25-Domestic Violence PERPETRATOR: Michelle Knotek Part 4; Ron

Hi Warriors, welcome to 1-3,. I'm your host, ingrid. If you're just joining this podcast, make sure to go back and listen to episodes 21, 22, and 24, as they give the background to domestic violence perpetrator Shelly No-Tech. Today I'm going to continue the story of her reign of terror by covering her next victim, ron. Please proceed with discretion, as I have mentioned before, while I'm leaving some details out, this is a gruesome and disturbing story. Ron Woodworth came into Shelly's life after Nikki had moved out and Sammy was away at college. He worked for Habitat for Humanity while Shelly worked briefly as a caseworker. The two met while working on a case together. Ron was a short middle-aged man who was sharp-witted and sarcastic. He wore a ponytail, thick glasses, earrings and gold chains around his neck, reflecting his deep interest in Egyptology. One of those chains bore an ankh, which symbolizes eternal life in ancient Egypt belief. In 1992, he moved to Washington with his partner of 17 years, gary. At the concern of his father's health, ron insisted his parents also make the move. Ron's father passed away in 1996, which brought a drastic change to Ron's demeanor. He became darker and introverted. He was unable to keep a job. Ron and Gary's relationship was already on shaky ground before their move, and this new person became unbearable to Gary. He eventually ended the relationship in 1997. The breakup caused Ron's personality to shift even further. He became angry and saddened. He changed the locks of the trailer the couple once shared to prevent Gary from collecting his belongings. He wrote to Gary stating neither he nor his mother ever wanted to see him again. Once Gary was finally able to obtain his things, ron's wishes came true. The two never spoke again. Coming back to the early 90s, ron had a friend, sandra, whom he met at the McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, california. She became increasingly concerned with Ron's behavior following the breakup In 1999, she even offered he and his mother to move into her home. He politely declined. However, ron's financial difficulties worsened and in 2000 he asked his good friend for $500 to catch up on rental fees. Sandra handed the money over immediately but later heard Ron had also borrowed $2000 for attorney fees to keep his trailer. Half of that amount had been given to Shelley, who was working on retaining a lawyer for him. The legal assistance didn't help and Ron lost his trailer to foreclosure. He lived for a short time with his mother after the foreclosure, but eventually the two of them also became estranged. Ron lost his father, was single, was estranged from his mother and was going to be homeless. Of the friends willing to help, he agreed to move in with Shelley no Tech. Shelley set up a cozy space for Ron in Sammy's old room. He had a bed, a nightstand and a space for his books and other items he brought with him. He and Shelley got along wonderfully. She would refer to her as Shelley dear and she would affectionately cook for him. That lasted one week. That's when the verbal insults started. Shelly would say how she didn't want a useless, disgusting fag near her daughter. Shelly withheld food, only allowing Ron to eat toast and water. Then the physical abuse began. Shelly would hit him and take Ron out back. Tori now her preteen, was certain her mother was abusing Ron outside, but never knew to what extent, as she was sent to her room every time. She was also quite aware that the abuse she had suffered previously was significantly reduced once Ron became the focus. Tori watched as her mother would feed Ron handfuls of pills the pills Shelly said were sleeping pills. To calm him down, ron was forced to work outside His room. Furnishings and belongings were taken away. He was forced to sleep on the floor of the computer room. Bathroom privileges were revoked. Tori was too young to remember how life was with Kathy, but we know this story all too well. Speaking of Kathy, shelly would make a point to question Tori about her. She wanted to know what Tori remembered of her and if anyone asked anything about her. While making Ron's life insufferable with her, shelly was making sure he would have nowhere else to go. She began to intensify the friction between Ron, his mother and the rest of his family. Shelly told Ron his mother contacted the authorities and there was now a warrant out for his arrest due to neglect. In response, ron wrote multiple hateful letters to his mother stating she was dead to him, he would no longer communicate with her and that Shelly would be their mediator should they need to discuss anything. While Shelly appeared to have Ron's back, she was contacting his mother and siblings with concerns of Ron's behavior. She assured them she would provide appropriate care for their mother and give Ron a stable home environment until he was back on his feet. And just like that, ron had no one left in his life outside of Shelly. Ron had no one to tell him. Working for 12 hours in the yard shoeless and in only his underwear was not okay. When 12-year-old Tori had enough, she asked her mom to lighten up on Uncle Ron, as she called him. Soon after that conversation, shelly had Ron coldly tell Tori he did not love her. He was no longer allowed to speak to her after that day. Like others before him, ron tried to run. He had no money, no family, no friends and nowhere to go. Like the husbands like Kathy, shelly found him and he returned home apologizing every time. Let me now introduce you to another man, james McClintock, who went by Mack. Mack was a friend of Kathy Lorano's mother. He was a World War II veteran and, in fact, a Pearl Harbor survivor. Mack lived with his darling black lab named Sissy. He was fond of whiskey. Tori loved him. She would visit with Mac while her mom worked as his caregiver. Eventually, mac asked if Shelly could move in as his full-time caregiver. She sent Ron instead. Even in a separate house, shelly still controlled where Ron was able to sleep. Mac loved his dog, sissy, so much in fact she was the primary recipient of his estate upon his death. Shelly, however, was next in line. Once Sissy was laid to rest, mac trusted Shelly with decisions regarding his care and assigned her power of attorney on September 7, 2001. Just five months later, on February 9, 2002, shelly called Tori from the hospital, apparently while under Ron's watch, mac had fallen. Shelly didn't think he was going to make it. Shelly returned home to pick up Tori and bring her back to the hospital. Upon arriving, medical staff informed the two that Mac had indeed died from his injuries. Earlier, ron had been the one to call 911, informing them Mac had fallen and hit his head. The physician who initially examined Mac in the hospital had flagged the case for further review, stating the acute subdural hematoma appeared to be secondary to a blunt impact to his head. Unfortunately, no further investigation was ever pursued. Shelly was now the recipient of $5,000 and Sissy, who remained chained outside the No-Tec home. Once Sissy was out of the picture, shelly would inherit Mac's $140,000 house. The inheritance brought a lot of unwanted attention to the No-Tecs, the neighbors and even the sheriff was very skeptical of Shelly in particular. At one point, a letter was received at the No-Tec house that read the gunshots you heard last night were from Kathy. Like the Lord, jesus Christ, she also arose from the dead and is back to revenge you. Ashes to ashes. Clearly, shelly didn't believe a ghost was haunting her, but this letter proved that someone outside of the family knew, or at least suspected, she had a role in Kathy's disappearance. Despite her newfound paranoia, shelly didn't tone down the way she treated Ron. In fact, she found a new punishment. Ron had fallen off the roof while cleaning the shingles. Dave was home at the time and instructed Ron to climb back up and do it again, and so a new torture evolved. Ron would be forced to jump or throw himself off the roof or patio balcony with his bare feet onto the gravel below. His feet were shredded. To clean them, shelly would boil water, add bleach and command Ron to soak his feet. The skin on his feet began to slough off after a particularly hot bath. Shelly eventually caved after this and bandaged them. Remember Ron's military friend, sandra? She had lunch with Ron in 2002 and was appalled at his appearance. He was disheveled, dirty. Even Sandra watched as Ron popped three pills with his lunch. He explained Shelly was giving them to him for depression. The rest of the lunch Ron gazed off in a fog while Sandra attempted to explain he was not okay. Sammy also realized Ron's health was failing. He had lost a tremendous amount of weight, which Shelly attributed to a necessary diet and exercise. His prized ponytail had been chopped off by Shelly. When Sammy asked him about it, ron recited he preferred it that way. Similarly noticeable was the one remaining tooth in the front of Ron's mouth. Ron's health quickly deteriorated from there. In the beginning of the summer of 2003, shelley complained to Dave that Ron wouldn't leave the house. She wanted to drop him off at a homeless shelter. Dave noticed how terrible Ron looked one weekend. He had bruises covering his body and a possible broken finger from when Ron had reportedly attempted to kill himself by jumping out of a tree. Ron's also were on his chest and head from an apparent accident while he was burning brush. Shelley commanded Ron to sleep on the back porch. Those days she medicated him heavily with whiskey. Shelley finally decided she was going to take Ron to Max's house so he could get some undisturbed rest. She appeased Tori's concerns by saying she would check on him at least two times each day. The next morning, when Tori woke up, ron was gone. Even though she didn't hear her mom in the house or the car in the driveway, she believed Shelley when she said she had dropped Ron off as planned. Early in the morning of July 22, 2003, shelley called Dave saying he needed to come home because of a problem with Ron. When he arrived, shelley explained that she found Ron dead on the back porch. She felt it was because he insisted on staying there despite a heat wave. She attempted CPR to Noa Vale. Once she realized he was gone, shelley drug Ron's body to the back pole building. She dressed him in clean clothes, laid him in sleeping bags, then put him in the freezer chest. Once done, she carefully replaced all the camping gear on top of the freezer so as not to alert anyone that things had been rearranged. That's when she finally called Dave. Shelley conveniently had Tori spend the weekend with Sammy so Dave could get to his part of the job disposing of the corpse. He placed Ron into garbage bags and drug him to a place in the yard he dug up. He dug down three to four feet and long enough to lay the body down flat. You see, there was a burn ban in place at the time and he would not be able to cremate Ron like he did Kathy. Once Ron was laid to rest, dave covered him with dirt ashes from the fire pit and branches. The cover-up lie was that Ron moved to Tacoma. Okay, in this series of episodes. We have covered Shelley's childhood, her abuse toward her three husbands, the abuse of two adults who cohabitated with the No-Tex and their resulting deaths, and the potential murder of a World War II veteran, all under Shelley's guidance. My next episode will cover the worst yet the abuse of her own daughters and nephew. Sources for this episode can be found in the show notes. I will have another episode for you next week. Until then, stay strong and wherever you are in your journey, always remember you are not alone. To learn more information, register as a guest or leave a review by going to the website 1and3podcastcom. That's the number 1, i-n the number 3, podcastcom. Follow 1and3 on Instagram, facebook and Twitter at 1and3podcast To help me out, please remember to rate, review and subscribe. 1and3 is a.5 Pinoy production music written and performed by Tim Crow.