Murders of John Charbonneau and William Sproates by Linda Lou Charbonneau investigated on Buried in the Backyard

Oxygen is re-airing the Buried in the Backyard investigation into the murders of John Charbonneau and William Sproates by Linda Lou Charbonneau in the towns of Bridgeville and Magnolia, Delaware.

Linda was previously married to John Charbonneau before they officially separated, which led to Linda marrying John’s nephew, Sproates. However, Linda seemingly continued to have an on-again/off-again relationship with both men.

In September 2001, Linda was living at John’s home in Bridgeville in what was described as a “dysfunctional” relationship. The pair argued continuously, and John said he was fed up with her abuse.

Linda decided to kill John and steal his social security checks. She enlisted the help of her daughter, Mellisa Rucinski, and her boyfriend, Willie Brown.

On the day of the murder, Brown pretended to break into John’s home, and Linda told her ex-husband to go investigate. Brown viciously struck John in the face, causing the victim to plead for Linda to help him, but she ignored his pleas.

Brown put the still-alive John into Linda’s van, and Rucinski drove them to a secluded spot of of town where Brown beat him to death and buried him in a shallow grave.

Linda concocted a cover story claiming John had left town for good. The murderous trio then stripped John’s home and moved everything into Sproates’s home in Magnolia.

Linda Lou Charbonneau decided to kill William Sproates after John Charbonneau murder

However, Sproates became suspicious, especially when he saw some of John’s boxes were splattered with blood; he began asking too many questions, so Linda told Brown to kill him.

Brown attacked Sproates with a knife at the Magnolia property and then drove the still-alive Sproates to the Bridgeville property. Sproates was bludgeoned to death and buried in the backyard. An autopsy later revealed he had soil in his lungs, meaning he was still alive when he was buried.

In the meantime, John’s family members began asking more questions, which soon led the police to focus their investigation on Linda, Rucinski, and Brown.

Linda Charbonneau declared ringleader in John Charbonneau and William Sproates killings

Wille Brown subsequently pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He led investigators to John’s remains.

Mellisa Rucinski also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against her mother. She was given 25 years.

Linda Lou Charbonneau was declared the mastermind behind the murders, but she initially maintained her innocence and went to a trial by jury. She was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to die by lethal injection.

At the time, Richard Charbonneau, John’s brother, said, “The family is happy that she is being sentenced to death. But there won’t be closure for the family until the day of her execution. She put our family through so much in the last four years.”

However, the family’s happiness was short lived as Linda’s conviction was later overturned on a technicality. The case was finally concluded when Linda pleaded guilty only to the murder of John Charbonneau and was sentenced to 20 years.

This episode of Buried in the Backyard airs Friday at 9/8c on Oxygen.