Larissa Schuster

[TobyTiger]

A few names are familiar: Aileen Wuornos, Karla Faye Tucker, Pamela Smart and Mary Winkler.

Larissa Schuster is another name to be added to this list.

Larissa Schuster,46, a former Clovis (California) biochemist, is charged with the kidnapping, torture and murder of her husband, 45-year-old Timothy Schuster, in July 2003.

She did not act alone. A co-conspirator and former employee, James Fagone, 24, was prosecuted and convicted of murder in December 2006. Fagone's own testimony sealed his fate. He had accepted a $2,000. payment from Larissa Schuster in exchange for help with the slaying.

Prosecutors in the case state the two first immobilized Timothy Schuster with a stun gun and a chloroform-soaked rag. They bound his hands and feet, before dumping him head first - and still breathing - into a 55-gallon barrel and poured bottles of hydrochloric acid on his body. By the time his body was discovered days later, in a storage unit rented by Larissa Schuster, the upper half was dissolved.

Larissa Schuster's trial begins Monday, October 15, 2007...

[TobyTiger]

LARISSA SCHUSTER TRIAL SET FOR OCT. 15 IN L.A. COUNTY


The trial of a Clovis biochemist accused of killing her husband and pouring acid on his body is scheduled to begin Oct. 15 in a Los Angeles County courtroom, more than four years after she was arrested.

On Monday, prosecutors, defense attorneys and a Fresno County Superior Court judge began what likely will be a week's worth of discussions on the ground rules for the upcoming trial.

Roger Nuttall, defense attorney for Larissa Schuster, said Monday that the pretrial motions will "help shape the course of the trial."

Schuster, 46, is accused of kidnapping, torturing and killing her husband, Timothy Schuster. The two were in the middle of a bitter divorce when his remains were found in a barrel of acid in Larissa Schuster's rented storage unit in July 2003.

Last month, Judge Wayne Ellison granted a motion to move the trial out of Fresno County because the murder trial of Schuster's co-defendant, James Fagone, had received intense media coverage.

In December, a Fresno County jury found Fagone guilty of murder, rejecting his argument that he was intimidated into joining the gruesome murder plot.

Ellison on Monday said the trial will start Oct. 15 in Department 114 of the Van Nuys West courthouse in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.

This week, both sides are taking up various motions associated with the trial, which cover everything from media coverage to whether certain potential witnesses will be allowed to remain in the courtroom when they are not on the stand.

One part of Monday's hearing dealt with Timothy Schuster's employment records from Saint Agnes Medical Center.

Nuttall wants them as evidence for the trial. In court, he said he may have an expert testify on "battered person syndrome," and he commented that the evidence request pertains to Larissa Schuster's emotional state during the couple's divorce proceedings.

Ellison made no decision on whether the records will be part of the trial.

The jury pool will be 150, which both Nuttall and prosecutor Dennis Peterson said was sufficient.

On Oct. 15 jurors will fill out questionnaires. By midweek, jurors will come into court for individual questioning, and Ellison hopes to have jurors seated by the end of Oct. 18. Opening arguments would then start the following Monday.

It appears that Fagone will not be called as a witness by either side in the trial, but Nuttall said afterward that he expects Schuster to take the stand in her own defense.

source: The Fresno Bee, 10/01/07

[TobyTiger]

JUDGE FINALIZES PLANS FOR HIGH-PROFILE MURDER TRIAL

10/01/2007 - Judge Wayne Ellison decided the media will be allowed in the Larissa Schuster murder trial. The same judge granted a change of venue motion last month, moving the trial to Van Nuys.

Larissa is accused of killing her husband and dumping his body in a barrel of acid.

A date for jury selection has also been finalized. That's scheduled to begin on October 15.

Opening statements should start the following week.

source: abc30.com

[TobyTiger]

JURY SELECTION BEGINS

Story Updated: Oct 15, 2007 at 6:46 PM EDT
Jury selection began Monday in the case of a Clovis bio-chemist accused of killing her estranged husband and stuffing his body in a barrel of acid.

Larissa Schuster's case was moved to Van Nuys County in Southern California to ensure she receives a fair trial.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin October 22.

Schuster allegedly committed the murder with the help of a young employee James Fagone.

Fagone has already been convicted of the 2003 killing.

In Fagone's trial, the court heard multiple angry phone messages from Schuster to her estranged husband, Timothy Schuster.

The state will argue that Schuster and her young employee entered Timothy Schuster's house, where they knocked him out, and then put his body in a barrel and poured multiple bottles of acid inside.

Both the prosecution and defense say they do not plan on calling Fagone to the witness stand.

Fagone's case is currently on appeal.

KSEE 24 News court reporter Theresa Freed is in Van Nuys following the case. Watch KSEE 24 News at 4, 5, and 6 for live reports.

You can also click on Larissa Schuster Trial Blog to read Theresa’s courtroom blog.

[TobyTiger]

UPDATES FROM THE COURTROOM

By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee10/15/07

3:44 p.m.: VAN NUYS - Larissa Schuster made her first appearance in front of potential jurors this afternoon when she stood up in front of a crowd of 150 people packed into a courthouse auditorium. Schuster, 47, wore a blouse, a suit jacket and dress pants. When she was introduced by her attorney, Roger Nuttall, she smiled and nodded, and then mouthed "Thank you."

Judge Wayne Ellison of Fresno County Superior Court explained to the potential jurors that the case was moved to Van Nuys, a suburb of Los Angeles, because of local media attention to the case. He also gave the potential jurors what he described as a "media story" summary of the case:

"On July 10, 2003, Timothy Schuster was reported missing from home in Clovis, Calif.," Ellison said. "Four days later on July 14, his remains were discovered in a barrel that also contained hydrochloric acid. Larissa Schuster and James Fagone were arrested and charged with the crime."


11:59 a.m.: On the first day of Larissa Schuster's trial in a Los Angeles suburb courthouse, Schuster's attorney said Monday morning he was concerned his client did not have access to a comb, toothpaste, deodorant and her anti-depressant Zoloft medications.

Attorney Roger Nuttall said he was worried that Schuster, the Clovis businesswoman accused of murdering her husband in 2003 and leaving his body in a barrel of acid, will appear disheveled in front of the 148 potential jurors that will be introduced to her this afternoon. Schuster was in court this morning wearing a yellow Los Angeles County Jail outfit with her hair pulled up.

"She has no soap, no deodorant, no curlers or rollers for her hair," Nuttall said. "I'm concerned about her image. She needs to be able to present herself in a clean, attractive way. I want to make sure she feels good about herself and her image."

Judge Wayne Ellison of Fresno County Superior Court didn’t directly address Nuttall's concerns, but said he did not think Schuster was being treated any differently than every other Los Angeles County Jail inmate.

Opening statements in Schuster's trial are scheduled for next Monday.

Ellison ruled last month that the trial should be held near Los Angeles after he decided local media attention made it impossible to find an impartial jury in Fresno County. The trial is expected to last four to eight weeks.

[wind149]

She is on trial for murder not a fashion show! If you ask me the way Pam Smart dressed during her trial backfired on her. She came to court everyday, perfect hair, makeup and dressed to the nines in suits and dresses. I remember this whole case from A-Z. Don't let her kid you , she is a stone cold woman, that is why she was dubbed the "Ice Queen" by the media. I lived two hours from Derry NH and the media was camped out in my area too. Every restaurant in town, bars, had live TV coverage of the trial. You could not go anywhere without Pam being the hot topic. I knew from the get-go she was the mastermind behind the whole murder. She enticed a child to do her dirty work. It was never proven Gregg had ever abused her in any way and my take was she did not want to lose her leather couch and Gregg had cut his hair so he did not look like a rocker anymore. The insurance money was thought to be the motive, but this awful woman made a child shoot her husband because she did not want to just divorce him. A reporter from WMUR in NH went and interviewed her right after the murder and he says when he talked to her it made the hair stand on his neck. He knew right there she knew more than what she was saying. I figured out by the third time I saw her on a Boston station that she knew who killed Gregg. When she was arrested, I was not shocked. Her mother firmly believes her daughter is innocent, and is moaning every now and then to the media. Pam does not have it half bad at Bedford Hills. She is not doing hard time. She has her own room, her own bedding, TV, stereo, orders her nighties from Victoria's Secret, has weekend visits with her family in a trailer on the prison grounds. She cooks her own meals, is able to order food. She wears her own clothes and teaches other inmates. Needless to say though, she has not been a model prisoner. She has been written up and pictures she claims a guard took of her against her will showed up in a rag magazine, her wearing revealing nighties. She is not popular there at all and that is why she lives on the mental ward instead of gen pop. She will never leave there and that gives me satisfaction. The boys especially Billy Flynn I have always felt bad for. His hormones were in overdrive and he really believed that Pam would be his and he was willing to do anything she asked and the poor kid will be 43 when he goes up for his first parole hearing in 2018. Vince Lattimere and Raymond Fowler were released on parole in 2004. It has not been easy on them either. The other boy, will also be up for parole in 2018. Half of their life behind bars because of one evil woman. I seen her one night on Rita Cosby's show whining about how she was set up, and the only thing she was guilty of was sleeping with Billy. She claims she loved Gregg and did not want a divorce. Now his parents, are the victims too. His Mom died a couple of years after the trial. Mr.Smart says she died of a broken heart. He also claims if Pam would admit her guilt, he would ask the governor for clemency, but Pame as she likes to be called won't budge. I hope when Billy gets out people will leave him alone and he can have a life again. As for her, she will die in prison and that is OK with NH! Her mother asked the governor a couple years back about a new trial as Mommy claims Pame did not get a fair trial because of the publicity and she says the media convicted her before the trial. Governor Lynch would not go for it. It might have happened 17 years ago, but in NH it is still fresh on people's minds. This woman too, will be convicted, the evidence is overwhelming just like with Pam. The tapes between her and Cecilia Pierce was the nail in her coffin. Had they not had that, I still think she would have been convicted, but maybe not life without parole. She hung herself on on one tape saying that if CP talks to the cops, that they all would end up in the slammer. I remember watching the trial when this was being played and Mr. Smart commented about her gutter mouth and how she is anything but a lady and how this is gonna sink her. So she is exactly where she needs to be.

[TobyTiger]

And this defendant is no Pamela Smart to begin with, as far as appearance is concerned...which is why counsel is concerned about her "image". She presents a cold, hard demeanor, much like Wuornos.

Inwardly, Schuster and Smart are much alike, however.

[wind149]

Toby, this is one case I had not heard about till last night. And explain to me please how her outward image is going to help her inward? AW was a damaged soul from the minute she was born. Her mother did not want her, stuck her with a grandfather who raped her and impregnated her at age 12. She basically lived on the streets of Jackson MI with no one to love her, and was turning tricks by age 14. She went to Fla and prostituted herself up and down the coast. The only person who probably did love her was Tyra Moore and as warped as AW was, I think she loved her too. She obviously hated men, was deeply mentally ill and a part of me, while I do not condone what she did, felt for this poor woman. What a horrible life she had. Blanche Taylor Moore saw her father when she killed. I was glad towards the end AW had someone in her corner. A woman, I think was a minister, actually adopted AW and at least for her last days on earth, she had some peace and someone who cared for her. Notice she would always say she killed them because they raped her? Now she had sex with dozens of men for money or drugs, and I think a lifetime of being degraded, used like so much trash, it snapped her mind and she killed the men because in the dark corners of her mentally ill mind, it was her grandfather raping her all over again and that is who she saw, not the men. She did it for her survival, her defense, because she could never stand up to her grandfather. I saw her mother on a documentary trying to lay the guilt trip. I had no sympathy for her whatsoever. She claims that Daddy raped her too, but yet, she takes off with some loser and leaves her children with a man who was a sexual deviant? Her brother I believe is dead as well. Her mother whined about how she had to hide in her little red-neck town in the UP of MI when the story broke about AW. All about her, not the children she left with a monster. But it sounds like this woman did it for greed and not passion. What do you think of Susan Polk? Buy her story? I don't and I do not buy Mary Winkler's version either. I was perusing the net a while ago and came across Crime Library's archives on Ruth Snyder. She fried in the chair in 1920 after having an affair and killing her husband for a $2,000 life insurance policy. They showed her no mercy at Sing Sing. No fan fair there. Strapped in and sent to hell. I, at first thought they should go with the DP for Pam Smart as I am for the DP big time, and then I got to thinking, for her, I want LWPOP and now since she is not doing really hard time and staring at walls, I rethought that one. What it always boils down to with murder for hire or greed, you do get caught. People run their mouths and rat you out. In the end, you still don't have you want, the money or even more important, your freedom. Pam Smart was an attractive woman. She is not at age 40 now. I saw where she had aged badly and prison will do that to you and it gives me comfort to know she is not going to see Motley Crue or Def Leppard in concert ever again. She will never party again. I have hated a man so much, I truly wanted him dead, but I was not going to pull the trigger as he got his in the end anyway and I did not blow my life up in the process. He was a child molesting piece of crap that WAS a cop. He is nothing now .A pariah, living with his Mommy who is his one true love. I blew the whistle on him and would do it again. So I understand passion killings to a point. but greed, I don't.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by wind149

Toby, this is one case I had not heard about till last night. And explain to me please how her outward image is going to help her inward? AW was a damaged soul from the minute she was born.

Actually what I was referring to was the evil nature inside both Schuster and Smart to plot their husbands' demise, and both using a young man to assist them with the deed.

The comparison between Schuster and Wuornos was basically the hardened exterior which gives the jury their first impression of the defendant. They don't have anything in common in their backgrounds or what led them to commit murder.

[TobyTiger]

SCHUSTER TRIAL CONTINUES JURY SELECTION PROCESS

The Fresno Bee 10/16/07 16:48:36

VAN NUYS - On the second day of Larissa Schuster's murder trial, prosecution and defense attorneys agreed Tuesday to dismiss about two dozen potential jurors who appeared to either have a prior knowledge of the case or said they could not judge Schuster fairly. About 100 potential jurors remain.

Today and Thursday, attorneys will question the potential jurors and eventually select 12 for the jury, as well as four alternates.

Schuster, 47, is a former Clovis businesswoman accused of murdering her husband in 2003 and leaving his body in a barrel of acid. Opening statements in her trial, which is being held in a Van Nuys courthouse, are scheduled to begin Monday.

[wind149]

Yep, I see what you mean now. Using someone else to do your dirty work for you. Billy Flynn was reeled in hook, line, and sinker, the first night he slept with Pam. That sealed Gregg's fate and this is why we all from NH despise this loser. She had the world by the tail, a handsome husband who had a great career, a nice home and a good job herself. She was such an ego maniac it bit her in the ass in the end and I get disgusted when I see her mother whining to the media about what a bad rap her daughter got. NO mention of Gregg getting a bullet in his head, her own son-in-law. It is all about her innocent daughter and this does not bode well with anyone from NH. She did this to herself, divorce would have been better for everyone involved, but her ego could not take the fact Gregg had cheated on her, and was not being the head banger he was. She actually freaked out and wanted a divorce when she came home and found he had cut his hair! I always used to cry when I would see the Smart's on TV. Mr Smart always looked so broken, so crushed, and then I would get pissed off for him! But she will never get out and that is a comfort to him.

For Gregg Smart

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by wind149

Yep, I see what you mean now. Using someone else to do your dirty work for you. Billy Flynn was reeled in hook, line, and sinker...

That is the similarity in the Schuster case. James Fagone was a 21-year old employee of Larissa Schuster who was "reeled in" in the same manner as Billy Flynn was to Pamela Smart. Now he is serving LWOP for murder.

[TobyTiger]

JURY SELECTION CONTINUES...

10/17/07 12:06:35

VAN NUYS -- Nearly 100 potential jurors packed a small courtroom Wednesday morning on the third day of Larissa Schuster’s murder trial.

Schuster, a 47-year-old Clovis woman who owned a Fresno research lab, is accused of murdering her husband in 2003 and leaving his body in a barrel of acid. Judge Wayne Ellison of Fresno County Superior Court ruled last month to move the case to a Los Angeles suburban courthouse after deciding local media attention made it too difficult to find an impartial jury in Fresno County.

This morning Ellison asked some of the jurors a series of questions about whether they have friends or family in law enforcement, and whether they knew anyone who was murdered or was a murder suspect. Two potential jurors were removed because of poor hearing, and one potential juror was dismissed because she said she had short-term memory loss.

Jury selection is scheduled to continue today and Thursday. Opening statements are scheduled for Monday.

[TobyTiger]

JURY SELECTION EXPECTED TO BE FINISHED TODAY

The Fresno Bee 10/18/07

VAN NUYS -- The judge had already told potential jurors earlier this week that this would be no ordinary murder trial. So on Wednesday, Larissa Schuster's defense lawyer made it clear they should expect the worst.

"The remains of the body were found in a barrel of acid," attorney Roger Nuttall told some of the 93 potential jurors packed into a courtroom on the seventh floor of the Los Angeles County Superior Court building in Van Nuys, where Schuster's case is being tried. "You're going to be shown by the prosecutor photographs of those remains. It's not pleasant, to say the least. It's horrific, to say the least."

One juror wiped her forehead. Nuttall continued: "Knowing just that, what I've described, is there any one of you who feel that you cannot afford Larissa Schuster a fair trial?"

The audience was silent. Nuttall nodded approvingly.

It was day three of Schuster's murder trial, and the first day that potential jurors were asked questions about their personal background, their feelings toward law enforcement officers, and whether they could handle seeing grim photos and listen to disturbing testimony.

Schuster, 47, who lived in Clovis and owned a Fresno research lab, is accused of killing her husband in 2003 and leaving his body in a barrel of acid.

On Wednesday, Nuttall dismissed eight potential jurors and prosecutor Dennis Peterson dismissed six. Each attorney is allowed to dismiss as many as 20 potential jurors before a final panel of 12 jurors and four alternates is selected. Jury selection is expected to conclude today.

Among those dismissed by Nuttall was a man who said he had friends in law enforcement, a woman who said her ex-husband's daughter was murdered years ago and hinted that she had found a defendant guilty when serving as a juror on a previous murder trial, and a woman who said she retired from an extensive law enforcement career.

Peterson asked each potential juror to say how comfortable they felt serving as a juror, on a scale of one to 10. Most said "eight" or "nine," but one woman who said "six" was dismissed by Peterson, as well as a man who said he had never served on a jury before.

Each potential juror was assigned a three-digit number, and their names were not used in court.

Galatea DeLapp, a Fresno lawyer and consultant who helps attorneys select juries, said Nuttall is likely looking for female jurors who could sympathize with Schuster. But, DeLapp said, Nuttall has a reputation for trusting his instincts more than following a formula when selecting jurors.

"Roger is very much a people person," said DeLapp, who worked with Nuttall on a previous case. "If he connects with somebody or gets a good feel from somebody, he sticks with them."

Peterson, DeLapp said, is likely searching for jurors who have more analytical minds and will insist on following the law no matter the emotions involved in the case. He's also probably trying to avoid anyone who could hold out on a guilty verdict and lead to a hung jury, she said.

"As a prosecutor, I would be very careful about anyone who appears fringy or on the edge," DeLapp said.

more of the story at the link

[TobyTiger]

9 WOMEN, 3 MEN ON SCHUSTER JURY

VAN NUYS -- The jurors stood up and were sworn in. Larissa Schuster, sitting at a table 20 feet away, stared across the courtroom at the nine women and three men who would -- as the prosecutor constantly reminded them -- be her judges. Schuster smiled politely.

After 1 1/2 days of questioning from attorneys, a relatively diverse panel of 12 jurors and four alternates was selected Thursday morning in Schuster's murder trial.

They are mostly middle-aged Los Angeles County residents, though some of them are elderly and two appear to be in their 20s.

Jurors are not allowed to be interviewed before a trial concludes, and their names were not used in court. Instead, they are assigned numbers. But based on comments the jurors made in court, it appears that some of them have served on juries before, and many said they would judge Schuster based on the facts, not emotions.

Schuster, a 47-year-old Clovis biochemist who owned a Fresno research lab, is accused of murdering her husband in 2003 and leaving his body in a barrel of acid. If convicted, she faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Because it is unlikely Schuster's co-defendant, James Fagone, will testify in the trial and -- for legal reasons -- his taped confessions to police will not be submitted as evidence, prosecutor Dennis Peterson will rely mostly on circumstantial evidence. Such evidence would not directly point to Schuster as the person who committed the murder.

In response to a question from Peterson, one of the selected jurors said she agreed that "circumstantial evidence has to be considered, too."

Another juror said she would not base her decision about Schuster's guilt or innocence on any one witness's testimony.

"I would rely on my own feelings and take the evidence as presented," she said.

At least five of the jurors said they had served on a jury before. Asked whether the jurors knew anyone who had been murdered, one male juror said that a friend of his family was killed five months ago, but that it would not affect his judgment in Schuster's case.

Peterson said he was pleased with the jury's makeup and said he did not think the outcome of the case would be affected by the fact that most of the panel members are women.

"They seem to be good, common sense-type people like the ones in Fresno," he said.

more at the link

[TobyTiger]

VOICEMAIL, VIDEOTAPE PLAYED FOR JURORS AT SCHUSTER TRIAL

Updated 4:30 p.m.: VAN NUYS -- During his opening statements this afternoon in Larissa Schuster's murder trial, prosecutor Dennis Peterson played portions of Schuster's videotaped interview with police the day after her husband went missing in summer 2003.

In the tape, Clovis police officers left the interview room for a few minutes and Schuster paced back and forth, rubbing her face with hands and later crossing her arms.

She later admitted to police that she had lied about not calling her estranged husband, Timothy Schuster, early the day before. She insisted she did not know where her husband was.



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11:13 a.m.: VAN NUYS -- During his opening statements in Larissa Schuster's murder trial, prosecutor Dennis Peterson played five minutes of recorded voice mails Schuster left on her husband's phone before he was killed in July 2003.
"I hate your [expletive] guts so much I can't stand you," Schuster said in one of the voicemails. "I hope you burn in hell."

Schuster stared at the jury with an expressionless look on her face while the recordings were played.

Peterson also told jurors he would bring in about 50 witnesses over what he expects to be a 10-day period. Schuster's defense attorney, Roger Nuttall, said he will give his opening statements after Peterson is done presenting his case.

[TobyTiger]

OFFICER DESCRIBES BURGLARY AT TIMOTHY SCHUSTER'S HOME

Updated 4:25 p.m.: VAN NUYS -- A Clovis police officer testified this afternoon in Larissa Schuster’s murder trial that in August 2002 he investigated a burglary of the home of Schuster's husband, Timothy Schuster. "I noticed that the house was ransacked," Officer Richard Zuniga said. "Items were thrown about on the floor, items were broken. It was just kinda all messed up."

Larissa Schuster later confessed to burglarizing the home, her manicurist, Terri Lopez, has said.

Zuniga said that among the items stolen were a key to Larissa Schuster's Lexus (which Timothy Schuster still possessed), two computers, a printer, a TV, a DVD, a VCR, home theater speakers, glassware, decorative baskets and Timothy Schuster's documents detailing how often he was allowed to have custody of their son, Tyler. The Schusters were going through a bitter divorce at the time and child custody matters had not been settled.



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11:36 a.m.: VAN NUYS –- A former neighbor testified in Larissa Schuster's murder trial this morning that she saw Schuster moving a large blue barrel around in her garage a few weeks before Schuster’s husband went missing in the summer of 2003.
"She was just moving it -– that's what caught my eye," neighbor Judy VanGorkom said. "She was just moving it to the side of the garage."

more at the link

[wind149]

Not to go off topic of this murderess, but I have posted on the Children Who Kill board about Gregg Smart's murderer. He is asking for early release and I am all for it surprisingly, keeping in terms I do not side with murderers, but in his case I take exception. Funny, how I posted with you about Miss Maiden of Metal there and boom, I open my local paper from NH and there he is all grown up has made very positive changes in his life, he is remorseful and has been right along unlike loser Pame. She has a new pity party web-site and there is a guest book page and I gotta tell ya, no warm and fuzzy messages for her. Most people wish she would just rot in hell and amazingly, a lot of people do feel Bill Flynn should be released and I had to rub that one in! She is doing LWPOP and even if Bill does not get early release, he still will get out someday. I posted about how I have never seen him on any crime shows, is never planning on writing a book and has never whined publicly about how bad prison life has been. He has earned degrees and several trades and working with a lot of children's charities and he is to be commended for doing so. He is not just doing time, he is giving back and that is all he can do. He can't bring Gregg Smart back, but prison is not always about punishment. God will judge him one day and I hope he does favorably, whereas, Pam he won't. This woman, based on what I have read here, is a murderess and will be in all probability be found guilty. Greed is what this speaks of and yes, you are exactly right. She used a young man to do her dirty work just like Pam. Pam can whine till the day she dies and it won't do her a bit of good. She is where she will be for life. No new trial will ever happen. Her mother whines that she was convicted because of the media hype, but there were 12 impartial people who did not see the cameras. I saw the trial in it's entirety and if a new one would come about, the outcome would be the same. This woman here is gonna find out just like Pam, that people do not forget heinous crimes.

[TobyTiger]

I will commend Billy Flynn for the efforts he has made while in prison, and attempting to atone for the horrible deed he participated in committing. You're right, it won't bring Gregg Smart back to life, but at least he seems remorseful. I do believe he was vulnerable to whatever Pamela Smart suggested or told him to do...just as James Fagone was to Larissa Schuster. Fagone was 21, however, when he participated in the murder of Timothy Schuster, therefore he should have been of a more mature mind than Flynn. Schuster, like Pamela Smart, is a controlling woman who uses those weaker than herself to her own gain. Hopefully the jury will see that she was the mastermind behind her husband's death and that Fagone didn't initiate this himself.

[wind149]

While this young man is not a child like Bill was, he apparently was under a similar spell like Bill. These evil women trapped them in their web and now just Bill this guy is going to do some serious time if not a life sentence. He will, just like the boys did, gonna roll on Larissa and say she was the mastermind behind the crime and she will probably get LWPOP like Pam. It is eerie in a way how similar the cases are in the sense, both of these women wanted their husbands dead and I guess divorce was out of the question. In Pam's case, it was as far as anyone ever tried to determine, was she did not want to lose her rented condo, her dog, and her leather couch and Gregg did not want to be a rocker head banger anymore and wanted to work in the family business. What a pile of reasons to coerce 4 young men to kill her husband. We have women getting charged with murder whose husband beat the stuffing out of them for years and they just snapped. In these cases, it is almost a shame to put these poor souls in prison as they had already been living in one with the SOB. I was a battered wife so I know. He only hit me twice and did not get a third. The emotional abuse was even worse though. He has now been married five time and I was his 4th. He is a control freak, and extremely jealous and I worked for a sheriff's dept and he would accuse me of sleeping with my guys. One time he followed me all the way to a detail I was doing just to see if that is where I was going. I knew right then and there, this marriage is over. Now in this woman's case was there any domestic violence issues? Pam claimed Gregg had hit her and not one soul ever saw him raise his voice at her, never mind hit her. She used that as a ploy to get Bill all fired up to do the dirty deed. Today, there is a press release from the Smart family and expectantly, very displeased that he could be released early. I expected that, however, Mr. Smart had sorta forgiven Bill in the sense he knew the hold she had on him as she had a hold on his own son beforehand. I don't think there will be a day they will invite Bill to dinner, but the kid has really tried to turn his life around and that is to be taken in consideration. I read the letter he wrote to the judge and how articulate he was, the insight, the remorse, and I have a feeling if it does not happen soon, it will later. I don't think he will have to wait till 2018. Many people actually have posted on boards how he should be given a second chance. And boy, do they still loathe Pam.

[TobyTiger]

Larissa Schuster controlled Tim and the relationship. His fatal mistake was to fight back at the end....

You may want to read this detailed article published in the Fresno Bee on Sunday, Oct. 13. It is basically a summary of their life together.

FINAL FURY

[wind149]

Wow, what another example of how people can be two people at once. Pam was raised in a good home and so was Gregg. Larrissa apparently had some issues with her father, but was able to function quite well, no one saw the dark side of her till she murdered her husband. What is gonna sink her is her rantings at the hairdresser about how much she hated her husband. I ended up hating my second one, but I did not kill him. A LWPOP is looming on the horizon for her by the sounds of things and it will be based on the horrific way in which she basically disposed of him. I pray he was dead before he took that acid bath. What goes through people's heads? I mean some women kill their husbands because they are abusive and others kill for greed, or in some cases they are sociopaths like this broad and Pam. After reading the article, I am way up to speed about her and I hope she gets what is coming to her. Sounds like Hubby wasn't a bad guy, neither was Gregg Smart.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by wind149

Wow, what another example of how people can be two people at once. Pam was raised in a good home and so was Gregg. Larrissa apparently had some issues with her father, but was able to function quite well, no one saw the dark side of her till she murdered her husband. What is gonna sink her is her rantings at the hairdresser about how much she hated her husband. I ended up hating my second one, but I did not kill him. A LWPOP is looming on the horizon for her by the sounds of things and it will be based on the horrific way in which she basically disposed of him. I pray he was dead before he took that acid bath. What goes through people's heads? I mean some women kill their husbands because they are abusive and others kill for greed, or in some cases they are sociopaths like this broad and Pam. After reading the article, I am way up to speed about her and I hope she gets what is coming to her. Sounds like Hubby wasn't a bad guy, neither was Gregg Smart.

You are correct...her own words to the manicurist will be her undoing. There is no explanation for this horrendous murder, except her own sociopathic, controlling nature that Tim defied. There was no financial gain to be had, or abuse on the part of Tim against her or the children. In fact, as you have read in the article, she sent her daughter away to Missouri when the daughter developed a friendship with an African-American male.

Sadly, it is possible that Tim wasn't dead when placed in the barrel filled with acid.

[frommissouri]

I live in Missouri and have known Larissa and her family (the Foreman family) for years. Her mother is the sweetest person you would ever want to meet....I feel so sorry for her, I know this has been so hard for her and she as really aged over the past 4 years. Her father seems to be a fairly nice guy, especially if you are female, but he has been known to hit his wife (Larissas' mother) and pretty much has a general reputation as being a jerk. She has an older brother that was quite older than I so I really don't know him as well. She had a younger brother who comitted suicide several years ago...he shot himself, but since she has done all this to her husband I am wondering now if it was suicide or if she just thought she could kill her brother and it would be one less person to share the family inheritance with. Her grandparents were known to have money and they raised and showed horses and were well known for their show quality horses. Her parents and family still farm, and her mother is a nurse at the local medical clinic. Through highschool Larissa always had that arogant, prissy, "I am better than you" attitude she always had to be #1 in everything. Even though what she did to Tim was a shock to a small town that watched her grow up..the fact that she could commit murder was no surprise...Larissa was all for Larissa and the almighty dollar no matter what the cost. She was so sure she would be able to use her money and her nose in the air attitude that she thought she could get away with murder. With all the evidence she left she might as well have drawn a map and wrote a confession. I hope she spends the rest of her life looking at 4 gray walls. She should have to have pictures of her husband, his acid eaten body and her children and family hanging on her walls to look at everyday and think of what she has done to them.

[frommissouri]

In addition....James Fagone said in his confession and when questioned that he thought Tim was still alive when he was put in the barrel because he could hear him groaning. There was nothing done to him that would have definitely killed him before the acid did. You can survive a stungun hit and Cholorform was used as a sedative back in the ages. I would guess he was still alive but how alert or sedated he was will never be known....lets just hope for his sake he was quite sedated.

[wind149]

I had posted to Toby that I had hoped he was dead before he went into the acid and now you are telling us he was alive, let that evil witch rot in hell!! I always think the real picture always emerges during a murder trial than it does before. That is when we find out say, the squeaky clean all American Family image was all a front and in the background the dark side is rearing it's ugly head. It is amazing how much she and Pam Smart are alike. Pam was always thinking she was better than everybody else too, even though she just came from a middle class family. She was popular in school because she was pretty but during the whole trial debacle, a lot of kids she went to school with told the media and the prosecutor that deep down a lot of them did not like that much. She was very meticulous about her clothing all hung in her closets by color and all her shoes had to be lined up perfectly. Other items were all well. Canned goods, the fridge, very OCD. She wanted to be the best at what she did which is not a crime and wanted to be a famous and in a macabre way she is. It is a good insight into this woman as well. And these people who harm others do not see the harm they cause their own families. The Wojas family, Pam, family, got death threats and were treated like total pariahs and still are. In this woman's case it is her poor mother that is suffering so. These women are true sociopaths and you wonder what age do kids actually become one? Like Jeff Dahlmer. His parents knew years ago he had issues and did try to get him some help, but I think by that point it was too late. The Wojas family knew their daughter was selfish, totally into Pam's World and I wish someday they will wake up like SS's mom has had to do and see the truth. Her parents lost everything. Their home, they mortgaged it to the hilt, they lost their social standing in the community and many friends completely turned against them and here sits their selfish daughter whining about what a raw deal she got. Mark my words, this witch will too.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by frommissouri

I live in Missouri and have known Larissa and her family (the Foreman family) for years. Her mother is the sweetest person you would ever want to meet....I feel so sorry for her, I know this has been so hard for her and she as really aged over the past 4 years. Her father seems to be a fairly nice guy, especially if you are female, but he has been known to hit his wife (Larissas' mother) and pretty much has a general reputation as being a jerk. She has an older brother that was quite older than I so I really don't know him as well. She had a younger brother who comitted suicide several years ago...he shot himself, but since she has done all this to her husband I am wondering now if it was suicide or if she just thought she could kill her brother and it would be one less person to share the family inheritance with. Her grandparents were known to have money and they raised and showed horses and were well known for their show quality horses. Her parents and family still farm, and her mother is a nurse at the local medical clinic. Through highschool Larissa always had that arogant, prissy, "I am better than you" attitude she always had to be #1 in everything. Even though what she did to Tim was a shock to a small town that watched her grow up..the fact that she could commit murder was no surprise...Larissa was all for Larissa and the almighty dollar no matter what the cost. She was so sure she would be able to use her money and her nose in the air attitude that she thought she could get away with murder. With all the evidence she left she might as well have drawn a map and wrote a confession. I hope she spends the rest of her life looking at 4 gray walls. She should have to have pictures of her husband, his acid eaten body and her children and family hanging on her walls to look at everyday and think of what she has done to them.

Welcome!

Good to have someone here who has a personal connection to this case...on the other end, where Larissa was from. I completely agree with your last sentence.

[TobyTiger]

Latest updates from the courtroom:

SPECIALIST ID's REMAINS IN BARREL AS TIMOTHY SCHUSTER

10/26/07 12:18:13


Updated 3:35 p.m.: VAN NUYS -- Testimony in the Larissa Schuster murder trial ended this morning after a DNA specialist testified there was a 99.99% certainty that the human remains found in a barrel were those of Schuster's estranged husband, Timothy Schuster.

The trial will resume Monday.


12:15 p.m.: A woman who worked part-time at Larissa Schuster's research lab in Fresno testified in Schuster’s murder trial this morning that her boss once told her she wished she could kill her husband.
"Once I was in the lab and there was news on TV about a woman who ran over her husband," Anantdeep Kang said. "Larissa said she would do it, too, if she could get away with it."

Schuster, a 47-year-old former Clovis biochemist, is accused of killing her husband, Timothy Schuster, and leaving his body in a barrel of acid in summer 2003. Her trial is being held in Los Angeles County because a judge ruled that local media attention made it too difficult to find an impartial jury in Fresno County.

[wind149]

As usual it is their own words that get them in the end. How many people did she tell that she wanted her husband dead? And with the 99% sure that it is Tim's body, this woman does not stand a chance in hell of not being a guest of the CA penal system for the rest of her life. What a loser and it was refreshing Toby to hear what she was like before she became the grand dame she portrayed herself to be and now by her own actions, the only person she is now is an inmate and having a LWPOP sentence over her head. Divorce would have been the better choice. She and Pam can both rot for the rest of their lives, too bad they are not "cellies" So they both can whine and snivel about the raw deals they both got. Two sociopaths, two evil women.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by wind149

As usual it is their own words that get them in the end. How many people did she tell that she wanted her husband dead? And with the 99% sure that it is Tim's body, this woman does not stand a chance in hell of not being a guest of the CA penal system for the rest of her life. What a loser and it was refreshing Toby to hear what she was like before she became the grand dame she portrayed herself to be and now by her own actions, the only person she is now is an inmate and having a LWPOP sentence over her head. Divorce would have been the better choice. She and Pam can both rot for the rest of their lives, too bad they are not "cellies" So they both can whine and snivel about the raw deals they both got. Two sociopaths, two evil women.

Two of the most common mistakes made by criminals who believe they are above the law: they can't stop talking and they involve another party in their crimes. Fortunately Larissa Schuster made both of them, to her own undoing.

[wind149]

So profound huh? And so true! While there have been some people like OJ who got away with murder, most of the killers since about the time it became a crime to kill someone have always hung themselves in some fashion. OJ might have gotten away with murder but by the looks of things with these new charges, here again, his own words are gonna strangle him. That was very smart on the part of those collectors, they sensed trouble and had the incentive to record his every word and for that I salute them! Pam 's own words came back to haunt her. I heard the tapes during the trial, plus it was on every station anyway ,and when she talked about how Cecelia needed to keep her mouth shut, her own mouth said "If you tell the cops anything, you will send us all to the blank slammer for the rest of our lives" That sunk her boat right there. The cops knew they were on the right track and isn't it ironic she tells Cecelia to shut up and it is her own words that get her and she has the gall to whine and snivel about how bad she has it behind bars. It is too bad they never sought the DP, I would have liked to have had her be the first woman executed in the state of NH.

[chambord]

Toby

Thanks for keeping us updated on this trial. I was unaware of it until Wind led me here, now I'm hooked. What a horrible death, its beyond my comprehension how someone could do what Larissa did to another human, let alone the father of her two children.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by chambord

Toby

Thanks for keeping us updated on this trial. I was unaware of it until Wind led me here, now I'm hooked. What a horrible death, its beyond my comprehension how someone could do what Larissa did to another human, let alone the father of her two children.

Good to see you chambord!

It is beyond comprehension to those of us who couldn't fathom the thought. However, she isn't your typical "loving mother" nor did she suffer years of abuse as some women who kill their husbands.

[wind149]

No she can't you guys! I just posted on the Smart case about how Pam owes a debt to the Smart family she can never repay. I truly believe she and this evil witch and Mary Winkler were never abused. But the difference here is Mary got a walk and and Pam didn't and this woman won't either.

[TobyTiger]

Originally Posted by wind149

No she can't you guys! I just posted on the Smart case about how Pam owes a debt to the Smart family she can never repay. I truly believe she and this evil witch and Mary Winkler were never abused. But the difference here is Mary got a walk and and Pam didn't and this woman won't either.

It appears Mary's jurors were convinced that she had suffered abuse at the hands of her husband, whereas when a woman hires or otherwise engages a third party to commit the crime, there is little doubt that it is a cold-blooded pre-meditated murder. It also gives the defendant the opportunity to try to pass the buck, so to speak, onto that third party as the instigator...especially if they were involved in a relationship. It didn't work in Pam Smart's case and hopefully won't in this one either.

[TobyTiger]

MORE ANGRY VOICEMAILS

VAN NUYS -- In late 2002, the ongoing divorce between Timothy and Larissa Schuster grew increasingly bitter. Caught in the middle was their 12-year-old son, Tyler. Near Thanksgiving, his mother left him this message:

"Hi Tyler, this is your mom. Give me a call on my cell phone. And I also want you to make sure that your dad takes you to my house at 6 o'clock tonight. And if he doesn't, then you ask him why he has changed the plans and what role he's playing in this, because I think it's important to know the little game he's playing. Because Kristin [Tyler's sister] understands. She knows what's going on. But your dad is digging a hole. So I need to make sure that you're at my house tonight at 6 o'clock.

"And if not, there will be some consequences that your dad will pay."

The voice mail, along with nearly two dozen others that Timothy Schuster recorded as evidence of his estranged wife's angry behavior before his death in July 2003, were played in a Los Angeles County courthouse Thursday.

more at the link

[TobyTiger]

DETAILED TESTIMONY FROM FRIDAY, OCT. 26:

SCHUSTER TRIAL BLOG: DAY 5

[TobyTiger]

GRAPHIC TESTIMONY IN SCHUSTER MURDER TRIAL

A breadstick dipped in water, that's how forensic pathologist Dr. Venu Gopal described the spinal cord and remains of Timothy Schuster.

He said the man who once stood more than 6 ft. tall, and weighed 220 lbs. was reduced to a mass of 103 lbs., in a large amount of hydrochloric acid.

The barrel containing Timothy Schuster's body was discovered in a storage unit. Authorities believe Timothy Schuster died at the hand of his estranged biochemist wife Larissa Schuster and her young former employee James Fagone.

They allegedly attacked the victim at his home, choloformed him, choked him out and then put his body in a barrel and poured acid inside.

During the trial, another deputy coroner testified. Jennifer Johnson said typically a body taken to the coroner's office for autopsy would be weighed, but the circumstgances in this case made the task nearly impossilbe.

On top of the condition of the body, those handling the remains weren't initially toldthe fluid in the barrel was acid. They started putting it down the drain.

Defense attorney Roger Nuttall suggested the coroner's office mishandled the case.

[SimplySue]

Originally Posted by frommissouri

I live in Missouri and have known Larissa and her family (the Foreman family) for years. Her mother is the sweetest person you would ever want to meet....I feel so sorry for her, I know this has been so hard for her and she as really aged over the past 4 years. Her father seems to be a fairly nice guy, especially if you are female, but he has been known to hit his wife (Larissas' mother) and pretty much has a general reputation as being a jerk. She has an older brother that was quite older than I so I really don't know him as well. She had a younger brother who comitted suicide several years ago...he shot himself, but since she has done all this to her husband I am wondering now if it was suicide or if she just thought she could kill her brother and it would be one less person to share the family inheritance with. Her grandparents were known to have money and they raised and showed horses and were well known for their show quality horses. Her parents and family still farm, and her mother is a nurse at the local medical clinic. Through highschool Larissa always had that arogant, prissy, "I am better than you" attitude she always had to be #1 in everything. Even though what she did to Tim was a shock to a small town that watched her grow up..the fact that she could commit murder was no surprise...Larissa was all for Larissa and the almighty dollar no matter what the cost. She was so sure she would be able to use her money and her nose in the air attitude that she thought she could get away with murder. With all the evidence she left she might as well have drawn a map and wrote a confession. I hope she spends the rest of her life looking at 4 gray walls. She should have to have pictures of her husband, his acid eaten body and her children and family hanging on her walls to look at everyday and think of what she has done to them.

Another sociopath. I've read so much about them, but will never be able to grasp how indifferent they can be to another human being's agony. That poor mans last few moments of life must have seemed an eternity.

Thank you for posting the information. It's great to have someone that knows the background of these people! I hope you continue to keep us updated on what's going on with them.

[SimplySue]

http://www.horror.com/forum/archive/...hp?t-3733.html

A link to an old report, when the crime first happened. It states that Fagone said that Mr. Schuster may have been alive.