Episode 137 Kristie Gunderson Lee

20 year-old Kristie Gunderson Lee was a young wife, and new mom living in Pompano Beach, Florida in 1994. She was a friendly and popular hairdresser who was not known to have enemies, but on March 31st of that year, she died a violent death in her apartment. She was bludgeoned and strangled to death. Initially, it seemed like a burglary gone wrong, but police ruled that out and instead investigated the murder as a crime of passion. As in most cases involving a crime of passion, detectives looked closely at Kristie's husband Jeff Lee, but learned early on that he was at work when the murder happened and had an air tight alibi. Police quickly turned their suspicion to Kristie's in-laws, Kay and Joe Petralia, who had discovered Kristie's body and called 911. Their timeline of events didn't match up with witness statements in the case, and as police looked closer, they found that Kristie & Kay had been at odds with each other over the raising of  Kristie & Jeff's  son Zachary. They had heated arguments, and at least once, got into a physical altercation. Police asked the Petralias to take polygraphs, and they both refused. Eventually, the Petralias became the prime suspects in their daughter in law's murder, and even their son Jeff came to believe that they were responsible for Kristie's murder. But to date, no charges have ever been filed in relation to Kristie's murder. 

Kristie's good friend Emily, who runs a Facebook page about Kristie's case, and has been advocating for her friend for 30 years, discusses Kristie's case in this episode.

If you have any information about the murder of Kristie Gunderson Lee, you can contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or go to browardcrimestoppers.org