"Secret Father" Revelation Leads to Staircase Homicide | Kenneth and Kristine Fitzhugh Case Analysis

oh this is Dr Ronde today's question is can I analyze the case of Kenneth and Christine Fitzhugh just a reminder I'm not diagnosing by this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoy this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I'll put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis Kenneth Carroll Fitzhugh Jr was born on August 11 1943 in Orange County California he went by the name Ken after graduating from high school Ken went on to earn a bachelor's degree in engineering it continued with school and earned an MBA Ken became romantically involved with a woman named Christine Peterson she had been born on September 18 1947 in La Jolla California Christine had an interest in music and played the piano the couple married on June 16 1966 and moved to an apartment in La Mesa California 10 miles east of San Diego Ken found a job with an aerospace company and would later work as an executive for various Housing Development firms at the aerospace job Ken met a man named Robert Brown who went by the name Bob he was an accountant who would later become an attorney Bob was a career Criminal Who eventually was convicted of felony auto theft he was high sensation seeking frequently used drugs and alcohol and was described as a psychopath Ken Christine and Bob would frequently hang out together they would go on vacations and engage in other recreational activities they also invested in a business venture together Christine started having an affair with Bob in 1975. Ken was unaware of the infidelity in 1978 Christine gave birth to a son named Justin Bob was the father but Christine raised Justin as if Ken was the father Bob was aware that he was Justin's father and had hopes of being with Christine romantically in the long run in 1981 Bob gave Christine a diamond ring that had belonged to his mother Christine wore the ring all the time that same year 1981 Christine had another son named John Ken was John's father the affair between Christine and Bob lasted for several years Bob's relationship with the Fitzhugh family ended in 1994 because Bob was unwilling to regulate his intake of substances in 1982 the Fitzhugh family moved into a four-bedroom house on escobeda Avenue in Palo Alto California it was in an upscale neighborhood called Southgate by this time Ken was a self-employed real estate consultant who worked out of his house he also worked part-time performing paralegal work Christine was a part-time music teacher for the Palo Alto school district and volunteered at various Community organizations now moving to the timeline of the crime on May 5 2000 Christine taught a regularly scheduled music class and went to a coffee shop in Palo Alto at about noon she bought two muffins and a coffee after this Christine drove her silver BMW sedan back to her house on escobeda Avenue she had another music class scheduled at 12 50 pm but she never arrived at about 1 30 PM Ken drove his blue Chevrolet Suburban to the residents of two women who were his friends the trio had planned on going shopping in preparation for a birthday party Ken told the women that his wife had not shown up for her 12 50 PM class he wanted to stop by his house to find out if she was there the two women rode with Ken to his house after arriving they noticed that the front door of the house was a jar the women remained in Ken's vehicle as Ken entered the house they saw Ken go upstairs and heard him calling out his wife's name Ken came back out to the Suburban and told the women that he needed help because his wife was injured one of the women went down to the basement stairs with Ken and saw Christine's body lying at the bottom of the stairs Christine swags were extended up the stairs and her head was on the basement floor there was a large heavy brass ship Bell near her head under Christine's body there were School papers and dry cleaning bags containing clothing The Other Woman Who accompanied Ken called 911 at 1 41 pm when emergency responders arrived they found that Christine was dead here's what the police found during the course of their investigation Ken told the first police officer on the scene that his wife must have slipped on the stairs while carrying clothing into the basement Ken was moved into a room to wait for other investigators to speak with him when he was in the room he made several telephone calls and told people that his wife had been killed after falling down the basement stairs investigators noticed that the brass bell was very large and seemed out of place at the bottom of the stairs it was so large that emergency responders moved it in order to have room to render Aid there were 12 steps going into the basement Christine's right shoe was resting on the seventh step from the top on the kitchen table investigators found a half-eaten muffin a half full cup of coffee School papers an orange marker and a notebook another uneaten muffin was found on the dining room table Christine's blood was found on the kitchen wall on the kitchen floor and leading from the kitchen to the top of the basement stairs it was clear that somebody had tried to clean up the blood the police thought that Christine had been murdered at the kitchen table and dragged into the basement the police spoke to a FedEx driver who attempted to deliver a package to the Fitzhugh Residence at 1208 pm the driver said that no one answered the door and there were no cars in the driveway the Chevrolet Suburban was not parked in front of the house based on this information investigators believed that Christine was killed sometime between 1208 pm and 1 41 PM when the 9-1-1 call was placed Ken agreed to go to the police station to be interviewed here's what he told the police he and his wife woke up at around 6 a.m they went jogging at about 7 A.M and returned to the house at 7 45 AM Christine left the house at around 10 a.m in her BMW to teach her music class Ken said that he left at around 11AM and drove his Suburban to San Bruno California arriving at 11 45 AM he was there to examine a vacant lot and determine if it was suitable as a building site for a potential client Ken claimed that he was there for about an hour walking around and looking at the lot Ken had an appointment at 1 30 pm to pick up his two female friends in Palo Alto he left the vacant lot and drove South on Highway 101 at around 1 15 pm he received a call on his cell phone from one of Christine's co-workers who said that Christine never showed up to teach her class that was scheduled at 12 50 pm this is why he went back to his house after picking up his female friends after arriving home he discovered Christine's body Christine's autopsy results did not match up with her husband's story she had three impact wounds on the top of her head three impact wounds on the back of her head a puncture wound behind her right ear injuries to her neck consistent with strangulation injuries to her face consistent with being punched or slapped and an injury to her left little finger consistent with blocking a blow with her hand the impact wounds to her head had caused her death even if Christine had somehow managed to hit her head that many times falling down five steps it seems unlikely that the steps would have also attempted to strangle her maybe the basement steps we're trying to graduate to a Stairway to Heaven Ken was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on August 2 2001 he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in February of 2012 Ken was paroled on compassionate grounds due to having Parkinson's disease he died on October 27 2012 at the age of 69. it was reported that Christine's lover Robert Brown died prematurely in his case it was substance use that killed him now moving to my analysis Ken Fitzhugh maintained his innocence many people believed that he was innocent perhaps an unknown Intruder killed Christine this brings me to the question was Ken Fitzhugh actually guilty of murder let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that Ken was guilty starting with the inculpatory factors according to Bob Brown Christine contacted him five months before her murder and said that she was going to tell Justin about Bob being his father if Christine had also told can this information he probably would have been pretty upset in addition to the affair being a possible motive Ken was having significant financial problems his investment accounts dropped from four hundred thousand dollars to eleven thousand dollars in the three years leading up to Christine's death on the day Christine died Ken could not produce any information or witnesses to support his alibi in addition cell phone data placed him in Palo Alto during the time of the murder Ken claimed that he called his house after being notified by Christine's co-worker but a cell phone number was not on the caller ID for the house phone the way that Ken discovered Christine's body seems a little bit too convenient he just happened to be picking up two female friends who could act as Witnesses when he decided to check on his wife this is kind of like when a suspect runs to a neighbor's house and tells them to call 9-1-1 after something terrible happened there was no forced entry into the Fitzhugh house and nothing was stolen this is inconsistent with the Intruder Theory the police found a pair of running shoes a paper towel and one of Ken's shirts in his Suburban all three had Christine's blood on them Ken had no explanation for why those items were in his vehicle at his trial he changed his story and said that they must have put those items there and failed to remember the memories came back to him under hypnosis Christine's blood was found in multiple places in the kitchen somebody had tried to clean the blood and had moved her body to the basement why would an intruder go through all this work moving to the exculpatory factors there were no witnesses to the murder no video there were no marks on Ken's hands if he had just punched beaten and attempted to strangle his wife he would have probably injured his hands the police never found the murder weapon Christine's former lover Bob had a motive to kill her and he was a known Criminal he was not in the area at the time but he could have hired somebody to commit the murder when considering the evidence do I think that Kenneth Fitzhugh was guilty of murder yes I believe he was guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt here's what I think happened in this case this is just a theory my opinion Christine was described as always wanting everything to be perfect she was meticulous about her clothing her hair her makeup and she wanted people to know she was wealthy she was attracted to high status items and powerful people after marrying Ken Christine fell in love with Bob maybe she was impressed that Bob was an attorney at least until he was disbarred years later maybe she liked how he was high sensation seeking Bob was always looking for adventure it was fun to be around for those who didn't mind unacceptable risks there was something about Bob that Christine could not resist she discontinued using birth control and stopped having sex with Ken in an apparent effort to make sure that Bob would be the father of her child Christine told Bob that her motive was related to her inheritance but this wasn't really a good explanation it seemed as though Christine was fixated on Bob maybe she was thinking something like if she couldn't be with Bob due to his substance use at least she could have a child with him as the affair continued for years Ken was the only one who didn't realize what was going on friends said that it was obvious that Christine and Bob were having an affair evidently Ken believed that Bob was gay Bob frequently told Ken that he didn't like women and even made a romantic Advance toward Ken in Ken's mind that incident removed all doubt he was not worried about Bob having an affair with his wife this made it easy for Christine and Bob to get away with the infidelity right under Ken's nose I think Christine continued the affair for so long because she held out hope that Bob would stop using substances someday this would make him into an acceptable romantic partner there's a sense that Christine viewed Bob as her one true love and thought that they were destined to be together the diamond ring that Bob gave Christine in 1981 is something that she treasured she always had it on her finger right next to her wedding band Christine and Ken tried to help Bob discontinue his substance use at one point they loaned him nineteen thousand dollars to get treated in a mental health facility when they caught him using drugs again that was it the relationship was over Christine was disappointed but she could not accept Bob's substance use as far as her love life she was going to have to make do with her second choice her husband Ken before Christine contacted Bob and told him that she was going to reveal that he was Justin's father Bob had sent Christine a letter containing his new address and saying that he was now cleaned from substances it's possible that Christine was thinking about reuniting with Bob after all his drug use was the reason she gave up the affair at around the same time Ken found out about the affair maybe Christine told him she could have been planning on leaving Ken this made Ken extremely angry and his anger only built up the more he thought about it he was mad at Bob for betraying him angry that he loaned thousands of dollars to Bob and tried to help him matted himself for not detecting the affair and Ken was devastated to find out that Justin was not his son Ken lost everything in an instant his identity was shattered most of his 33-year marriage had been a lie in a fit of anger Ken fatally attacked his wife from behind as she was sitting at the kitchen table the diamond ring that Bob had given Christine was crushed into her finger it was almost as if Ken was saying that Christine could have the relationship if she wanted Bob that badly she could have him forever Ken did not premeditate the murder he found himself in a tough situation as far as escaping responsibility he decided to Stage the scene as if his wife missed a step when walking down the basement stairs ironically Ken missed several steps in his haphazard staging effort now moving to my final thoughts Christine had an affair with Ken's friend had a son with the same lover and kept it all a secret from her husband for decades she never thought about what this might do to Ken his feelings never mattered he was just an afterthought her second choice Ken had never been violent he had no criminal record but there was a limit to what he could handle as far as betrayal unfortunately for Christine Ken hit the limit and descended down a staircase of homicide of all her missteps it was underestimating Ken's ability to be violent that proved to be Christine's undoing those are my thoughts on the case of Kenneth and Christine Fitzhugh please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

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Length: 17min 26sec (1046 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 22 2023