Over 40 years have passed since the tragic stabbing of Belinda Gardella, yet her children are still seeking closure, even if it means scrutinizing those closest to them.

“All I’m asking for is justice for my mom,” expressed her son, Ron Gardella, during the November 8 episode of Oxygen’s Cold Justice.

To pursue this goal, Cold Justice prosecutor Kelly Siegler and defense attorney Murray Newman collaborated with detectives from the Redford Township Police Department in Michigan, hoping to uncover the truth for the Gardella family.

“If Paul killed Belinda, we’re going to need to see if we can make the most compelling case possible,” Siegler said. “Her children have been waiting 42 years for justice. It’s time.”

Re-Enactment Provides Telling Clues

One of the first stops for the team was a visit with Elaine Hunter, the ER nurse on duty the night Paul rushed his wife into the hospital. She remembered helping get Belinda out of the car, but she wasn’t breathing and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Hunter also recalled Paul’s brother and sister-in-law coming to the hospital later that night, adding, “I can remember the woman saying ‘What’s he done to her now?’” 

To gain an understanding of whether Belinda’s wounds matched Paul’s story of what happened that night the team also met with Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, a forensic pathologist who reviewed Belinda’s autopsy report. She concluded it would have taken Belinda about 5 to 10 minutes to bleed out after she was stabbed in the chest. According to Pinneri, Belinda was stabbed with a knife with one sharp side and one blunt edge.

Ron told authorities that Paul used to have three knives—including a hunting knife similar to the murder weapon—but all three knives were gone the day after the murder. According to Ron, his father told him he threw the knives in a ditch because he didn’t want his children to get hurt with them.

With Dr. Pinneri’s help, the team also re-enacted the murder, using a car similar to the one Paul had been driving that night.

“Could an unknown suspect have been the one who inflicted these injuries?” Siegler asked, “Or does it further poke holes in Paul’s story?” 

Pinneri concluded that the angle of the wound made it more likely that Belinda had been stabbed by someone on the driver’s side, rather than two strangers approaching the victim from the passenger side of the vehicle.

Paul Gardella’s Children Describe Being “Always in Fear” of Their Father

Paul has never been charged with domestic violence, but his children painted a harrowing picture of life with their father.

“He’d beat the hell out of me,” Ron alleged. “He stomped on me with his work boots, kicked me in the face.”

Ron’s sister Carrie Gardella-Karle recounted similar acts of violence, telling the team that she was “always in fear” of her father.

“He’d beat us,” she told investigators. “My worst beating was for not clearing dishes right away. He chased me around the table, beat me with a belt. He broke my arm, cracked a tooth, bloody nose, bloody lip.”

Belinda also wasn’t immune to the alleged abuse and her children described Paul hitting her, shooting a gun over her head, choking her and throwing her against the wall during their “rocky” years-long marriage.

The couple divorced in 1977, but for years Belinda continued to live with Paul for financial reasons.

Eugene—the couple’s oldest child who was 24 when his mom died—said Belinda finally reached a breaking point on April 25, 1983. Eugene had been working out at the barn with his father when his mother came in. According to Eugene, Paul grabbed her and threw her on the ground.

“I intervened, trying to stop him, and he was grabbing hammers and throwing them at me,” Eugene recalled. “My mom finally broke away and ran to the house while he was going after me.”

She called the police and Paul was charged with two counts of felonious assault. The case was expected to go to court just weeks after her death. 

“He told me to drop the charges,” Eugene said, adding his father allegedly told him, “I brought you into this world, I will take you out of this world.”

Paul had also wanted Belinda to sign some financial paperwork, but she had resisted his attempts before her death.

Paul Gardella Insists He’s “Not Guilty”

Detectives concluded that Paul seemed like the most likely suspect and went to track him down in Clearwater, Florida, where he was living with his current wife.

Paul let the detectives inside his house, but was reluctant to talk about Belinda’s death in detail without an attorney present. 

“I’ve already talked about it. Whatever you’re going to do, you’re going to do,” he told them, before adding, “I’m not guilty whatever it is.” 

Paul also began to tell the detectives how he had saved his current wife’s life multiple times and saved the life of a young girl in 2003.

Det. Adam Kubrak would later remark that it was a “very odd response to say the least.” 

Back in Michigan, the investigators felt they had enough evidence to bring the case to the Wayne County prosecutor for a fourth time. 

The prosecutor declined to pursue the case in October of 2025, but investigators now plan to submit the case to the nearby Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, because it is the county where the hospital was located, giving them one more chance to move the case forward.

To find out what other mysteries Cold Justice will tackle this season, watch new episodes Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.