Category: Dateline

John DiRubba says he fell in love at first sight with NYPD police officer Valerie Cincinelli, who was 20 years his junior. The fact that she was married didn’t bother him because Valerie told John her husband Isaiah Carvalho was a bad guy. Things escalated to devastating levels when Valerie tried to convince John DiRubbia to hire a hitman to kill her husband.

Over a decade later there are still questions about the 2010 shooting death of Norman “Lee” Radder. Lee died from a gunshot wound to the eye from his step-father-in-law Robert Fischer’s gun after a night of drinking. Prosecutors argued that Robert killed Lee and then staged Lee’s death as a suicide and Robert Fischer was convicted of Lee’s death in 2013. That conviction, however, was overturned in November 2021 on the ground of “interest of justice.” What really happened to Lee Radder?

When Ben Renick was found dead with a crushed skull in June, 2017, his brother thought he had been killed by a python. It was only after a police investigation uncovered that he had been killed by a gunshot wound that it became clear he had been murdered by a human. Why was his murdered?

For a while, Donna Palomba stayed anonymous regarding her September 11, 1993, sexual assault in her own home by a masked assailant. She had gone to the police as a “Jane Doe,” but they weren’t exactly on her side and all the people in her community thought she was lying about the horrible attack in order to cover up an affair. Eventually, Donna got justice for her terrifying assault and came out of hiding, but it took years of vigilance.

Girlfriends Mollie Olgin and Kristene Chapa were found brutally injured on June 23, 2012 at Violet Andrews Park in Corpus Christi, TX. The girls had had plans at the park that night, and one of their friends, Brittany Selby, was supposed to join them. That decision to not spend time at the park that night saved her life. Because Kristene and Mollie had been dating, the community wondered if it had been a hate crime.

Polyester clothing magnate Peter Nygard used his massive wealth to sex traffic and blackmail young women at his Bahamas 4.2 acre paradise called Nygard Cay. Tonight’s episode of Dateline interviews some of his victims and explores the story of the strange and hellish fantasyland.

On July 13, 2019, 57-year-old teacher Denise Hallowell was found dead with an axe in her head by her adopted son Carlos Hallowell. When 17-year-old Carlos called the police he told them that he and his mother had attended a funeral that day, and returned home between 2 and 3 p.m. and that he had discovered her body after their barking dogs woke him up from a nap.

In 2007, Love Has Won cult founder Amy Carlson left her three children and her more normal human life behind for an artist and musician living in Shasta, CA named Amaranth White Eagle, who believed he was Father God. As his partner Amy became Mother God, and soon enough demoted Amaranth to a mere human.