Investigation Discovery is examining the tragic murder of Carli Bitterman, who was shot dead by her police officer husband, Jeffrey Dennis, at their home in the small town of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, in 2006.
Carli was a free-spirited young woman who fell in love with police officer Jeffrey ‘Jeff’ Dennis, but tragically, their relationship soured when her husband proved to an abusive brute. One day, Dennis decided to violently take his wife’s life.
On February 27, 2006, Dennis fired a single gunshot into his wife’s head while she slept in bed at their home. The cops believe that as Carli lay bleeding to death on the bed, her husband positioned the gun so it looked like a suicide, and then he washed his hands before dialing 911.
When the cops arrived at the scene, Dennis claimed that he’d come home to find his wife threatening suicide. He said he tried to stop her from shooting herself but had tragically failed.
However, the Wyoming Patrolmen were instantly suspicious of Dennis’s claim; they believed the blood splatter in the bedroom indicated that it was a homicide rather than a suicide. A crime forensic expert later confirmed this.
The investigators also discovered gun powder residue on the killer’s hands. About a week after the murder, Dennis was arrested.
Jeffrey Dennis was controlling towards Carli Bitterman
The police learned that the couple’s marriage had become an unhappy one, Dennis was controlling and abusive towards Carli, and she had started having an affair.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe investigators also believed that Dennis had carefully planned the murder. He had stayed behind at work longer than usual to make sure Carli would be asleep when he returned home so he could cowardly shoot her while she slept.
In 2007, a jury declared Dennis guilty of first-degree murder, and the judge subsequently sentenced him to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
At the sentencing, Carli’s mom, Jill Bitterman, said that “so many lives had been ruined” by Dennis, but she also said, “justice was served.”
More from Investigation Discovery
Follow the links to read about more shocking crimes examined on Investigation Discovery.
A distressing murder in Dublin, Ireland, involved Graham Dwyer preying on the vulnerable Elaine O’Hara to satisfy his sick and twisted sexual fantasies. O’ Hara’s life ended when Dwyer dumped her remains in the mountains south of the city.
Shane Langley had subjected his wife, Christine Oliveaux, to years of abuse. When she finally plucked up the courage to leave him, he came after her family with a rifle and killed her mother, Vennie Oliveaux.
Two Can’t Keep A Secret airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.