Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
did an out -of -control Orlando renovation lead to murder?
shanti cooper and dave tronner met on match .com in march 2013
months later, dave moved from minnesota to orlando to be with shanti and her young son.
in april 2015, dave tronnes bought a hom in the Delaney Park neighborhood. the couple began renovating the home .
shanti cooper dave tronnes married in february 2017
the renovation ,dragged on as costs sprialed to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
When the main house became unlivable, the family moved into a small apartment above the garage. Shanti Cooper ran her business out of the apartment as well.
Dave Tronnes began sleeping on the couch downstairs in the garage, with the dogs.
Desperate, Dave Tronnes reached out to local contractor Keith Ori for help.
Ori appears on the reality renovation show “Zombie House Flipping. “
Late in the afternoon on April 24, 2018, Dave Tronnes called 911 to report he’d found Shanti Cooper floating in the bathtub.
Investigators found severe injuries to Shanti Cooper’s head and face, which they said were inconsistent with a slip in the tub.
Dave Tronnes voluntarily went to Orlando Police headquarters to meet with detectives, where he was fully examined.
Detectives accused Dave Tronnes of strangling Shanti Cooper, but for nearly 8 hours, he insisted he had nothing to do with her death.
Dave suggested someone broke into the apartment and attacked Shanti Cooper while he was out. Shanti’s expensive engagement ring was missing.
Investigators found blood on Shanti Cooper’s bed and suspected that’s where she was killed.
Investigators later learned Dave Tronnes was a member of Club Orlando, a same-sex bathhouse. It’s unknown whether Shanti Cooper was aware of it
Dave Tronnes was arrested four months after Shanti Cooper’s death
Shanti Cooper’s engagement ring was found in Dave’ Tronnes’ possessions when he was arrested.
Nearly a year after Shanti Cooper’s death, Dave Tronnes’ original attorney revealed the existence of a set of bloody sheets. The defense team had recovered them from the apartment where Shanti Cooper was found dead.
The attorney also told investigators about a green cord their private investigator recovered from the main house. Authorities believed it could have been the murder weapon, but no DNA was found on it.
In October 2023, David Tronnes was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the death of his wife, Shanti Cooper-Tronnes.