Latest news with #RhoniReuter
CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
Marni Yang in court continuing bid to overturn murder conviction for death of former Bear Shaun Gayle's girlfriend
Marni Yang is back in court Monday for an evidentiary hearing, expected to last two days, in her latest attempt to appeal her murder conviction for the death of former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle's girlfriend. Yang is serving a double life sentence for the shooting death of Rhoni Reuter and her unborn child in 2007. Reuter was found dead in her Deerfield condo that October. At the time she was Gayle's girlfriend. Prosecutors say Yang and Gayle were also romantically involved, and she was jealous of Reuter. Yang was convicted in 2011. In court, prosecutors played a recording her confessing to the crime to a friend who was wearing a wire. Yang's attorneys have claimed the confession came as their client tried to protect others from being arrested, and that they ignored evidence showing she was innocent. Yang's attorneys announced they would appeal her conviction in 2023.
Toronto Sun
26-04-2025
- Toronto Sun
CRIME HUNTER: Chicago Bear's mistress gets bullets from a bimbo
Get the latest from Brad Hunter straight to your inbox MARNI YANG: A woman scorned. FACEBOOK The suburban condo resembled a slaughterhouse. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account It was not a robbery gone awry. Lying dead inside the condominium unit was Rhoni Reuter. The attractive 42-year-old had been pregnant, and there were two bullet wounds in her abdomen. It was clear that not only did the killer want Reuter dead, they also wanted her unborn child to die too. The love of her life for the previous 17 years was Shaun Gayle. Former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle and his longtime mistress, Rhoni Reuter. FACEBOOK A football star with the NFL's Chicago Bears, Gayle was handsome, charming and the centre of Rhoni's world for almost two decades. They met when she was in college, and he was starring for the Bears. In March 2007, Rhoni's most cherished dream came true: she was pregnant with Shaun's child. Her family had feared Rhoni might not be able to have children. 'That was the happiest I had ever seen my sister in her whole life, and she was just glowing,' her brother Wayde said, adding the child was going to be a baby girl. They would call her Skylar. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. PROMISCUOUS: Marni Yang would not take no for an answer. FACEBOOK Gayle had reportedly been a notorious womanizer but seemed to be settling down. He was even going to the doctor with Rhoni, despite allegedly having a roster of 17 playmates on the side. The pair had never lived together, and a baby would not change that. If the floozies on the side bothered her, Rhoni didn't let on. Despite his sexual hijinks, Rhoni was the woman Gayle took to events and the one he considered his true girlfriend. She would tell her family, 'I just love him. I don't know what to tell you. I just love him.' MARNI YANG: A woman scorned. FACEBOOK Who would want to kill the pretty farm girl? As far as cops knew, Rhoni had no enemies. Yet the grim evidence suggested that the murder was personal. Gayle seemed a natural place to look first. He had his hands in many pies: NFL Europe, business promotion and real estate. And everywhere he went, women followed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's how he met 41-year-old Marni Yang, a divorced mother of three. A driven real estate agent and wannabe fitness model, Marni hinted to pals that she was having an explosive sexual relationship with a former Chicago Bear. She was a sexual adventuress who had many male irons in the fire. Did Rhoni Reuter know about Shaun Gayle's cheating? FACEBOOK It was never really clear if Rhoni knew just how much of a love rat Gayle was, but in mid-2007, she started receiving disturbing anonymous letters. Gayle claimed the lurid letters were lies. On Oct. 4, 2007, Rhoni was murdered. Her condominium was full of baby clothes. One law enforcement official said: 'The sheer number of shots would indicate that this — there was some emotion. There was something driving the shooter. It appeared to be personal. In all likelihood, the victim could have known the offender.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Cops quickly figured out the gun was a 9mm semi-automatic and that a silencer may have been used. Witnesses saw a young man with a dark complexion, wearing small, baggy clothes. MARNI YANG. FACEBOOK Gayle was emotional, but he had an alibi. He was getting his hair cut at a barbershop 65 kilometres away. Detectives were certain he was involved, partly because of the letters. They chronicled Gayle's sex life and included passages from emails, travel itineraries and much more. One of the letters was poorly written, as if by an immigrant. His special friend, the fitness trainer, was a Polish native. It ended badly, and he took out an order of protection. The focus began shifting to fitness babe Monika Kurowska for the slaying. Like Gayle, she too had an alibi. But one name came up again and again. Marni Yang. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Yang had a temper and a gun. And there were protective orders against her, including one from a married Chicago cop. IN THE JAILHOUSE NOW: Marni Yang, doing life. IDC She'd sent the cop's wife a letter 'threatening his life, career and marriage.' And he was scared. Gayle was still having sex with the diminutive real estate dynamo. Marni tended to become wildly obsessed with the men she was involved with, dating back to her teen years. One friend, Melissa Dessent said: 'She was a very intense person. She was very into boys — very into herself. 'Everything is about me' type of attitude.' She was wildly promiscuous, regaling pals with her sexploits. And when one high school boyfriend moved away to college, Marni stalked him. Eventually, she married a Cambodian refugee but it was almost called off when he discovered her diary detailing her sexual conquests. They married in 1990, but even at her bachelorette party, Marni could not control herself with the male strippers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Dessent added: 'Her and a stripper had apparently taken a liking to each other, and he invited her into the back room after he was done dancing for free sex backstage. 'She became obsessed with this stripper, and after she had come back from her honeymoon, she wanted to go back and have sex with him again.' Yang's marriage ended in 1997. One source told cops it was Marni writing the letters and had even boasted she nearly got Monika deported. Cops searched the trash in her alley finding unopened credit card bills. On the bills? Books on how to build a silencer. They found someone who went to a gun range with Marni where she used her .9mm handgun — the same type used to kill Rhoni. Detectives began searching a rental car database and soon discovered Marni had rented a black Volkswagen on the day of the murder. The same car was seen at the crime scene. They focused on her friend and self-proclaimed psychic Christi Paschen. Marni had been talking about killing Shaun Gayle for months, then the focus shifted to Rhoni. Paschen never believed she'd go through with it. Paschen wore a wire, and at a local diner, Marni told her: 'I just started emptying my clip. I took one last shot in the head and finished her off.' Marni Yang is now serving a double life sentence. bhunter@ @HunterTOSun World Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Federal Elections
