Daughter of mum who paid son to murder ‘abusive’ stepdad speaks out

A woman whose mum paid her brother to murder her "abusive" stepfather has spoken out for the first time about the crime that went unsolved for 12 years.

Jeffrey Ola, then 35, was found riddled with bullets in his driveway after Lisa Ann Showalter paid Andrew-Scott Waddell to kill him to collect his life insurance policy.

Elizabeth Zieman, 36, discovered more than a decade later that her mother Showalter, now 60, and her brother Waddell, now 39, were responsible for the execution.

Showalter promised to pay Waddell $100,000 (£71,000) from the insurance policy for the 2001 slaughter in Centerville in the US state of Tennessee.

The killers got away with the murder until cops arrested them in 2013.

Showalter was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for first-degree murder, while her son Waddell, is serving 13 years-and-six-months for second-degree murder.

Elizabeth decided to speak out about the shocking crime after learning that her mother had applied for parole.

She admitted she had confused feelings for her mum and said: "I miss her, but I don't know that I should. Your mom is not supposed to do that kind of stuff."

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Elizabeth, who was 16 when Mr Ola was murdered, said that she didn't like her step-dad and described him as an abusive man, who beat his step-children and wife.

She said: "He was mean. He used to beat me and my little sister and my mom with a leather belt.

"He was just a person who was angry at heart. Nobody deserves death though."

Jeffrey had recently reunited with Elizabeth's mum after a brief split before he was killed on January 6, 2001.

Elizabeth added: "Jeff beat my mom up and they split up and then a month later Jeff wanted her back. He asked her to stay with him that weekend.

"She stayed that Friday night and on Saturday he got killed. My brother shot him nine times in Jeff's driveway. He was still on the driver's seat of the car."

Elizabeth said that her mum seemed upset after Mr Ola died, and cried at his funeral, but she moved to Nebraska straight after it.

She admitted she felt sorry for her brother, who was "used" by their mother.

"My mum just pretty much ignored and disowned my brother, maybe to cover it up and not have a connection," Elizabeth said.

"She just stopped being his mom and he committed murder for her."

The US authorities finally caught up with Showalter and Waddell when the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation cracked the case by interviewing witnesses in Oregon, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and Mississippi.

Elizabeth described her mother as an evil woman, who was addicted to men and had been married seven times.

She added: "My mom was an evil woman. She was never an affectionate mother. She is addicted to men and she has had seven husbands. We've never really been close.

"I was shocked that a mom could ask her son to do that. Why would you do that? I don't miss her – I just miss having a maternal figure."

Elizabeth added that she has never visited her mother in prison.

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