Steven Pladl, 42, and Katie Pladl, 20, of Knightdale, North Carolina were arrested and charged with incest, contributing to delinquency, and adultery after having a child together.
Steven and his then-wife Alyssa, met online around 1995; both were 20 and 15 at the time. In 1998, the couple got pregnant and had a baby named 'Denise'. Alyssa revealed that when Denise would cry, Steven would scream and put her into a cooler in order to stop her from crying. When Steven would walk away, Alyssa would rescue Katie from the cooler. The couple eventually decided to put their baby Denise up for adoption out of state.
In 2016, their daughter Denise, now Katie, successfully located her biological parents and siblings using social media when she turned 18 and eventually moved into their home near Richmond, Virginia.
While living there, Katie discovered that her biological parents were having marriage issues and would sleep in separate bedrooms. Later that year, Steven and his then-wife Alyssa had decided to legally separate. Steven ended up sleeping on the floor in his daughter Katie's room for a month while the separation was being finalized. No one, not even his then-wife knew that Steven and Katie were having a sexual relationship. Alyssa had even began noticing that Steven was wearing skinny jeans, fitted shirts, and even shaved his beard and grew out his hair.
Alyssa eventually found an entry in their 11-year-old daughter's diary sometime in May - a drawing of Katie pregnant, and text stating that Steven told her to start referring to Katie as "step-mom". She confronted Steven about their relationship and was told that he was in love and planned on marrying Katie. By November 2016, Steven and Alyssa was officially separated, with Alyssa getting full custody of their other 2 children.
On July 20, 2017, Steven and Katie married in Parkton, Maryland (photo below). Both had lied on paper about their biological relationship, stating that they were both unrelated. Katie's adoptive parents, Tony and Kelly Fusco, didn't agree with their marriage, but decided to support their daughter Katie's decision anyway. The couple ended up moving to Knightdale, North Carolina in November and had a baby named Bennett on September 1, 2017.
Alyssa, upset with Steven after she found out about his new baby with their biological daughter, reported the incest couple to authorities in January 2018. The couple was later investigated by authorities, charged, ordered by a judge to stay away from each other, and granted Steven's mother full custody of baby Bennett.
Shortly after the incest charge, Katie moved back to Dover, about 80 miles away in upstate New York to stay with her adoptive family, The Fuscos.
Steven, filled with rage, murdered the couple's baby, Bennett, while at home and proceed to drive to Dover, New York to find Katie. Steven managed to locate Katie with her adopted dad Tony and proceeded to secretly follow them as they were on their way to Waterbury, Connecticut. During the drive, Steven managed to get out of his car and fatally shoot both Katie and Tony.
Struck with grief after the shootings, Steven called his mother to confess about everything that had happened. Steven's mother immediately called the authorities to report the murders (9-11 phone call below) which lead to authorities later finding baby Bennett in the couple's home in Knightville.
Steven was later found dead in Dover with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.