Kriti Mehrotra
It was in the afternoon of April 24, 2018, when 39-year-old Shanti Cooper-Tronnes was found dead inside her 218 East Copeland Drive home in the serene neighborhood of Delaney Park. The Orlando, Florida, entrepreneur, mother, and wife seemed to have an idyllic life, as explored in ABC’s ’20/20: A Killer Renovation,’ but her reality was sadly much different. It ultimately came to light that this loving, kind individual had been brutally killed at the hands of her second husband, then-49-year-old David Tronnes.
David Tronnes and Shanti Cooper-Tronnes Had a Whirlwind Romance
David Tronnes was residing just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, when he first came across Shanti Cooper on Match.com back in 2013, just to quickly be pulled in by her bright smile. Little did he know the duo would soon get to really know one another and then connect on a much deeper level, especially upon discovering that they were both recently divorced. While the former had ended his 14-year union with a woman by the name of Carole Tronnes, the latter had left her first husband, Jim Cooper, with whom she had a son, Jackson.
David and Shanti’s spark was such that it soon turned into a romance, developing into a long distance relationship. He had also indicated he had no issues with the fact that she was a single mother. By all accounts, they were utterly smitten with each other, driving them to take turns traveling between the states every two weeks so as to keep their chemistry alive in any way they knew how.
Then, mere months later, David took an early retirement from his allegedly high-paying engineering job and relocated to Florida. He wanted to be with Shanti, so he made it happen. As if that’s not enough, in 2015, he bought the 4,000 square feet property of 215 East Copeland Drive for $607,500 with the vision of making it his and his partner’s dream real home. According to records, the retired professional paid for this home all by himself in cash, with the successful financial consultant putting in all the money for renovations, even though her name wasn’t on the deed.
David Tronnes’ Alleged Secret Double Life Unraveled After Shanti Cooper-Thomas’ Murder
It has been reported that by the time 2015 rolled around, Shanti was under the impression that David was financially well off thanks to his former job as well as a $4-6 million inheritance. This only solidified for her when he purchased their home and bought her a beautiful 3-diamond ring prior to their cozy, intimate March 2017 wedding, making her feel like a true princess. The couple was residing in the apartment over their garage by this point due to the fact their main home was still gutted for renovations, even two years later, but things seemed to work for them, until they didn’t.
As per reports, by early spring 2018, Shanti had spent nearly $250,000 on the renovations and had nothing to show for it because her husband kept going through different contractors. Allegedly, whenever he encountered something he didn’t like or felt as if his vision wasn’t being followed, he fired people, setting them back to square one all over again, which had to be stressful. In the end, their home’s core structure was so weak that they ended up agreeing to partake in the show ‘Zombie House Flipping’ to get things, but mere weeks before filming was set to begin, tragedy struck. It was David who called 911 on April 24, 2018, claiming in an almost inconsolable panic that he had found his wife floating in their half-filled bathtub while still partially clothed.
When officials arrived at the scene, David was taken to the police station for routine questioning, but it quickly became evident to the detectives assigned that he was not being entirely truthful. For starters, while he alleged he’d dragged Shanti out of the tub and given her CPR, there were no water traces in the room, and her autopsy also confirmed she’d been strangled to death hours earlier. During this time, Shanti’s then 8-year-old son Jackson told specialists that his step-father was not the man he portrayed himself to be, alleging physical, mental, and verbal abuse. This was never corroborated, and neither was the claim that David visited the same sex bathhouse, Club Orlando, over 78 times throughout his second marriage, allegedly even getting intimate with men at least twice.
With a Mountain of Evidence, David Tronnes Was Convicted and Sentenced for Murder
David’s initial interrogation actually lasted nearly 14 hours, and it was just prior to the halfway point that investigators realized he could possibly be involved in his wife’s brutal homicide. We specify brutal because her injuries were not consistent with a fall; instead, she had bruises across her body, especially her knee and cheek, pieces of her hair had been ripped out, and her cause of death was blunt force trauma as well as strangulation. Officials had also found it strange that his alibi could not be corroborated since he claimed to be alone for the majority of the morning, and that while he initially seemed inconsolable, he had not shed a single real tear.
David did agree to be photographed and seemed cooperative, but his relatively calm response to being accused of killing his wife instead of vehemently denying it seemed off to investigators too. In the end, when he was ultimately released after 14 hours owing to a lack of concrete evidence, he immediately lawyered up and reportedly hired a private investigator to look into additional leads, which the officials also did. Shanti’s ex-husband, neighbors, and all other possible suspects were quickly cleared by the authorities, only for the suspicion on David to keep on mounting as the victim’s best friend also came forward. According to the friend, Shanti had once called her in tears in the weeks leading up to the fateful day, asserting she wanted to leave David for good but was scared for her life, only to get a call back again a few hours later, during which the 39-year-old said everything was okay.
In the end, it was on August 29, 2018, when David was arrested at his mother’s home on one count of first-degree murder, to which he pleaded not guilty and was subsequently held without bail. In the aftermath of this, Shanti’s missing engagement ring was recovered from his mother’s home, and his defense attorney also came forward to reveal they had a bloody bed sheet in their evidence. David claimed this blood was from when he and his wife had gotten intimate while she was menstruating, but it didn’t help his case because traces of blood had been found under their bed in the initial days of the investigation itself. This ultimately led prosecutors to argue that David killed his wife in a fit of rage after she possibly indicated her intention of leaving, owing to the stress of their living conditions, finances, and more. So, after 5 years, in October 2023, David was found guilty as charged and sentenced to life in prison, meaning that’s where the 57-year-old still remains. He is currently incarcerated at the Graceville Correctional Facility in Jackson County, Florida, where he is expected to remain for the rest of his natural life.
Read More: Jim and Jackson Cooper: Where is Shanti Cooper-Tronnes’ Ex-Husband and Son Now?
