Naman Shrestha
When Lisa Knoefel was found dead in her home in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, in late November 2012, the entire community was left shell-shocked. With the detectives finding critical evidence at the crime scene, the swift investigation led them straight to the perpetrator/s. All the intricate details of the case and its aftermath are covered in the episode titled ‘Fostering Evil’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Lives Here.’ Featuring exclusive interviews with the deceased woman’s loved ones and the officials linked to the case, the documentary explores the murder plot that led to the tragic demise of Lisa.
Lisa Knoefel Was Stabbed Multiple Times in Front of Her Children
Lisa Marie McIntosh was born on May 20, 1971, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, to a loving and supportive set of parents — William Clark and Rita Balla McIntosh. Growing up alongside her sister Laura McIntosh, Lisa developed a liking for the outdoors as she enjoyed camping with her friends. Her first marriage was with Nick Zanella, with whom she shared a daughter named Megan. However, as their marriage deteriorated with time, they parted ways, and Lisa moved on. She crossed paths with Kevin Knoefel and fell head over heels in love with him. After dating for a while, they tied the knot and made their relationship official around the mid-2000s.
In 2009, Lisa and Kevin welcomed a daughter named Hailey, whom they were raising in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. They also had a son named Cody Knoefel. At the time, Lisa worked as a social worker for the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services in the sex abuse department. Meanwhile, her husband was a truck driver. In July 2011, the married couple took in a 16-year-old girl named Sabrina Zunich, who had been in the custody of Lake County officials for nearly a year. The family of six appeared to be living happily, but it all changed in November 2012.
The authorities received a 911 call from Lisa’s daughter, Megan, around 1 am on November 26, 2012. The then 13-year-old girl asked for their help as her mother was being stabbed. After the police arrived at the Knoefel residence, they found Lisa Knoefel’s remains in the master bedroom. Upon inspecting the crime scene and her remains, they determined that the 41-year-old woman had been stabbed more than 150 times in her neck, head, torso, and extremities, with a 10-inch serrated knife. As a result, she had died of the multiple stab wounds that she had endured.
Lisa Knoefel Was Killed By Someone She Shared a Roof With
The authorities also noticed that Sabrina Zunich had a bloody knife in her hand and several stab wounds on her body. Immediately, she was taken into custody but didn’t answer any of the questions as she was in a state of shock. Lisa’s husband, Kevin, who was on the road in Michigan at the time of the murder, was also notified about her passing. As per reports, he appeared quite calm and composed when he arrived home. Suspicious about Sabrina and Kevin’s behaviors, the detectives dug deeper into their relationship with Lisa in the past few months. The investigators learned that Lisa and Kevin had a troubled marriage after they took in their foster daughter, Sabrina, in 2011.
According to reports, by the spring of 2012, Kevin and Sabrina began developing an intimate and sexual relationship behind Lisa’s back. A few months later, the fights between the married couple intensified. Soon, Kevin reportedly threatened Sabrina that he would take his own life if Lisa was not killed. The foster daughter asked one of her acquaintances, Autumn Pavlik, if she knew a hit man who could kill Lisa for her. Her life insurance policies, which were worth almost $800,000, served as the motive for Kevin and Sabrina as they planned to start afresh after killing Lisa.
By late October 2012, Lisa began suspecting the relationship between her husband and foster daughter, and told Sabrina to move out by January 1, 2013. Not long after, Sabrina stabbed her in front of Lisa’s children on the fateful night while Kevin was on the road. More suspicions were raised against Kevin when he collected Lisa’s insurance money in the spring of 2013. With that money, he reportedly took flying lessons and purchased cars and a house in Florida. Meanwhile, Sabrina decided to cooperate with the authorities in August 2013 and testified against Kevin. He was officially charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and complicity to aggravated murder, as well as six counts of sexual battery in connection with Lisa’s murder. Finally, on August 9, he was arrested.
Kevin Knoefel and Sabrina Zunich Are Currently Incarcerated at Separate Ohio Prison Facilities
Several months later, in May 2014, Kevin Koefel’s trial got underway. During the trial, the prosecution accused Kevin of having an affair with his foster daughter, Sabrina Zunich, and manipulating her into killing his wife. The defense argued that Sabrina was mentally ill and acted alone. The prosecution also brought Sabrina to the stand, and she testified that Kevin was also involved in hatching the murder plot so that they could be together. In the end, on June 11, 2014, the jury deliberated for nine and a half hours before reaching a final verdict.
Kevin was convicted on six counts of sexual battery, three counts of complicity to commit aggravated murder, and two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. Nearly two months later, on August 6, Kevin Knoefel was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years. Furthermore, he was sentenced to 12 years for the sexual battery counts and was officially listed as a tier III sex offender. Lisa’s former husband, Nick Zanella, took the stand and addressed him, “You, Kevin, what a piece of crap you are. Someone who thought they could be a man in a man’s world. There are two girls who go through pain every day because of him. I hope you rot in jail for the rest of your life.”
Since Sabrina pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in August 2014, she received a lesser sentence on September 29. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years. As of today, Kevin is serving his sentence at Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut, Ohio, with his expected release date scheduled for July 2055. Meanwhile, Sabrina is incarcerated at Dayton Correctional Institution in Dayton, Ohio, while looking forward to her expected release in November 2042.
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