In the late summer of 2022, the community of Maryville, Tennessee, was shaken by the tragic death of 41-year-old Christina Costa. On the morning of August 20th, first responders were called to the Regal Tower condominium complex, where they discovered a fire on the sixth floor. Inside one of the units, they made a grim discovery: the bodies of Costa and a 40-year-old man named Sam Olea.
Both had sustained fatal gunshot wounds in what investigators would later describe as a suspected murder-suicide.
The scene at the condominium painted a grim picture of the events that had transpired. Firefighters found a trail of gasoline leading from the elevator to the door of Costa's apartment, with a gas can and other accelerants found inside the unit. This discovery pointed to a deliberate act of arson accompanying the homicidal violence. The investigation that followed would uncover a history of domestic turmoil and a series of events that culminated in this tragic outcome.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Christina Costa had been in a romantic relationship with Sam Olea. This relationship, however, was marked by violence. Just three weeks prior to the fatal incident, Olea had been arrested for assaulting Costa. Following this arrest, he was released from custody under the condition that he wear a GPS monitoring device, a measure intended to ensure Costa's safety.
Tragically, this precaution proved to be ineffective. On August 19, the day before the murder-suicide, Olea tampered with and removed his GPS monitor. The monitoring company was alerted to the tampering, as was Costa herself. Despite these warnings, it appears no immediate action was taken to locate Olea or ensure Costa's protection. Less than 12 hours after disabling the device that was supposed to track his whereabouts, Olea was able to confront Costa in her home with deadly consequences. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Costa's mother filed a lawsuit, alleging negligence on the part of the GPS monitoring company and the Blount County Probation Office for their failure to act on the tamper alert.
