Naman Shrestha
In the episode titled ‘Homicide Homecoming’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘911: Did the Killer Call,’ the primary focus is on the horrific killing of a beloved middle school teacher named Melinda Pleskovic in Strongsville, Ohio, in October 2017. During the investigation, the detectives uncovered a series of disturbing and strange events in the weeks and months prior to the tragedy. However, a piece of critical physical evidence cracked the case wide open and led them to the perpetrator.
Melinda Pleskovic Was Found Dead in Her Home By Her Family
On January 5, 1968, George Michael Lloyd and Opal Showman were blessed with Melinda Jane Showman Pleskovic. She was one of six siblings — Ed Wise, Betty Gardner, Donald Louis Showman, Jim Wise, and Juanita Lease — growing up in a seemingly loving household. As she grew up, Melinda found her true calling in teaching and made it her career for more than two decades. Residing in Strongsville, Ohio, she served as a sixth-grade teacher at Strongsville Middle School. Besides being a beloved middle school teacher, she was also considered a devoted wife to Bruce Pleskovic, a doting mother to Anna, Megan, and Kyle, and a loving grandmother.
On October 23, 2017, the day started off as a regular one, with Melinda going to work and returning home in the afternoon. She was looking forward to getting her daughter, Anna, married to Jeffrey Scullin Jr. in a few days. That evening, she also had dinner plans with her family. When she failed to make it to the restaurant for dinner, it raised concerns among her husband and children. As Bruce and their daughter’s fiancé, Jeffrey Scullin Jr., arrived at the Strongsville house on Blazing Star Drive, where she was with her son with Down Syndrome, they discovered Melinda on the kitchen floor in a pool of her own blood. Bruce and Jeffrey called 911 and reported the tragedy, with Bruce telling the dispatcher, “I think someone killed my wife. Looks like she has stab wounds on her back…There’s a pool of blood. … I can’t believe this.”
In the 911 call, Bruce also stated, “We’ve had people trying to break into our house all year … we’ve had people attempt to break in just this week.” When the first responders arrived, they rushed Melinda to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Meanwhile, the detectives inspected the crime scene and collected critical pieces of evidence. Later, the Cuyahoga Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and determined that the 49-year-old teacher died of multiple sharp force injuries, from more than 30 stab wounds, and three gunshot wounds.
Melinda Pleskovic’s Killer Was Soon Going to be a Part of Her Family
As part of the investigation, the authorities interviewed Melinda Pleskovic’s family and friends to find out about the circumstances surrounding her murder. It turned out that the Pleskovic family had been filing police reports for harassment, theft, and stalking for several months, starting in January 2017, when a theft was reported at their home. In July, Anna filed a suspicious persons report about two teenagers and an adult hiding behind their property. Meanwhile, in September, Melinda reported that her car keys were missing and that her car’s alarm was going off repeatedly. Just a few days before her killing, Jeffrey also reported to the police about a possible intruder in the Pleskovic family’s home.
That day, Melinda posted on Facebook, “Getting on a first-name basis with Strongsville PD. Someone please tell the people trying to break in to my house that I have no valuables!!!!” On October 21, she wrote, “Whoever still has my stolen keys was playing with the remote at 430 am and kept starting the van at 7:00. Another call to Strongsville p.d. Omg! Leave us alone.” All these instances turned out to be irrelevant to the case after the police found a large tactical knife on the back seat of a truck that Jeffrey had been driving on the fateful day. The knife was one of the murder weapons as it had Melinda’s blood on it. On top of that, it also linked Jeffrey to the crime as his DNA was found on the knife’s handle.
Thus, on October 30, 2017, the police had enough evidence to take him into custody and charge him with aggravated murder. His bond was set at $1 million. Ultimately, Jeffrey Scullin Jr. was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, murder, tampering with evidence, felonious assault, making false alarms, and endangering children, in connection with the killing of Melinda Pleskovic. According to the prosecutors, Jeffrey’s credit card was declined a dozen times when he tried to pay for his wedding venue. Upon receiving an email from the venue that the wedding would be canceled as it had not been paid for, Melinda allegedly confronted Jeffrey about it the day before her death.
Jeffrey Scullin Jr. is Currently Incarcerated at an Ohio Prison
With his murder trial on the verge of commencing, Jeffrey Scullin Jr. pleaded no contest to all the charges against him on October 17, 2018. After accepting the plea, the judge found him guilty as charged. Nearly two weeks later, on October 29, his sentencing hearing took place. His defense attorney asked for a lighter sentence, noting that he had no criminal history. Before he was sentenced, his former fiancée, Anna Pleskovic, took the stand and gave a victim impact statement. “Jeffrey Scullin should never be allowed to walk free again. The extent of his monstrous actions has forever crippled the lives of everyone he knows,” she stated.
She added, “My mother, Melinda, will never be coming back, and that egotistical boy had absolutely no reason or right to rip her away from us. I say ‘boy’ and not ‘man’ because a man doesn’t harm his loved ones. A man owns his actions and decisions without hiding behind lies. A man supports his family and would do anything for his children. Jeff has done none of these things.” Melinda’s husband, Bruce Pleskovic, also spoke at the sentencing hearing. We had a loving, caring normal household. We took Jeffrey in as our own…The lost of Melinda will have a rippling effect on the kids and I forever. My daughters are heartbroken about the loss of their mother who can never be replaced,” he said.
The other daughter, Megan, said, “Our lives will never be the same because of Jeffrey Scullin. My mother was the face of compassion, love and perseverance and because of him, she is gone.” In the end, Jeffrey Scullin Jr. was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 33 years behind bars for killing Melinda Pleskovic. However, he was given credit for having served 363 days in jail. As of today, the 29-year-old killer is serving his sentence at Madison Correctional Institution in London, Ohio, with his parole eligibility date scheduled for October 2050.
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