Harrowing true story behind Alyssa Pladl's film after father marries his daughter Katie and impregnates her before triple murder

A MONSTER father impregnated his daughter before killing her and her child in cold blood – a horrific crime that is the subject of a new film.

Steven Pladl, 43, suffocated his seven-month-old child Bennett before shooting his daughter Katie and her adoptive father.

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He later committed suicide in Dover, New York, after driving all night from his home in Knightdale, North Carolina, where police found the body of a toddler in a bedroom closet.

Before he took his own life, he called his mother and confessed his crimes.

His mother frantically called 911 and was released by police in a redacted form.

The horrific crimes are now the subject of a Lifetime movie, Husband, Father Killer: The Alyssa Pladl Story, premiering Saturday, October 19, at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Steven Pladl met Katie's mother, then 15-year-old Alyssa Pladl, when he was 20 after grooming her over the Internet in 1995.

Alyssa became pregnant at 16 and gave birth to Denise at 17.

According to Alyssa, Pladl abused her daughter, claiming she would pinch the child until she was “black and blue” and stuff her into a cooler until she nearly suffocated.

Fearing for Denise's life, Alyssa gave her daughter up for adoption.

She was adopted by Anthony and Kelly Fusco of Dover, New York, who renamed her Katie Rose Fusco.

In August 2016, when she turned 18, Katie contacted her birth parents on Facebook and ultimately decided to move in with them in North Carolina.

Steven and Alyssa separated and Katie became closer and closer to her father.

In May 2017, Alyssa discovered that Pladl had an incestuous relationship with his daughter and that Katie was pregnant.

Pladl had two other children, ages six and eleven, and Alyssa found out about the relationship after reading one of her diaries.

According to court documents, Pladl told the couple's children to call Katie their stepmother and not her sister.

That really bothers me because no one could have predicted that.

Rick FriedmanAttorney for Steven Pladl

She called the police, but Pladl and Katie married in July 2017 in Maryland after lying on their marriage certificates and claiming they were not related.

At the time, she posted a photo on her Instagram account with the hashtags #justmarried and #simplewedding.

Katie gave birth to a son, Bennett, in September 2017, but the following January the couple were arrested on incest allegations.

A judge ordered Steven and Katie to have no contact with each other, and Pladl's mother was given custody of Bennett.

After Katie was released on bail, she moved back in with her adoptive parents and broke off her relationship with Steven.

Nauseous crimes

On April 11, 2018, Pladl suffocated his infant son in his Knightdale home.

The child had been living with his grandmother, but Pladl had asked that week if he could take the baby home, adding that he and Bennett would be skyping through Katie that evening, according to police.

But police said Pladl called his daughter's adoptive family that evening instead and said he would see her.

Pladl spoke to his mother just before midnight that evening and said he would take Bennett to Katie in New York and call her again the next morning to tell her that he and the baby were almost there.

He then drove at night from North Carolina to Connecticut, where he tracked down Katie and Anthony, who were driving from Dover to Waterbury to visit Katie's grandmother.

Pladl murdered the couple with an assault rifle as they walked in New Milford, Connecticut, before calling his mother.

He later shot himself in Dover after calling his mother.

On the last call, Pladl told his mother that he had killed Katie and Anthony.

When asked about his son, he said he killed the child and left him in his house.

In her frantic 911 call shortly afterwards, she told police that her son had said his “wife” had broken up with him.

Bystanders heard gunshots and found the bodies of Katie and Anthony in their car.

Pladl's body was later discovered on a remote road after he inflicted a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

AFTERMATH

Katie had expressed her desire to become an artist and shared her work online.

She wrote about her plans to attend community college in the fall of 2016 after graduating from Dover High School.

Rick Friedman, a lawyer who represented Pladl in his incest case, insisted that there was no evidence that he could commit such violent acts.

“This really concerns me a lot because no one could have predicted this,” said Friedman, who had breakfast with his client just a month before the murders.

“If anyone had the slightest idea that someone was in danger, there would have been no bail,” he continued.

“There was just absolutely no prior notice that anything was going to happen to these people.”

“Husband, Father, Murderer: The Alyssa Pladl Story” premieres October 19 at 8/7c on Lifetime.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat at or text 988lifeline.org the Crisis Text Line at 741741.