Life Insurance Fraud—California

Amount: $1.6 Million

A celebrity hairstylist was found brutally beaten and butchered in his gated Los Angeles home in January 2017. In what initially appeared to be a home invasion gone wrong, two intruders stabbed the stylist to death and fled in the stylists Porsche. They abandoned the Porsche a few miles from the house where it was soon discovered by police.

This week, the stylist's wife and her boyfriend were arrested and booked on suspicion of murdering the stylist. Although the murder initially appeared to be the result of a violent home-invasion robbery, months of investigation led detectives to determine that his death was the result of a plot to collect on a $1.6 million life insurance policy.

DNA found at the scene of the crime and in the getaway car matched the wife's boyfriend, whose DNA was on file because he was previously convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor and is a registered sex offender. A third person was involved directly with the murder, but remains at large.

The couple was charged with capital murder with a special circumstance of murder for financial gain, making them eligible for the death penalty. They are being held without bail.