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The conviction of Letti Strait for the first-degree murder of Charlie Cammisano in 2007 was justice long-awaited as the case dragged on for over a dozen years. Charlie had been shot to death in his Riverside home over child support and custody issues.
While the investigators initially suspected the involvement of goons owing to his relation to the Kansas City mob boss, William Cammisano, they soon found evidence and witnesses to point to Letti and Terry Strait. Furthermore, a positive DNA match between Letti and the sample from Charlie's missing Jeep Cherokee led to her arrest in 2014.
Episode 5 of season 28 of Snapped chronicles the murder of Charlie Cammisano as it re-airs on June 25, 2024, at 10 pm EST on Oxygen. The episode originally aired on October 4, 2020, and the official synopsis reads:
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"A man is murdered and questions are raised about his ties to the mafia, but a closer inspection reveals a spiteful killer with a more personal connection."
Why did Letti Strait kill Charlie Cammisano?
Letti Strait had been seeing Charles "Charlie" Cammisano for 19 years before the two married. Their marriage did not last long and the two broke up after two years, leaving their five children under Charlie's primary physical custody. According to Oxygen, as soon as the divorce was finalized in July 2003, Letti remarried Terry Strait and the two worked together painting houses.
Letti reportedly owed Charlie $19,000 in child support which he forgave, only to soon realize that she had been collecting food stamps under SNAP benefits on behalf of her children for two years, per Platte County Prosecutor’s Office. As Charlie was in a financial fix, Letti and Charlie had an ugly argument regarding the same.
The weekend over which Charlie Cammisano was murdered, their children were with Letti who, in turn, had sent them to a friend's house for a sleepover. Before the children left for their alleged sleepover, their 9-year-old son had overheard Letti tell her husband, Terry:
“We have to kill him."
While the issues were primarily with child custody and support, Charlie was aware that something evil was coming his way as he had confided in a friend at The Caddy Shack the night before his murder that Letti Strait had threatened to kill him, per The Platte County Citizen.
How was Letti Strait arrested?
Letti Strait had mentioned seeing Charlie's missing Jeep Cherokee parked outside his house the morning of his murder to the detectives at the crime scene. However, the vehicle was found parked at The Caddy Shack and close to the Cold Storage Lofts in the River Market, per The Platte County Citizen. Witnesses mentioned that the vehicle had been there since August 31.
The statements from Charlie and Letti's' children revealed the cracks in their marriage and the issues the couple shared even after the divorce. A house search was conducted with a SWAT team as Terry and Letti refused the authorities entry. While the search revealed nothing incriminating, they picked up samples of DNA from Letti's cigarette butts.
As the case turned cold, Letti was serving three years for attempted tax evasion for the SNAP ordeal. Thereafter, a DNA match sent her to prison for life with no parole for the first-degree murder charges in May 2020.
Catch all the details of Charlie Cammisano's murder as Snapped airs on Oxygen on Tuesday.
