Katie Pladl was born to Steven Pladl and Alyssa Pladl when the couple were in their early twenties. Alyssa and Steven put Katie up for adoption when she was still a baby, and it was decades later when Katie was eighteen that the three were reunited. However, what no one was expecting was for Katie to enter into a sexual relationship with Steven, her biological father.
Katie became pregnant with her father’s child and the two even announced their intention to marry. Alyssa had left Steven shortly before discovering the affair via her 11-year-old’s diary, and she alerted police to the relationship and their upcoming wedding. Not long afterwards the story broke in the media and Steven and Katie were arrested for incest and contributing to the delinquency of their child, Bennett Pladl.
Shocking, tragic story unfolding in the US@newscomauHQ#StevenPladl https://t.co/HNgo7WWhs5
— Marnie O'Neill (@marnieoneill7) April 13, 2018
However, early yesterday morning Steven Pladl was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police had begun a search for him after care workers arrived at his property earlier in the day for a welfare check on Bennett only to find the baby boy unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement are still trying to understand the exact sequence of events but they have clarified that Steven killed his son, Bennett, then drove across three states to kill his wife and daughter, Katie Pladl, as well as her adoptive father, 56-year-old Anthony Fusco.
Bizarrely, Anthony Fusco had attended the wedding between his daughter and her biological father despite the ceremony’s incestuous nature.
Authorities were alerted to Steven’s actions by his mother who phoned and asked for the welfare check on Bennett.
“His wife broke up with him yesterday over the phone,” she said in the 911 call. “She's in New York and he told me he was on his way to her and then he was coming back. He left the baby dead. He told me to call police and that I shouldn't go over there. He said the house is empty and he said he left a key under the front mat.”
Steven Pladl's mother calls 911 after he admits murder spree https://t.co/Uuv9kcNCEt
— Joyeta E.Anderson (@joyeta_e) April 13, 2018
It is believed Steven killed Bennett after picking him up from Katie’s who had retained custody of the child. It is believed Steven killed Bennett because Katie broke up with him earlier in the week, although police have yet to reveal any official statement regarding his motives.
