Introduction
On June 30, 2000, Lisa Fein was reported missing from her home in Michigan. Her husband, Ron, had returned from his night shift and found the house empty. Lisa was gone, and so were her two sons.
The boys soon turned up at their great-grandmother’s house. They told police that a masked person had attacked their mother during the night. Investigators found signs of a struggle in the bedroom and tracks leading from the house into the woods.
Two days later, searchers found Lisa’s body buried in a shallow grave. The case became a murder investigation, but detectives faced a difficult problem. Several people had possible motives, yet their accounts of the night seemed to support their alibis.
Detective Rolland LaBaumbard eventually found a crucial clue in Lisa’s autopsy report. A hospital towel, combined with DNA evidence, helped investigators connect the crime to Lisa’s ex-husband, Frank Spagnola. In 2003, Spagnola was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Lisa Fein’s Life Before the Murder
A family under financial pressure
Lisa Fein was 33 years old and lived with her husband, Ron, in a secluded part of Michigan. She had a son named Jake, who was 11 years old. Ron’s son, Shane, was 10. Lisa and Ron had been married for nearly five years, and the boys had grown up together like brothers.
Their home stood in a wooded area with few nearby neighbors. Ron’s grandmother lived next door and had a close relationship with the boys.
However, family life had become stressful. Lisa and Ron were struggling financially, and their money problems were putting pressure on their marriage. Lisa had even considered leaving Ron and taking Jake with her.
But she also loved Shane and did not want to separate from him. She still cared about Ron and hoped their situation would improve.
A dispute with her ex-husband
Lisa’s relationship with her first husband, Frank Spagnola, was also difficult. They had spent years fighting over custody of Jake and unpaid child support.
A judge had recently ordered Frank to pay Lisa $14,000 in back child support. The order created a significant financial obligation for Frank and became an important detail in the later investigation.
At first, detectives would have to consider whether this dispute had anything to do with Lisa’s disappearance.
An affair with her sons’ baseball coach
Lisa had also been involved in an affair with Jerry Good, the Little League coach for Jake and Shane. Both Lisa and Jerry were married.
They ended the affair about six months before Lisa disappeared. However, they continued speaking by phone, usually about once a week.
On the night of June 29, Lisa expected another call from Jerry after Ron left for work. The conversation took place shortly before 11 p.m. and lasted about 25 minutes.
For Lisa, the call was a welcome break from the stress in her life. But the phone conversation would later become an important part of the investigation.
Lisa Fein Disappears During the Night
Ron discovers the empty house
Ron worked the night shift at a local power plant. He left home on the evening of June 29 and returned at about 6:20 a.m. the following morning.
He entered through the back door and went to the bedroom, hoping to get some sleep. Instead, he noticed that something was wrong.
Lisa was missing, and the bed looked as if a violent struggle had taken place. The sheets had been pulled off the mattress.
Ron rushed to check the boys’ rooms. Jake and Shane were missing, too.
After searching the house and calling out for his family, Ron contacted emergency services.
The boys seek help from their great-grandmother
Police soon learned that Jake and Shane had reached the nearby home of Ron’s grandmother, who was also their great-grandmother.
The boys were safe, but their account raised serious concerns. They said they had woken during the night and seen a masked person fighting with Lisa.
Detectives learned that the boys had escaped through a bedroom window after cutting its screen. They ran next door because they were frightened and wanted help.
The damaged screen initially looked like a possible point of entry for an intruder. The boys’ account, however, explained how it had been torn from the inside.
Evidence inside the house
Detective Rolland LaBaumbard of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department examined the home.
He found no clear evidence that someone had forced entry through the front door or broken a window. In the main bedroom, he saw signs of a struggle. Cash left on a dresser also made an ordinary robbery seem less likely.
Outside the basement door, investigators found two parallel marks running toward the woods. They appeared consistent with something being dragged away from the house.
These clues suggested that Lisa might have been carried or dragged from the property after the attack.
The Investigation Focuses on Two Possible Suspects
Why detectives questioned Ron
When Jake described the masked attacker, he admitted that he had initially thought the person was Ron.
That statement immediately drew attention to Lisa’s husband. Ron and Lisa had been having marital problems, and the boys’ great-grandmother reportedly believed Ron might have been responsible.
However, detectives checked Ron’s work records. They confirmed that he had been at the power plant during the night of the attack.
The records provided an alibi that made it difficult to believe Ron had been inside the bedroom at the time.
Why Frank Spagnola attracted attention
Investigators also examined Lisa’s relationship with Frank Spagnola.
The long-running child support and custody dispute gave detectives a reason to investigate him. The recent $14,000 court order was particularly relevant.
When LaBaumbard interviewed Frank, he acknowledged that he and Lisa had not got along. He also admitted that he had previously failed to pay child support as required.
Frank said he had spent the previous evening running errands, returned home around 12:30 a.m., and then gone to bed. He also said Lisa had left him a phone message that night, but he had not returned her call.
His parents supported his account of his activities, and detectives initially struggled to find evidence that contradicted it.
Both Ron and Frank remained people of interest, but neither appeared to offer an easy answer.
Lisa Fein’s Body Is Found in the Woods
On July 2, 2000, volunteers searching the woods about a mile from the Fein home noticed blue fabric protruding from the ground.
The surrounding soil looked as though it had recently been disturbed.
Detective LaBaumbard was called to the location. As investigators examined the area, they uncovered Lisa’s body in a shallow grave.
Lisa was still wearing her pajamas. A towel covered her face, and a blue pillowcase had been pulled over her head and secured with duct tape.
The discovery confirmed that the case was a homicide investigation.
The way Lisa’s body had been concealed also suggested that the killer had brought materials to the scene and knew enough about the area to move through it without attracting attention.
Investigators now needed to determine who had entered the house, killed Lisa, and taken her body into the woods.
Phone Records Lead Detectives to Jerry Good
The last known phone call
While reviewing Lisa’s phone records, LaBaumbard noticed an unfamiliar number associated with a call lasting about 25 minutes on the night she died.
The call took place shortly before 11 p.m. Investigators also noticed repeated late-night calls and a pager number that Lisa had contacted regularly.
The pager belonged to Jerry Good, the boys’ Little League coach.
The records supported what detectives had not previously known: Lisa and Jerry had continued their relationship after ending their affair.
Jerry admits they had stayed in touch
When LaBaumbard met with Jerry, he admitted that he and Lisa had had an affair. He said they had ended it months earlier but continued speaking regularly.
Jerry also confirmed that he had spoken with Lisa on the night of her death. He said he had called her from a gas station payphone so his wife would not hear their conversation.
The location caught the detective’s attention because the gas station was less than two miles from Lisa’s home. Jerry could have reached the house after the call.
For a time, this made Jerry an important person to investigate. However, his wife later confirmed that he had returned home around 11:30 p.m. and spent the night with her and their sick child.
LaBaumbard found no reason to believe she was lying about his whereabouts. Jerry’s apparent opportunity therefore did not establish that he had committed the crime.
The investigation again faced a dead end.
The Autopsy Report Reveals a Crucial Clue
Evidence under Lisa’s fingernails
Lisa’s autopsy showed that she had died from asphyxiation. The towel and pillowcase found around her face were consistent with the manner of death.
The medical examiner had also found reddish-brown material beneath Lisa’s fingernails. Investigators suspected it could be dried blood.
If Lisa had scratched her attacker during the struggle, the material might help identify the person responsible. DNA testing was available, but results could take time, and detectives still needed to develop a clear suspect.
LaBaumbard continued examining the physical evidence while looking for another way forward.
A detail about the towel changes the investigation
One item in the autopsy report caught LaBaumbard’s attention. The towel recovered with Lisa was described as a specialized type used in hospitals rather than one sold through ordinary commercial channels.
That detail connected with something detectives already knew about Frank Spagnola.
Frank had said he visited a local hospital on the day of the murder to collect his mother’s paycheck. His mother worked at the hospital and was recovering from surgery.
The detective considered whether Frank could have obtained a towel there. The hospital connection gave him a new lead and a reason to seek further evidence.
The towel alone did not prove who had killed Lisa. But it offered a specific connection that investigators could test against the other evidence.
How Investigators Connected Frank Spagnola to the Murder
Reconstructing the attack
Based on the physical evidence, witness accounts, and later investigative findings, detectives reconstructed the likely sequence of events.
The killer apparently approached the house during the early morning hours, wearing a black motorcycle helmet with a visor. The person entered using a key rather than forcing a door or window.
The attacker went to Lisa’s bedroom, where a struggle followed. Jake woke up, saw the masked person fighting with his mother, and alerted Shane.
The boys escaped through Jake’s bedroom window and ran to their great-grandmother’s house.
During the attack, Lisa fought back. The killer eventually smothered her with the towel, covered her head with the blue pillowcase, and secured it with duct tape.
The killer then dragged her body through the house, out of the basement door, and across the backyard toward the woods. Her body was transported to another wooded area and buried in a shallow grave.
Investigators believed the attacker had planned the crime and brought the materials needed to conceal Lisa’s body.
DNA evidence provides confirmation
The material found under Lisa’s fingernails became another critical part of the case.
Laboratory testing confirmed that the material was blood and that it matched Frank Spagnola.
This finding linked Frank to Lisa’s physical struggle and supported the theory that she had scratched him while defending herself.
The DNA evidence, together with the specialized hospital towel and the other findings, strengthened the case against him.
Frank Spagnola was arrested on July 10, 2002, according to the account of the investigation.
Frank Spagnola’s Conviction
In 2003, Frank Spagnola was found guilty of the first-degree premeditated murder of Lisa Fein.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The case showed how evidence that initially seemed unremarkable could become important when detectives examined it in the context of other facts. The towel connected the crime scene to a possible source, while DNA evidence linked Frank to the struggle.
The investigation also demonstrated why an apparent alibi, a possible motive, or a suspicious relationship cannot settle a case by itself. Detectives needed physical evidence that could support their conclusions.
What the Lisa Fein Murder Case Shows About Forensic Investigations
Small details can matter
The towel was an ordinary object in appearance, but its specialized description gave investigators a new direction. Evidence often becomes useful when a detail is connected to a specific person, place, or event.
DNA can help identify an attacker
Material beneath Lisa’s fingernails provided evidence that could be compared with a suspect’s biological profile. In this case, the match supported the conclusion that Frank had been involved in the struggle.
Alibis must be tested against physical evidence
Ron had work records supporting his account, while Jerry’s wife supported his statement that he had returned home. Investigators could not simply assume that a person was guilty because of marital conflict, an affair, or a financial dispute.
The case advanced when detectives found evidence that offered a more direct link to the crime.
A timeline helps connect the evidence
The phone records established when Lisa last spoke to Jerry. The boys described the attack during the early morning hours, and the crime scene showed that Lisa’s body had been removed from the house.
By comparing these details, investigators could test competing explanations and focus on evidence that had not previously received enough attention.
Conclusion
The murder of Lisa Fein began as a missing-person case after her husband returned from work and found his family gone. Her sons’ account, the bedroom struggle, and the drag marks outside the home soon pointed to a violent crime.
For a time, investigators considered several possibilities. Ron’s work records and Jerry Good’s alibi complicated the inquiry, while Frank Spagnola’s history of conflict with Lisa made him a person of interest.
The breakthrough came when Detective Rolland LaBaumbard noticed the unusual description of the towel in the autopsy report. That detail led investigators back to Frank’s hospital connection. DNA evidence from beneath Lisa’s fingernails then matched Frank’s blood.
Frank was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in 2003 and sentenced to life without parole.
The case illustrates the value of careful police work. A single clue rarely tells the whole story. But when physical evidence, witness accounts, and a clear timeline point in the same direction, seemingly minor details can help solve a serious crime.