Vows of Deception Movie True Story

The movie Vows of Deception also carried the name Tangled Web and Deadly Seduction. It is based on the true story of Peru, Indiana, Inmate Susan Grund. The character's name was changed to Lucinda in the movie.Read the real story here

A Brief Timeline in the Case of Susan Grund

1984

James Grund is set up on a blind date with Susan Grund. Susan is very beautiful and blonde. She is also pregnant at the time. Jim falls in love with her quickly. They marry the same year. James is warned by friends and family not to marry Susan. He learns about her previous 3 marriages, and other aspects of her past. According to friends Jim knew full well what he was getting into with Susan. Despite his knowledge, they finally marry and spend their honeymoon in Florida. Jim's biological children, who are teens at the time, do not like Susan. They often call her stepmonster. Susan has a bad reputation for sleeping with and flirting with men, and other wives do not want Susan anywhere near their husbands.

1992

Jim and Susan are not getting along. They are fighting constantly. Susan is carrying on an affair with her stepson David Grund. James Grund eventually finds out and seeks a divorce from his wife.

The Night of the Murder

August 3, 1992
Susan walks into her bedroom and finds her husband, James Grund shot in the head. He is in a resting position as if he had been napping peacefully. He has an entry gunshot wound to the left eye which extends to the back of his head. The police find no forced entry. They believe that the killer could be a disgruntled client.

By August 4

The police start looking at Susan Grund as a possible suspect. They interview Susan, and she informs them that Jim and his son David argued constantly, and that they needed to take a look at him. Records show that David bought a 9 mm handgun which was reported stolen shortly before his death. According to David, his father knew all about the gun. David told the police that he showed the gun to his stepmother, but that he returned it to the drawer. Shortly after there was a break in at the home, and the gun had been stolen during the break in. He had no idea that the gun was hidden inside of the house. Susan's sister, Darlene, is staying in the Peru home in order to keep a watch over the home while Susan is away. However, she is unable to stop the police from searching the thome. Susan calls Darlene and asks her sister if the police have found the gun. Darlene is shocked. She knows nothing about it, and she has know idea that the gun is hidden in a teddy bear in the home. Susan returns to get the teddy bear, and then she she confesses to her sister that she murdered Jim. Darlene tells the police what Susan has done. A search is done in Ellie Sanders' home, the mother of Susan Grund, but they do not locate the gun.

August 1993:Susan's mother calls the police to inform them that she had found a washtub that had been missing for a year, and that it was filled with concrete inside. When the police arrive and bust open the tub, they find the gun buried beneath the cement.

At age 34, Susan Grund is charged for the murder of her husband, former Miami Counter prosecutor, James Grund. She enters a plea of not guilty.

October 1993

According to the defense David had a motive to kill his father because he had a grudge against his father and he was also having an affair with his stepmother. David testifies that he had shown his stepmother the gun hours before the break in, but he denied having an affair with Susan. Susan testifies on her own behalf. She cries on the stand and admits to picking up the gun in order to protect her stepson David. Several members of the jury believe her story. Jurors announce that they cannot reach a verdict. A mistrial is declared in the case of Susan Ann Grund.

1994: 2nd trial begins

Susan testifies again. She admits to hiding the gun that killed her husband, but she denies killing him. She states that she saw a gun lying next to her husband as he lay dead. She then picked up the gun and hid it to protect her lover-stepson. Her attorneys wrongly advise her not to go into details of the affair. This proves to be a big mistake. Susan is found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder of her husband, attorney James Grund.

Tidbits

Susan and Jim's children have spoken with her since the crime. Her daughter, Tanelle is able to keep in contact with her mother by internet.

Susan admits to hiding the gun, but she proclaims that she did not kill her husband. "They are punishing the wrong person," stated Susan in an interview.

James Grund's son, David, was an attorney for many years, and now he is a judge in Peru, Indiana. People who have been in his court say that he is a really nice judge.

Susan Grund has her own website, and she has a lot of friends who support her on different blogs. At her website you can see some rare pics not seen on other websites. People who have been in prison with her say she still acts like a beauty queen, and that she is not housed with the general population.

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Photo of David Grund, Susan Grund Affair

Here is a photo of Jim Grund's son David. It was alleged that Susan Grund had an affair with her stepson. Click to enlarge photo.

Jim Grund Photo