Lifetime’s newest ripped-from-the-headlines movie thriller Husband, Father, Killer features one woman’s disturbing reality. Here is the true story of Alyssa Pladl.
As of late, chances are you’ve been seeing and hearing the name Alyssa Pladl everywhere. That’s for good reason. She and her wildly traumatic life experience are the subject of Lifetime’s newest and highly anticipated ripped-from-the-headlines movie thriller, Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story. While the movie alone is shocking enough, the truth behind one woman’s reality is utterly disturbing. Here is the true story of Alyssa Pladl.
What is Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story about?
Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story is a story about the depths of manipulation, abuse, and trauma, and a disturbing revenge tale fueled by anger, hate, and desperation. Our story follows the life experiences of a woman named Alyssa Pladl as she navigates the gravity of her unbelievably shocking reality, which over the course of 20 years grew to include abuse, incest, then murder, all at the hands of her first love and ex-husband, Steven Pladl.
Eight months after the birth of Alyssa and Steven’s first daughter, Denise, the couple puts her up for adoption after Steven becomes abusive towards her. Eighteen years later, when Denise—now Katie—tracks them down, their lives forever change when she moves in with them and soon becomes involved in an incestuous relationship with her father. Steven ultimately gets Katie pregnant and, just after divorcing Alyssa, marries her, much to Alyssa’s disapproval, shock, and horror.
But that’s not all Alyssa Pladl faced before this disturbing story came to an end.
The true story of Alyssa Pladl
Alyssa Garcia was 15 when she first met 20-year-old Steven Pladl on the internet in 1995. Garcia was quickly seduced and groomed by Pladl, and the two became a couple. Pladl then traveled to San Antonio, Texas, where he picked up Alyssa after she ran away from home. He then brought her back to New York, where he married her. At age 16, she became pregnant and at 17 gave birth to their first child, Denise. Then, according to Garcia, their relationship turned dark and devolved into a nightmare, as she suffered years of emotional and verbal abuse by her husband.
In an interview with DailyMail TV, Garcia said Pladl was unable to hold down a job and experienced moods that would swing from morose to enraged. He beat their cats, verbally abused Alyssa, and tormented Denise. Alyssa said Steven abused their child by pinching her until she was “black and blue” and by placing her in a cooler and shutting the lid, putting her at risk of suffocating just to muffle her cries.
Knowing her daughter’s life was at risk, Alyssa placed Denise up for adoption in 1998. Alyssa and Steven stayed together and eventually had two more daughters. At the time Katie came back into their lives, Alyssa and Steven’s relationship was beyond intense and volatile. The two were in the midst of a messy separation and were sleeping in separate bedrooms.
In the summer of 2016, after she graduated high school, Katie dropped her college plans and moved to her birth family’s home in Henrico County, Virginia. While Katie’s adoptive parents were apprehensive, they reportedly thought she was old enough to make her own decisions and thus supported her.
Steven Pladl’s behavior changed after Katie moved in, according to Alyssa in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. Once she arrived, Steven spruced up his appearance and began wearing tight-fitting clothing, shaved off his beard, and grew his hair long. He made extreme efforts to become incredibly close with Katie—at times, inappropriately close. About six weeks after she moved in, Steven began sleeping on the floor in Katie’s room, which sparked a volcanic parental dispute between him and Alyssa. Shortly after, in the fall of 2016, Alyssa took her and Steven’s two younger daughters and moved out of the family home.
In May 2017, Alyssa learned from her 11-year-old daughter’s journal of the incestuous relationship between Steven and Katie and of Katie’s pregnancy. Her daughter wrote that she and her sister were told by Steven to refer to Katie as their stepmother.
“I started to become hysterical, and I called him,” said Garcia. “I said, ‘Is Katie pregnant with your baby?’ He just said, ‘I thought you knew. We’re in love.’”
Similarly, after speaking privately with Katie and letting her know that Steven abused her as a baby and that she was put up for adoption for her own safety, Katie didn’t appear to be concerned and responded to her mother, “We’re in love.”
What happened to Steven, Katie, and Alyssa Pladl?
After learning of and verifying this disturbing news, Alyssa Pladl notified authorities of her husband’s incestuous behavior with their daughter. On July 20, 2017, two months after his divorce from Alyssa was finalized, and amid the police investigation, Steven married Katie in Parkton, Maryland. They lied on their application and said they were unrelated.
Katie gave birth to her and Steven’s son, Bennett, on September 1, 2017, then they moved to a house on a cul-de-sac in Knightdale, North Carolina. In January 2018, the couple was arrested on incest charges and a judge ordered them not to contact each other. Bennett was placed in the custody of Steven’s mother in North Carolina.
After she was released on bond, Katie moved back in with her adoptive parents, Anthony and Kelly Fusco. When she ended her relationship with Steven over the phone, Steven went on a rampage that resulted in four deaths across three states in seven days.
On April 11, 2018, Steven Pladl killed Bennett at his home in North Carolina. He then drove to Waterbury, Connecticut on April 12, where he killed both Katie and her adoptive father as they drove down the street. On April 18, Steven Pladl was found dead in Dover, New York, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Steven Pladl’s mother allegedly called 911 to report her son had told her he killed the baby, Katie, and her adoptive father.
“I can’t even believe this is happening,” Steven’s mother told authorities, according to a 911 call transcript from which her name was redacted. Her son, she said, was upset because Katie, by then just 20 years old, had broken up with him.
Alyssa Pladl says she still struggles to make sense of it all.
“I’m grieving. I’m sad. I’m upset,” she said. “But I also want to have something good come out of this. If it’s to get truth out there, to open people’s eyes to incest.”
Where can I watch Husband, Father, Killer:The Alyssa Pladl Story?
Husband, Father, Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story premiered October 19, 2024, on Lifetime. It is currently available to watch On Demand and to stream for free on Philo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers. Those with a cable provider can also watch using the Lifetime app.
