REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – On September 25, 1983, Belinda GarDella, a 44-year-old mother of six, was taken to Botsford General Hospital by her ex-husband, Paul GarDella, arriving there at 9:15 p.m. with a fatal stab wound to her chest. Her autopsy states that she died of shock and hemorrhage due to stab wound of ascending aorta. The manner of death: homicide.
Paul GarDella claimed that strangers attacked her while their vehicle was stopped at Telegraph and Five Mile roads in Redford Township. However, investigators identified numerous inconsistencies in his accounts, including conflicting details about the number of attackers, whether the car door was opened and whether the window was up or down. No independent witnesses corroborated his account of the attack even though it was supposedly a busy intersection.
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No one has ever been charged with Belinda’s murder, but her children suspect their father was responsible. Forty-three years later, they are still waiting for justice.
Autopsy and Crime Scene Evidence Raise Questions About Belinda’s Murder
Records obtained by Michigan News Source reveal troubling details about her murder and the months leading up to it.
Belinda’s autopsy confirmed that she died from a stab wound to her upper left chest that passed through the ascending aorta, the main artery carrying blood away from the heart. The medical examiner also documented a cut on her back, measuring approximately half an inch long. No defensive wounds were found on her hands. Belinda’s youngest son, Ron GarDella, who maintains the Facebook page Justice for Belinda GarDella, continues to question the circumstances of his mother’s death. “How does someone stab her in the left side of the heart from the right side of the car?” he asks. And with the car door closed, the logistics of such an attack become even harder to explain.
He also says no DNA belonging to anyone else was found in the vehicle.
The location of Belinda’s wounds has raised additional questions about the account of a robbery. Earlier this year, CBS News interviewed retired nurse Elaine Hunter who cared for Belinda and recalled that the victim had also been “stabbed” in the back – which the autopsy confirms, describing it as a “superficial” wound. For Ron and the rest of the family, the injuries and their locations remain important unanswered questions about what really happened inside the car that night.
Cold Justice Reenactment Raises Questions About Robbery Account
The Oxygen series “Cold Justice” featuring Kelly Siegler also examined the location of Belinda’s wounds and questioned whether the physical evidence was consistent with Paul’s account of what happened inside the car. The episode was called “Deadly Intersection” and aired on Saturday, November 8, 2025.
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Siegler and her team used a vehicle similar to the one Belinda was riding in to reenact the alleged robbery and examine whether her injuries were consistent with Paul GarDella’s account. Investigators found it difficult to reproduce the stab wound from the passenger side, where Paul claimed the attacker had approached. Belinda’s fatal wound traveled from left to right and downward – the opposite direction investigators would ordinarily expect from someone attacking through the passenger door or window. They also questioned why her purse remained undisturbed at her feet if someone had attempted to steal it.
The team then reenacted a second scenario involving an attack from the driver’s seat. They demonstrated how someone sitting beside Belinda could have inflicted the wound while restraining her, potentially explaining the angle of the injury, the lack of defensive wounds and the broken windshield they mentioned. Investigators concluded that an attack from the driver’s side was more consistent with the available evidence than Paul’s account of a stranger approaching from the passenger side. However, the reenactment did not establish exactly what happened inside the car or definitively identify Belinda’s killer.
They also questioned why Paul didn’t just drive away. One of the investigators said, “I see two guys now attacking my (ex) wife, and I’m just gonna sit there? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Three Possible Motives
Investigators and family members have identified three possible motives for Paul’s alleged involvement in Belinda’s murder: Belinda reportedly refused to drop pending felony assault charges against him, refused to sign paperwork allowing him to refinance the family home and refused to reconcile with him.
Court records show Paul was charged with two counts of felonious assault following an April 1983 incident involving Belinda and their son Eugene. The allegations included an assault on Belinda with a baseball bat and an attack on Eugene involving tools and a chain. Belinda was killed just two weeks before the court date for which Eugene needed his mother’s testimony against her ex-husband. Paul was subsequently acquitted on one charge, while the other was dismissed. He has maintained his innocence in Belinda’s murder and has never been charged.
Another Year Goes By and Still No Charges
Wayne and Oakland County prosecutors have declined to pursue murder charges as recent as 2025, citing insufficient evidence. Redford Township investigators submitted the case to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office in November 2025.
Asked for an update this week, AG Press Secretary Danny Wimmer confirmed the review remains ongoing, with no further information available. Whether the AG will reach a decision before leaving office in January 2027 remains unclear.
Belinda’s children have spent decades gathering records, pursuing investigators and participating in interviews. Forty-three years later, they are still waiting for someone to answer for their mother’s murder.
