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Dan Montecalvo

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Dan montecalvo

Dan Montecalvo

Real Name: Daniel John Montecalvo
Case: Appeal
Location: Burbank, California
Date: March 31, 1988

Case

Details: Convicted bank robber Dan Montecalvo met his forty-three-year-old wife, Carol, through a group at her church that wrote letters to prisoners, and in 1980, they were married. After he was released, they moved to Burbank, California. Everything seemed fine in their lives; he joined her Bible study group and was actively involved in the church. However, he was later diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer. Unable to work, he drank heavily and began to gamble. In March 1988, she won a contest through her job; the prize was a trip to Hawaii. On the evening of March 31, 1988, they both were shot in their home by intruders. Although he survived, she died from her wounds.
Dan said that at 10:30pm on the night of the shooting, he and Carol took a break from packing for their trip and went on a walk around the neighborhood. When they returned, they changed the registration tag on her car since it was about to expire. She went inside to get a towel to clean his hands. As she did so, he heard her say something. He then heard a gunshot, so he ran inside. As he entered, one assailant, a Hispanic man with a mustache, grabbed him from behind. As they struggled, the assailant shot him in the lower back. No vital organs were hit and there was almost no bleeding.
Dan found Carol lying dead in the hallway; she had been shot once. He then went and called 911. The office phone was broken, so he went and called from the living room. The call was placed at 11:01pm. Five minutes later, officers arrived at the scene. They proceeded cautiously, unsure if the assailant(s) were still inside. Dan went to the door and pleaded for them to come inside. However, they could not hear what he was saying. They yelled for him to come out with his hands up. Police entered the home at 11:11pm; Carol was pronounced dead at the scene. Dan claimed that she might have survived if the police acted quicker.
That night, the bullet was removed from Dan's back. Gunshot residue tests on his hands came back negative. For the next four days, detectives searched the Montecalvo home. At first, they suspected that Carol and Dan were attacked by the same home intruders that murdered Deputy Charlie Anderson in Burbank a few months earlier. Evidence in the home seemed to support the burglary theory: there was a small slit in a screen door; a cash box and the filing cabinet containing it had been jimmied open. Police also found the shell casing from the bullet that hit Dan; it was a .25 caliber.
However, other evidence at the scene did not make sense. Carol's purse remained untouched. The police did not think that a burglar would break into a house with all of the lights on and two cars in the driveway. They became suspicious of Dan when they learned of his criminal past. They also discovered that he had large gambling debts with several casinos. He also apparently flirted and went out with other women while Carol was work; sometimes, he would even bring them home with him. One bartender said that he had once brandished a revolver and pointed it at him.
Police learned that Carol had approximately $600,000 in life insurance policies on her. Authorities theorized that Dan may have killed her in order to get the life insurance money, which he would use to pay back the debts. This theory was substantiated when two men came forward; they were acquaintances of his. They each claimed that he had talked to them about getting large insurance policies for their wives and then killing them.
After the murder, Dan moved out of his home and placed most of his belongings in a storage locker. About a year after the murder, he was pulled over on suspicion of DUI when he fled the scene. He was soon arrested; in his trunk was a handgun and a bizarre manuscript written by him. He was arrested because he was a felon in possession of a handgun. He allegedly threatened officers who had arrested him.
While in jail, authorities searched Dan's new home. They found a book in which he detailed the actions of authorities. They also found a paper that was for a storage unit that he rented. When authorities investigated the unit, they found rubber gloves, ammunition, and a hollowed-out book. On the felt of the book, authorities noticed the impressions of two guns: a .25 and a .38. These two types of guns were used in the shooting. Based on this evidence, in March 1990, Dan was arrested and charged with Carol's murder.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Carol had saved money for the trip and kept it in a locked box. They claimed that Dan stole it to help with his debts. The motive for her murder, along with the insurance money, was to cover up that he had stolen money from her. In November 1990, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to twenty-seven years to life in prison. Seventeen days after his sentencing, he married one of Carol's close friends from church.
However, in January 1991, Dan's neighbor, Suzan Brown, confessed that she and a friend were the ones who had broke into their home, believing that they had already left for their trip. They planned to steal money for drugs when Carol entered. She asked Suzan "What are you doing here?" Suzan's friend then shot and killed her. Moments later, she shot and wounded Dan. He believes she was one of the robbers, but he is adamant that she wasn't the one who shot him, as his shooter had a mustache. He believes that Suzan doesn't want to admit that she was the one who killed Carol.
According to Dan's attorney, Suzan knew that Carol had lost a flip flop, which was only verified through police reports. Also, she apparently knew the color of the cash box and that $800 had been taken. She also knew the type of weapons used and that the screen door had been slit. Her confession prompted a month-long investigation by the D.A.'s office. However, he refused to reopen this case. The prosecution and many police officers believe that Suzan is lying. She allegedly has a history of mental illness; they say she made up the story to get attention. She maintains that she and her friend were responsible.
Along with Suzan's confession, Dan claims that there is other evidence to suggest his innocence. Authorities were never able to tie a specific murder weapon to him or the crime. He had also filed a lawsuit against the police department a few months prior to his arrest. He believes that he became a prime suspect after the lawsuit was filed. Also, unidentified fingerprints were found in the home that did not belong to him or Carol. However, they also did not belong to Suzan or any of her associates. Partial ones on the kitchen floor could not be tied to either Dan or Carol.
Neighbors also reported hearing people running from the Montecalvo home on the night of Carol's murder. One man said that they had knocked over the ladder in his backyard. Interestingly, Suzan said that her woodpile had been knocked down when someone jumped over her fence. Dan hopes that this case will be reopened and that the real killer can be found.
Suspects: Suzan confessed that she shot Dan and that her friend shot Carol. However, she has never been officially charged in this case. Another possible suspect in it is the unidentified intruder(s) that killed Charlie Anderson.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the October 16, 1992 episode. Karen Kingsbury wrote the book, "Fatal Vows", about it. It was also profiled on The Perfect Murder in 2016. It comes to the conclusion that Dan was, indeed, responsible for Carol's death.
Results: Unresolved. Suzan eventually stopped cooperating with authorities; the District Attorney later determined that her confession was not credible, as she repeatedly changed her story and even admitted to lying about certain aspects. Dan continued to appeal his conviction until his death from sepsis in September 2013. However, he was never able to uncover any new evidence to dispute his conviction. It is not known if anyone else is still working to prove his innocence.
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