Death Becomes Her

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

Wealthy heiress Marjorie Congdon gets what she wants, no matter the cost.

SPEAKER_2 (0:06)

Marjorie is a master game player. She wasn't conscious that there could be consequences for what she was doing.

SPEAKER_3 (0:14)

Hi, I just heard I got over two months ago.

SPEAKER_1 (0:16)

But when she decides to seduce a vulnerable father of two, Marjorie was in total control of my dad. A series of brutal and bizarre crimes force her stepchildren to question her every move.

SPEAKER_4 (0:28)

Can I talk to you in private, please?

SPEAKER_5 (0:29)

It scared the hell out of me.

SPEAKER_1 (0:31)

And it's not long before they realize she's the stepmother nightmares are made of.

SPEAKER_5 (0:37)

She's evil. Absolutely evil.

SPEAKER_2 (0:40)

She's a monster.

SPEAKER_1 (0:42)

A monster that needed to be contained.

In March 1980, 30-year-old Nancy Hagen struggles to make it through the day without falling to pieces. It's only been a week since her mother Helen unexpectedly passed away from pneumonia.

SPEAKER_5 (1:03)

You know, you lose a parent and things are just, there's too much going on.

SPEAKER_1 (1:10)

But what really has Nancy worried is that her 68-year-old father Wally won't make it through the days without his wife. That all changes when he pays her an impromptu visit.

SPEAKER_6 (1:23)

It's kind of a tough time now, you know. I never loved her.

SPEAKER_5 (1:27)

My dad stood in the kitchen and said to me, Nancy, I've hated your mother for the 47 years that I've lived with her. I looked at him and I said, well, dad, if that's the case, then why did you stay with her?

SPEAKER_6 (1:40)

I stayed because of you and your brother Tom, because I loved you two kids.

SPEAKER_5 (1:45)

I kind of laughed. I mean, I just thought, oh, you know, where's this coming from?

SPEAKER_6 (1:49)

And you need to know that I never loved your mother and I'm in love with Marge. She's the right person for me.

SPEAKER_2 (1:56)

She was just shocked and couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was tragic.

SPEAKER_1 (2:02)

To make matters worse, Marge was one of their mother's closest friends.

SPEAKER_5 (2:08)

Mom was right.

SPEAKER_1 (2:10)

Forty-year-old Marjorie Leroy never misses ice skating practice with her seven children.

SPEAKER_4 (2:17)

She's like a mama duck with seven little ducklings behind her.

They all were dressed beautifully. The kids had the best skates.

SPEAKER_5 (2:24)

Our kids were very well taken care of. They always had nice clothes. They went to a private school.

They were very polite.

SPEAKER_1 (2:32)

Watching practice from the stands is where she meets Helen Hagen, whose children Tom and Nancy are also figure skaters. The two women become fast friends.

SPEAKER_5 (2:43)

They sat up there and talked. What they talked about mostly was sewing and knitting and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_1 (2:49)

As the skating moms spend hours together, chatting and watching their kids practice, Helen learns there's more to her new friend than meets the eye.

SPEAKER_8 (2:59)

How can you afford to get seven on the ice?

SPEAKER_7 (3:02)

Is your husband rich or something?

SPEAKER_3 (3:04)

Oh, no, Richard? No, he's an accountant.

SPEAKER_9 (3:07)

You can keep a secret, right?

SPEAKER_1 (3:08)

Marjorie explains that her mother is Elizabeth Congdon. The Congdon family is one of the richest and most influential families in Minnesota.

SPEAKER_3 (3:18)

Tom and Nancy, I've been watching you guys skate for years.

SPEAKER_1 (3:22)

Marjorie's mother, Elizabeth, lives in a 39-room mansion along Lake Superior in Duluth.

SPEAKER_2 (3:28)

Elizabeth Congdon remained a single woman, and due to her millions, due to her financial situation, she was able to adopt Marjorie, and Marjorie had the best of everything. This is a case of someone growing up very entitled, getting whatever she wanted, being able to do what she wanted.

SPEAKER_1 (3:50)

From the outside, it seems like Marjorie enjoys limitless funds, but her perceived wealth is just show. After 19 years of marriage, Marjorie and her husband Richard are swimming in massive financial debt.

SPEAKER_6 (4:06)

I specifically gave you money to pay that bill.

SPEAKER_9 (4:10)

Yeah, I get to it later.

SPEAKER_3 (4:11)

I'll pay it tomorrow. I went shopping. See, I found this.

SPEAKER_2 (4:14)

Marjorie was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted. She'd come from millions, but I don't know if she was accustomed to not getting her way.

SPEAKER_5 (4:24)

Marjorie, we don't have the money for you to continue to spend.

SPEAKER_1 (4:30)

The spoiled rich girl never tamed her uncontrollable spending habits, even after marrying her accountant husband.

SPEAKER_2 (4:38)

She would just buy and buy and buy, and there was no sense of budgeting. And fortunately for her, her mother would then bail her out.