuck would approve.