A Connecticut community was left reeling by a vicious triple homicide, a crime made even more unthinkable because it happened on Thanksgiving.

The shocking saga began on the morning of November 25, 2010, when Kris Raiman requested that East Hartford, Ct., police conduct a wellness check on her beloved aunt, Beverly Therrien, who’d failed to pick up her repeated phone calls.

Hartford Police Department Patrol Officer Tara Hawkins entered Beverly Therrien’s home through an unlocked door. “I take a step in … and I see blood, so much blood,” she said, on , airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen.

Police found the bodies of three victims, all of whom appeared to have massive head wounds, possibly made by a hammer. The deceased were identified as Beverly Therrien, 74, and her live-in tenants, Pamela Johns, 60, and Michael Ramsey, 53. 

“The scene definitely looked like it was an overkill situation,” said East Hartford Police Department investigator Christina Johnston. 

Some areas of the house, but not all, were ransacked. “It spoke to me that maybe this is someone that knows the interior of the house and what they were looking for,” said Patrick Sullivan, an East Hartford Police Department investigator. 

Investigators learned of long-simmering tensions within Beverly Therrien’s family. “This family feud was about money,” said Sullivan. “It was about jealousy. It was about greed.”

It would take several years before the killer was brought to justice. 

Beverly Therrien’s troubled relationship with her ex-husband

Described as “good-natured … and loads of fun” in her Massachusetts high school yearbook, Beverly Therrien was known for her generosity. “She would give the coat off of her shoulders if someone was cold,” said her friend, Karen Jones.

But Beverly Therrien was also a hard worker and scrupulous saver, helping her to accumulate wealth. “She learned how to invest in the stock market,” said her nephew, Gary Howe.

In 1963, Beverly Therrien married Andrew “Andy” Bednarz, who was in the wake of a divorce. Together, they had two children, Candace and Brett, before divorcing in 1983.

Beverly Therrien remarried and divorced twice more. In the late 1990s, Beverly Therrien moved back into a house, which she owned and where Andrew and Brett Bednarz were living. 

She informed Andrew Bednarz that it was a landlord-tenant arrangement, according to Raiman. “She installed a door at the bottom of the stairs and put a lock on it,” Raiman said.

On September 15, 2010, Andrew Bednarz suffered a fatal heart attack while mowing the lawn. A neighbor tried to assist him but, because of the lock on the door, he couldn’t get in to call for help. “Candy and Brett 100% blamed Beverly,” said Raiman.

Andrew Bednarz’s demise drove a wedge between family members. “Andy’s death was the starting point for all this anger and aggression between Beverly and Brett and Candace,” said Johnston.

Beverly Therrien’s son Brett Bednarz raises a red flag for investigators

Investigators attempted to interview siblings Candace and Brett Bednarz, a carpenter, who lived together with Candace’s daughter, Tiffany, in Manchester, Ct.

Brett Bednarz refused to speak without an attorney. Candace Bednarz supported this decision, though she spoke to investigators and shared that she’d never met Johns or Ramsey.

The siblings’ lack of cooperation raised a red flag. But police had no evidence to connect them to the slayings, which the medical examiner confirmed were caused by blunt-force trauma. 

Officials learned that Ramsey and Johns had met and fallen in love at a VA hospital, according to Michael Ramsey’s sister, Margie Ramsey Foster. “Michael hurt his back in the Army. He was disabled,” she said.  

Six months before the murders, Beverly Therrien contacted Johns, whom she’d known for years, with a job offer. It included a salary and a place where she and Ramsey could live rent-free. 

“All they had to do was make sure that Beverly was taken care of,” said Johns’ son Mike Tillotson, who was convinced early on that Brett Bednarz was behind the murders.

“Brett would go around the neighborhood saying that Andrew’s death was Beverly’s fault,” Tillotson said. “He’s a monster. He’s not a good person. I knew right away who was responsible.”

Police learned that a white Nissan sedan had been seen near Beverly Therrien’s home in the weeks prior to the homicides. Candace Bednarz’s daughter, Tiffany, had a car that matched that description.

Tiffany said that she didn’t believe her mom or uncle had anything to do with the murders, but she admitted they regularly used her car, said Sullivan.

Investigators also learned that family resentments were exacerbated by Bednarz’s will. “Andrew left everything to Beverly,” said Jones. 

Additionally, six months prior to the murder, Brett Bednarz was arrested for violently attacking his mother at her home. “She had to go to the hospital afterwards,” said Raiman. 

A devoted mother, Beverly Therrien bailed Brett Bednarz out of jail “with the knowledge that he might hurt her again,” said David Owens, a reporter for The Hartford Courant. Beverly Therrien took out a restraining order to keep him away from her and her house.

Crime scene evidence leads to Brett Bardnarz’s arrest and trial

Brett’s past aggression made him a prime suspect, but police required more evidence for an arrest. “We needed to find a way to link him to the victims,” said Sullivan. 

However, investigators couldn’t find the murder weapon and Brett’s DNA was all over his mother’s residence since he had lived there.

Investigators thought they had a big break when they searched Tiffany’s white sedan and found cell phones that belonged to Johns and Ramsey. Candace Bednarz claimed she’d found the phones in the couple’s bedroom after police completed the search of Beverly Therrien’s home. 

“I began to think that she was more involved in the crime than she originally led people to believe,” said Sullivan. But in the end, the phones had no useful evidence.

The investigation stalled for nearly 20 months. In 2012, results began to come in. A bloody tissue collected at the crime scene was shown to have DNA of both Brett Bednarz and Ramsey, said Johnston.

On Oct. 15, 2012, Brett Bednarz was arrested for the triple homicide. The prosecution theorized that Brett Bednarz had gone into the home and one-by-one committed the slayings, accidentally leaving behind the bloody tissue in the process.

In May 2015, Brett Bednarz’s trial began. His attorneys undermined the key evidence – the bloody tissue. “The defense argued that there was no way of knowing when that DNA that belonged to Brett Bednarz was discarded on that tissue,” Johnston.

The proceedings ended with a hung jury. A second trial began in January 2016, giving prosecutors more time to gather additional evidence, including a plastic bag from Brett Bednarz’s old room that had his and all three victims’ DNA on it. They also had a check dated Nov. 21, 2010, from a checkbook found in Beverly Thierren’s room with Brett Bednarz’s DNA on it. It showed Brett Bednarz had violated the restraining order. 

Brett Bednarz was found guilty on three counts of murder and sentenced to 60 years for each victim. 

Candace Bednarz was arrested for being in possession of the cell phones, charged with tampering with evidence and interfering with an investigation. She was acquitted when her case went to trial. 

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