Chanelle Peloso (The Bletchley Circle) is Ashley, the oldest of Castor's two daughters. "I never got my answers because Stacey died. I can't imagine my own flesh and blood is 50 feet away from me, saying that You tried to kill me, and not having -- a reaction to that, Fitzpatrick said. That bothers me, it is so confusing. Elena Nicolaou is the former culture editor at Oprah Daily. Bree said her 20-year-old sister was lying across the foot of her bed with a couple of pillows over her face and an empty vodka bottle and prescription pill bottle in the bed near her. [19] She indicated that her mother, stepfather and some other relatives still support her. Wallace's mother tried to kill her. She had noticed his ill appearance that day, but thought nothing of it. Detective testifies about Castor's mispronunciation However, an investigation revealed how the authorities believed that Stacey was responsible for it all. Castor, who died in 2016 at the age of 48, was an American woman found guilty of murdering her husband David Castor and attempting to murder her daughter, Ashley Wallace. Police found two glasses on the nightstand next to the bed, one containing what was later identified as antifreeze, and underneath the bed they found a bottle of antifreeze with its top off. In a fiery cross examination, Fitzpatrick confronted Castor with phone calls investigators had from wiretapping her phone, as well as computer evidence that showed she had not only written Ashleys suicide letter, but had two drafts. [24] He said that this theme was repeated fourteen times within the note and that he believes Castor will never admit to guilt of the murders. Stacey Castor defends herself during cross examination Watch on In June 2016, seven years into her 51-year sentence, Castor was found dead in her prison cell in Bedford Hills, New York. "And I will never say that I did, ever. Castor insinuated that Wallace was responsible for Michael and David's deaths. All Rights Reserved. Castor told authorities that her daughter had taken pills and left behind a suicide note confessing to both murders. As Poisoned Love shows, Ashley and Bree Wallace were once very close to their mom. They were blaming Stacey for this," she said. Page 1", "Exhumed Body Reveals Stacey Castor's First Husband 'Didn't Just Die': Exclusive Look Inside Anti-Freeze Murder Mystery; What Brought Two Men to Rest in Neighboring Graves. Weeks later, Wallace was found unresponsive on the sofa in the family home and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. But Ashley added that the support of her counselor and loved ones helped tremendously. [3] During one of the wiretapped recordings presented, "typing sounds" can be heard while Castor talks to a friend, though Castor denied memory of using the computer that day. Stacey was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and a plot to present a forged will. Page 3", "Stacey Castor 'Black Widow' Accused in Anti-Freeze Murder", "Exhumed Body Reveals Stacey Castor's First Husband 'Didn't Just Die': Exclusive Look Inside Anti-Freeze Murder Mystery; What Brought Two Men to Rest in Neighboring Graves. Well, I was scared too, when all I wanted was my mom. She opened up about her life today in an exclusive interview with OprahMag.com. "After my mom is sentenced today, I'll go back to my loving home with people who care about meI'm going to do good things in the world, despite your making me, in every sense of the word, an orphan," Wallace said. Castor died in prison of natural causes in 2016. "She was. Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Within months, he was found dead. She was sentenced to more than 51 years in prison. And then she was tired, after she drank it, and went and laid down., Sept. 14, 2007: Wallace is 15 minutes from death, Castor is arrested and arraigned. While investigating Davids death, they took a second look at Wallaces death. [19] Her lead defense counsel, Keller, announced that Castor would appeal the verdict, including challenging the inclusion of evidence regarding the death of her first husband, for which Castor had not been charged. But she was the one who did this," Wallace said. Michael Norton of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office said Stacey Castor described David's behavior that weekend: David got upset, took a bottle of Southern Comfort, went into the bedroom and locked himself in, and reportedly got drunk-- wouldn't come out.. Her then 16-year-old old sister, Bree discovered her the following morning, and rushed her to the hospital, according to ABC News. On Saturday, February 1, at 8 p.m., the new Nia Vardalos flick hits TV screens. I'm going to do good things in this world despite making me in every sense of the word an orphan. In that courtroom, Wallace said goodbye to her mother forever. Michael Norton of the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office remembered the medical examiner telling him Wallace was loaded with crystals.. "[20], Judge Fahey told Castor that he had never seen a parent attempt to murder their child in order to set their child up for a crime they themselves committed and declared Castor "in a class all by [her]self". [20] "She is cold, calculating and without any emotion for what she has done," she stated. According to Castor, Wallace was very close to Bree, showing a favoritism that Castor made up for by becoming "best friends" with elder daughter Ashley. They also had opposite shifts since she worked during the day as an ambulance dispatcher, and he worked during the evening as a mechanic. [3] They noted Ashley's father, Wallace, showing favoritism toward his younger daughter rather than Ashley and cited jealousy as a possible motive for Ashley having murdered at such a young age. There are so many things that she has ruined. The authorities believed that Stacey tried to kill her daughter and shift the blame onto her. She wanted people to believe that her life had been crippled by tragedy -- that her first husband had died of a heart attack, her second husband had died by poisoning himself with antifreeze, and that her daughter had also attempted suicide. [3] On the stand, Ashley retold how her mother had convinced her to drink the two nights before she almost died. [33], 2007 mugshot, Onondaga County Sheriffs Dept, Last edited on 28 February 2023, at 19:46, Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, "Exhumed Body Reveals Stacey Castor's First Husband 'Didn't Just Die': Exclusive Look Inside Anti-Freeze Murder Mystery; What Brought Two Men to Rest in Neighboring Graves. [30] It was not immediately apparent how she died and the manner of her death was listed as undetermined. "[9], If there is a ceiling in terms of evil, she (Castor) is at the ceiling. Michael Wallaces body is exhumed on Sept. 5, 2007 so investigators could examine it for signs of anti-freeze poisoning. Wallace woke up in the hospital, shocked at the clamor around her. A woman who killed two. Even with credit for time served, her earliest possible release date was June 15, 2055slightly over a month shy of her 88th birthday. She claimed she last spoke to him at 5 a.m. Sunday when he locked her out of the bedroom. Since then, Wallace tells OprahMag.com she has "moved on with [her] life," but still struggles with the aftereffects of trauma. In September 2007, Stacey attempted to frame her daughter Ashley for killing both of her deceased husbands. [9][12], Prosecutors argued that the computer-generated note where Ashley "confesses" to killing Wallace and David had actually been written by Castor. Stacey and David married in 2003, they met while working together at the latter's air conditioning installation and repair company. David had a grown son, David Jr., and she had daughters, Ashley and Bree. [20] "She has created so much pain and death with this, creating multiples of pain and death, in the families of those she has hurt. They showed me a copy of the suicide note that Ashley had left, and as I reviewed it, one of the things that jumped out at me and was unbelievable was: I had interviewed Stacey, and during my interview with her, she called antifreeze, antifree,' lead investigator Detective Dominick Spinelli told 20/20. Castor told David Muir in 2009 that, in the moment, she couldnt believe was happening. [3] They argued that the "suicide attempt" had actually been a planned-out murder attempt by Castor against Ashley. She was 48. "As horrible as it makes me feel, this is goodbye, Mom. But she tried to kill me instead. But doctors told Stacey they thought it was a heart attack, Benson said. [3], On cross examination, Fitzpatrick pointed out what he felt were flaws in Castor's version of that night. Passing away at age 48, authorities ruled that there was no foul play involved. She's focused on moving forward. By then, the couple had been together for two years. Wallace vocally grieved the loss of the old version of her mother, a woman she called her "best friend." The 2009 murder trial in Syracuse, New York, of Stacey Castor. Michael Wallace is seen here at his wedding. She'll never be able to see Bree graduate. Then, Wallace says she planted a note next to her daughter's passed-out body, which confessed to the murders of her father and step-father. 's office that Castor died of a heart attack, with no evidence of suicide or foul play. Standing next to her younger sister, Bree, Wallace opens up about feelings of confusion, anger, and bewilderment that had plagued her since learning of her mother's ultimate betrayal. Stacey Castor faced 25 years to life if convicted when her trial began in January 2009. Stacey Ruth Castor (ne Daniels, formerly Wallace; July 24, 1967 June 11, 2016)[1] was an American convicted murderer from Weedsport, New York. The Onondaga County jury found Castor guilty of murder for killing her husband, David, in 2005. Soon after, however, investigators found Staceys DNA on a turkey baster that had Castors DNA on it, as well. And in 2007, she was reportedly poisoned and came within 15 minutes of death, according to ABC News. [24], Though Castor was not officially defined as a serial killer, it is likely that she would have killed again. Stacey Castor's daughter Ashley Wallace took the stand this morning as the prosecution's first witness to tearfully testify about the deaths of her father and stepfather. [4] They believed Castor had used the turkey baster to force-feed him once he became too physically weak. Hear Stacey Castor's frantic 911 call to police about daughter who overdosed. Castor's first husband's family believes Castor may have killed her father having brought an open can of soda in for her father to drink in the hospital. Tonight, ABC News' 20/20 will investigate the Black Widow murderer, whose real name is Stacey Castor. Castor told Diane Leshinski, then-detective with the Onondaga Sheriffs Office, that she assumed he was sleeping it off. Ultimately, her daughters, Ashley and Bree Wallace, struggled to understand why their mother did what she did. Even though I do hate her, I still love her at the same time. According to District Attorney Fitzpatrick, Castor died of a heart attack, and no foul play was suspected. One time, he sat up, and he just vomited across the coffee table and laid back down went back to sleep like nothing ever happened. After Castors second husband died, however, investigators exhumed Wallaces body and discovered that he had actually died of antifreeze poisoning as well. [2] [3] Jan. 11, 2000: Castors first husband dies. Page 2", "Exhumed Body Reveals Stacey Castor's First Husband 'Didn't Just Die': Exclusive Look Inside Anti-Freeze Murder Mystery; What Brought Two Men to Rest in Neighboring Graves. In August 2005, Castor called emergency services to report that her husband David had locked himself in his bedroom and that she was worried for his safety. None of Ashley's fingerprints were found on the note which she purportedly wrote, but the print expert said there was some additional "ridge detail" on the document that was insufficient to test for identification purposes. When Wallace passed in 2000, doctors initially believed he suffered a heart attack after months of sickness. [3] They wanted to "poke holes" in Ashley's version of what happened and prove that she could have been capable of murder at age 11. (Ashley was just 12 at the time of her fathers death. In 2007, Stacey Castor attempted to poison her 19-year-old daughter, Ashley Wallace and frame her for murdering her stepfather, a crime Castor had committed, according to court reports. [16], The trial had lasted for four weeks. One of those times was to let Bree look in because the teenager had been asking if her mother was sure he was okay. Under questioning by District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, she said she had not seen the note moments earlier. In 2009, Castor was convicted of murdering her second husband, David Castor, attempting to murder her daughter, Ashley Wallace, and forging her husbands will. Police found a bottle of antifreeze with its top off beneath the bed where David Castor was found dead. [3][5], In 2003, Stacey married David Castor, whose surname she used from that point forward. Stacey's antifreeze killings and homicide plots are retold in an episode of 20/20 titled 20/20: Fatal Flaw - On The Rocks. [5] Physicians told Castor that her husband had died of a heart attack. I just couldnt believe that that was happening.. Doctors determined that he had died of a heart attack. As police were investigating both deaths in September 2007, the family suffered another emergency. [16][21] For forging David's will, he ordered Castor to serve an additional 1.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}13 to four years in prison. Sept. 12 2007: Ashley Wallace goes drinking with mom. According to ABC News, Castor never saw her daughters again. Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor story, a Lifetime movie premiering Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m., reenacts the harrowing story, with some fictional flourishes. Stacey Castor had already hired defense attorney Chuck Keller, who would follow the line of defense that Ashley was responsible for David Castors death and that Ashley also attempted to kill herself. Fingerprints from Castor and Bree were found on the suicide note, but both were seen touching the note before it was handed over to authorities to be taken in as evidence. Prior to the 20/20 broadcast, the true crime events were previously chronicled in Lifetime's Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story. "[19] Both of Castor's daughters expressed concern that their mother had not yet apologized to them. Where is Wallace now? Castor, however, never visited. For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter. She was given the maximum sentence of twenty-five years for both charges, with the addition of one year for the forging of David's will. Bottle of antifreeze poisoning as well sister, Bree discovered her the morning... 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