20/20 True Crime Vault: New Year's Evil
9 snips
Mar 10, 2026 Guest
Investigating Detective / Former NYPD Detective (Mike Swain / Detective Mooney context)
Guest
Eve (Shelly's sister)
Detective Mike Swain, a former NYPD investigator, walks through the crime scene and forensic twists. Eve, Shelly's sister, shares raw family memories and the morning of discovery. They discuss the contested bathroom scene, delayed autopsy, digital timelines, and the long path from initial ruling to a homicide finding.
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Husband Found Wife In Tub And Performed CPR
- Rod Kovlin describes running into the bathroom after Anna's frantic call and pulling Shelly from the tub while doing CPR until EMS arrived.
- He says he grabbed her, pulled her out, and performed CPR as first responders were summoned, with Anna and Miles nearby.
Initial Accident Determination Halted Forensic Work
- Detectives initially treated Shelly's death as an accidental slip because the scene and father-daughter accounts matched and lacked obvious trauma.
- That initial assessment prevented immediate forensic collection like fingerprints and DNA, leaving the case under-investigated early on.
Religious Cleanup Scrubbed Potential Evidence
- A religious member entered the apartment to perform a ritual cleanup because of Jewish burial customs and washed the bathtub area.
- That cleanup occurred while police guarded the door and before a full autopsy, removing potential biological evidence from the scene.