Cases resolved in 2021(pt. 1)
A list of cases covered on this blog that were resolved during the past year. Links to full write-ups on the cases are provided.
The kidnapping and murder of Linda Stoltzfoos.
Amish teen Linda Stoltzfoos was kidnapped in broad daylight on June 21st, 2020. The 18 year-old was abducted while walking home from church services in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. After Linda was reported missing, investigators reviewed surveillance camera tapes from local businesses along that route where she was last seen. The camera’s footage actually revealed that Linda had been abducted by a man shortly before 1PM. Her kidnapper was later identified as 34 year-old Justo Smoker. Smoker was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with kidnapping.
In December 2020, murder charges were added as well--despite the fact that Linda’s body had not yet been found. However, Smoker eventually led authorities to Linda’s body during April 2021. Three months later, in July 2021, Smoker pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder. He was sentenced to 71 years in prison.
The murder of Ally Kostial.
Ally Kostial (21) was shot to death by Brandon Theesfeld during the early morning hours of July 19th, 2019. Both Ally and Brandon were rising seniors at the University of Mississippi, and they had on-and-off relations throughout their years in college. On April 12th, 2019, Ally reached out to Brandon to tell him that she thought she might be pregnant. Despite this news, Brandon continuously ignored Ally’s messages for the next few months.Finally, on July 18th, 2019 Brandon messaged Ally again and said he was willing to meet up. During the early morning hours of the 19th, Brandon picked Ally up from her residence in Oxford and drove her 40 miles away to Buford's Ridge at Sardis Lake. There, he shot her to death and then left her body behind.
After Ally’s body was found, it did not take long for police to identify Brandon as a suspect, and he was arrested just two days later. Reports initially stated that he planned to plead not guilty, however in August 2021 Brandon ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. He received an automatic life sentence. It’s believed that Brandon’s motive was that he was angry about Ally’s potential pregnancy, however during the court proceedings it was revealed that Ally was not pregnant at the time of her death and never had been.
The disappearance and murder of Tianna Phillips.
Tianna Phillips vanished in Berwick, Ohio on June 13th, 2018. The 25 year-old was last seen at her boyfriend’s home in Berwick. Tianna reportedly left the residence between 11 PM and 12:30 AM. She never returned home to her sons and was never seen or heard from again. Over two years later, a man named Harold Haulman III was arrested and charged with murdering 26 year-old Erica Shultz. While investigating that case, detectives found a link between Haulman and Tianna. In fact, they discovered that Tianna and Haulman had been having an affair at the time of her disappearance. Eventually, Haulman’s wife told investigators that Haulman confessed to her that he killed Tianna shortly after it occurred. Haulman then took his wife to the murder site, where they both gathered Tianna’s remains and placed them in a dumpster. Her remains have still never been found.
In September 2021, Haulman pleaded guilty to murdering both Erica and Tianna. While behind bars on those charges, Haulman also admitted to murdering another young woman who has been missing since 2005.
