Carol Montecalvo was a devoted Christian who married her prison pen pal. Once he was released, they seemed happy. But on the evening of March 31, 1988, Carol and her husband Dan were shot. Dan survived. Carol was killed. After Carol’s death, Dan told police that, on the night of the shooting, he and Carol went for a walk together around the neighborhood. When they returned to the house, Carol was shot to death by an intruder. Dan suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.  

Join us at the quiet end for Death of a Prison Bride. Dan claimed that he found his wife bleeding on the floor of their home that night. And evidence in the Montecalvo home seemed to support a burglary gone wrong— until it didn’t. Investigators became suspicious of Dan when they learned of his extensive criminal past, his large gambling debts, and the $600,000 in life insurance he held on Carol’s life. So, did Dan find God or did Carol just find herself an evil man? 

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Sources

Burbank Man Guilty of Murdering Wife: Jury decides that ex-convict killed his spouse to collect her insurance, Los Angeles Times, Jesse Katz, 11/6/1990

Final Vows by Karen Kingsbury, 2013

The Perfect Murder, Murder by the Book, S3 E9, 7/27/2016

Tardy Confession: Woman Says Convicted Man Didn’t Kill His Wife, Los Angeles Times, Victor Merina, 1/6/1991

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