"48 Hours" contributor in uncharted territory investigating murder case

Reporting on the murder of photographer Joe Shymanski in 2023, I found myself returning to my roots in Pennsylvania, where I once knew a woman named Heather Snyder. Once a high school homecoming queen, Heather and I hadn't spoken since 1998, when I crowned her my successor. In 2025, I learned that Heather was now Joe Shymanski's ex-wife, and it was she who reported him missing.

Heather claimed an alibi, stating she had dropped off their children for a custody exchange and then checked with neighbors before calling 911. She denied any involvement in the murder, maintaining she had never been identified as a suspect or charged. However, Joe Shymanski's loved ones grew suspicious of Heather. Her niece, Janine Shymanski, expressed her doubts, while other friends and relatives also voiced their suspicions.

Heather and Joe met as vendors at a Washington, D.C., food and crafts fair, where she sold vegetables and he sold photographs. They married in July 2014 and moved to Maryland, where they had two children. But Joe became increasingly possessive and emotionally abusive, even physically violent. Heather eventually left him and moved back to Pennsylvania, only to start a relationship with Brandon Holbrook, whom she met online.

In 2023, Joe bought a million-dollar life insurance policy listing his children as beneficiaries. Their joint custody arrangement was reduced, and Joe owed Heather less in the settlement. On Labor Day 2023, Heather reported Joe missing, finding no sign of him at their home. Her boyfriend, Holbrook, was later questioned in Pennsylvania, where investigators found incriminating items, including firearms, plastic tarps, rubber gloves, cleaning fluid, and a suspicious blood stain in Holbrook's truck.