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David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode

July 11, 2025 / 40:15

This episode covers the murder case of Shanti Cooper, the investigation led by Ryan Vesio, and the role of David Tronis as the primary suspect. Key discussions include the details of the crime scene, the interrogation of David, and the complexities of their relationship.

Shanti Cooper was found dead in her home on April 24, 2018, leading to a 911 call from her husband, David Tronis. Investigators, including former prosecutor Ryan Vesio, questioned David about the circumstances of her death, noting inconsistencies in his story.

The episode highlights the dynamics of Shanti and David's relationship, including financial strains related to their home renovation. Shanti's family and friends describe her as a dedicated mother, while David's behavior raised suspicions among investigators.

As the investigation unfolded, evidence emerged that suggested David may have been living a double life, including his connections to a local bathhouse. The episode discusses various theories about Shanti's death, including potential motives linked to their home and David's alleged infidelity.

The episode concludes with the arrest of David Tronis and the ongoing legal battles surrounding the case, emphasizing the emotional toll on Shanti's family.

TLDR

Shanti Cooper's murder case reveals David Tronis as the prime suspect amid financial and personal turmoil.

Episode

40:15
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[Music] Aaron, this is Florida. Nothing strange here. [Music] The house was beautiful.
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It was 4,000 square ft. It had a pool, a garage, apartment. It was a great house.
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The only problem was upstairs. Some of the rooms were too small and just the functionality did not work for some
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families. I could understand why they'd want to renovate it. When did you first meet Shanti and
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David? >> Dave just called me on the phone and asked if I'd come by and take a look at
00:00:45
the project. He said that they had done some work. I wasn't at all prepared for what I saw when I got there.
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[Music] They had fully disassembled this house to a degree that I'd never seen before.
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It was rather astonishing. It was largely wide open. Like you're inside of a giant shoe box.
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>> This house became more than just a project to David Trronis. It was his life. He obsessed on it. This house is
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the center point to the story and ultimately led to Shanti's demise. This case all started with a call to 911
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placed at approximately 3:51 p.m. on April 24th, 2018 by Dave Tronis. bathtub. >> My lady is I believe she's not feeding.
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>> Did that story make sense? >> Absolutely not. Shanti was extensively beaten. >> It makes me emotional. I feel bad for
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her family and for her son. It's upsetting that she won't get that life with him.
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Clearly Dave Tronis from the very beginning is a suspect. >> Absolutely. >> Dave was asked to go to the station.
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>> Thank you. >> And voluntarily remain there for hours. >> Just have a seat there. It'll be a
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little bit. >> He did not request counsel. He consented to swabs, to clippings, to a search of his person.
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Dave went into that interview with an agenda. >> I'd never been more in love. You were so
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happy. >> And he just started getting confronted and confronted and confronted. >> I told you she was murdered. Murdered.
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Someone took her life from her and there's nothing. You can't even fake it. That's how much you could give it.
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>> And it became a war of wills in that room. I don't have any explanation for her. The severity of her injuries.
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>> And didn't David win that war of wills? He was not broken. >> Well, Dave didn't confess.
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>> Are we boring you? >> It seems pretty clear. These two detectives, they went into this room,
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decided that David was a murderer, and then went the extra mile to try to put a file together to prove such.
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>> Did you guys get into an argument? Was she about the house? >> No. >> Is it possible that without this house
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>> Shanti might still be alive? >> I think that's completely true. [Music] [Music]
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Delaney Park is a wellestablished neighborhood. It's been around for over a hundred years.
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>> Terara Stevens knows Delaney Park inside and out. She's a realtor who buys and
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sells homes there. It's a great place to live, to raise a family, a lot of outside activity, great
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school system. It's a It's a great neighborhood. >> So, Delaney Park is a mile or so from
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downtown Orlando. >> Ryan Vesio, a former prosecutor with the Orlando State Attorney's Office, got to
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know the area well when he led the investigation into the death of Shanti Cooper in April 2018.
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Did Shanti ever indicate to any friends or family that she was afraid of anyone?
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>> No. >> So, you guys knew each other approximately 5 years this month? >> Vesio and investigators dug in to learn
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all they could about Shanti and her husband David Trz. The couple had been married for more
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than a year. >> Everybody we spoke to about Dave and Dave's background said that he was
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highly intelligent. It's what made him successful when he worked in business. >> How would you describe Shanti?
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>> Shanti Cooper was a hardworking, dedicated mom who cared deeply, deeply about her son. Her son was her world.
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>> Shanti's son, Jackson, was then 8 years old. She shared custody with his father,
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Jim Cooper, whom Shanti had divorced in 2013. She launched a lucrative financial
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software business and worked out of her home office. How did she meet Dave Tronis?
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>> Dave was outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota at the time. They met over the internet and started exchanging messages
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and profiles and that turned into emails. >> Investigators later found this document
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on Shanti's computer that shows just how smitten she was. Dave, I will have to say I think this will be a delicious
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detour. Amazing, magnificent, life-changing detour. I've had a pep in my step since we started this little
00:06:51
email affair. In Minnesota, Dave had just ended a long marriage, but within months of meeting
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Shanti online, he moved to Orlando. Dave fell in love with Delaney Park and the house at 218 East Copeland Drive. A
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house that came complete with its own gargoyless. We sold it to him for 607500, which was a really, really good deal.
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How did he pay for it? Cash. >> Dave put the house in trust for himself and his mother and soon introduced
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Shanti to Tara. >> They seemed very happy. She was a beautiful, very nice person. I enjoyed
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meeting her. Tara did not feel quite the same about Dave. >> Dave's personality changed a little bit after the contract
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was signed. I just saw a very different side of him. He was like a a guy or a child who wants to get their way and
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they don't stop until they do. You were glad when the deal was over. Absolutely.
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I was very glad. I didn't get a good feeling from him. Cindy and Dan Dao are Shanti's relatives
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by marriage. They didn't like Dave at first, but it wasn't long before Cindy had a change of heart. I love her, so I
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grew to love him. We absolutely adored him. The first time we had lunch, he walked in and he said, "How lucky am I?
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I get to have lunch with two of the most beautiful women that I know." I mean, that's charming.
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In 2015, Dave and Shanti moved into their new home and attempted to remodel it with Shanti footing the bill. What
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did Dave do all day? >> It's a great question. If you ask Dave, he says that he worked on the house and
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worked on the renovations and took care of the property and cleaned the pool. >> Contractors came and went. Demolition
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went on and on, but the renovation was an expensive failure. By 2018, the main part of the house was unlivable.
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Shanti was reduced to working and sleeping above the garage in a small apartment.
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Where did Dave sleep? >> I think he slept downstairs with the dogs. Maybe not all the time, but I'm
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pretty sure he was down there. Desperate to resolve the housing situation, Dave turned to Keith Ary, a
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local house renovator who also appeared on a reality TV show called Zombie House
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Flipping. >> Neighborhoods are under attack from zombie houses. >> What is Zombie House Flipping?
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>> Zombie House flipping is a house flipping TV show where we take houses that are the worst of the worst
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Is anything broken? >> I think we have a termite problem. >> And what we do is bring them back to
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life. I looked at the house. I realized that the structure was suspect and uh politely stepped outside.
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>> An engineer discovered the only thing holding up the house was 2 in of stucco.
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>> It was rather astonishing. and they took away all the interior dividing walls and
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basically what was left was a twostory shell. >> Weren't you tempted to just run for the
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hills? >> Yeah, but at the same time, you rarely come across a challenge that's that uh
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that bold. >> Keith was up for the challenge and began shoring up the interior. And then he got
00:10:38
the go-ahad to use the house in the next season of Zombie House Flipping. >> This is Zombie House Flipping.
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>> It was midappril 2018 and filming was set to begin in early May, but there was
00:10:55
a problem. >> Getting Dave and Shanti together to talk in fa in person was proving to be really difficult.
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Keith went to the house to meet with the couple one last time to be sure they were on board.
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>> And they both said, "Yes, we understand." And then she took off immediately just and left. I got a sense
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that she was off at him. >> Theio said Shanti had been trying for years to get her name on the trust that
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owned the house, but Dave never followed through >> and it seemed like things just sort of
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culminated to a boiling point. It was only days before Shanti's murder. She desperately wanted stability in her
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life, but was living in a house that was anything but. Her name was not on the deed, and she had already spent a lot of
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money on what was essentially Dave's house. >> Shanti was the bankroll, the sole
00:11:54
bankroll to almost a4 million renovation. >> What did she get for her $250,000? Well, a lot of headaches and heartaches.
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[Music] >> Thank you. Shortly after Shanti was pronounced dead, >> Dave Tranis went to Orlando police
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headquarters. >> I'll get there as soon as I can. >> Where he remained without a lawyer for
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14 hours. >> We got to figure this out together. Okay. Of course. >> He didn't attempt to conceal anything.
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>> Richard Celelesi is Dave's attorney. He gave the law enforcement access to everything that they needed, everything
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that they wanted, and he laid himself out there for examination by all. >> We want to say how sorry we are for your
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loss. At the start, detectives Terresa Sprag and Barb Sharp seem sympathetic. >> Take a minute. Okay. I know this is
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super tough. >> They're very good at building rapport and have a tremendous amount of
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experience. If you have a suspect who's willing to talk, you just hit play and sit back and let them go on and on and
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on. And that's what Dave does. >> Dave sticks with his story. He took the dogs to a park in the afternoon. And
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after he returned, he found Shanti still wearing her pajamas floating in the tub.
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>> So I could hear the water is running. I see her laying. One of her legs is kind
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of sticking up and out a little bit and it's just extremely awful. >> Can you tell me what your address is?
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>> He tells the detectives that he tried to perform CPR but couldn't get Shanti to
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breathe. She was dead when first responders arrived. Dave has a lot to say and a lot to say
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to try to convince the detectives that he wasn't involved in his wife's death. >> I think something went wrong. Either she
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slipped or she fell or she blacked out. >> Why did he agree to sit down and talk to
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these detectives without an attorney? >> Because he had nothing to hide and he didn't think that it would hurt him. But
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the veteran detectives began to pick at his story and question how Shanti's bloody cheek and bruised eye came from a
00:14:43
slip in the tub. >> I don't have any explanation. This is what I found. >> Somebody who slips and falls doesn't
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receive the amount of blunt force trauma to focused areas in the head. Detectives
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also had spotted blood on Shanti's bed and suspected that's where she had been killed, but Dave says the blood likely
00:15:06
was from Shanti's period. >> It did get on the bed spread and it did get almost through the bed.
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>> There was a lot of other evidence that would be inconsistent with this being blood associated with a menstrual cycle.
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Detectives also suspected and Shanti's autopsy later confirmed that she was strangled.
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But Celelesi says as frustrating as it may have been to authorities, Dave can't explain Shanti's injuries,
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not because he's lying, but because he simply doesn't know. >> He took his best guess based upon what
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he come to find. He doesn't know what happened is the point. >> The detectives press on for hours,
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taking turns and peppering Dave with tougher and tougher questions. >> Did you two argue?
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>> No, absolutely not. >> Did you fight? >> Absolutely not. >> Did you harm Shanti in any way?
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>> Absolutely not. >> Sharp and Sprag also question his timeline. Dave says that he called 911
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about five minutes after he found Shanti. >> You've got to help us understand. >> But detectives insist that doesn't match
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what they found at the house. >> There's no splashing of water anywhere in the bathroom. The inside of the tub
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is dry. Completely dry. And she's damp. She's not even wet. So, you've got to help us. Can you do that?
00:16:40
>> Don't touch everything. They're drawing conclusions based upon observations and
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they're moving forth based upon these assumptions. >> They try to zero in on a possible
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motive. >> Did she catch you with another woman? Did she have a boyfriend? Did >> was she about the house? No.
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>> But given the sorry state of the house, detectives begin to wonder if that had
00:17:06
something to do with Shanti's murder. I can't imagine how stressful it must have
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been, you know, not living in the home you want to live in and it's taken two plus years, 3 years.
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>> Um, I'm I'm sick to death about what happened, but nothing happened today because of there was no animosity
00:17:24
between us whatsoever. >> And he says Shanti wasn't upset that her name wasn't on the trust that owned the
00:17:33
house. So, we had kind of talked about it and debated it and we finally just said, "It doesn't really matter. Let's
00:17:40
just move forward." >> Teresa and Barb are tenacious. They don't stop. >> They're wellversed in interrogation
00:17:47
techniques. You know, we saw the good cop, bad cop. We saw manipulation. >> Barb Sharp even moves her hand to Dave's
00:17:54
knee and adopts a more subtle tone. >> It will be okay. We can't help you until you help us.
00:18:04
>> Before Teresa Sprag begins another attack, >> she treats you like a landscaper, like
00:18:09
the pool boy. Probably because she's bringing in the money. >> As the hours tick by.
00:18:15
>> What do you want your mom to think about you? >> They try anything they can to get him to
00:18:21
confess. >> Are you religious? You want to pray? >> This almost became a game of
00:18:26
psychological warfare in that interview room. Dave began the interview by saying
00:18:32
how happy he had been with Shanti. But almost eight hours into the interrogation, the detectives aren't
00:18:39
buying it. >> You claim to love that woman. I would be under the table in a ball if
00:18:47
I was in love with that woman and she was dead. I would be inconsolable. >> Do you think that he was penalized
00:18:55
because he didn't act the way detectives wanted him to act? Oh, time time and time again.
00:19:00
>> You know, you fake cried for about seven or eight hours. Say, not one tear came
00:19:06
out of your eyes. Not one. >> There's a lot of conclusions being drawn off of what they considered to be an odd
00:19:12
affect of Mr. Trron. And I think that that's a dangerous thing to do because we all react to stress differently. We
00:19:19
all grieve differently. Dave even agrees to take a polygraph, but by then it was
00:19:25
the middle of the night and investigators couldn't find anyone to administer it.
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They had to let him go at the end of the interview. How did they feel about that?
00:19:40
>> You always want to make the arrest right up front. You do. >> With Dave Tronis free, police would have
00:19:46
to keep digging for clues. But even they were surprised by what they found. Is it fair to say that Dave
00:19:55
Tronis was living a double life? >> At least two lives. She didn't slip and fall. It's not a
00:20:13
possibility. Even though detectives were outright accusing Dave Tron of murdering
00:20:19
Shanti, >> you strangled her. >> Some of her relatives like Cindy Dao believed him.
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>> Are you kidding? My bet my last dollar that it wasn't him. I thought he was innocent.
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>> You honestly did, Cindy. Why? >> I think it was just the growth of our relationship and how she adored him.
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absolutely adored him and it looked very mutual to everyone. >> Did she ever express any concern or fear
00:20:51
of Dave? >> Never. >> Never. >> After being questioned by detectives, Dave headed straight to his home in
00:21:01
Delaney Park and that's where Cindy found him. I stood him up and turned him around and
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looked at his arms and there was not a scratch on him. There was nothing. >> Cindy, did you ever ask him point blank,
00:21:18
did you have something to do with the death of Shanti? >> I did. >> What did he say?
00:21:23
>> No, I would not kill the love of my life. Defense attorney Richard Zeleleski says
00:21:30
the problem with this case is that detectives and prosecutors were convinced from the start that Dave
00:21:37
Tranis was Shanti's killer. Celelesi says the bias of the investigators is clear from the police report.
00:21:45
>> They've already suggested that they have it figured out like bull in a china shop
00:21:49
trying to just make this work at all cost because they've done nothing to develop other suspects.
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>> But Vesio denies that. He says detectives checked out every possible suspect and got lucky when an important
00:22:03
lead fell into their laps. >> A worker from Club Orlando called and shared that they knew of Dave Tronis
00:22:11
because he was a patron at the club. >> What is Club Orlando? >> Club Orlando is a same-sex bath house.
00:22:20
>> Did Dave have a membership at Club Orlando? >> Several memberships. Every six months,
00:22:26
Dave renewed his membership. >> Detectives headed to the club to investigate and found a longtime club
00:22:33
employee who in this police recorded interview says he witnessed Dave having sex at the club.
00:22:40
>> I was just walking through and I saw David uh he was giving oral sex to this guy. From what everybody who knew Shanti
00:22:50
has said, she would absolutely have not tolerated it, put up with it, endorsed it. It just wouldn't have happened.
00:22:58
>> There's a significant possibility that Shanti knew all about it. >> And why do you believe that? Because
00:23:05
none of her family members seem to know anything about it. And and her family members seem to indicate that if Shanti
00:23:12
did know, she'd be upset. and and I appreciate that. But uh what you tell your mom and dad about your sex life and
00:23:18
what you do uh behind closed doors, you know, people are people, adults are adults, and life is messy.
00:23:26
>> But Vesio wonders if Shanti ultimately did discover Dave's duplicity on the night she was murdered. Had that
00:23:34
revelation made Shanti threatened to turn off the money spigot once and for all, but she would be killed because of
00:23:42
a house? Well, what would somebody do when they were about to lose the most important thing in their life?
00:23:51
Because in April of 2018, the most important thing in Dave's life was that house.
00:23:59
[Music] Dave told Cindy and others that he believed Shanti may have been murdered
00:24:07
by a burglar and the defense claimed that $5,000 in cash was missing from the house. Also missing Shanti's diamond
00:24:16
engagement ring valued at approximately $15,000. >> That was highly, highly suspicious. The
00:24:24
detectives wanted to get to the bottom of it. Why couldn't it have been exactly as Dave said, that he leaves and someone
00:24:33
breaks into the house, beats her, leaves her there, and Dave comes home. Why doesn't that fit?
00:24:40
>> Well, the lack of forced entry. This scene did not have any sort of evidence of a struggle. There's thousands of
00:24:48
dollars of valuables that are left in plain sight. A private investigator hired by defense
00:24:56
lawyers canvas neighbors asking them about a particular homeless man who reportedly had been seen around Delaney
00:25:03
Park. It was said he resembled the actor Woody Harrelson. What about the transient that everyone describes who
00:25:12
looks a lot like Woody Harelson? >> I mean, when you got nothing better, you throw everything against the wall and
00:25:18
see if something sticks. This home is at 218 East Copeland Drive. >> Detective Teresa Sprag tracked Woody
00:25:28
down and recorded this interview. >> You see there's a large blue dumpster in the driveway. Have you ever been there?
00:25:36
>> No. Nothing placed Woody inside Dave and Shanti's home, but Vesio says his interview shows police chased down every
00:25:45
lead, including checking out her ex-husband. Shanti had had a bad divorce. This was not an easy end of the
00:25:55
marriage. Did you look at Jim Cooper? >> Yes, Mr. Cooper was interviewed and Jim
00:26:04
Cooper was eliminated as a suspect very early on. He had an alibi. >> On August 29th, 2018, 4 months after
00:26:14
Shanti's murder, Dave Tronis was arrested on a charge of firstdegree murder and held without bail. And how
00:26:22
did the two of you react when you heard that? >> I wasn't believing it whatsoever. I
00:26:28
thought they were just trying to solve a murder easily. >> I always had the suspicion.
00:26:34
>> Dave's arrest gave prosecutors another piece of the puzzle. Shanti's missing engagement ring.
00:26:41
>> The ring is probably one of the most powerful and damning pieces of evidence in this case.
00:26:47
>> As long as that expensive ring was missing, Dave Tranis could argue that a burglar had murdered Shanti. But the day
00:26:55
he was arrested, police found it among his possessions. >> We searched the room at his mother's
00:27:01
house where he was living, and lo and behold, we found the rings in his suitcase in his bedroom.
00:27:08
>> Still, Dave's arrest was not the end of the investigation. It led to a cascading series of new
00:27:16
revelations that surprised even a veteran prosecutor like Ryan Vesio. This was a case that had so many twists and
00:27:24
turns. I would no longer make assumptions of anything. You don't learn this stuff in law
00:27:31
school. [Music] After the arrest of Dave Trz, investigators received a tip that took
00:27:59
them completely by surprise. It led them to Minnesota and back in time to when a
00:28:06
much younger Dave was married to a woman named Carol. Former close friends of Carol told detectives that they believe
00:28:15
Dave may have been poisoning her. >> As soon as Carol got married to Dave, she started suffering a bunch of unknown
00:28:23
health issues. >> That made prosecutor Ryan Vesio wonder if Shanti could have been poisoned.
00:28:31
>> In Shanti's case, she had appendicitis and had to have an appendecttomy. Shanti
00:28:36
had had that emergency appendecttomy eight weeks before her death. Appendicitis and poisoning have similar
00:28:44
symptoms and Dave told detectives that Shanti had digestion problems right up to the day she died.
00:28:51
>> She hasn't found since the appendecttomy a diet that she can eat regularly and
00:28:58
feel good. [Music] >> Vesio needed more information. So he and detective Terresa Sprag went to
00:29:07
Minnesota in November of 2018 to meet Carol face to face and recorded this interview.
00:29:14
>> I have issues with chronic pain and immune system issues that are not necessarily definitive.
00:29:24
>> Carol told Vesio she also struggled with gut issues and that Dave cooked most of
00:29:31
their meals. Has it ever come into your frame of thought that your marriage to David Trronis or him cooking or making
00:29:40
you drinks was making you sick? >> No. >> Have you ever thought that any of your
00:29:44
issues related to your health problems was him poisoning you? >> No. >> Carol said her health issues continued
00:29:53
even after her divorce from Dave. Yet Vesio says he remains suspicious. It very well could have been a scenario to
00:30:02
where Dave was providing both of them with items that caused them to be ill. We just could never
00:30:10
have real concrete proof of it. >> Theio wondered if there was another reason Carol seemed to be protecting her
00:30:20
former husband and whether it had anything to do with Dave's finances. We saw thousand pages of bank records belonging
00:30:30
to Dave Tronis. One thing that we noticed was that Dave and Carol still had a joint bank account together.
00:30:38
>> That account at times contained hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Carol said
00:30:43
she simply had forgotten to take her name off that account. >> People who are divorcing each other
00:30:48
don't leave assets on the table, and they sure as heck don't leave them together.
00:30:53
It's unclear where that money came from. Vesio believes that Carol, who was not charged with any crime, could be helping
00:31:01
Dave manage his money while he's in jail. >> I think that Carol is involved in David's finances and has some level of
00:31:09
control. >> The surprises in the case kept coming. Soon after Shanti's death, detectives
00:31:18
have placed a surveillance camera pointed toward the outside of Dave's house. >> Detective Sprag was interested to see
00:31:25
who was coming and going out of the house. And that camera ended up actually turning into a pretty valuable piece of
00:31:31
evidence. >> That camera captured images of private investigators hired by Dave's original
00:31:38
law firm coming and going. Detectives believe that when one of those lawyers, Robert Mandel, realized that the PIs
00:31:46
were on camera, he placed a call to Vesio. I never ever expected that he was going to tell me that he in fact had an
00:31:56
item of physical evidence that he had been holding on to for 11 months. Never would have expected it in a thousand
00:32:04
years. >> And what was that evidence? They were a set of purported bloody sheets
00:32:10
and it literally literally took my breath away. >> That defense attorney, Robert Mandal,
00:32:18
told Vesio that the defense team had acquired the bloody sheets from the garage apartment where Shanti was found
00:32:25
dead, but had never turned them over to the prosecution. But Ryan, as shocking as that is, that
00:32:34
wasn't the only evidence that later turned up, was it? >> No. I ended that call with the defense
00:32:40
attorney and said, "Listen, if you have anything else, now is the time to tell me."
00:32:51
And about 10, 12 hours later, the next morning, I got another call from him. And that's when he said, "I have one
00:33:00
other item that I think we have to turn over." >> That item turned out to be a green cord.
00:33:09
Mandel told Vesio that a private investigator removed it from the house and preserved it in an evidence bag
00:33:16
because Dave was threatening to kill himself. >> Does that make sense to you? >> No. Makes zero sense to me.
00:33:26
Why go get the item and then treat it as if it were a piece of evidence? Remember,
00:33:33
the autopsy revealed that Shanti had been strangled and Vesio believed there was a real possibility that the green
00:33:41
cord could be the murder weapon. With the prosecution now in possession of that green cord, tests were conducted
00:33:59
to see if indeed it was the murder weapon used to strangle Shanti. Is there any evidence to indicate that in fact
00:34:07
that cord was used to kill Shanti? >> Nope. That cord did not have any DNA on it.
00:34:16
But the cord wasn't picked up until weeks after Shanti's death, and authorities believe Dave had plenty of
00:34:22
time to clean it. Investigators had spent months examining all the evidence, leading Vesio to craft his own theory
00:34:31
about when Shanti was killed. >> We found one single earring was placed on the nightstand. The other earring was
00:34:40
in Shanti's ear. >> And what does that say to you? That tells me that Shanti was most likely
00:34:46
sitting on the side of her bed preparing for bed, taking those earrings out, and
00:34:53
that's when the attack happened. >> The sheets and bed frame did have Shanti's blood on them, and Shanti
00:35:01
didn't use her phone after 11:30 p.m. >> The scene was consistent with this attack happening somewhere in the
00:35:08
midnight to 2 3:00 a.m. time period. But David called 911 late in the afternoon,
00:35:15
saying he had just found Shanti floating in the tub. Celelesi says investigators
00:35:21
are jumping to unfair conclusions. >> A few hours of time off the grid doesn't allow them to shift the timeline.
00:35:31
>> Prosecutors continued to build their case even as Dave sat behind bars listening to anyone who had information
00:35:38
about Shanti's death. No matter how surprising the source, >> I met David Trronis in Three Whiskey.
00:35:46
>> Three Whiskey is a housing unit in the Orlando jail where Edward Gizmandi shared a cell with Dave Tron.
00:35:55
>> He slept next to me and I slept next to him. >> After getting out of jail, Gizmandi met
00:36:00
with Vesio and Sprag. He says that he and Dave began talking and bonded over a shared interest in obscure
00:36:07
hallucinogenics, including sapo, a poison derived from a South American frog. >> He said that you could use sapo to put
00:36:16
in people's salsa, and killed them quietly. >> Killer salsa might sound ridiculous, but
00:36:24
not so far-fetched when you consider that authorities suspected that David poisoned both his wives.
00:36:31
Gizmandi supplied even more information that if true was truly damning. He says Dave admitted that he and Shanti had a
00:36:40
fight before she died. >> He just said there there was an app on his phone that there was messages on
00:36:46
that she had found apparently that suggested he was having sex with men and she was going to show everybody.
00:36:53
>> And what did Dave say he did? >> He snapped. He said he freaked out >> and did what? He didn't specifically say
00:37:00
that what he did, but that he had killed his wife. >> Investigators were unable to corroborate
00:37:07
Gizmandi's story about the app. >> We didn't have any purchase records of apps and we did not see it on Dave's
00:37:16
phone. >> I've read your statement and at no point do I see anywhere where you had told
00:37:24
them that David actually said, "I killed my wife." But sitting here now, you said
00:37:30
Dave told you I killed my wife. >> Yes, ma'am. In jail, he said I killed my wife. Word for word is what he told me.
00:37:38
>> But why wouldn't you tell the state's attorney's office that >> I did? I told him that he had snapped.
00:37:43
That's the word that I used. I don't remember if she had asked me, did he admit to murdering her? Like word for
00:37:50
word like that. One of the few things both the prosecution and the defense do agree on
00:37:57
is that neither is sure they can believe Gizmandi. He plead guilty to one count of lewd or lascivious behavior and is
00:38:06
now a registered sex offender and still on probation. >> This individual certainly has
00:38:12
credibility issues. Zeleleski took over Dave's defense in early 2020 after the original attorneys withdrew
00:38:22
from the case. >> Raising doubt isn't going to be difficult here. >> But Shanti's family has no doubt about
00:38:33
what should happen to Dave. >> He has to be found guilty. He is guilty. Cindy Dao, who once found Dave so
00:38:44
charming, feels very differently about him now. >> He should be sentenced to death.
00:38:53
I want him to remember when he looks at me. I want him to remember every lie. Every lie.
00:39:02
[Music] >> When Cindy remembers Shanti, her heart still breaks. She was a happy,
00:39:12
giving, kind, fun, loving person who had a mission in this life and she didn't get to fulfill it.
00:39:33
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Most emotional
  • 75
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • The Beautiful House
    The house was stunning but had issues that led to a desire for renovation.
    “The house was beautiful.”
    @ 00m 17s
    July 11, 2025
  • Shanti's Life and Love
    Shanti was a dedicated mom and a hardworking woman who cared deeply about her son.
    “Shanti Cooper was a hardworking, dedicated mom who cared deeply about her son.”
    @ 05m 48s
    July 11, 2025
  • Dave's Double Life
    Investigators uncovered Dave's secret life, raising questions about his relationship with Shanti.
    “Is it fair to say that Dave Tronis was living a double life?”
    @ 19m 55s
    July 11, 2025
  • Dave's Arrest
    Dave Tronis was arrested four months after Shanti's murder, raising suspicions.
    “I wasn't believing it whatsoever.”
    @ 26m 24s
    July 11, 2025
  • The Missing Engagement Ring
    Shanti's missing engagement ring became a crucial piece of evidence against Dave.
    “The ring is probably one of the most powerful and damning pieces of evidence in this case.”
    @ 26m 43s
    July 11, 2025
  • Surveillance Evidence
    A surveillance camera captured crucial evidence related to Dave's actions post-murder.
    “That camera ended up actually turning into a pretty valuable piece of evidence.”
    @ 31m 29s
    July 11, 2025
  • Bloody Sheets Discovery
    A set of purported bloody sheets was discovered, shocking the prosecution team.
    “It literally took my breath away.”
    @ 32m 14s
    July 11, 2025
  • Gizmandi's Testimony
    A cellmate claimed Dave admitted to killing Shanti during their conversations.
    “He said he snapped... and did what?”
    @ 36m 58s
    July 11, 2025
  • Cindy's Heartbreak
    Cindy remembers Shanti as a loving person whose life was tragically cut short.
    “She was a happy, giving, kind, fun, loving person.”
    @ 39m 14s
    July 11, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • This house became more than just a project to David Trronis. It was his life.
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode
  • Shanti was the bankroll, the sole bankroll to almost a $4 million renovation.
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode
  • No, I would not kill the love of my life.
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode
  • This was not an easy end of the marriage.
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode
  • You don't learn this stuff in law school.
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode
  • Killer salsa might sound ridiculous, but...
    David Tronnes case: Was an out-of-control home renovation a motive for murder? | Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Beautiful House00:17
  • Obsession01:07
  • Double Life Revealed19:55
  • Dave's Arrest26:14
  • Missing Ring Evidence26:41
  • Surveillance Footage31:22
  • Bloody Sheets32:25
  • Cindy's Remembrance39:23

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown