Case File
Two Brothers, Two Murders
- Andrew's Rich Life
- He's a New England Real Estate mogul. A multi-millionaire with a beautiful family. Andrew has the best... 30 cars, a yacht and an $18 million estate. And, Andrew wants to be the best... especially when competing with younger brother Rob.
- Rob's High-Style Life
- By most accounts, Robert is more handsome and popular... and better than Andrew at everything from sports to school. Rob becomes a successful investment banker with a million dollar salary and a luxurious life abroad with wife Nancy and the kids.
- Too Good to be True?
- Appearances and reality are two very different things. Underneath Rob's perfect veneer lie a crumbling marriage, infidelity and murder. Andrew's has secrets, about his life, his marriage and his business dealings.
Producer's Notes
By Tania Lindsay, Producer, "American Greed"
- UPDATE: Nancy Kissel's sentence was overturned in February, 2010 by a Hong Kong court.
- The story of the Kissel brothers, who were both murdered in separate incidents two years apart, is tragic on so many levels. Two sensational cases of money, sex and power made headlines around the world. It was a voyeuristic peek into the extreme dysfunction of a wealthy family. But there is more to it than that. There are children involved who have lost their parents, there are parents who have lost their children. And too many promising lives gone horribly awry. It's one of those stories that gets under your skin and nags with the unanswered question, why?
- For the Robert Kissel murder case, we traveled to Hong Kong, China, and tried extensively to gain access to Nancy Kissel at the Tai Lam Centre for Women. Set in the lush green hills on the outskirts of the city, the prison holds 263 inmates. At the time, Nancy Kissel was the only foreigner serving a life sentence. We learned that Nancy had become fluent in Mandarin Chinese and worked daily on her case. Her sentence was overturned in February, 2010 after appealling to Hong Kong's highest court. Its expected she'll have a new trial --- possibly on a lesser charge.
- Nancy still maintains that her actions were done in self-defense and that she was abused by her husband Rob.
- In the case of Andrew Kissel, the story continues. Cousins Carlos and Leonard Trujillo are expected to stand trial for the murder sometime in 2009. Most of the information in the case is sealed because witnesses have reported being afraid for their lives. Leonard Trujillo's attorney recently hired famed medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden to take a closer look at Andrew's time of death. Whatever happens with the trial, it's doubtful that the whole truth will ever be known.
- Some sensational reports have speculated on a Kissel family "curse," others point the finger of blame at the family patriarch, Bill Kissel. He's been accused of being "evil" and of driving his sons to a relentless quest for money and power. Although he has never granted an on-camera interview, what we found when speaking to him by phone was a heartbroken father. A man who deeply misses his sons, both of them – and whose life will be forever filled with what-ifs.
- Mr. Kissel recently moved across the country to be closer to his daughter Jane and his grandchildren, including Rob and Nancy Kissel's three children who are being raised by Jane and her husband along with their own kids. Bill Kissel says the grandchildren are doing great, and that they also spend time with their cousins, Andrew's children, who are still in Connecticut with their mother.
- After a family saga like this, the best one can hope for is that somehow, against all odds, the children turn out okay.
