Naman Shrestha
When the high-profile doctor, Teresa Sievers, returned home after abruptly ending a family vacation, she was attacked and murdered in her home. Though the investigators jumped on the case immediately, they had a hard time finding any leads for the first two months. The entire case is profiled in the episode titled ‘The Plot to Kill Dr. Sievers’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Road Trip,’ both of which also include the investigation that followed the gruesome murder. Thanks to the exclusive interviews with the victim’s family members, we also get to know about the impact Teresa’s death caused.
Teresa Sievers Was Ambushed in Her Home
Dr. Teresa Ann Grace Tottenham Sievers was brought into the world on November 19, 1968, at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut, by John E. Tottenham and Mary Ann Groves. Her parents separated just a month after her birth, and she had been under the care of her mother after that. When she was in the sixth grade, she had already shown a keen interest in medicine and aspired to become a doctor one day. Part of the class of 1986, she graduated Valedictorian from Ansonia High School in Connecticut. Four years later, she graduated from Fairfield University with a Master’s degree in Biology.
After that, Teresa enrolled in the Ross University School of Medicine, from which she graduated in 1996. She went to the University of Florida in Jacksonville for her residency and even received the Resident of the Year award. Given her impressive educational background, she became board-certified in Internal Medicine. On the personal front, she met Kenny Cousins in 2000 in Charleston, South Carolina, where she was conducting clinical research. The two bonded over their love for the ocean, travel, music and food. One thing led to another, and they tied the knot, eventually moving to St. Petersburg, Florida. However, their love couldn’t stand the test of time, and the two got divorced in 2003.
Despite their separation, Kenny and Teresa remained friends. In the same year as her divorce, she met Mark Sievers, the brother of one of her friends. Following love at first sight, they dated for a few months and got married in a beachside ceremony in St. Petersburg in front of their friends and family. Six months later, the couple welcomed their first daughter into the world. In 2006, Teresa and Mark moved to Bonita Springs, Florida, where they had built a large house. They became parents for the second time in 2007 as they gave birth to another daughter.
On the professional front, Teresa and Mark established a holistic medical practice called Restorative Health and Healing Center in Estero while she worked at Naples Community Hospital. Since she was the breadwinner in the family, her husband served as the office manager at her practice and took care of their kids. Teresa went on to obtain several certifications and fellowships in the following years. Moreover, she supported local charities and gave back to her community whenever possible.
For instance, in 2008, the doctor got involved with Our Mother’s Home of Southwest Florida and collaborated with Wings of Shelter International in Southwest Florida and The Good Shepherds Ministry of Fort Myers. Known for raising her influential voice about women’s health issues, she even wrote for publications like The News-Press. What appeared to be a picture-perfect life turned out to be a facade. On June 28, 2015, she cut short her family vacation in New York and flew back home alone to attend to a few patients the following day. However, when she failed to show up at work, her husband asked a family friend to check up on her.
As the family friend visited their Bonita Springs residence on the morning of June 29, 46-year-old Teresa Sievers was found dead on the kitchen floor. When the authorities arrived at the crime scene, they noticed a pool of blood surrounding her head and a hammer next to the body. Upon inspecting her body, the detectives learned that she was bludgeoned to death by the perp/s, who hit her skull 17 times with the hammer found on the crime scene. What the police found strange was that there were signs of forced entry, but none of the expensive possessions were robbed from the house.
Three Individuals Were Involved in the Murder of Teresa Sievers
When the authorities began the interrogation process, Mark Sievers was one of the persons of interest. He seemed to cooperate with them without hesitation and even handed them his cell phone. But when they learned that their marriage was troubled and deteriorating, he refused to cooperate. Digging deeper into the marriage, the investigators found a strong motive for him to commit murder — Teresa had five insurance policies totaling up to $4.433 million. At the same time, Mark’s alibi was rock solid as he was with their two daughters and her family in New York at the time of the murder. Without concrete evidence, they could not make an arrest.
So, two months of incessant investigation into the murder case of Teresa Sievers led to nowhere but dead ends. However, in August 2015, the police received a tip that two individuals from Missouri were involved in the crime — Jimmy Ray Rodgers and Curtis Wayne Wright. After arresting and charging the two individuals in Missouri, they brought in Jimmy’s girlfriend, Taylor Shomaker, for questioning, and they learned that he had admitted to killing Teresa to her. She also claimed that Jimmy had also admitted to getting hired by Curtis, who was hired by Teresa’s husband, Mark Sievers.
When they found out about the connection, the police closed in on Mark. They took him into custody in December 2015, accusing him of planning the murder of his wife for the life insurance money and the fact that she had threatened to leave him and take their children away from him. Having been friends with Curtis since childhood, Mark confided in him and opened up about the issues in his marriage life with Teresa. Offering to pay his friend a large sum of money, Mark devised a plan to get rid of his wife for good. Curtis then took the help of his friend from prison, Jimmy Ray Rodgers, and offered to pay him for his help.
Once the plan was orchestrated, on June 27, 2015, Curtis and Jimmy hired a rental car from Hillsboro, Missouri, and drove all the way to the residence of the Sievers in Bonita Springs, Florida. Around 6 am on the morning of June 28, they entered the property and turned off the security alarm before heading to Walmart to purchase trash bags, black boots, black towels, wet wipes, and a lock-picking kit. Then, they spent a few hours at the beach and hung out in the garage of the Siever’s house, waiting for Teresa to arrive from New York. As soon as she reached her home, she was ambushed by the two men and bludgeoned to death. After committing the crime, they drove back to Missouri in the early hours of June 29.
As the case moved toward trial, Teresa’s mother was granted custody of the couple’s children. Curtis agreed to a 25-year plea deal in exchange for testifying against Mark and Jimmy in their respective trials. In October 2019, Jimmy was convicted of second-degree murder and trespassing, and on December 12, 2019, he received a life imprisonment sentence. Mark’s trial commenced in November 2019, where he maintained his innocence. However, with the help of Curtis’ testimony against his friend, on December 4, 2019, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder of his wife. A month later, on January 3, 2020, he was sentenced to death.
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