Shari Bethel, Deon Cartmell: ID’s ‘Fatal Vows’ Outlines Case Of Former Marine, Cop Who Shot Wife In Nashville Home
The Shari Bethel, Deon Cartmell case will be on tonight’s Fatal Vows on Investigation Discovery (ID). Shari Bethel, aka Shari Cartmell, was gunned down in her home by her husband, Deon Cartrell. In tonight’s Fatal Vows episode entitled “Death Brawl,” expect to hear from members of Sheri Bethel’s family, law enforcement investigators, crime experts, and others who will give their comments on the fatal shooting. Investigation Discovery is known for its compelling crime documentaries based on American cases. For his crime, Deon Cartmell is currently serving time at a correctional facility in Tennessee.
Deon Cartmell was a handsome former military man turned cop, and Shari Bethel was a beautiful and successful medical employee. When they first got together, it seemed like the perfect match. But before long, Shari’s sister began to notice bruises on her arm. It became all too apparent that the marriage was not what it seemed. Police investigators say that Deon Cartmell led a double life, one that included a slew of women with whom he loved to flirt. He also had a woman on the side who testified in court that they often exchanged sexually heated messages that included details about what they wanted to do to each other in the hotel room.
Fatal Vows will tell how Shari Bethel-Cartmell’s death made news headlines in 2010. That’s when local 911 operators in Nashville received a frantic call that indicated that a woman had been shot. When officers arrived at the scene located on Saunders Avenue, they found an African American woman lying responsive on the living room couch. At first glance, detectives could see that the victim had one gunshot wound to the cheek. Deon Cartmell, a Metro police officer, told them that he was cleaning his guns when he heard a shot coming from another room. According to him, that’s when he discovered that his wife, Shari, had accidentally shot herself, according to Nashville’s The City Paper.
Fatal Vows will also show that the officers knew early on that the evidence at the crime scene did not corroborate Deon Cartmell’s story. In fact, Deon told officers three different stories about how he believed the shooting occurred. And the blood on his shoes, shirt, hands, and face revealed that Deon knew more than what he was telling.
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Shari’s family knew right away that she had not committed suicide, and that the shooting was no accident. Shari’s mother, Charlotte Barbour, got the opportunity to tell Deon to his face that he was the one who killed her daughter, according to Shari’s sister during an interview with WKRN. In the days after her shooting death, Shari’s distraught mother did a series of interviews where she could barely contain her pain and anguish. Demanding answers from police officers who seemed tight-lipped at the time, her mother soon got the answers she deserved after Deon Cartmell was arrested and charged with the murder of her daughter.
At trial, Deon Cartmell showed absolutely no emotion. He smiled most of the time that he was on the witness stand and was often apologetic for not being able to remember exactly what happened. But there was never any real sign that he was upset over Shari Bethel’s death. His father also took the stand and told the jury that Deon was a former marine who never gave him an ounce of trouble. Despite his perfect Boy-Scout personality, a jury sentenced Deon Lamont Cartmell to 18 years in prison, according to the Tennessean. A quick look at his prison record shows that his sentence ends in 2027.
Go deep inside the investigation on an all-new Fatal Vows, beginning at 10/9 p.m. central on Investigation Discovery (ID). This case is similar to several true-crime stories that appear on TV One’s Fatal Attraction, such as the cases of Christie Neely and Attorney Chiquita Tate.
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