It just was absolutely bizarre and weird to think that somebody would go into the basement and kill that woman. For what?

Sissy Stewart was the feisty matryarch of the Stewart family, a prominent family in Princeton, New Jersey that ran the local newspaper.

But on a spring day in 1989, the unthinkable.

Someone stabbed Sissy to death as she gardened and locked her body in the basement.

Maybe it's by happenstance that there was no evidence left behind.

Maybe it was by design.

If Sissy knew her killer, as many investigators believe,

that name died with her.

I'm Rebecca Everett. and I'm Kevin Shea. In our podcast

in the shadow of Princeton we shine a light on this dark corner of Princeton's

past.

At the time, everybody thought it was a random attack.

He had a ski mask in his possession and a knife.

She was familiar enough with them

and trusted them enough that she turned her back on.

And that was her mistake.

Investigators pursued numerous theories,

an alleged serial stabber who'd been terrorizing the town,

a prominent member of Sissy's own family.

And a group of well-heeled students at one of the most prestigious universities on the planet.

These kids, these elite kids, just kind of could do whatever they want and get away with it.

He was small, meek, mild-mannered, totally incapable of doing what they claim he did.

...