SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Larry McNabney, a Sacramento attorney and horse enthusiast, was killed after being given a lethal dose of horse tranquilizer by his wife and secretary in 2001.
At 9 p.m. Friday Night ABC's "20/20" program will air their special on the Sacramento killing. The daughter of McNabney's wife, Haylei Jordan, will be speaking about the case for the first time since it happened.
According to ABC News, Jordan says she has not spoken until now because she wanted to forget her past.
“I spent a significant portion of my life being known as Elisa McNabney's daughter,” Jordan told ABC News. “I have previously refused to talk because I didn't want to have to deal with it anymore. I can reflect back on it. It didn't happen to me. I lived through it.”
Here's everything you need to know about the killing of Larry McNabney:
McNabney had been married five times throughout his lifetime. His fifth wife, Elisa McNabney whose real name was Laren Sims, prosecutors say confessed to killing him.
McNabney's secretary, 21-year-old Sacramento State student Sarah Dutra, quickly befriended Sims. Prosecutors say the two began hatching a plot to poison McNabney with a horse tranquilizer and steal money from his law practice.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Dutra and Sims carried out their plan to poison McNabney at a Southern California horse show. The day of the horse show was the last day McNabney was seen alive.
Prosecutors say Dutra and Sims drove through Yosemite National Park with McNabney dying in their back seat. However, the pair decided to take his body back to his Woodbridge home where they stored the body in a refrigerator for several months. Sims later removed McNabney's body and buried it in a vineyard near Lodi.
Police did not learn of McNabney's disappearance until December when his secretary reported his disappearance to authorities. According to investigators, Sims never reported her husband missing.
In Jan. 2002, Sims drained the couple's financial assets and left town on a cross-country run with her daughter. Sims' daughter, Haylei Jordan, went on this cross-country run with her mother prior to learning about her role in the killing of McNabney. Sims and her daughter eventually settled down in Destin, Florida.
On Feb. 5, 2002, police found McNabney's body buried in a vineyard just outside of Linden. After finding his body, police began a nationwide manhunt for Sims.
On March 20, 2002, Sims' daughter called the police because she was worried her mother was going to hurt herself. Police found Sims, going by the alias Shane Ivaroni, in Destin, Florida. After police questioned her, Sims gave police a detailed note of confession. In her three-page note, Sims said that Dutra was also involved in the killing of McNabney.
While waiting for her trial in Sacramento, Sims hung herself in her jail cell on March 31, 2002, leaving behind a suicide note addressed to her attorney. In her suicide note, Sims again admitted she killed her husband, but said she did it because of frequent physical abuse. Additionally, in the letter, Sims attempted to provide her attorney with evidence of negligence by the jail staff.
In 2003, Dutra was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and being an accessory to the killing of McNabney. The judge sentenced Dutra to a maximum 11-year-term in prison. After serving 85 percent of her 11-year sentence, she was released from prison on three-year parole in 2011.
The two-hour-long episode of ABC 20/20 about McNabney's killing can be watched Friday, April 1, 2022, at 9 p.m. PST on ABC10.
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