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Treefon Manoloules called the police in Hyannis — a village in Cape Cod, Massachusetts — around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2009, for a wellness check on his brother, whom he claimed he hadn’t been able to reach since the previous day. The door to 47-year-old Aris Manoloules’ home was open when police arrived, and no one answered. Officers eventually found Aris face down in a pool of blood, with bullet wounds to his body and head. Drawers in several of the bedrooms had been left open. Police called Treefon back to report his brother was dead — but he didn’t answer.
“They hadn’t heard back from him. There hadn’t been any further calls,” said ret. lead investigator for Massachusetts State Police Chris Mason on Fatal Family Feuds, airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen. “And I thought that was odd, that somebody that was that concerned to call about well-being, now two hours down the road, wasn’t ringing the phone off the hook, demanding answers.”
As police investigated Aris’ murder, his brother quickly became the prime suspect after family and friends revealed a years-long history of bad blood and feuding over inheritance.
“’Til the very end, just bickering and just fighting over money,” Gianni Vidianos, Aris’ cousin, said on Fatal Family Feuds. “What a sad thing. Sad. For a family just to be like that.”
Money was at the heart of the Manoloules family’s years-long feud
A neighbor and friend of Aris Manoloules told police that Aris and his siblings — Treefon and Irene — had a longstanding feud over their inheritance. It all began when their parents, Emmanuel and Fevronia, immigrated to the U.S. from Greece in the 1960s. “So Emmanuel, basically, accomplished the American dream of a couple hundred bucks. Was able to build up a multi-million dollar estate,” said Brad Petrishen, reporter for Midwest Daily News, on Fatal Family Feuds.
Each sibling had a trust fund from their parents. Treefon and Aris used theirs to open up a liquor store in 1994, but soon Aris accused Treefon of stealing $10,000 from the business.
“The bad blood between the two begins to reveal itself,” Mason said.
Aris sued Treefon over the missing money, and Treefon countersued Aris. In 1997, they eventually came up with an agreement out of court.
“It’s one thing to have disagreements in a family,” Petrishen said. “But to actually file a lawsuit against a sibling — Treefon maintained that he didn’t do anything wrong and that it was his brother that had cut him off.”
While that was playing out in court, Emmanuel died of a sudden heart attack in 1994, leaving all of his money to his wife Fevronia. Treefon claimed his father promised him $65,000, but Fevronia refused to pay it.
“It devolves to a point where Treefon actually files in court to have his mother stripped of control of the estate,” Mason said.
The sibling rivalry worsened when Aris took his mother’s side, while his sister Irene sided with Treefon. In 2007, when Fevronia died, she left Treefon and Irene only $20,000 each, and Aris the rest of the millions in the estate.
“They were hurt because their mother liked Aris better than them,” said ret. Detective Sergeant with Barnstable Police John Murphy on Fatal Family Feuds. “That same year we learned Irene and Treefon decided that this is not right, and they pursued a civil suit.”
Aris agreed to settle the lawsuit for $120,000, but the bad blood was still there two years later, when Aris was killed in the family’s Cape Cod vacation home.
Aris Manoloules’ brother, Treefon, claims his son is involved in the murder
On Oct. 1, 2009, when police showed up at Treefon Manoloules’ home to question him in his brother’s murder, only to find out he had already lawyered up. Treefon’s alibi was that he was at a party with his wife — and made a shocking accusation.
“Treefon tells us that his son Chris has something to do with this…now I am talking about a 17-year-old high school student potentially being involved in a very violent murder,” Murphy said.
Treefon claimed his son had drug and alcohol issues and had been spending time with his maternal uncle Robert Upton to straighten out. He then alleged that his son told him Upton shot Aris.
When officers tracked Upton down, they found not him but his girlfriend, who explained why he was missing.
“Bob is a car salesman, but his girlfriend says that that is really only a cover for his real job, and that he is deep undercover and that is why he disappears for long periods of time,” Mason said.
She showed police a fake ID that falsely claimed Upton was a member of the National Security Administration. But she also had information that he had no alibi on the night of the murder.
“She had observed him cleaning a firearm at her house,” Murphy said. “And that he was going on an NSA assignment to Cape Cod and that he wouldn’t be home until late.”
Police learned Upton had purchased a 9-millimeter gun the day of Aris Manoloules’ murder. Coincidentally, 9-millimeter shell casings were recovered at the murder scene. Upton also admitted to being with Chris Manoloules that night.
“Then he admits giving a ride to his nephew Chris to Cape Cod,” Murphy said. “And he drives him very close to Aris’ house. And Chris leaves. Bob checks his glove box and finds out that his gun is missing. Now he’s pushing it on Chris.”
But Upton’s girlfriend found a locked box in her basement containing the missing handgun, and it was a ballistics match for the murder weapon. Upton’s vehicle GPS also confirmed he was near Aris’ house the night he was murdered.
Chris Manoloules confesses to police what happened to his Uncle Aris
After refusing to speak initially, Chris Manoloules finally decided to confess to officers, and also pointed the finger at a member of his own family.
“Chris claimed that his father Treefon was involved,” Mason said. “That he had intended to pay for the murder. And that Treefon set this entire sequence of events in motion.”
Chris explained that his father drew him into the family feud and planted the seeds to murder his uncle.
“’Aris is depriving us of a lifestyle.’ The only way for Treefon to get what, according to Chris, he rightly believed was his, was if Aris is out of the way,” Murphy said. “If Aris dies, then Treefon would get the inheritance.”
Chris alleged his uncle Robert Upton had declared bankruptcy, and he owed someone $165,000, so his father roped Upton into a murder-for-hire plot.
“Treefon supposedly told [Chris] that he would be able to get Bob the money within five days of his brother’s death,” Murphy said.
Chris claimed Aris invited him and Upton into his home the night of the murder.
“Wow, this poor guy,” Vidianos said. “His own family is just trying to take him out and he doesn’t even know.”
Chris said he pretended to use the bathroom while he searched drawers for his late grandmother’s jewelry his father believed Aris possessed. When he didn’t find anything, Chris alleged Upton got upset and shot Aris.
In September 2011, Treefon Manoloules was acquitted by a jury of involvement in his brother’s death despite his own son testifying against him. In January 2013, Chris Manoloules also testified against his uncle, Robert Upton. Upton was found guilty of murder and sentenced to two life terms with no chance of parole. In May 2013, Chris pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12-15 years in prison. He has since been released.
Irene and Treefon Manoloules inherited their family estate upon Aris’ death — but that didn’t put an end to the family’s bad blood.
“It seems that the Manoloules feud still lives on,” Mason said. “I’m aware that Irene Manoloules sued Treefon for monies that she fronted him for his defense attorney.”
Watch all-new episodes of Fatal Family Feuds on Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen.