The Murder of Cindy Albrecht
For this case I watched an episode of True Conviction. It’s season 2 episode 6, titled ‘Drive to Kill.’
A 31 year old chef for a racing team disappears from her home.
Background
Cindy grew up in Florida, but met her future husband Michael Albrecht at a catering event that she was working. He convinced her to move with him to Indianapolis, where he worked as a mechanic for the Dick Simmons racing team.
Cindy soon got a job for a racing team as well. She worked as a chef for the Roger Penske-Marlboro racing team. Cindy was described as an amazing chef, down to earth, and a fixer. Her best friend Sandi said Cindy wanted to fix people, and take them under her wing.
Cindy Albrecht
A Strained Marriage
Michael was fired from his job, along with a few other crew members. This put a strain on his marriage to Cindy, and they agreed to separate.
Cindy began dating a man named Pete, who worked as a racing executive. Sandi said that they fell in love, and loved to travel together. They had returned from a trip the day that Cindy disappeared. Cindy returned to Indianapolis, and Pete went home to Naples, Florida.
The evening of October 25, 1992, Cindy returned home, and called her friend Sandi around 9:15pm. She told Sandi that she was waiting for Pete to call her, and the friends agreed to hangout the following day.
Pete called Cindy, and left a voicemail. He called her again around 10:30, and then 11:30pm. When she didn’t answer, he called Sandi. Sandi said she had just talked to her, and that maybe she fell asleep. Pete tried calling her all night, and couldn’t get a hold of her.
No Sign of Cindy
Pete called Sandi the next morning, and told her that Cindy still wasn’t answering. Sandi and another friend named Becca, went over to Cindy’s apartment. Her car was still in the parking lot, and had dew on the hood of it.
They went to the front door, but there was no answer. They decided to go to the back door. Sandi immediately noticed that the sliding screen door had been torn off. Cindy often left the screen door opened to let fresh air in for her cats. Sandi tried the sliding glass door, and it was unlocked.
The friends walked inside, but soon believed something was wrong. They ran back down to the car, and got some mace and an umbrella.
They went back inside the apartment. The front door was chained, Cindy had several missed voicemails and her suitcases were still packed. Cindy’s purse and a watch from Pete were found on the table.
Cindy was not in the apartment, so her friends called the Speedway, Indiana police to report her missing.
Cindy’s best friend Sandi on the episode of True Conviction
The Investigation
Lieutenant William Jones arrived at Cindy’s apartment. He noticed that there was a large wooded area behind the apartment complex. At night, the area would be really dark, but someone would have a really good view of Cindy’s place, and could see when she returned home.
Inside the apartment, they discovered that Cindy’s bedspread was missing, and about $2,500 from her work bag was missing. Sandi said Cindy would carry money in the bag for work, and would buy food and drinks for racing events.
The police believed that Cindy knew her abductor, and that the abductor knew what she kept in that bag. Cindy’s boyfriend Pete was immediately ruled out. The police had checked airline and phone records. Pete called Cindy as soon as he landed in Florida, and kept trying to get in contact with her all night.
The next person of interest was Michael, Cindy’s soon to be ex-husband. The divorce was to be finalized the day after Cindy disappeared.
Michael willingly agreed to come in for questioning. He told the police that he and Cindy were about to be divorced, but that they ended things on good terms. He told the police that he was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, visiting his friend Bill Filter during the time of Cindy’s disappearance.
Michael told the police that he and Bill went bar hopping, and visited the bar that Bill’s father owned. Bill confirmed this, and said he saw Michael the next day as well. Michael was ruled out.
A Horrific Discovery
In November 1992, about three weeks after Cindy disappeared, Sandi received a call from a friend. The friend said she had heard that a woman’s headless body was found about 100 miles away from Speedway. The description was that it was a white female, around the ages of 25-35 years old.
Becca, Cindy’s other friend, called the Indiana State Police. She told them that she believed the body could be Cindy’s. The police asked her questions about whether or not Cindy had any scars. She said yes, she had a scar from getting her appendix removed. The police made an audible gasp, and that’s when Becca knew that it was Cindy.
The local police contacted Lt. Jones, and he went up to the area. He described it was a rural “dumping ground.” The body was confirmed to be Cindy, as they were able to match her fingerprints from prints they took from her home.
Cindy had been found nude, lying in a sexually suggestive position. Her head had been removed. Unfortunately, a cause of death couldn’t be determined to her missing her head. Lt. Jones was an experienced police officer, but had never seen anything like this. He was very emotional in this episode, and it shows that he truly cared about Cindy, and about solving her case.
A Potential Suspect
Once Cindy was identified, they asked Sandi if she knew of anyone who would hurt her. Sandi said that Cindy had dated a man named Matt, who worked as a tree trimmer.
Sandi said they had only went on one date, but he was in a relationship with another woman. The girlfriend had called Cindy, and told her to back off. Cindy did, but Matt wouldn’t leave her alone. He showed up at her apartment, but she didn’t let him in.
The police found it suspicious, and believed he had the tools from his work as a tree trimmer, to be able to do this. Matt also had injuries on his face. However, he was soon ruled out. He had gotten into a bar fight on October 24, and was in the hospital until 4am the next morning. He then spent two days in bed recovering from his injuries.
A Shocking Development
The police turned their attention back to Michael. They truly believed that Cindy knew her killer, and Michael seemed to have the most anger towards her.
Michael again denied killing Cindy, and said he had been in Milwaukee with his friend Bill.
In December 1992, Michael’s boss, Antonio Ferrari, told the police that Michael had made statements to him that he wanted a permanent way to make sure Cindy didn’t come to the races anymore. Antonio didn’t think anything of it, until he heard that a woman’s body had been found.
Antonio told the police that he knew Michael was the sole beneficiary of Cindy’s $50,000 life insurance policy. The police were able to confirm this. They asked Antonio if he would be willing to call Michael, and have the conversation recorded. He agreed.
On December 4, Antonio called Michael, and said he had been interviewed by the police. Michael made vague statements, and didn’t say anything to incriminate himself.
The Alibi
The police believed that Michael killed Cindy. They went to speak to Bill again, and this time he changed his story. He added more details. He said they had been at his father’s bar, and bought a six pack. The police spoke to employees at the bar, who knew Bill, and they denied seeing him that night.
Michael had been driving his roommate’s car the weekend that Cindy disappeared. The car was located and searched. Inside, they found a hair that matched Cindy’s. They also found a stain that looked like it was blood. The DNA was tested, but it was 1992, so the DNA could only prove that the DNA was consistent with Cindy’s DNA.
Lt. Jones took the case that he did have to the prosecutor, but the prosecutor refused to charge Michael.
Trial and Conviction
Michael remained free for five years. This was until Deputy DA Larry Sells agreed to take the case.
In August 1997, Michael was arrested. He was living in Georgia at this time, and he was extradited back to Indiana.
Larry Sells was convinced that Bill was lying about his alibi. Bill Filter was arrested and charged with assisting a criminal. Bill agreed to finally tell the truth. He testified in court, that Michael asked him to kill Cindy. He told Bill that he could park in a shopping center, and walk through the bushes to Cindy’s apartment. Bill said no, so Michael had a new request for him. He had to kill Cindy himself, and he asked Bill to give him an alibi. Bill agreed because they were close friends.
Bill was asked why he didn’t tell anyone, or even warn Cindy. Bill said he was on drugs and drank a lot during that time, and wanted to protect his friend.
Larry Sells said that he didn’t know if the jury would believe Bill because he had lied several times. Larry said he believed the jury believed Bill once he said that Michael came to his job the day after the murder. Bill asked Michael if he did it, and he said yes.
It’s believed that Michael killed Cindy, stole her money, wrapped her in her bedsheet, put her in the trunk of his friend’s car, decapitated her and dumped her body.
After 8 hours of deliberation, the jury found Michael guilty. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Michael Albrecht
Other
When Larry Sells asked Michael where Cindy’s head was, he told him that he was asking the wrong man.
In 2009, Michael appealed his sentence. The Indiana Court of Appeals denied it, and upheld his conviction.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I believe Michael killed Cindy, but there was not a lot of evidence against him. I guess Bill was very reliable and honest in his testimony. I probably wouldn’t have been able to believe someone who lied so many times, but I guess they believed his story and the small amount of evidence that they did have.
I hope Cindy’s family and friends believe justice was served for Cindy. I can’t imagine what she went through that night, especially at the hands of someone who claimed to have loved her at one point.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/who-killed-cynthia-cindy-albrecht-where-is-michael-albrecht-now/
https://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/supreme-court/2000/10190001-rdr.html
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/487542488/an-indy-car-chef-is-murdered-and-beheaded
