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Rhonda Smith was a 42-year-old woman working as a receptionist at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Springfield Township. According to Oxygen television network, another member of the congregation shot her on January 23, 2008. She was admitted to the hospital but was declared dead, after sustaining critical injuries on the head.
When investigators reported the crime, the church Pastor revealed that Smith had been killed by a jealous co-worker named Mary Jane Fonder. It was found that Fonder had feelings for the Pastor, which he reportedly rejected. But the Pastor shared affection for Rhonda Smith, which created a fatal jealousy, that ended in murder.
As per Bucks County District Attorney's Office website, Fonder was investigated and almost 10 months later on October 30, 2008, she was found guilty of homicide. She was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment.
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The entire case and investigation behind the murder of Rhonda Smith was documented in episode 7 of Philly Homicide season 1. The episode titled Sinner and Saint premiered on December 14, 2024, on Oxygen.
What is the story behind the murder of Rhonda Smith?
According to the episode's description, Rhonda Smith had been a dedicated member of the church for 14 years. She had been the subject of compliments and affection from a lot of her peers, which turned out to fuel the jealousy of her murderer, Mary Jane Fonder.
As shown in the episode, Fonder had suffered from nervous breakdown throughout her childhood, and even tried to kill herself at the age of 16.
She had harbored feelings for the Church's Pastor, which turned into rage watching the receptionist taking all the credit. Hence, Fonder devised a plan to eliminate Smith, in the least suspicious way possible. As per phone records, Fonder reportedly made a call to the church on the morning of January 23, 2008, asking if Miss Smith would be working alone in the church.
As stated on Bucks County District Attorney's Office website, the murderer had made a hair appointment, to have her natural hair changed to avoid recognition. The investigators retrieved the wig from the hair salon, where she left it after the murder.
According to The Morning Call news oulet, Fonder became one of the prime suspects from the police, mainly due to her disturbing behavior as reported by the Pastor. She was also the prime suspect behind the disappearance of her aging father Edward Fonder III, back in August 1993.
The episode description on Oxygen stated that Mary Jane Fonder was arrested for the murder of Rhonda Smith on April 1, 2008, when a Point 38 caliber gun, was found by a fisherman on the shores of Lake Nockamixon. During the interrogation, Fonder had accepted owning a Point 38 caliber gun. But she claimed to have thrown the gun in the lake back in 1994.
This was proved wrong when the forensics retrieved the gun, and found in the testing that it was thrown very recently. As per The Charley Project, investigators retrieved a dead frozen dog in her refrigerator, along with a bucket filled with pinkish liquid, cleaning tools, and a dead chicken. The Point 38 caliber gun was found registered in the name of Fonder, with a more recent date.
What happened to the murderer of Rhonda Smith?
According to ABC News, the trial for Mary Jane Fonder began on October 21, 2008. Fonder's attorneys tried to take the case first toward an of suicide. Then they reportedly tried to shift the killer, to be a jealous lover, and even tried taking Fonder's sibling Edward Fonder IV to be the culprit.
However, by October 30, 2008, Fonder was found guilty of committing the first-degree murder of Rhonda Smith and possessing the crime weapon. It was on December 5, 2008, when Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Rea B. Boylan, sentenced her to lifetime imprisonment for the homicide.
As per Bucks County District Attorney's Office, she became the oldest woman to be convicted of murder in Bucks County.
AP News reported that Mary Jane Fonder died of cardiac arrest on June 4, 2018, while she was incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution – Muncy in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Though, she was found guilty of being the murderer of Rhonda Smith, the disappearance of Edward Fonder III, still remains unsolved.
Watch Rhonda Smith's murder case in detail on Philly Homicide episode 7 on Oxygen.
