When Rachel Drafta’s body was discovered shot dead in her parents’ driveway, it rocked the normally quiet town of Portage, Michigan. The cops were initially baffled, but soon learned that Theresa Petto was the name of Rachel’s envious ex-boyfriend. The documentary ‘Deadly Women: Hot Tempers, Cold Hearts’ on Inquiry Discovery details the horrific murder and shows how Theresa was directly involved throughout the police investigation. Let’s investigate the details of the crime to find out more, shall we?
Who was Therese Petto?
Theresa Petto, a resident of Hastings, Michigan, was no stranger to the tragedy. In fact, sources say, Theresa’s three-week-old child, who was fathered by her then-boyfriend Brent Kik, was found dead in her apartment under bizarre circumstances four years before Rachel was murdered. . The episode claimed Theresa’s relationship with Brent soured after the child’s murder and the two eventually decided to go their separate ways, despite the fact that police never filed charges against her for the death. of the child.
Theresa was unwilling to give up on her ex-boyfriend, despite Brent eventually moving on and starting to make plans for a better future. She also developed feelings of jealousy and frequently criticized her ex if she found out she was seeing someone else. Investigators, according to the episode, believe her jealousy is what drove her to stalk Brent, which is how she found out about his relationship with Rachel Drafta.
She and Brent were somewhat exclusive at the time of Rachel’s murder and even had romantic dreams about each other. However, they were unaware of the tragedy that would soon shatter their aspirations and goals. On June 24, 2015, Theresa finally found a gun and went to Rachel’s parents after she lost control of her feelings of envy. When she arrived, she saw the victim in the driveway and recklessly started shooting him. When the police arrived, they found Rachel unresponsive as the culprit was missing. The victim was transferred to a nearby hospital soon after by authorities, but Rachel died suddenly two days later while still receiving medical treatment as her injuries were too severe. After an examination, it was found that the gunshot wounds were what killed her.
Police soon learned that Rachel was dating Brent, who was still being pursued by his ex-girlfriend, Theresa Petto, despite the fact that there were initially relatively few leads to pursue in the investigation. Detectives discovered enough evidence to refute Theresa’s initial denials of her involvement in the crime and her insistence on her innocence, and as a result, they arrested the suspect.
Is Theresa Petto dead or alive?
Theresa initially entered a plea of not guilty when called to testify in court, but she quickly changed it to guilty but mentally ill. She was thus sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2016. Interestingly, Theresa requested a new trial in 2019 and even tried to withdraw her guilty plea, but both requests were ultimately denied. Theresa was therefore incarcerated in March 2022 when rumors of her death began to spread. Although the news was officially announced on March 14, the cause of his death has not yet been made public!