The report confirmed that Susan’s cause of death was blunt force trauma. Because we know Susan was planning to file for divorce, it is believed Richard found out, became enraged, beat her to death, and then cleaned up as best he could.

He then left Susan somewhere in the house, went to steal the suburban the next day, switched out the license plates, and drove Susan’s body out to the abandoned farm to burn her body. He then parked the suburban in Harriet Wells garage, involving many potential suspects in his attempt to hide his crime. 

We’re unsure if he left the insurance card there on purpose or not but we do know Susan put up a fight as both her blood and Richard’s blood were found under luminal in the couples bedroom.

Case Sources:

⁠The Podcast: Going West⁠

⁠chron.com⁠ 

⁠expressnews.com⁠ 

⁠virtualglobetrotting.com ⁠

⁠zillow.com ⁠

⁠timesnewspapers.com ⁠

⁠truepeoplesearch.com ⁠

⁠inmate.tdcj.texas.gov⁠ 

⁠promisekeepers.org⁠ 

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/200001739/s01-e10-a-deadly-disappearance?start=true

Brian’s re-telling of events began to show holes and inconsistencies. Brian had originally told the Floyds that he had already called the police and needed to go back to the house to wait for them. The Floyds made note of the time the boys arrived on their doorstep to be exactly 1:24am on November 11th, 1998. However Brian’s call to police didn’t come in until exactly 1:41am.

Leaving almost 17 minutes of time unaccounted for. During Brian’s re-telling of events to police, he tells them he heard a gun shot but couldn’t get into his parents room due to the locked door. But in his call to the police, he tells 911 that his father had been shot and was bleeding out of his mouth. When police asked Brian how he knew Leslie was bleeding from his mouth if he had been standing outside a locked door, Brian couldn’t find a good answer.

Brian was also reported to be extremely calm and collected during this time. Because of all of these things, Brian was ultimately arrested and charged with the murder of his father Leslie Vaughn. Brian’s defense team argued the hired hit case but the jury didn’t believe the plausibility of this after hearing the arguments of both sides. Ultimately, Brian was convicted of murder his father based off of the inconsistencies in his own story.

Case Sources:

⁠https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/tag/brian-vaughn/⁠

⁠https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/fourth-court-of-appeals/2001/13946.html⁠

⁠https://podtail.com/en/podcast/killin-missin-hidden/brian-vaughn-from-hoop-dreams-to-a-jail- cell/⁠

⁠https://www.google.com/maps/place/23221+Eagle+Gap,+San+Antonio,+TX+78255/ @29.658234,-98.67759,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4! 1s0x865c6f91217a26ab:0x9e6ce505d357f578!8m2!3d29.658234!4d-98.6754013?hl=en⁠

⁠https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1276703/leslie-eugene-vaughn

In February of 2004. Dave Knotek pled down his first degree murder charge of Shane Watson to second degree murder with unlawful disposal of human remains and received just under 15 years in prison.

10 months after her arrest, Shelly entered an Alford plea,  which is like accepting guilt but not admitting to it. On sentencing day and with not a single soul in attendance to support her, Shelly addressed the courts.

“In this jail and in this courtroom and in this community, and everywhere else, I’m known as some kind of horrible monster. I’m not. I’ve made such horrible mistakes though. Kathy was my friend, she had value and she had purpose. She would have been there for me. I wasn’t there for her at lot. I was not there when Kathy died. Not there for her.”

She went on tho point fingers in her speech at Nikki and Shane. None of it was ever her fault. The judge, unimpressed by Shelly and her speech, tacked on and extra 5 years to her 17 years sensed and she ultimate received 22 years in prison.

Case Sources:

The Book: If You Tell

⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/shelly-knotek⁠

⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Knotek⁠

⁠https://www.chinookobserver.com/news/local/raymond-murderer-crazy-shellie-released-from-prison/article_539f6e46-61f3-11ed-99c6-433b5a338fd0.html⁠

⁠https://www.grunge.com/985238/the-messed-up-truth-about-serial-killer-mom-shelly-knotek/⁠

⁠https://arcaneus.com/shelly-knotek/⁠

⁠https://nypost.com/2019/11/30/kids-of-murderer-michelle-shelly-knotek-warn-their-mom-could-kill-again/⁠

⁠https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/knotek-michelle.htm⁠

⁠https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657267/⁠

The Documentary: Wicked Attraction Episode “Home Sweet Home”