Residue: A True Crime Podcast

132: Cruel Doubt: The Murder of Leith Von Stein

May 26, 2026·34 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

In July 1988, Washington, North Carolina businessman Leith Von Stein was fatally stabbed and bludgeoned in his bed while his wife, Bonnie, was severely injured. The violent crime was initially staged as a burglary but later exposed a twisted conspiracy motivated by a $2 million inheritance.The chilling true-crime story was famously chronicled in the 1991 bestselling book Cruel Doubt by Joe McGinniss. Cruel Doubt was adapted into a highly rated, two-part television miniseries that premiered on NBC in May 1992 starring Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow.Sources:Cruel Doubt by Joe McGuinessBlood Relatives: Death is in the Air https://finishedpages.com/from-patriarch-to-the-small-screen-the-north-carolina-murder-of-leigh-von-stein/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/11/17/two-very-different-tellings-of-the-same-crime/http://www.theescapist.com/archive-pritchard01.htmhttps://law.justia.com/cases/north-carolina/supreme-court/1992/89a90-0.html

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