A Mysterious Illness Strikes

• 🧠 Gina Gei, a 15-year-old, experienced a rapid onset of severe symptoms including stomach ache, double vision, body stiffness, and uncontrollable jerking, initially mistaken for the flu.
• 🔬 Her condition quickly worsened, leading to paralysis, slurred speech, and a medical emergency that required transport to a larger hospital.
• ⚠️ Doctors diagnosed Gina with rabies, a fast-moving and almost universally fatal disease once symptoms appear, with no known survivors at her advanced stage.

A Radical Treatment Attempted

• 💡 Dr. Rodney Willoughby, Gina's lead physician, discovered research suggesting the rabies virus kills by disrupting brain functions, not by destroying brain tissue.
• 🚀 He proposed a radical plan: induce a deep medically-induced coma to silence Gina's brain activity, protecting it while her immune system fought the virus.
• ✅ Gina survived the coma, but initially suffered from locked-in syndrome, unable to move or speak, a devastating outcome that left Dr. Willoughby questioning his decision.
• 👏 After weeks of recovery, Gina regained movement and speech, becoming the first person to survive full-blown rabies without a vaccine, a treatment now known as the Milwaukee Protocol.

The Church Office Tragedy

• ⛪ Rhonda Smith, a temporary church secretary struggling with mental illness and depression, was found shot in the Trinity Lutheran Church office by her friend Judy Zelner.
• 🔍 Initial theories considered suicide due to Rhonda's history of mental health struggles, but the absence of a weapon complicated this hypothesis.
• 🚨 The autopsy revealed Rhonda was shot twice from several feet away, confirming it was a murder, not a suicide, as there were no close-range burn marks.

Unraveling the Crime

• 🕵️ Detective Stumpo investigated various leads, including Rhonda's past abusive relationships and a suspicious stranger, but found no conclusive evidence.
• 🎣 Nearly nine weeks after the murder, a .38 caliber revolver was found in Lake Nakamixon by a boy fishing, which ballistics confirmed was the murder weapon.
• 🏠 The gun was traced to its original owner, leading investigators to the eccentric church choir member, Mary Jane Fonder, who was found with evidence linking her to the crime.

The Jealous Killer's Motive

• 🎭 Mary Jane Fonder was driven by delusional jealousy over Pastor Shreves, believing Rhonda was competing for his affection despite no romantic involvement between Rhonda and the pastor.
• 💔 Mary Jane felt overlooked and unappreciated compared to Rhonda, especially after the church rallied to support Rhonda financially.
• ⚖️ Mary Jane was convicted of Rhonda's murder, and it was revealed she had been a suspect in her father's disappearance years prior, dying in prison ten years into her sentence.