The Murder of Lori Sullivan
For this case I watched an episode of Fog of Murder. It’s season 1 episode 6 titled ‘Mattress Store Murder.’ Now, I think I’ve written a post on all but one episode of this show.
A 39 year old mother is murdered in the mattress store where she worked.
Lori Sullivan
Background
Lori Sullivan had been married three times, and most of her relationships were described as rocky. She had three children of her own, and two step-children.
Lori was described as a mother figure to her children’s friends who didn’t have the best home lives. She had a kind heart and was hard working. She worked as much as she could to provide for her kids, and give them everything they ever wanted.
The Murder
On August 17, 2005, a 911 call came in from the mattress store in Havertown, Pennsylvania. The caller said “she’s behind the counter, covered in blood.” The door was shut, but unlocked, and there was a sign on the door.
The police arrived at the scene around 1:40pm. A delivery truck was parked parallel to the store, and two delivery workers were standing outside the store. These were the men that called 911, and discovered the body.
The police walked inside the store, first checking that the scene was clear. They walked to the counter, and found Lori Sullivan behind the counter, laying in a pool of blood. The police recognized Lori, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. She had been stabbed in the neck, and a knife and box cutter were found on the floor.
The police walked to the back of the store, and walked out to the back alley. In the back, they met with two construction workers who were very abrasive at first. The older man wouldn’t give the police his name, but eventually said he heard a scream. The two men had nothing to do with the crime, they were just working on a job.
The Investigation
Steve O’Neill, Lori’s son, said that his aunt called him to turn on the news. There on the TV was a helicopter view of the store, and the headline read ‘woman dead at mattress store.’ Steve found out that it was his confirmed to be his mom, as he was on his way to Pennsylvania.
At first, the police thought it was a robbery, but there was no cash from the register missing. Lori’s purse was still at the scene. The majority of the blood was behind the counter, but there was some on the wall and in the bathroom sink. There were two cigarettes found in a lid from a jar, and the cigarettes were collected.
The first suspects were the delivery drivers. Lori had actually given one of the young men the job, she was very close to him, and had been since he was younger. The delivery driver was asked about the knife found at the scene, and he said it looked like one Lori’s son Chris had. Apparently, Lori and Chris had a falling out.
The police went to speak to Chris, who was at football practice. He was told that his mom was dead, and he appeared very emotional and angry. He was ruled out right away, and had been at football practice the whole time. The knife was also just one that looked similar. Chris didn’t use his knife, and just and his for show.
The Ex-Husbands
The police dup deep into Lori’s home life. With the robbery theory ruled out, the police believed Lori knew her killer. Lori had been married three times, and it was a struggle to keep her growing family happy.
When Lori was 18, she married a man named John. It was short lived, and her son believes it was a first love type relationship. Their marriage ended after she started a relationship with her second husband, a man named Mike.
Lori’s second marriage was less rocky than the first. She thought this marriage was going to be happy ever after, but Mike got into trouble, and was sent to prison. It’s unknown what he went to prison for, but he was there when Lori was murdered. They also had a good relationship even after he was sent away, and they wrote letters back and forth. Lori’s son Steve said that he still calls Mike his dad to this day.
In 2001, Lori began dating a man named Kevin Sullivan. Kevin had two kids from a previous relationship, and Lori was excited to grow her family. Steve said that things were good for a year, but they started fighting all the time. In 2005, Kevin and Steve got into a fight, and Steve moved in with his aunt.
The police realized that they needed to talk to Kevin.
Some Helpful Leads
The police went back to the mattress store, and spoke the business owner next to the store. The neighbor said that she saw Lori that morning at 10am, when she arrived for work and put up her sign.
The police also located an ATM with surveillance cameras nearby, and hoped it recorded something useful. The police obtained the footage from the bank. At 10:16am, a white car is seen driving on the sidewalk, away from the store.
The police went back to search the inside of the store. The store’s answering machine had 15 messages, all from someone named Steven (not Lori’s son). The messages said “call me back,” and “I heard something call me, so I can make sure it’s not you.” Steven was identified as Steven Sullivan, Kevin’s brother.
Finding a Killer
The police went to speak to Steven on August 18, 2005. He had lived with his mom, and they located a white car at the home. The car was actually Lori’s, and Kevin had driven her to work in it on the day she died.
Steven told the police that he and Kevin were supposed to work as roofers on the 17th, but that Kevin didn’t show up. Steven called Kevin, and eventually Kevin came over and told him that he messed up.
The police obtained a warrant to search the home. Inside the home, they found a bloody shirt, bloody shorts and shoes with blood on them. The police were able to obtain an arrest warrant, and he was arrested in west Philadelphia.
Kevin was brought into the station, and into an interrogation room. His left wrist was bandaged, and he blood all over his clothes. The police read him his rights, but he said he wanted to speak.
He told them that he took Lori to work, and left to buy her cigarettes and put gas in her car. He said that when he returned to the store, Lori told him that Steve wanted to move back in with her, and that he would need to leave to make that happen. Kevin said he asked her how she would be able to support the kids, and that she replied that her exes would help her. Kevin said he accused her of cheating, and that Lori got into his face.
Next, Kevin said Lori grabbed the knife and pointed it at him. He said they fought over the knife, and he stabbed her while they struggled. He said he killed her accidentally, but it was self defense. The police told Kevin that they didn’t believe him, because she was actually stabbed three times. The police also were able to match Kevin’s DNA to the cigarettes, and believed that he smoked the cigarettes while Lori bled to death.
Conviction
On June 6, 2006, Kevin’s trial began. Kevin was very stoic, and unemotional. It took the the jury two 1/2 hours to convict Kevin on first degree murder and possession of a weapon of crime.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 5 years for weapon charges.
Kevin has tried to appeal his conviction, but it was upheld in 2006.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I don’t believe any of Kevin’s story, except that Lori said she was going to leave him. He was probably very controlling and angry all the time, and if he couldn’t have her no one could. He took a mother away from five children, and he deserves to rot in prison forever.
SOURCES
https://starcasm.net/the-fog-of-murder-the-mattress-store-murder-of-lori-sullivan/
