Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
Shannon Graves’ life was cut short when a calculated murder scheme against her was executed. Graves’ body was found wrapped in trash bags and stuffed inside her boyfriend’s freezer. Crimetastic tells the horrifying story of new love interests, a false identification, and a cold-blooded killing.
our story begins in the small town of campbell , Ohio ,July 29, 2017
to best tell the story let’s start at the beginning 5 months earlier
just a 10 -minute minute drive from campbell is the historic town of youngstown, Ohio .
debbie de paul was born and raised in youngstown, debbie and only child was 27 years old when she got the shock of her life .
she has a younger brother and sister ,debbie learned about her half brother AJ and 5 year old half-sister shannon from her father whom they all share .
their father received a letter from shannon’s mother with a picture and a note,informing him that shannon was his daughter .
as shannon grew ,debbie and her father make strides to be a part of shannon’s life debbie cared for shannon as if she were her daughter.
but as years went by shannon ventured off on her own,now in her 20s shannon was always out and about with her friends.
however she would periodically stop by her fathers for sunday dinner and according to debbie shannon was always there for birthdays and holidays
but in 2017 debbie’s birthday came and went with no sign of shannon
her absence was odd to her family as she hadn’t shown up for sunday dinner in a while either .
the family wasn’t worried as shannon sometimes went radio silent for weeks .
debbie believed that shannon was busy with her boyfriend and that she would call in a few days .
then came easter and eventually father’s day with no sign of shannon with no one in the family hearing from shannon for months
debbie and shannon’s father called her boyfriend arturo and asked where she was
arturo said that the two had gotten into a big fight, broke up and that shannon had moved to cleveland with a guy
to her family this didnt sound sound uncommon for shannon,she tended to disappear ocassionally
after multiple unsuccessful attempts to call shannon’s phone,shannon’s brother AJ sent shannon a texta replay came back saying
” who is this ” AJ said ” your brother ” the following response shook the family to its core ,the message read “i don’t have a brother”.
the family knew that shannon would never say that , they now believe that someone other than shannon is using her phone
with this realization debbie reported her sister missing on the 22nd of june when investigators received the report shannon had been missing for 4 months
detectives began their investigation with the strange text message shannon’s brother had received from shannon’s number , someone else appeared to be using her phone but they needed the data to confirm their suspicions.
detectives obtained a search warrant for the phone records,however the results will take a few days .
in the meantime investigators learn as much as they about shannon graves.
shannon got in with the wrong crowd during high school and dropped out after her sophmore year , at that time shannon began living with friends and became an exotic dancer.
that lifestyle along with drug use went on for a few years
Debbie shannon’s half sister introduced shannon to hairstyling through debbie shannon saw a different path to life .
intrigued by this other path shannon attends cosmetology school.
shannon’s family especially debbie was glad shannon was finally getting her footing, shannon’s family told detectives that shannon lived with her boyfriend arturo novoa.
when detectives speak with arturo, he provides them with the same story he told shannon’s family that shannon had run off with another guy.
this story was suspicious because arturo still had shannon’s car and her dog molly.according to debbie molly was shannon’s baby the two went everywhere together .
detectives were unable to check arturo’s Alibi because they didn’t know when shannon went missing ,after a thorough search detectives could not substantiate arturo’s story.
as they dig deeper into shannon’s personal life her friends reveal a troubling pattern shannon had a thing for bad boys.with this in mind detectives asked debbie aboout the other men in shannon’s life.
debbie informed them that shannon’s prior boyfriend jon knew her best . john was shannon’s boyfriend before arturo.a quick search into jon uncovered his criminal background which included drug dealing jon and shannon broke up when jon went to prison
what investigators learned next raised their suspicion, they discovered that jon was released from prison a short time before shannon went missing .
the detectives brought jon in for an interview by the end of the interview it was clear that jon was deeply concerned for shannon .
in the following days jon began to surveilling shannon’s appartment and led community search parties, allthough jon appeared helpful, detectives kept him at arms length as they were unaware of his true intentions.
through the grapevine jon found out about the burning of some of shannon’s belonings at a youngstown residence.
one of the witnesses to this burning event stops by the station to recount what happened.
over the next few days detectives collect statements and search for shannon as they searched the phone records for shannon’s cell phone number came back.based on the cell tower data shannon’s phone made its normal dayily route to her workplace and back ,however that normal routine stopped at the end of february.
in the floowing months shannon’s cell carrier reassigned her number to a new customer due to no activity from the number and lack of payment.
shannon’s bank statements showed no activity since the end of february with the phone record and bank statement dead ends detectives and shannon’s family was loosing hope.
july 29th 2017
5 months after shannon disappeared in the nearby town of campbell a 911 call comes in.
campbell police responded to the home on devitt avenu.
they detained the homeowners and secured the secured the scene, at that time campbell had no missing persons in their town so campbell detectives called nearby law enforcement offices to notify them of the discovery of a femal body.
with youngstown just a 10 -minute drive away youngstown investigators responded to the scene
they are ushered to the back of the house and into the basemant
black trash bags littered the basement floor witha chest freezer nearby.
the black bags and a home depot bucket had been inside of the chest freezer.
what they found inside the trash bags was horrifying
the trash bags contained body parts.
every part of the human body was there , exept for the head ,detectives located a tattoo on one of the severed legs ,that tattoo and the rest of the body fit shannnon graves descriptions
believing that the body was shannon’s youngstown investigors took over the case
stunned at the scene in fron of them,detectives are naturally suspicious of the couple who placed the 911 call.
the homeowners ken and Jill are brought to the station for an interview .
with ken and Jill’s matching statements and their lack of a motive to kill shannon detectives let them go.
investigtors focus on the man who brought the freezer to ken’s house.
ken identified him as aturo novoa aka anthony Gonzalez ,he was shannon’s boyfriend at the time she disappeared.with the witnesse’s identification and shannon’s name on the lease.
detectives obtained a search warrant for arturo and his girlfriend katrina’s residence.
that residence was shannon’s former apartment
during the apartment search detectives observed a large meat cleaver stuck in the fron door frame,they also find a lease agreement signed by arturo for a different property.
detectives discover another in the apartment an owner’s manual to the same model of freezer housing the body .
samples of what appeared to be blood on the apartment walls were collected.
the blood in the apartment ,the freezer manual, and all of the circumstantial evidence theyhad were enough ….
..to obtain arrest warrant for both arturo and katrina.
the detectives then speak with arturo
with arturo denying any involvement detectives speak to with katrina again.
based on the evidence gathered so far , police book arturo and katrina on abuse of a corps charges
during the search of arturo, the police located a lock key
the key fit the padlock on the freezer that house the body
the following day investigators received back from the coroner’s office after the body thaw saline was injected into the fingers to rehydrate them,within a few hours the coroner was able to lift a fingerprint
and positivaly confirm that the bpdy was shannon graves .how ever the coroner was unable to determine the cause of death because her head was missing.
the detective shared the disturbing news with shannon’s family. shannon’s half sister debbie described it as a nightmare she wondered how someone could do what they did to shannon.
with anturo and katrina’s mug shots plastered across the local news
a witness who had interacted with the two came forward.
months pass as investigators build their case against arturo and katrina
as katrina’s trial date approaches she takes a plea deal,this requred her to divulge the truth about what happened to shannon.
detectivves discussed katrina’s version of events during a third interview with andrew herman
with andrew denying katrina’s version of events ,the detectives searched for additional evidence to corroborate katrina’s story .
as detectives searched for more evidence they listened to arturo jailhouse phone calls
they heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line
it was katrina ,her communications with arturo violated her plea agreement, when notified of the communications prosecutors revoked her plea deal, with katrina’s plea deal up in smoke …..
and andrew sees the opportunity to strike a deal with prosecutors and the agreement requires his truthful account of what happened and his testimony against arturo and katrina
the following is andrew’s version of events on the day shannon was killed andrew receives a call from arturo telling him to meet at katrina’s house
once inside katrina’s house arturo shows shannon’s body to andrew, arturo tells andrew that she was killed in her apartment and brought to katrina’s house.
arturo said that shannon was bludgeon to death by hammer strikes to the head
at the direction of arturo they dismmembered shannon’s body using a machete
they placed shannon’s body in a 55g drum .
katrina then recommended the idea of using sulfuric acid to help dispose of the body .
they purchased the sulfuric acid and they removed shannon’s head and torso from one drum put it another drum.
and poured the sulfuric acid on shannon’s head and torso
according to a detective the sulfuric acid they had purchased wasn’t sufficient to dissolve the body as they had purchased off -brand sulfuric acid that was not 100% pure .
with the sulfuric acid not working katrina bought a freezer for the remaining body parts.
andrew did express remorse for his role in the crime ndrew said he agreed to participate because he feared he would be next if he didn’t .
september 2018 prosecutors indicted arturo novoa and katrina leighton for the murder of shannon graves
with the death penalty on the table the two quickly made a deal
arturo pled guilty to 47 of the 48 counts including murder , arturo novoa received a sentence of 43 years in prison.
katrina pled guilty to tampering with evidence,obstruction of justice, and abuse of a corps ,katrina leighton received a sentence of 18 years.
for his cooperation, andrew herman pled guilty to tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity . andrew received a sentence of 12 years.
shannon’s circle of so -called friends stole her life .shannon’s family continues to mourn her loss
shannon’s dog molly now lives with debbie
even with arturo’s murder conviction it is believed by some in including a few investigators that it was katrina who killed shannon…………