Dateline: Who was Shanna Golyar and what do we know about her crimes? Disturbing details of the 2012 incident, explored

The name Shanna Golyar evokes a cold, meticulously planned crime that spanned four years. As Dateline revealed, in 2012, Shanna became a person of interest in a frightening mystery in Omaha, Nebraska. Her actions led to the killing of Cari Farver, and a long period of online harassment was meant to hide the truth.

The story gained widespread attention after it was thoroughly explored on Dateline. Golyar’s reason was simple: a strong, jealous fixation on a man named Dave Kroupa. This terrible crime showed how deep fixation can push a person to do extreme things. The case forced police to follow a trail of clues that were almost completely digital.

Dateline: Shanna Golyar and her crimes

The start of the love triangle

Shanna Golyar and Cari Farver were both dating the same man, Dave Kroupa. Kroupa was an auto mechanic who met both women using dating sites on the internet. He wanted simple, casual dates and kept the arrangements easy. Farver worked as a mother and a full-time student. Golyar lived a short distance from Kroupa.

The two women did not know about each other at the beginning. Kroupa started seeing both women in the fall of 2012. On November 13, 2012, Farver went to Kroupa’s apartment. She left that night, and nobody ever saw her again.

A flood of digital harassment

Cari Farver’s sudden vanishing was quickly followed by a large number of odd messages. Kroupa, Farver’s family, and even Golyar started getting text messages and emails. The messages said that Farver had moved away and did not want to speak to anyone. She wrote that she hated Kroupa. This campaign of harassment grew stronger over time.

The messages were sent thousands of times over four years. They made Kroupa’s life miserable and caused him to move many times. Dateline covered the fear and confusion this digital nightmare created. The texts came from disposable phones and fake email accounts, all claiming to be from Cari Farver. The messages targeted Kroupa, Golyar, and the new woman Kroupa dated.

Golyar herself claimed she was being harassed by these texts and emails. She told police that Farver had set her home on fire in 2013. At first, police thought Golyar was just another victim of Farver’s strange behavior.

Computer clues show the killer

The case remained a tough cold case for many years. Detectives Jim Doty and Ryan Avis began a new effort in 2015. They started treating the vanishing as a murder, not just a missing person. The police focused entirely on the huge amount of computer evidence. They looked at thousands of text messages and emails.

This evidence gave the final answer. Computer experts found a key pattern: the texts supposedly sent by Farver often came from an internet address connected to Shanna Golyar's home. Dateline shared the careful work of the computer investigation team. Then, police found a digital memory card during their search. This card held a picture of a dead woman's body. The woman had a clear tattoo, which matched Cari Farver.

This photo was a terrible piece of proof. The picture connected Golyar directly to Farver’s body. Golyar had also secretly made hundreds of fake accounts to pretend to be Cari Farver. She did this to cover up the killing and keep Dave Kroupa near her.

Shanna Golyar faced the law

The police arrested Shanna Golyar in 2016. She was accused of first-degree murder. During the trial, lawyers showed the jury the computer evidence. They showed the long timeline of the text messages and the photo found on Golyar’s memory card.

This evidence proved Golyar killed Farver inside Kroupa’s apartment on November 13, 2012. Dateline reviewed the whole trial, which showed the true danger of fixation.

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Golyar was found guilty in 2017. She received a life sentence for the murder of Cari Farver. She also received an extra sentence for setting fire to her own house, which she had planned.

This case stands as a clear warning about how technology can be used to both commit and solve a crime. The sad story, shared on Dateline, is now widely understood.

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