132: Cruel Doubt: The Murder of Leith Von Stein

About this episode

The episode discusses the murder of Leith Von Stein and the subsequent conspiracy surrounding it.

In July 1988, Washington, North Carolina businessman Leith Von Stein was fatally stabbed and bludgeoned in his bed while his wife, Bonnie, was severely injured. The violent crime was initially staged as a burglary but later exposed a twisted conspiracy motivated by a $2 million inheritance. The chilling true-crime story was famously chronicled in the 1991 bestselling book Cruel Doubt by Joe McGinniss. Cruel Doubt was adapted into a highly rated, two-part television miniseries that premiered on NBC in May 1992 starring Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow. Sources: Cruel Doubt by Joe McGuiness Blood Relatives: Death is in the Air https://finishedpages.com/from-patriarch-to-the-small-screen-the-north-carolina-murder-of-leigh-von-stein/ https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/11/17/two-very-different-tellings-of-the-same-crime/ http://www.theescapist.com/archive-pritchard01.htm https://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1992/89a90-0.html

Topics covered

• murder
• true crime
• inheritance
• conspiracy
• television adaptation

Keywords

• Leith Von Stein
• Bonnie
• Joe McGinniss
• Cruel Doubt
• murder
• conspiracy
• inheritance
• NBC miniseries

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NBC

Books & works: Cruel Doubt

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