Millionaire CEO Fakes Death By Pretending To Have Mad Cow Disease

Murder Files Unsealed · Sep 7, 2026 · 46m · transcript

This episode details the elaborate criminal scheme of Jose Lantigua, a Florida furniture mogul who faked his own death to escape massive debt. Lantigua manipulated his wife, Daphne Simpson, by fabricating a story about contracting mad cow disease and being targeted by a drug cartel due to a fictional past with the CIA. After obtaining a fraudulent Venezuelan death certificate, he attempted to claim over $8 million in life insurance while hiding in a custom-built bunker. The deception was eventually exposed by insurance investigators and federal agents who tracked his movements and discovered…