Ronald Shumway | Erratic Bus Driver Disappears as His Duplex is "Flipped"

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[00:01:32] AudioStack.ai forward slash contest. This is true crime psychology and personality, where we discuss the pathology behind some of the most horrific crimes and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective. I'm Dr. Todd Grande.

[00:01:57] I have a PhD in counselor education and supervision, and I'm a licensed professional counselor of mental health. Dr. Todd Grande. That's my YouTube channel. Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Ronald Shumway?

[00:02:12] First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the crime, and offer my analysis. Ronald David Shumway was born on April 22, 1958, and lived in Dallas, Texas. He went by the name Ron. In 1976, he graduated from Sunset High School.

[00:02:30] Ron had a strained relationship with his father. His mother may have had serious mental health symptoms. In 1984, Ron purchased a duplex in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas and lived there with his mother. The property was at 725 North Winnetka Avenue.

[00:02:48] Multiple negative interactions with law enforcement represented a problem for Ron in the 1980s and 1990s. He had been arrested for offenses like assault, drug possession, and evading detention. In the early 2000s, Ron's mother died, which left him lonely and distraught.

[00:03:07] Sometime around 2010, Ron started working as a bus driver for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, otherwise known as DART. It appeared as though Ron developed mental health symptoms, including an inability to regulate his intake of alcohol. From 2012 to 2015, the police were called to his duplex over 20 times.

[00:03:29] The calls were often handled by police officers trained to deal with mental health situations. Ron engaged in many antisocial behaviors like screaming offensive remarks at people on the street, mowing his lawn at 10 p.m., dumping trash over fences into neighbors' yards,

[00:03:46] and attempting to run over a neighbor with a motor vehicle. Many of Ron's neighbors were afraid of him. On a regular basis, neighborhood children were instructed to hide from Ron. For a while, Ron had a man named Ruben living rent-free in the duplex.

[00:04:02] He evicted Ruben in the spring of 2014. Ruben would later say that Ron was attracted to men, which is why he let him live there. Ron was hoping that Ruben would become attracted to him. After Ruben explained that he was heterosexual, Ron harassed him.

[00:04:17] For example, Ron would walk around the house naked, carrying a gun. Not long after Ruben moved out, another man became a key figure in Ron's life. His name was Christopher Colbert. Christopher was born on August 21, 1972 and was raised in Tlaquah, Oklahoma.

[00:04:36] In 1992, he moved to Dallas, Texas because he wanted to become somebody. After graduating from beauty school, he met a man named Nathan. They became romantically involved and moved in together. Christopher worked as a hairdresser in an upscale salon, but he had a terrible work ethic.

[00:04:54] When there were no appointments scheduled, he would simply leave work instead of handling walk-ins. Christopher also tried to become some type of conceptual artist, but he did not achieve success. He made a little bit of money designing and selling jewelry and dog leashes.

[00:05:09] Christopher separated from Nathan and moved to Los Angeles, but they reunited in 2012. The couple lived in Nathan's apartment in Carrollton, Texas. Nathan moved out of the apartment in the summer of 2014, which put Christopher in a tough

[00:05:23] place because he didn't earn enough money to pay for the apartment on his own. In August of 2014, Christopher moved in with Ron Shumway and lived in the duplex rent-free. The relationship between Ron and Christopher appeared to be tumultuous.

[00:05:39] Between November 2014 and April 2015, the police were called to Ron's duplex over ten times for various reports including burglary and criminal mischief. Even though Ron often screamed at people in the neighborhood and was wildly unpopular, he maintained an active presence on social media.

[00:05:57] He had over 600 friends on Facebook, although most had never met him in person. In April of 2015, a few of his friends noticed that Ron was no longer active on social media. They became concerned and reached out to him without success.

[00:06:13] On April 23, a message was posted on Ron's Facebook page which read, quote, Found me a cowboy and he actually lives on a ranch. I'm going to be his ranch hand, unquote. His friends assumed the message meant Ron had found a lover, although they were surprised

[00:06:30] Ron would be interested in living on a ranch. On the next day, April 24, Ron's employer received an email announcing his resignation. In addition, the email asked if Ron could cash out his pension. Over the next few days, there were other unusual social media posts by Ron consistent with

[00:06:50] the idea that he had found a lover. For example, there was a post about moving to Austin to be with my midnight cowboy and a post announcing Ron was learning how to ride a horse.

[00:07:02] As it turns out, what actually happened to Ron would be a horse of a different color. We are AudioStack.ai Combining AI writing, the best synthetic voices With production and delivery Be it ads podcasts or VOs for video Just like this ad How would you utilize AI audio?

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[00:08:20] We can't thank you enough for the support. Now back to the show. Now moving to the timeline of the crime. In June 2015, Ron's duplex was sold far below fair market value by a person the buyer believed to be Ron Shumway.

[00:08:36] It was then sold two more times in cash deals. In August of 2015, a property developer named Fred Robertson bought the duplex and started renovations. His intent was to flip the property for a profit. Fred noticed that there was a foul odor coming from the duplex.

[00:08:53] Many of the neighbors noticed it as well. The smell was both pronounced and rancid. On September 24, 2015, Fred and his workers decided they needed to find the source of the odor and eradicate it. The smell was quite strong in an area of the backyard right next to the duplex.

[00:09:11] After clearing a pile of compost and leaves, they found bricks and masonry blocks stacked in a rectangle which was filled with concrete. Fred thought that an animal must have crawled into the concrete structure and died. That's what was causing the terrible smell.

[00:09:27] After chipping away at the concrete with a crowbar, one of the workers struck a black garbage bag and broke it open. Inside the bag, there was a ribcage. The police were contacted, mostly because of the murder part. Here's what the police found during their investigation.

[00:09:44] Both Ron Shumway and Christopher Colbert were missing. The body belonged to a large man. There was a ligature around his neck, and his hands and feet were tied. There was no doubt the man had been murdered. On February 12, 2016, the police identified the murder victim as 57-year-old Ron Shumway.

[00:10:03] Going back to April 23, 2015, the same day that the mysterious post was made on Ron's Facebook page implying he found a new lover, a neighbor had reported hearing a loud disturbance coming from Ron's duplex. Someone was heard screaming something like, Don't hit me anymore. Don't hurt me.

[00:10:22] Not long after this, Ron's bank card was used to purchase cement and wire mesh from a Home Depot store. The police suspected that Christopher was responsible for Ron's murder. They discovered that on May 17, 2015, Christopher pretended to be Ron and contacted a real estate investor about selling Ron's duplex.

[00:10:43] Christopher and the investor met three days later and listed the house below market value. On June 22, Christopher met with an escrow officer for a title company. When asked to produce his driver's license, he said he did not have it on him and he would fax it.

[00:11:00] On June 23, Christopher put his photograph on Ron's driver's license and faxed it to the buyer. On June 24, the proceeds from the sale of Ron's duplex, just under $110,000, went into Ron's bank account. Surveillance video from ATMs showed Christopher withdrawing the money. The police became highly interested in locating Christopher.

[00:11:22] They received a report that he had been in a casino in Las Vegas trying to exchange $20 bills for $100 bills. When the casino asked him for identification, he presented Ron's driver's license. At this point, Christopher ran out of the casino. On March 3, 2016, Christopher Colbert was arrested in Los Angeles.

[00:11:44] He was charged with tampering with a government record, securing execution of a document by deception, money laundering, and theft. Later, he was additionally charged with murder. Initially, Christopher denied having anything to do with Ron's death, but then he changed his story.

[00:12:01] He told the police that on April 23, 2015, Ron was intoxicated and they had an argument. Ron attempted to strangle him and hit Christopher's head against a wall. Christopher strangled Ron in self-defense. When the police asked him how Ron became tied up, Christopher claimed he didn't remember doing that.

[00:12:21] Despite his initial self-defense claim, Christopher eventually pleaded guilty to all the offenses. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison on January 22, 2019. Christopher will be eligible for parole in 2028. Now moving to my analysis. Here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to me in this case.

[00:12:42] Item number one. Ron Shumway was described as irritable, angry, disturbed, mean, spiteful, vindictive, deeply troubled, unpredictable, erratic, aggressive, and dangerous. When people first learned that a dead body was buried in the backyard of his duplex, many thought Ron killed someone.

[00:12:59] This says a lot about how Ron was viewed in the community. It is difficult to understand how someone who repeatedly aggravated neighbors and had multiple negative encounters with law enforcement was allowed to drive a bus.

[00:13:12] Even though there were many people who despised Ron, there was another side to his personality that was endearing to some. The nicer version of Ron was evident through some of his online activity. Ron's menacing neighborhood presence did not seem to fit with his reputation online.

[00:13:29] On social media, Ron was considered friendly, supportive, sensitive, and a hopeless romantic. He would post thoughtful messages to his friends which contained words of encouragement. I think it is reasonable to believe that Ron was one person when he was drinking and another person when he was sober.

[00:13:47] Item number two. Like Ron, Christopher had an unusual personality which featured extreme opposite behaviors. Some people described Christopher as friendly and kind-hearted. They noted how he owned two Doxins. Therefore, he couldn't be that bad. This is a novel standard for judging someone's character.

[00:14:06] However, no quantity of Doxins would have been sufficient to convince Christopher's detractors. Many found him to be volatile, self-destructive, vicious, and antagonistic. They noted that he did not handle alcohol well and he may have used other drugs.

[00:14:23] According to Christopher's former lover, Nathan, there were times when Christopher was paranoid. He believed government agents were on the roof of their residence like the men in black. In order to remove listening devices that he believed were present, Christopher destroyed a few different computers. Item number three.

[00:14:41] What do I think happened in this case? This is just a theory, my opinion. Ron Shumway appeared to have difficulty regulating his intake of alcohol. This greatly impaired his functioning at home when he was drinking, but he managed to keep his job as a bus driver.

[00:14:56] Despite his ability to function at work, Ron was a dangerous individual. A major theme in his life was the search for a romantic partner which endeared him to some. Christopher Colbert was looking for fame and fortune, but did not have the talent consistent with achieving his goals.

[00:15:12] He was disappointed after his business making tacky dog leashes failed to pay the bills. On April 23, 2015, Christopher murdered Ron in the duplex. The homicide was probably fueled by alcohol and occurred in the heat of the moment.

[00:15:27] I don't believe that Christopher planned the murder because he did not seem to be well prepared to deal with the aftermath. Once he realized what he had done, Christopher decided to extract all the money he could from his murder victim.

[00:15:39] The fake social media posts about finding a cowboy were designed to give Christopher time to sell Ron's duplex. He was able to do this because Ron didn't have strong connections to people in the area. A few people noticed he was missing, but nobody was really looking for him.

[00:15:55] The fact that Ron was missing was actually good news for the neighbors. He was despised by many and missed by few. If Christopher had simply disposed of Ron's body more thoroughly, he never would have been caught.

[00:16:08] I think this case is really about two irritable, aggressive, and erratic men who found each other. Both were dangerous, but one was more dangerous than the other.