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Gordon Weaver

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Gordon weaver

Gordon Weaver

Real Name: Gordon Douglas Weaver
Aliases: David Carson
Wanted For: Murder
Missing Since: March 7, 2000

Case[]

Details: Gordon Weaver was a resident of White Bear Lake, Minnesota and married to Jean Weaver. After seventeen years of marriage, she planned to divorce him. Her family was worried about how he would react. On October 16, 1999, she planned to join her sister, Kathy, and brother-in-law to visit another sister at her cabin. When she didn't show up, Kathy called the house but received no response. She and her husband drove to the Weaver home and found it on fire.
Minutes later, firefighters discovered Jean's burned body inside the house, lying face down in several inches of water. The family dog was found dead in an upstairs closet. Jean's sixteen-year-old son was not home. An autopsy revealed that she had died of smoke inhalation, however, she had also suffered a head injury. It was determined that someone had deliberately set the fire in the basement laundry room. Gordon became the prime suspect.

Jean weaver

Jean Weaver

Gordon claimed that he was running errands at the time. However, police soon began gathering evidence that he killed Jean for their insurance money. They discovered that he had financial problems; his business was failing while she was thriving at her job. Their relationship was also falling apart. He agreed to give his clothes over to police for forensic testings. The tests showed that traces of turpentine and a petroleum product were on his shoes, which were also found on Jean's body.
They also discovered that Gordon was the sole beneficiary for Jean's two life insurances policies along with an accidental death one. They totaled $378,000 along with a 401K that was worth $34,000. They were due to lapse just two days after her murder. Gordon was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder, but was let out on bail thanks to his parents. He disappeared days before the pre-trial hearing.
Two days later, on March 9, 2000, a 1996 Toyota RAV4 that Gordon borrowed from his mother was found abandoned in Summit, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. There was blood in it and credit cards strewn about. It appeared, at first, that he may have been carjacked and murdered. However, police believed that he had faked his own death. Soon afterwards, the FBI received a tip from a friend of his confirming that he was still alive. He is now on the FBI's Most Wanted list and considered armed and dangerous.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the August 9, 2001 episode.
  • It was also profiled on America's Most Wanted during the investigation and documented on Dateline.

Results: Captured. In May 2004, after four years on the run, Gordon was arrested in a remote area near Florence, Oregon under the name of David Carson. A man recognized Weaver from the AMW website after being told by a friend that Weaver had been on the show. Weaver had been a friend of the man's family. In 2005, he admitted to killing Jean, but claimed that it was an accident and that she was already dead when he set the fire. The medical examiner, however, testified that she died of smoke inhalation. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
In October 2006, Gordon's parents were arrested and charged in helping him to elude the authorities. In 2007, he appealed and was granted a new trial because of deficiencies in his first trial. In February 2010, he was once again convicted of her murder. This time, however, he was sentenced to just 18 3/4 years in prison. He was released on parole in November 2016. He will remain on parole until 2023.
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