Carla & John Lewis | Cheating Husband Blames Mysterious Intruders for "Grow Room" Murder

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[00:01:12] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality, where we discuss the pathology behind some

[00:01:18] of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed

[00:01:23] perspective.

[00:01:25] I'm Dr. Todd Grande.

[00:01:27] I have a PhD in counselor education and supervision, and I'm a licensed professional counselor

[00:01:32] of mental health.

[00:01:33] Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:01:37] Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Carla and John Lewis?

[00:01:43] First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the crime, then

[00:01:47] offer my analysis.

[00:01:49] Carla Jean Lewis was born in June of 1962 and lived in the state of Michigan.

[00:01:55] She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting.

[00:01:58] Carla worked for the Whirlpool Corporation for over 20 years before taking a job with

[00:02:03] Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

[00:02:06] When she was 21, she married a man named Steve.

[00:02:09] The couple divorced in 2007.

[00:02:12] After the divorce, Carla went online to find a new lover.

[00:02:16] This is when she met John Benton Lewis.

[00:02:19] He had been born in July of 1968, so he was six years younger than Carla.

[00:02:24] John had been in some trouble with the law.

[00:02:26] He committed burglary and was convicted of a felony as a result.

[00:02:31] People who knew Carla did not understand what she saw in John, but Carla was attracted to him.

[00:02:37] By 2009, the couple was living together.

[00:02:40] On June 30, 2012, Carla and John married.

[00:02:44] John was collecting disability payments and made a little bit of money through repairing

[00:02:49] small engines.

[00:02:50] Carla continued to work in accounting and was the primary financial provider.

[00:02:54] In 2010, the couple purchased a house on the 1400 block of Lawndale Avenue in Niles, Michigan.

[00:03:02] It was a three-bedroom, one-bathroom ranch.

[00:03:05] In 2014, John started growing marijuana in a room in the basement of the house.

[00:03:11] The room was about 10 feet by 10 feet and hidden behind a bookshelf, like the bookshelf

[00:03:17] was the door to the room.

[00:03:20] Within a couple years, John became an advocate for the legalization of marijuana in Michigan.

[00:03:26] He drove a green truck that had marijuana leaves painted on it, as well as the words

[00:03:31] cannabis cures on the back window.

[00:03:35] John had a green motorcycle as well.

[00:03:37] It also had marijuana leaves painted on it.

[00:03:40] He was making a lot of new friends in the area with his commitment to marijuana.

[00:03:45] Relatives said that strange and scary-looking people were at John's house all the time.

[00:03:50] These people may have been there to acquire marijuana.

[00:03:54] In May of 2017, John opened a store on Bell Road called the Seven Leaves Compassion Club.

[00:04:01] The store sold marijuana-related products and offered education about medical marijuana.

[00:04:08] Not surprisingly, the store lost money.

[00:04:11] Carla was becoming increasingly upset with paying all the bills and covering John's losses.

[00:04:17] John had been keeping a secret from Carla.

[00:04:19] He was having three affairs.

[00:04:22] One of his mistresses was named April.

[00:04:25] He gave her marijuana and money in exchange for sex.

[00:04:28] This relationship had been going on for six years.

[00:04:32] Now moving to the timeline of the crime.

[00:04:35] On August 13, 2017, at 5.45 p.m., 49-year-old John Lewis called 911 and told the police

[00:04:42] that intruders entered his home and shot his 55-year-old wife, Carla.

[00:04:48] The police arrived at 5.56 p.m.

[00:04:50] They discovered Carla's body in the marijuana grow room in the basement.

[00:04:56] She had been shot five times and did not survive.

[00:04:59] John Lewis was next to her and unharmed.

[00:05:03] Here is what the police found during the course of their investigation.

[00:05:07] John Lewis told the police a terrifying story about a home invasion.

[00:05:12] He said that he asked his wife to accompany him to the grow room in the basement to help

[00:05:16] him move marijuana plants.

[00:05:19] As they were moving the plants, two black men appeared in the doorway and started shooting.

[00:05:24] The men never said anything.

[00:05:26] After killing Carla, they took her vehicle, wallet, and credit cards.

[00:05:30] A safe in the house was open and empty.

[00:05:34] The police later found Carla's vehicle about 11 miles from the Lewis family house.

[00:05:39] It was in a cornfield on Yankee Street in Cass County.

[00:05:43] The spent cartridge cases found at the scene were made of steel instead of brass.

[00:05:49] They were an unusual ammunition brand called Tula Ammo, which is made in Russia.

[00:05:55] An acquaintance of John's named Justin contacted the police as they were interviewing John.

[00:06:01] He had heard about the shooting on the news and had information relevant to the case.

[00:06:05] Justin indicated that at 1.53 p.m., John contacted him and directed him to go to the

[00:06:12] Seven Leaves Compassion Club store.

[00:06:14] John wanted Justin to retrieve a bag containing eight boxes of 9mm cartridges and one magazine.

[00:06:22] Justin picked up the bag and kept it in his trunk.

[00:06:25] He turned it over to the police.

[00:06:27] The 9mm ammunition matched the spent cartridge cases found in John's house.

[00:06:33] The police spoke to John's mistress, April, who said that in 2016, John proclaimed his

[00:06:39] love for her.

[00:06:40] He asked her if she would leave her boyfriend.

[00:06:43] He also wanted to know if it would make a difference if his wife Carla was dead.

[00:06:49] On a separate occasion, John talked about killing his wife with Xanax.

[00:06:53] April claimed that she believed John was being humorous.

[00:06:56] I guess like some type of Fool April joke.

[00:07:00] The mistress said that on the day of the murder, she arrived at John's house at about

[00:07:04] 1 p.m. and they had sex.

[00:07:06] He received a text message around 2 p.m. and quickly drove her home.

[00:07:11] She believed that John had recently told his wife Carla about the affair and Carla was

[00:07:15] packing up her belongings to move out.

[00:07:19] On August 16, John was charged with first-degree murder.

[00:07:23] He was also charged with possession with intent to manufacture marijuana.

[00:07:27] John had a license to grow up to 12 marijuana plants for medical use, but he violated at

[00:07:33] least two of the rules.

[00:07:35] For example, the grow room did not have a lock and other people had access to the room.

[00:07:41] The police knew this because Carla's body was found in that room.

[00:07:45] On February 19, 2019, John Lewis was convicted of first-degree murder and possession with

[00:07:51] intent to manufacture marijuana.

[00:07:54] Just over a month later, on March 25, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility

[00:07:59] of parole.

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[00:09:49] Now moving to my analysis, John Lewis maintains his innocence.

[00:09:53] He is staying with the story that two black men killed his wife.

[00:09:57] The state of course disagrees.

[00:09:59] They believe that John murdered his wife for money and to have the freedom to continue

[00:10:04] his other romantic relationships.

[00:10:06] This brings me to the question, was John guilty of murder?

[00:10:10] Let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that John was guilty,

[00:10:14] starting with the inculpatory factors.

[00:10:17] At the time of Carla's murder, John's business was failing and she was financially supporting

[00:10:21] him.

[00:10:22] She was not pleased with this situation.

[00:10:26] John stood to gain over $300,000 from the death of his wife between life insurance and

[00:10:30] her retirement money.

[00:10:32] Starting on August 7, which was less than a week before the murder, John made multiple

[00:10:37] internet searches for guns and silencers.

[00:10:41] On another occasion, he asked a friend for a recommendation about a gun.

[00:10:46] John was a convicted felon and was prohibited from owning a firearm.

[00:10:51] John was having affairs with three different women.

[00:10:54] On August 8, he contacted one of those women and said that he and Carla, quote, will be

[00:10:59] over sooner than you think, unquote.

[00:11:02] He told another affair partner that he no longer wanted to be with Carla.

[00:11:07] When John was interviewed by the police, he claimed that he had a happy marriage.

[00:11:11] When the police responded to John's house on August 13, there was no sign of forced entry.

[00:11:17] The house had not been ransacked.

[00:11:20] John's wife was shot five times and killed, but John was unharmed.

[00:11:25] He had not made any attempt to render aid to Carla.

[00:11:30] John's story about two black men shooting his wife did not make any sense.

[00:11:34] Prior to the murder, John directed an acquaintance to retrieve ammunition from the store, which

[00:11:38] matched the spent cartridge cases found at the scene of the murder.

[00:11:43] The ammunition was an unusual brand.

[00:11:46] Moving to the exculpatory factors, the murder weapon was never found.

[00:11:50] John's mistress April had two felony convictions in 2014 and was not a reliable witness.

[00:11:57] Investigators found an unidentified palm print on a door of the house and unidentified DNA

[00:12:03] in Carla's vehicle.

[00:12:05] John advertised his marijuana obsession vigorously, which made him a target for unsavory characters.

[00:12:12] Everybody knew that he had marijuana in his house and may have money in his house.

[00:12:18] When considering all the evidence, do I believe that John Lewis was guilty of murder?

[00:12:22] Yes, in my opinion, he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

[00:12:26] I don't really have any doubt that he was responsible for his wife's murder.

[00:12:32] What do I think happened in this case?

[00:12:34] This is just a theory, my opinion.

[00:12:36] Carla married when she was young and stayed with her husband for a long time in an unhappy

[00:12:41] relationship.

[00:12:43] After her divorce, she may have been feeling a bit desperate to make up for lost time,

[00:12:48] like she viewed her long marriage as creating many missed opportunities.

[00:12:53] She wanted to have the fun that is normally associated with being young and reckless.

[00:12:58] Motivated by these desires, Carla lowered her standards significantly and ended up with

[00:13:04] John Lewis as a boyfriend and then as a husband.

[00:13:07] He didn't have much going for him as far as being a romantic partner, but he was technically

[00:13:12] alive and his risk-taking behavior may have been interpreted by Carla as endearing and

[00:13:18] stimulating.

[00:13:20] Carla was willing to overlook his felony conviction, his low income, and his many disturbing behaviors.

[00:13:26] She insisted that he changed from his evil ways and she observed tremendous potential

[00:13:31] in him.

[00:13:32] If she had been referring to his potential for dangerousness, her observation would have

[00:13:37] been accurate.

[00:13:38] John was an undesirable romantic partner who caused a lot of embarrassment and financial

[00:13:42] stress for Carla.

[00:13:45] He was standoffish, rude, withdrawn, and just about everything in his life was guided by

[00:13:50] his obsession with marijuana.

[00:13:53] He would skip important family events unless they occurred in Michigan where he was legally

[00:13:57] allowed to possess and use marijuana.

[00:14:00] It was like he could not be away from marijuana for more than a few hours.

[00:14:05] He told Carla that he had to skip out-of-state events because he was afraid of being in

[00:14:09] an airplane, but John was always flying high.

[00:14:13] Not long before the murder, Carla discovered at least one of John's affairs.

[00:14:18] She supported him while he lost money with his business.

[00:14:21] She put up with his other idiosyncrasies, but Carla was not going to tolerate an affair.

[00:14:28] John somehow obtained a firearm and cheap ammunition.

[00:14:32] On August 13, 2017, John contacted his acquaintance Justin to hide ammunition as John prepared

[00:14:39] to commit the murder.

[00:14:41] It didn't make any sense for John to tip his hand.

[00:14:44] Perhaps this was a marijuana-assisted decision.

[00:14:47] John lured or forced Carla into the grow room and shot her to death.

[00:14:52] He then drove her vehicle to the cornfield where he had staged a vehicle so he could get

[00:14:57] home or had someone pick him up.

[00:15:00] During this trip, he disposed of the firearm.

[00:15:03] Despite efforts to escape responsibility, John left behind a tremendous amount of evidence.

[00:15:09] He had no chance of avoiding a conviction.

[00:15:12] John constructed a lazy, callous, sadistic, and obvious murder.

[00:15:18] Now moving to my final thoughts.

[00:15:20] The case of Carla and John Lewis can be summarized in this way.

[00:15:24] A misguided, manipulative, and Machiavellian Michigan man married a meticulous money-minder.

[00:15:30] The man amassed murky morals, multiplied mistresses, and met with monetary misfortune in his medical

[00:15:37] marijuana market, magnifying his misery.

[00:15:41] His misdeeds mangled his marital moorings, and the misconduct morphed into monstrous

[00:15:46] motives.

[00:15:47] In a moment of macabre madness, his malice materialized into metal missiles as he mercilessly

[00:15:52] murdered his mate.

[00:15:54] To mask the mayhem, he manufactured and maligned mystical men.

[00:15:59] But mysterious munitions marked his misdeed.

[00:16:03] The miserable miscreant will be marooned in a metallic mansion for many moons, where he

[00:16:08] can mourn his missing marijuana.

[00:16:18] This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from Ars Langa Media.

[00:16:23] This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only.

[00:16:28] Ars Langa, Vida Brevis.

[00:17:03] Ars Langa, Vida Brevis.