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Stella says Paul and Ron returned from the store around 11 pm There was a a neighbor lived Kitty Corner to Lacy’s home.
His name was Calvin Smith.
And at this time, he stopped over just to socialize with Ron and Paul.
And she went up to bed.
Paul doesn’t come to bed that night.
The next morning, she believes he may have left to go to work.
She had paged him.
He doesn’t come back and that’s what precipitates her initial filing of the missing person’s report.
>> To go missing on Thanksgiving, it hit us all hard because it’s like we know Paul and he go way come home.
So, this was abnormal.
It’s not even 24 hours, but if someone’s reported missing, they are put into a national database.
In this case, there was a vehicle involved is 1986 file with a New York plate on it.
All this is entered into a database.
The patrol officer asked for a recent photo of her husband Paul and if there was any extenduating circumstances that she should know about.
>> She said he was not a drug user, but Paul was under a lot of pressure.
They had some money issues.
He lost his job even though he got a new job at a local Coca-Cola warehouse.
You know, they they owed a lot of money.
Additionally, she said he recently cashed out his 401k for about $8,000, but Paul wouldn’t believe the family and the kids on a holiday.
At this point, patrolman interviewed neighbors, but we really didn’t get any good leads.
His devotion to his family makes the disappearance even harder to explain.
Two days into the investigation, a tip comes in.
>> At about 2:30 pm, the Skenctity Police Department gets a call from a person living two and a half blocks from where the Lacy’s lived saying that there was a uh a car parked on a one-way street in front of their house, parked the wrong way.
There was a man sleeping in the car.
The officers that responded made numerous attempts pounding on the glass, knocking on the side of the car, and they felt that it was necessary to call for EMS.
>> They opened the door and tried to wake this person up.
Not only was he obviously dead, he was nearly frozen.
They found no wallet, but they did find by going through his pockets and identification card.
Then the police knew that this was Paul Lacy.
Paul Lacy was born May 12th, 1964 in Albany, New York.
He and his younger sister were part of a large extended family.
>> He was a loving brother.
We always were watching cartoons.
He used to take me to school.
I was little him, so I walk slower, so I was pretty much led around, you know.
We had very strong mothers and then it turned us into decent people.
>> Paul was always a happy kid.
He always enjoyed life.
Anything that he did, it was done because of his doing.
What made him happy, that’s what he did.
Paul’s father wasn’t really in his life.
I had to depend on the welfare system, but I was always going to take care of my kids.
After high school in the early 80s, Paul started working at a local market.
He quickly rose to become a manager.
It was also the place he met his future wife, Stella Close.
Stella and her family was in our neighborhood.
Her dad was a hardworking man.
Her mom was a stay-at-home mom from what I could tell.
So Stella had a stable home.
She had dated a couple guys that were not as nice as Paul.
He was nurturing and caring.
He wanted to have somebody to love.
She started coming around and then next thing you know, they’re getting married.
The young couple married in 1986.
In the years that followed, Paul and Stella built a life together, including three beautiful children.
>> He decided to go into his career at Cargill, which is a flower mill at the Port of Albany.
Pretty much any job you got that was down at the Port of Orbin, they paid you well.
Whatever his wife Stella wanted, he made it for her or got it for her.
And it started with a car.
Then he bought her a house, had a pool put in.
He provided everything for that family.
And you know how it feels to not have a real father that you’ve been longing for.
Therefore, you’re going to be a stand-up man.
And he decided to be that stand-up guy for his family.
>> Paul strove to be the best father he could be for his children, ages 9, 7, and 16 months.
>> Paul had three kids, a girl, a boy, a girl.
That’s what Paul wanted.
His heart was kind.
He would always make sure whoever he did for, he was going to do his best by him.
He didn’t care who you was.
As far as Paul is aspirations, each one was just a milestone.
It became setting up for retirement, setting up for his children’s education.
So, yeah, his his goals kept getting higher and higher.
But 2 days after Thanksgiving Day 1995, Paul has been found deceased.
At first glance, it’s unclear how he died.
>> The keys were on the floor in the front seat.
There was no broken glass anywhere.
There was no His clothes weren’t disheveled like there was a struggle.
There was no blood.
No gunshots.
There was no knife wounds.
While there are no obvious wounds on Paul’s body, closer inspection reveals a telltale sign of foul play.
He had at least two rounds of liature marks around his neck.
He was strangled.
>> There isn’t much room in the back seat of this car, this Volvo.
So, it would have been very difficult for whoever killed Paul to have strangled him from the back seat.
>> That would tell me it took a person of size and/or strength to pull this off and that it wasn’t done in his car, it was done elsewhere.
And then Paul’s body was moved from the actual crime scene.
Strangulation is not a typical means of death in a robbery case.
People who strangle other people usually have a personal relationship.
It could have been by someone who was close to him.
>> Coming up, investigators learn about a recent feud.
>> Paul put his foot down and said no.
And then that’s when the whole rage came out >> and a possible suspect shifts the course of the investigation.
>> I said, “We’ll get to the bottom of this.
” And with his hand, he pointed to the kitchen floor and said, “The bottom starts right here.
” >> 2 days after Paul Lacy was reported missing, his dead body has been found less than three blocks away from home.
And investigators are trying to determine why.
>> There was no jewelry on him at that time, although he was known to wear three rings, which he did not have on.
Uh his pockets and his black jeans were turned inside out.
It could be construed as a robbery gone bad or a robbery/murder.
And the fact that Stella said that he carried a large amount of money on him at all times would point to that fact for sure.
The only thing that they found was a pager on his belt.
They download the pager information.
Stella told the responding officers that she did try paging him and he didn’t respond.
So it it pretty much cooperated Stella’s story.
After assisting the forensics people from the state police, it was determined that the body was going to be removed from the vehicle and would be shipped for autopsy.
Then investigators made the notification right away.
We asked Stella to come to the police department.
She was given what is essentially a death notification.
Started crying, seemed very upset.
When she settled down, we said, “Now we you need to help us help you and find out what happened to Paul.
She’s traumatized at this point.
We found her husband dead.
She’s got three children.
If she makes a mistake in a statement, we’re going to let it go.
” But we do find some inconsistencies with what she tells us versus what she told the responding patrolman to report him missing.
She said she saw him eat a salami sandwich at 11:30, which she did not tell the responding officers initially.
She also said that Paul came up to bed on Thanksgiving Eve uh and got in bed with her that he wanted to have sex, but she turned him down.
Even though there was inconsistencies, we have to take that into consideration.
emotions, you know, finite details that she may or may not have forgotten.
So, we don’t push her on that because you don’t want to paint her in a corner yet until we know more.
This time, when Stella describes the events leading up to Paul’s disappearance, she leaves out mention of their neighbor, Calvin.
But she has another theory about who might be involved.
>> As far as she knew, he never cheated on her.
and she stated she never cheated on him other than some financial pressures that they were under.
On the surface, they had a good marriage, but Stella said that uh he did have an ongoing feud with a uh first cousin by the name of David Walmck who actually lived with them for a few months.
his older cousin needed him, you know, and he provided a place for him where the other family members were like, “No, you’re not staying with us.
” Paul was the one that was kindhearted.
Stella says the arrangement quickly turned sour.
And on November 3rd, 3 weeks before Paul’s body was discovered, the conflict between the cousins escalated.
David would get into these um rage type arguments, stuff like that.
He he always had guns and stuff, but Paul was not like that.
Paul wasn’t a physical fighter.
David Wmack had an issue with his anger.
So, he probably thought he could bully Paul and stay there.
Well, Paul put his foot down and said no.
Told him he had to go.
And then that’s when the whole rage came out.
>> Paul kicked him out of the house.
And according to Paul Lacy, his cousin Dave Wmarmac sliced tires on uh Paul’s cars.
>> While David was never charged in the tire slashing incident.
Paul’s allegations pushed their relationship to a breaking point.
Paul Lacy kicked his cousin WAC out of the house, but he allowed another cousin, Ron Falner, to rent a room in the house.
>> Investigators track David down for an interview.
Of course, he denied any involvement and said he hadn’t seen Paul in uh quite a while.
And in fact, definitely he didn’t see Paul Thanksgiving Eve or Thanksgiving.
>> David claims he went hunting with his sons on Thanksgiving Day.
>> That was cooperated by friends and family alike.
Although he was very uh suspect at this point, his his alibi was cooporated.
>> With David ruled out as a possible suspect, detectives hope Paul’s autopsy will give them a new lead.
>> I liature marks left bruising and a distinctive pattern around his neck.
The medical examiner had determined that in fact this was a homicide.
It was further determined that Mr. Lacy had died uh by strangulation caused by liature.
This is not an exact science in terms of time of death.
The fact that Paul had been quote unquote frozen because of the weather and actually had been dead for some time.
the Emmy cannot put, you know, days on it.
So, we had to rely on the stomach contents and statement of Stella saying he ate a salami sandwich at 11:30 at night Thanksgiving eve, but Paul’s stomach was empty, which would indicate that he hadn’t eaten.
One of the last people to see him alive says that he is eating a sandwich or having a meal.
The autopsy report is inconsistent with that.
At this point, they’re highly skeptical.
Some of those initial reports.
We still had a lot of unanswered questions.
And now that Stella may or may not be involved, the pressure is on us to find other physical evidence or real evidence or eyewitnesses.
But Paul’s body was moved from the actual crime scene.
Like, where did this actually happen? Investigators have received Paul Lacy’s autopsy report, which contradicts his wife, Stella Lacy’s story.
But with little evidence to go on, police can’t be certain of anything.
They know the answers they seek likely depend on finding where the murder took place.
>> Well, how about his house? Uh, that’s where he’s supposed to be and the last time Stella saw him.
Getting a search warrant’s a pretty heavy lift and it takes time.
So, we asked Stella for consent to search.
Paul’s first cousin, Ron, who lived there.
They both consented.
There’s investigators throughout the house, upstairs, downstairs, and bedrooms and bathrooms and closets, drawers, private places.
At one point while I was there, a man came, just walked into the back door into the kitchen, didn’t knock.
We nodded to each other, said hello, and he immediately went to the turkey, the Thanksgiving turkey, ripped off a leg, started eating it.
And I asked, I said, “Who are you?” And he said that he was a neighbor, identified himself as Calvin Smith.
Kelvin Smith was another man who was in the house that night that Paul Lacy disappeared.
Stella neglected to mention that Kelvin was there in her second interview with the police.
>> He said, “Yeah, this is really sad about what happened to Paul.
” I said, “Yeah, but we’ll get to the bottom of this.
” And with his hand, he pointed to the kitchen floor and said, “The bottom starts right here.
” They certainly got my attention.
I said, “What do you mean by that?” He shrugged his shoulders.
He was just as calm, cool, and collected as could be.
He’s eating the leg off a turkey dinner.
And I took note of that and I said, something’s up uh more than meets the eye here.
You know, again, it’s common sense.
The speculation is that it happened here.
I didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on him right then cuz we didn’t know was he involved? Was someone in the house involved? So, I just let it go.
But of course, I told the rest of the team.
>> After concluding their search, investigators suspicions are reinforced by another tip.
There was an anonymous call that came in that the origin was never identified but indicated that Paul Lacy had very poor eyesight and needed to wear his glasses all the time.
After we got that phone call from a friend, we immediately, you know, started thinking, where are the glasses? There were no glasses in the car.
So that tells you pretty much that he didn’t drive there where he was found.
At that point, investigation goes back to the last place where he was seen alive with his wife, Ron Falner, and Calvin Smith.
We decided that we need to talk to Ron, Calvin, and Stella for the third time and bring them into the police department to talk to individually.
They weren’t under arrest, but we had a plan.
You know, we’re going to interview them separately and be able to pull apart their stories or corroborate their stories.
If someone’s lying, it’s hard to keep up a lie.
And one lie leads to another.
The inconsistencies that may or may not have meant something early on come into focus a lot more when you add them up.
One or all of them are involved and it did happen in the house.
>> Coming up, detectives expose a marriage in distress.
>> She finally admits, “I’ve been having an affair.
In fact, Thanksgiving was our anniversary.
” And a shocking confession turns the case upside down.
She said she stood there for a few minutes staring and it dawned on her that Paul was dead.
On November 27th, 1995, two days after Paul Lacy was found murdered in the backseat of his car, investigators attempt to verify his final moments with the three people who saw him last.
Paul’s wife, Stella Lacy, his friend Calvin Smith, and his cousin Ronald Faulner.
We start by interviewing Stella.
I can tell that she’s nervous now.
She’s got a whole different demeanor and she knows that Ron and Calvin are being talked to in adjacent rooms.
>> Contrary to what she initially told police, Stella admits she and Paul were having problems.
the marriage wasn’t as rosy as she initially uh painted a picture of and that Paul always wanted sex and that was something she wasn’t willing to participate in as much as he wanted to.
He was a free spender.
Uh and they had filed chapter 13 to protect the house and their vehicles, but he was spending money according to her hand over fist.
Stella says she began spending more time with Paul’s cousin, Ron.
>> Ron, you know, took care of a lot of chores around the house, was uh Uncle Ron to the three kids.
>> She told police that Ron was a breath of fresh air and could talk to her and she could talk to him and he would listen unlike Paul.
She finally admits, in fact, I she says, “I’ve been having an affair with Ron for about a year.
In fact, Thanksgiving was our anniversary.
” I asked her if she loved Ron.
And she said, “Actually, she didn’t.
But housewise, it was a good thing for him to be there for babysitting, cleaning, chores, etc.
, but it was just like a convenience.
In terms of motive, she’s having an affair with Paul’s first cousin, Ron, who’s living in the home and had been there for about six or seven months.
Secondly, there’s a money issue, and she finally admits that Paul had two life insurance policies worth $50,000.
Stella admits that over time, she and Ron began to fantasize about life without her husband.
She told me that both her and Ron disliked Paul and even hated him.
And they talked about getting rid of Paul.
Stella said she never thought that that was being taken seriously.
But Stella says on Thanksgiving Eve, Ron surprised her.
She went up to bed.
Paul came up a short time after and got in bed.
wanted to have sex with her.
She turned him down and they were in bed for the night.
Within a few minutes, maybe 15 minutes or so, she said that Ron yelled upstairs.
>> Ron yelled up the stairs, that Paul had a phone call, and he suggested Paul come down and take the call.
According to Stella, he was only gone a few minutes.
And then Ron went back up the stairs and asked Stella to come down.
>> She walked in the room and just saw Paul face down in Ron’s bedroom with a blanket, a pink blanket over his head.
>> In the room besides Ron was Kelvin Smith, the neighbor that had been over to the house that evening.
She said she stood there for a few minutes staring and it dawned on her that Paul was dead.
They said we got to get rid of him.
She went back upstairs, got his shoes, pants, shirt, his belt, his pager, dressed him, all three of them, cuz it’s not easy to dress a dead body.
Calvin and Ron loaded Paul in the backseat of his Volvo.
Stella said, “I’ll stay here and clean up the mess.
” She also said that Calvin had the rope they used to strangle him and told Calvin to get rid of the rope.
And she told me that he flushed it down the toilet.
After they load Paul’s body in the back seat, Ron drove the car and he drove the car a couple of blocks away.
The three of them got together and said, “Here’s what we’re going to do.
We’ll make sure our stories match.
” And the biggest thing was that we’re going to say it looked like a robbery.
Here’s Paul’s three rings, which they removed from his hand after they killed him.
And the money out of his pockets.
Stella said, “I’ll wait till tomorrow to report Paul missing, and I’ll beep him several times throughout the day, so the police will think that I was really worried about him, that everything’s going to be fine.
” >> Stella’s confession seems to explain everything, but detectives sense she is downplaying her involvement.
>> I don’t know how true her confession is or not.
I’ve got enough to believe that she’s telling the truth to a point, but we need to talk to Ron and Calvin and put their stories together and see how close they are matching.
>> Coming up, the grizzly details of the murder come to light.
>> He said, “All right, I did it.
” Like put the rope around his neck twice and that was that.
and a confessed killer describes Paul’s last moments.
>> He kisses Paul on the forehead and tells him, “I’m sorry, but everyone can now be at peace.
” >> New York authorities are investigating the strangulation death of Paul Lacy, while his wife, Stella Lacy, is naming her husband’s cousin and neighbor in his murder.
Detectives are in other rooms with the two men trying to get their versions of the story.
>> I found out that Calvin was not admitting to anything.
So I said, “Let me try.
” He denied being involved at all.
So I asked him if he put his hands on the rope and he said he did not.
I said, “Calvin, do you know what a rope is made of?” And he kind of said, “Yeah, I guess.
” I said, “Well, it’s made of fibers.
If you touch that rope, you’re going to have these fibers embedded in your hand.
” Well, this is definitely not true, but Calvin seemed to be believing me.
I told him that the PD had just purchased a fiber detection instrument.
Now, this is 1995.
Uh, copy machines were brand new, big piece of equipment.
Skinnctity PD had purchased one recently.
So I took him out of the interview room and I told him that was the fiber detection instrument.
I lifted up the cover as you would place a piece of paper there and I said, “We’re going to stick your hand in that and we’re going to hit the detection button or whatever I called it.
” And uh he put his hand down.
You know, the bright light comes on.
I said, “Don’t look at the light.
” He pulled his hand away.
The investigator’s ruse has the intended effect.
>> Right there at the copy machine, he said, “All right, I did it.
I I I strangled Paul.
” I put the rope around his neck twice and that was that.
I felt bad for Calvin that I tricked him, but I can do that.
I didn’t uh interfere with his right to due process or convince an innocent person to confess to something he didn’t do.
all within the guidelines of the law.
>> According to Calvin, Stella wasn’t an innocent bystander.
He says he went along with the murder because she promised to give him $100 upfront along with a cut from the insurance payout.
>> Stella said, “I’m going to give you some money.
” He thought maybe this is life-changing money.
They also took the rings off uh Paul’s fingers.
Kelvin thought he’d get a lot of money for those three rings and instead all he got for the total for the three rings was $40.
When they question Ron Faulner, he confesses as well, but with a different motive than Calvin.
He was in love with Stella and wanted to end a toxic relationship in the marriage so that they could be together.
Ron knew that her relationship with Paul was not what she wanted.
Ron said he’d do anything to make Stella happy.
So, while he was out running errands with Paul and Calvin the night before Thanksgiving, he decided to make the fantasy a reality.
>> Ron said, “Here’s what we’re going to do.
Calvin, you get the rope cuz you’re a big guy and you can uh hide behind my bedroom door.
I’m going to yell up to Paul.
When he comes in, you put that rope around him twice and just pull as hard as you can.
which by Calvin’s account and Ron’s account, this is how it went down.
Calvin just pulled as hard as he could for a couple minutes and Ryan actually jumped on top of Calvin to put more weight on Paul.
As he’s dying, Ron leans forward, kisses Paul on the forehead, and tells him, “I’m sorry, but everyone can now be at peace.
” Paul’s body was found on Saturday, November 25th.
3 days later, Ron, Calvin, and Stella were arrested.
All three were charged with murder, tampering with evidence, uh, conspiracy.
>> While they all face the same charges, investigators believe Stella was the driving force behind the crime.
>> Stella, I think, manipulated them both into doing it.
She was uh the puppet master.
I was shocked that Calvin Ronald and Stella had murdered my brother over insurance money with Stella.
Anything she wanted, my brother would have gave it to her.
It was senseless that she would even go to those extremes.
I couldn’t imagine that type of betrayal, that type of pain that you would inflict on someone that you care about for for money.
Paul’s family relies on prosecutors to exact justice, but when it comes to Stella, they have major concerns.
Although I think Stella orchestrated this, it’s hard for a jury to put someone away for life, even though they planned it.
We have to make sure we did our job and the evidence is enough to take it to trial.
You build the best case cuz you’re going to get one shot at this.
In August 1996, Stella Lacy goes on trial for the murder of her husband, Paul Lacy.
her alleged co-conspirators decide to take plea deals instead.
>> Ronald and Calvin, they were facing a potential death penalty case.
And sure, their attorneys advised them that their only shot to save their own skin by pleading to the lesser murder charges rather than face potential death penalty.
Calvin plead guilty to first-degree murder, was sentenced 25 to life.
Ron decided to plead guilty to seconddegree murder and also receive 25 to life.
>> As part of his agreement, Calvin provides testimony against Stella.
Prosecutors do not require the same of Ron.
>> He was in love with her and would never harm her.
Stella’s demeanor during the trial was cold, very cold, stonefaced.
The defense strategy was that she did not participate in the murder, only became aware of it after the fact when Ron and Calvin notify her, and that her involvement was to help dispose of the body.
However, Calvin denies such claims.
He testifies that Stella was the one that told him Paul’s death needed to look like a robbery.
He also claims that Stella wanted it to happen before the holiday.
Calvin indicated Stella had tried to do some pre-planning and that her representation that she was totally insulated from the actual homicide was incorrect.
Paul’s cousin, David WAC, takes the stand as a witness.
He testifies that Stella not only knew about the murder, she was the one who planned it.
His testimony was that he was approached by Stella and offered $10,000 to kill Paul.
>> WAC’s statement shows that Stella had thought about this in advance, >> but it doesn’t seem to be enough for the jury.
WMAC’s credibility was terrible.
He never reported to police that she had approached him.
So, you know, it looked like sour grapes on his part.
The jury didn’t uh believe his testimony.
She was actually found not guilty of first-degree murder.
She was found guilty of uh criminally negligent homicide, tampering with evidence, and hindering prosecution.
>> She was sentenced 10 to 32 years in state prison.
The first reaction was upset, anger.
We tried to let the justice system do their job, but it failed us.
>> I feel like Stella got a break.
She should have did more time than anyone else cuz this was all her plan.
>> Of course, I was disappointed.
I take that as a loss.
We did our job.
I think she manipulated this whole thing.
The fact that she did not actually physically participate in the murder is tough, I think, for a jury to take it to the level to send her to prison for life.
Paul did not deserve to have his life taken away because of somebody’s greed.
He deserved better and he didn’t get that.
Paul had an infectious smile.
He had a hug that would warm me to the bone.
His generosity was unlimited.
We still talk about him today, 30 years later.
We keep him alive in our heart.
With Paul, it’s like I know he’s safe.
I don’t have to worry about him.
And and that’s the way I go forward with my life.
