Former Lover “Masterminds” “Heinous” Christmas Night Murder of Cleveland Hairdresser

When a client of 57-year-old hairdresser Chris Vo arrived at his Cleveland, Ohio home for an appointment on Dec. 26, 2021, the client was met with a horrific sight.

“As they’re looking at his home, the client saw blood coming out from under the garage door,” said true crime podcaster C.J. Johnson on A Plan To Kill, airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen. “And that client freaked out and called 911.”

Cleveland police arrived to find a bloody garage, bloody footprints everywhere, and a bloody body on the floor.

“The victim was laying with his back on the floor of that garage, covered in blood,” said Andrew Hayduk, a Cleveland PD homicide detective, on A Plan To Kill. “He had injuries everywhere. Sharp force trauma. Blunt force trauma. He had a gunshot wound. He had hemorrhaging at his neck, which was obvious evidence of strangulation. This was a knockdown, drag out fight.”

It didn’t take long for police to pinpoint their suspects, 29-year-olds Daniel Mobley and Chad Webb, or to realize the murderous pair had been plotting the crime for a long time.

“I think Daniel and Chad had this plan, from the early onset there, to kind of set Chris at ease, and then rob him,” Hayduk said. “I definitely think Daniel was the driving force of this, with his prior knowledge of Chris. Daniel having dated Chris, knew there wouldn’t be a lot of questions … and that tragically ended in Chris’s death.”

Cleveland police found no forced entry into Chris Vo’s home. However, a bloodied blonde wig was located on the ground. Vo’s ring finger on his right hand was also wiped clean as though a ring had been removed. But it was Vo’s phone and his camera surveillance system that gave police a lot of evidence against Vo’s murderers.

Around 8:37 p.m. on Christmas, Vo’s cameras picked up a man walking toward the house. At the same time, Vo’s interior camera showed him dressed in a blonde wig, sitting and waiting.

“Through video, we could tell that this encounter was with someone that Chris knew, or at least expected to come over,” Hayduk said. “They were friendly to each other. It looked just like a very normal interaction.”

But a few minutes later, cameras showed a second man come up to the house wearing a face covering and construction traffic vest and unplug all of the outdoor Christmas lights. He then came up to the exterior camera and turned it away from him. What followed was the beating, shooting, and strangulation of Vo—some of which was caught on camera.

“After all the violence was over, what you saw was these two individuals hugging each other,” Kevin Filiatraut, Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor, said on A Plan To Kill. “As Chris lay lifeless on the other side of the room. When you see the violence that happened to Chris, and then you see these two individuals consoling each other, hugging each other, after having done all that to Chris — it’s really just awful. Heinous.”

Denise Marks. Photo: Oxygen

Cameras showed one of the men leave and return in a pickup truck to pick up the other man.

“It was overkill,” said Vo’s friend, Lily Fide, on A Plan To Kill. “I don’t know if it was anger, or hatred. Jealousy. Greed. I just couldn’t imagine how scared he was at that moment.”

Within days, neighboring Lakewood, Ohio police called Cleveland officers to report they had two people in custody for a stolen truck. Daniel Mobley and Chad Webb were found at a hotel with a truck matching the description of the one on cameras at Vo’s home.

Among the incriminating evidence found in the truck and hotel room: hand guns, with a bullet matching that left at the murder scene, drugs, Chris Vo’s credit card, a construction traffic vest, a silver ring with blood on it, and a notebook.

“It had Chris Vo’s address. Birthday. Some password information,” Hayduk said. “There was comments about bleach and bullets.”

Officers realized Mobley and Vo had been in a relationship before Mobley dated Webb. Mobley had been arrested for stealing Vo’s car six months before the murder, and Vo had testified in court on his behalf, despite being the victim.

“Daniel, clearly in my mind, was the mastermind of this,” Hayduk. “I can’t imagine Chris’s feelings of betrayal. A man that he had a relationship with. That he had gone to court and advocated for. And it was within two and a half months that Daniel turned that all around and was part of a planned murder of Chris inside his own home.”

Chad Webb’s physical appearance also gave police evidence.

“In Chad’s booking photos, his head had all sorts of cuts and scrapes to it. As if Chad had been in a physical fight,” Filiatraut said. “With Chad’s appearance after his arrest, he had the exact same wounds to his head as you see in the video itself.”

Police discovered more evidence from Vo’s cell phone data pointing to premeditated murder.

“In this case, the planning was immense,” Filiatraut said.

Vo had spoken to Webb through a dating app on his phone and ended up inviting him to his home on Christmas night.

“Chad reached out to Chris, made it appear as though he was just looking for a date,” Hayduk said. “Chad Webb is sending Chris Vo pictures of himself. It was obviously him. That was Chad and Chris’s first time meeting.”

“The use of Chad as their way of getting into Chris’s home — that was crucial to their premeditated plan to get into Chris’ home, rob him, and kill him inside of his home,” Filiatraut added.

DNA evidence was the final piece against Mobley and Webb.

“Chad’s DNA was underneath Chris’s fingernails,” Filiatraut said. “That ring that was recovered from Chad had Chris’s DNA on it, as well as Chad’s. We recovered Chris Vo’s blood on the construction vest … there was no doubt as to who did this, and no doubt as to why they did it.”

Chad Webb and Daniel Mobley pled guilty to murdering Chris Vo. In November 2023, Webb was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and Mobley to 36.

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