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Snapped: Behind Bars season 2 episode 5, titled, Tabitha Messina, will delve deep into the 2007 double homicide in Ohio, that claimed the lives of 50-year-old Richard Messina and his 43-year-old long-term girlfriend Sandra Cover.
The episode, which will feature an exclusive interview with Tabitha, one of the prime accused in the murder of the Ohio couple, will air on Oxygen on September 29, 2024, at 7:00 pm ET. The synopsis for the same reads:
"Serving a life sentence for the murders of her father and his girlfriend, Tabitha Messina explains what happened for the first time on camera. She claims she wasn't the mastermind and shifts blame onto her convicted co-conspirator."
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Following the investigations into the double homicide, Tabitha Messina and Carlos Christopher were found guilty. The killers received separate sentences for the brutal murders and are currently incarcerated. Tabitha Messina is in the Daynton Correctional Centre, while her accomplice, Carlos Christopher remains at the Trumbull Correctional Institute.
Tabitha Messina and Carlos Christopher brutally murdered Richard Messina and Sandra Cover
Richard Messina and Sandra Cover were killed in their residence on July 29, 2007, and their dead bodies were discovered in the master bedroom on July 30, 2007.
Richard was found next to his bed with his body twisted at an odd angle and there were bedclothes covering his face. A cell phone and a crucifix were found next to his head. His girlfriend Sandra Cover was also found dead in the same room.
Richard died from several chop wounds inflicted on him with a hatchet, while his girlfriend, Sandra Cover, died from blunt force trauma, as revealed in the autopsy.
Carlos Christopher had an altercation with Richard Messina right before the murder
Reportedly, Carlos Christopher and Tabitha Messina’s budding relationship was not approved by Tabitha’s father Richard. Allegedly, Richard did not want Tabitha to date a dark-skinned male, after which Tabitha broke up with Christopher and started dating Jason Gaylord.
As reported by Oxygen True Crime, on July 29, 2007, Tabitha’s father called her and asked her to return the cell phone that she had borrowed from him previously. Tabitha however did not want to return the device and later that day she sent Christopher to Richard’s residence to return the cell phone.
As revealed by Christopher’s attorney John Pyle, Christopher and Richard had an altercation, after Richard allegedly hurled a racial slur at him.
After the altercation, Richard informed the authorities and told them that he did not want Tabitha Messina or Christopher back in the house. Soon after this, the older couple was found murdered and their cars were stolen.
When Tabitha and Christopher were arrested on July 30, 2007, Carlos revealed that Tabitha was the one to first attack Sandra Cover, soon after which he killed Richard, who had woken from his sleep.
Carlos Christopher and Tabitha Messina were both charged with double homicide in 2008. Tabitha pleaded guilty to 2 counts of aggravated murder and one count of robbery. Her accomplice Christopher, also pleaded guilty to the murders.
In 2008, Christopher was sentenced to life in prison without parole and Tabitha was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 60 years.
To learn more about this double homicide and to know Tabitha's side of the story, watch season 2 episode 5 of Snapped: Behind Bars.
