A Super Bowl champ had 17 lovers. Who killed his pregnant girlfriend weeks before giving birth?

In this episode of Crime Watch Daily Updates: in 2007, Rhoni Reuter was happily in a relationship with former Chicago Bears Super Bowl champion Shaun Gayle, and, at 41, pregnant with his child.

Rhoni and Shaun had been together for years at this point, and when she found out she was going to have his child, they decided to name her Skylar. Rhoni and Shaun’s life, however, was about to be blitzed.

On October 4, 2007, Rhoni was getting ready to go to work when she was gunned down in her Deerfield, Illinois, home. She was a little more than a month away from giving birth to Skylar. A neighbor called police to report the gunfire, and when officers arrived, they found Rhoni dead on the kitchen floor.

In her last living moments, Rhoni tried saving her little girl by cradling her belly, but the assailant aimed directly at Rhoni’s stomach. The killer also shot Rhoni in the head.

As detectives searched for answers, they found a piece of paper inside Rhoni’s purse that listed 17 women on it, all of whom were supposedly in a relationship with Shaun. Investigators made their way through the list, trying to find the suspect, and eventually landed on Marni Yang. Shaun, the Super Bowl-winning boyfriend, was ruled out as a suspect early on.

Police searched through Marni’s trash and found receipts for items that could be used to make an at-home gun silencer. Surveillance footage even showed her buying quick-dry cement and a bucket.

Marni confessed to killing Rhoni in a secret recording and was later arrested. She was convicted of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child in March 2011. A judge handed her two life sentences.

Now, years after her conviction, Marni is fighting for a new trial. Her attorneys requested a new trial, claiming they had evidence to prove she didn’t kill Rhoni. Marni said her confession on the undercover video was false because she claimed police were threatening to arrest one of her kids.

In December 2021, Marni’s attorney said he found a witness allegedly claiming Shaun Gayle went to a barbershop in North Chicago and said, “I did it. She’s gone.” The attorney wanted the witness’ name redacted, but a judge in January 2022 ruled against the motion to not publicly identify the witness.

Now let’s take a look back at the case of a playboy boyfriend and the tragic ending of his girlfriend and their unborn daughter.

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