To another he said it was merely spongy. Shortly before her death, the change Harold made allowed for double the compensation if Lynn died as a result of an accident. During the initial investigation, Detective Weavers colleagues had found some inconsistencies. Where Is Harold and Toni Henthorns Daughter Now. Now that effort is laid to waste. It's a mandatory sentence for first-degree murder. She told Detective Weaver that she had been at accident scenes where family members of victims were crying, screaming, and in some cases so emotional they punched her. Dale Archer, M.D., is a clinical psychiatrist and the author of Better Than Normal: How What Makes You Different Can Make You Exceptional. On Thursday, prosecutors released photos and audio used in the murder trial of Harold Henthorn, 59 Henthorn was convicted last month of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his wife Toni,. If Henthorn is found guilty, I would not think either killing was premeditated but rather an opportunity arose and impulsively he used it to his advantage. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The Bertolets said goodbye to their only daughter a few days later. Did You Know Anxiety Can Enhance Our Relationships? To Toni Bertolet Henthorns family, her friends, and the people for whom she cared, Tonis life was about the moments that took our breath away.Todd Bertolet. She, like Dr. Henthorn, died in a rural and deserted area. Harold told her he was a wealthy businessman who fundraised for schools and Churches. I dont think that was an accident at all, she said, sitting on a bed next to Toni. How else to explain all the strangeness? Taking the aforementioned points into account, the police suspect foul play. There was something else, too, buried inside the file. Yvonne always considered Toni the best birthday present she ever received. She had fallen 128 feet, and suffered numerous severe injuries. For some reason, though it was clear she needed their help, Harold yelled at them when they dragged Lynns unconscious body out from underneath the Jeep. Todd Bertolet, Toni Henthorn's brother said, "That was what was so odd. He was a good guy, a loving husband, a good father to their daughter, and extremely busy working as a fundraiser for churches,. Initially, the couple appeared ecstatic in their new life and were happy with each other. Bob and Yvonne watched as Harold slowly took control of Tonis life. He then let them take the lead when it came time to give her CPR. When Dave Weaver first sat down with the file he wasnt impressed. To another he said west. Also, an extensive review found that Henthorn, who had a clean police record besides a couple of minor traffic citations, had been charged with shoplifting underwear! The story behind that tragedy was revealed last November in an episode of CBS' "48 Hours" and, apparently, more details are forthcoming with the "Dateline" broadcast this month. What that something actually was, the Bertolets were slow to find out. Firstly, we wanted to be a strong voice for Toni and to seek justice in her behalf. The strange saga of Henthorn and his two ill-fated wives began back in the spring of 1995. The Defendant vilified and chastised each Good Samaritan and rescuer that attempted to come to the aid of his critically injured wives; aid which he never gave nor intended to give. The most recent Harold Henthorn case update comes courtesy of NBCs Dateline, which devoted an entire two-hour episode to the bizarre chain of events that led to Henthorns conviction on a murder charge. Initially quite respected and thought of as a regular citizen, people who knew Henthorn were shocked after his conviction as a murderer. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Douglas County had changed tremendously in the intervening years. Can Humans Detect Text by AI Chatbot GPT? But for us, there will be, forever in this life, the pain and tears, maybe not seen by others, for our daughter, killed in a cruel, sadistic, senseless and cowardly act of violence.On September 29, 2012, the family as a whole decided on a course of action, not believing that the tragedy was an accident. Within less than a week, Douglas Countys coroner declared Lynn Henthorns death an accident. She wanted her to say that she would listen to her mothers warning. As exhibited previously of the mother / daughter relationship between Toni and her mother, the Defendant saw no value in a mothers love; the Defendant only saw the financial value of the life of the mother.To a child, evil and villains are supposed to be easily identifiable. Even though he said he could work from anywhere, he didnt see a future in Mississippi, where Tonis family, friends and nearly everyone else who was dear to her already lived. Jul 26, 2017 Slain Woman's Ashes Returned 4 Years After Murder. Her dreams seemed to come true when she met Harold. The silence of the victim, Toni Bertolet Henthorn, in the court today represents her loudest cry for her daughter and the injustice at the hands of the Defendant.In closing, this trial was about the last moment in Tonis life and the moment that Toni took her last breath. The sentence to be handed down by this court is the only result that the Defendant has actually earned in his adult life. Detective Weaver further discovered that the department was woefully undertrained: the man in charge of the investigation had been a detective for all of five months, had never been the lead on any homicide, and had never undergone any formal training before becoming a detective. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Suffer the consequences meant having to listen to Harold talk until he got what he wanted. The Bertolets have always been a close-knit family, loving, helping and protecting one another. A federal jury on Monday convicted a man of murder for pushing his wife off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado to celebrate their wedding anniversary. He was constantly talking, often bragging, and always had to be the center of attention. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Hey Mrs. B! Harold would say, using the pet name hed given Yvonne. I disagree with the Defendants counsel when he proclaimed that the Defendant told lies to his detriment; the truth is the Defendant told lies for his direct benefit. She was an eye surgeon. Harold and Toni Henthorn Toni and Harold met online in 1999 and married just nine months later. According to the show, Tonis family passed a statement claiming that their daughter was quite disturbed in the days leading up to her passing. One night, something happened at that cabin that left Toni recovering in a hospital bed. In the process of his own investigation, Detective Weaver discovered that no officer had called the restaurant where Harold claimed, at least in one version of his story, he and Lynn had eaten before the accident. He pushed her, said Tonis father, Bob. Moments after a federal court jury convicted Harold Henthorn Monday of killing his second wife Toni, a process server surprised Rob Henthorn with court papers compelling him to appear in court in Douglas County Oct. 30 to tell a probate judge what happened to the half million dollars Harold Henthorn transferred to him, or a business controlled by him, in early 2014 before Henthorn was arrested for his wife's murder. The Defendant never showed grief as to the loss of Toni, and has yet to tell anyone in this family that he actually loved her. Her husband, Harold Henthorn, was convicted of first-degree murder in. I would not go anywhere alone with this man.. No physical evidence remained. But at the time of Lynns death, there were only five detectives covering an area half the size of Rhode Island. The lead investigator made mention of a partial print on the wheel well, above the missing tire, the same one that Lynn had supposedly been trying to help change when she was killed. The Defendant chose his own selfishness and greed over the needs of his family. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The bad guy is the Defendant, and the evil that our children must now comprehend came from within the family in the form of a parent and an uncle. The story went like this: Late one night, while Haley slept inside the cabin, Harold asked Toni to help him clean up some debris. What kind of mind thinks like that to kill based on an opportunity? Harold Henthorn, convicted of killing his second wife by shoving her off a cliff, will not get a new trial according to a ruling. Now that Toni was home by herself in Mississippi, Yvonne could no longer hold her tongue. Unlucky in love, but a success just about everywhere else. The file contained a note from a woman named Patricia Montoya, who called the day after the accident with a question. The couple seemed quite happy initially and even gave birth to their only child, Haley, in 2005. By the time Detective Weaver called Roberts, she had been promoted all the way up to chief of the department, and had witnessed more deaths than she cared to count. I know he killed her, he says. "We are overjoyed with the verdict and relieved this won't happen to any other lady," said Barry Bertolet, Toni Henthorn's brother. Phone calls and emails from CBS4 to Mackey were not returned. Barry Bertolet, Toni Henthorn's brother addresses the media following the guilty verdict (credit: CBS), Harold and Toni Henthorn (courtesy to CBS), Watch the CBS4 special "Inside The Investigation: Harold Henthorn. Nothing budged the car. Had they checked, they would have found that Harold actually received twice that much. The family had enough money. It was only a few days into the new year, 2013, and only a few weeks after the Douglas County Sheriffs Department received a curious letter. They couldnt talk about Harold on the phone, since every call with her was also a call with him. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Related: Man Accused in Wife's Deadly Fall Also Killed First Wife: Prosecutor, They seized on Henthorn's inconsistent accounts of the fatal fall and said the evidence did not match his shifting stories. A federal jury on Monday convicted a man of murder for pushing his wife off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado to celebrate their wedding anniversary. How does she know that a trusted person is not lying to her? She died after plummeting about 130 feet off a cliff in a remote, rocky area where the couple had been hiking on Sept. 29, 2012, their 12th wedding anniversary. It does not store any personal data. He tossed the flat in the back, as Harold had said hed done in one version of his story. Then came more subtle attempts to choke off any contact Toni might have with those who loved her. Then he tried to get the car to fall. Harold Henthorn pleaded not guilty and has always maintained his innocence. From the time of Tonis death, the Defendant has made it abundantly clear that he just wanted to move on with his life. The spring night was cold and Lynn was only wearing a t-shirt. 48 Hours examines the case of Harold Henthorn whose wives died 17 years apart in supposedly freak accidents. The wrongful death was affirmed by an attentive, intelligent, meticulous, and methodical jury that considered the facts and evidence in this case and reached the verdict of guilty of 1st degree murder. Storyline Colorado, 2001: Toni Bertolet Henthorn, a doctor and mother, falls from a cliff in the Rockies. The Defendant even proclaimed to a group of school mothers that Tonis daughter would be fine, because the real relationship was actually between Haley and him. The case now before Weaver was different, though. We never imagined that murder would come into our lives like a thief in the night. Their grandchild was now in the care of the man they believed to be her killer. But every time she broached the subject of Harolds job, the couples lack of money or his need for control over every part of her life, Toni always had the same response: If you do that, Ill suffer the consequences. The U.S. Attorney's crime auditor testified last week that Henthorn had no employment and no steady source of income. However, Harold kept insisting on his innocence and in 2017 appealed for a retrial which was subsequently shot down. Every morning, she wakes up asking herself, "Did it really happen? Then came Harold. Reached this week, Rob Henthorn declined to discuss the half million dollars and referred questions to his attorney, Pam Mackey. In a horrible turn of events, Lynn crawled under the car to retrieve a lug nut when the vehicle came down on her crushing her fatally. Rather, it defines an individual that doesnt meet the criteria for anti-social personality disorder, yet occasionally carries out anti-social acts. In 2012, Harold and Dr. Toni Henthorn celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary with a hiking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. He slammed the tailgate. Haley is not fine without her mother. Gary Clexton, a court-appointed special administrator representing Toni Henthorn's estate, declined to discuss the new court case involving Rob Henthorn and the half million dollars. Selena Gomez vs. Hailey Bieber: Why Everyone Thinks They Need to Pick a Side. In the text, Harold claimed that Toni had fallen off a cliff and was critically injured. After all, Harold was a respected member of the community. Employee communication . In photographs released by the US Attorney's Office after the. If she hadnt moved a millisecond before it hit her, she later told her mother, it may have landed right on her head, perhaps with enough force to kill. Then, he asked Sandra to come help him. As an ophthalmologist, Tonis commitment was her recurring choice to make a positive difference in the lives of so many. Henthorn was able to keep his shoplifting arrest a secret from everyone who knew him. He's either guilty of two murders or he has a perplexing attraction to exceedingly unlucky women. In December, Toni Bertolet's husband, Harold Henthorn, received a mandatory life sentence for her death. If he is ultimately convicted of murder, he will face a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole. But there was something else. On May 6, 1995, Harold and Sandra were driving home after a day of hiking. That woman on the mountain, she said. To the young man facing total blindness from an injury requiring the skilled hands of a surgeon, Tonis life mattered and was indispensable. Man Accused in Wife's Deadly Fall Also Killed First Wife: Prosecutor. A former rural ranching community turned, nearly overnight, into one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. To Detective Weaver, it was just one sign among many that the investigation was botched from the beginning. (When reached for comment, the Douglas County Sheriffs Department disputed this characterization, but said they could not elaborate. This is an adapted chapter from Caleb Hannans new Kindle Single The Accidents; read the full story here. Little did Harold Henthorns friends and neighbors know of the terrible secret he had been hiding for most of his married life. On September 29, 2012, Harold and Toni Henthorn went for a hike at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Then, he said, he saw nothing but a blurand Toni was no longer standing there. Henthorn has sociopathic tendencies, without doubt, but what makes this so challenging is that a murderer is typically not a sociopath. According to Henthorn, he said a tire felt "spongy," so he pulled off the road to change it. According to the file, the investigators noted the brand of shoes Harold was wearing at the time Sperry Topsider and took pictures of the tread. Trending For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. He was 50 when his wife Toni passed away. That she would take it to heart. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni. On the map of the park he had with him the day of Tonis death, there was a literal Xright at the spot where Toni went over the edge. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Its a mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Colorado; Henthorn was 59. A year after he was sentenced to life in prison, it doesnt look like Harolds appeal has yet been carried out. Detective Weaver heard something similar from Rebecca Roberts. The couple met online in late 1999 and got married only nine months later, both in a rush to. The Defendant blamed the press for exposing the truth and destroying his scam and lies to the community in which he lived under false pretense. The money was purportedly for a business investment, according to evidence presented at an earlier federal court hearing. He was older. Now he needed an answer to a question that was gnawing at him. The Bertolets found it odd that long after shed ceased to be a baby, Harold kept a video monitor running in his daughters room. At the bottom it reads: In Loving Memory, January 10, 1962-September 29, 2012. All of Lynns belongings, along with the Jeep, were returned to Harold. When the friends and family of Toni Henthorn heard how she died, only one was able to put into words what so many others were thinking. Read More: Where Is Harold and Toni Henthorns Daughter Now? Lynn Henthorns death was a tragedy, not a crime. First published on September 23, 2015 / 11:02 PM. He insisted at both the verdict and the sentencing that he would appeal the decision. On May 6 of that year, Henthorn and his first wife, Sandra Lynn, were driving through the dark. Toni. What Toni meant was that Harold didnt like to be questioned. Harold claimed that one of the cars tires felt mushy, and pulled over to change it. Yvonne had spent more than a decade suppressing her motherly intuition about Harold so that her daughter would be spared the consequences. To one cop, Harold said that they were driving east. Harold even called 911, and when first responders reached the scene, they noticed that Toni had fallen from a height of 140 feet to her death. A true parent places a childs needs above their own selfish wants. Prosecutors argued during a two-week trial that Henthorn carefully staged Toni Henthorn's death to look like an accident because he stood to benefit from her $4.7 million in life-insurance policies, which she didn't know existed. Case closed. It took the jury about 10 hours to find Harold Henthorn, 59, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his second wife, a wealthy Mississippi native. The Defendant only made withdrawals and made no deposits in the lives of his wives and their families. The camera he and his wife were passing back and forth had no photos on it. Harold stopped to check and had the vehicle propped up on a jack. All Rights reserved. It took Harold 45 minutes to get to her, and he claimed he performed CPR as best he could after dialing 911. Toni Bertolet Henthorn died after she was pushed off a cliff during an anniversary hike in Rock Mountain National Park. Shatterdaymorn Plot summary Add synopsis Genres After all, his first wife had also died under unusual circumstances, although her death was immediately ruled an accident. And the only reason Weaver was even looking at this thin excuse for a file was that now that same husband was a widower once more. As fate would have it, the couples Jeep Cherokee suddenly had a problem with one of its tires in the middle of the road. The letter was from the Department of the Interior, which oversees every one of the countrys 417 national parks. If you would like to donate, you can visit www.umc.edu/tonibertoletendowment. For both wives of Harold Henthorn, the locations where they died were deserted and Henthorn was the only other person present. If you want to know more about this baffling case and where Harold Henthorn is today, we have you covered. In photographs released by the US Attorney's Office after the. As always, Dateline NBC will use experts, law enforcement officials, and friends and family members to shape the story. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. A jury convicted Henthorn of murder in 2015 after about 10 and a half hours of deliberation. I think there is a special place in hell for someone like [Harold].. Then, when she found out that Lynn had died, she asked the follow-up question, the one record of her that still remained in the case file and made it clear how she felt about Harold. Do it carefully, not quickly, was Weavers. That wasnt really a concern for the Bertolets Tonis father, Bob, had grown wealthy by making smart bets on pieces of land that turned out to be full of oil. Although Toni lived near her family in Mississippi and was a well-established opthalmologist, Harold persuaded her to leave her roots behind and move with him to Colorado. statements about the tragedy kept changing. Harold Henthorn faces a mandatory life term when he is sentenced Dec. 8. Selling the Bro Dream: Are Frat Boys Peddling Vemma Suckers? When Weaver finally left the Air Force and asked her where she wanted to live, she chose Denver. Still, Harold persisted in his innocence, and in 2017 he filed an appeal for a retrial, which was subsequently denied. But I would be very careful. In addition, Henthorn has only been in the public eye since 2012, and was only sentenced last year, but his story really spans twenty years. The Denver Channel, 7News, brings you the latest trusted news and information for Denver, Colorado, Mile High and. Was that a dream?". She had a passion to console and give advice to those who were in need of direction and comfort. They spoke to a co-worker of Lynns who said the whole scenario seemed suspicious. My child now asks the appropriate question of how do I know. He was a wealthy fundraiser for hospitals and churches. Tonis brother Barry Bertolet spoke at the sentencing. The Defendant feels no guilt, and, as is the case with most criminals, blames the victim, the victims family, the Good Samaritan and rescuers, the press, the investigative authorities, and the judicial system for his troubles. To some people he said the Jeep fell when he threw the flat tire into the open hatch in the back. Several of the jurors spoke with the Denver Post following the verdict, and one jurors comment summed their thinking up maybe better than any other. ", After the jury was dismissed, applause erupted in the courtroom. ". "We don't have to worry anymore.". A portrait artist once said that it is only when the details of eyes are revealed that the observer becomes committed to the face and person before them. It had been a full day, and the sun had set. PostedNovember 18, 2014 DENVER (CBS4) - CBS4 has learned that the brother of convicted killer Harold Henthorn -- Rob Henthorn -- has been ordered to appear in court next month to explain what happened to $500,000 sent to him in 2014 by his brother Harold Henthorn. The Bertolets hoped life might get better for Toni with the birth of Haley in 2005, but found, to their dismay, that things only got worse. Three years later we are still heavy laden with the emotional shock of her death.Toni was a special child, a precious gift to us from God.
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