For Joy Desomber, a 44-year-old single mother of two from San Diego, Joseph George Cua seemed like a dream come true. In 2002, after a friend encouraged her to try online dating, she connected with the 40-year-old Cua, who presented himself as the perfect man.

He was a successful and wealthy real estate broker, a graduate of a prestigious university, and a charming, attentive partner. He lived in Northern California but didn’t hesitate to make the eight-hour drive to San Diego to court her.

He was wonderful with her two children, quickly becoming the father figure they never had. His wealth was evident; he showered Joy with expensive gifts and lavish vacations, explaining his fortune came from a stressful but highly lucrative career in commercial real estate. It was a fairy tale, and Joy fell hard.

Within a year, their lives had completely intertwined. They bought a beautiful four-bedroom house in California, had a daughter of their own, and in December 2003, they were married in a small chapel in Las Vegas. Joy believed she had found her happy ending. But behind Joseph’s perfect facade was a dark and sinister secret, a web of lies so vast it would end in a brutal double slaying and leave Joy fighting for her family’s survival.

The first cracks in the perfect picture began to appear with Joseph’s increasingly frequent and sudden “work trips.” He would cancel family plans at a moment’s notice, claiming a business emergency. The excuses made Joy suspicious, but it was a shocking phone call in January 2005 that began the true unraveling.

A woman from Northern California called Joy and dropped a bombshell: she had been in a domestic partnership—the legal equivalent of marriage in California—with Joseph for two years. She revealed that Joseph had told her a twisted story, claiming Joy was a drug user with whom he’d had a one-night stand that resulted in a child.

Heartbroken and confused, Joy confronted Joseph. Instead of apologizing, he turned on her, blaming her for his infidelity. He claimed he sought refuge with the other woman because their home was too noisy and chaotic. When Joy threatened to leave, he revealed his cruel, manipulative side.

He threatened to fight her for custody of their daughter, boasting that he would win and she would be left with nothing. Terrified and feeling trapped, Joy stayed. But she began secretly saving money, sending small amounts to her mother, in preparation for the day she could finally escape with her children.

The fairy tale had become a prison. But Joy had no idea just how dangerous the man she was married to truly was. That horrifying reality came to light on June 14, 2006. Joseph called Joy with terrible news: his close friends and supposed “business partners,” an elderly couple named Fernand and Susan Wagner, had been found shot to death in their home.

Joy was devastated for the couple, whom she had met several times. But she was immediately struck by Joseph’s strangely calm and detached demeanor. He seemed more concerned with the couple’s last will and testament than with their tragic deaths.

When he returned home later that day, Joy noticed his hands were covered in fresh scratches and his body was bruised. He brushed it off, claiming he’d hurt himself at the gym. Joy’s suspicion grew into a cold dread. The next day, her mother, Linda, called her in a panic. She had just heard a news report about the Wagners’ deaths. The initial information Joseph had given was wrong. The couple hadn’t been shot; they had been brutally beaten to death.

In that moment, everything clicked into place for Joy. The bruises, the scratches, Joseph’s strange behavior—it all pointed to a horrifying conclusion: her husband was the killer. She realized the injuries on his body were likely from the elderly couple fighting for their lives. Overcome with terror, Joy knew she had to act, but she was trapped.

She and the children were scheduled to go on a boat trip with Joseph that day. Fearing what he might do if she backed out, she went along, pretending everything was normal. For terrifying hours, she played the part of a happy wife, smiling and laughing with the man she now knew was a murderer, all while her mother frantically tried to report her suspicions to a police tip line, only to be dismissed.

The moment Joseph left for another “work trip,” Joy seized her chance. She rushed to the police station and told them everything—her suspicions, the bruises, the lies. The police listened intently, then revealed that Joseph Cua was already their primary person of interest. He was arrested shortly after at a boat dock.

The investigation that followed unmasked Joseph’s entire life as a colossal fraud. He wasn’t a wealthy real estate broker. He was the Wagners’ maintenance man and property manager, earning a meager $525 a month. The lavish lifestyle, the expensive gifts, the vacations—it was all funded by money he had stolen from the very couple who trusted him. For years, he had been embezzling their rent collections and secretly transferring money from their bank accounts to his own. In total, he had stolen over $200,000.

The motive for the slayings became tragically clear. Fernand Wagner had discovered the theft and confronted Joseph on the day of the crime. Enraged and terrified that his web of lies and his luxurious, fraudulent life were about to collapse, Joseph had brutally beaten the elderly couple to death.

In June 2008, Joseph Cua went on trial. His defense argued that he was a sociopath, a man with a mental illness who was a pathological liar. But the jury saw through it. He was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. On what would have been his fifth wedding anniversary with Joy, in December 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For Joy, the verdict was a relief, but the aftermath was devastating. Joseph had left behind a mountain of credit card debt, and she lost their house, their cars—everything. With her three children, she moved in with her parents to start over. She had been deceived, manipulated, and trapped by a monster, but through her courage, she had survived, protected her children, and helped bring a vicious killer to justice.