On October 18th, 1992, paramedics were called to a field in a wooded area outside The Plains, Virginia. 37-year-old Shelly Malone, an accomplished horsewoman, had been badly injured in a riding accident. As paramedics struggled to save Shelly’s life, her boyfriend, George Carhart, and two other friends could only stand by helplessly and watch. One of them, Erica Stumvoll, was the only witness to the accident. According to Erica, Shellys horse had stepped on her and kicked her repeatedly. One blow was apparently powerful enough to rupture her heart. Shelly died later that day. According to the coroner, it was an accidental death. People in horse country tend to accept occasional accidents as part of their lives. To Shellys family, it seemed an impossible scenario for such an experienced rider. According to her mother, Frances Shewan, Shelly had been around horses since she was a young child and loved them so much that she jokingly said she was going to marry one. It was horses that brought Shelly to The Plains area in 1988. Shelly lived in a small house out in the country, a perfect place to stable her two horses. In 1990, she started dating George Carhart, who lived in New York and came down frequently to visit. However, Shellys mother claimed that after two years, Shelly was ready to move on and that the relationship was strained. Shelly told her parents that she was ending the relationship. Two days before she died, Shelly allegedly had a romantic encounter with a local attorney. Shellys family believed George Carhart found out about the affair when he came to visit that final weekend. On the afternoon of her death, Shelly went riding with Erica Stumvoll. George Carhart and Carter Wiley, Ericas boyfriend, stayed behind at the house. Erica has issued only one official statement about the days events, a written document she prepared and delivered to the police. This is a selected portion of Erica’s statement: “We alternately walked, trotted, and galloped the horses through several fields and trails. We were approximately 100 yards into a new field we had just entered. We were walking the horses side by side to cool them down. Unexpectedly, both horses spooked. I was thrown and fell off to the left of my horse. I was not seriously injured. I sighted Shelly about 30 feet away. The horse stepped on her legs, face and head, kicking her head as he did so in an apparent attempt to get away. As the horse moved away from her, I immediately ran to her. I checked her pulse and looked in her mouth to see if there were any obstructions. I noticed her left cheek was turning purplish blue, which I assumed was the result of the horse stepping on her face. Fearful of a head injury as a result of seeing the horse kick her in the head, I then concluded that the best thing to do was try to seek medical help. Erica claimed she got lost trying to find help. It would be an hour and a half before paramedics reached Shelly. Later, George Carhart called Shellys mother in Florida and said that Shelly had been in an accident. Frances expected him to say that Shelly slipped and broke an arm or leg, but George told her that Shelly was dead. Shelly’s family left Florida and hurried to Virginia. When they arrived at the morgue, they were shocked by what they saw. According to Shelly’s mother, her daughter looked like she had been involved in much more than a riding accident. Upon looking at the Polaroids taken of Shelly at the morgue, Frances said that Shellys face was so battered and swollen that she didnt recognize her, and Shellys face was all black and blue. The coroner ruled Shelly’s death an accident, but other events made Shellys family even more suspicious. Two days after Shellys funeral, her family members visited her house. According to Shelly’s brother Jeffrey, George Carhart was there with a pickup truck backed up to the porch and Shellys furniture, clothing and other belongings were being loaded up and taken away. Shellys mother said that she argued with Carhart about Shelly’s belongings. George said that all of Shellys clothing was going to charity but Shellys family had not made those arrangements. Frances said she was taking all of the plastic garbage bags with Shellys belongings and putting them back upstairs, and that she and George were fighting over the bags. Apparently, the clothes Shelly was wearing when she was killed had been tossed into the dump. The next day, George Carhart took Shellys family to the local dump to retrieve them. They never found the clothes, but they say they did discover more than two dozen jewelry boxes from Tiffany and Cartier, all of them empty. Then there was Shellys truck. Her family found what they believed to be bloodstains inside. They asked Detective Tony Lewis of the Wilton Manors Police Department to test them, and he found that the blood was indeed human blood. From the angle where the blood was on the passengers seat, it appears that it came from a head wound. Shellys family took the truck back to The Plains. They turned it over to local authorities, who performed routine blood tests. However, the Sheriffs Office claimed they didnt have the budget to do DNA comparisons. What would DNA tests have revealed? If the blood in Shelly’s car was her own, it could suggest that someone used the truck to move Shelly. According to the official scenario, only paramedics had moved Shelly after her fatal injury, and they used an ambulance. Shellys family has tried to keep pressure on authorities with newspaper ads, letters and phone calls. Shelly’s mother, Frances, wants a full investigation, which she believes will prove Shelly was murdered. She believes Shelly had an argument with either George or Carter, and one of them struck her in the head and killed her or felt that they killed her or maimed her in a serious way. The case of Shelly Malone is considered closed by local authorities. Everyone involved declined to be interviewed. In addition, the office of the chief medical examiner in Washington D.C. has also ruled that the death was accidental. Yet, the family continues to hope someone will come forward with new revelations about how Shelly died. Shelly Malones death remains unsolved over 21 years later. ~Alex~
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 06:18:24 +0000
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