Susan Monica is currently serving two life sentences in prison. Her crimes are so grotesque and twisted she has become a notorious individual among true crime enthusiasts. Although technically a serial killer is a murderer who kills three or more people, who knows what Monica would have done had she not been caught? Or if there are others she hasn’t admitted to.
The killer started out as a heroic wartime veteran. After fighting in the Vietnam war, Monica went on to become an engineer. That vocation wouldn’t last and in 1991 she decided to buy a 20-acre farm in Wimer, Oregon. The farm was secluded and her nearest neighbor was miles away. The bucolic lifestyle seemed to fit into her anti-social disposition. Her new friends were chickens and pigs.
Stephen Delecino Victim #1
However, it appeared she needed help with her farmyard chores and that’s when her first victim, 59-year-old Stephen Delecino, comes into play. Monica found him and hired him as a handyman. Then one day, he suddenly disappeared. More about him later.
Robert Haney Victim #2
Robert Haney was reportedly estranged from his family which seemed to fit in perfectly with what Monica had in store for him. Haney was hired by the killer after she found him on Craigslist. He was a divorcee and loved the secluded location. As a welfare recipient, Haney used food stamps, or an EBT card to make purchases.
According to Haney’s son, his dad and Monica had a professional arrangement in that she would pay him in cash in exchange for some handiwork and architectural duties. This was reportedly a great deal, especially since Haney liked having cash and living off the grid; he had no phone or electronic devices.
However, Haney’s family wasn’t as distanced from him as originally thought. In 2014, after they hadn’t heard from him in a long time, they decided to visit the farm to make sure he was okay. Monica told the siblings that their father had left four months prior. She also asked that they clean out his trailer. Inside they found his jacket and tools which made them suspicious enough to call the police.
Monica talked with the police, but kept to her lie. She said Haney left the property to seek vengeance against a recently assaulted family member. His kids corroborated that the assault did happen, but they had not seen their dad.
The police left, but were still not convinced that Monica was telling the truth. It wasn’t until they discovered that Haney’s welfare debit card was still being used at a local Walmart, that they investigated further. Surveillance camera footage showed that Monica herself was using the card so police went back to the farm to investigate on the basis of fraud. Instead what they found was a gruesome murder scene.
One investigator came across a severed leg in a pond. They later said the limb was clearly not that of an animal, but a human. Monica was brought in for questioning and admitted to the murder but said it was out of empathy.
She claimed that she found Haney disemboweled and in the process of being eaten by pigs. Having mercy, she shot him, and then once the pigs had their fill, put his remaining body parts in trash bags which she stored in the barn. She added that wild animals must have gotten into the sacks and dragged his leg into the pond.
Monica says she didn’t tell authorities what really happened because she was afraid her pigs would be euthanized.
Police confirmed that some of Haney’s remains were still in trash bags in the barn. That discovery initiated a crime scene investigation and the entire farm was cordoned off. Their search resulted in the discovery of another body, that of the aforementioned missing farmhand Stephen Delecino.
Monica verified that it was Delecino’s body, but said his death resulted from self-defense. She claims she caught him stealing two of her rifles and the confrontation turned deadly.
Former Jackson County Sheriff’s Detective Eric Henderson told producers of the real crime reality series Snapped that Monica fed Delecino’s remains to her pigs in 2012 and then buried what was left. When pressed if there were more victims, Henderson says he got a chilling response, “She told me that if she told me about the 17 others that she would spend the rest of her life in jail.”
That still might be the case because in 2015 the 74-year-old was convicted on all counts and sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison. She has 43 years left. Perhaps comfortable in her new surroundings, Monica reportedly told cellmate Jordan Ferris about what really happened to Haney:
“Susan told me that Robert and her got into an argument because he was drunk and he was trying to come on to her. She shot him and then pushed him into the pigpen.”
Pigs Can and Will Eat Human Flesh
Just in case you are wondering, yes, pigs will eat human flesh. The animals are omnivores which means they eat both plants and animals. In fact, if you have ever talked to a pig farmer, the porkers will eat almost anything.
There have been a number of reported cases where swine have feasted on humans. In 2012, only Harry Vance Garner’s dentures and pieces of his body were found in a pigsty. His pigs weighed over 700 pounds. Coroners were unable to determine how exactly Garner died because of the condition of his remains.