You are listening to devil. We know a true-crime podcast which may contain adult themes explicit language and graphic depictions of violence portions of the show may be traumatic for those under 18. Listener discretion is advised.In this episode of devil, we know a man named Jeffrey kills his wife to be his mother shooting and stabbing her multiple times after having lived in her basement for months. The plus Kovac family in Strongsville. Ohio was a unit that was for all intents and purposes close-knit. The mother of this family a woman named Melinda had been a natural and engendering a sense of family within the household and her experience as a middle school teacher had helped create that sense for her. She had a way with kids after all at age 49 Melinda plus Kovac have been a teacher in the Strongsville school district for over 27 years. And many believed that she was made for the job a born natural to quote her husband Bruce others agreed, of course to all who knew her as a teacher. Melinda was indeed a natural she coach softball as well and she loved to give back to the community in a big way whenever and however she could born to opal and George Michael Lloyd showman. She was endowed with a passion for family and for Education as well as a deep love for sports it. Was these values that she first transferred over to her students mostly consisting of six grade kids, but after marrying her husband Bruce plus Kovac Melinda spent the next 25 years a sharing those passions with her own kids as well as using with her children a tone that would come to be known as mom's teacher voice. The plus convicts children Anna Megan and Kyle all had values that very much reflected that which was handed down for Melinda in their rearing one unfortunate fact for the family though came from the discovery of Kyle's condition. He was found to have Down syndrome. I mutate of condition that affects physical growth and intellectual functions. Melinda even picked up Special Olympics as a way of not only connecting with her son, but as yet another method of giving back to her much Beloved Community as a result of his condition Kyle was rendered nonverbal. So even when he turned 18 this youngest of the siblings remained at home, there was not much allowance for leaving without the support. He was receiving from his family the life of Kyle and by extension Melinda was full of necessary routines education and rain, Max of kindness in the community It's these Traditions that formed the family's values over time and although Kyle couldn't articulate his appreciation of such a home. It's clear that his mother support and caring nature help to turn his debilitating condition into nothing more than a minor obstacle while he stayed behind at that tender beginning of adulthood Kyle sister Anna took to her adult life much more quickly. Anna worked at the local Applebee's and it wasn't long before she started. What would later become a After she met a young man named Jeff whom she fell in love with. Jeffrey's: Junior was a 20 year old man of about 300 pounds and a height of 6 foot 2 with an 11th grade education and listed as an HVAC worker. He and Emma began a courtship that soon resulted in a pregnancy. When Bruce and Melinda learned that Anna was pregnant, they ushered her into the basement of their house a place where Jeff and she could live with a modicum of privacy. The baby they had together a daughter named Aurora was another factor that led to the eventual decision of the couple to get married. They got engaged and then strange happenings occurred in the Strongsville home where they all lived. There were for example burglaries and home invasions as well as harassment that occurred some of which warranted 9-1-1 calls from the family. Jeff himself even reported one break-in which turned out to be a false alarm. Strangely since 2016 there had been several such instances at least seven reports of these odd events had been made in that time. And unfortunately there was more to them the summer when Jeff move back in and reported suspicious boys in the backyard on a nine one one call. She called again that November stating that there were peeping Toms that continue to knock on the doors as well. In the coming months and even near the wedding day that Anna and Jeff eventually decided upon there were strange breaking and entering situations that left the whole house feeling uncomfortable. Again. Anna was the one to address it as she did on Facebook with comments. Like Whoever has stolen my keys was playing with the remote at 4:30 a.m. And kept starting the van at seven another time. She wrote this instead. Set off car alarm was stolen remote again last night and found nails and Bruce's Tire. It was clear that something was changing. But the plus convicts couldn't place it even Jeff who left his parents house on Fair Road to live with Anna and her family seem to be perplexed and vexed by the ongoing events. But they didn't suspect Jeff of this activity after all Jeff's old neighbors maintained that Jeff's family was largely amicable and yet the crimes continued money started disappearing from the home and car alarms would even go off in the middle of the night a situation. That truly was not normal in this area. Strongsville, which is a suburb of Cleveland had an estimated population of a little over 44,000 across the 24.6 4 square miles that the city covers. This area nicknamed The Crossroads of the nation is a large retirement community Rife with coffee shops restaurants and other neighborhood destinations as such the public schools. There are highly rated and more importantly the crime rate in Strongsville is considerably low the majority of the crime that did occur there consisted of property crime, but still the activity scene at the plus Kovac home was unlike anything seen by any other Strongsville residents. whether it's burglary or theft the crimes that occurred there were usually few and far between so why on Earth were the plesk of experiencing such harassment and repeated criminal targeting? Why and one of the so-called best places to live in Ohio was this family getting hit so hard? The young couple had decided on a wedding date of October 28th 2017 and it was already spoken for with the venue of their choice. And I believe that the deposit for this venue was in fact handled properly by her husband to be but Jeff even in the weeks leading up to the wedding had yet to do so his credit card which he used to initially secure. The booking had been declined 14 times by the venue. And when Jeff eventually didn't take care of the money the venue called off the reservation. action They then contacted Melinda explaining to her that the charges had all been declined. She for her part resolved to confront Jeff that weekend to discuss the delinquent payment and the necessary steps to rebook with the venue in question, but Melinda never made it that far five days before the wedding was supposed to take place. Jeff went to the Applebee's were Anna worked with Anna and Bruce where the two expected Melinda to meet them for dinner and to discuss the upcoming nuptials between Anna and Jeff. The event after all was nigh and it was going to be a big deal for the entire family. So the four of them had previously agreed to a meeting there to bring and lay everything out on the table quite literally the meeting never took place. However, and so the 3/8 without her both Bruce and Jeff then headed back to the house where they found the front door locked and the garage door unresponsive. It was clearly abnormal for the family, but the two entered the house regardless to see what happened. It was then that Bruce and Jeff's all Melinda lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor of the kitchen. They then called 9-1-1 with Jeff sounding much more calm and collected than was expected in the following call. That was just my mom one. What's the address of your emergency? Somebody somebody attacked? Yeah, can I get my fires? He was attacked by whom do you know? And Melinda was soon transported to Southwest General Hospital where she was declared dead. Jeff who is with Bruce when he discovered her body was very calm throughout the experience never once asking how she was or how she was doing once Medical Transport arrived the first responding officer Sergeant Patrick O'Sullivan took note of the fact that although the woman in question seem to have suffered gunshot wounds. There were also stab wounds in her back. He found the back door slightly ajar as well and he learned that at the time of death Melinda had been at home. With 18 year old Kyle and the young couples one year old daughter, Aurora. The clues seem to point toward a specific outcome, but the investigation team had to be sure while they went about their work the rest of the family hung their hats elsewhere preparing themselves to learn more of what happened to the Beloved mother and wife. They had only seen alive hours before. And the community started to jump in with the help, they could muster for the late Melinda who had been a soccer player at Baldwin Wallace College and a coach for the women's varsity team at Strongsville High School. There was a new event in the making using her as their namesake. The Mel cup was born a soccer tournament at Kelly's Island that captured the spirit of the world cup and a much closer to home kind of way. In addition to this the milk cup also resolved to help fund an annual $1000 scholarship. In memory of her known as the Melinda showman plus Kovac Memorial Scholarship. Additionally there were quite a few people who began performing random acts of kindness to spark a sense of Goodwill in memory of her the movement popularized by social media was called hashtag. It's on mail and it encouraged these acts of kindness to be performed randomly and follow with a simple. It's on Mel to commemorate the spirit of giving that Melinda so willingly embodied when was alive It was a humble start but there were other citizens of the community looking to find ways to show their respect for the woman that gave so much in the meantime, though. There was a funeral to plan for the + convicts. The funeral occurred on October 28 the date that was meant for Anna's wedding. Jeff fell performed his duties as a pallbearer for Melinda and all of Strongsville showed their solidarity and support of the family who had lost a mother a wife and a much beloved contributor to the community. The celebrated teacher had touched the lives of many students. So the school even set up a crisis counseling service for anyone who wanted to speak to them. Pizza fire a local restaurant also helped to show their support by holding a fundraiser night of their own to help the plus cubics. We're in 20% of the money. They earned that night would be going to the family. Through it all though. Jeff was still present even though he was also suspect in The Killing. In fact, Jeff had endured three separate interviews first. Jeff had claimed no knowledge of the murder and the events surrounding it. However, he endured a large amount of questioning and following a polygraph test. He admitted to having murdered Melinda himself. While the exact results of the test are still unknown to the public the specifics that Jeff provided on the crime and his confession were accurate to the point of absolute certainty. Jeff was in fact the Killer. He told investigators that he had been at the house prior to meeting up with Anna and Bruce at Applebee's and he claimed that he had been confronted by Melinda who had discovered his knife and Firearm a 357 caliber Magnum revolver. It was this confrontation according to Jeff that caused an argument that began to erupt in the kitchen. The argument though didn't simply stay on the subject of weapon. She found Jeff was also pressing another topic the legitimacy of his child with Anna which was under scrutiny. Jeff claimed that the argument was over having a paternity test to confirm whether he was in fact the father of the 15 month old baby also in the house. Jeff also claimed that he was not a violent person. He told Melinda not to worry and that the gun wasn't loaded and would only be in the home for a short time. However, when Melinda reportedly screamed to Jeff that he was not the father of Aurora Jeff said he had lost control he took his first shot at Melinda alleging that afterward he went into a blind rage. He stated that the actual events were a blur and that he couldn't remember majority of it the wounds though spoke for themselves as Melinda was found to have been shot three times and stabbed 36 or 37 times. In his confession, Jeffrey called that night after a long stint of blatant denial without any real explanations. He was as heard in the interview finally ready to admit something a little closer to the truth something that as it turns out was easily proven once investigators looked into it. Resetting just how snatched it from them. She wasn't holding it 8 gram did when I was pulling it away from where it kind of just wow. After that, that's where it is. What don't really exactly understand. Everything's all like flurry just kind of just like a lost control I think. It was after this act that Jeff touched a hiding the murder weapons and the Bloody clothes. He was wearing all split between two separate vehicles to hide the evidence a pickup truck and a Buick LeSabre when Jeff admitted guilt to the crime. However, he was arrested on Halloween sharing with police the location of all of these items. The tactical knife which was found in plain view of the passengers compartment of a dark red pickup truck had blood on it, but eventually match with Melinda's DNA this lined up with the autopsy which had evidence of both gunshots and sharp force trauma resulting in internal and skeletal injuries. In the LeSabre, Jeff had help the investigators find even more evidence a backpack inside the car held the revolver for one along with gray bloody sweat pants. Both of which contain Jeff's DNA. There was even Blood on the inside of the passenger side door of the LeSabre. The investigators soon came to the conclusion to with a light of recent events that the earlier break-ins and other criminal activity were in fact staged and arranged by Jeff himself. It was clear. Now. Jeff was acting this way for a while and his behavior led up to and culminated in the murder that took place on the 23rd. Due to all of the things which implicated Jeff in this crime. It wasn't long before he was taken into court to be indicted on seven counts including aggravated murder and felonious assaults with a gun and a knife the court even took into account the fact that Anna's child Aurora had also been in the house when he had made his attacks. Due to this Jeff was also indicted for the crime of child endangerment in addition to the other crimes. Jets defense attorney Joseph Pata to she filed a motion to suppress evidence trying to claim that the confession was coerced and that the video recording of the confession should be thrown out and remain unused in the trial. There was a four-day hearing for the motion to suppress evidence emotion, which judge Pamela Barker ultimately denied a she allowed the video into evidence. Initially Jeff plead not guilty to all charges despite the confession. However, before the trial was set to begin Jeff took the no contest plea to all charges because the video would be shown at trial. His bond was set at 1 million dollars and the prosecutor Christopher Schroeder cut down every last minute half-assed offense thrown out by Jeff including a claim that due to the nature of the argument Jeff's actions were in self defense against an initial attack from a Linda. Jeff was placed at the home during the time of the murder thanks to his cell phone and the court was able to enact A fitting son's life in prison with eligibility for parole after a period of 33 years. Jeff's ex-fiance Anna attended the sentencing sharing her sentiments against the man. She thought she knew. She stated that he was a manipulator pathological liar a thief and a sociopath. Meanwhile, Jeff himself showed. No remorse all throughout not apologizing even once for his actions. He continued even after the sentencing to claim himself the true victim of the situation at hand. causing the plus Kovac family a considerable amount of difficulty and healing it was through this heinous act that Jeff permanently damaged. What was once a Happy Family the scar that he made will not be forgotten nor will it be in vain for Melinda's family the best way to keep her memory alive was to commemorate her through more action. Karen compassion in the world that eventually equates to some semblance of the impression she made Just motives have yet to be ascertained his endgame has not been discovered yet his continued Defiance in the face of the dark Deeds. He most certainly did commit has now brought much of him to the light that Anna his ex-fiancee would have never seen coming. It's hard to know what a man like this would have done to the entire family had the circumstances led him to a much bigger Outburst whether the child he reared with Anna was really his for example is a fact that obviously Triggered him an unprecedented ways and the overall effect is a simple and scary one the discovery of a person who is unstable and unwilling to act according to society strictures his lies his manipulation of the family helped to conceal a personage that would indeed take up arms against his own family to be in that in itself is a frightening realization. No matter what they tell you a person who enters your life could be the end of you how you find that out for yourself. Elf is only a matter of time. Thanks, once again for listening to devil, we know podcast we just want to thank you for being a part of the greatest audience on Earth. We'd love to hear from you guys. So as always feel free to reach out on social media devil. We know podcast is on Facebook Twitter and Instagram and Linkedin and we always like to talk to True Crime fans and get a feel for who our audience is in addition. Please don't hesitate to visit our website at devil. We know podcast.com where you can donate to the podcast to help us with our equipment software expenses every little bit helps. You can get a little more devil. We know in your life. If you join the circle of hell our patreon membership tier which offers two extra episodes a month alongside early release and other perks to join now go to patreon.com slash devil. We know podcast and sign up for a dollar a month or more to receive extras we offer this episode was written by David Wain young and research by cat Morris of active shooter. The podcasts Chase gray is the phenomenal artist behind the intro music and as always Amanda and I are your hosts. Thanks again for all you do listeners and remember stay safe. Sources Don Kendrick in the writing staff at WKYC Studios Corey Schafer of cleveland.com Kailyn Javi and Tara Molina of News 5 Cleveland Fox8 Cleveland news Alison would of the Strongsville post the Ohio state supreme court Chris Anderson of Cleveland channel 19 news and the Associated Press that the Washington Post.
A man named Jeffrey Scullin kills his wife-to-be’s mother, shooting and stabbing her multiple times after having lived in her basement for months.This episode was written by David Wayne Young, and researched by Kat Morris, of Active Shooter: the Podcast. Intro music by Chase Gray. 