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Teresa Sievers, a doctor from Bonita Springs, was brutally murdered in her home as she returned from a family reunion in June 2015. She was found lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor as a hammer, with her hair stuck to it, lay next to her. Teresa Sievers had been struck in the head with a hammer 17 times on June 27, 2015, per CBS News.
The Dateline NBC episode, titled The Road Trip, shows the gruesome details of the murder-for-hire plot laid for Dr. Teresa Sievers by her husband, Mark Sievers. The episode re-airs on May 24, 2024, at 9 pm EST on NBC. The official synopsis reads:
"When Dr. Teresa Sievers is found murdered in her kitchen, detectives struggle to find any leads until an unexpected tip changes everything; the woman who helped investigators speaks out."
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Bludgeoned to death, and 4 other details of Teresa Sievers' murder
1) Teresa Sievers was bludgeoned to death with a hammer
The beloved doctor of Bonita Springs had cut short her family vacation in Connecticut to return to her home on June 27, 2015. Her husband, Mark Sievers, had reportedly dropped her off at LaGuardia Airport in New York City for her flight. She intended to attend to a couple of patients at her clinic - Restorative Health & Healing Center.
Mark Sievers' long-time friend and look-alike, Curtis Wayne Wright Jr, and his accomplice, Jimmy Ray Rodgers, awaited Teresa's arrival in the garage. As she pulled into the garage and retrieved her luggage, the two men attacked her with a hammer and bludgeoned her to death. Teresa Sievers was struck in the head 17 times, per court documents.
2) Mark Sievers had asked his neighbor to check in on his wife
As Dr. Teresa Sievers failed to show up for work on June 29, 2015, Mark Sievers called his family friend and neighbor, Dr. Mark Petrites, and instructed him to use their garage code to look inside the house. Petrites discovered Teresa's body lying face down in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor and he made a 911 call wherein he was recorded saying:
“She’s bashed in the back of the head. And she’s cold. She’s dead cold.”
Petrites took the stand during Mark Sievers' trial in November 2019 and brought up the odd phone call on June 28, during which Siever checked in on him and informed him of Teresa's arrival. WINK News further reported Petrites testifying to Mark Sievers not asking if his wife was okay. He shared:
“He didn’t ask specifically, but he asked, ‘Was it a robbery?’”
3) The crime scene was staged to look like a burglary
The Lee County Sheriff's Office authorities, who arrived at the crime scene, noticed that one floor of the house was in a disheveled state. A report by the officers shared by The News-Press shared:
"In the 'his and hers' closets in the master bedroom, the shelves have been emptied onto the floor."
The authorities noted that the valuables in the house were untouched. The list included a safe containing over $40,000 in cash, Mark Sievers' gun collection, and jewelry. There were signs of forced entry as the side door was pried open, per the court documents. The Lee County report also stated that the locks of the Jarvis Road home had been recently changed.
4) The murder was carried out by Mark's friend Curtis Wayne Wright Jr and a hitman, Jimmy Ray Rodgers
The investigators had realized that the crime scene was staged to look like a burglary but as A&E reported prosecutor Cynthia Ross sharing:
“There was absolutely no trace evidence. This was almost the perfect crime.”
Two months into the homicide investigation, a tip from a person in Illinois gave away the names of Curtis Wayne Wright Jr. and Jimmy Ray Rodgers to the police. Both the men had served time earlier. With the help of Rodgers' girlfriend, the police confirmed that the two men had traveled from Missouri to Florida to kill Teresa Sievers.
The GPS data from the car along with the video evidence from businesses the men visited added to the suspicion. Wright and Rodgers bought garbage bags, towels, lock-picking kit, and black clothes from Walmart.
Eventually, Wright succumbed to a plea deal and revealed that Mark Sievers had been behind the plot to have his wife killed.
5) The motive behind the murder was insurance money and child custody
The detectives in the murder case had found that Mark Sievers had realized that she had five life insurance policies which totaled $4.433 million, per The News-Press. Mark and Teresa had allegedly been going through marriage problems and Mark shared with Wright his fear of losing custody of his children.
According to Deseret News, Mark Sievers had allegedly promised Wayne Wright $10,000 for having Teresa killed. Mark was sentenced to death and is presently incarcerated at the Union Correctional Institution, per The US Sun.
Catch episode 29 of season 28 of Dateline on NBC on Friday.
