FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Court TV) — A man who once referred to himself as a “spiritual hit man” took the witness stand at his murder trial, where he told a new story about what happened to a missing mother.
Shannon Ryan testifies in court on Sept. 23, 2026. (Court TV)
Shannon Ryan, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the presumed death of Leila Cavett, 21, who disappeared in July 2020. A good Samaritan found Cavett’s son, who was 2 years old when she disappeared, wandering alone in an apartment complex.
Prosecutors say that surveillance video showed Cavett last alive at a RaceTrac with the defendant before she disappeared. In interviews with detectives after she was reported missing, Ryan said that Cavett had gotten into a vehicle with three unknown men — along with her son — before driving off.
But on Wednesday, Ryan told a new version of events from the stand in which Cavett still got into the car with the men, but then returned later that night. Ryan said that she knocked on his car window in the parking lot, that they talked, and that he warned her that her behavior wasn’t safe. The defendant said he slept in his car overnight with Cavett and her son. Afterward, the group went for a drive, with Cavett giving directions until they reached an apartment complex, where he noticed his tire was low on air and got out to check it.
Ryan said that while he was checking on the tire, Cavett got out of the car briefly before getting back in and screaming at him, “Go! Go! Go! Go!” He testified that as they were driving away, he noticed that her son was missing and asked her about it; he added that Cavett said she intentionally left the child. A short while later, he said, Cavett again asked him to stop the car and that this time she got out and walked away and was never seen again.
Ryan’s testimony offered explanations for some searches prosecutors said they found on his phone. “I’m on Facebook, and I run across a post and it says ‘Common household chemicals you should never mix together.’ Number one on the list was bleach and alcohol makes chloroform. When I read the post, I said to myself, ‘That can’t be right.’ I said, ‘Bleach and alcohol make chloroform? Is that something?’ I said, because I have bleach and alcohol in this car with me and I never mix it together, but just to know that it makes chloroform doesn’t seem right, so I put in ‘Does bleach and alcohol make chloroform?’ The answer was yes, and I was like, ‘Things you just don’t know.'”
Prosecutor Elizabeth Lipella asked the defendant about the inconsistencies between his accounts:
Lipella: You even went live on Facebook and said, ‘Let’s talk about it.’
Ryan: Yes ma’am, I did.
Lipella: But you never mentioned anything that you just told the jury.
Ryan: No ma’am, I didn’t.
Lipella: Today is the first time you’re telling anyone about this.
Ryan: Yes ma’am, it is.
Ryan offered no substantial explanation for his new story, saying only, “I was trying to protect the frame.”
Leila Cavett (NamUs)
Ryan testified that he was a teacher and meditation leader, but admitted he had also referred to himself as a “spiritual hit man.” Lipella confronted him with a message he had sent on Facebook to an interested client who wanted a hex, saying, “If you hire me for the spell work, the length of time it takes depends on the severity of the punishment you want. I could be out of your way in one to three days, but if you want a lengthy torture, one to two weeks should suffice. It all depends on your appetite for destruction. I am your spiritual hit man. Please feel free to delete this chat.”
Ryan, who has eight prior convictions, faces a potential life sentence if he’s convicted of murder.
