The 2004 Halloween Roommate Murders: Nightmare in Napa Valley

One house, three roommates, and one very unusual suspect.

[Napa Valley, California]

On October 31st, 2004, three 26-year-old roommates, Adriane Insogna, Leslie Mazzara and Lauren Meanza wrapped up a long night of handing out candy to energetic trick or treaters that opened their bags at their door. When it became clear the wave of children was decreasing, the women turned off their porch light and started their night time routines.

Lauren headed to bed first with her well-loved dog, Chloe, on the bottom level. Not long into her rest, she was woken up by the sound of her dog barking loudly at her window. A street light triggered by motion alerted Chloe to possible danger, but assuming it was simply a neighborhood cat, Lauren hushed her and attempted to head back to sleep.

However, suddenly, shattered windows from below followed by an echoing, panicked scream from upstairs confirmed to Lauren that what she was hoping was imaginary, was indeed a gruesome reality.

She mustered up enough courage to glance outside of her door to make sense of the noise. There, she heard intense footsteps making their way back down the stairs. Lauren knew that as the sounds of the sound of the shoes smacked the ground…