Ronald Samuels: Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Heather Grossman

Ronald Samuels is a former Florida car dealership owner convicted in 2006 of orchestrating the 1997 murder-for-hire attack that left his ex-wife, Heather Grossman, paralyzed from the neck down. Prosecutors called him the “puppet master” behind the plot, which they said was driven by a bitter custody fight, unpaid child support, and a $1 million life insurance policy Samuels held on Heather’s life. He is serving a life sentence plus 120 years in the Florida prison system.¹

Who Ronald Samuels Is

Samuels built his fortune through a car dealership in Pensacola, Florida, and once claimed a net worth above $30 million. He met Heather, a former flight attendant, on a flight where he was sitting in first class. They married in December 1988 and had three children: Ronnie and twins Lauren and Joe.¹

The marriage fell apart. Heather later said Samuels was controlling and volatile, and she fled with the children to Minnesota after he allegedly held a gun to her head. The divorce triggered what Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal described as an “exceedingly lengthy and highly contentious” custody and child support battle.² Samuels spent $665,000 in legal fees fighting for custody and repeatedly accused Heather’s new husband, John Grossman, of child abuse. No charges were ever filed. Heather married John Grossman, part-owner of the Minnesota Vikings, in June 1997.¹

Why He Wanted Her Dead

By the fall of 1997, Samuels had lost custody, owed $51,672.82 in child support arrearages, and was under a court order to pay $18,528.98 by October 14, 1997. He had also sold his dealership in 1995 for more than $3 million and moved the proceeds into offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands under other people’s names to hide assets from Heather and the divorce court.² He still held a $1 million life insurance policy on Heather.

Prosecutors argued Samuels wanted Heather dead for three connected reasons: to stop paying child support, to regain custody of the children, and to collect on the policy.²

How the Plot Came Together

Samuels turned to an old acquaintance from the insurance industry, Hugh Estess, who ran Estess Insurance Inc. and had a $200-a-day crack cocaine habit. Trial testimony showed Samuels gave Estess between $5,000 and $7,000 in cash to arrange the killing, but Estess spent the money on drugs and women.³ When Samuels pressed him, Estess brought in Eddie Lee “Slim” Stafford, a drug dealer, and Roger Runyon, a petty criminal and former National Guard marksman who had recently moved to Hollywood, Florida, from Indiana.⁴ A fifth man, Geoffrey Pollock, who did odd jobs for Samuels, sat in on planning meetings and later served as Samuels’ alibi.¹

Samuels used the alias “Tony Black” when meeting Stafford. At least two of those meetings took place at a Denny’s and a Boca Raton food court.⁵ The accomplices watched the Grossmans’ home and workplace in the days before the attack. Samuels reportedly offered $10,000 for the hit.¹

The Shooting

On the morning of October 14, 1997, Stafford and Runyon followed Heather and John Grossman as the couple left work for lunch. At a traffic light at Federal Highway and Yamato Road in Boca Raton, Runyon fired two high-powered rifle shots into their vehicle.⁶ One bullet struck Heather in the neck and partially severed her spinal cord. She was 31. The injury left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator. John Grossman was grazed but survived.¹

With Heather incapacitated, Samuels paid $10,000 in overdue child support and took emergency custody of the three children.⁷ Runyon and Stafford had been promised a car and $5,000 in cash. They never received either.⁵

The Investigation and His Capture in Mexico

The case broke open when investigators traced the 1996 green Ford Thunderbird used in the shooting to Estess.³ Under pressure, Estess named the others. A confidential informant helped identify Runyon, whose fingerprint was found on the car.⁴ Phone records tied Samuels, Estess, and Stafford together and showed the calls between the men stopped right after the shooting.¹

A search of Samuels’ home turned up forged identification in the name “Thomas Jordan,” including a passport, fake tax returns, checkbooks, and a death certificate.² Roughly five months after the shooting, and days before his arrest, Samuels fled the country. Mexican authorities and the FBI tracked him through phone records and, after a high-speed chase and car wreck, arrested him in Monterrey with six kilograms of cocaine in the vehicle.¹

Samuels spent the next five years in a Mexican prison on narcotics charges. He was then extradited to Florida.

The 2006 Trial and Life Sentence

The trial took place in West Palm Beach in October 2006 before Circuit Judge Lucy Chernow Brown.⁵ The state charged Samuels with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of shooting into an occupied vehicle, four counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and one count of committing a felony causing bodily injury.²

The prosecution’s case leaned heavily on the four co-conspirators, all of whom received immunity for their testimony. Runyon admitted pulling the trigger. Stafford described his role as driver and the planning meetings with Samuels. Estess explained how he funneled the money. Pollock testified that at one meeting, when Samuels said he wanted his ex-wife “taken care of,” Samuels mimed holding a gun. Samuels’ second wife, Debbie Love, told the jury Samuels had called Heather a “bitch” who “should be dead” and had said, “We need to get rid of her.” His son Ronnie testified that his father had coached him to lie about child abuse allegations against John Grossman to win custody.¹

The defense argued the wealthy Grossman family had framed Samuels and that the immunity deals gave the co-conspirators every reason to lie. Samuels testified in his own defense and claimed John Grossman had hired the hitmen.⁸ During Runyon’s testimony, Samuels shouted at him from the defense table, “I’ll meet you in hell, you son of a bitch. I’ll find you one way or another.”⁵

The jury convicted him on all counts. He received life in prison for the attempted first-degree murder of Heather Grossman and consecutive sentences totaling 120 years on the remaining counts, along with more than $300,000 in restitution for her medical expenses.¹ Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction on May 13, 2009.²

The Insurance Policy He Kept Trying to Sell

Even after his conviction, Samuels still owned the $1 million life insurance policy on Heather and tried to sell it to fund his legal defense.⁹ For more than two years, Samuels, a friend named Jack Serafin, and the insurer Lincoln Life fought in civil court over the transfer. Prosecutor Alan Johnson called the effort “unconscionable,” saying Samuels was “attempting to achieve what he could not do with a bullet.”¹⁰

At a January 2010 hearing, Samuels testified he was “flat broke.”⁹ On February 4, 2010, Judge Brown ordered Samuels to relinquish the policy and transfer ownership to the State Attorney’s Office within seven business days. As of that date, Grossman had not received any of the nearly $344,000 in court-ordered restitution.¹⁰

Where Heather Grossman Is Now

Doctors initially estimated Heather Grossman had about seven years to live. She has survived for more than 25. She requires 24-hour nursing care and a ventilator, with monthly medical costs around $9,600.⁶ She divorced John Grossman in 2003 and moved to Arizona.

She became an advocate for domestic violence awareness and a mentor to newly injured spinal cord patients. In 2018 she published an autobiography, Paralyzed in Paradise, and her story aired in a 2022 episode of Court TV’s Someone They Knew. By 2023, the family savings that had paid for her care were depleted, and her children and a friend launched a $500,000 online fundraiser to keep her out of a nursing home. She has said she does not expect to collect any of Samuels’ court-ordered restitution.⁶

After the sentencing, she told interviewers she finally felt safe. “I forgive Ron Samuels,” she said, “but I am afraid of him still.”¹

1
CBS News. The Puppet Master
2
FindLaw. Samuels v. State
3
Sun-Sentinel. Motive Offered in Murder-for-Hire Case
4
Palm Beach Post. Was Justice Denied to Get Samuels
5
CNN. Samuels Outburst
6
Palm Beach Post. South Florida Woman Paralyzed in 1997 Shooting Struggles to Pay for Care
7
CNN. Custody Battle
8
Court TV. FL v. Samuels
9
Palm Beach Post. Grossman’s Ex-Husband Tried
10
Palm Beach Post. Judge Orders Ex-Husband to Turn Over Life Insurance Policy