- FEMALE NARRATOR: A vibrant couple from a foreign land
find love in their new country.
- He was originally from Ghana. He moved to the United States.
- She's from Ghana, and she knows the culture.
They can speak, you know, their dialect together.
It was a match made in heaven for him.
- NARRATOR: But just days after a big announcement...
- They had a number of their friends over
to celebrate that they were pregnant.
- NARRATOR: ...a horrific discovery changes everything.
- There was a body at the bottom of the stairs.
He was covered in blood.
- CHRISTINE: And she had been shot.
There was no question that this was a double murder,
and one that was so violent.
- NARRATOR: It's a crime too heartbreaking to believe.
- How could this happen here?
The girl is pregnant with a baby.
- NARRATOR: The tragedy turns twisted
when detectives uncover evidence of dark magic at play.
- CHRISTINE: There was a pillar candle,
and it had writing etched into it.
And it said, "Die die die die die, Seth Aidoo."
- This could have been part of some voodoo ritual.
- NARRATOR: Was this some kind of sacrifice,
or a murder motivated by revenge?
- [theme music]
- NARRATOR: January 14, 2009.
At 10:30 AM, Prince George's County, Maryland
911 gets a distressing call from a man
at the upscale gated community of Oak Creek.
- Someone by the name of David Sarpong
contacted the Prince George's County Police Department,
telling them that he was at the home of Seth Aidoo
because he hadn't heard from Seth in a few days
and that was unusual.
- NARRATOR: When officers arrive,
David explains he's even more worried now,
because Seth's pregnant fiancee, Eunice Baah,
is not returning his calls either.
- CHRISTINE: Eunice and Seth lived at the house together.
And David had concerns that Seth or Eunice had fallen
or had become injured
or something was going on with them.
- NARRATOR: Since a pregnant woman might be in trouble,
officers do not need a warrant to enter
Seth and Eunice's residence.
Inside, they make a disturbing find.
- JOSEPH: There was a significant amount of blood
all over the first floor in multiple places in the house,
and it indicated that there was a struggle.
- NARRATOR: The trail of blood
leads to the stairs to the basement.
At the bottom, officers see two people matching the description
of 40-year-old Seth Aidoo and 36-year-old Eunice Baah.
- CHRISTINE: Seth had been stabbed a number of times
and his body was very bloodied.
Eunice was shot once in the head.
So there was no question this was a double murder
and one that was so violent.
There was no gun on the scene.
There was no knife left on the scene.
Homicide was called in right away.
- NARRATOR: When Seth's cousin learns the tragic news,
he shares it with family and friends,
who had only recently learned of Eunice's pregnancy.
- It was so painful, so painful.
'Cause I was like, my God, he had his life in front of him
and she did too.
- NARRATOR: Born in 1969 in Kumasi, Ghana,
Seth was the youngest of six children
and grew up with a drive to succeed.
In 1992, at the age of 23, Seth emigrated from Ghana
to the United States to pursue a degree in information technology
at Montgomery College outside Washington DC--
an area with a burgeoning Ghanaian immigrant community.
- I think that his identity was vastly involved
with the Ghanaian community,
whether it was socially or at church,
so it- it was very big part of him.
He stayed very true to his culture.
- NARRATOR: Though he found comfort in the community
of fellow Ghanaians, he longed to achieve the American dream.
- I know that he had aspirations to be
in a better position than he was.
So I think that drive is probably what just went with him
from Ghana to the States.
- He was just a cool guy. He's ambitious.
You could tell he had that eye of the tiger.
You could tell he was a go-getter.
- LAWANDA: Seth was working in this grocery store
to pay for college.
I mean, it's always tough to do
when you're working full-time and going to school part-time.
That's hard.
- NARRATOR: One of the regulars at the store where Seth worked
was then 35-year-old Sheila Culley.
After a few months, casual conversation
evolved into flirtation.
- JAMILA: Sheila was born into a religious family
in Washington DC.
She was active in the church, worked in the church nursery,
and even helped take care of her own younger siblings.
When she became an adult,
she opened up her own daycare business.
- NARRATOR: Sheila owned a successful home daycare,
with 2 employees and a waiting list for incoming kids.
- LEE: She was a business owner
that was a very profitable business.
- She already was established. She was older than us.
She had a house.
- NARRATOR: Despite their 10-year age gap,
25-year-old Seth and 35-year-old Sheila
quickly forged a bond.
- JAMILA: Sheila and Seth grew up worlds apart.
When they got together, though, they were really great couple.
They were both go-getters, workaholics.
Sheila also seemed to really love having a younger man.
- LEE: He was a attractive guy.
The type of person that could light up a room
when he walked in the room.
- NARRATOR: After nearly three years of dating,
38-year-old Sheila Culley and 28-year-old Seth Aidoo
married in 1996.
One year later, Seth officially became a US citizen
and was still working on his degree.
- LAWANDA: Education was very important.
He wanted to get an IT degree.
And that's what his focus was, to finish his associate's go-
and go on and get his undergrad.
And that was where he was laser-focused on.
- Sheila supported him through his education.
Once he graduated and got his degree,
began his company in IT
and made quite a lot of money and was very successful.
They were not afraid to spend the money that they had.
- NARRATOR: In the mid-2000s,
they bought their dream home in one of the premier neighborhoods
in Prince George's County, Oak Creek,
to the tune of one million dollars.
- LEE: This area is probably one of the nicest
in Prince George's County.
It was a gated community.
Just a place that everyone, you know, would like to be in.
- These two people really started out in life
with not a lot of anything.
But here they are,
living in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods.
- NARRATOR: The couple even turned the spacious basement
into a separate apartment,
and the very first tenant was
Sheila's younger brother, Samuel Culley.
- JAMILA: Sheila was happy to continue to care for him.
She'd been doing it since he was a little boy.
And Seth was happy with giving Samuel a place to stay.
- NARRATOR: Despite their successful outward appearance,
after 13 years together, Seth and Sheila began to grow apart.
And in December 2007, the couple amicably separated
and started divorce proceedings.
- CHRISTINE: They had a prenuptial agreement.
There weren't going to be fights about assets,
or who would get to keep what,
and who had to pay somebody else for anything.
It seemed like everything had been agreed to.
- NARRATOR: While the divorce had not yet been finalized,
Sheila moved out of the home
and back into the house where she had her daycare business.
- JAMILA: At this point in her life,
Sheila had a thriving business
and a life completely apart from Seth.
- NARRATOR: Seth, on the other hand,
got another chance at love in 2008,
when he met 35-year-old Eunice Baah
at an Ghanaian community gathering.
- CHRISTINE: Eunice was stunning.
Eunice had dark skin, long hair.
She just had an elegance about her, an easy elegance.
- JAMILA: Just like Seth, Eunice had emigrated from Ghana.
She got here in 1996
and lived with family who had come before her.
- RUEBEN: She was a nurse.
Somebody who was also well-known and well-liked
in the- in the Ghanaian community.
- NARRATOR: Seth fell hard and fast for Eunice.
After dating for a few months,
Eunice moved into the Oak Creek home with Seth.
- He definitely seemed to love her.
She's from Ghana.
You know, she was closer to his age.
And she knows the culture.
They can speak, you know, their dialect together.
Probably was a match made in heaven for him.
- NARRATOR: After dating for a year, on January 10, 2009,
the couple invited their friends and family to their home
for a party and a special announcement.
- CHRISTINE: Seth and Eunice had a number
of their friends over to celebrate Seth's birthday
and also some news that nobody knew--
that Eunice and Seth were both engaged,
and that Eunice was pregnant.
- LAWANDA: I wish I had a recording of his voice
and how excited he was.
You can see the close, intimate relationship
that they had together.
Very apparent that they were very, very close
and she was- she was excited, he was happy.
- NARRATOR: Just three days after their big announcement,
the couple is found murdered in their home.
Homicide detectives arrive
and survey the viciousness of the attack.
- CHRISTINE: Eunice was shot once in the head.
Seth was stabbed over 40 times.
- NARRATOR: With two victims killed two different ways,
investigators begin to interpret the blood evidence
to determine how the crime unfolded.
- You could see the smears of blood along the floor
and along furniture.
- JOSEPH: You look at the totality
of what the scene looked like
and what Seth Aidoo's body looked like,
and the only conclusion was that he did fight for his life
and he was in a violent struggle
with at least one or more individuals.
- NARRATOR: One distinct piece of evidence clues detectives in
on how many people might have been present for the attack.
- RUEBEN: The killers left boot prints in two distinct patterns,
which was helpful evidence for detectives because they knew
since there were two distinct patterns,
that they were looking for two suspects.
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
Could Seth and Eunice have been the victims
of a violent robbery?
- SUSAN: We thought it could be robbery
because it was such an affluent neighborhood.
- NARRATOR: Or would the evidence prove
something more personal?
- CHRISTINE: The nature of Seth's injuries indicated
that this was likely a personal murder.
We believe that's who the target was.
- LEE: This person, they killed actually
three people altogether.
What kind of person would do something like that?
- NARRATOR: On January 14, 2009,
Prince George's County homicide detectives
are examining the bodies of
40-year-old Ghanaian immigrant Seth Aidoo
and his 36-year-old pregnant fiancee, Eunice Baah.
Blood evidence suggests there was a violent struggle
during the attack.
- SUSAN: The foyer was at the front door,
and it split into stairs going upstairs
and stairs going down into the basement.
And at that entrance, it was a hardwood floor
that had the bloody footprints.
The stairs appeared to be smeared with blood
as, as though a body had been dragged down them.
- NARRATOR: Based on the amount of blood
found in the dining room,
it appears the attack on Seth began in there
and he didn't go down without a fight.
- SUSAN: There were also drag marks on the floor as well.
There was a lot of blood in the area.
Given the amount of blood,
it was presumed that the victim struggled
as he was being stabbed, as most people would.
But eventually he would've succumbed to his injuries
and he was dragged down the stairs by his feet.
- What the police then did after they removed the bodies
is they sprayed Luminol all over the, the house
in order to identify, and that's how they found blood marks
that had been cleaned up.
- NARRATOR: Detectives turn to the man who called 911,
Seth's cousin, David Sarpong,
to see if he knows of anyone hostile towards Seth or Eunice.
According to David, the only problem Seth was having
was with the mortgage on his million-dollar home.
- Seth was gainfully employed working in IT.
Eunice was working as a nurse.
They were doing well, but not well enough.
The mortgage was more than they could handle.
- LAWANDA: He was stressed out about
not being able to afford the house.
He didn't wanna lose the house.
- NARRATOR: David informs police the mortgage woes started
when Seth had separated from his first wife, Sheila Aidoo,
in December of 2007.
- JAMILA: When they separated
and then later filed for divorce,
Sheila took her money with her.
There was no way Seth was going to afford a million-dollar home
without Sheila's money.
- NARRATOR: Although their split had seemed amicable,
the housing collapse of 2008
had put newly single Seth in a tight spot.
- He said, look, you know, we're under water,
we prob--we may have to end up, uh, selling it as a short sale.
He didn't think that it would sell for what they owed on it.
- To have a home like that, of course, to him,
that's, that's a dream come true.
And then to feel like you're going to lose that--
he seemed desperate. He just couldn't let it go.
- NARRATOR: David doesn't know if the money trouble
could be related to the murders.
But he explains that one item of value has been taken--
Eunice's Mercedes Benz.
- Based on the fact that Eunice's car was missing,
detectives determined that it was likely that
the killer or killers drove Eunice's car out of the area.
- NARRATOR: With the elevated police presence,
word of the couple's tragic end
quickly spreads to their friends.
- LEE: People in this area said, "How could this happen here?"
We have security guards, we have gates, we have cameras.
This person-- they killed, like, three people altogether.
What kind of person would do something like that?
I mean, it's- it's horrible.
- NARRATOR: Investigators put out an APB on Eunice's car
and are surprised to learn it has recently been recovered
10 miles away.
- CHRISTINE: Her car had actually been found
the day before the bodies were found
in another area of Prince George's County,
just parked on the street with the keys in it
and her purse in it.
With her wallet still in it, her credit cards, her cash,
everything intact.
There might as well have been a sign on the car
that said, please take me.
But a good Samaritan came along and reported it to the police.
- JOSEPH: It became very clear that without any forced entry,
and without things of value being taken,
and then the car being found,
and it had not been taken too far from the house,
that robbery was not the motive for this crime.
- NARRATOR: With one motive ruled out,
detectives are hopeful that forensic processing
of the Mercedes or the medical examination of Seth and Eunice
might hold the next lead in their case.
- CHRISTINE: Eunice was shot once in the head.
While personal, it didn't have the same amount of passion
as the murder of Seth.
Seth was stabbed over 40 times.
The nature of Seth's injuries, the number of stab wounds,
indicated that this was likely a personal murder.
We believe that's who the target was.
- NARRATOR: The medical examiner determines
that there was not a final strike
that would have instantly killed Seth Aidoo,
but that he bled out and fought until the end.
- JOSEPH: One of the things that occurred in, in this case,
which happens in most cases, or most homicide cases,
especially of a violent struggle,
Seth Aidoo had a number of defensive wounds.
And for those reasons, they took any DNA they could find
from underneath his fingernails.
- NARRATOR: While detectives await the DNA results,
they receive a call from Seth's nephew Daniel Poku.
He tells investigators about an altercation Seth had, had
with someone in his home shortly after Sheila had moved out
two years earlier.
- CHRISTINE: Detectives pretty quickly learned
that Seth had a fight with someone
by the name of Samuel Culley.
Samuel Culley was his estranged wife Sheila's brother.
- This is an awkward situation for both men.
Sheila's moved back into the house
where she runs her daycare business.
The marriage is effectively over,
yet here's her little brother still living with Seth.
- RUEBEN: I do believe that a certain point
that they weren't getting along anymore and, uh,
Mr. Culley was told that he had to leave.
- NARRATOR: Daniel says that Seth's ultimatum
led to a knock-down, drag-out fight.
Could Samuel have held a grudge?
- RUEBEN: Sam may have felt
some lingering animus toward Seth
about being, uh, kicked out of the house.
- NARRATOR: Detectives now need to locate Samuel Culley.
But finding him will open new doors police had never expected.
Coming up:
Detectives get their first look at the killers.
- CHRISTINE: Eunice's car was spotted leaving on the video.
At this point, detectives believed
that both Eunice and Seth had already been murdered.
- NARRATOR: And the case takes an unexpected and bizarre turn
into the realm of the occult.
- It had Seth Aidoo's name on it.
It had the word "die" multiple times.
It had the address of where the murders took place.
- CHRISTINE: Whoever had this definitely had something to do
with the murders of Seth and Eunice.
- NARRATOR: Days after the January 2009 murders
of Seth Aidoo and Eunice Baah,
Prince George's County detectives
go to speak with Seth's estranged wife, Sheila Aidoo.
- CHRISTINE: They went to notify Sheila of the murders.
Sheila seemed to be forthcoming
and seem to be saddened about this
and surprised by the fact that Seth had been murdered.
- JAMILA: According to Sheila,
they had the divorce pretty much locked up.
They had a final court date of April 29, 2009.
Some conversations happened here and again,
but nothing really serious.
- NARRATOR: Sheila confirms that her brother Samuel Culley
had argued with Seth when he was kicked out,
but that's where the trouble ended.
- CHRISTINE: She told the detectives that her brother
had left town prior to the murders to visit friends
and was in New Jersey.
He was not even in the state of Maryland
at the time of the murders.
She also told them that he no longer had a cell phone
or any way to be contacted.
- NARRATOR: Seeking more information,
detectives try to determine how the killers
could have gained access to Seth and Eunice's home.
- JOSEPH: The Oak Creek community is a gated community.
It has a high level of security.
It has a physical gate. It also has cameras.
There was a very elaborate process that you needed
in order to secure a transponder
and to be able to get access to the community.
- You either had to be let in through security or by security,
or you had to have a transponder--
just a button that-- in your car that you would push,
that would open the gate automatically for you.
The community had a way of recording each time
a transponder was used to open the gate.
When Seth and Sheila moved into the house,
they were given three transponders.
Seth had one on his car. Eunice had one on her car.
So that left one extra transponder.
- NARRATOR: Detectives immediately call Sheila
and ask her if she still has the transponder that opens the gate.
- She told detectives that she no longer had one.
- Investigators checked transponder records,
and there was also video surveillance.
- NARRATOR: Records show that the third transponder was used
at 6:00 PM on the night of January 12, 2009,
two days before the bodies were discovered.
- CHRISTINE: They saw a dark minivan going through the gates.
They weren't able to tell how many people were in it
or if even anyone other than the driver was in it.
The license plate was obscured.
They had either been taken off or been covered in some way.
So it is clearly an attempt to make sure
that no one could figure out whose van this was.
- NARRATOR: The dark van then leaves just minutes later.
Nearly two hours later, at 7:47 PM, cameras capture Eunice Baah
pulling into the community.
- JOSEPH: When Eunice Baah came through the gate,
we then kind of were able to deduct
that she was the first one to arrive home.
- NARRATOR: At 8:29 PM, Seth's car pulls into the neighborhood.
- CHRISTINE: A few hours after the van was spotted leaving
on the video, Eunice's car also left.
At this point, detectives believed
that both Eunice and Seth had already been murdered.
So that means that the killer or killers had to lay in wait,
and hang out at the house, waiting for Seth to come home.
That also gave detectives a big clue
that Seth was the intended victim.
- NARRATOR: Detectives now believe Seth and Eunice
were killed on January 12th,
and that Seth was the intended target,
and Eunice, collateral damage.
Records show that before that night,
the third transponder had been used just one other time -
11 days earlier on January 1, 2009.
- On that date, the car that entered
did not have its plates blacked out.
- They saw that it had been used by someone in a vehicle
registered to Delford Barnes.
- NARRATOR: Detectives look up Delford's last known address,
and it turns out they had already been there.
- They were shocked to discover that his address
was the same as Sheila's.
- RUEBEN: Immediately not only is Mr. Barnes
somebody who has suspicion put on him,
but now police are raising questions about, well,
what is Sheila's involvement, if any?
- NARRATOR: On February 18, 2009,
detectives return to Sheila's residence
armed with a search warrant for her home
and Delford Barnes's car.
They also bring Delford to the station for questioning.
- Sheila was asked about who Delford Barnes was
and why his address was hers.
She said that Delford was her boyfriend
and had been for some time.
- JAMILA: She said that Delford had been living with her
for a couple of months.
Detectives ask if Delford would have any reason
to want Seth and Eunice dead.
Sheila said she couldn't think of any.
- NARRATOR: Investigators process
every corner of the house,
but are unable to locate the transponder.
But they don't leave empty handed.
- They found a pair of lug-soled boots
that could be consistent with the blood pattern
left behind at the crime scene.
- NARRATOR: Detectives find no other incriminating evidence
at Sheila's house, nor either of the murder weapons.
But they do identify a new location to search.
- CHRISTINE: While they were doing
the search warrant of the house,
they found a receipt for a storage unit.
The storage unit was in Delford's name.
- NARRATOR: When detectives check the unit,
the case takes a surreal turn they never expected.
- During the search of the storage unit,
investigators found a number of items that were, I would say,
indicative of some sort of unusual religion
or, or some unusual practices.
- CHRISTINE: There was a pillar candle,
and it had writing etched into it.
And it said "Die die die die die die die, Seth Aidoo."
It was something that none of us had ever seen before.
- There was some suggestion that
this could have been part of some voodoo ritual.
Police know that Delford is from Jamaica,
and some people in Jamaica practice voodoo.
So there's at least a suspicion
that voodoo could be part of what's going on here.
- CHRISTINE: So the question was,
did Delford write this, did Sheila, did Samuel?
It was really creepy,
and also a clear indication that whoever had this candle
definitely had something to do with the murder of Seth Aidoo.
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
Detectives learn that Seth and Sheila's split
wasn't so amicable after all.
- JOSEPH: She had provided Seth this incredible opportunity
to gain an education.
Sheila was not going to allow him
just to throw her to the side
after everything she had done and walk away.
- NARRATOR: And police get a shocking firsthand account
of the murder.
- NARRATOR: Discoveries made in a storage unit
registered to 50-year-old Delford Barnes
shine a disturbing new light
on the murders of Seth Aidoo and Eunice Baah.
- CHRISTINE: Found in the storage locker was the candle
that had Seth's murder kind of written out on it.
A candle with an inscription that is frequently associated
with the practice of voodoo.
- NARRATOR: But religious fervor doesn't make him a killer.
Investigators attempt to question Delford at the station.
- CHRISTINE: At that point, they didn't have enough evidence
to be able to charge him,
to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that Delford was in fact one of the killers.
So they had to let him go, unfortunately.
- NARRATOR: While they wait for a warrant to test Delford's DNA,
detectives shift their focus to Samuel Culley,
who Sheila claimed has no phone.
They question Sheila's two daycare workers,
hoping they have more information.
- CHRISTINE: Right away they asked if Sheila
could have been at the murder,
and they found out that she couldn't have been.
The day care workers said that she was at home.
So there was no way she could have been in that house
committing the murders.
- NARRATOR: Sheila's daycare workers provide her
with an alibi for January 12th.
The workers also offer up Samuel's phone number,
something his sister Sheila claimed not to have.
- CHRISTINE: They told detectives
that Samuel had a new cell phone,
and they had spoken to him on it and had that number.
- NARRATOR: Detectives suspect Sheila may be hiding more
than her brother's contact info.
And when warrants for her financial records
finally come through, new clues emerge.
- Sheila and Seth had a number of policies together,
naming the other as beneficiary.
- JOSEPH: If Seth Aidoo pre-deceased Sheila Aidoo,
then first, she was the beneficiary
of a million-dollar life insurance policy.
- NARRATOR: But the policies
had a very suspicious expiration date.
- The final divorce hearing
was scheduled for February of 2009,
one month after Seth was murdered.
- NARRATOR: And conveniently enough,
if the divorce had been finalized before Seth's death,
then Sheila would no longer be the beneficiary
of those life insurance policies.
- CHRISTINE: Sheila put in a claim for the insurance policy
within a day of finding out that Seth had been murdered.
- NARRATOR: Detectives find it suspicious
that Sheila would file a claim so quickly
after finding out about Seth's murder.
With a potential greed motive in hand,
detectives get a warrant for Samuel Culley's
cell phone GPS records.
- JOSEPH: Prince George's County police then used that
to locate Samuel Culley, or at least the area
he was located in New Jersey.
They went to that area, they found him.
- NARRATOR: On March 10, 2009,
New Jersey authorities take Samuel Culley into custody.
And he immediately caves.
- RUEBEN: Once authorities had Sam Culley in custody,
the case broke open.
Sam Culley began talking about details
about how the killings occurred.
- NARRATOR: Samuel says it all began on January 12th,
when Delford Barnes asked him to go with him to run an errand.
- JOSEPH: Prince George's County police
learn from Samuel Culley that
this murder started with a request from Delford
to go with him to the Oak Creek house and get mail.
- CHRISTINE: Samuel told the detectives
that Delford had the transponder to get into the gated community,
and that once they got to the house,
Delford had a garage door opener.
- NARRATOR: That's how the two men entered the home.
They were only there for Seth, but things changed.
- RUEBEN: By Sam's account, while they are there,
Eunice comes home, surprises them, starts yelling at them.
- NARRATOR: Samuel says Delford had a gun with him,
and Eunice's panic set him off.
- Eunice was at the top of the stairs to the basement,
and Delford shot her in the back of the head.
- NARRATOR: Samuel says that after Eunice was dead,
Delford insisted that they lie in wait for Seth.
- As soon as Seth came in and saw them, the fight began.
He describes the fight as going throughout the house.
- NARRATOR: Samuel explains that he and Delford
both had knives -
but Delford did most of the stabbing.
- JOSEPH: Samuel Culley admits
to his involvement in the attack,
but says that Delford Barnes was the main attacker.
- Seth is fatally wounded,
and Delford drags his body into the basement near Eunice's body.
- NARRATOR: From there, they took Eunice's car
and abandoned it in the hope that it would be stolen
by another party,
but did not account for the surveillance footage.
They then walked the final few blocks back to Sheila's house.
- Samuel Culley never said his sister was involved
in any of this.
He would never discuss it.
He would never talk about it.
- NARRATOR: But then Samuel lets his guard down,
revealing an incriminating detail.
- CHRISTINE: He admitted that when they got back to the house
after the murders,
the transponder and the garage door opener
were both given to Sheila.
- This points to Sheila probably knowing more
than she is letting on.
- NARRATOR: After his confession,
Samuel Culley is charged with first-degree murder.
The next day, authorities arrest Delford Barnes,
who still refuses to speak to police.
- NARRATOR: Even without a statement,
the case against Delford grows stronger
when the forensic analysis of his boots
found at Sheila's home comes back.
- The distinctive pattern of those boots were in fact a match
for of one of the boot prints found at the murder scene.
- NARRATOR: And now that he's officially charged,
Police have authority to test his DNA
against the DNA recovered from the autopsy.
- Under Seth's fingernails, they found Delford's DNA.
There was no question that both Samuel and Delford
committed these murders.
- NARRATOR: Coming up:
The last piece of the puzzle
is connecting Sheila Aidoo to the crime.
- We frequently said to each other
that Sheila should be sitting at that defendant's table too.
- She doesn't have to be there to be an accomplice.
- NARRATOR: But one crucial piece of evidence
would come back to haunt her.
- I remember the examiner coming back.
And you could just tell as soon as he burst into the room
that we had it.
- NARRATOR: In March 2009, Samuel Culley pleads guilty
to the murders of his brother-in-law Seth Aidoo
and Seth's pregnant fiancee, Eunice Baah.
In August of 2010, Delford Barnes's case goes to trial.
Samuel is the state's star witness.
- CHRISTINE: The trial lasted a little over two weeks.
Delford, at the conclusion of the trial,
was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder,
and was given a sentence of life
without the possibility of parole.
- NARRATOR: Even with two men behind bars,
prosecutors, along with Seth and Eunice's friends and family,
believe justice hasn't fully been served.
- Throughout the trial of Delford,
we frequently said to each other that Sheila should be sitting
at that defendant's table too.
- NARRATOR: While prosecutors believe
Sheila was the mastermind,
she did an excellent job of covering her tracks.
- There was no evidence that she was at
the scene of the crime.
Certainly no evidence that she directly physically harmed
either of the victims.
- NARRATOR: While building their case against Sheila,
prosecutors interview friends of Seth
and discover his divorce with Sheila was not as amicable
as she led officials to believe.
- JOSEPH: Sheila had spent all this time investing in him
and supporting him with her business.
She had provided Seth this incredible opportunity
to gain an education.
Sheila was not going to allow him
just to throw her to the side after everything she had done
and walk away.
I think the last straw was their engagement
and then the announcement that Eunice Baah was pregnant.
- NARRATOR: While jealousy seems a strong motive
given the extreme violence of the crime,
prosecutors believe that the fact Sheila
was about to be excluded as a beneficiary
of Seth's life insurance policies was a motive as well.
- CHRISTINE: Motive alone doesn't allow you
to charge someone with murder.
But we had her relationship with Delford.
We had these insurance policies.
So we had a lot of pieces, but we didn't have a full puzzle.
But it was enough to charge her with conspiracy
to commit murder.
- JOSEPH: She doesn't have to be there to be an accomplice.
The transponder that she had issued to her
was utilized to get into the community,
was given to the individuals to commit the murders.
- NARRATOR: On January 10, 2012,
three years after the murders of Seth Aidoo and Eunice Baah,
Sheila Aidoo is charged for her role in their deaths.
But before trial, they have one last loose end to tie up:
Who inscribed the voodoo candle?
- CHRISTINE: As part of getting ready for trial,
we had the handwriting exemplar done
to see whose handwriting it was on that candle.
And we had it done twice--
once with Delford and once with Sheila.
She would be writing and writing.
And this process takes, as you can imagine, quite some time.
But I remember the examiner coming back,
and you could just tell as soon as he burst into the room
that we had it.
That her handwriting was the handwriting on that candle.
I think that it was clear to all of us
that Sheila was not just
the accidental beneficiary of Seth's death,
but actually had intended for him to die.
- NARRATOR: Prosecutors suspect that when her curses failed,
Sheila solicited the help of her boyfriend and brother
to take care of things more directly.
They confront Sheila's defense attorney with the new evidence.
On June 1, 2012, Sheila enters an Alford plea
for conspiracy to commit murder.
- CHRISTINE: An Alford plea means that someone acknowledges
there's enough evidence that they could be found guilty,
but they don't acknowledge their guilt.
Sheila was given a 20-year sentence.
- LEE: Life is a value, and she didn't value his life.
And she didn't value the life of his fiancee.
And then the girl is pregnant with a baby,
she didn't value that baby's life either.
So to hell with her.
- I mean, the impact, I'm sure it was very shocking
through the Ghanaian community.
A lot of people were hurt by it.
I think he should be remembered
as someone who was true to his country.
He stayed true to who he was from day one,
but he also looked for a better life
and he made that life.
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