EVIL LIVES HERE ‘Fostering Evil’ Why Sabrina Zunich stabbed her foster mother 170 times
On Nov. 16, 2012, Megan Zanella was 13 when she saw her mother, Lisa Knoefel, stabbed over 170 times by her foster sister Sabrina Zunich, who was 17 at the time. She tells her harrowing POV on the first episode of Season 19 of Evil Lives Here.
Megan used to look up to Sabrina as an older sister, but now only sees her as a “cold-blooded killer” who thought she could get away with murder.
The case centers on Lisa and Kevin Knoefel, who were regarded as loving and compassionate foster parents who welcomed underprivileged children into their home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. In July 2011, 16-year-old Sabrina Zunich was placed with the Knoefel family.
Who’s involved in the tragic case
* Lisa Knoefel: Lisa worked as a social worker in the sex abuse department of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services in Ohio. She would eventually open her home to children in need as a foster parent.
* Kevin Knoefel: In 2006, she married Kevin Knoefel, a truck driver.
* Sabrina Zunich: In July 2011, 16-year-old Sabrina Zunich was placed with the Knoefel family and moved into their home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
Sabrina’s foster father groomed her
On Nov. 16, 2012, Lisa Knoefel was stabbed nearly 200 times by her foster daughter, Sabrina Zunich, in Willoughby Hills.
Sabrina Zunich’s foster father, Kevin Knoefel, initiated a sexual relationship with her while she was a teen and convinced her to kill her foster mother. Kevin Knoefel began to talk about having his wife killed, and told Zunich about the $785,000 in insurance policies he had on Lisa Knoefel’s life. Zunich told the jury that Knoefel told her, “She would be worth more dead than alive,” and “He talked about how to kill her.”
Kevin’s best friend and coworker David Strunk also appeared on Evil Lives Here and said at first he had no idea Kevin had anything to do with Lisa’s murder. Later, he was shocked to see Kevin have no reaction in the court room. “If I had to choose one word,” David said. “It would be soulless.”
Zunich, now 28, eventually cooperated with investigators and pleaded guilty in 2014 to the aggravated murder of 41-year-old Lisa two years earlier. She was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
After deliberating for nine and a half hours, a jury found him guilty on all 11 counts; six counts of sexual battery, three counts of complicity to commit aggravated murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. Kevin Knoefel received the same sentence as Zunich after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and sexual battery.
