Did the Devil Control Her? - The Monsters Among Us | Deadly Women

[00:00:05]Detroit teenager Lar Kita Collier has strong women to guide her through life.

[00:00:13]>> It's time.

[00:00:14]>> Her 64-year-old grandmother, Bertha Adkins, is a constant companion while her mom, Sandra, works full-time.

[00:00:25]>> I think the wife did it.

[00:00:28]>> I don't think the son did it.

[00:00:29]>> The mother worked double shifts. Bertha basically watched the house during the day.

[00:00:34]>> Did you do your homework?

[00:00:36]>> Yeah.

[00:00:37]>> Under their watchful eyes, 16-year-old Lar Kita is thriving.

[00:00:43]>> Lar Kita Collier was on her way to being a successful person. She was doing very well.

[00:00:56]>> But raising a teen is rarely smooth sailing.

[00:01:02]>> What are you trying to do, knock me off my game?

[00:01:04]>> I thought you might like an up close and personal.

[00:01:09]>> Especially when they fall in love.

[00:01:13]>> Baby.

[00:01:15]>> They met, it seems, at the very beginning of their freshman year in high school.

[00:01:26]When Lar Kita meets 17-year-old classmate Sharon Patterson, things begin to change.

[00:01:39]>> Lar Kita believed Sharon was the love of her life.

[00:01:44]They loved each other as much as teenagers can say that they love each other when they're 16.

[00:01:59]>> Hey.

[00:02:03]>> But Larkita doesn't share her joy with her family.

[00:02:08]She sneaks Sharon into her home and her bed.

[00:02:14]>> Sharon would sneak in and hide in Larkita's bedroom and no one else in the household would know at first that she was there.

[00:02:22]>> Sharon has no home of her own.

[00:02:25]She's been couch surfing for months.

[00:02:29]>> She really didn't have a stable residence. Sharon would often spend up to a couple days in a row at Larkita's home.

[00:02:41]>> But it's not a secret for long.

[00:02:45]>> Wake up, sleepyhead.

[00:02:47]Larkita!

[00:02:50]Get dressed.

[00:02:51]>> Larkita isn't the first young promising teenager >> No, you have to get up now.

[00:02:58]>> whose life was derailed because they fell in love and wanted sex.

[00:03:04]>> Now there's friction in the once happy home.

[00:03:08]>> How could she do this?

[00:03:10]>> You just have to tell her she has to go.

[00:03:14]>> Larkita's grandmother strongly disapproved of her having a relationship with another girl like that and her mother wasn't real happy about it either.

[00:03:26]>> Her mom, Sandra, is at a loss.

[00:03:31]>> How long has this been going on?

[00:03:33]>> A few months.

[00:03:35]>> You're too young.

[00:03:37]>> Telling a teenager in love they have to break up with someone or get out is very risky business.

[00:03:44]You could end up losing your kid.

[00:03:46]>> Sandra compromises but with strict conditions.

[00:03:51]>> Okay, she can visit, but she can't stay.

[00:03:55]>> No more sleepovers and no unsupervised visits.

[00:04:00]>> She's not welcome in this house if I'm not home.

[00:04:05]>> Sandra was open-minded enough that although she didn't approve of it, and she wasn't really fond of Sharon, she was going to allow it to happen.

[00:04:29]>> But the two teenagers walk a fine line.

[00:04:35]>> Sharon was a bad influence.

[00:04:37]>> In there.

[00:04:38]>> Okay.

[00:04:41]>> She had no home life, no supervision.

[00:04:43]She was like a wild animal.

[00:04:47]She didn't respect anyone.

[00:04:50]And that included Laquinta's family members.

[00:04:54]>> Soon Sandra feels like she's losing her daughter.

[00:05:01]>> Laquinta!

[00:05:03]>> She's pushed to her breaking point.

[00:05:06]>> Clean it up.

[00:05:07]>> We'll do it later.

[00:05:08]>> Do it now!

[00:05:10]>> Make us.

[00:05:11]>> She didn't like Sharon as a person. She didn't like her attitude. She didn't like the way that she behaved at her home.

[00:05:20]>> She is out of here.

[00:05:21]>> It got to a point where Sharon simply was not allowed in the house.

[00:05:25]>> She's got to go.

[00:05:27]>> MOM, SHE HAS GOT TO GO.

[00:05:28]>> YOU'LL NEVER KEEP US APART, old woman.

[00:05:30]>> She was an unpleasant, angry young woman. Nobody would have wanted her around.

[00:05:38]>> Laquinta?

[00:05:40]Laquinta?

[00:05:40]>> The fact that Sharon would not give an inch, and it was becoming a huge bone of contention.

[00:05:53]>> Now, the teenagers totally rebel.

[00:06:01]She wasn't allowed in the home. But Larkita didn't even respect that.

[00:06:09]>> Grandmother Bertha had heard some noise, so she went down to see what was going on.

[00:06:14]>> 64-year-old Bertha Atkins is shocked.

[00:06:19]>> You have to leave.

[00:06:20]>> Larkita wants me here.

[00:06:23]>> Larkita, you know the rules.

[00:06:25]>> Any grandparent would be upset finding their grandchild having sex.

[00:06:30]>> If you ain't out of here in 5 minutes, I'm calling the police.

[00:06:34]>> of your business.

[00:06:36]>> To Bertha, that would have been an unspeakable violation.

[00:06:43]>> That was more than she could take. She gave Sharon 5 minutes to get out of the house or she was going to call the police.

[00:06:50]>> Leave us alone.

[00:06:53]>> I am warning you.

[00:06:54]>> Okay, she'll leave.

[00:06:58]>> But Larkita wants to be with her love.

[00:07:02]No matter the cost.

[00:07:04]>> She leave us alone. She never will.

[00:07:09]>> With teenagers in love, every action is life and death. And in this case, it really was.

[00:07:20]>> 17-year-old Sharon Patterson >> You have to leave.

[00:07:24]>> is forbidden to visit her girlfriend, Larkita Collier.

[00:07:28]But it doesn't stop her.

[00:07:31]They decide there is only one way to settle this for good.

[00:07:39]>> The girls were in love. Everything was life and death at their age.

[00:07:44]They had poor impulse control.

[00:07:47]>> They were young and they were in love.

[00:07:54]And they were very immature.

[00:07:57]And they were extremely irrational.

[00:08:01]>> Bertha had to go.

[00:08:03]It was a stupid idea, but it felt right at the time.

[00:08:11]>> All the pent-up frustration boiled over.

[00:08:19]And things got very ugly, very fast.

[00:08:26]>> There was no thinking beyond the anger that sort of consumed them in the moment.

[00:08:33]>> On that day, September 17th, 2003, Sharen and Larkita ambush her grandmother.

[00:08:48]>> It was very personal and very brutal.

[00:08:51]>> But to realize that the granddaughter >> I told you I was going to call the police.

[00:08:57]>> that she had loved and cherished for so many years, that girl was one of her attackers.

[00:09:05]>> The pain would have been excruciating.

[00:09:08]She would have felt the first blow, the second and the third, maybe even the fourth, until thankfully she became unconscious.

[00:09:35]>> Larkita sacrifices her grandmother for a teenage love affair.

[00:09:41]>> Larquita did not have a criminal past and there was no history of violence.

[00:09:46]It's not uncommon when teenagers kill that it is the first time they were ever involved in any violent activity.

[00:09:55]>> Her grandmother is dealt with, but now Larquita has another problem.

[00:10:02]>> She realized that her mother would be home from work soon and there was blood everywhere and the grandmother is dead.

[00:10:13]>> Teenagers are famous for not thinking things through, but Larquita brought it to a whole new level.

[00:10:20]>> Kida went down and got the gasoline can that's in her house. She came back upstairs. She poured the gasoline on her own grandmother.

[00:10:31]I think it was their intent to just make it seem like there was an accidental fire. This was their sort of two-minute version of how do we get out of a murder?

[00:11:01]>> With the house on fire, the girls leave.

[00:11:11]They catch a movie.

[00:11:15]A horror movie.

[00:11:21]>> How do you do that?

[00:11:23]How are you so callous?

[00:11:29]>> That's not something that you would expect someone after the act that they just committed to go see and and casually go see like nothing has ever happened.

[00:11:40]>> But the celebrations are premature.

[00:11:45]Before the credits roll, they're found out.

[00:11:50]>> One of the neighbors that saw both of them shut the door and casually walked down the street.

[00:11:59]>> When they set grandma alight, it sets off an explosion.

[00:12:08]But the flames don't destroy the evidence.

[00:12:14]>> When they put the fire out, they realized that at the core of the flames there was a dead woman.

[00:12:24]And it wasn't an accidental fire death because she had a hammer embedded in her skull.

[00:12:34]>> As the last people to leave the house, the girls are brought in for questioning.

[00:12:43]And their precious bond disappears.

[00:12:47]>> They turned on each other. They blamed each other. And so, when the pressure of the situation hit them, they both turned on each other immediately.

[00:12:55]>> Sharon blamed Larquita. Larquita blamed Sharon. This is proof there's no honor among thieves and especially among murderers.

[00:13:05]>> In March 2004, Larquita Collier is convicted of first-degree murder and arson.

[00:13:15]Sharon Patterson is convicted of first-degree murder.

[00:13:20]Both are sentenced to life in prison without parole.

[00:13:26]>> Neither of these girls might have ever killed anyone had they not met.

[00:13:32]But they did meet and they did kill.

[00:13:35]Ah, young love.

[00:13:47]>> Northern Ireland in 2008.

[00:13:50]During the week, 42-year-old Karen Walsh runs her own business in the Irish capital, Dublin.

[00:13:59]>> Karen ran a very successful pharmaceutical business and she was very well respected by her peers.

[00:14:05]>> On the weekends, she and her family leave big city life for their new house in the country.

[00:14:17]>> She was good-looking. She was educated.

[00:14:20]She was a successful professional woman married to a successful man and had a little boy.

[00:14:30]To the outside world, Karen Walsh had it all going on.

[00:14:35]>> But behind closed doors, Karen is riddled with insecurities.

[00:14:42]>> Although everyone thought very well of Karen, there were problems lying beneath.

[00:14:50]She had hair extensions.

[00:14:53]She used Botox.

[00:14:55]>> Darling, you look great.

[00:14:57]>> No, I need a touch-up.

[00:14:59]>> She seems to be in quite vain.

[00:15:02]>> And being a wife and mom isn't satisfying her.

[00:15:06]>> She distanced herself from the responsibilities of being a parent.

[00:15:11]>> Did you beat him?

[00:15:13]>> Uh, yeah. Sure.

[00:15:14]>> And she must have been feeling detached in many ways.

[00:15:18]>> Karen prefers to spend her time out of the house.

[00:15:25]Her neighbor, Moira Rankin, welcomes the new friendship warmly.

[00:15:35]>> Oh, top of the morning to you, Karen.

[00:15:38]>> Moira was an 81-year-old widowed mother of age. She was the real heart and soul of her family.

[00:15:44]>> I've got a wee present for you.

[00:15:46]>> For who Moira?

[00:15:47]>> They seem to get on very well, in fact.

[00:15:49]Moira had spoken highly of Karen and said she'd helped her on occasion.

[00:15:54]>> What is it?

[00:15:55]>> But soon it becomes clear there is something strange about Karen.

[00:16:00]>> Vodka.

[00:16:02]That's very kind of you, but I don't drink much.

[00:16:06]>> Karen visited Moira several times and always took a bottle of alcohol with her.

[00:16:11]>> Come on, have a drink with me.

[00:16:13]Just a little one.

[00:16:14]>> Moira didn't even drink and Karen downed the whole bottle.

[00:16:18]>> Thank you.

[00:16:19]>> Karen reveals the side she keeps secret from the world.

[00:16:25]She is a raging alcoholic.

[00:16:29]>> Her husband probably wouldn't let her drink in her own home, so she left and drank in someone else's home.

[00:16:37]>> For years she keeps her addiction hidden.

[00:16:42]>> Nothing else in her life mattered.

[00:16:47]She didn't drink because she was under stress. Stress in her life was created because of her drinking.

[00:16:55]And she had to drink.

[00:17:03]>> Moira is the perfect drinking buddy.

[00:17:07]>> Who's there?

[00:17:09]>> It's me, Karen.

[00:17:11]>> Oh, for pity's sake.

[00:17:12]>> Karen doesn't have to share.

[00:17:14]>> Just here for a little chat.

[00:17:16]>> Oh, it's not a chat you're after. IT'S A DRINK OR TREAT.

[00:17:20]>> Moira's home had become a safe place for Karen to drink alcohol.

[00:17:27]Karen soon started making quite a nuisance of herself.

[00:17:35]>> With Christmas approaching, You're still coming over our place for Christmas Eve, right?

[00:17:42]>> Of course. I'm looking forward to it.

[00:17:44]>> Moira confides to her daughter that Karen's drinking is escalating.

[00:17:51]>> Is that neighbor still bothering you?

[00:17:53]>> Oh.

[00:17:55]She came over late last night.

[00:17:58]>> Moira started saying to her family she couldn't quite understand why Karen was going round there.

[00:18:02]>> I know.

[00:18:03]>> She was becoming a bit alarmed that Karen was turning up late at night and with whiskey.

[00:18:08]>> Well, at least she won't be annoying you on Christmas then.

[00:18:10]>> No.

[00:18:13]>> In the Walsh household, festive cheer is in short supply along with everything else.

[00:18:22]>> Karen had a very strange Christmas Eve.

[00:18:26]She stayed in bed until noon. She hadn't bought any Christmas presents.

[00:18:32]>> While Karen was consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, the alcohol was consuming her life.

[00:18:40]>> Been a lot of to place.

[00:18:42]>> She ended up rushing round to local shop for a clock in the afternoon of Christmas Eve just to get some presents to give to her own son.

[00:18:50]>> Santa almost didn't come.

[00:18:52]>> You know what's important though?

[00:18:55]>> She didn't prepare at all for Christmas, but she made sure she had a bottle of liquor on Christmas Eve. That's how it was for her.

[00:19:08]Karen finds her Christmas spirit at the bottom of a bottle, but soon she'll have more than a hangover to worry about.

[00:19:18]>> Merry Christmas.

[00:19:20]>> The most stunning thing about this crime is that it came out of nowhere.

[00:19:24]>> Shut up.

[00:19:25]>> She had gone into a murderous overdrive.

[00:19:35]>> Newry, Northern Ireland, 2008.

[00:19:41]It's Christmas Eve and everyone is at home with their families.

[00:19:46]>> Hello.

[00:19:47]>> Hi, Mom.

[00:19:48]>> Oh, hello, dear.

[00:19:51]>> Except 81-year-old Moira Rankin.

[00:19:56]>> That Christmas Eve, Moira was supposed to go and stay with her daughter for the holiday.

[00:20:02]But she had a chest infection, so she stayed at home instead.

[00:20:09]>> Down the street, with her family in bed, Karen Walsh's only company is a bottle of vodka.

[00:20:18]>> Karen drank almost a liter of vodka over Christmas Eve.

[00:20:23]Her inhibitions were gone.

[00:20:25]The quantity of alcohol that she ingested would have caused most people to become comatose, yet she was still able to function.

[00:20:35]>> Close to midnight, Karen appears in Moira's house, like the ghost of Christmas past.

[00:20:45]>> She got into the house. We're not quite sure whether she let herself in or the door or the door was open or she had a key.

[00:20:51]And she went upstairs.

[00:20:52]>> Merry Christmas.

[00:20:56]>> Even some puff. What are you doing here?

[00:21:00]>> I've come to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus with you.

[00:21:04]Here, have a drink.

[00:21:06]>> Get that away from me.

[00:21:08]But you don't have time to go to >> Moira's patience has finally worn thin.

[00:21:14]>> Get off me, [ __ ] >> Moira asked Karen to leave.

[00:21:21]>> You should be home with your family.

[00:21:23]>> To stop drinking, and she chastised her.

[00:21:27]Not only for her drinking, but that she wasn't home with her family on Christmas.

[00:21:33]>> You have a 2-year-old son.

[00:21:41]>> Shut up.

[00:21:43]>> Karen was stung by Moira's judgment that she'd be a better mother, that she spend more time with her child, and that she not drink.

[00:21:52]>> What sort of mother are you who gets drunk on Christmas Eve?

[00:21:58]>> How dare you tell me to be home with my family on Christmas Eve?

[00:22:05]>> You shut up, you [ __ ] >> In her drunken state, Karen's anger is uncontrollable and all-consuming.

[00:22:19]Karen Walsh was seriously intoxicated.

[00:22:22]She would have had almost no impulse control.

[00:22:27]>> She clearly didn't like the criticism.

[00:22:30]And she just snapped.

[00:22:34]She attacked Moira, pulling out her hair, leaving clumps of hair lying around the room. She then climbed onto the bed and got a crucifix that was on the wall and attacked Moira with it.

[00:22:54]She cracked 15 of her ribs.

[00:22:58]>> Karen beat Moira so severely that she left a pattern of injury on Moira's chin. It was the crown of thorns on Jesus' head.

[00:23:15]>> Now Karen must cover her tracks.

[00:23:21]Her liquored mind dredges up the blackest plan.

[00:23:26]>> What she did then, some more afterwards, defies belief and takes the crime to a whole new level.

[00:23:34]>> She sat on her chest and she used the broken crucifix to sexually assault her.

[00:23:42]>> Karen may have violated Moira with a crucifix >> to make the whole thing look like a sex crime.

[00:23:51]>> But she also may have done it because she saw Moira as a sanctimonious person and she was going to teach her a lesson.

[00:24:06]>> Karen passes out on Moira's bed.

[00:24:15]Several hours later, she's in for a rude awakening.

[00:24:22]>> Karen woke up in the home of an elderly woman that she brutally murdered.

[00:24:34]>> Karen tried to contact her husband seven times from a phone in Moira's house.

[00:24:39]Some of the digits were wrong.

[00:24:44]She was in a real frenzy in a state of absolute panic when she tried to phone her husband.

[00:24:50]>> Karen returns home.

[00:24:55]But it's not long before the shocking scene is found.

[00:25:01]>> Moira's body was discovered on Christmas Day by her daughter and her husband.

[00:25:07]And what greeted them as they walked into the house was a scene of absolute devastation.

[00:25:19]>> I can't believe it.

[00:25:21]>> Hoping to find a witness, the police question Moira's neighbors.

[00:25:27]>> Karen insisted to police that she visited Moira for just half an hour, had a drink, and then went home after having hugged and kissed Moira happy Christmas.

[00:25:38]>> But Moira's phone records give Karen away.

[00:25:44]>> When police looked at Moira's phone, they realized that it'd been that which had been used to try and dial Karen's husband's numbers in the early hours of Christmas morning.

[00:25:56]>> And Karen leaves a telltale trail of evidence.

[00:26:01]>> Karen's DNA was on Moira's chin and her body. And then, of course, the liter bottle of vodka that was still in the house.

[00:26:09]>> Karen Walsh was definitely present at that death scene.

[00:26:14]>> In 2011, a jury finds Karen Walsh guilty of murder and sentences her to 28 years behind bars.

[00:26:26]The burning question, did the demon drink make Karen kill?

[00:26:33]Or did the alcohol unmask the monster within?

[00:26:37]>> Karen is the only person responsible for what happened.

[00:26:42]Alcohol and drugs open the floodgates for whatever is there to come out.

[00:26:49]If Karen Walsh is ever a free woman and drinks.

[00:26:54]Run like the wind.

[00:27:02]>> 1973, Chicago.

[00:27:08]16-year-old Patty Columbo loves her new after-school job selling cosmetics.

[00:27:16]It's a chance to preen herself.

[00:27:23]The customers can wait.

[00:27:26]>> Can I get some service, please?

[00:27:28]Sure, I'll just a sec.

[00:27:33]>> She was always acting. She was always performing.

[00:27:38]Aren't I sexier than everybody else?

[00:27:39]Aren't I more attractive than everybody else?

[00:27:45]>> Patty.

[00:27:47]>> Patty's antics catch the eye of the store's pharmacist.

[00:27:51]>> I need to see you out the back.

[00:27:54]>> Frank DeLuca.

[00:27:57]A married man 20 years older than Patty.

[00:28:02]>> Am I in trouble?

[00:28:03]>> He doesn't discipline her.

[00:28:06]He seduces her.

[00:28:09]>> Though Frank was a married man with five children, he certainly didn't act it.

[00:28:16]He was a hound, a skirt chaser extraordinary.

[00:28:22]>> He just was motivated by sex in every way that he possibly could think of.

[00:28:29]And that just opened up her whole world.

[00:28:33]In a sense, he helped groom her into her sexual behavior, but man, she took it and ran with it.

[00:28:44]>> Hey kiddo.

[00:28:45]>> Hey dad.

[00:28:46]>> It's good to see you helping your mom.

[00:28:48]>> Someone has to.

[00:28:49]>> Okay.

[00:28:50]>> Hey.

[00:28:50]>> Patty's parents, Mary and Frank Colombo, see a change in her behavior for the worse.

[00:29:01]>> Got a call from the school today.

[00:29:02]Patty's getting classes again.

[00:29:05]>> But don't know the reason why.

[00:29:08]>> They didn't like anything about the way she was behaving.

[00:29:12]>> Why weren't you at school today?

[00:29:13]>> I was working, Dad.

[00:29:15]>> School is more important, Patty. You're throwing your life away.

[00:29:19]>> Her grades started to slip. She wasn't doing well in school.

[00:29:21]>> I'm learning way more from Frank than I ever did at school.

[00:29:25]>> Excuse me, little miss. We aren't finished yet.

[00:29:27]>> Yeah, we are.

[00:29:28]>> Patty was very narcissistic and felt how dare anyone tell her how to live her life.

[00:29:35]>> Patty's been a handful from an early age.

[00:29:41]>> Look, Dad.

[00:29:42]>> Well, what do we have here?

[00:29:45]It's very good, princess. Work on that, okay?

[00:29:48]>> Look, Dad.

[00:29:49]Dad, look. I'm still going.

[00:29:51]>> Good, honey.

[00:29:53]>> Dad, look.

[00:29:54]>> For 6 years, Patty was the apple of her father's eye, the little princess. She ruled the household. And then her brother came along.

[00:30:04]>> Patty doesn't like sharing center stage with her younger brother, Michael.

[00:30:10]>> He'd come along and stolen her spotlight, and she didn't like it.

[00:30:16]>> DAD, LOOK.

[00:30:18]>> PATTY, STOP.

[00:30:27]PATTY, pick those UP NOW.

[00:30:28]>> NO.

[00:30:29]>> At one point, Mary got furious, and she slapped Patty.

[00:30:33]>> Pick those up right now.

[00:30:35]>> No.

[00:30:38]>> And she said, "You should know better.

[00:30:39]You're older."

[00:30:41]And Patty seethed.

[00:30:47]>> To say sibling rivalry overtook Patty would be a profound understatement.

[00:31:00]By her teens, Patty no longer craves her parents' approval.

[00:31:06]She only cares about Frank's.

[00:31:13]>> She moved in with DeLuca and his wife and five children.

[00:31:17]>> Okay, great. Thank you so much, Marlene.

[00:31:19]I really appreciate it.

[00:31:20]>> That's okay. You're very welcome.

[00:31:22]>> His naive wife thinks she's helping a teenager in distress.

[00:31:28]>> I'm going to get the children.

[00:31:31]>> Middle-aged Frank is the cat that got the cream.

[00:31:40]>> He's married, he's got five kids.

[00:31:45]He brings Patty into his home and having sex with her.

[00:31:55]>> Patty's dad wakes up to the illicit affair.

[00:32:01]>> His concern is obviously as a father is cuz he's 20 years older than his daughter.

[00:32:06]>> He was a man at the end of his rope.

[00:32:10]From his point of view, this man, Frank DeLuca, had destroyed his daughter's life.

[00:32:17]>> Frank Colombo confronts DeLuca at his work and brings a weapon.

[00:32:26]>> And they start to argue back and forth.

[00:32:29]>> DELUCA!

[00:32:30]>> WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, WOAH, RELAX, MAN.

[00:32:33]>> STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!

[00:32:35]>> PUT THE GUN DOWN, DADDY. PUT THE GUN DOWN.

[00:32:38]>> RELAX. Stay away.

[00:32:40]>> He was furious saying, "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. I'm just going to kill him."

[00:32:45]>> Despite his rage, Dad is no killer.

[00:32:49]>> Frank Colombo butt-strokes Frank DeLuca in the mouth with this rifle.

[00:32:54]And he knocks out his teeth.

[00:32:57]>> And the next time >> This whole story is very Shakespearean.

[00:33:06]Love, hate, revenge, it's got it all.

[00:33:09]Shakespeare probably couldn't have written this.

[00:33:20]>> 19-year-old Patty Columbo is plotting revenge against her father for assaulting her married lover.

[00:33:30]But she doesn't want to get her hands dirty.

[00:33:35]>> So, these are the photos.

[00:33:37]>> She recruits two heavies.

[00:33:40]>> Patty wrote out dossiers, information about her mother, her father, and her little brother.

[00:33:49]Maps of the area.

[00:33:54]Diagrams of the house.

[00:33:58]>> Patty can't pay them cash.

[00:34:02]But she has an offer they can't resist.

[00:34:06]>> Patty used her good looks and sex to get what she wanted from men.

[00:34:12]But then again, that's all she had.

[00:34:14]>> So, what's in it for us?

[00:34:17]>> She started putting out for these two guys, and they were having sex with her for some months.

[00:34:28]>> Woah, woah, woah.

[00:34:30]One at a time, fellas.

[00:34:32]>> And of course they had no intention of murdering anybody. They just were getting sex.

[00:34:39]>> You have to do this.

[00:34:41]>> When plan A doesn't work, Patti turns to her lover, Frank DeLuca.

[00:34:48]>> I'm not a killer, Patti.

[00:34:50]>> DeLuca!

[00:34:51]>> He's reluctant until she reminds him of her father's violence.

[00:34:58]>> She used it as a psychological bludgeon.

[00:35:02]She kept telling him, he's going to come back and next day he's going to kill you.

[00:35:06]>> If you don't kill him, he's going to kill you.

[00:35:10]>> Patti talks of a future together funded by her inheritance.

[00:35:16]>> Think of the inheritance.

[00:35:18]250 grand.

[00:35:21]>> They would get all this money and then he'd have a happy life.

[00:35:28]>> On the night of May 4th, 1976, Frank is ready to fulfill his teenage lover's desire.

[00:35:41]>> Maybe he had simply gone too far.

[00:35:45]And he just didn't turn back.

[00:35:48]He should have.

[00:35:53]>> A simple knock opens the door to hell.

[00:36:03]>> They came rushing in.

[00:36:06]>> DELUCA! NO! WAIT!

[00:36:08]>> DEAD, DELUCA!

[00:36:10]>> FRANK DELUCA shot Frank Colombo right away.

[00:36:16]They thought he was dead. They thought they'd killed him, but he kept moving.

[00:36:20]That's when Patti picked up the lamp and started bashing him with the lamp.

[00:36:27]>> But that was just the beginning.

[00:36:31]>> Patty's mother came out of the bathroom.

[00:36:33]Frank shot her right between the eyes.

[00:36:37]She went down without a whimper.

[00:36:41]>> But mom doesn't die instantly, either.

[00:36:46]>> So they wouldn't have to listen to the sound of her last breaths.

[00:36:50]Patty cut her throat as well.

[00:36:53]>> Patty and Frank could have killed her family quickly and easily.

[00:37:00]But that wasn't what Patty wanted. Patty wanted to be medieval and beat them and mutilated their bodies.

[00:37:11]>> Patty has no intention of sharing her inheritance with the brother she's resented from birth.

[00:37:20]>> They went down the hall for Michael.

[00:37:23]And Michael was asleep.

[00:37:26]So they stood him up and shot him in his pajamas.

[00:37:37]>> That wasn't enough, though.

[00:37:40]Patty took a sharp-pointed scissors, rolled him onto his back, and stabbed him 92 times.

[00:37:51]>> Every time Patty stabbed her brother, she was saying, "I hate you. I hate you."

[00:37:58]Why?

[00:38:00]He needed to be punished.

[00:38:03]He committed the great sin of being born.

[00:38:07]>> He's just a little boy.

[00:38:09]Michael only turned 13 just a few days before he was murdered.

[00:38:18]>> As the sole survivor in the family, Patty is again the center of attention and more than willing to help the police.

[00:38:29]>> I just want to find out who did this to my mom and my dad and my my little baby brother.

[00:38:35]>> She came in with all of this information trying to direct the investigation.

[00:38:42]Here's people you should talk to. Here's what you should be concerned about.

[00:38:47]Not how people who've just lost their family would be reacting.

[00:38:52]>> Do you have any idea who did this?

[00:38:55]>> Maybe it was a mob hit.

[00:39:00]>> But the forensics tell another story.

[00:39:05]A hair is found on her brother's body and could only be left by the killer.

[00:39:14]It's Patty's.

[00:39:15]>> There's a single strand of Patty Columbo's hair that was entwined in the blood on his chest.

[00:39:22]>> The only way the hair would have gotten onto Michael's bloody chest was if Patricia was there.

[00:39:27]>> 10 days after the murders, Patty and Frank DeLuca are arrested.

[00:39:32]>> She was not anywhere near as smart as she thought she was.

[00:39:37]>> The lovers are tried together.

[00:39:42]In 1977, Frank DeLuca is found guilty of three counts of murder.

[00:39:50]>> He was the most banal, uninteresting person that you could imagine. He would have lived out a very mundane life.

[00:40:01]But he met her.

[00:40:02]He turned into this mass murderer.

[00:40:10]>> Patty Columbo is also convicted of murdering her mother, father, and little brother.

[00:40:19]The judge hands down sentences that fit the brutality.

[00:40:24]>> They were each sentenced to choose 200 to 300 year terms with another 50 year term for solicitation to murder.

[00:40:34]>> Frank probably would not have been involved in these murders or any murder had he not met Patty.

[00:40:42]Patty probably would have eventually killed her family no matter who she was involved with.

[00:40:49]>> She had the face of an angel but a heart of stone.

[00:40:54]From an early age, all that mattered to Patty was getting her own way.

[00:41:01]>> Patty had a DNA cocktail that, well, made her a psychopath.

[00:41:06]So, running away or being mature about things wasn't the way to go. She wanted revenge and she enjoyed it.

[00:41:14]This is a profoundly disturbing crime.