"Two Gun" Shooting of Millionaire in Mansion Creates Mystery | Donna Horwitz Case Analysis

this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Donna harwitz just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody in 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 a look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis Donna Horwitz was born in August 1946 and lived in Buffalo New York her father was a professional baseball player and Donna's family was quite wealthy in 1967 when she was 21 she married a man named Lanny harwitz he had been born in July of 1945 Lanny was given a job by his father who was a well-known real estate developer in Buffalo by the time of the wedding Lanny had a net worth of almost a million dollar this quantity of money in 1967 is equivalent to about $9 million in 2024 in 1974 Donna and Lanny had a son named Radley the family moved to bogar ratan Florida in 1977 and built their dreamhouse in Jupiter Florida in 1990 they lived in a prestigious neighborhood called Admiral's Cove as this house was being constructed they stayed in lanny's cabin cruiser Lenny worked many hours a week as a real estate developer eventually Donna felt neglected and Hannah affair with a security guard who worked for the neighborhood Lanny was upset that the security guard was below his wife as far as social standing he was also upset that the security guard was on top of his wife as far as physical standing no matter where the security guard was positioned there was just no pleasing Lanny in May of 2001 the couple divorced and Donna moved into a condominium not far from the family mansion in September of that same year the couple remarried it's like they just couldn't get enough of the pain in June of 2002 they divorced again in 2008 Radley moved into his father's house he had moved out and ran a business for a while over the next few years Lanny ran into serious financial problems he wasn't making money like he had been when he was younger and he was unwilling to give up his lifestyle furthermore the divorce from Donna had been financially devastating for him Lanny asked Donna if they could reunite and if he could borrow $200,000 Donna agreed to both propositions and by April of 2011 she was once again living in lanny's house so at this point Lanny Donna and Radley were all in the house in Jupiter Florida at around the time Donna moved in she made an entry in a journal indicating that she was happy to be getting back together with Lanny this happiness would fade when Donna came to believe that Lanny was having a romantic relationship with a business associate named Francine lanny's Dreamhouse was about to turn into a nightmare before moving to the timeline of the crime let's hear a word from today's sponsor factor factor is delicious ready to eat meals make eating better every day easy 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2011 at about 7:00 a.m. a security guard who worked at the Gate of the Admiral's Cove neighborhood received an alarm for lanny's house the guard sent another security guard to investigate at about 7:03 a.m. this security guard arrived at lanny's house and Radley answered the front door he thought that Radley looked as though he had just climbed out of bed the security guard asked Radley if everything was okay he responded I don't know my mom is screaming after entering the house the security guard saw Donna she said I think he's dead and pointed to the master bathroom the security guard entered the master bathro bathroom and saw ly on the floor he was unresponsive but still breathing there was a revolver in his hand it was pointed at an angle consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot the security guard moved the revolver and administered first aid when First Responders arrived Lanny was pronounced dead at the scene here is what the police found during the course of their investigation Lanny was shot multiple times in the master bathroom it appears as though he was in the shower when he was shot by someone standing outside the shower two different revolvers were used to shoot Lanny one was on the floor not far from his body this revolver belonged to Donna the other revolver was found on a dresser nearby it belonged to Lanny on Donna's revolver the police found lanny's DNA as well as DNA from one other person Donna could not be excluded as the source of that DNA Bradley's hands tested negative for gunshot residue the police did not test d an's hands the alarm in the house had been triggered by glass break sensors there was no forced entry into the house initially the police believed that either Donna or Radley must have been responsible for the shooting over time they came to believe that Donna was the shooter and that Radley was innocent Donna would not speak to the police but Radley was willing to provide a statement here is what Radley told investigators on the night before the shooting when he went to bed his parents were still awake the next morning he woke up to the sound of multiple gunshots he also heard a clicking sound consistent with somebody pulling the trigger of a revolver which had run out of ammunition after hearing the gunshots Bradley saw Donna running in and out of her bedroom and screaming Bradley saw his father on the floor of the master bathroom referring to Lanny his mother said he was so horrible sometime after this initial statement Bradley indicated that his mother had several drops of blood blood on her right foot after the shooting the police found it odd that Radley only mentioned the Slater despite some concerns with Radley Story the police arrested Donna for lanny's murder on January 17 2013 she was convicted of first-degree murder with a firearm her conviction was overturned on appeal because in the closing argument the prosecutor mentioned that Donna had remained silent after the police arrived at the crime scene and claimed this supported the idea that Donna was guilty the state is not allowed to use the Silence of a defendant against them Donna was tried again on October 12th 2017 she was convicted of second deegree murder this time the jury was not convinced Beyond a reasonable doubt that Donna was guilty of first-degree murder therefore they convicted her of lesser charge as far as Donna's chances of getting out of prison the distinction between first and second degree murder is academic she was sentenced to 32 years for the second deegree murder conviction even after receiving credit for 6 years of time served Donna will be about 96 years old before she is eligible for release now moving to my analysis Donna Horwitz maintains her innocence the only strategy that her defense had available during her trials was to suggest that Radley could have been the shooter no one was going to believe that another person entered the house and shot Lanny clearly it was either Donna or Radley the defense argued that there was more evidence pointing toward Radley than pointing toward Donna the state of course disagreed they believe the evidence pointed toward Donna as the killer this brings me to the question was Donna guilty of murder let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that Donna was guilty starting with the inculpatory factors Donna and Lanny had a tumultuous relationship which involved breaking up and reuniting a few times the reason for their reunification in 2011 may have been that Lanny wanted Donna's money maybe Donna believed that Lanny was taking advantage of her Donna once had an affair with the security guard and believed that Lanny was having sex with Francine it's clear that Donna had strong feelings on this topic Radley said that a few months before the murder his mother was complaining that his father was spending a lot of time with Francine she also complained that Lanny was being mean and nasty to her the night before the murder Lanny told Radley that he was planning to travel to North Carolina with Francine later that night Donna mentioned to Radley that she had seen luggage belonging to Lanny in the laundry room she realized that he was getting ready to leave on a trip perhaps this was the motive for lanny's murder this was the last straw for Donna she killed Lanny to prevent him from going on the trip she was not going to let him be with another woman Lanny was shot with two different revolvers one that belonged to Donna and one that belonged to him this makes the murder seem like a crime of passion like the shooter emptied one revolver into Lanny then retrieved Lan's revolver and continued to shoot him Donna's motive was more consistent with a crime of passion than any motive possessed by Radley the police found a suitcase that was full of ammunition which was a match to the ammunition fired from the two revolvers this suitcase had Donna's name on it the police never tested Donna's hands for gunshot residue so there's no way to know if there was any on her hands or not but they did test Radley's hands and there was no gunshot residue the security guard who arrived at lanny's house on the morning of the shooting said that it appeared as though Bradley had been sleeping not long before he answered the door this is consistent with Radley's story that he was asleep when the gunshots rang out even if Radley was somehow involved in the shooting this does not automatically mean that Donna was innocent perhaps they were both involved which is why two revolvers were used in the murder moving to the exculpatory factors the police found Blood on the gate to the house as if it had been left by someone's finger it contained DNA from Lanny and one unidentified person Donna Radley and the security guard were excluded as the source of the DNA maybe a third unidentified person was involved Bradley had a motive to kill his father they had a troubled relationship and Radley was the sole beneficiary of his father's life insurance policy and estate he gained about $500,000 through his father's death Radley's story about hearing someone pulling the trigger of an empty revolver is hard to believe according to his story he wasn't anywhere near the master bedroom when Lanny was shot in theory the clicking sound would have occurred immediately after the shooting so how could Radley hear it Radley did not immediately tell the police the story about the blood being on Donna's right foot Bradley once owned a business where he sold firearms on one occasion he sold a firearm to a convicted felon which is a serious offense Bradley was convicted of a felony himself and spent 5 months in prison Donna may have had her share of problems but Radley was no angel as far as Radley not having any gunshot residue on his hands maybe he was wearing gloves or he washed his hands after the shooting 's girlfriend suggested that he was only interested in money when considering all the evidence in this case do I believe that Donna was guilty of murder yes I believe that she was guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt the timing of the shooting coincided with Donna's fears about Lanny having a romantic relationship with someone else Bradley may have had a motive to kill his father in the form of money but the timing of the shooting served to stop Lanny from spending time with Francine only Donna would have cared about this what do I think happened in this case this is just a theory my opinion Donna and Lanny were both BN wealthy and became accustomed to a lavish lifestyle after getting married and having a son Lanny worked hard he wanted to build on the lifestyle he already had Lanny was reaching for the Stars unfortunately Donna rewarded all his hard work with an affair Lanny was particularly offended because Donna had sex with a security guard the marriage was IR repara damaged and ended in divorce in a strange move the couple remarried only to divorce quickly after the second divorce Lanny knew that Donna was not the one for him when Lanny fell on hard financial times he decided it would be convenient to have some of the money that Donna won in the divorce maybe he thought he deserved it because she had cheated to get this money Lanny pretended that he was willing to reunite with Don but he was never serious he he wanted to be with someone else Donna became tired of lanny's deception perhaps it reminded her of her own deception when she was having an affair lanny's Behavior held a mirror up to Donna and she didn't like what she was seeing on September 5th 2011 25 days before the shooting Donna made her last entry in her journal indicating that Lanny had visited Francine she wrote quote another long day of lies of being Mr meanie I stayed home all day very tired unquote Donna murdered Lanny because she wanted revenge and because she was tired of his other relationship it was a simple and straightforward crime Donna shot him with her revolver then retrieved his revolver and continued to shoot him she did not make any substantial effort to avoid responsibility except for remaining silent her son's checkered past gave her some hope for an acquit but it could not overpower her motive now moving to my final thoughts Donna and Lanny were two people who shared many characteristics including a lack of insight a sense of entitlement self-centeredness grandiosity impulsivity and sensation seeking they were both insistent that the other would not win and ultimately they were both destroyed Lanny was somewhat paranoid and worried about Intruders storming into his house he had 26 firearms in his house to defend against these Intruders as it turns out the enemy that killed him was on the inside and only needed two those are my thoughts on the case of Donna Horwitz 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

Views: 40,075

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Id: sDqTxd3q-N4

Length: 15min 49sec (949 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2024