The tragic death of Shanti Cooper-Tronnes, a Florida woman found dead in her home in 2018, shocked many. Her case, which involved an ambitious home renovation project and a reality show, captivated the public and highlighted the dark side of a seemingly ordinary life. The investigation that followed uncovered shocking truths about her marriage to David Tronnes, whose lies about their financial situation ultimately led to Shanti’s death. This true crime story focuses on the tragic circumstances surrounding her murder, the investigation that unraveled the truth, and the subsequent conviction of her husband.
Florida murder Shanti Cooper-Tronnes case
Shanti Cooper was a dedicated mother to her son Jackson whom she shared custody with her ex-husband Jim Cooper she separated from Jim in 2013 marking a new chapter in her life after her divorce Shanti was ready to start dating again however she noticed that the world of dating had changed significantly since she last ventured into it online dating had become the popular way to meet people determined to embrace this new way of finding love Shanti created a match.com account as Shanti navigated through various profiles on the site she connected with several men however none of them stood out quite like David tronis David like Shanti had recently ended a yearlong marriage and was ready for something new and fun their connection grew stronger as they exchanged phone calls text messages and emails after months of getting to know each other David made the Bold move.
to Orlando Florida to be closer to Shanti their bond had blossomed into something deeper and they could not resist being physically together shanti‘s love for her son never wavered and she ensured that her dating life with David was consistent with her parental responsibilities she prioritized her son’s well-being and ensured that everyone involved understood the importance of maintaining a healthy family dynamic in 2015 Shany and David moved to Delaney Park an upscale suburb near downtown or Orlando Delaney Park is a beautiful and family friendly neighbourhood known for its affluent Community Delany Park offers its residents a top-notch lifestyle the neighbourhood boasts an excellent school system providing quality education to its students with its well-maintained landscaping and proximity to various amenities Delaney Park is desirable for families seeking a comfortable and safe environment David purchased a home in Delaney park for $600,000 in cash cash and placed it.
in a trust for him and his mother the home David purchased for him and Shanti was 4,000 square ft with a pool a garage and an apartment above it this spacious property provided them with comfortable living in space and ample amenities Shanti and David were excited to move into their new house and embrace a new chapter in their lives however upon closer inspection they realized that certain aspects of the home didn’t quite align with their vision of the future despite their love for their new home the upstairs bedrooms were cramped and lacked functionality faced with this challenge David and Shanti embarked on a renovation project that would completely transform their house into a dream home driven by her passion for design and Home Improvement Shanti agreed to foot the bill for the project to execute their Vision David and Shanti hired a team of skilled.
contractors who effectively dismantled their entire house this step was necessary in order in order to reconstruct the upstairs bedrooms and create a layout suitable for their plans as the work on the house progressed the bedrooms were temporarily out of order Shanty decided to reside in the apartment above the garage which allowed her to continue her daily routine without disruption and provided her with a dedicated workspace meanwhile David found himself in a makeshift dwelling in the garage spending quality time with their dogs David’s obsession with restoring his home grew exponentially it became more than just a project it became an integral part of his life every waking moment was spent overseeing the work making necessary adjustments and ensuring every detail was meticulously planned and executed his entire world revolved around the restoration process and the home started to take on a life of its own in.
2018 3 years after the commencement of the renovation project little to no progress was made the entire inside of the home had been gutted leaving nothing but a shell of a building desperate to find a solution David turned to a local home renovator who had a hit reality television series on A&E zombie house flippers zombie house flippers is a television series that follows a group of Real Estate Investors who purchase and renovate dilapidated homes the series producer approached David and shanti‘s Home in Delaney Park to determine if it would be suitable for the upcoming season amidst the turmoil surrounding their home renovations the couple tied the knot in 20 2017 a decision that surprised many of their friends and family Shanti known for her private nature had managed to keep the marriage a secret even from her close grandmother who she was especially close to.
this decision was not particularly surprising to those who knew Shanti as she was known for her discretion when it came to her personal life by mid-April 2018 zombie house flippers had made plans to start filming at David and shanti‘s Home in May however the producer encountered difficulties getting David and Shanti to sit down to discuss how the show would go the producer noticed a distinct difference between David’s enthusiasm and shanti‘s apparent lack of commitment while David was primarily interested in the flipping series Shanti seemed to be going along with it merely to humour her husband the tension between David and Shanti regarding their home was palpable Shanti had invested significant money in the renovations and her name wasn’t even on the trust that owned the house despite David’s promise to add Shanti to the trust he failed to follow through on this commitment which.
caused further strain in their relationship by the end of April 2018 things seemed to be coming together for David and Shanti however at 3:51 p.m. on April 24th 2018 David called 911 in hysterics explaining that he found his wife Shanti in the bathtub and she was not breathing during the phone call with the 911 dispatcher David screams could be heard in the background as he frantically tried to explain the situation when police arrived at David and shanti‘s home they found Shanti deceased in the bathtub declared a crime scene the area was immediately secured and the investigation began meanwhile David was transported to the police department for questioning David told the investigators that the morning started like any other according to David Shanty woke up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. at around 9:30 a.m. he went for a 1-hour walk leaving his wife home Upon returning.
from The Walk David claimed that he had taken measurements for the renovations after completing the measurements David stated that he left again around noon to take his and shant’s dogs to park of Americas an off leash dog park near the Orlando Executive Airport David claimed he often went there to let the dogs play and enjoy the open space he said before he left the house he didn’t speak to Shanti and assumed she was in the the garage apartment relaxing David told the detectives that when he returned home from the dog park he immediately went outside and started doing chores in the yard he spent approximately 30 minutes taking care of various tasks before he decided to head inside upon entering his home he heard the sound of water coming from inside the bathroom which caught his attention and he decided to investigate further as he approached.
the bathroom David claimed that the door was slightly ajar he pushed it open and discovered a shocking sight Shanti his wife lay unconscious in the bathtub her body submerged halfway in the water David claimed Panic overcame him and he immediately called 911 to report the incident during the interview David described how Shanti had been excited about their future and the vision they had for their home they had been looking forward to a bright future together although David appeared upset and his story about finding his wife in the tub seemed plausible the detective interviewing him harboured suspicions the discrepancies in David’s account raised red flags when the police officers arrived at the Delaney Park home after David called 911 they observed that there was no wet substances in the bathroom which would be expected if David had genuinely attempted to rescue his wife from a half-filled.
bathtub this detail called into question the validity of David’s story furthermore the severity of shanty’s injuries did not align with David’s account of her falling into the tub when shanty’s body was moved at the crime scene it was evident that she was covered in blood and bruises which could not have been caused by a simple fall an autopsy later revealed that shanti‘s cause of death was blunt force trauma and strangulation and her manner of death was ruled a homicide these inconsistencies prompted the detective to confront David regarding the discrepancies in his story the detective asked David about blood that investigators found on shanti‘s bed and David said that was from her menstrual cycle however the amount of blood found did not make sense raising further suspicions the detectives threw out different theories as to what could have happened to motivate David to kill Shanti and.
get a reaction from David the detective asked David if the state of the couple’s home renovation had anything to do with shanti‘s death but David said no then the detective asked David if Shanty was angry with him since she was not on the trust for the home and Again David said Shanti never had an issue with that the detective suspected that shanti‘s death may have been motivated by her life insurance policy her policy had a pay-out of 250,000 to her husband David which raised suspicions during the interview the detectives asked David if her death was an accident that occurred during rough intercourse however he denied having any involvement in harming Shanti despite David’s denial the detectives felt that there was sufficient evidence to suest suggest David’s involvement in shanti‘s Murder they believed that he had faked crying on the 911 call and during the interview.
the detective suspected that David had staged an emotional response to throw off suspicion but before David left the police department he agreed to take a polygraph test however it was late at night and the detectives were unable to locate a polygrapher to administer the test immediately as a result David was released and allowed to return home before leaving David provided his DNA nail clippings and fingerprints to the detectives for examination and comparison to any evidence found at the crime scene the detectives hoped that these samples would help them gather more evidence and establish a link between David and shanti‘s murder investigators who examined the crime scene at David and shanti‘s home noted that Shanti had one earring on and one off on her nightstand additionally shanti‘s watch was off on the nightstand at the time of her murder these findings were significant to the detectives.
as they suggested that Shanti may have been in the process of getting ready for bed when the murder took place furthermore shanti‘s cell phone was found on her nightstand however the investigators noted that there was no activity on it after 11:30 p.m. on April 23rd 2018 the medical examiner report revealed that Shanti did not have any defensive wounds which led the detectives to believe that she was unaware of the impending attack the detectives theorized that Shanti was sitting on the end of her bed removing her jewellery when David attacked her from behind they felt this assault resulted in shanti‘s death and David moved her body into the bathtub another significant finding was that nothing appeared missing from the home so the detectives ruled out robbery as a motive however one item that seemed to be missing was shanti‘s $155,000 engagement ring as the detectives conducted.
their investigation they soon discovered that David’s portrayal of his and shanti‘s happy marriage did not align with the perception of others who knew Shanti according to these individuals David had a habit of hiding her son Jackson’s toys and returning them when Jackson inquired about them the detectives believed that David was employing these tactics to play psychological games with Shanti and her son during their search of the garage where David was sleeping investigators stumbled upon an unplugged refrigerator filled with children’s toys this discovery further solidified the detective’s theory that David was engaging in manipulative Behaviour by hiding Jackson’s toys and returning them intermittently David attempted to control Shanti and her son’s emotions after the detective served a search warrant on Shanti and David’s Delaney Park home They confiscated the couple’s computers they found notes on shanti‘s computer that shed light on her discontent with her marriage.
with David in these notes Shanti referred to David as cheap controlling and narcissistic whenever they went out to eat Shanti wrote David never paid and on occasion when he did offer he always had an excuse claiming he forgot his wallet Shanti expressed feeling sad and lonely afraid and no longer wanting to be part of the life that they built together she stated that her mental unhappiness was a result of her poor interactions with her husband David further these notes highlighted the fact that Shanti was under a significant amount of stress living in a home under construction as the detectives continued to investigate the murder of Shanti they discovered important information that linked David to her death it was revealed that Shanti had been hospitalized for 3 Days in the months before her body was found the detectives were also informed that Shanti had expressed concerns.
about her eating habits and mentioned to her nanny that she could no longer consume spicy foods or drink alcohol additionally Shanti had started losing weight rapidly which raised suspicion amongst the detectives the detectives were puzzled by the absence of any toxic substance found in shanti‘s body during the taxology tests conducted during her autopsy despite the lack of evidence they began to suspect that David may have been poisoning Shanti however they were unsure what substance could have been responsible as the tests did not reveal anything further investigation revealed that David had previously been married before he married Shanti the detectives were curious about the details of his previous marriage and decided to explore it further they discovered that David’s first wife Carol faced similar health issues as Shati David had met Carol on a blind date in 1997 and the couple hit it off immediately 2.
years later they got married the detectives began to wonder if there was anything similar between Carol’s health issues and shanti‘s sudden decline in health shortly after the couple wed Carol began to experience a series of health issues that left her feeling constantly nauseous fainting at times and experiencing severe reactions when consuming spicy food and drinks particularly alcohol her former close friends expressed suspicion to detectives that David may have started poisoning her after their marriage wanting to delve deeper into David’s background the detectives flew to Minnesota in November 2018 from Florida to interview Carol in person during the recorded conversation with Carol she recounted her ongoing struggles with chronic pain and immune system issues that she said were not definitively diagnosed Carol emphasized the importance of understanding her background in order to grasp the significance of her health issues she stated that he was responsible for.
cooking their meals during her marriage to David the detectives questioned Carol about the possibility of David’s involvement in her health issues they considered it to be too much of a coincidence that both David’s wives had exhibited similar health issues however Carol adamantly denied any notion that her former husband had intentionally poisoned her she insisted that her health issues persisted even after their separation during the investigation into shanti‘s homicide detectives received a phone call from an employer of Club Orlando a private Men’s Spa the club offered various amenities such as hot tubs pools a gym and dark rooms where individuals could engage in sexual activity to become a member individuals had to purchase a pass or membership the employee speaking to the detectives revealed that Donald trones had several memberships at Club Orlando they stated that David consistently renewed his membership every 6 months without fail.
this employee claimed to have seen David engaging in sexual acts with other males when detectives spoke to shanti‘s acquaintances they all expressed that Shanti would never condone or tolerate her husband engaging in same-sex relationships this evidence raised the question of whether Shanti had discovered that David had been engaging in such relationships and threatened to leave him and stop funding their home renovations the detectives considered the possibility that shanti‘s anger or frustration could have escalated leading to her murder as they continued their investigation the detectives carefully examined all evidence including the information provided by the employee of Club Orlando they sought to determine if the spa membership and alleged sexual activity could give any insights into the circumstances surrounding shanti‘s death when the forensic test results came back from the State Crime Lab it was determined that shanti‘s DNA had been found underneath David’s fingernails and.
his prints were the only prints discovered in the bathtub this evidence contradicted David’s version of events as he claimed that Shanti accidentally fell while stepping into the tub the detectives however had expected to find her prince there as well but they were not present on August 29th 2018 David was arrested and charged with first-degree murder David was held without bond news of David’s arrest shocked his friends who could not believe that he was responsible for shanti‘s murder they thought the police were looking for an easy way to close the case and were not taking the necessary steps to ensure that the right person was held accountable for the crime yet the detectives conducted a thorough investigation following up on every tip they received regarding shanti‘s murder before they arrested David one of the leads they pursued involved a homeless man in Delaney Park who resembled.
Academy Award nominated actor Woody harelson the detectives tracked this man down and interviewed him ultimately clearing him of Suspicion in addition to following the tip the detectives knew it was important to check out her ex-husband Jim Cooper as a potential suspect Shanti and Jim had gone through a tumultuous divorce raising questions about whether things may have escalated to the point where Jim murdered Shanti the detectives interviewed Jim and eliminated him as a suspect due to his Alibi after David’s arrest a search warrant was served at his mother’s home in Orlando where he had been staying inside the suitcase the detectives discovered shanti‘s missing engagement ring with had disappeared the night she was murdered this evidence further strengthened their case and confirmed their suspicion that David was the perpetrator in July 2019 a jailhouse informant provided detectives with crucial information regarding a confession made by David.
stating that Shanti had discovered text messages on David’s phone revealing his sexual relationships with multiple men this Revelation sparked a heated argument between Shanti and David with Shanti erupting into Fury and cursing threatening to tell everyone and demanding a divorce according to the information provided David allegedly admitted to having blacked out before striking Shanti ultimately resulting in her death furthermore the informant revealed that they had known David before their incarceration having seen him around Club Orlando the inmate also shared the David mentioned Cambo a poisonous secretion from an Amazonian giant monkey frog used in controversial treatments this inmate claimed that David had confined in them that this substance could be used as a poison that would kill someone without leaving any evidence on a toxicology report David’s trial was delayed because of the covid-19 pandemic like countless others in the country David’s legal proceedings were.
put on hold due to the ongoing Health crisis the pandemic disrupted the normal course of Justice creating significant delays in various cases including Davids in 2022 after nearly 2 years of delay David’s trial finally commenced however the outcome was unexpected David was found incompetent to stand trial after the defense and the prosecution’s medical experts examined him the experts conducted a thorough evaluation to determine David’s mental competency to stand trial based on the review they came to the conclusion that he had an ongoing manifestation of schizophrenia after a Six-Day trial in October 2023 David was found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to life in prison..