Silent Night, Violent Night examines the murder of senior Billie Cunningham, in a case that took years to crack.
Hubbardston, Massachusetts, on December 1, 2006, and 80-year-old Billie Cunningham was found dead in her own home.
The initial police investigation concluded that she’d fallen off a ladder whilst putting up Christmas decorations. She’d fallen into a mirror and the resulting cuts had caused her to bleed to death.
However, her family were not so sure and they’d noticed some strange things in Cunningham’s house. She was a very tidy persona was food lying on the table, a broken decoration and a chair left out of place.
As a result of the pressure applied by the family, the police re-opened the case and even exhumed her body. But the medical examination failed to conclude if her wounds were from an accident or inflicted by someone else.17-year-old Justin Stephens was arrested in 2010 and police suspected he’d tried to rob his neighbor and had been disturbed in the act. He then stabbed her before fleeing the scene.
In 2011 he was found guilty and given a life sentence.
Silent Night, Violent Night airs at 8:00 PM in Investigation Discovery.