Michael Shane Hill murder happened on May 28, 2007, and he was found dead on a farm in Iowa. Initially, it was believed that Shane had accidentally shot himself.
However, an investigation later revealed that he was murdered in cold blood. On February 2022, Investigation Discovery’s show “Deadly Affairs: Betrayed By Love: Sinful Nature” delves into the details of Shane’s death and the following investigation.
Shane was born in 1977 and grew up in Boone, Iowa. He liked hunting and spending time with his girlfriend, Jessica Smith, who later became his wife.
They had two children together. He worked as a long-haul trucker before switching his job to a sheep farm to get closer to his family.
How was Shane Hill murder executed?
On the day of Shane Hill murder, 911 received a call from Shane in which he told them that he had accidentally shot himself while discharging his handgun. He died before the authorities arrived.
The investigation later revealed that the shooting was not accidental but murder.
Evidence from the scene showed that the shell casings did not match the gun found with Shane.
Suspicious evidence was also discovered on Jessica’s computer by Shane’s mother, Patty, a few days after the murder.
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Patty found intimate messages exchanged between Jessica and Daniel Blair, Shane’s best friend. According to the show, Jessica and Daniel had an affair while Shane was away on the road driving trucks. Shane found out about the affair in 2005, leading to a scuffle.
He took a job on the sheep farm, hoping that the affair had ended. Although, messages between Jessica and Shane showed that this was not the case.
Jessica eventually admitted to the affair during an interview with the authorities. She also revealed that there were times when she talked about wanting Shane to disappear.
The killer of Shane Hill murder
However, she claimed that she never meant for Shane to be hurt. Phone records showed that Daniel and Jessica had been in contact on the morning of the murder, and Jessica said that it would be easier if Shane was gone.
Daniel was arrested and told the police that his roommate, Aron Moss, had helped him commit the murder. He claimed that Aron had pulled the trigger.
Aron was penalized for second-degree murder and was sentenced to 50 years in jail in July 2008.
He remains behind bars at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility in Webster County, Iowa. Daniel was penalized for first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in jail.
He is serving his punishment at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, Lee County.
Jessica was initially convicted of second-degree murder in October 2009 and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
However, the conviction was overturned on appeal in April 2011 due to some of the witness testimony being hearsay. Jessica pleaded guilty to a plot to commit murder and accessory after the fact in July 2008.
She received a 12-year sentence. Jessica was transferred to a work-release program in 2012, and records show that she was released on probation in January 2019 for another felony and is still living in Iowa.
