Nightmare in Napa | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] The Napa Valley is a place of wineries, of vineyards, of tourists, of uh
[Music] lifestyle. It's a lovely place to live. And good afternoon. Welcome to KBON's
afternoon edition. I'm Jeff Shackman and I'm the host of a local talk show. It's a very great place to live in
terms of its safety, which is why this crime was so dramatic. The crime happened on
Halloween night of 2004. [Music] There were three women living at the home on Dorset Street. Adrien and
Sonia, Leslie Mazara, and Lauren Meanza. The intruder made his way to the house, sat outside the front window,
smoked at least a couple of cigarettes that we know of, went through the window, made his way upstairs, and
committed two brutal, horrible murders. [Music] Adrienne was one of my best friends. She
never ever turned us down. If we needed something, her family are friends. We were always first. We always knew that
she was a great person. Everything about Leslie's life is just pure and innocent and bright and
bubbly and friendly and sweet. There's no way to even imagine the ugliness and the brutality of what was
seen there. My biggest fear is that she was asleep in her bed and woke up and here's this man standing over her
ready to kill her. And I just picture him just raising up above her and just stabbing her.
What we know happened between Adrian and the intruder, they was clearly a struggle.
She was a fighter. She was a scrappy girl. She would have fought very, very hard. And I hope she heard him.
It was a who done it for a very long time and the truth of the matter is that the answer was right there at the very
center of the circle. There's a major break tonight in a double murder that shocked the wine
country. Napa police now have a suspect behind bars. And then the who done it rapidly turned into a why done
it. There are just dark things that go on inside the human soul that we'll never know and never really understand.
Nightmare in Napa. [Music] I was jealous when they moved in. I thought it was a wonderful house. There
was a time when this house on Dorset Street, not far from downtown Napa, felt like the perfect place to live. Adrienne
just seemed very happy, very content. Arlene Allen's daughter, Adrien, lived in the house and loved it. She was
looking forward to living in that home a long time. She really loved the neighborhood. She just felt really at
home there. At first, there were only two roommates, both locals, 27-year-old Lauren Mansza, who coached volleyball at
a community college, and 26-year-old Adrienne and Sonia, an engineer for the Napa Sanitation District. Adrienne and
Lauren both were very sportsminded, very active. Lily Prudome knew both women, but was especially close to Adrian. It
was sort of a fast friendship. We worked together. We saw each other after work.
We worked out at the gym together. How would you describe her? What kind of person was she? Outgoing. Um, really
funny, but very strong. A strong person. Emotionally tough. Adrienne had proved how tough she could be. Back in 1994,
while still in high school, she'd been in a near fatal car crash. It was a miracle that she
survived. There were a lot of physical obstacles that she needed to overcome and also um emotional obstacles, feeling
unprett, feeling, you know, like she didn't fit in with her regular life anymore. But those problems were long
behind her by June 2004 when Adrienne and Lauren invited a third young woman to share their home.
Leslie Mazzara, a transplanted southern beauty queen. And good evening, a senior
at the University of Georgia. I am Leslie Mazera, Miss Williamson. Kathy Harrington is Leslie's mother. She
wanted to grow up to be a teacher, a mother, a nurse, and to be Miss America by the time she was 21. All those
things. All of those things. Beautiful. Beautiful. A rose for a rose. Lesie is a
beautiful person and everybody is just naturally drawn to her. Kelly Mccoral was a close friend of Leslie's. The two
shared a love of dance. She had long, beautiful, dark hair. Lesie Mazera. She was gorgeous. She had
these beautiful green eyes with the longest eyelashes and the prettiest smile. Tell me who's going to win this
thing. Who's going to win? And she loves to laugh. Her humor is something that I often
think of. That has been fun. That's the best part is hanging out with the girls and having fun laughing. You just fall
in love with her when you meet her. In 2004, after breaking up with a boyfriend, Leslie moved to
Napa. She got a job as a greeter at the Nebomb Copa Winery run by godfather director Francis Ford Copala. And we
would always joke, you know, I'd say, "How's it going?" And she'd say, "Well, you know, Mr. Copala hasn't quite
discovered me yet, but he's going to one day." You know, we would just laugh about that.
[Music] [Music] There we go. Trickor treat. There we go. On Halloween night, the three roommates
handed out candy and were asleep by 11:00. Leslie and Adrien were upstairs in separate bedrooms. Lauren was
downstairs. [Music] Then just after 1:00 a.m., Lauren was startled by loud noises
coming from the upstairs bedrooms. I was in my bed and just opened up my eyes and realized something
was kind of not quite right. And then I heard a scream. Lauren asked that her face be hidden
when interviewed by America's Most Wanted. I jumped out of bed and stood there for a second trying to figure out
what was going on. And uh opened up my door, went outside, listened. Suddenly, she heard
him. Whoever was in the house was running down the stairs right at Lauren. My gut told me to go out the back and I
just remember thinking, I'm opening up the door for this guy to follow me out. Terrified, Lauren stood defenseless in
the backyard, but for whatever reason, the intruder fled the way he came in through a ground floor window. Lauren
said she never laid eyes on him. I waited um till I felt he was gone and then came back in inside the house.
She climbed the stairs. And then I heard the screamings and cries for help. I had no idea what I
was going to find. Adrien and Leslie lay in Adrienne's bedroom, bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Adrien was still
alive, but just barely. Lauren slipped on something and realized it was the blood of her roommates. She fled the
house and called 911. This is 91 emergency. What are you recording? Oh my god, we got attacked because someone
need an ambulance. Oh my god, I dare die. I don't know what is going on everywhere.
When the police arrived, both Adrien and Leslie were dead. [Applause] [Music] The killings are the first in Napa since
2001. It is here that both women died during a brutal attack inside. It wasn't long before all of America knew what had
happened in that house on Dorset Street, including Adrien and Leslie's heartbroken friends. You know, I assumed
it was an accident, but they told me that no, it's worse than that. She'd been she had been killed,
murdered, and I called her cell phone like 25 times that night and she never answered
and never answered. And half a world away in Australia, Adrienne's mom, Arlene, heard the news
and I completely lost it. As you can imagine, the pain is just excruciating. Leslie's mother, Kathy, was in her
Michigan home all alone. I just have a broken heart. And I guess it's just really it's hard for me to understand
how anybody could get to the point of rage that they would murder these two young women, my beautiful daughter. It's
I just don't understand it. I want to know why. Who was the mysterious intruder and why did he kill
Leslie and Adrien? [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] She was a people person. Look at my
eyes. [Music] That's just the thing about Leslie. She was enchanting. She just she was a
charmer. Amy Brown grew up with Leslie Mazara. I can't remember not being around her and she knew her well. The
thing to know about Leslie is that she can fall in love very quickly. Guys tend to be attracted to
her even if she's not knowing that they are. Over the years, Amy had met a lot of
Leslie's boyfriends. She went into every relationship full blast, openhearted, but none seemed like a killer. I tried
to think of everybody that she's ever known, and there's too many people. I can't narrow it down to
anybody. I don't know who would do this. That was the job of the Napa police. Because the killer seemed to know where
he was going and who he was after, investigators quickly concluded this was not a random attack. The police released
very little information, but it didn't matter. The guessing game had begun. The kinds of rumors right away were um
number one that Lesie was the target and that Adrienne had come to her aid. Adrienne's mother, Arlene, based her
feelings on what she had seen. Leslie, being new to the area, was really wanting to meet new people. So, she was
being set up on a lot of blind dates. Leslie was active, worked at a winery up Valley, was in a position where she was
in a marketing position where she met lots of people. Napa detective Dan Lteran says the killer most likely
entered Leslie's bedroom first. She was possibly attacked while she was sleeping.
And then the intruder entered Adrienne's room. The two struggled [Music] mightily. I went to the viewing of her
body. Adrienne's good friend Lily. Looks like she fought pretty hard. Adrien hated turtlenecks. Hated
them. Would not wear them. But she was wearing one in the casket for obvious reasons.
During that vicious fight, the killer was injured, says Napa Detective Todd Schulman. We did find some blood
evidence on the blinds. There was blood left on these blinds as he was leaving. His blood? Yes.
Now, the police had the killer's DNA. And there was yet another important clue found at the house.
We located several cigarette butts outside the residence. These are cigarettes that have been smoked down to
the filter. It could be someone who's nervous trying to work up the courage to go inside and do this. The cigarette
brand was Camel Turkish Gold, a new and unique brand. But police chose not to reveal that information to the public.
Instead, they sent the butts to a crime lab to determine if DNA on the cigarettes matched the DNA from the
blood found at the house. They've got some evidence. I mean, they've got DNA. They just have nobody to match it to.
And when you're starting in Leslie's life, where do you start? Who do you match it with?
The police started with those close to the victims. In Leslie's case, that meant her many admirers. guys loved
Lesie and even if they weren't dating, they would buy her things. She never asked for anything. It was just like
they just would give the world to her. Take Brian West, a college boyfriend. He bought her a car. He bought her a car.
He bought her a car. And how long have they been dating before he bought her a car? Oh,
probably 2 3 months maybe. That's just what guys would do for Leslie. Didn't ask for a car. And what did she do? She
drove it for a while and then they decided they weren't going to be together and uh she gave it back.
After the breakup, Brian built this web page tribute to Leslie. Does that strike
you as normal? You break up with a woman and then you make a website about her? No, that's not normal. But I think
because I know Brian a little at it's kind of normal to me cuz I just know that he idolized
her. And then there was William Lee Youngblood Jr., a lawyer. Leslie had been living with him, but they broke up
shortly before she moved to Napa. She really did love Lee. I could marry Lee. She said, "But a dad just makes me feel
uncomfortable." William Lee Youngblood senior, also a lawyer, often called the house, not to
speak with his son, but with Leslie. There got to a point where he would call her all the time, even knowing that she
was the only one at the house, and she got to the point where she just stopped answering the phone. Do you think the
father was in some way obsessed with her? It seems to be. Amy was questioned about the Young
Bloodoods by a Napa detective. He said, "If I told you that Lee Senior called Lesie twice on Halloween night,
how would that make you feel? And when he soon as he said that chill bumps my hair stood on edge and I said
that I don't like that at all at all. The Napa police traveled to South Carolina to interview Young Bloodood
Senior. He denied any involvement in the murders. Said the phone calls on Halloween were an unfortunate
coincidence and said he was not infatuated with Leslie. Then he and his son each agreed to provide a DNA
sample. Neither father nor son was a match. Back in Napa, investigators went around collecting DNA from the men
Leslie had met there. She was getting back into a little bit more of the party kind of scene and meeting fresh faces.
At the time of her death, Leslie was regularly dating two men. Leslie was definitely looking for the one, but
Leslie wasn't going to settle for anything less than perfect. Katie Norris and Vanessa Schnure were college buddies
who'd visited and stayed with Leslie in the house on Dorset Street just 3 weeks before the murders. We spent weeks going
through every conversation, talking about every person that we interacted with, just looking
for that one little thing that might have been a hint as to who did this. The women both thought there was something
odd about one of the men Leslie was dating. We went to a local bar in Napa. Leslie was approached by a friend that
was solely a friend. The demeanor of Leslie's boyfriend who was there at the time changed dramatically. It was
obvious that he was not comfortable with her talking to another man. It was a very eerie feeling after
we found out what had happened to Leslie. Vanessa and Katie told the Napa police their suspicions. Cops questioned
the man and took his DNA. But as with so many others, the test came back negative. Leslie's
mother, Kathy, was not surprised. I'm not convinced that whoever killed the girls was was after
Lesie. It could have been somebody that was taken with Adrien. I want justice for my friend.
It's not going to make that much difference in our lives because we'll still be without Adrien and without
Leslie. But it's important. Like all of Adrienne's friends, Lily Prudon desperately wants Adrienne's
killer to be found. I've gotten pretty angry about what happened that anybody could do this. But I'm almost a little
afraid to have a face and a name to put the blame on and all my grief just hang it on this person. It's not going to get
easier because we have a face and a name. One name that police focused on soon after the murders was Christian Lee.
Christian was her boyfriend. They were on again off again for a long time. Lily says the relationship sometimes
caused Adrian pain. She'd come to work crying one day and of course being friends we would console her and towards
the end we only saw the negative side of Christian. Not surprisingly, Napa police were soon
pounding on Christian's bedroom door. I was I was fast asleep and I opened the door and about five detectives jumped
backwards. I take it you were startled to say the least. Yeah. What did they say to you?
They asked me to come out of my room and they kind of backed away from me slowly
and they asked me if I had any weapons or knives in my room and you know I told them I had one and asked if I could get
it for them. They no no just point out where it is. They collected a knife from the corner of his room. They took
samples of blood. They took my clothes. They took the sheets off my bed. And they wanted to take me to the
station for questioning. For weeks, he and Adrienne had been arguing. She wanted a commitment. He
wasn't ready. We'd have our problems. We'd argue, but I've never ever touched a woman in my life in that in in anger.
The police kept digging, but the investigation was going nowhere. Part of the problem of not knowing is that you
imagine. Leslie's mother, Kathy, felt haunted. I would wake up with these images in my
mind that were just so horrible. As my grief counselor said to me, Leslie died once, but you keep reliving it over
and over and over [Music] again. The frustrating part for me is that I feel that I really don't have any
information about what happened to my daughter, Adrienne's mother, Arlene. I know that she was stabbed to death, but
nothing has been forthcoming for months. Arlene lived with Adrienne's presence every waking moment. This car is um
Adrienne's car and I haven't even changed the preset radio buttons. So, every time I
get in this car um and turn on the radio, I feel very close to Adrien. I feel that she's with
me and that the day is going to be a good day. Adrienne's favorite song at the time of
her death was She Will Be Loved by Maroon [Music] 5. It makes me feel happy to know that
as long as I live, Adrien will be loved. Adrienne's memory touched others as well. Sorry.
Adrienne's best friend, Lily, and her boyfriend, Eric Cppel, came to a decision. Eric and I both re-evaluated
what is important in life. We've been together almost 8 years now. It was time to go ahead and get married. She and
Eric once before put their marriage plans on hold. It turned out to be the worst possible timing. Eric and I were
originally planning to get married on November 1st, which is the day Adrienne ended up dying. And if we had gone
through with that wedding, it was planned in Hawaii. Adrien and Lauren would have been in Hawaii with us that
week. Arlene was invited to be part of the ceremony and read scriptures to the couple. A portion of it was from the
Song of Solomon. Love is stronger than death. Passion fiercer than the grave. And although the day was joyful, Lily
says she can't get beyond the fact that there's been no arrest in Adrienne's murder. Somebody out there knows
something. Somebody would have had to notice a friend of theirs acting strange or, you know, had
bruises. It doesn't seem like somebody could just walk away from it and be fine.
By the following summer, the police here seemed truly baffled. Investigators said
they met with more than a thousand people, ruling them out one by one. Starting, they said, with the inner
circle, people closest to the victims, boyfriends, friends, and friends of friends. 200 of the men they met with
gave them DNA samples. Thus far, we haven't had any matches to the DNA from the suspect. So, is it safe to say that
the men who gave DNA samples have now been ruled out? Yes. And that includes Adrienne's boyfriend,
Christian. You think we should have had some more answers by now? something. Definitely something. Then in
September 2005, 11 months after the murders, there was something. Police in Napa have new clues in a double murder
case that remember those cigarette butts found outside the house on Dorset Street. Months later, the crime lab
results finally arrived. This is one of the actual cigarette butts that was located at the crime scene. In fact, the
saliva on those butts did match the killer's DNA. Investigators believe the asalent smoked Camel Turkish gold
cigarettes at the time of the attack. We feel like this is something that may prompt someone in the public to to make
that one phone call that's going to help lead to the identity of this killer. They were
right. Just 5 days later, my phone rang at 11:15 last night and uh it was the supervising sergeant u letting me know
uh that they had made an arrest. My next words were, "Who was it?" And I was not at all prepared for
the answer to that question. Neither was anyone else. Now, we know that this person is a white
male, and now we've added to that, this is a smoker. No one knew it at the time,
but there was one young man in Napa County who was feeling intense pressure. After police released information about
the cigarette butts found outside the house where Adrienne and Sonia and Leslie Mazara were murdered,
investigators believe the asalent smoked camel Turkish gold cigarettes. He was feeling so much pressure that within
days, two parents in the Napa Valley opened their mail. These are two different letters. Uh, one to his
mother, one to his father to find suicide notes from their own son. Napa District Attorney Gary Lieberstein read
to us from those letters which have never been revealed publicly until now. I am leaving this life because I know
that the consequences of my actions must be faced and they spell death. I will not grant the government
the satisfaction of watching me die. So I will end my life in a place and manner
of my own choosing. I do not consider it suicide. I call it justice. The man who wrote that letter may have
sentenced himself to death, but he didn't carry out the sentence. After relatives received those suicide notes,
they confronted him and convinced him to turn himself into the Napa police. There's a major break tonight in a
double murder that shocked the wine country. When Arlene Allen heard of the arrest,
she asked his name. I expected when I asked the question, "Who was it?" that it would be a name I was not the least
bit familiar with. But it was a name Arlene knew very well. It's heartbreaking. I am just so heartbroken
over this. 26-year-old Eric Matthew Coppel is in the Napa County Jail charged with two
counts of murder. The man who confessed was Eric Cppel, the husband of Adrienne's best friend, Lily.
I'm feeling as much grief now as I did upon hearing of Adrienne's death. The revelation was all the more shocking
because it was only months earlier that Arlene had been invited to speak at Eric
and Lily's wedding. And I remember looking into Eric's eyes and he seemed sad and paying close attention and it
really touched me. Just who is Eric Cppel? Little is known. He was the classic shy, quiet guy
who worked as a land surveyor and was never in trouble with the law. Not even a traffic violation.
He was nice. He was a nice person. It was hard to even imagine him do that. Ben Catz was Adrienne's close friend and
socialized with Lily and Eric. Whenever he was with Lily, she would do all the talking and he would just he'd just be
there. He wouldn't say much, but you know, he just figured just because he was shy. He did appear to me to be
reticent, remote, really a contrast to Lily's easygoing and outgoing personality. Yeah, they they do kind of
seem like an odd couple, but it's it seemed like it was working for them both. But how could Lily have gone for
nearly an entire year marrying and living with the man who murdered her best friend without suspecting a thing?
Do you think that Lily knew anything about Eric's involvement before he ultimately confessed? It it's hard to
believe that she laid next to him 11 months and didn't have any suspicions. When Lily sat down with us not long
after her wedding. What do you hope will happen here? I hope they find him. She said she couldn't imagine the killer
would go unnoticed. Somebody must have seen something. Somebody out there knows something. Somebody would have had to
notice a friend of theirs acting strange. What now seems chilling is the fact that Lily's husband, Eric, was
sitting right there in the room with us during our interview. It's important. It's important to find out who did this
and to find out why in some sick way. I want to know. I want to know how it happened. I mean, this was my friend. I
want to know what happened to her. It doesn't sound like Lily had even an inkling. I think that Lily was like
another sister to Adrien. She could not have even suspected that her husband was involved with that.
There is no proof that Lily knew what Cppel had done. And people also wondered about the investigators. Why didn't they
find him sooner? How is it possible they took more than 200 DNA samples from men
all over the country yet somehow skipped over CPP who lived and worked right here
in the Napa Valley? Here's a guy who was the boyfriend of the best friend, who knew your daughter, who knew Leslie, had
been to the house, and who smoked cigarettes, right? Are you surprised that the police did not question him
much, much sooner? That was one of my first questions. Um, right away, I was wondering uh how he could possibly have
been overlooked. Now that there finally was an arrest in the case, there was a great sigh of
relief. And not just in Napa. I've been waiting for that call for 11 months. Leslie's mother, Kathy, now a minister
living in Michigan, can't help wondering what was going through Copley's mind. My
granddaughter says it so well. It's like, why would anybody want to hurt Aunt Lesie?
How will the man who murdered Leslie and Adrien explain what happened that horrible night? I am a broken man. And
what will Lily say to the families? I'm Lily Coppel, Eric's wife. Eric Matthew CppP6y old
Ericpps of appearances that could lead him to the gas chamber. Even after Eric Cppel confessed, there was still no clue
about his motives. Marian's mom, Arlene Allen, was stunned. That is the burning question. Why? What caused him to lose
control and commit these horrible murders? The answer, says Napa District Attorney
Gary Lieberstein, lies in Coppell's relationship with Lily. He wanted Lily to be there for him. And I do think that
he was resentful of other friendships that she had. On Halloween night, he got so drunk that
an angry Lily refused to spend the night with him at their apartment. He felt his
relationship was slipping away with Lily. Cppell found himself all alone on what was supposed to have been his
wedding day. His memory of what happened next, he told police, is sketchy. He claimed
that while he had some memory of leaving his house and taking a knife, he didn't
know why he did that. He didn't know how he ended up at the house on Dorset. He remembered smoking a cigarette out
front, going in the window, claimed he remembered being in a bedroom, that he was responsible for killing both girls,
but he claimed his eyes were closed. What about the bloody clothes? What happened to those? His indication was
that he recalled going home and starting a fire in his fire pit and burning his his clothing and his shoes. What does
that say about his state of mind? Says he knew exactly what he did and he was doing everything he could to avoid being
caught. CPPell told investigators he did not remember what he did with the knife
he used to stab Adrien and Leslie. He offered no motive for killing Leslie. Now we're back on the record.
People of the state of California versus Eric Matthew Coppel. In order to spare the families the ordeal of a trial,
Coppel and the DA struck a deal. Do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty, your
honor. pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. Coppell was spared the death penalty. Good morning, your
honor. I'm Arlene Allen. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to speak this morning on behalf of my beloved
daughter, Adrien. At his sentencing, Arlene Allen finally got her chance to confront Eric Cobbell. Eric, you knew
Adrien. She counted you among her friends. And you know me. And Eric, I know you. You are a man who violently
stabbed to death the best friend of the woman you love. That is not love, Eric. You cannot
love Lily and bring a knife into Adrienne's home and stab her and stab her again and
again and again and again and again as Arlene drove home the brutality of his deed. Eric Coppel sat stonefaced. I say
to you, Eric, go. Leave this life of friends and family, of life and love and laughter. There is no place here for
you. For while in the coming years, the memory of Lesie and of Adrien will remain clear and shining bright in our
hearts, all of our hearts, and our minds, you will be forgotten. And when that door closes
behind you today as you walk out of this room, I will think of you no more. Thank
you, your honor. Coppel's demeanor started to change when the final speaker stepped up to the
podium. I'm Lily Cppel, Eric's wife. Lily was given special permission to speak on her husband's behalf. My heart
goes out to both Arlene and Kathy and to the rest of their families and friends.
I wish with all my heart these events had been avoided. Her expression of sympathy and regret took a quick turn
when she spoke directly to her husband. Eric, there is nothing in this world that you could do to make me love you
less. I found that a very shocking statement. In the months after the murders, Lily
and Arlene had become close and the words stung. We still bear the scars of losing Adrienne and Leslie in such a
horrifying way. Now we must also endure the pain of watching a muchloved and very admirable man spend the rest of his
life behind bars. I told myself that there is no way that I could know what she was going through. There is no way I
could put myself in her position. I can say without hesitation that the man who committed this crime is not present in
the person or mind of my husband today. I am praying that we'll survive this, but at this point it's really unknown.
Eric Copp would like to read a statement. Yes. And then it was Coppel's turn. My voice doesn't work.
The courtroom waited anxiously as he tried to compose himself. I am a broken man.
sucks. A man splintered by a penetrating awareness of my own potential for wickedness.
While I cannot fathom the full extent of the anguish I have caused, I recognize that my sinful
deeds have inflicted terrific agony on a great number of people. The words evade me to articulate the
depth of my sorrow. I did believe that he was truly truly remorseful. Those were real tears that
he was crying but not for us. I believe he was crying for himself. Lesie. The judge
only allowed the first minute of Cppell's statement to be recorded, but he went on to say, "I was afraid my
relationship with Lily, the singular ray of light in my black world, was in peril
of collapsing. I thought to myself, aha, this is why Adrienne was killed." [Music]
In his own tortured mind, Coppell believed Adrien was poisoning Lily against him. If he was in such great
fear of losing Lily, a panic would set in. He would have to find a way to keep her. He would have to eliminate the path
by which she might escape. I believe that he saw Adrien as that path. And that is
why he killed her. Your honor, at this time, we're prepared to proceed a sentencing. Because of the
plea deal, Coppel's sentencing was a mere formality and it has ordered Eric Matthew Coppell to serve a life sentence
without possibility of parole. The case of the Napa murders is solved [Music] now. Leslie's life speaks for itself.
Leslie's mother, Kathy, refuses to dwell on her grief. Her 26 years were full and
rich. I'm so grateful that I got to be her mom and that she brightened our lives. She
was a [Music] gift. I sometimes expect to just see her walking in the door. I see her face
clearly before me and you know I understand just what a loss it is. [Music] [Music]

A Halloween night double homicide in Napa Valley was a classic whodunnit -- until the victims' loved ones discovered that the killer was among them. Bill Lagattuta reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the 2004 Napa Valley murders of Adrienne Allen and Leslie Mazara, revealing Eric Coppel as the killer.

Key points

The Napa Valley Murders. A double murder on Halloween night in Napa shocked the community.
A Night of Horror. Three roommates handed out candy and went to bed, unaware of the impending tragedy.
A Mother's Grief. Leslie's mother struggles to understand the rage that led to her daughter's murder.
The Investigation Begins. Police quickly realize the murders are not random and begin their investigation.
A Wedding Without Closure. Friends reflect on their wedding plans overshadowed by the unsolved murders.
Coppel's Arrest. Eric Matthew Coppel, husband of Adrienne's best friend, is arrested for the murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There's no way to even imagine the ugliness and the brutality.

Describing the horror of the crime scene.

1:55WatchOct 28, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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