A Deadly Inheritance: The Von Stein Murder

Lieth Von Stein was the kind of man who made life look easy. Born in 1946 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he grew up in a hardworking family that owned a successful dry cleaning business. After serving in the Army during the Vietnam era, Lieth transitioned into computer programming—a cutting-edge field in the 1970s when computers were the size of refrigerators and few people understood them.

Lieth's expertise made him valuable, and he landed a job at Pentagon Corporation, a major insurance and finance company. That's where he met Bonnie Bates, a single mother of two who had been through a difficult divorce and was working hard to support her children, Christopher and Angela. Lieth and Bonnie fell in love, married, and Lieth embraced his role as stepfather. Friends said he treated Chris and Angela like his own children and seemed genuinely proud to be a stepdad.

When Lieth was offered a position as chief auditor at National Spinning Company in Washington, North Carolina (locals call it "the original Washington"), the family moved to the quiet southern town. They bought a beautiful home, joined the country club, and lived comfortably. Lieth was respected in the community, Bonnie was warm and social, and their life seemed idyllic.

But beneath the surface, something dark was brewing.

The Murder

On the morning of July 25, 1988, Bonnie Von Stein woke up in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. She had been stabbed multiple times and was lucky to be alive. When police told her what had happened, she was devastated: her husband Lieth had been brutally murdered in their bedroom.

The crime scene was horrific. Lieth had been beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed repeatedly. Bonnie had also been attacked but survived. At first, it looked like a burglary gone wrong—there was a slit screen and broken glass on the back porch. But investigators quickly noticed something strange: nothing of value was taken. The house was barely disturbed. And the violence was shockingly personal.

The Investigation

As detectives dug deeper, they began to focus on Lieth's stepson, Chris Pritchard. Chris was a college student at NC State who had been home the night of the murder—or so he claimed. But his alibi didn't hold up. Witnesses placed him elsewhere, and his behavior after the murder was cold and detached.

Investigators discovered that Chris and his college friends—particularly James "Bart" Upchurch and Neal Henderson—had been obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy role-playing game. They spent hours immersed in a world of quests, battles, and treasure. But for Chris, the game became more than fantasy. He began to see his real life as a quest—and his stepfather's $2 million inheritance as the ultimate treasure.

The Conspiracy

Chris, Bart, and Neal hatched a plan to murder Lieth and Bonnie so Chris could inherit the family fortune. On the night of July 25, 1988, Bart and Neal drove to the Von Stein home, broke in through the back porch, and carried out the brutal attack. Chris had drawn them a map and given them details about the house layout.

Lieth was killed. Bonnie survived. And the three young men thought they had gotten away with it.

The Trial and Aftermath

But investigators pieced together the conspiracy. Neal Henderson eventually confessed and testified against Chris and Bart in exchange for a lighter sentence. Chris Pritchard was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Bart Upchurch was also convicted and sentenced to death (later commuted to life). Neal served his sentence and was released.

Bonnie Von Stein survived the attack but was left to grapple with the unthinkable: her own son had orchestrated the murder of her husband and nearly killed her too. She eventually moved away, remarried, and tried to rebuild her life.

This case remains one of North Carolina's most shocking family murders—a story of greed, entitlement, and the deadly consequences of blurring fantasy with reality.

TRANSCRIPT:

Mandy: [00:00:00] It was the summer of 1988 in Washington, North Carolina, a quiet southern town where people left their doors unlocked and still trusted their neighbors.

But inside one of those houses, something dark was brewing. By the end of that summer, one man would be dead, another near death, and the person behind it all would turn out to be someone.

No one expected. This is the story of Lith and Bonnie von Stein and the murder that turned fantasy into fatal reality. 

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Mandy: Hey guys, and welcome to the Moms and Mysteries podcast,

a True Crime podcast featuring myself, Mandy, and my dear friend Melissa.

Hi, Melissa.

Melissa: Hi, Mandy. How are you? 

Mandy: I'm doing well. How are you?

Melissa: I'm good. Mandy, you are much more of a cook than I am. I've been trying to, uh, like make some freezer meals now that we're going into like cooler weather and stuff. And

every day that I've done this, I've sliced my finger. I'm on my third finger, I'm running out.

I took a chunk out on a cheese grater and I was like,

this is why I don't cook. I'm [00:01:00] also not good at it, 

Mandy: As long as it. doesn't end up in the Wendy's chili. Like Our episode

Yeah,

Melissa: week. No, it was,

my husband was like, looking through the cheese. I'm like, no, it's, I can

see it's still here. It's

Mandy: right.

Melissa: But he was like, I don't want this cheese.

I'm like, I sacrificed my finger for it. You guys are eating this cheese. So,

Mandy: No, but cutting your finger like that and

like when, especially when it's like a small slice, it is so painful forever. So I recently did, the same kind of a similar thing. I cut my finger on a can or something that I was trying to open, 

Melissa: Oh, 

Mandy: so it just like sliced.

But the where it is is like right on where my finger bends on my index finger, and. For like the last week, I can barely even pick things up because like every time I bend my finger I can feel it. Like it, it stings, it burns, and it didn't even look that serious. It was just a tiny little cut. So yeah, that's, that is the worst.

Melissa: Absolutely. One of 'em I got from just picking

up the knife, like trying to clean. I'm like, now I can't cook or clean. This is just, you know, this is God's way of telling me that I should just be,

Mandy: Sit down.

Melissa: know, a [00:02:00] princess.

Mandy: Just sit down.

Melissa: doing anything. 

Mandy: All right. We'll get into the story for this week. There's a lot to get into with this one. and I'm excited to tell this story.

So, lith, Peter von Stein

was the kind of man who made life look easy. He was the kind of guy that everyone else in town would point to and say, now there's someone who did it, right?

He was born in 1946 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Howard and Marie Von Stein. They were a hardworking couple who owned a successful dry cleaning company. The family wasn't very flashy, but they lived a comfortable life, and Lith grew up with a really good head on his shoulders and a very clear understanding of how money and finances worked.

After finishing school, Leith joined the Army in the late 1960s. He served during a time when the country was still reeling from Vietnam and this social upheaval of that time period. His military years gave him structure, discipline, and really that quiet kind of confidence that people [00:03:00] naturally trusted Once he got outta the army, he transitioned into something completely new for that era, and that was computer programming. Now, this was the 1970s. This is back when computers were the size of refrigerators and nobody really even understood what they did, but Leh did and that made him really valuable.

He got a job at Pentagon Corporation. It was a big insurance and finance company, and he started building a solid life for himself.

That's actually where he met Bonnie Bates. Bonnie was a single mom with two kids named Christopher and Angela. She'd really been through a lot.

She'd already been through a divorce, financial struggles, and she was just trying to hold everything together, but she still had a warmth about her. She was kind, social and steady in a way that made people feel at ease around her. And Leh was also immediately drawn to her. Friends said that they balanced each other out perfectly.

Bonnie was really open and nurturing, and Leith was practical and dependable. So the [00:04:00] couple started dating and before long they were married. For Bonnie, it was like getting a second chance at happiness. Leith was devoted not just to her, but also to her kids. He treated Chris and Angela like they were his own, and people said he seemed genuinely very proud to be a stepdad.

When Lith took a new job as a chief auditor at National Spinning Company, which was one of the largest employers in Eastern North Carolina, the family packed up and moved to Washington. No, not the state. It's actually a quiet little town that locals affectionately call the original Washington. 

Melissa: I 

Mandy: This is in North Carolina.

So the Von Steins moved into a beautiful two story home in the upscale Smallwood neighborhood. this place is really perfect for Leh because it's the kind of neighborhood where the lawns are trimmed to military precision and everybody's mailbox matches.

Leh fit right in. He was the kind of man who would wave to his neighbors and he volunteered at church and I'm sure also loved to maintain his lawn. He, he worked very [00:05:00] long hours to provide for his family. To everyone looking in, they were living the dream. They had a big house, nice cars, and a solid marriage.

But behind closed doors, that perfect southern facade was starting to crack. 

Melissa: Devon Stein's younger child. Angela was easygoing and well liked. She got along with everyone to make good grades, and pretty much did everything right. Her brother Chris. Well, Chris was the exact opposite of that. He was intelligent, but he had that dangerous mix of laziness and ego that really can make a smart kid spiral. He loved attention and seemed to crave a sense of power. He was someone that would do things just to stand out. One classmate actually remembered him showing up to school with a python draped around his neck. I cannot imagine. Leh, though didn't find it charming. He believed that Chris was someone that needed structure. Obviously he's from the military, so he knows how much structure can [00:06:00] help. Maybe also a little humility wouldn't hurt him, and definitely he needed a plan for the future. But Chris really wasn't interested in playing Leh Let's Rules their relationship really turned into this constant power struggle. Lith was trying to shape Kris into a responsible young man, and Kris was doing literally everything he could to rebel against that. By the time Kris graduated high school in 1987, the tension in that house could have powered the whole. Still though Lith really wanted what was best for his stepson, he helped Chris enroll at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He even covered his tuition, housing, books, and a weekly allowance, which, wow, that's a lot. And he told

friends that he was proud of Chris. He was hopeful even he really believed that college might be the thing that finally got him focused. but to the shock of no one. It did not. Chris spent most of his time partying, sleeping in, and diving into What would [00:07:00] become his biggest obsession? Fantasy role-playing games. He became immersed in them.

These weren't just a hobby. These were really an escape for him. And as his grades started to tank, LE patients wore thin. And so that spring Leh made it clear either Chris gets hiss act together or. The money strain is over, and he

told him, flat out that if he didn't improve his grades, he'd stop paying for college altogether, which really seems very fair to. Have to be face consequences 

Mandy: Right. 

Melissa: you're just not trying. Um, and, and he definitely knew he could do better, but this threat really hits Chris like a brick wall because in his mind that's not let's money, it's his birthright. He believed that he was entitled to this lifestyle, to the house, to the wealth, to everything. So when lease started pulling back the reins, Chris didn't just feel embarrassed. He felt betrayed and when he started talking to his friends at North Carolina [00:08:00] State about it, saying that his stepfather was ruining his life. They didn't know they were about to get pulled into something that would soon cross from fantasy into fatal reality. 

Mandy: Once Chris got to NC State, his world opened up, but not exactly in the way his parents hoped it would.

Instead of discovering independence, he found a crew of misfits who were really just as adrift as he was. They were the type of crew who spent all night huddled around tables in the student union or cramped up in dorm rooms fueled by Mountain Dew, bad pizza, and just pure imagination, which.

If you've ever been to college, like you totally get that. but that's where Chris met a guy named Neil Henderson. He was a quiet and awkward student who was more book smart than street smart. He wasn't exactly cool, but he had what Chris needed and that was a car and a willingness to please. He also had a tendency to go along with whatever made him feel accepted.

Through Neil, Chris was introduced to James [00:09:00] Bartlett Upchurch, who went by Bart. He was a 21-year-old former NC State student who had stayed in the orbit of the campus crowd even after he dropped out.

So Bart was older, he was more charismatic, and he was absolutely obsessed with roleplaying games, specifically Dungeons and Dragons. Now before we go any further, this is the late 1980s. This is the height of what the media called the Satanic panic. It's actually crazy because w we, this came up in a recent episode, the, um, Krueger's DOP killings and I'D before that, I don't think we've ever really mentioned.

Melissa: know. 

Mandy: in the whole life of this podcast. So it's wild that it's come up in a couple different stories, but parents at that time were convinced that Dungeons and Dragons was a gateway to demon worship and murder, and really just ultimately the downfall of all civilization. In reality, it's mostly just nerdy kind of kids rolling dice and arguing about, you know, elves and stuff.

So it's 

Melissa: about [00:10:00] it. 

Mandy: the 

Melissa: ever played 

Mandy: no, I, I have not played it. I have only. Heard of it. Obviously growing up I know what it is, but no, I have never actually played. but with that said, in this case, the line between fantasy and reality really actually did start to blur. Chris didn't just play Dungeons and Dragons, he lived it.

He created elaborate characters. He would often cast himself as the leader or the villain. He would always choose someone powerful, untouchable, and really cruel. And he took the games very seriously. Bart, who was a self-proclaimed dungeon master, really encouraged this. He liked the control, and he liked being the one who decided who lived and who died in these fictional worlds.

So when Chris started venting about how much he hated his stepfather, and talking about how Lith was cutting him off and how he'd ruined his life, you know, and how he didn't deserve the money, Fart just listened to all this and never really shut it down.

He just kind of leaned into it. It started off as dark jokes and hypothetical [00:11:00] conversations they were having late night, you know, what if talks that really felt more like plot lines from their campaigns. But soon those fantasy discussions started sounding less like pretend, and more like real planning.

And we have so much more to get into after a quick break to hear a word from this week's sponsors.

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And now back to the episode. 

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Melissa: So before the break, we met Chris Von Stein. He's this college kid who goes from really failing classes that his stepdad's paying for to actually fantasizing about killing him. And now that fantasy was really about to take shape. Chris's bitterness towards Leh wasn't just teenage angst anymore, it was bordering on [00:14:00] obsession. He was talking constantly about his stepfather's money, the family's house, and the life he thought should have been his. And in those long nights with Barton Neal, the conversations about Leh started to turn darker. He'd say things like, if he were gone, everything would be easier. and Bart didn't stop him. In fact, he started to nurture that idea. He played right into Chris's fantasies of power and revenge. In Chris's mind, there was a lot of money at stake. Leith had a $700,000 life insurance policy and a $600,000 trust fund that was up for grabs or so.

He thought at one point Bart even told Chris that he could arrange something, that he somehow, as a college student knew people who could take care of Leh for him. And whether Bart actually did know people or not, it really didn't matter because Chris believed him. And this delusion started to snowball. [00:15:00] The plan really started to take shape and fragments. Bart would recruit someone to help. Neil would drive, and Chris would be the one to give them the details, like where his family lived or what time they went to bed or how to get into the house. Meanwhile, Leh and Bonnie had no idea what was brewing behind the scenes. They thought their son was focused on college, maybe struggling a little bit, but he was still trying. Bonnie, of course, his mom worried about him constantly. She would drive to Raleigh to visit with him, to slip him a little extra cash and to try to encourage him to do better. Chris had already made up his mind.

He told his friends that his stepfather

had ruined his life that he'd rather see him dead than live under his control, which is kind of a wild thing to have somebody paying for your entire lifestyle 

Mandy: Right, 

Melissa: and to be like, yeah, this man doesn't control me Well. A little, you know, he is paying for your stuff.

but by the summer of [00:16:00] 1988, the game was really no longer pretend Kristen Bart started meeting up off campus. They were away from their usual crowd. They were talking about logistics like gloves and weapons, timing, and even what they do afterwards. Neil later said that he thought the whole thing was really just talk, that Chris was venting and Bart was just feeding into this fantasy. But when Chris started talking about insurance policies and inheritance

money, it became chillingly clear. He wasn't just fantasizing about killing Feinstein, he was actually planning it, and the craziest part, he thought he'd get away with it.

Mandy: A couple of weeks before the attack. Chris actually tried to go through with it once on his own.

He drove home one weekend and told his parents that he was heading out to see some friends, but instead he met up with Bart and Raleigh. That's when Bart handed him a bag of crushed sleeping pills, and then Chris went back home and mixed those sleeping pills into the family's hamburgers at [00:17:00] dinner.

He was hoping that they would all pass out while he set up what was supposed to look like an electrical fire. So their plan was to make everything look like an accident. They were gonna try and make it look like a freak fire in the fuse box. Chris told Bart that he would drug his family, so they would sleep through it.

Then they could crush a fuse, pour gas on the wall, and set it up to look like a short circuit kind of situation. 

Melissa: There

are so many reasons you would get caught doing 

Mandy: Yeah.

Melissa: gasoline. The first thing you're gonna do going in that house is think it smells like fire and gasoline. 

Mandy: Right.

Melissa: from The

jump. This is a horrible idea and

Mandy: Terrible.

Melissa: these idiots thought this would be a good thing to do.

Mandy: Right. but Chris also told Bart that it was fine with him if his sister, Angela was also home. He said either way it would all be quick and clean. Which like you just said, there's nothing clean about this, plan at all.

But the fuse trick actually didn't work. And this plan to accidentally kill them all kind of fizzled out. Instead of stopping there [00:18:00] though, Chris decided that the next time they tried would be a lot more direct and far more brutal.

As the summer crept closer, the plan started moving forward in small calculated steps. Chris was returning home more often, but it wasn't to reconcile. He was actually just there scoping out the layout of the house, really paying attention to which of the doors stayed unlocked, and the time that his parents went to bed and how long it took them to fall asleep.

He even drew diagrams of all these things. He told Bart exactly where to go, where Leith's room was and how to avoid waking his mom up. The plan was simple in theory, get in, kill leith, get out. But in reality, this was a disaster waiting to happen. He. Chris didn't wanna do any of this himself. He was too afraid to actually get his own hands dirty, so Bart volunteered to do it, uh, saying that he had been in situations before, which by the way, was a lie.

He had not been in any situations. And what are you doing, Bart? but his [00:19:00] version of experience was really limited to dice, rolls and imaginary duals. They ended up looping in Neil Henderson as the getaway driver, though Neil later said he thought they were just going to rough let up, which. Sure, maybe he thought that.

I feel like he might've known there was more going on, just because Chris didn't seem shy about saying everything that he felt about his stepfather 

Melissa: was very much talked about out in the 

Mandy: out in the open, right? So Chris gave Bart everything he needed. Now Bart has the address directions to Smallwood and even the promise of a cut of this inheritance money.

So after all of this planning and after, you know, coming up with this whole idea, Chris decided that he would stay in Raleigh for the entire night so that way he would be surrounded by friends who would be able to vouch for him later and give him an alibi.

Meanwhile, Bart carried out the plan and Neil served as the getaway driver. Chris had claimed that Leh had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, and if he died, it would all go to his mom, Bonnie, and eventually it would [00:20:00] go to Chris. This fantasy, however, is all built on lies. But to Bart and Neil, this just sounds like easy money. And on the night of July 24th, 1988, their fantasy finally came to life in the worst possible way,

Melissa: Here's where I'm confused. You're killing your stepdad knowing that the money goes to your mom and eventually it goes

to you.

Mandy: right?

Melissa: you could be waiting 20, 30, 40 years before you get this easy money and this idiot with you is willing to kill somebody and wait 

Mandy: I do counter that with his other train of thought. Could be that with Leh outta the way. I'll have an easier time manipulating my mother to get to get my way and like, you know what I'm saying? Like maybe he thought he would have easier access to the money if it was in his mom's control, which unfortunately we have heard of cases like that.

You know, where children take advantage of their parents in that type of way, or they just know how to manipulate their parents to get what they want. And I get the impression he wasn't getting [00:21:00] that from Leh, and maybe he thought he could have a shot at that with his mom.

Melissa: No, that makes more sense. 'cause I was thinking more, uh, life insurance policies. But you're right, he had lots of money in the bank, so that would be stuff he would have access to more quickly. 

Mandy: Yeah. 

Melissa: so it was a hot, humid summer night in Washington, North Carolina And inside the Von Stein house, everything looked peaceful. Leh and Bonnie had spent the day visiting family. And then they came home around 11:00 PM They went through their usual nighttime routine. Bonnie took a shower, Leh read in bed, and by midnight the house was quiet. About two hours later, that calm was turned into a full blown storm. Bart Upchurch and Neil Henderson loaded into Neil's Gray, 1982 Honda, and drove down Highway 2 64 towards Washington. Bart had a sleeping bag, a knife, and a baseball bat, all things you'd expect in a crime that was supposed to be quick and clean, at least in their [00:22:00] very delusional minds. Neil was behind the wheel.

He was anxious and he was chain smoking. He said he didn't wanna be there, but he also didn't want to lose This approval of Chris or Bart. peer pressure, mixed with greed is really a dangerous cocktail. And Neil was really drunk on both. So Bart had double checked the directions. These were things that Chris had repeated to him, like the layout of the house, which windows were unlocked there, where the bedrooms were, all those things they would need when they went to the house. At one point, Neil, I guess, wisened up a little and said, what do we do if Bonnie wakes up? And Bart really shrugged it off and he said, we'll deal with it. And that phrase we'll deal with, it really would haunt him later. the two reached Washington a little after 3:00 AM Neil parked down the street from the Von Stein's home, keeping his headlights off. They crept towards the house, careful to stay in the shadows. Bart wore gloves and carry the knife and bat while [00:23:00] Neil, who was terrified but obedient, followed behind him. They slipped in through the back door, which was open, and officers later would say they found a slit in the screen and broken glass on the

back porch upstairs, Lih and Bonnie were asleep in their bed.

Completely unaware that two young men, 

Who were actually

friends of their son were standing in their hallway. Bart whispered to Neil, which room, and Neil pointed the two stepped inside and within seconds the nightmare began. 

Mandy: Woke up first. He saw movement in the dark. It was just a shadowy figure, kind of at the edge of his vision. But before he could react, Bart swung the bat.

The first blow hit very hard. Lith tried to fight back, and there were struggling and shouting, but he was no match for these two young male attackers.

Bart hit him again and again until Lith fell to the floor with blood pooling around him. Bonnie woke up to the sound of this attack and she [00:24:00] was very confused and of course terrified. As she turned towards the noise. Bart turned the knife on her. He stabbed her in the chest three times.

Bonnie screamed and the sound echoed through the house loud enough that neighbors later said they thought they could have heard something, but they dismissed it as nothing more than just something on late night TV When Bonnie went silent, Bart and Neil ran. They left Lith lying on the bedroom floor, beaten and bleeding, and Bonnie, who was barely conscious in a pool of her own blood.

They raced back down the hall and out the side door and into the night. Neil was shaking and he kept asking, are they dead? Are they dead? And Bart, who was covered in blood just kind of said, it's done. Bart changed out of his bloody clothes and he tossed them along with the knife, the maps, and the rubber sole of a Reebok shoe onto the side of the highway and set them on fire 

Melissa: These

three are such idiots. Why are you gonna put a fire somewhere? So people now have, [00:25:00] oh, what's this fire? Let's go up to it. There's a knife, there's, you know, a map. There's all this stuff. This seems weird. I should call the police. What 

Mandy: Right. And it really is insane, because someone did call the police like a passerby, a farmer that lived nearby saw a fire on the side of the road and obviously called the police because why is there a fire on the side of the highway? So yeah, it's not very inconspicuous, by sunrise, the two of them were back in Raleigh pretending like nothing had happened. A few hours later, around 4:45 AM

Chris got a call from his sister, Angela.

She was hysterical and was telling him that their parents had been attacked. Chris told her that he was so distraught he wouldn't even be able to drive, and he asked campus police to take him home. The scene was absolutely horrific. At the Von Stein home, Bonnie was drifting in and out. She heard the bedroom door close softly, and then she heard thumps and whooshes through the wall and she feared for her daughter Angela.[00:26:00] 

She crawled for the phone and pulled it to her chest, and at 4:27 AM she was able to dial 9 1 1. She said, this is an emergency. My husband may be dying and I think I may be too responding. Officers found the back door standing open. There was broken glass on the inside porch and upstairs Leh was unfortunately really beyond help. He had already passed and Bonnie was barely alive with the phone receiver still in her hand. When the police and paramedics did arrive, they found that Bonnie's skull was fractured. Her lung was punctured. She had stab wounds to her chest and neck, and Leh unfortunately was already gone. Early interviews focused on the theory of a burglary gone wrong.

That was until detective noticed that nothing valuable seemed to be missing. The only cash taken had been stashed in a specific spot that only the family knew about, which suggested that the killer wasn't a stranger.

Melissa: So when police tracked [00:27:00] down Chris at his apartment in Raleigh, played the role of the shocked grieving son. He reminded them that he'd been in Raleigh the entire weekend surrounded by friends, so you know, they could confirm it, which they did, and that airtight alibi is exactly why he had stayed there all weekend. He began to cry. He was asking questions. He told them he couldn't believe anyone would wanna hurt his family. Detectives really weren't buying it. They'd already noticed how oddly detached he seemed and how his story didn't quite match up.

Meanwhile, back at the crime scene, investigators found muddy footprints and tire tracks near the side of the house. The tread would end up matching Neil Henderson's Honda, and it didn't take long for police to start connecting the dots. Once they did everything really unraveled. Within days, they questioned Neil, who really cracked almost immediately. He confessed that he'd driven Bart to the Von Stein house and [00:28:00] that the attack had been planned by Chris. Neil told detectives that Chris wanted his stepfather dead for the money. He said, Chris had talked about it for weeks about how Leith had life insurance and how his death would make everything easier. He even told them about the Dungeons and Dragons connection, how Chris had turned their role playing game into a real world quest where Lith was the enemy and Bart was the assassin. This blows my mind that like

it is this blurry line. I played a lot of the organ trail when I was younger, and you kill a lot of people that you don't like on there, It doesn't mean I'm really thinking I wanna hurt 

Mandy: Right. 

Melissa: just wild to me that they take this so literally and it, and it turns into this. So the more Neil talked though, the clearer it became This was in no way a random act of violence. It was a scripted murder. Police arrested Chris Von Stein on July 31st, 1988. Just one week after his [00:29:00] stepfather's murder, Bart Upchurch was taken into custody when the story hit the news, people were stunned.

There's this well off clean cut college kid from a respected family, and they're learning that he'd orchestrated a murder straight out of a fantasy novel. And the woman who survived it, Bonnie had to wake up

every day knowing her own son had planned her death. And we still have more to get into after one last break to hear a word from this week's sponsors.

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Melissa: And now back to the episode. 

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Mandy: Before the break, Chris Von Stein's murder plot had finally come to life. His stepfather, lith

was dead. His mother, Bonnie, had miraculously survived the attack, and Kris's perfect alibi was starting to crack. Now the investigation started to unravel and the truth about what really happened inside the Von Stein home began to surface.

Once the arrest hit the news, the sleepy town of Washington, North Carolina turned into a media circus. reporters camped outside the Von Stein house, the high school and the [00:30:00] church, really anywhere that someone might be able to offer a soundbite about this, quote unquote, all American Family turned true crime headline.

And really everyone just wanted to know why. Investigators quickly realized they were dealing with something that wasn't just premeditated. It was scripted. Neil Henderson, who was desperate to save himself, gave the police a detailed confession. He said that Kris had been plotting his stepfather's murder for months and was dangling promises of cash and inheritance money to whoever would help him pull it off.

He told them how Kris had drawn maps of the house. He literally sketched out where Leh and Bonnie slept, and even provided Bart with a list of what to bring, including gloves, a knife, and a bat. He said that Chris was supposed to come along that night, but he lost his nerve at the last minute and stayed in Raleigh to make sure his alibi would hold up.

Neil said he believed it would just be a robbery and some kind of a scare tactic and something that would maybe just teach lethal lesson, but when he heard the screaming, the [00:31:00] reality hit him. They weren't just there scaring someone. They were destroying an entire family. Police immediately arrested Bart and soon after Chris.

Fart folded faster than a cheap lawn chair. He told the investigators absolutely everything, including how Chris had manipulated him, how he thought he was gonna get a cut of a $2 million inheritance, and how they'd talked about this For weeks like it was a mission, and to make all of this even weirder, Bart described their planning sessions as if they were role-playing scenarios.

Chris was the mastermind, Bart was the assassin. Neil was the scout. It was really like Dungeons and Dragons had been turned into a literal murder plot. The public went crazy with this. The headlines pretty much said Dungeons and Dragons murder plot in North Carolina. Reporters latched onto the idea that a tabletop game had somehow brainwashed these young men, 

Melissa: When Chris was questioned though he denied everything. He claimed that Barton Neal acted on their own, that he had no [00:32:00] idea they were gonna kill anyone. But the evidence, of course, told a completely different story. Investigators found his handwritten house diagram as well as letters between him and Bart.

Referencing the plan and even notes about the Von Stein's life insurance policy, They even uncovered a notebook where Chris had written what sounded like murder fantasy entries, calling his stepfather the target. Meanwhile, Bonnie Von Stein, the woman who barely survived her son's murder plot, was recovering at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. She had a long road of recovery. She had to relearn how to walk and speak. Her right lung had collapsed and she had deep lacerations across her face and chest. Yet when investigators visited her bedside, She cooperated fully when they told her Chris had been arrested.

She was really stunned, but she didn't deny it. She said quote, I know he was angry, but I never thought he'd do something like this. [00:33:00] Quote, the case finally went to trial in 1989. And from the first day the courtroom was packed, there were students, reporters, locals, everyone wanted to see this real life.

Dungeons and Dragons killer, Ultimately Bar Upchurch took a plea deal and he agreed to testify against Chris In exchange for a reduced sentence. Neil Henderson also cooperated giving prosecutors a firsthand account of the night of the attack. The star witness though was Bonnie. She took the stand with visible scars and a steady voice and told the court how she woke up to the attack, how she watched her husband die, and how she crawled for help with her son's name, echoing in her head, The prosecution painted Chris as a spoiled, manipulative, narcissist. A young man who saw his stepfather's success as a threat, not an inspiration. They said he'd grown up tired of being told no, and rather than work for his own life, he decided to take someone else's. [00:34:00] The defense tried to argue that Kris was a victim of Bart's influence, that Burt was really the true instigator, and that Kris was just playing along with this fantasy talk that got out of control. But luckily, the jury did not buy this. After hours of deliberation, they found Christopher Von Stein

guilty of first degree murder and attempted murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison, plus 40 years, bar Upchurch received a 30 year sentence for second degree murder. And Neil Henderson got 20. 

Mandy: Even after the verdict, the case refused to fade away.

The media couldn't get enough of the fantasy turned fatal storyline.

So documentaries popped up a bestselling book called Cruel Doubt, hit

the Shelves, and it was followed by a Made for TV mini series starring Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow.

People argued over what the case actually meant. Some said that it was proof that violent media and role-playing warped young minds and others said it was a lesson in privilege. They [00:35:00] said that Chris thought he could manipulate everyone around him and walk away clean, because that's what he'd always done.

But for Bonnie, this wasn't philosophy. This was her life. She moved away from Washington and quietly rebuilt what she could. She rarely spoke publicly about the attack ever again. Those who knew her said she had forgiven her son, not because she excused his behavior, but because she didn't wanna live the rest of her life in bitterness.

In interviews years later, investigators said the hardest part of the case was the lack of remorse. Chris Von Stein never apologized, never took any responsibility. He continued to insist that Bart was the real killer, even though it was his plan, his house and his family. And while the Cruel Doubt coverage did fade from the headlines, the story stuck in people's minds, not just because it was horrific, but because it really shattered this illusion that evil can only come from the outside. 

Melissa: after the trial ended, Washington, North Carolina was never the same. [00:36:00] The Von Stein home once this pristine white column, symbol of comfort and wealth, became a landmark of tragedy. People drove by just to see it. This. Murder house that was on the corner. Neighbors who'd known the family for years said it felt like a betrayal of the town's peace, that if something horrific like this could happen in their smallwood neighborhood, it could really happen anywhere. for Bonnie Von Stein. The aftermath was both physical and emotional.

She spent months in recovery relearning basic tasks And battling the trauma of knowing her son was behind it all. the attack, left her with lasting injuries, nerve damage, chronic pain, and deep scars that would really never fully heal. But in the years that followed, Bonnie showed an almost superhuman kind of grace. Despite everything she chose to forgive Chris. She said she couldn't carry the hate anymore, and in one rare interview she said, if I don't forgive him, I'm just letting him keep destroying my [00:37:00] life. Bonnie eventually moved away from Washington and remarried choosing to live life quietly. Friends said she never stopped being warm and kind that even after everything she'd survived, she still believed in people. Chris, on the other hand, was transferred to Craven Correctional Institution where he began serving his life sentence. He continued to deny responsibility, telling anyone who'd listened that Bart Upchurch was the real mastermind, and that he'd been set up over the years. He filed multiple appeals, all of which were denied. He also participated in a few interviews for documentaries and maintained his innocence with that same flat emotionless tone that had really unsettled the jurors years before. Meanwhile, Bart was paroled after serving roughly half of his 30 year sentence. He kept a low profile, worked odd jobs.

Moving often and never really staying anywhere long enough for his past to catch up to him. Neil did the same [00:38:00] after serving his time. He moved outta state, got married

and by all accounts, tried to disappear completely, But no matter what, none of them could ever truly escape. what,

happened that night? 

Mandy: I know I say it every single time, but I am so bothered by stories of children murdering their parents. Like I just, I don't even have any other words. I'm scared. I feel like we've done too many of these stories. I don't wanna think about the possibility of this happening.

Melissa: No, I totally get it. It's so sad to me because if you. Uh, and we've said this before too, if you think any of these plans, through all the things that have to go right for you to get this ultimate plan, include destroying your mom because you're killing her husband, destroying your sister because she loves her dad. All of these things for you to ultimately get money and get, I guess, a little power instead of, I don't know, your dad's paying for you to go to school. He's. Got a big in with computers, maybe you could learn something and make [00:39:00] more money than

him. It's just so shortsighted and just makes me so sad because it doesn't

have to be like that.

It none of this had to happen. And getting other people involved too, they ruined their lives.

Mandy: Right.

Melissa: so freaking insane And sad, and I just hate it for everyone. 

Mandy: it's just doubly frustrating because what was Chris doing? He wasn't doing anything. He was barely even going to class. You know? He wasn't actually working hard. So it's like,

why do you feel entitled to even have wealth and fortune and money? Like, why do you think that you deserve that? Like you're, what are you gonna do when you get it?

Still nothing, you're not gonna do anything, um, productive. You know, you're gonna sit and play games and just not, you know, not go to class or not do anything. Like, that's also frustrating about it. But like you said, there's no, never a good reason for you to feel like you have to hurt somebody for money.

and when you have all the opportunities right in front of you, that's. About this case, it's like, why, like you were getting everything paid [00:40:00] for. There are so many people out there, college kids who would love to have a stepparent or anybody who could pay for their, you know, living expenses and for their schooling and would be very thankful for that.

So yeah, it's just, you can see why some people look at this case and they're like, wow, this was just a very spoiled, like, entitled brat that, um, couldn't take no for an answer.

Melissa: Yeah. absolutely. Thank you guys so much for listening. If you would

please rate, subscribe, review All of those things, Spotify, apple, wherever you listen to us.

Make sure you have hit the subscribe button and it really helps the show and we really, really appreciate it.

Mandy: All right guys. That's it.

for this week. We will see you back next week. Same time, same place. News story. 

Melissa: Have a 

Mandy: Bye.