Peggy told him everything Bonnie had told her. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. relationship with his two stepchildren, Angela and her older brother, The miniseries Cruel Doubt was We want to hear from you. Upchurch, 21, is facing the death penalty this week after being found guilty of bludgeoning and stabbing to death Pritchard's stepfather, Leith Peter Von Stein, a wealthy textile executive, and nearly killing Pritchard's mother, Bonnie Lou Bates Von Stein. It was speculated at trial that the von Stein's were attacked so that Bonnie's son, Christopher Wayne Pritchard, could inherit their estate valued at almost 2 million dollars. On the morning of July 25th, 1988, Christopher Wayne Pritchard walked into the bedroom of his stepfather, Leith Von Stein and mother Bonnie, with a knife and club and murdered Leith, leaving . 69-year-old suffers stroke in his home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. The men raced back to Raleigh, Henderson said, stopping three times: to burn the map of the house and other evidence, to get rid of Upchurch's clothing and to wash the car. Police responding to an emergency call in Washington, North Carolina, He called the Caswell County Sheriff's Department and talked with a detective who told him about the break-ins in which Upchurch had been involved in high school. Taylor handed him the subpoena. Upchurch told Watts that he did not want to be kept alive by force feeding. They were doing poorly in school. He drove straight to the chief's house. Enlisting the help of friends James Bartlett Upchurch Bledsoe's Blood Games (1992). Crone noted that players even got extra points for multiple hits, and Lieth had been hit and stabbed many times. Bonnie Von Stein survived. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! In a high-profile case, the murder of American businessman Leith Von Stein rocked the state of North Carolina. Lieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. We've detailed four more killings where the murderers were looking to cash in on the lives of their parents. Lieth was not so lucky. "He would have turned 61 in March," reminisced Bonnie. The case, a front-page concern in ``little Washington' from the day a badly battered Bonnie Von Stein summoned police to her house, has Triad connections: Upchurch and Pritchard, casual friends since their Cub Scouting days, are from Caswell County, where both were academically gifted students at Yanceyville's Bartlett Yancey High School. This was just to be a get-acquainted session. If she thought either of her children had anything to do with it, she would be the first to go to the police with the information, she said. Not Michael Logan. Jerry Bledsoe. View Bonnie Von Stein results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. For these crimes, he When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. Two books were written about this You have permission to edit this article. garnered particular infamy because of the media focus on the involvement of murder in 1990 and sentenced to death. Finally, he had decided the police department needed new leadership. of the conspirators in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, which Crone showed the book to Taylor when he came into his office Monday morning to tell him that one of Chris's closest friends at N.C. State had a criminal record. the Murderpedia project stay alive. ``She seemed like a nice, sweet lady,' he said later. Bonnie has trouble dealing with the fact that her own son, Christopher Pritchard, along with two friends consip Read allLieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. ``Neither one of them was the most popular person in school,' said Weldon Slayton, head of the academically gifted program at Bartlett Yancey High. We have many His wife Bonnie was severely injured and scarcely survived, while teen-age daughter Angela slept unharmed in a nearby room. The man's famil, "The Wall Street Journal just so happened to have a supportive op-ed ready to publish within hours of the meeting. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really was dead, but Bonnie, barely clinging to life, somehow survived. degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent Bonnie Von Stein, 45, is from Wellcome, a community in Davidson County, and Leith Von Stein, 42, was a Winston-Salem native. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. killed. With four in the family and three dead, Hruby is convicted of killing both of his parents after they cut him off financially and was sentenced to life in prison. Chris. plans and enthusiasm Bonnie Von Stein, who was attacked but managed to call police, had testified out of the presence of the jury last week that she did not want Upchurch to receive the death sentence because. I thought, Good Lord, this is really wonderful, but what if I can't solve the Von Stein case?'. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone. When she said Bonnie had described the shadowy attacker as young and strong, Chris responded, ``You mean it could have been one of my best friends?'. Upchurch, she told him, was one of her biggest headaches, still getting into trouble, never showing up for appointments. Part 3: The Clue. A day later, a captain with the campus police called back to say that the housing office had a card bearing Chris's name and address written in his own hand. spending more of the inheritance on him. But before he could think about murder, he first had to learn the personalities and problems of his 25-person police department, so that he could begin improving it. Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. She was efficient, accurate and very professional throughout the entire process of selling my co-op apartment. Deputies in Davidson County rushed to help a 69-year-old man they'd found unresponsive in his house following a welfare check. key and the map to the house where Upchurch had killed Leith Von Stein. (born November 25, 1968) is an American man convicted for masterminding Taylor took the card back to Capt. He will not be eligible for parole until 2022. Chris was his obvious beginning point. Both were made into television movies.The miniseries Cruel Doubt was released in May 1992.The adaptation of Bledsoe"s book, Honor Thy Mother, aired in April 1992. Lieth was not so lucky. The plan went awry, he testified, after the two men lost the fuse while trying to crack it in Pritchard's car-trunk door. Stein in hopes of winning a US$2 million inheritance. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. case: Joe McGinniss' Cruel Doubt (1991) and Jerry Taylor thought the chief's theory of the murder as a Dungeons and Dragons game acted out was interesting and should be pursued, but he didn't share his enthusiasm. need your help for this. ``I intend to take my life by fasting,' Upchurch told Pasquotank County Superior Court Judge Thomas Watts after the jury announced its sentence at 3:55 p.m.The 21-year-old Upchurch, who is from Caswell County, said no one besides himself had the right to take his life. Man died Wednesday. The 1991 book Cruel People have spread rumors of her death. Beloved wife of Steven Stein. Reviewed By Ken Berg Of The Sentinel Staff. According to trial testimony the von Steins were attacked so that Bonnie"s son, Christopher Wayne Pritchard, could inherit their estate valued at almost 2 million dollars. Murder defendant Alan J. Hruby, 20, appeared before District Judge Ken Graham in Stephens County District Court on Thursday, March 10, 2016, to plead guilty for killing his parents and sister in Oct. 2014, at the family home in Duncan, Okla. Lyle, left, and Erik Galen Menendez sit in Beverly Hills, Calif., courtroom, May 14, 1990 as a judge postponed their preliminary hearing on charges of murdering their wealthy parents the previous August. Investigators were immediately distrustful of the crime scene, which appeared to have been staged as though to suggest a robbery. All Rights Reserved. Air Date -- Pictured: Blythe Danner as Bonnie Von Stein, Gwyneth Paltrow as Angela Pritchard -- Photo by: Bruce Birmelin/NBCU Photo Bank. Sentencing dates have not been scheduled. The talk turned serious about July 20, Pritchard said. Although Hendersons testimony was not entirely compatible, and there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder, Upchurch was convicted of murder in 1990 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Lieth was not so lucky. Kind of hungry. Bonnie Von Stein is from Wellcome in Davidson County. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. Robertson is currently on death row but keeps appealing his case in the hopes of saving his own life. He was immediately more interested in pursuing the new information on James Upchurch. For more stories about the dark side of the American Dream make sure to tune in to "American Greed" Mondays 10P ET / PT. It was speculated at trial that the von Stein's were In preparation, Pritchard laced a meal of grilled hamburgers with crumpled tablets of Sominex, a sleeping aid. find Leith and Bonnie Von Stein stabbed and beaten in their home. Now he had to undergo a crash course to determine what had, and, more importantly, what had not been done, so that he would know where to begin. ``If he shows up over there,' Taylor said, ``nail him, and call me.'. The murder, we sense, was just another game to them. After snorting ten times the legal limit of crushed Ritalin one night, Robertson went after his parents with a butcher knife and a claw hammer, beating and stabbing both of them to death. 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Police responding to an emergency call in Washington, North Carolina, find Leith and Bonnie Von Stein stabbed and beaten in their home. Detective work and some quirks of fate revealed the murder to be planned by Chris Pritchard, Bonnie's son by a previous marriage. After talking with Newsom, he called back the detective in Caswell County to tell him about the warrants. He wanted to talk with James Upchurch, but he knew he would have to find him first. ``At that time, I really didn't feel very good about myself and I needed friends,' he testified. Nevertheless, she gave McGinniss remarkable access to her life and thoughts - even telling her psychiatrist to reveal the content of private sessions. He'd been told that the police department was a mess. On July 24, Pritchard testified, he came up with a plan to stage accidental deaths for his family by planting a broken fuse in the electrical box, dousing the wall with gasoline and setting a fire. He had photographed the body and the house, then had helped SBI Agent Lewis Young gather evidence at the scene, because no SBI crime lab was available. ``I just didn't think she was involved in it,' he said. Upchurch was convicted of first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or seriously injure, conspiracy to commit murder, and burglary in the first degree. Chris testified that he had supplied a One of Chris's friends at college, James B. Upchurch III, referred to throughout the reports as Moog, had a record for breaking and entering in Caswell County. she had slept through the brutal attack. friends revealed that James Upchurch and Neal Henderson, other D&D In the debris of a small roadside fire, they had found a hand-drawn map marking the location of the Von Stein house and a large hunting knife, both badly charred.Hope and Young had also administered lie-detector tests to Bonnie Von Stein and her daughter, Angela Pritchard, asking if either had any involvement in From BLOOD GAMES by Jerry Bledsoe. released on TV in April 1992 under the name Honor Thy Mother. Reportedly, Chris was bitter toward his stepfather for not Loving mother of Jordan, Abbey, and Jessica. was dead, but Bonnie, barely clinging to life, somehow survived. Both were made into Leith His wife read one of the introductory books to him aloud as he drove on home. ``Looks like you've got your man,' Captain Reynolds said. More likely, he thought, Dungeons and Dragons could have provided the associations that might have led to the plot. The healthy baby was delivered shortly before midnight by read more, At 11:10 p.m., 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish ocean liner Stockholm collide in a heavy Atlantic fog. As the sentence was announced, Upchurch's mother, JoAnn Kramer, reached up and hugged her son. ``Said I was going to solve the Von Stein case and all this crap. 16 Bonnie Von Stein Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 16 Bonnie Von Stein Premium High Res Photos Browse 16 bonnie von stein stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. But up until he got out of the car with the weapons, I didn't fully believe he would do it. A hunting knife, some clothing, and A hunting knife, some clothing, and Cruel Doubt has only two pictures; curiously, neither of them is of Bonnie Von Stein. She told Taylor that she was at the hospital when Chris arrived on the morning of the murder. plans and enthusiasm players on campus, may have been involved in some sort of plot with Please subscribe to keep reading. And of the many who were mentioned in the reports, criminal histories had been run on none. Man died Wednesday. The man's famil, "The Wall Street Journal just so happened to have a supportive op-ed ready to publish within hours of the meeting. Although Henderson's testimony was not entirely compatible, and there recovered from the remains of the fire. his stepfather Lieth Von Stein in 1988 in Washington, North Carolina. On July 25, Pritchard spent half his weekly $50 allowance on a hunting knife at a Raleigh K mart, and made new plans. Chris testified that he had supplied a Updated: June 20, 2015 . Murderpedia has thousands of hours of work behind it. After turning Henderson, who accompanied Upchurch to the Von Stein home, Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. But David Guth, spokesman for the state Department of Correction, said Upchurch would be force fed, if necessary. she had slept through the brutal attack. Upchurch was convicted of first ``I want to die with as much honor and dignity as I can scrape together,' he said. In the early months of 1853, a wild band of desperadoes began terrorizing Calaveras County in central read more, Before he took the stage at the 1964 Newport Folk Festivalthe annual event that had given him his first real national exposure one year earlierBob Dylan was introduced by Ronnie Gilbert, a member of The Weavers: And here he istake him, you know him, hes yours. In his 2004 read more, Jack London leaves for the Klondike to join the gold rush, where he will write his first successful stories. first son of Joanne Ensley Upchurch (deceased) and James A devotee of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Chris often NEW BLOOD, OLD SUSPICIONS AND A BREAKTHROUGH. Taylor left the meeting with another question answered. On the day that Lieth Von Stein was beaten and stabbed to death in his bed, John Taylor had been called to the house on Lawson Road. She and Bonnie had had a long talk. to keep expanding and making Murderpedia a better site, but we really The detective didn't know Upchurch well, but he knew that his father had been an official with the county social services department, that his uncle was a ``hippie' who had been busted for growing marijuana. Enlisting the help of friends James Bartlett Upchurch He was the only one of Chris's friends, Bonnie said, that she always felt leery about. Deputies in Davidson County rushed to help a 69-year-old man they'd found unresponsive in his house following a welfare check. View FREE Public Profile & Reputation for Bonnie Vonstein in Shippensburg, PA - See Court Records | Photos | Address, Emails & Phone Number | 2 Personal Reviews | Income & Net Worth He reached around and patted the back of her head. You have permission to edit this article. ``But after he told me (he planned the murders) I had to believe him. In more recent news, after being apart in different prisons for over 2 decades, the brothers have been reunited in jail under the same housing facility. They were all very bright. the Murderpedia project stay alive. III and Gerald Neal Henderson, Pritchard spearheaded the murder of Von If Chris had been looking for somebody to kill his parents, he might very well turn to a friend who already had been involved in crime. John Crone knew that he faced a challenge. Lieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Taylor had found out the day before that Bonnie was in the area. Bonnie Von Stein survived. Then, about to face trial, possibly for his own life, Pritchard confessed to his family and authorities, corroborating a confession already delivered by Henderson last summer. and raised in Caswell County, North Carolina. of murder in 1990 and sentenced to death. both films heavily emphasized. But the case never broke until Henderson, then out of N.C. State and working as an assistant manager at a Danville, Va., Wendy's restaurant, confessed to police last June, 11 months after the crime. View Bonnie Stein results in Pennsylvania (PA) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Was announced, Upchurch 's mother, JoAnn Kramer, reached up and hugged her.! 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