The Puppet Master

A Woman Is Targeted For Execution. Who Pulled The Strings?

(CBS)  Samuels also moved on. Debbie Love, a legal secretary in the firm that represented Samuels in the divorce, would become Samuels' second wife.

Debbie and Samuels saw his children often during scheduled visitations. It was during one of those visits Samuels says his children told him that John Grossman was mistreating them.

Samuels confronted Grossman on the phone. "You know darn well I would never put my hands on your children," Grossman told Samuels.

"No? No? All three of them here told me differently," Samuels fired back.

"We're getting calls at night and we're getting death threats," Heather remembers.

But was Ron Samuels capable of carrying out those threats? "If you wanna know, would I have killed John Grossman? Had I the opportunity, I definitely would," Samuels admits to Roberts.

Speaking about Heather, Samuels says, "I would never do that to the lady that I watched give birth to my three children. There’s no reason in the world for that."

After a five year relationship, Heather married John Grossman in June 1997.

It was a happy time for them, but their happiness was overshadowed by their fear of Heather's first husband, Ron Samuels, who had accused Grossman of abusing his children.

Because of Samuels' unpredictable and volatile behavior, Heather and John chose to keep their wedding location a secret.

Just four months later, while driving to a lunch date, Heather and John were gunned down. "There was no doubt. In the moment I was shot, I knew Ron Samuels was responsible," says Heather.

Asked how she knew, Heather tells Roberts, "Because when I left him, and divorced him, he said that he would destroy me, that he would kill me."

Samuels vehemently denies having anything to do with the shooting. "The one question I have is, if I didn’t do it, who did and why? I have that question, too," he says.

And Samuels has a theory, too. "I think John Grossman had a motive to get rid of Heather. For many, many reasons. But the biggest one is because I was a pain in his a**. And I had just enough money to be that pain," Samuels says.

"So, you're suggesting that John Grossman staged this shooting? He was injured, though, in the shooting, he was shot. Doesn’t make any sense to me," Roberts remarks.

"I don’t think that was intentional," Samuels claims.

But the evidence told investigators a very different story. It started with a great lead-a detailed description of the hit man’s car, including the license plate.

The car was registered to an insurance salesman named Hugh Estess. At the time, Estess was a self-admitted crack addict.

Investigators put the squeeze on Estess, who told them all about the plan. He coughed up the names of the two men in the car: a crack dealer and pimp named Eddie "Slim" Stafford who was the driver; another petty criminal, Roger Runyon, was the shooter.
Then there was Geoff Pollock, who was not involved in drugs, but was at meetings where the murder plans were allegedly discussed.

"He said, 'I want her dead…,'" says Estess.

The motive? Money.

"It was, 'Hey, here’s ten grand. Do something for me.' Sure, thanks a lot, sucker," Estess says.

But who was paying?

[roscoezzz]

Ron Samuels really is a PUPPET MASTER. It seems that he wanted to control everything, his wives, kids, money and even what people think of him. He convinced his third wife of he is innocence. He even convinces himself that HE CHOSE THE WRONG WOMEN. But, those women loved him, bore his children etc.,
This sounds cliche, but real life and real people aren''t puppets. All because he lost control, didn''t want to be wrong, didn''t want to lose. He ruined so many lives. For 9 years he caused such grief and pain. He deserves to rot in that jail cell.
I admire his ex-wife who says she is happy after all that''s happened to her. She deserves so much more.

[carolcape]

I remember this matter being on before, but it is good to know this man will never get out of jail. He had everything including money. What happens to these people is unreal. Nobody wins in this case. What a tragedy for these people, especially the wife. How can so many people be so evil to do harm to one defenseless person. You think one of them would have had an ounce of goodness in them to turn him in before they killed this woman. God be with her to help her in the future.

[shoyt_2001]

Truth is in the actions, not the words. If the husband really wanted his ex-wife to be okay, then he would have paid child support rather than spending over half a million to deny it. Then he would have paid for her health care needs rather than fighting them.

He does not care about her, but says he does in the hope that people, including his children, will think well of him.

Idiot. He obviously failed in kindergarten when they teach you to play nice and tell the truth. He was probably selling spitballs in the classroom. His thinking has not moved on from those days.

[bickityboo]

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