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Marc Maron
Hey, it's Marc Maron from WTF here to let you know that this podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. And I'm sure the reason you're listening to this podcast right now is because you chose it well. Choose Progressives Name your price tool and you could find insurance options that fit your budget so you can pick the best one for your situation. Who doesn't like choice? Try it@progressive.com and now some legal info. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law not available in all states this tax season at Boost Mobile. When you buy six months on our Best Unlimited plans, we will give you the next six months for free plus enter to win up to $10,000 and double your tax refund. Your refund your rules requires upfront payment, taxes and fees. Extra terms and exclusions apply. Visit boostmobile.com for full offer terms and sweeps details. 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She was the one who was in control of Tom. Didn't realize how much she was in control of Dave. Thomas and Amy weren't concerned about him. At that point it was all hands on deck. We knew we had a needle in a haystack type case. It's September 8, 2007 and Christine Bel living her worst nightmare. Her three girls were due home two days ago from a trip to Disney World with their father and grandmother. But communication with her ex husband, David Matusewicz, has gone radio silent. Every second feels like the girls are slipping further and further away. Christine knows that she might come off as paranoid or hysterical, but she believes to her core that something isn't right and her Girls are in danger. Pacing around her empty house isn't helping to bring her daughters back home. So Christine decides to turn to the Newcastle Police Department. 911, what's your emergency? I'm Jeff Shriner. I was the missing persons detective for Newcastle County Police. When I was on the phone with Christine, the tone of her voice, the way she came across, she was very concerned. Being involved in these before of parental fighting between divorced parents. I didn't go overboard. They were supposed to be back on a Sunday and now we're like into Tuesday and Wednesday. It really didn't cause alarm to me because I'd seen these cases before. The father either broke down or sometimes they like to be a little spiteful and just not bring them back on time. But you could tell in her voice she thought something was wrong. At this point, Christine and David have been living separately for eight months. Christine's focus has always been to put the children first and find a family structure that works best for them. I'm Timothy Hitchings. I am Christine's lawyer. Christine wanted them to co parent. She wanted the children to live with David part of the time, with her part of the time for them to be able to work as a team, as parents, even if though they could not be a team as husband and wife. However, the divorce proceedings could take a while and there needs to be a temporary plan in place for parenting the girls. Christine has been through a divorce before and knows that stability and consistency are of the utmost importance for children during these difficult transitions. David, however, is more focused on punishing Christine for filing for divorce in the first place. David wants to make Christine hurt the way that he has been hurting over the past couple months. So he wants to exert the ultimate control over her and punish her as much as possible. David wanted to make all the decisions and without her input. We had a mediation in March of 2007 to discuss who was going to have temporary custody or interim custody of the children. He wanted to make all the decisions and she didn't want to fight him at that point. So she agreed at that point temporarily to let him make the decisions. After filing for divorce, Christine and Katie had moved in with Christine's grandmother. She needs to find a permanent residence before she can have the girls come to live with her part time and on top of that she needs to find a new job. David fired her from her job at his clinic at a time in her life when things weren't going really well. Her goal was to eventually get on her feet financially and then once the Court would rule on the ultimate custody determination. Then she would be able to have a decent home where she could live and have the children live their part time with her. That was her goal, and that's how she was working towards. It was clear to Christine that David wasn't taking the divorce well. But it's not unusual for divorces to become contentious. No matter how measured and mature Christine is during the custody negotiations, David is constantly trying to find ways to undermine her parental rights. To give you an idea about control, I said to Chris, I said, since the children are living with him, the only thing, it's fair for you to pay him some child support. Now, it wouldn't be very much because he made a lot more money than she did anyway. So I said, here's an estimate about what you can pay. And so she wanted to send him a check. She sent him a check. And we got a response from his attorney saying he didn't want money, he didn't want money from her. And you see this every once in a while in custody disputes where a parent wants to have control over the children through the custody process. And they'll say, I don't want money. I just want the kids. But the way the law is, you don't pay for the right to have your kids. And that's what effectively he was doing. He wanted to make all the decisions, have the kids live with him all the time. Christine's stepmother, Eileen McDermott, can remember the palpable tension during this time. David wasn't the only one driving this aggressive custody stance. I don't think that Lenore liked the idea that they were divorced. That was a big no. No. The idea that they now are fighting for custody for the children, which in their opinion, that Christine should never have custody of the kids. Lenore wanted Dave to have sole custody. She did not want him to share those kids with Christ. Christine is an open book with authorities about the downfall of her marriage and the events that led up to the Disney World trip. She spares no details, revealing the escalation in David and Lenore's behavior that has led her to believe that this is an emergency situation. Authorities are moved by her story and a sense of urgency. Detective Shriner agrees that something is off. She helped sell that there was something could be more than just dad playing a game with his ex wife. So I just started looking deeper into it. I went out to the neighborhood down in Middletown, Delaware, where they live, and obviously there was nobody home. I started talking to some neighbors, and neighbors were telling me some Interesting stuff as far as that. Back in June, now this is August into September. The home that David and the girls shared was nestled in the heart of a small suburban neighborhood. The kind of street where kids would ride their bikes and everyone would get together for barbecues in the summer. People can sense with something is off with one of their own. Routine is king in the suburbs, so even little changes with one of the residents can be picked up by the community. Journalist Chris Barish recalls some of the subtle oddities that neighbors had picked up on during the lead up to the family going missing. Neighbors wondered why the pool wasn't running, and they saw furniture being moved out of the house. This is a small community, and the people all knew each other. There was no indication of where they were going, if they were selling a house. There was no for sale sign outside the house, so the neighbors couldn't understand why they were moving. At least one of the neighbors said to me, they found it unusual that in the middle of June, and it gets warm in the middle of June, that their fireplace would be bellowing smoke. Very, very unusual. Christine's concerns are starting to gain traction. Investigators are finding puzzle pieces that match her narrative. The investigators need to gather more evidence, though, before they can say for sure that the Matusewicz girls are officially missing. We've started going through what I needed to do. An investigator pulling banking information. I'd spoken to Christine's attorney, Tim Hitchens, and Tim alerted us to a home equity line of credit that Christine's name was forged on. David refinanced the house to take all of the remaining equity, $249,000, out of the house. He was able to get a notary public to accept a signature that he had, he or somebody under his direction had forged of Christine Belford's name on that mortgage application. And while Christine is entitled to that money just as much as David is, he is now the one on the run with almost a quarter of a million dollars. It is becoming clear to law enforcement that David sees this as far more than an extended vacation. All that, combined with that information that I'm starting to develop, I eventually was able to get enough information to go to the prosecutor. Everything showed it's more than just him not coming home in time. Now that I have established a crime, I was able to then obtain a search warrant for the residents of Middletown, Delaware, in September 2007. Investigators are hopeful that the family home will have clues that will give them some indication of where David and Lenore are heading. But they'll soon Learn that nothing with the Matusewicz family is ever so simple. As soon as we pulled up, you look in the back was a swimming pool. It was all green. There was a car. I believe it was a Chevy Impala. It was backed in towards the garage door. Didn't have any license plates on it. The house, for somebody who's an eye doctor, was very disheveled from the outside alone. Once inside, it was pretty much vacant. There was some trash in the kitchen, trash can. There was a little bit of furniture in the center of the living room, but it was pretty cleaned out. There was just a bunch of trash. The Matusewicz house, which had once been the bustling home to eight people, is now silent and eerily empty. Investigators walk into each room, finding exactly what they found in the room before. Nothing. It was clear the family had no intention of returning to the house in this state. But so far, there is nothing to explain why they left until something in the living room catches Detective Shriner's eye. The most interesting thing I found is when I went to the fireplace and it was nothing but ashes. Except the only thing that did not burn was David and Christine's divorce papers. There was something bitter with this, really bitter. Now, Detective Shriner is grateful for this one piece of evidence that points to a potential motive for David and Lenore skipping town. But if David and Lenore left town because of the divorce, Detective Shriner still has no evidence telling him where they were heading. The family seems to have vanished into thin air. With Christine completely in the dark, detectives turned to the only other people who might be able to help find David and Lenore. I reached out to Thomas. I could never track him down, so I actually left my number for him to call me. Eventually, he did call me. I spoke to him. He seemed overconfident in himself, kind of cocky, like, you know, like, I'm smarter than you type. Deal. His answers were really vague. He didn't know when they were coming back. A lot of didn't knows. And he had no concern, no concern at all about where his wife, son, and grandkids were. So that is a red flag that, you know, he had my number. He could have called me a thousand times. I mean, as a concerned grandparent, detectives know that time is precious. And with Tom suspiciously unhelpful, they turned to the only remaining Matusewic who might be able to help them. We drove over to New Jersey and met Amy face to face. Amy was not nearly as brash. She was. She was. She was kind of the opposite of Thomas. Amy was trying to be more down to earth and more friendly. I guess you could use that term. Amy and Thomas are so vague. And again, they both had my numbers. If they even were concerned, you'd think they would call the lead detective looking for their family members. They never once called. Detectives have a gut feeling that Tom and Amy know much more than they are letting on. Nobody denies that the Matusewicz's are a tight knit family, but are they close enough to commit kidnapping together? Picture this. You're halfway through a DIY car fix, tools scattered everywhere, and boom. You realize you're missing a part. It's okay because you know, whatever it is, it's on ebay. They've got everything. Brakes, headlights, cold air intakes. Whatever you need. And it's guaranteed to fit. Which means no more crossing your fingers and hoping you've ordered the right thing. All the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. Ebay Things People Love I used to think buying foundation online was impossible. How am I supposed to find my shade when I can't even get it right in store? 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You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com Tom was a puppet. If Lenore told him to jump, he would say how high? And that was even in company. I mean, even before any of that. She was the one who was in control of Tom. Didn't realize how much she was in control of days. We're used to hearing that people say family's number one. That's the most important thing. What's not the most important thing, what's right and what's wrong is the most important thing. And if families engage in raw fish conduct, they're doing wrong. And that's not a healthy family. The Matusewicz family didn't wake up one morning and decide to abduct the three girls. This is looking more and more like a carefully calculated conspiracy. But how did it come to this? Looking back one generation earlier, it turns out David is not the first to be crowned the family's golden boy. And Dr. A.J. marsden believes this winding road weaves all the way back to the birth of the original. Tom's dad had been married to another woman and had two children with another woman. She unfortunately passed away and then he married Tom's mother and then they together had Tom. Jill Matusiewicz is the daughter of Tom's stepbrother. Her father did not have fond memories of his childhood with Tom. He confided in her that his upbringing took a traumatic turn once Tom entered the picture. Tom was the favored son because the others were stepchildren. So the stepmother came in and took over the household and my grandfather allowed his children to be pushed to the side. When Tom came along, the sun rose and set on Tom. It seems that Tom was born basking in his parents light, leaving his step siblings in a cold shade. Tom's status within the family would quickly reach truly bizarre extremes. My dad and his sister were moved into the unheated attic to the point that their blankets would freeze to the wall in the winters. And here's the weird part. Thomas was the only one that got Christmas presents on Christmas day. They were allowed to get up very, very early in the morning and play with the toys that were there for Tom. But as soon as he got up, they were pushed aside because those were Tom's toys. There's favoritism and showing one child maybe that you prefer them or you like their sense of humor more. And then there's favoritism to this degree where they were literally ostracizing the older two children. Having that type of upbringing really causes you to develop some sense of entitlement. Tom's parents have always thought that he's perfect. Everything that he's done has been wonderful. So in his mind, anything that he does from this point forward is also going to be wonderful. He can't do any wrong. That mindset would go on to influence most major decisions in Tom's life. Throughout childhood into his adult years, Lenore's upbringing couldn't have been more different. She didn't like to speak about her childhood, but it's clear that growing up, her home life was severely unstable. Lenore's daughter Amy recalls the hardship her mother dealt with early in her life. My mother, Lenore was sexually abused by an uncle as a young child. And she did not disclose that to her mother, my grandmother. So I think that really affected her later on in life. And that strong sense of family comes first. And I have to protect my family and I have to keep them safe. Tom and Lenore started dating in high school. Although they come from different backgrounds, they are instantly drawn to each other. Tom is searching for a partner who will make him the center of their universe. Lenore saw Tom as a man with great potential, Someone who can help or build the family she so desperately wants to protect and control. Tom and Lenore had a shared vision for the future. From the very start. They knew their roles and it was up to each of them to hold up their end of the bargain. Tom's responsibility was providing for the children. Lenore's was taking care of the children. She had little odd jobs throughout the years. She would work at a Sunday school as a teacher. She'd be a teacher's aide, all this other stuff. But in general, her role was to take care of the kids. So they saw each other as compatible partners in that way. Tom had many jobs, but he didn't hold on to them for long. Tom had been in the navy. He was a bus driver for a little bit. Tom was a photographer for a while. He sold insurance. He also worked for New Jersey Bell Telephone for a period of time. He ended up working at the post office. My dad always had like or getting two jobs that are not going to try to help support us. One day he came home and he was in an outfit for police officers. He just went to the police academy and became a police officer. It wasn't like he couldn't get work. Tom thought he was better than he was and it was hard to stay in jobs. It's safe to say that Tom Matusiewicz was a bit of a jack of all trades and a master of none. Bob Romano recalls The six years he and Tom were brothers of the batch. Tom and I graduated the Burlington county police academy in April of 1974. Tom was always saying that his wife was complaining that he wasn't making enough money because at the time we got hired, we were only making $8,050 a year. Tom and I graduated the Burlington county police academy in April of 1974. Tom was always saying that his wife was complaining that he wasn't making enough money because at the time we got hired, we applied for food stamps because he couldn't feed his family. He seemed like he had a lot of problems trying to support the kids. My dad, unfortunately, he didn't make real great decisions with money. He was always, like, running out of gas. So we always have, like, gas, gas in the car. We had, like, electricity turned off and, you know, didn't have, like, hot water and all that sometimes. And he didn't, like, pay the bills first. He went out and bought things that he wanted to buy instead. Tom was a little frivolous, apparently. He bought a boat once that had a hole in it, and he patched it up, and he would take the kids out on this little fishing boat. I also know that Tom, he was really into guns. He was always really enthusiastic about guns. And, you know, he would buy guns. I don't know how many he actually acquired, but we would go out shooting all the time. And, like, the one time he bought a gun, a.44 Magnum, which was a big gun at the time because Clint Eastwood had this type of gun in the movies. And he brought it into work and was showing us everybody. I mean, this is not a cheap gun. I know I couldn't afford it. And he finds the money to afford this gun, and then he's complaining that he can't feed his kids. So I. I could never get where his priorities were. Tom will not be told what to do or how to live his life. His reckless disdain for authority puts his family in a constant state of risk. Unable to take a hard look in the mirror, Tom develops a deep resentment of the government. He feels that he was unjustly targeted and forced out of his public service jobs at places like the post office and police department. Tom's erratic behavior and lack of impulse control is starting to put a strain on his marriage. Lenore will not sit idly by as Tom makes a fool out of her and puts their family's future in jeopardy. It seems like only the unstoppable force can move the immovable object. Applebee's has a brand new Big Easy Menu. 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Brakes, headlights, cold air intakes. Whatever you need. And it's guaranteed to fit. Which means no more crossing your fingers and hoping you've ordered the right thing. All the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time ebay Things people Love this is a psa or public sock announcement. Experts have declared Bombas socks as the best way to warm up chilly feet. These pairs are super cushy soft and designed for maximum coziness. Plus, for every pair purchased, another pair will be donated so someone in need of essential clothing can stay warm this winter. Go to bombas.com acast and use code acast for 20 off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com acast and use code Acast at checkout. Noor is a control freak. I think he was afraid of her, actually, because he just cowered down to whatever she said. And you could just see the way he spoke about her, that she was running the household. You know she would say that. Well, Lenore says I gotta get another job. Lenore says I gotta get more money. I guess he thought that was gonna relieve his problems the second job, but all it did was cause more problems. Lenore can see the cracks in her family's foundation multiply with every one of Tom's new careers, new purchases or new mistakes. She won't let anyone stand in her way when it comes to molding her family how she sees fit. Not even Tom. Lenora absolutely was the dominant in their relationship. And Tom was extremely submissive to her wants. Not necessarily her needs, but her wants. With the exception, of course, of Tom having a career. But, you know, whatever Lenore wanted is what Tom jumped and did. Lenore successfully entrenches herself as the shot caller in the Matusewicz household. However, she knows this family needs a true provider. It's clear Tom is too unpredictable, too undisciplined. She needs someone who is able to take her direction without questioning her authority. Lenore's behavior of getting what she wanted from those kids when they were children, you know, to a point. She seemed to be molding them when they were children, although they were undisciplined, it was get mom this, do this for mom, so mom got what she wanted. As the children grew, Lenore's focus shifts more and more towards the family's rising star, David. A hard working and studious young man, David is Lenore's last hope at securing her family's future. Lenore needs to do everything she can to make sure David doesn't fail in the same ways Tom did. David was always very smart. Like he was always rooting a lot and like playing with chemistry stuff. David was very smart and odd at the same time. He didn't like to run and play normal. You know, kids out in the woods at my grandfather's house, he didn't like that. That's when the other kids were, you know, riding bikes, doing the higher level education kind of thing. You know, he was sent to drama club and, you know, things like that, music and things that, you know, exercise your brain. All the responsibility that Lenore had initially put on Tom, she started to put that on David. You got to do good in school, you got to get good grades. If you don't get good grades, you're not going to go. If you don't go to college, you're not going to get a good job and you're not going to be able to provide for the family. I would say our parents definitely encouraged him and with my brother was very intelligent to the point where he didn't have to do two years of college, that he had graduated a little bit ahead of time. Because he goes above and beyond. David delivered on all of Lenore's hopes and dreams. He excelled in college and even purchased his own thriving optometrist practice. Her puppeting has been a resounding success. She wasn't thrilled when David and Christine got married because she didn't like the idea of anyone else having influence on her golden Boy. But there was nothing more important to Lenore than David having children. And for that, he needed a wife. Nothing was more important than ensuring the Matusewitz family would continue into the next generation. So having grandkids in general is a joyous occasion, Right. So any parent would be excited to have grandchildren. For Lenore, this is not only just the excitement of having grandchildren, her first grandchildren, but also David's grandchildren. So her favorite child just had children and she's excited about. So that throws this whole idea in Lenore's head that, okay, David has succeeded. He's taken care of the children, he's produced offspring. Lenore's relentless desire for control over the next generation of the Matusewicz clan has led directly to David and Christine's divorce. The court's decision to have the girls live with David until Christine can get on her feet has only given Lenor more power. And now, almost 11 months after their divorce was finalized, Christine realizes that Lenor will stop at nothing to keep her family under her reign. We started pulling credit card information and the last of anything we could find of his or the kids or Lenore Le Matusewitz existing was in North Carolina, where they stopped and got fuel with a credit card. That picture was starting to get painted. It didn't take many strokes on the canvas to tell me we got a bigger problem. David wasn't taking any chances and was covering all of his tracks. The money from the mortgage fraud would easily bankroll life on the run for a while. But if David wanted to disappear forever, he'd need a whole lot more. It was also discovered he'd sold his practice. He'd sold his optometry practice to the optometrists who work working for him. With the sale of his successful business, David's cash reserves have grown to a shocking and dangerous $1 million. At that point, it was all hands on deck. Definitely got a kidnapping. He had no plans to come back. It's not paranoia if you end up being right, which is a regret, I think we all had, that we didn't 100% believe. Christine. David had upwards of a million dollars in cash when he took off. I've had other cases that I had the idea where they may be going or I had direction of travel or something like that. This one I had nothing. Plus a two week ED storm, plus our suspect with all this cash with him, we knew we had a needle in a haystack case. Next time on Very Scary People. This was a big turning point. He writes no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time to take the gloves off. They've been in touch with him, but they're just lying to you. In all my years as a detective, I've never seen a case quite like this. There's been a child found in a lake in Texas. We were doing everything we could domestically to find them. Now the focus moved international. Very Scary People is produced by Lionsgate Alternative Television for id. I'm Donnie Wahlberg. You can follow our show wherever you get your podcasts. And we'd love it if you could take a second to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Come on down to Boost Mobile and turn your tax refund into six months of savings. Nope, all wrong. You're on the radio touting Boost Mobile's 5G network. You gotta use your radio voice like this. Come on down to Boost Mobile and get six months free when you buy. Six months on our best unlimited plans. Now you go. This is just how my voice sounds. Just say it like you mean it. Okay. Plus enter to win up to $10,000 and double your tax refund. Oh my. Requires upfront payment, taxes and fees. Extra terms and exclusions apply. Visit boostmobile.com for full on returns and suites details. Hey, it's Marc Maron from WTF here to let you know that this podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. And I'm sure the reason you're listening to this podcast right now is because you chose it well. Choose Progressives name your price tool and you could find insurance options that fit your budget. So you can pick the best one for your situation. Who doesn't like choice? Try it@progressive.com and now some legal info. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states if you haven't noticed, it's winter. And now more than ever, I'm in need of a little treat. That's why I joined firstly, a wine club that delivers my favorite types of wine right to my door. Because there's really no better treat than a glass of delicious red, white or rose. So go ahead and treat yourself to world class wines from First Leaf. 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