A Murder in Pleasant Valley

October 23, 2009

On Oct. 28, 1999, Susan Fassett, a 48-year-old woman from a small town in the suburbs of New York City, was mercilessly gunned down outside the Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church.

An unlikely target, friends and family members were stunned by the killing.

According to crime writer M. William Phelps, Susan was the "perfect mother of two wonderful boys, the pretty wife of a local, well-respected, police officer, a very active member of her church and well-known at her job as the Town of Poughkeepsie personnel assistant."

Why?

During the course of the investigation, authorities discovered that Susan had been having marital problems, including infidelity issues. As a result, suspicion naturally fell on both her husband and her lover. However, as the investigation continued, a female suspect named Dawn Silvernail entered the picture. The more police looked into Silvernail the more details they uncovered - exposing a world of dominance, lesbian sex and betrayal.

This Sunday, at 10:00 p.m., ET, Paula Zahn will examine the case and interview Silvernail, who speaks for the first time after being convicted for the murder of Susan Fassett.

For more details, visit Investigation Discovery's fansite for On the Case with Paula Zahn.

In each episode of ON THE CASE, Zahn tracks the real-life drama of each story by featuring the personal points of view of the people closest to the case, including exploring the motivation and thought processes of the men and women responsible for these crimes.  The series includes perspective from law enforcement investigators, families of the victims and the incarcerated, and lawyers representing both sides of legal proceedings.  Zahn's interviews reveal fascinating details that uncover the truth while presenting the spectrum of viewpoints directly touched by these cases.