FILE 712 / 26 June 2026 / 77 MIN / express

Murder In The Neighborhood

Lafayette, CaliforniaListen

The town

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

This is Lafayette, California... this is in Contracosta County about 0:04:01

History, in brief

Town note

Lafayette was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary War.

about 0:05:46

1857

The name came together with the community's first post office in 1857, applied for by the owner and manager of a hotel and general store.

about 0:05:59

Town note

He first wanted to call the town Centerville, but California already had a Centerville.

about 0:06:12
All 9 history facts

Town note

Lafayette was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary War.

about 0:05:46

1857

The name came together with the community's first post office in 1857, applied for by the owner and manager of a hotel and general store.

about 0:05:59

Town note

He first wanted to call the town Centerville, but California already had a Centerville.

about 0:06:12

1857

In 1857 the name was La Fayette, one word with a capital F.

about 0:06:50

1864

In 1864 it was Lafayette, one word with a lower-case f.

about 0:06:58

1932

In 1932 the post office was officially changed to one word, Lafayette, and it has stayed that way.

about 0:07:19

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$1,767,400
Median household income$97,946
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2026

Population

"25,384"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:57

Median household income

"$97,946"

Comparison: "about $30,000 above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:05:14

Median home cost

"$1,767,400"

Comparison: "about $1.3 million above the national figure". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:05:25

The reviews

4.1 / 5 · average of 3

4.2 stars

“Not bad, and nothing in the reviews is under three stars; wealthy people with little to complain about.”
about 0:07:31

5 stars

“Likes every part of it, loves the schools and the lifestyle, and says everything is great.”
about 0:07:53

3 stars

“Went to school there from the age of seven; says being Caucasian in such a white rich community was tough at times, that people are not welcoming to outsiders, and that academics are excellent but extracurriculars are full of favouritism and pressure.”
about 0:08:27

In California

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The story

In 1993 or 1994 she met Daniel Horowitz, an East Bay defence attorney and television legal analyst, while pitching a screenplay in Hollywood, and they married in 1994. By 2005 she was managing databases at his law practice, and the couple's main project was a 7,000-square-foot house overlooking a canyon on Hunsacker Canyon Road in Lafayette, Contra Costa County, where they were living in a trailer while it was built.

In 1999 he and his mother moved in with old friends Fred and Kim Curiel in Lafayette; while the Curiels built a new house, mother and son lived in a plywood lean-to without plumbing until April 2003.

On 17 September 2005 he used a credit card stolen from a neighbour, John Halpin, to order a $267 vaporizer, and on 13 October 2005 he placed a series of orders for grow lights and cooling equipment billed to another neighbour, Karen Schneider, using the Horowitz-Vitale address for delivery.

Horowitz came home at 6 p.m., saw blood smears on the front door and found his wife just inside the entryway. She had been beaten with a small, irregular hard object, probably a rock, with at least eight injuries on the right side of her head, eleven on the back and seven on the left, a broken nose, two loose teeth, defensive fractures to her left hand and a deep abdominal stab wound; three intersecting cuts forming an H, which the press called a cross of Lorraine, had been carved into her back while she was alive. There was no sexual assault and nothing was taken.

On 16 October Karen Schneider called a neighbourhood meeting about the credit card fraud. In January 2006 five sheets of paper in his handwriting were found in his room, one listing knock out/kidnap, question, keep captive to confirm pins, dirty work and dispose of evidence, followed by cut up, bury.

The investigator Ralph Fernandez has campaigned for over ten years for his innocence, arguing that the partial DNA match on Pamela's foot should be retested and the shoe print was not definitive.

The case

Murder of Pamela Vitale

Victims

Pamela Vitale. Born about 1953; marketing executive for a Bay Area technology company, independent film producer, mother of Marissa and Mario, married to Daniel Horowitz.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 26 June 2026.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Daniel Horowitz. Pamela's husband, an East Bay criminal defence attorney and television legal analyst; found the body
Fred Curiel. computer consultant and friend the s lived with; confronted about the fraud
Kim Curiel. Fred's wife, who confronted and told him about Pamela's death
Robin. best friend since the eighth grade; granted immunity in exchange for information
Jenna. girlfriend
Karen Schneider. neighbour whose credit card was used; had recently run over dog
John Halpin. neighbour whose credit card was stolen from the mail
Ralph Fernandez. former Miami-Dade homicide detective who has campaigned for innocence

The timeline

  1. about 1953 Pamela Vitale is bornabout 0:14:49
  2. October 30th, 1988 is born in San Franciscoabout 0:35:27
  3. 1993 or 1994 Daniel Horowitz and Pamela Vitale meet in Hollywood and become a coupleabout 0:16:00
  4. 1994 Horowitz and Vitale marryabout 0:16:06
  5. 1994 Kenneth reports general neglect of six-year-old to child protective servicesabout 0:43:04
  6. 1995 Kenneth reports emotional abuse; CPS never investigates either claimabout 0:43:04
  7. 1999 and Esther Fielding move into the Curiel house in Lafayette (Curiel house)about 0:36:38
  8. August 2002 half-sister is killed in a car accidentabout 0:38:04
  9. 2002 to 2003 The Curiels build a new house; until it is finished, and Esther live in a plywood lean-to on the property (plywood lean-to)about 0:42:00
  10. April 2003 The Curiels' new house is finished (Curiel house)about 0:42:07
  11. summer 2005 and Robin decide to grow cannabis in closet (Curiel house)about 0:43:31
  12. September 17, 2005 orders a $267 vaporizer from Vaporwares using a credit card stolen from John Halpin (Curiel house)about 0:44:55
  13. October 1, 2005 Karen Schneider runs over dog Jazzabout 0:45:25
  14. October 13, 2005 Grow-light and cooling-equipment orders are placed using Karen Schneider's card, shipped to Esther Fielding at the Curiel house (Curiel house)about 0:46:07
  15. October 14, 2005 The company owner faxes copies of the orders; a caller from the Curiel house telephone asks about them (Curiel house)about 0:47:29
  16. October 15, 2005 Daniel Horowitz leaves the trailer at 8 a.m. to work on the Susan Polk case (Horowitz-Vitale house)about 0:19:48
  17. October 15, 2005 Pamela Vitale's last keystroke is logged at 10.12 a.m. (Horowitz-Vitale house)about 0:30:57
  18. October 15, 2005 Pamela Vitale is beaten to death in the entryway of the house (Horowitz-Vitale house)about 0:23:15

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode