January 14, 2009: In Arizona, Marissa DeVault batters her husband with a hammer then calls the police.
Make sure you spell this woman’s name so, and that you pronounce it correctly – with the silent t at the end.
Marissa DeVault was the subject of an excellent documentary in the series Snapped, only she didn’t snap, rather she was a cold, calculating killer who had a lover, a sugar daddy, and a financial interest in seeing her husband dead.
Devault had three daughters, one by a previous relationship, and two by her husband Dale Harrell.
On the night in question, she phoned the police and told them he had been attacked by Stanley Cook, who lived with them. This was a shocking and calculated act. Cook was an old friend of Dale who had suffered brain damage in an accident. DeVault’s initial claim was that her husband had been attacking her with lethal intent, Mr Cook walked in, picked up the hammer – that just happened to be lying there – and battered him with it.
The confused Mr Cook was arrested but was soon cleared because the crime scene boys did an excellent job with the blood spatter.
On February 9, 2009, the victim’s family made the difficult decision to turn off his life support; Marissa DeVault had already been charged with attempted murder; she ended up facing trial for capital murder, and on her conviction was sentenced to life imprisonmnent with no parole. Her trial took place in the same courtroom as the capital murder trial of another femme fatale, Jodi Arias, who was sentenced at about the same time.
Unsurprisingly, DeVault appealed her conviction, and just as unsurprisingly, the Arizona Court of Appeals was not impressed.
File Marissa’s false rape claim under PRETEXT FOR MURDER.
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