When a close-knit family hides a dark secret | Forensic Files

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to follow the labyrinth on spotify our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website it was still dark on the morning of
monday november 15 2004 when the alarm clock rang next to peter porco's bedside the 52 year old stirred before leaning
over to silence the alarm so it wouldn't wake his wife joan who was sleeping beside him
a chill greeted peter as he lifted himself out of bed so he pulled on a sweater before heading down the hallway
to the main bathroom peter stood at the vanity and looked at his reflection in the mirror
his eyes lowered to the sink in front of him where he noticed several drops of blood
he collected a handful of tissues and attempted to clean the mess the blood smeared across the porcelain
but didn't wipe away completely peter gave up and left the tissues in the sink he then went downstairs to the kitchen
to prepare for work peter thumbed through some mail unloaded the dishwasher and took some food out of
the fridge to make his lunch as he went about his morning routine peter kept noticing drops of blood
everywhere he went some he attempted to wipe up with tissues others he left altogether
peter then headed outside to collect the daily newspaper that had been delivered
to his front porch as he stepped out to grab it the front door shut behind him and locked him out
this wasn't a problem as there was a spare key underneath a flower pot by the door
as peter retrieved the key and used it to re-enter the house large droplets of blood dotted the porch steps
he left the key in the lock and let the door close behind him though it remained slightly ajar
peter took a few steps back towards the kitchen but was unable to stand upright any
longer he collapsed forward landing at the foot of the staircase [Music] [Music]
peter and the germ porco lived a simple and happy life in delmar a suburb approximately 150 miles north of new
york city they took great pride in their cream and olive weatherboard home which joan kept
spotless and organized the porcos treated their jobs with equal care and respect
both were aged in their 50s and had worked in their respective fields for decades
joan as a speech pathologist for a local elementary school and peter as a law clerk at the new york supreme court
peter who was known as gentlepeta around the courthouse had never missed a shift
without informing his colleagues so on november 15 2004 when he failed to show up for work without explanation
concerns grew calls were placed to the porco's family home but there was no answer
peter's workmate michael headed to the residence to make sure everything was all right
michael drove down the quiet and leafy broccoli drive and pulled up in front of the porco's two-story house
the street everything appeared to be in order michael pulled out his cell phone and
dialed the porco's home number twice but nothing stirred within the house michael then called his boss who
encouraged him to go up and knock on the front door michael kept his boss on the line as he
headed up the driveway and immediately realised something was amiss the front door was slightly ajar and a
key had been left in the lock worse still a large smear of blood was visible on the doorknob and several
droplets were splattered around the porch michael could hear the porco's pet golden retriever barking from somewhere
inside he asked his boss whether he should go in and was told to enter with caution
michael carefully peered into the foyer before informing his boss this is a crime scene
call an ambulance at the base of the stairs peter porco was lying motionless on the tiled floor
his eyes open and glazed blood from a severe head injury had soaked his clothes and was smeared all
around him including along the walls and on some interior doors someone had walked through the blood
leaving red footprints throughout the crime scene paramedic kevin robert was driving his
ambulance in a nearby street when he received a call notifying him of the situation unfolding on broccoli drive
he reached the porco house and was summoned to the first floor by a detective who had arrived minutes
earlier kevin carefully stepped around peter porco's lifeless body ascended the stairs and entered the main bedroom
inside joan porco was lying horizontally across a blood-soaked bed the walls above her were splattered in
blood as were the bedside tables jones upper arms and hands had lacerations indicative of defensive
wounds but it was her head that had bore the brunt of the attack one of her eyes was split in half and
the side of her jaw was hanging from her face joan had been struck three times to her
face and head while she was sleeping the direction of the cast off indicated only one assailant had carried out the
violent assault lying at the foot of the bed was an axe covered in blood the assailant had unleashed the same axe
on peter porco a total of 16 times as this was 13 more hits than his wife it appeared as though peter was the
intended victim judging by the amount of blood trailed throughout the house it was initially
thought that peter had tried to run from his attacker who chased him and hit him
repeatedly until he collapsed but the bloody footprints throughout the house only belonged to peter
he wasn't being pursued by anyone a medical examiner was able to shed light on the bizarre scenario that took
place in the house that morning an autopsy showed that peter had sustained severe damage to part of the
brain responsible for higher order functions such as perception decision-making and language
however the part of the brain that controls primal instinct and well-formed habits was undamaged
what actually happened was that like his wife peter was set upon while in bed the killer had fled after carrying out
the attack unaware that peter was still alive shortly after peter awoke to the sound
of his alarm clock the part of his brain that would otherwise perceive his injured state was
too damaged to function properly so even when he stared at his caved in skull in the bathroom mirror and began
cleaning up his own dripping blood peter was unable to comprehend that he was critically hurt and needed urgent
medical attention however his brain was still functioning in some capacity allowing him to carry
out his morning routine on instinct alone until he succumbed to blood loss this was not the first time that
detective chris baudish had attended the porco house almost two years prior he was called to
the address following reports of a burglary peter and joan had been awaiting the
detective on their front porch they were stressed having just discovered that two laptops had been
stolen from their house the offender had seemingly gained access via the garage window by opening its
frame and cutting through its mesh screen in a semi-circular manner lack of evidence prevented any arrests
for the break-in but it did prompt peter and joan to bolt the window shut and install a home security system
in a town with a low crime rate the burglary had stuck in detective baudish's mind and when peter and joan
were found brutally attacked he suspected a link between the two incidents in both cases the mesh screen of a
window leading to the garage had been cut in a similar semi-circular manner but during the murders the intruder had
also cut the home's phone line they also smashed the lcd screen of the security system in the foyer
only a single foreign fingerprint was found at the crime scene it was uncovered on the door leading to
the basement where the couple's dog had been locked away not even the murder weapon contained any
foreign dna or prince it was clear the killer had been cautious not to leave behind any
evidence that could result in them being identified but to assume this was a burglary gone
wrong didn't quite add up everything in the house was in its usual place and nothing had been rummaged or
rifled through jones purse complete with credit cards was lying untouched in the kitchen
aside from the bloodstains the house was in pristine condition it appeared a far more sinister motive
than robbery was at play this time the intimacy of the crime from the choice of murder weapon to the victim's
wounds being centered around the head indicated something more personal prompted the attack
[Music] years earlier peter had been working as an appellate judge when he received a
death threat from a man who was given an unfavorable ruling peter took the threat seriously and
obtained a handgun for protection he kept it by his bedside table but as time passed and no action was taken
against him his worries dissipated eventually peter stored the gun away in a closet
following the murders the man who had made the death threat was tracked down but cleared from the investigation after
providing a solid alibi peter also had unlikely ties to the criminal underworld in that his great
uncle frank porco was a known new york mobster thirty years prior frank had arrived at
peter and jones wedding dripping in gold jewelry flaunting large amounts of cash
and had a revolver strapped to his leg there were rumors that frank had snitched on his fellow mobsters leading
to the belief that peter and joan could have been targeted in retribution this theory was bolstered by the fact
that the perpetrator had used the firemen's axe which was symbolic given that frank porco was known within
criminal circles as frankie the firemen however further examination of the acts revealed
that it was not a fireman's axe as initially believed but a regular one taken from the porco's garage that they
had purchased at a local hardware store additionally frank porco had children so
it didn't make sense that anyone wishing to send him a cruel message would target
his great nephew instead frank also had a history of refusing to cooperate with authorities casting
doubts that he was an informer the theory that frank porco was in some way responsible for the attack on peter
and joan just didn't add up then a month after the axe attack an envelope arrived at the headquarters of
the times union newspaper in albany a city north of delmar as an employee handled it a fine white
powder poured out from one of the corners they immediately notified the police inside was a letter from someone
claiming responsibility for peter porco's death and stating that he was a starting point
it read peter was not even a challenge once i got inside i repeatedly hit him in the head and neck with a small axe
i ignored all his pleading screams if you ever want to find me you might want to stop going after easy suspects
show me some respect i deserve catch me if you can tests revealed that the white powder was
a non-harmful substance analysis of the letter failed to uncover any fingerprints or other
characteristics that could help identify its author a police lieutenant told the media he
wouldn't classify the letter as a break in the case rather just another avenue they were
investigating what the lieutenant didn't disclose was that police had quickly ruled the letter
out as a hoax they were already zeroing in on who they strongly suspected was responsible for
the murders a person who had been identified by joan porco herself detective chris baudish had been the
first officer to arrive to the porco's house following the discovery of the crime scene
he immediately carried out a rudimentary sweep of the downstairs rooms while he didn't come across any
intruders he found the porco's pet dog locked in the basement bardish then headed up to the first
floor to canvas the rooms there he arrived at the main bedroom to find the badly beaten body of joan porco
shockingly jones hand weakly raised into the air not only was she still alive but she was
still conscious she motioned for badish to enter he asked if she could hear him although joan was unable to speak due to
her injuries she was able to communicate by nodding and shaking her head fearing joan would pass away before
paramedics arrived detective baudish began asking her questions in a desperate bid to gather key evidence
he asked if a family member had done this to her joan nodded he asked if it was jonathan
joan motioned with her hand no detective baudish then asked if her other younger son christopher was
responsible joan nodded burdish repeated the question again joan signaled yes at 2 45 that afternoon a reporter for
the times union newspaper placed a call to the university of rochester in west new york state
21 year old christopher porco was enrolled to study biomedical engineering and economics there
when he answered the call the reporter asked chris if he had any comment to give in relation to his parents being
killed it was the first chris had been informed of the attack he asked the reporter what she was
talking about she said she couldn't tell him anything and would call him back chris dropped the phone in shock
he sat around in his dorm room waiting to hear back but the phone didn't ring after composing himself he phoned
911 for an explanation while the operator tried to ascertain what had happened chris received a text
from his girlfriend news had spread that his parents house had been cordoned off with police tape
and officials were swarming the area chris was completely unaware that police had issued an alert to be on the lookout
for him with the report urging officers to use caution as chris might be armed an uncle picked chris up from campus and
drove him to delmar the near four-hour journey was a solemn one chris dazed and visibly shaken stared
out the passenger window barely speaking a word paramedics fought hard to save joan
porco but had trouble placing an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose as they couldn't make out her facial features
her blood pressure was almost non-existent and brain matter was visible through the wounds in her skull
she was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery but the situation was dire
chris porco arrived at the hospital while his mother was undergoing treatment he was immediately swarmed and hugged by
friends and relatives who had gathered in the waiting room awaiting news of jones stayed
at one stage a family friend broke the news to chris that he was a suspect in the attack
shocked chris asked how anyone could think he would hurt his parents peter and joan porco were a loving
couple who made sure that their children never went without by 2004 the porcos were empty nesters
though remained close to both their sons jonathan and christopher christopher had inherited his father's
looks and magnetic sociable personality described as a popular and charming person who was always smiling chris was
also intelligent scoring in the top 95 percentile nationally following his high school graduation
a member of the local church youth group his university swim team and a former vet technician
chris was a hard worker with many interests to friends chris had no discernible reason to murder his parents
he spoke positively of his affluent childhood and took his friends on driving tours of his old neighborhood to
point out the mansion he'd grown up in in fact chris was so well off that he'd let it
slip that he had 2.8 million dollars in a trust account held in the cayman islands
he'd also purchased an impressive home in north carolina he happily shared his wealth sharing his
friends with gifts and shouting them drinks from a stockpile of cash he always kept on him
however it hadn't always been smooth sailing for chris porco in 2002 a prolonged bout of glandular
fever caused him a temporary setback but with the unwavering support and help of his parents he was able to recover
and return to his studies joan would make the seven hour round trip to rochester whenever she could to
look after chris during his recovery it was clear to all those who knew peter and joan porco that they loved their
children when chris saw the swollen and maimed state his mother was in following the
axe attack he burst into tears and fell to the floor as joan was taken into surgery
chris was met by a detective and agreed to go to the police station for questioning
throughout the interrogation chris was polite and cooperative although he returned to del mar
periodically to visit his parents he hadn't stayed with them for three weeks he denied involvement in the brutal
attack and provided an alibi for the night in question at 9 30 pm chris went out to dinner with
a friend in rochester before returning to the on-campus dormitory where he lived
he exchanged online messages with his girlfriend then settled into the dorm's common room to watch a movie
it went on into the early hours during which chris fell asleep on the sofa he was still sleeping there when another
student entered at 10 a.m the following morning chris had nothing to hide he let police
take his fingerprints and blood for testing when asked to lift his shirt so they
could check for superficial injuries that might indicate his involvement in the attack chris was happy to do so
he also supplied the clothing he was wearing so it could undergo analysis his car was also seized
yet neither his vehicle nor his clothes contained blood or hair from either one of his parents
as would be expected from such a violent crime despite his cooperation chris sensed the
police were convinced he was guilty peter and jones eldest son 23 year old jonathan was away on assignment with the
us navy at the time so as far as police were concerned there weren't any other viable suspects
for chris his interrogators seemed to be getting angrier and angrier as the hours
passed they accused him over and over to the point that he became afraid of them
he continued to help investigators but was rattled by their unwavering suspicion
he agreed to participate in a polygraph test but refused to do so without an attorney present
[Music] this request along with his right to legal counsel during his interrogation
was denied chris wasn't even read his full miranda rights instead he was forced to sign a copy
that he didn't have time to read after six hours chris was finally permitted to leave the police station
he returned to the hospital to check on his mother against all odds joan porco survived her 12-hour surgery
and was placed into a medically induced coma though doctors didn't expect her to
recover a priest rather joan her last riots in anticipation of her death three weeks later
joan porco miraculously awoke she had lost her left eye part of her skull had been removed and
her face was permanently scarred damage to her throat left her with a quiet whispering voice
but she had survived the problem was joan had no memory of the attack she remembered what she'd done in the
days leading up such as visiting the ymca working in the yard and going to church
but recalled nothing of november 15. most crucially she couldn't recall identifying her youngest son as her
attacker and denied ever doing so she knew in her heart that chris was innocent joan did remember a strange incident
that occurred two weeks prior one night the motion sensor lights outside the porco's home went off
joan went to investigate and noticed a shadowy figure loitering in the driveway the police including detective baudish
were informed of the incident but didn't investigate the matter jones instincts told her that there was
more to this encounter than the police believed yet they continued to try and convince
her of chris's guilt joan remained steadfast chris was not responsible she wrote a letter to the editor of the
times union newspaper which read thanks to wonderful doctors numerous medical treatments and surgeries
i have survived i continue to improve and even though i have suffered a grievous injury both
physical and emotional i thank a god for my life unfortunately the horror and unbearable sadness i
continue to feel as a result of the loss of peter has been dramatically intensified by the trauma that our
cherished son chris has been forced to endure i want to say unequivocally that although i have no memory whatsoever of
the attack either because i was asleep or because of my injuries i am absolutely positive that my son was
in no way involved in this heinous crime he is an intelligent compassionate peaceful and loving person and no one
could ask for a better son he peter our older son jonathan and i have always had a wonderful relationship
and chris would never hurt any one of us i implore the police and the district attorney's office to leave my son alone
and to search for peter's real killer or killers so that he can rest in peace and my sons
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hundred dollars or more forty four-year-old jeanette castreon suffered from a disability that made it
very difficult to walk and travel on her own in june 2015 while waiting as her mother
took a brief stop at a park restroom jeanette vanished she would not be the last
join investigative journalist otavia mchenry as she uncovers the secrets behind jeanette's sudden disappearance
with interviews from jeanette's family law enforcement and criminal behaviour experts otavia uncovers much more in the
search for janette castreon than she anticipated a twisted labyrinth where the most
beautiful scenery hides sinister secrets the labyrinth is a case file presents podcast available now for free only on
spotify stay tuned until the end of this episode to hear the official trailer and be sure
to follow the labyrinth on spotify hi um my name is chris porgo i was just called by the times union saying that my
parents were found dead this afternoon um i was wondering any information for me hey clarkson what about you
i'm at school in rochester new york okay here it's in rochester yes okay do you have a phone number there chris
yeah i sure do um okay are you in a dorm there yes i am okay and you are hearing from the time junior
yeah they called me and said my parents were found um i guess i don't know they didn't say how or
anything at around 3 p.m on november 15 2004 chris's girlfriend checked her messages
and saw she had a text from him it read my parents are dead she had been messaging chris on and off
throughout the day aware that a situation was unravelling at his parents place in delmar
he had messaged her earlier telling her that he wasn't feeling well and that quote
he hadn't heard from his parents all morning and that he was nervous chris didn't message his girlfriend
again after revealing that his parents were deceased his uncle john picked him up from campus
and drove him straight to delmar as they neared their destination john received a call from a family
friend he had something important to say but it was imperative that he keep it from chris
chris was a suspect in his parents attack chris cooperated with investigators saying that he wanted to be as helpful
as he could so they could find the killer as quickly as possible when asked if he committed the brutal
assault chris replied you know i can't say enough absolutely no i would never do anything like that to
anyone let alone my parents who i love dearly following joan porco's life-saving
surgery chris stood vigil by her side a youth minister comforted him and was struck by chris's odd behavior
he didn't sense any grief from the young man just over 200 miles west detectives were
following up chris's alibi at his dormitory in rochester chris maintained he was asleep on the
common room so far on the night of the attack while another student recalled seeing
him asleep on the sofa at 10 am no one could vouch for him being there overnight
several other students claimed they had been in the common room until 3 30 a.m and at no time was chris present
it was only a small square room with a few couches and a television so he would be impossible to miss
one student assured it's not like maybe he was there and we overlooked him he wasn't there
it was approaching 11 o'clock on the night of november 14 2004 marking the end of a long shift for toll collector
john fallon john stood alone in a booth at the exit 46 tolls in the suburb of henrietta just
off the new york state thruway craving a cigarette john discreetly lit one up while keeping an eye out in case
his boss suddenly approached at 10 46 pm a bright yellow jeep wrangler caught jon's attention
he'd been on the lookout for a new car for his son and had always loved jeeps this one was a particularly nice model
and john noted its wide tyres and black canvas top it drove through john's toll lane and
pulled up to the booth where he was waiting the driver was a white man aged in his
twenties wearing a baseball cap he was traveling alone although cashless tolling was available
to vehicles that had an electronic easy pass tag installed this driver didn't appear to have one
instead he opted to pay for the toll with cash john hindered him a ticket which gave
the jeep access to the new york state throughway a system of controlled access highways spanning over 550 miles across
the state he then let the jeep continue onwards before stubbing out his cigarette and
finishing his shift just over three hours later toll collector karen russell was preparing to
go on her break her booth was located 230 miles west of henrietta at exit 24 of interstate 87
just outside the suburb of delmar karen was working the 10 p.m to 6 a.m shift when at 1 51 am she noticed the
car speeding down her lane it came to an abrupt stop at her booth karen eyed the driver it was a young man
with brown hair she collected a toll ticket from him and sent him on his way he hit the accelerator and sped off into
the darkness although karen ticketed 24 more vehicles before she finally went on her break
she never forgot this one given that the car was traveling so fast and dangerously
karen remembered the yellow jeep wrangler vividly broccoli drive in delmar was predictably
dark and quiet at 4 00 am on november 15 2004 when local resident marshall got in
his car to head off for work for a moment his headlights swept over his neighbor's property
they illuminated a yellow jeep wrangler parked in the driveway marshall had seen the vehicle before
speeding up and down the street with music glaring although it had caught marshall's
attention as it sat stationary in front of the home belonging to peter and joan porco it wasn't an unusual sighting
he knew who owned the car as such he thought nothing of it and continued onwards
the sighting of the yellow jeep in the porco's driveway at the time of the attack was a crucial one for detectives
they were able to trace its movements through the toll booths which had been captured on cctv footage
while the footage wasn't clear enough for the jeep's number plates to be visible a video analyst was able to
enhance the footage enough to notice some clues marred on the passenger side door a torn
barcode sticker on the passenger side window and an oval sticker on the spare tyre cover
there was little doubt at this stage who the car belonged to but these small details confirmed it
the day after his parents were attacked chris porco's yellow jeep wrangler was seized for forensic examination
photographs of the jeep were compared to the vehicle caught traveling from henrietta to delmar the night of the
attack they were a match marshall who had sighted the jeep in the porco's driveway also identified it as
chris porco's car henrietta was a suburb of the city of rochester where chris studied
in a fortunate break for detectives new security cameras had been installed throughout the exterior of the campus
including the car parks they examined 880 hours of footage during which chris's yellow jeep
wrangler was filmed leaving the campus at 10 30 pm on november 14. hours before the attack
this timing aligned with the 15 minutes it took the vehicle to travel to the exit 46 tollbooth where the jeep was
captured on camera and witnessed by toll collector john fallon it then drove near three hours east
towards delmar before karen russell at exit 24 centered onwards from her toll booth
at 8 30 a.m chris's jeep was filmed pulling in to the university of rochester car park
shortly thereafter chris was sighted by another student wearing a baseball cap and slowly jogging towards his dormitory
at 10 am a fellow resident saw him sleeping on the common room so far an electronic easy pass tag was found on
the floor of chris's jeep this would have enabled him to drive through the tollbooths without having to
stop and pay cash it was suspected he had removed it from its usual position on the windshield and
opted for the manual ticketed toll system to avoid being digitally tracked in another lucky break for investigators
the toll tickets collected on the night of the attack hadn't yet been destroyed one contained mitochondrial dna that
undisputedly linked it to chris while the porco's home security system had been smashed its records revealed it
had first been disarmed using the master code chris was one of only six people who
knew the code police suspected that he smashed the system's screen to fool them into
thinking that the intruder had disarmed the device this way they also suspected he had worn a pair
of scrubs obtained from his time working in the veterinary clinic to avoid soiling his clothes with his parents
blood his extensive work in cleaning up after veterinary procedures would have given
him ample skills to clean up a bloody crime scene and any staining in his car in a final blow to chris's professions
of innocence the fingerprint on the basement door was matched to his own [Music]
despite joan porco refuting that she had implicated her son in the immediate aftermath of her attack detective
baudish remained firm that chris porco was responsible he recalled the time he visited the
porco residence years prior to investigate the matter of the two stolen laptops although the house had all the hallmarks
of a burglary baudish was certain the crime scene was staged his suspicions only increased after the
axe attack similar to the laptop robbery a mesh window screen had been slashed in the
garage indicating the intruder's entry point however the garage window had since been bolted
shut and was also covered in cobwebs it was clear no one had come through there and that the mesh had been cut
from the inside shortly before his parents were attacked chris porco attempted to sell a laptop
he stole from a friend furthermore just prior to the attack on peter and joan the veterinary clinic
chris previously worked for reported some electronic devices and a cell phone had been stolen
the intruder had staged the scene at the veterinary clinic to look like a break-in by shattering a window
they had disarmed the alarm and reactivated it after stealing the goods the clinic's cell phone was later found
in the porco family safe this was the beginning of an elaborate web of lies surrounding chris porco
his family were never wealthy like he boasted to france and he didn't have over 2 million dollars in an offshore
bank account according to the cbs 48 hours documentary memory of murder every time chris's friends asked to see
the mansion he claimed to have purchased in north carolina he came up with an excuse as to why he couldn't take them
when he took them on tours to view his lavish childhood homestead they suspected he was pointing out a random
house he'd never lived in they found chris's stories exaggerated and hard to believe
but he did always seem to have cash on him and was quote such a lovely guy that they gave him the benefit of the doubt
these lies seemed relatively harmless and only served as a means for chris to grandstand his otherwise ordinary life
however there was one lie that hinted at a deeper problem chris had with confronting the reality of his life
decisions according to his friends rather than having a bout of glandular fever that set back his studies
chris often skipped classes due to partying and excessive drinking after being asked to leave the
university of rochester due to poor performance chris enrolled in community college but once again failed to attend
not wanting his parents to find out he lied to them telling them he passed and had been accepted back into the
university of rochester in reality chris forged a fake transcript giving himself three a's and a b to get back
into university when he returned chris told his parents that he'd never failed any subjects in
the first place but had mistakenly been asked to leave after a professor lost an
exam he had taken chris told peter and joan that to make up for the mistake the university
offered to pay the tuition fees for a full semester this was a complete lie on october 7 2004 six weeks before the
attack chris asked his father for help to secure a two thousand dollar loan to pay for some school expenses
peter agreed and sent personal information to chris so he could become a co-signatory
instead chris used this information to secure a 31 000 loan and forged his father's signature on the application
peter discovered this when a letter arrived at his house informing him that the loan had been approved
furious peter rang the bank and cancelled the loan he then rang the university of rochester
finance department who assured peda that the university was not paying for chris's semester of tuition
as a result peter paid for the tuition himself a few weeks later chris showed up to
visit his parents in a brand new yellow jeep wrangler he told them it had been gifted to him
in exchange for some used computers reality chris had forged his father's signature to obtain a loan for the
amount of sixteen thousand four hundred and fifty dollars to purchase the jeep in good faith peter agreed to remain
co-signatory on the loan allowing chris to keep the car however chris soon fell behind in the
loan repayments ten days before the attack peter emailed chris explaining that he
needed to pay for the outstanding repayments to avoid their credit ratings being adversely affected
the email ended mum's been trying to email you but you have not answered you have a lot of explaining to do
it's time to stop the [ __ ] and call me right away shortly after peter sent another email
explaining that he'd reluctantly paid the loan repayments for chris he wrote i want you to know that if you abuse my
credit again i will be forced to file forgery affidavits in order to disclaim liability
one week before the attack chris still hadn't contacted his parents jones sent him an email that read
dad and i are very upset about your not communicating with us we don't know if you are well or
mentally stable dad is about to have a nervous breakdown do you understand that you are not
behaving responsibly for god's sakes call detectives worked on the theory that these ongoing financial issues were what
motivated chris to launch the brutal attack on his parents on the morning of the crime his bank
accounts were overdrawn by 117 dollars but just weeks prior he had visited a financial advisor and said he was about
to receive millions of dollars from a relative he requested that a portfolio be drawn
up detectives believed chris didn't want to give up their lavish lifestyle he had
falsely created for himself and would go to great lengths to maintain it killing his parents for their life
insurance policies on november 4 2005 almost a year after peter and joan porco were attacked
chris porco was formally arrested for the crime a grand jury indicted him for the second
degree murder of his father and attempted murder of his mother he appeared calm and collected as he was
led from the courtroom in handcuffs and taken into custody to await a bail hearing set for two weeks time
the upcoming trial presented an unusual problem for the prosecution joan porco was aware of the mountain of
evidence that implicated chris regardless she was unwaveringly convinced of his innocence
she thought a financial motive was ludicrous and was unwilling to help the prosecution at all
district attorney david soares told reporters ultimately the issue here is in order to
get justice for joan porco we have to find her son guilty this was regardless of whether it came
with the jones blessing joan fully supported her son to be released on bail pending trial
in a letter to the judge she wrote even though i am still in the process of recovering from the attack i have had
many occasions to be with chris during all of those times he has been the same loving person that peter and i
raised and continues to treat me with the same respect that he showed before the attack
i have no fear being in his presence family and friends managed to collect 250 000 cash to meet chris's bail
requirements he walked from the courthouse flashing a smile at reporters who asked how he was
doing he replied i feel pretty good actually and i just want you to know i'm innocent
chris spent the following weekend at a hotel with his mother who was delighted to see him
while awaiting trial he spent his time going to clubs in downtown albany where he had become somewhat of a celebrity
due to the extensive local reporting on the case girls asked to have their photo taken
with him eager to show friends they had met the man accused of murder on june 27 2006
chris porco arrived at the orange county courthouse accompanied by his mother the venue had been changed from albany
after his attorneys successfully argued he wouldn't get a fair trial in his home
county due to the extensive media interest in the case chris held an umbrella out for joan as
they walked into the courthouse arming arm joan looked thin and frail next to her
tall and strapping sun she wore large dark sunglasses that hid the glass eye and some of the scarring
to her face she had received from the attack despite her efforts to remain relatively
inconspicuous joan was a major focus in her son's trial the defense argued that she couldn't
have identified chris as her attacker as it was too dark in the bedroom when the
assault took place they also argued that jones cognitive abilities should have been assessed
before detective bowdish questioned her in the bedroom to make sure she understood what was being asked
even though joan denied implicating her son multiple paramedics were present in the
bedroom when baudish questioned her they all verified his version of events joan had agreed chris was her assailant
the defense also highlighted joan's story of having seen a stranger in her driveway two weeks before the attack
they were critical of the police for not investigating this incident at the time
suggesting detective baudish in particular was sloppy in his work the prosecution called the defense's
claim of shoddy police work preposterous revealing that over 200 neighbours in the vicinity of the porco house were
interviewed after the crime but the police were not entirely without fault the trial judge established that the
interview conducted with chris on the day of the attack was inadmissible due to the errors made in not reading
chris his miranda rights silence filled the courtroom as peter and jones eldest son jonathan porco took
the stand avoiding eye contact with his brother while he initially stood by chris
john admitted that he and chris had a strange relationship he didn't elaborate any further
john also revealed that they were both aware they stood to inherit over 1 million dollars in life insurance and
benefits in the event of their parents death when photos of the critically injured
joan were flashed on a courtroom screen chris porco removed his glasses to wipe away tears
the photos were so graphic that the judge ordered them to be shown in black and white rather than colour
during breaks joan often went over to embrace chris and the two were seen smiling together
after 85 witnesses and 450 pieces of evidence were presented the defense team contended that the
prosecution hadn't proved its case due to a circumstantial timeline of events and a lack of forensic evidence
they cited that no blood or dna was found in the house to link chris to the crimes
the one thing placing chris in the house his fingerprint on the basement door could be easily explained by his
multiple visits to the home prior to the crime on august 10 the jury left the courtroom
to decide chris porco's fate while they were deliberating reporters asked chris what he would tell the jury
members if he had the chance chris urged them not to jump to conclusions saying once you look at the whole picture i
think it's pretty clear that things just don't add up deliberation was expected to be a long
and drawn out process but six hours in the jury shocked everyone by returning to the courtroom
with a verdict anticipating a lengthy deliberation joan porco had retired to rest in her nearby
hotel room and wasn't present when the verdict was announced for the second degree murder of his
father peter and the attempted murder of his mother joan chris porco was found guilty
[Music] he remained calm as the verdict was read but his nonchalant attitude was betrayed
by his face which turned bright red [Music] despite winning a conviction the chief
assistant district attorney said there was no cause for celebration as quote the whole thing is a tragedy
peter's sister paddy expressed the sense of relief telling the media that their next challenge would be to pick up the
pieces and try to rebuild as a family two months later chris appeared at the albany county courthouse for sentencing
while joan asked for leniency towards her son paddy read a victim impact statement
that said this act was the coldest most barbaric act any human being can commit against
another i am so angry that my future with my brother has been taken away and especially that after giving years of
his life for others he did not get to live out his own dreams and potential a letter from peter's mother was also
read out to the courtroom in it she said i do not fully understand what happened
to my grandson and i hope and i pray that he can be cured but unless that happens he must not be
allowed to kill again chris blamed the police for taking a minor dispute with his father out of
context and using it to incriminate him in his murder he said i was never able to say goodbye to my
dad before he was taken from us the idea that he was disappointed in me before he died
will always haunt me [Music] the judge turned to chris to deliver his sentence quote
it is without a doubt your mother has no memory of the events which occurred in the early morning hours of november 2004
it's very understandable that she is upset with the system it is very understandable to me that she
feels the police didn't do enough that's because it would be the most difficult thing in the world for a
parent to believe that their child who she gave birth to and raised and took care of
would be capable of being the perpetrator of these violent heinous acts in sentencing you today i've got to
explain to you and make you understand that the sentence that's being imposed upon you
is because i fear very much that what happened is something that could happen again
[Music] despite joan's plea that chris be freed within her lifetime he was given the maximum sentence of 50
years to life imprisonment chris went on to appeal his conviction twice but was rejected both times on
grounds of there being overwhelming evidence to support his conviction he then appealed to the u.s supreme
court but in april 2012 it was announced the court wouldn't be hearing his case putting an end to chris's appeals
process in 2013 chris attempted to sue the lifetime entertainment network after they made a tv movie about the case
titled romeo killer the chris porco story chris tried to put a halt to the advertising and airing of the movie
claiming that the film wrongfully used his name likeness and personality while temporarily successful the lawsuit
was eventually tossed and the film was marketed as the movie chris porco doesn't want you to see
it aired in march 2013 to lukewarm reviews chris porco still professes his innocence and has shown no remorse for
the way he treated his parents from his prison cell he told 48 hours it's a tragedy
not really just for me but you know for my family my mother's now gonna have to live alone
and that's very hard for me to stomach sitting in here with good behavior chris porco will
become eligible for parole in december 2052 throughout the murder trial messages of
love for peter porco were shared by family friends and colleagues when joan testified she told the court
how hard her husband had worked as an attorney he'd given up his high profile career
when his children were young taking a job as a law clerk so he could spend more time with his family
although it came with a pay cut joan was pleased with the change as it brought a
sense of closeness to the porco household joan and peter had celebrated their 30-year wedding anniversary just five
months before the attack during which jones said her family had been as close as ever
it was a statement echoed by jonathan porco who said dad was a hard-working great guy
he loved the law i think he was an excellent father when the crime scene at the porco's home
was first examined an investigator came across a cashiers check peter had signed
for overdue parking fees accumulated by chris a smear of blood in one of the corners
indicated that even after being viciously assaulted by chris peter was still trying to help his son
get out of trouble despite having been lied to time and time again and threatened with financial
ruin one of the last emails peter sent to chris was a testament to the type of father he truly was
it read things are obviously spinning out of control with you i think you should come home so we can
talk we may be disappointed in you but your mother and i still love you and care about your future
[Music] in june of 2015 a woman disappeared while camping with her family in the
cherokawa mountains of arizona she vanished without leaving a trace in the course of one to two minutes this is
the strangest search i've ever been on she just disappeared right off the face of the earth i said you're telling me
you got sign right here i said well then we're right on the road here basically so she got another car
somebody abducted her we were desperate we didn't know what else to do you already start to know you
know the canine hasn't found her something really bad is going on were we a target of something
what if somebody's got a vendetta against us the two-year quest for answers in this case led me to find out
more than i had originally anticipated i'll challenge you to something do a homework on missing persons from
national parks it's gonna astound you what you're gonna find out there's no way my brother would have
thought of suicide he also had just purchased furniture he was very excited about fixing up his living room so you
don't buy furniture and start fixing up your living room you're planning on dying
this case has more twists and turns than the blue ridge parkway and i have to say
occam's razor is normally the principle i operate from the simplest explanation is normally the most likely certainly
what i do know is that in fear and under pressure people make some very bad choices i'm otavia mchenry and this is
the labyrinth a true crime podcast brought to you by case file presents i think there's something there that we're
just not seeing and that others aren't seeing neither because everybody now to this point in this case is just grasping
so welcome to our world with this case and if you can give us any help i can't even
we can't even begin to tell you how much we'd appreciate that how is it that these people disappear
like that without a tree i'm a firm believer those things are real and there's something out there that we
don't understand we don't the labyrinth available exclusively on spotify

Case 187: Peter & Joan Porco

In the early hours of Monday, November 15 2004, husband and wife Peter and Joan Porco were savagely attacked with an axe while they slept...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-187-peter-joan-porco

Brief Summary

Jeanette Castreon vanished in 2015; Peter and Joan Porco were attacked in 2004, implicating their son Christopher in the crime.

Key points

Jeanette Castreon's Disappearance. In June 2015, Jeanette Castreon vanished while waiting for her mother at a park restroom.
The Brutal Attack on Peter and Joan Porco. On November 15, 2004, Peter and Joan Porco were brutally attacked in their home, leading to a shocking investigation.
A Disturbing Letter. A month after the attack, a letter claiming responsibility for Peter Porco's death arrived at a newspaper, hinting at a deeper motive.
Miraculous Survival. Joan Porco survives a brutal attack but faces a challenging recovery ahead.
Joan Porco's Defense. Despite her memory loss, Joan staunchly defends her son Chris's innocence.
The Attack's Aftermath. Chris Porco's life takes a dark turn as he becomes a suspect in his parents' murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

A twisted labyrinth where the most beautiful scenery hides sinister secrets.

1:29WatchSep 4, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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