The Wendy DiRodio murder case had gripped the attention of the public and law enforcement agencies alike in Ventura County, California in the summer of 2009. With the web of details and unanswered questions galore, the case became a topic of interest and speculation over time.
The new crime show on ID, Does Murder Sleep? is here to go over the murder case with its new episode, Kill Her in the Night, released on August 16, 10 pm ET. The synopsis of the episode reads:
“In June 2009, 61-year-old Wendy DiRodio’s elderly mother discovers Wendy’s body in the bedroom of their shared Ventura County, Calif., home; another murder weeks earlier leads investigators to wonder if a serial killer is on the loose.”
The woman responsible for the murder, Gina Drake, had been sentenced to 11 years for the murder of her aunt.
From the victim’s background to the crime scene: 5 key details in the Wendy DiRodio case
1) The victim and her background
A still of Wendy DiRodio (Image via Silver Archives)
The late Wendy DiRodio was a resident of Ventura Keys, California, and was born to the late David and Florence Silver on June 1, 1948. According to statements from Wendy’s friends, she had moved into her parents’ home shortly after her divorce and took the ground floor of the Sailor Avenue residence. She was a psychotherapist and a couple’s counsellor by profession.
Wendy took care of her 91-year-old father as he suffered from Alzheimer’s and lived with two dogs. Wendy shared a quiet life with her parents and had turned 61 two days prior to the unfortunate event.
2) Discovery of the crime scene
On the morning of June 3, 2009, Florence Silver knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door to find it bolted from inside. She entered with spare keys and found DiRodio on the bed with multiple stab wounds on her body.
While her head, neck, and torso were covered in wounds, her dog lay under the bed injured with a stab wound on the neck.
3) Mysterious circumstances
As investigators arrived at a potential crime scene, they rushed the dog to the hospital and found a sheath for the crime weapon on the bedside table. There were no signs of forced entry but at the same time, the cover for the blade was also determined to be foreign to the household.
Wendy’s mother’s statement mentioned her noticing a figure move quickly outside her window around 2 am when she was woken up by the dogs barking.
4) Law enforcement involvement
DiRodio’s murder was initially grouped with the May 20, 2009, double homicide case of Davina and Brock Husted who were stabbed as well. The officers interrogated three suspects – Wendy’s Brazilian ex-boyfriend, an online lover, and a former client on whom Wendy had pressed charges for stalking.
Owing to a lack of evidence and strong support from alibis, the suspects were eventually let go from the loop and the case went cold.
5) Investigation and reaction from family
The family was called for a routine test calling for a cheek swab by the authorities following which Gina Drake, DiRodio’s niece, got hold of her lawyer. This made her a prime suspect despite the lack of evidence.
A turn of events led to an attempted suicide and Drake landed up at a hospital where she allegedly shared multiple implicating statements to the officer in charge.
Gina Drake was arrested in May 2012 and charged with first-degree murder. Her husband and a former police officer, Aaron Drake, filed for a divorce and played an important role in her arrest.
Categories: Trending
Source: newstars.edu.vn