Viswa Vanapalli
One day in March 2003, what Paul Christos thought was a harmless game soon turned into a fight for his life. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Betrayed: Keep Your Friends Close’ delves into the stunning case of his former wife, Sheila Davalloo. A few years into their marriage, Sheila tried to murder Paul, eventually going to jail for that in addition to another murder. So, if you’re curious to find out what happened, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Paul Christos?
Paul Christos met Sheila Davalloo at New York Medical College, where they were both students. The two eventually began seeing each other, but at the time, Sheila was married. When her husband finally found out about it, a divorce followed, with Paul and Sheila marrying in 2000. The couple then moved to Pleasantville, New York, and settled into a seemingly simple and relaxed life. Sheila worked at a pharmaceutical company in Connecticut, while Paul worked at Cornell University’s New York City, New York, campus.
However, things changed by the summer of 2001 when Sheila met coworker Nelson Sessler at an after-work get-together. The two soon began an affair, with Nelson believing that she was divorced. Around the same time, he also began seeing Anna Lisa Raymundo, another employee at the same company. Sheila and Nelson would often meet at her home in Pleasantville, and she would lie to her husband to get him out of the house. Sheila would tell Paul that her brother, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was visiting, adding that she couldn’t tell him about their marriage because he would get mad.
Therefore, Paul would often stay with his parents or at a hotel. He later added, “When her brother was coming, Sheila would move my stuff in the bathroom, and as gullible as I was at the time, I sometimes would move my own stuff before I left for the night.” This continued for a while until Nelson broke it off with Sheila and eventually moved in with Anna. Then, in 2002, Sheila began talking to Paul about a love triangle from her workplace that involved “Melissa,” “Jack,” and “Anna Lisa.
In reality, the story was about Sheila, Nelson, and Anna, respectively. She brought it up with Paul all the time. He later said, “During a certain time period, she (Davalloo) would talk about this love triangle every day. She would constantly ask me why Jack would do this, what he was thinking and what ‘Melissa’ should do.” At one point, Paul even gave Sheila night vision binoculars. He recalled her buying a lock picking set because “Melissa” wanted to break into “Anna’s” apartment to find out more about the relationship with “Jack.”
On the day the real Anna Lisa was murdered in November 2002, Paul stated that Sheila came home with a cut on her thumb that she said happened while opening a can of dog food. Then, one afternoon in March 2003, Sheila wanted to play a guessing game with Paul that involved one of them being blindfolded and handcuffed while the other would press an object up against the skin for them to guess. So, after Sheila was done guessing, Paul was blindfolded. He guessed a few items before Sheila left.
Paul said, “I heard her go down to the kitchen, and when she came up she said, ‘there is one last item, one last thing to guess.’ I felt her sit on me, then I felt a thrust like a heavy weight was on my chest, and then another thrust.” Sheila stabbed Paul twice and stated that it was by accident. She then pretended to call 911 but called Nelson instead, asking him to come over for dinner.
By that time, Anna had already been murdered, and Sheila rekindled her relationship with Nelson. After agreeing to drive an injured Paul to the Westchester Medical Center, Sheila stabbed him another time in the parking lot before he got away. Sheila was arrested and eventually sent to prison for Anna’s murder and Paul’s attempted murder.
Where is Paul Christos Now?
Paul Christos underwent an open-heart surgery but survived the attack, later testifying at Sheila’s trial. He stated that the game they played wasn’t sexual, adding, “At that point in our marriage, we were more like roommates. We were no longer romantic.” Paul divorced Sheila in September 2004. Today, he still works at Cornell in New York; he has completed his Ph.D. and is involved in teaching and research in addition to working as a biostatistician in the past. Paul seems to have moved on with his life since then and lives in Queens in New York City.
Read More: How Did Anna Lisa Raymundo Die?
