The Murder of Ron Tomich
For this case I watched an episode of Blood Relatives. It’s season 6 episode 1, titled ‘Bloody Valentine.’
A hardworking father is killed in his home on Valentine’s Day.
Background
Ronald ‘Ron’ Tomich lived with his wife Connie, step-daughter Alyssa and daughter Sandia in Linton, Indiana.
Ron worked as a manager of a landscaping firm, and was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to take his family camping, and had a passion for collecting and researching mushrooms.
Ron Tomich
The Family Dynamic
It seemed like things were going really well for the Tomich family, or at least they acted like it. Alyssa was a really good student at school, until she started dating a boy named Aaron Bixler. Ron didn’t like Aaron, and forbade him from seeing Alyssa.
Ron soon told the family that he had gotten a promotion at work, and was going to be spending four days out of the week in a different town. Alyssa’s ears perked up at this, and often invited Aaron to come over. Alyssa’s grades started dropping, and Ron confronted her when he came home.
Ron also confronted Connie, and said that she needed to be more of a parent than a friend. Ron eventually decided he needed to be at home with his family, rather than being away at work. Connie didn’t seem to like this because she had some secrets that she was keeping.
The Murder
On Valentine’s Day 2003, Connie had taken Alyssa, Sandia and Alyssa’s friend Melissa Zitterman shopping. They returned home around 4:30pm, and discovered a horrific scene.
Ron was found laying on the floor in the kitchen in a pool of blood. Connie called 911, and the police arrived soon after. They immediately noticed the blood spatter, and multiple gun shots to Ron’s back and head.
The police also ruled out robbery. They described the house as very clean, and Ron still had his jewelry and wallet.
It was a fairly clean crime scene, but the police did find a bullet hole in the ceiling fan, and several rounds from a .38 caliber gun were recovered.
Family Secrets
The police wanted to speak to Connie, who was now at a neighbor’s house. The police described her as being calm and collected. They asked her where she was during the murder. She said she had been out shopping with her daughters, and that they arrived home at 4:30pm, to find Ron laying on the floor.
Next, the police asked her if Ron had any enemies. Connie said he had been receiving phone calls from former employees that he had to fire. Connie said Ron was so scared that he kept a gun in his car. However, a gun was never recovered from his car.
Alyssa was also brought in for questioning, but Connie had to be present since Alyssa was 16. The interview was shut down by Connie, who told the police that they couldn’t talk to Alyssa anymore.
During the investigation, the police looked into Ron’s work, but Ron’s boss said there were no issues there. The police did get the name of an old co-worker and friend of Ron’s named Roger. Roger had also gotten very close to the family, and Ron asked him to look after the family while he was out of town.
Roger did get very close to the family, especially to Connie. Roger told the police that he had an affair with Connie, and that she told him how horrible Ron was to her. Roger told the police that he was at work all day at the time of the murder, and his alibi checked out.
Before Roger left, he told the police that he and Connie did have conversations about getting Ron out of the picture. Well, Connie talked, but he didn’t really believe she was serious.
The Family Friend
The case stalled for a bit, the police were only getting dead ends. This was until they heard that Melissa Zitterman, Alyssa’s friend, had been acting strange since the murder.
The police went to speak to Melissa. The police asked Melissa about Alyssa’s forbidden relationship with Aaron. Melissa said Aaron had actually driven her and Alyssa home from school that day before they went shopping.
The police weren’t aware of this, so they brought Aaron in. Aaron said he and Ron didn’t get along, so he spilled the beans during his interview. He said that Connie had asked him to kill Ron, but that he said no.
Melissa was again brought in for questioning. This time she was very emotional and uncomfortable. Melissa told the police that she would tell them what happened. Melissa said when they returned home from shopping, she helped Connie with the bags, while Alyssa stayed in the car with Sandia. Connie then told Melissa that Ron was abusive to her and the girls, and that she wanted her to scare Ron with a gun. The gun was loaded with five bullets.
Melissa walked into the kitchen, pointed the gun at Ron, and told him to stop what he was doing to the family. Melissa then said that Connie came up behind her, and yelled at her to shoot. Melissa fired the gun. The first shot missed, and ricocheted off the ceiling fan. Melissa then fired three more times, and hit Ron in the forehead and back.
Arrests and Convictions
Melissa Zitterman and Connie Tomich were both arrested.
At Connie’s trial, Melissa testified that she was paid $180 to kill Ron. The police believed Connie didn’t want a divorce or to share custody of the kids, so she prayed on Melissa to get her way.
Connie Tomich was sentenced to 85 years in prison.
Melissa Zitterman was sentenced to 30 years, but was paroled at 10.
Aaron Bixler was sentenced to six months probation for conspiracy to commit murder, but on the Blood Relatives episode it said it was for failing to report Connie’s scheme.
Alyssa Tomich was given immunity, and was never charged.
Connie Tomich
Melissa Zitterman on Snapped
FINAL THOUGHTS
I found Melissa to be fairly credible. She was the main talking head in this episode, and she seemed like she really was manipulated by Connie to do this. I can tell Melissa is also angry by the fact that Alyssa didn’t get any punishment, and she did. However, Melissa was the ultimately the one that pulled the trigger, and I think 10 years was fair. Some will say 10 years in nothing, but I can see both sides of it. Connie deserves to rot in prison.
Sources
https://www.wave3.com/story/1379770/teen-sentenced-to-20-years-for-role-in-murder-plot/
https://www.kpcnews.com/article_dd2bbb0b-fb75-5960-8384-d2e2a7e684f2.html
