Annalisa Raymundo, at 32, was a portrait of success. A Harvard and Columbia graduate born to physician parents, she had cultivated a brilliant career as a pharmaceutical executive in Stamford, Connecticut. Her life was full, marked by professional achievement, a close-knit family, and an adventurous spirit.

In 2002, her world seemed to brighten even more with her relationship with Nelson Sessler, a quiet colleague from Purdue Pharma. Their bond was strong, and after Annalisa caught the bouquet at her sister’s wedding, friends and family believed a proposal was on the horizon.

Their shared future would never arrive. On the evening of November 7, 2002, the couple was supposed to meet friends for a night out in Manhattan, but they never appeared. The next day, following a brief, anonymous 911 call from a woman at a payphone, police conducted a welfare check at Annalisa’s waterfront condo.

Inside, they found a scene of unimaginable violence. Annalisa had been brutally beaten and stabbed nearly 20 times. The ransacked apartment indicated a fierce struggle, yet there were no signs of forced entry. Annalisa had let her killer in.

Suspicion naturally fell on her boyfriend, Nelson Sessler. He was brought in for questioning, but his alibi was airtight. Surveillance footage, company records, and forensic evidence confirmed he had been at his office all day and had no involvement.

With their only person of interest cleared, the investigation stalled. The anonymous 911 caller was untraceable, and no other leads emerged. Annalisa’s case went cold, leaving a grieving family with no answers.

For five months, there was silence. Then, on March 23, 2003, a strange incident occurred on a dark road between New York and Connecticut.

A woman, Sheila Davalo, drove her husband, Paul Christos, to a hospital with two stab wounds in his chest. Curiously, she stopped in the parking lot instead of rushing him to the emergency room.

A passerby had to intervene to get him help. Police were immediately called, and what they uncovered was a story of bizarre deception.

Paul, who survived the attack, told detectives a chilling story. His wife, Sheila, a biochemist, had suggested a “guessing game” to cure her boredom. She blindfolded and handcuffed him to a chair, then touched him with various objects he had to identify.

When they switched roles, Paul felt several items on his skin before a sharp, searing pain shot through his chest.

He’d been stabbed. Believing it was an accident, he pleaded with her to call 911, but she just paced the room. It was later discovered she stabbed him a third time in the car.

During their investigation into the assault on Paul, police made a stunning discovery. The only person Sheila had called during the ordeal was Nelson Sessler. This single phone call was the thread that connected the cold case in Stamford to the bizarre attack in New York. Investigators soon learned that Sheila also worked at Purdue Pharma and had been carrying on an affair with Nelson.

The depth of her manipulation was staggering. Nelson had no idea Sheila was married; she had told him she was divorced. Her husband, Paul, had no idea she was having an affair. Sheila maintained this elaborate charade by inventing a fictitious, mentally unstable brother named “Shahim.”

Whenever Nelson was coming to visit her condo, she would tell Paul that her volatile brother was on his way and that Paul needed to leave to avoid conflict. For over a year, the unsuspecting husband would dutifully pack a bag and stay elsewhere, never realizing “Shahim” didn’t exist.

To her friends, Sheila often spoke obsessively about a love triangle at work, framing it as a story about her “friend.” In reality, she was talking about herself, Nelson, and Annalisa. When Nelson ended the affair to commit to Annalisa, Sheila’s obsession turned deadly. The thought of them moving in together was a future she refused to accept.

The prosecution pieced together the timeline. On November 8, 2002, Sheila left work early and drove to Stamford. Annalisa, knowing her as Nelson’s colleague, let her inside. Sheila attacked her, and after a violent struggle, left her for de@d.

She then walked to a nearby payphone and made the anonymous 911 call—a calculated act to distance herself from the crime. When her plan to win Nelson back failed, she turned her violence toward her other obstacle: her husband.

Sheila Davalo was first sentenced to 25 years without parole for the attempted murder of her husband. Subsequently, she was tried and found guilty of murdering Annalisa Raymundo and sentenced to an additional 50 years.

Her combined sentences ensure she will almost certainly spend the remainder of her life in prison, a chilling end to a story of jealousy, deception, and brutal violence.