Long After Wealthy Doctor Was Found Dead In His Florida Mansion, Suspicion Surrounds His Wife

For John Diebel, she’s nan fishy who sewage away.

Diebel, a retired detective, spent much than a decade investigating nan sadistic execution of Steven Schwartz, a able expert whose 2014 decease shook Florida’s Gulf coast. In his first question and reply astir nan case, Diebel recalled that nan investigation was 1 of nan astir extended of his astir 50 years successful rule enforcement — 1 filled pinch unexpected turns and dormant ends that led detectives acold from nan doctor’s sprawling mansion northeast of Tampa.

Retired dectective, John Diebel who has spent much than a decade investigating nan decease of Steven Schwartz.Dateline

Yet successful nan end, Diebel’s investigation for nan Tarpon Springs Police Department produced a azygous condemnation for a crime acold little superior than murder. And it did not output criminal charges for a personification who Diebel believes is responsible for nan killing: Schwartz’s wife, Rebecca Schwartz.

“It’s for illustration nan 1 lawsuit wherever you didn’t get nan fishy that you knew successful your bosom that she committed a murder,” Diebel told “Dateline.” “You conscionable didn’t person capable for nan authorities attorney’s agency to spell guardant pinch prosecution.”

For much connected nan case, tune successful to "The Death of Dr. Schwartz" connected "Dateline" astatine 9 ET/8 CT tonight.

While Rebecca, 65, has ne'er been criminally charged successful nan case, a assemblage successful civilian tribunal — wherever nan modular of grounds is little than successful criminal proceedings — recovered her liable this twelvemonth for intentionally sidesplitting her hubby aliases participating successful his death. That decision, made successful consequence to a wrongful decease suit revenge by Steven’s family, included a judgement that required Rebecca to salary nan doctor’s family astir $200 cardinal successful damages.

Lawyers for Steven’s family accused her of sidesplitting him complete a imaginable divorcement — a move that would person trim her disconnected from nan luck he’d made arsenic a expert specializing successful kidney disease.

Steven Schwartz.Dateline

After Steven’s death, Rebecca — who earlier successful life pleaded blameworthy to embezzling much than $7,000 from a Mothers Against Drunk Driving section that she led — became nan beneficiary of an property that an lawyer for Steven’s family estimated astatine much than $30 million. She moved nan money into hard-to-track constricted liability companies, according to nan family's ineligible team. To date, nan lawyers person stiff astir $6 cardinal to $10 cardinal of her assets, 1 of nan attorneys, Wil Florin, told “Dateline.”

Rebecca declined to speak to “Dateline.” In a deposition successful nan civilian case, she invoked her correct against self-incrimination and declined to reply erstwhile attorneys for Steven’s family pressed her astir whether she participated successful his death. She did nan aforesaid erstwhile she was asked astir her erstwhile conviction. In a abstracted deposition past year, she said she was worthy $10,000 and had transferred almost everything she owned into trusts controlled by her 2 sons.

Her attorney, Rohom Khonsari, said location was nary grounds supporting nan declare that Steven wanted to divorcement her. Nor was location immoderate beingness grounds linking her to nan crime, Khonsari said.

A staged burglary and a dormant assemblage

On nan evening of May 28, 2014, Rebecca dialed 911 and reported a robbery astatine nan family’s 8,000-square-foot location successful Tarpon Springs, northeast of Tampa. Jewelry, rate and her husband’s watches were gone, according to audio of nan 911 call, and she told nan dispatcher she hadn’t seen Steven since that morning, erstwhile she near astatine 8:30 and he was successful furniture reference a newspaper.

“He’s a physician, truthful I don’t cognize wherever he is, actually,” she said. “One of nan hospitals, I assume."

Steven Schwartz and his wife, Rebecca Schwartz.Dateline

As investigators searched nan house, they recovered watch boxes scattered crossed a chamber level and drawers yanked from cabinets. At nan bottommost of a group of stairs, they recovered Steven’s assemblage successful a excavation of blood, Diebel recalled. He was 74.

He’d been changeable doubly — erstwhile successful nan head, erstwhile successful nan cervix — pinch what Diebel believed was a small-caliber gun. He had a ample laceration crossed his neck, Diebel said, and an autopsy showed his spine had been fractured — an wounded he appeared to person sustained during a autumn down nan stairs.

Investigators discovered that a important portion of nan home’s elaborate information strategy — a DVR — was missing, arsenic was a ample weapon successful a butcher artifact successful nan kitchen, Diebel said. Neither would ever beryllium found. Nor would authorities find nan weapon utilized to sprout him.

Diebel came to judge nan burglary segment was staged. While nan drawers had been pulled out, he said, it didn’t look that anyone had really rifled done them. And nan jewelry and watch boxes looked for illustration they’d conscionable been dropped connected nan floor. The effort, he said, seemed designed to make nan crime look for illustration a “burglary gone bad.”

A crime segment photograph of nan drawers pulled retired during nan alleged burglary of nan Schwartz home.Dateline

Diebel besides came to judge that personification adjacent to nan Schwartzes was astir apt responsible for nan doctor’s death. He based that suspicion connected nan location of nan missing signaling equipment — it was hidden successful a closet, supra nan car shed — and connected nan family’s 2 ample dogs: Rebecca told constabulary they’d been locked each time wrong nan aforesaid chamber that had been burglarized. Those clues led Diebel to judge nan personification was acquainted pinch nan home’s layout and knew nan pets.

Shortly aft nan death, investigators interviewed Rebecca, who called her hubby her “best bud” — they’d been joined for 4 years but a mates for acold longer — and provided an relationship of her whereabouts connected May 28, a video of nan question and reply shows. That relationship included receipts, Diebel said. When constabulary shared their mentation astir who was apt to person been responsible for her husband’s killing, she responded: “You deliberation you tin find who did this?”

An interrogator responded successful nan affirmative.

Fingerprints lifted from nan information strategy and elsewhere astatine nan crime segment provided what initially seemed for illustration a promising lead. They matched those of Rebecca’s oldest boy from a erstwhile marriage, Diebel said, prompting Diebel to recreation pinch a squad of investigators to a mini municipality northbound of Madison, Wisconsin, wherever nan boy owned a Verizon shop.

They showed up astatine his workplace unannounced, Diebel said, and questioned him astir wherever he’d been connected May 28. It turned retired he’d been obscurity adjacent Tarpon Springs.

“He had gone to nan doctor’s pinch his wife,” Diebel said. “She was pregnant astatine nan time.”

Diebel besides ruled retired a startling revelation from nan doctor’s past that emerged aft his death. As a 21-year-old assemblage student successful New Mexico, he robbed a expert of $400 — past fatally changeable him. Steven pleaded blameworthy to execution and was sentenced to life successful situation but granted a afloat pardon a decade later.

While shocking — Steven had kept nan crime a concealed from his children — Diebel believed it had nary relationship to his death. It had happened successful 1961, much than a half-century before, Diebel said, and nan expert had transformed into a exemplary citizen

“This was a wholly different man,” Diebel said.

Finally, a breakthrough successful nan lawsuit

Nearly a twelvemonth passed earlier DNA delivered nan case’s first breakthrough. The samples were taken from 2 spots connected Steven’s apparel — wrong a pouch wherever he usually kept a wad of cash, Diebel said, and a conception of his garment that appeared crumpled.

It wasn’t nan strongest DNA lucifer — Diebel said location had been important contamination astatine nan segment because of nan magnitude of humor — but nan study led to an unexpected person: Leo Stragaj, a man who’d worked for nan Schwartzes for years doing remodeling and spot maintenance.

Two weeks aft nan killing, Stragaj, 48, provided authorities pinch nan familial sample they utilized to comparison pinch nan DNA collected astatine nan scene. In a recorded question and reply obtained by “Dateline,” he told authorities that he had nary thought who was down Steven’s decease but wanted to thief nevertheless he could.

“That feline took attraction of my everything,” said Stragaj, an Albanian nationalist who first came to nan United States successful 2000. “He supported my family successful Albania.”

Stragaj provided an relationship of his whereabouts connected May 28 — he said he’d been moving connected a location each time — and authorities verified it, Diebel said. But aft they obtained nan DNA sample, constabulary arrested him connected a first-degree execution complaint and confronted him pinch nan caller finding. He initially disputed nan evidence, saying that he was being framed and that location was nary measurement it was his, according to a video of nan interview.

Anton Stragaj's mug changeable successful Tarpon Springs, Fla.Dateline

But aft an hr and a half, Stragaj provided a acold different account. In nan interview, he said that Rebecca had asked him to extremity by their location early May 28 to prime up her purse and that erstwhile he did, he recovered Steven’s assemblage successful a excavation of blood.

Stragaj said he grabbed nan expert and shook him — “just to spot if he’s OK,” he said successful nan interview. He retrieved Rebecca’s bag, which he said contained jewelry boxes and a knife, and left.

Upon returning nan purse, he started screaming astatine Rebecca and demanding to cognize why she killed her husband, Stragaj told “Dateline.” She astatine first said nothing, past responded, “I cognize you cognize why I did it,” Stragaj said. (Stragaj provided a akin relationship during a deposition successful nan civilian lawsuit erstwhile he was questioned by an lawyer for Steven’s family.)

In an question and reply pinch “Dateline,” Stragaj said he didn’t spell to nan constabulary for 2 reasons: He feared being deported and worried Rebecca wouldn’t salary him nan tens of thousands of dollars he said she owed him from an finance they’d made together.

Not calling nan constabulary that day, he said, was nan biggest correction of his life.

In 2021, aft six years successful nan Pinellas County Jail awaiting trial, Stragaj accepted a woody from prosecutors — a blameworthy plea to a lower-level felony, accessory aft nan fact. A fewer months later, he was deported to Albania.

Detective’s lingering doubts

Diebel said he doesn’t judge Stragaj stumbled onto nan execution scene. He believes Stragaj was straight progressive successful nan doctor’s sidesplitting and could still reply a bid of unresolved questions, including what happened to nan missing DVR.

In nan “Dateline” interview, Stragaj maintained his innocence and said he had thing to do pinch sidesplitting Steven.

Because of Stragaj’s repeated lies, Diebel said, his relationship of what happened connected May 28 wasn’t considered reliable grounds against Rebecca. And successful nan decade-plus that he spent investigating nan murder, Diebel said, he uncovered nary grounds that would clasp up successful a criminal trial.

Diebel said that earlier he retired this year, he tried everything he could — and had different agencies reappraisal his activity to spot whether location was thing he missed. More witnesses came forward, he said, but thing they provided was enough.

Even though he’d ne'er been capable to beryllium it, Diebel believed a mentation of nan sidesplitting that was akin to that presented successful nan civilian lawsuit — that Steven was murdered aft he told his woman he planned to extremity their relationship.

Diebel said he was gladsome location had been immoderate measurement of justness for Steven’s family pinch nan civilian judgment. And moreover though nan investigation he shepherded for years was officially closed weeks aft nan assemblage delivered that judgment, he was hopeful caller grounds could someday resurrect nan criminal probe.

“I conscionable would promote anybody if you cognize anything, nary matter really small, if you person not talked pinch a detective aliases nan constabulary section astir this, please travel forward,” he said. “’Cause you ne'er cognize what accusation that you person mightiness beryllium nan nexus that we request to put things together.”