Kriti Mehrotra
It was June 28, 2015, when the entire community of Bonita Springs, Florida, was left baffled to the core as Teresa Ann Grace Tottenham Sievers was bludgeoned to death in her own home. Though what was even more disturbing, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Road Trip,’ is that it eventually came to light that this holistic doctor’s husband was among those responsible. Mark Sievers didn’t actually physically kill her, but he’d hired his childhood best friend Curtis Wayne Wright Jr. to do so, only for the latter to then enlist the help of career criminal Jimmy Rodgers.
Mark Sievers Was Looking to Avoid a Divorce
It was reportedly back around the early 2000s when Mark came across Teresa for the first time through his elder sister, only for them to soon wholly commit and fall head over heels in love. The truth is the latter had initially connected with Stacey Sievers on a professional level since she was the acupuncturist treating her ex-husband (2000-2003), but then genuine friendship grew. That’s how this certified alternative therapist came to believe the wellness professional would be a great match for her brother following her divorce, unaware they’d end up marrying within months.
According to reports, Mark and Teresa actually had a shotgun wedding as she’d fallen pregnant, yet they did seem genuinely happy when they welcomed their first child around six months later. In fact, the couple was apparently a picture of bliss even three years later when she gave birth to their second daughter before they relocated from St. Petersburg to Bonita Springs for good. It was then that the Sievers set up a holistic medical practice by the name of Restorative Health and Healing Center in Estero, all with the intention of the matriarch hopefully landing a TV show soon.
But alas, by the time 2015 rolled around, Mark and Teresa’s union had soured to such an extent he was worried she’d soon file for divorce as well as take their two young daughters away from him. The fact he was also facing severe financial constraints meant he could not afford to fight for custody either, driving him to land upon the idea of removing her from the familial picture altogether. His benefiting from her many life insurance policies/trusts — valued at roughly $4.43 million — was thus a massive plus for him too, so he decided to speak to his trusted friend Curtis Wright about it.
As per official records, Curtis not only backed Mark’s viewpoint but also agreed to “take care of it” and murder Teresa for him in exchange for at least $100,000 from the proceeds he’d later secure. Then, once the duo was absolutely determined to move forward with their plan, the former approached career criminal Jimmy Ray Rodgers for some aid without informing his friend beforehand. Therefore, on June 27, these Missouri natives made their way to Florida while the Sievers’ were on a family vacation in Connecticut, knowing first-hand that Teresa would return alone a day later for work.
This gave Mark a near-perfect alibi, and since both Curtis as well as Jimmy were careful not to leave any DNA trace or evidence behind, it took investigators quite a few months to connect the dots. It actually wasn’t until a tip came in that they were able to identify the friend as a suspect, which then led them to the convict and the spouse via phone records, plus the existence of a burner phone. The authorities had admittedly already deemed Mark a person of interest as they believed his reactions to the incident were over the top, only to grow even more suspicious once he conceded to having several other partners before soon lawying up to refuse cooperation.
Mark Sievers is on Death Row
It was August 2015 when the police arrested Curtis and Jimmy from their respective Missouri homes, just for the former’s eventual confession to lead to Mark’s arrest from his Florida home in December. The fact officials had already watched him throw out some computer equipment mere hours following Teresa’s funeral, plus his gradual yet clear uncooperativeness with them didn’t help either. So, even though his defense team tried to assert he had no hand in his wife’s atrocious murder and was instead a victim of Curtis’ tale — indicating the friend alone had concocted this plan out of pure jealousy over the Sievers’ seemingly happy lives — the jury ruled against him.
In the end, on December 4, 2019, Mark was found guilty of first-degree murder, with a unanimous jury recommendation of the death penalty, which was officially handed down on January 3, 2020. He later did try to appeal this verdict by filing for an entire retrial but was denied, and then the Florida Supreme Court affirmed every aspect of his conviction. Hence, today, at the age of 56, Teresa’s husband/killer remains on death row at the maximum-security Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida — no date for his execution has yet been set.
