Naman Shrestha
A seemingly regular day turned into a traumatizing one for Kate Ranta, her father, Robert Ranta, and her son, William, when her estranged husband, Thomas Maffei, attacked them in their apartment. Multiple shots were fired through the door by the US Air Force Major, several of them struck Kate and Robert, leading to critical injuries. The swift arrival of the first responders and police on the scene not only saved the injured’s lives but also led to the capture of the shooter. The entire case, the motive for the attack, and the aftermath are covered in a detailed manner in the episode titled ‘Don’t Shoot Mommy’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Toxic.’ Thanks to the insightful interviews with the survivors’ loved ones, the documentary also delved deep into the events that led to the incident.
Thomas Maffei Displayed Signs of Violence Early on in His Marriage to Kate Ranta
Born in 1967, Thomas Maffei achieved his dream of serving the nation by becoming an Air Force Captain. Around 2008, he crossed paths with a busy single mother named Kate Ranta on an online dating website. Both divorced, Thomas and Kate clicked almost instantly and began dating. After about three months of dating, they got engaged. In 2008, the two got married and began a new chapter in their lives. Within a year, the couple welcomed their son, William, into the world. The family of four, which also included Kate’s son, Henry, from her previous marriage, lived in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. However, in 2009, Thomas started exhibiting abusive behavior towards his wife and children, controlling almost every other aspect of their lives.
In order to stay closer to her parents, Kate suggested they relocate to Coral Springs, Florida, and Thomas agreed. Soon, when a male high school friend reconnected with her, he resorted to violence. Not only did he run away with their son in the middle of the night, but he also threatened to hit her. After the incident, she temporarily moved to her parents’ house and got a temporary restraining order against her husband. Several months later, Thomas convinced her that he had changed his ways, which led to her allowing the restraining order to expire. When she moved to her own apartment with her two children, she chose not to tell him, but he eventually found out.
Thus, on the night of November 2, 2012, Thomas went over to the apartment and shot at the apartment door, hitting his estranged wife and her father, Robert Ranta, who was preventing the shooter from barging in. Meanwhile, Kate was on the call with a 911 dispatcher. Soon, when the authorities arrived, the two injured individuals were rushed to a local hospital, and Thomas was arrested without further incident. He was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed burglary, two counts of false imprisonment, and child abuse. While he awaited trial in a Florida prison, both Kate and Robert were fortunate enough to have survived the attack.
Thomas Maffei is Currently Incarcerated at a Florida Prison Facility
Several years later, on February 7, 2017, Thomas Maffei’s trial for the attempted murder of Kate Ranta and Robert Ranta commenced. The defense claimed that since the defendant was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe back pain, and depression from his time in Afghanistan and Iraq, he had been on heavy medications on the night of the incident. Not only that, the defense also told the jurors that Thomas suffered from panic attacks and severe insomnia. The prosecution played the 911 call that Kate made on the night. Kate took the stand and testified against him, stating, “He kinda had the gun pointed at me and was kind of playing with me with it. How close was he to Will? Right next to him, and then Will said ‘don’t do it daddy, don’t shoot mommy.'”
She added, “I heard my ex-husband go over to my dad and yell at him to move his phone away, and then I heard boom, and a grunt.” Besides her, Robert also testified against the shooter, claiming that the latter fired multiple shots through the front door of their apartment. On February 8, the jury returned with a verdict and convicted the former Air Force Major of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling, aggravated assault with a firearm, and shooting into an occupied dwelling.
After the verdict, Thomas’ defense counsel was vocal about their plan to appeal the decision. A few months later, on April 7, 2017, the shooter was sentenced to 60 years for the attempted murder of his ex-wife, 60 years for the attempted murder of her father, 15 years for the burglary charge, 15 years for the shooting charge, and 10 years for the aggravated assault charge. As of today, Thomas is serving his sentences concurrently at South Bay Correctional Facility in South Bay, Florida, with the release date scheduled for October 2072.
