The Blindfold Game That Exposed a Killer

Summary

On November 8, 2002, a frantic caller told Stamford, Connecticut, police that a man had attacked her neighbor, then abruptly hung up. Officers traced the call to a payphone and went to a nearby condominium, where they found 32-year-old Anna-Lisa Raimundo dead. She had been stabbed repeatedly after a violent struggle. The caller’s identity and the motive remained unclear, and initial leads—including Anna-Lisa’s boyfriend, Nelson Sessler—did not produce an arrest.

The case shifted in March 2003, when Sheila Davalloo stabbed her husband, Paul Christos, during a blindfold game at their home in Pleasantville, New York. Despite serious injuries, Paul escaped and reached help at a nearby medical center. He said Sheila had delayed getting him medical attention and had attacked him again with a knife in the hospital parking lot. She was arrested for attempted murder.

Investigators found that Sheila had called Nelson while Paul was bleeding, inviting him over without explaining the emergency. Nelson then disclosed that he and Sheila had been having an affair, which ended as his relationship with Anna-Lisa grew serious. Paul, meanwhile, had believed Sheila’s elaborate account of a fictional love triangle involving “Melissa,” “Jack,” and Anna-Lisa. Sheila had presented the story as a friend’s effort to monitor Jack, even borrowing Paul’s surveillance equipment and discussing ways to access Anna-Lisa’s home. Investigators concluded that Sheila herself was the supposed “Melissa.”

The new information also focused attention on the anonymous 911 caller from the day Anna-Lisa was killed. Investigators identified the voice as Sheila’s. Her work records showed that she had left Purdue Pharma for a period that included the murder, and medical records documented treatment for a significant cut on her hand the day after the killing. In 2007, DNA testing of blood on a bathroom tap at Anna-Lisa’s home matched both Sheila’s and Anna-Lisa’s profiles.

Sheila was convicted in New York in 2004 of attempting to murder Paul and sentenced to 25 years. In 2011, she represented herself at her Connecticut murder trial. The prosecution presented DNA evidence, voice analysis, evidence of her opportunity to commit the murder, and testimony about her relationship with Nelson and her attack on Paul. The jury found her guilty of Anna-Lisa’s murder. In 2012, she received a 50-year sentence to be served consecutively to her New York sentence. Her appeals were rejected. In a 2019 interview, she continued to deny killing Anna-Lisa and said she had not intended to kill Paul.

Presenters and contributors

• Presenter/narrator: Anonymous host
• Research and writing: Matthew Dawe
• Production and music: Mike Migas
• Audio editing: Anthony Telfer