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. But the rescue team couldnt make it to their position in time, and Toni died. Of all the titles that the Defendant has bestowed upon himself without merit, the title of Murderer, bequeathed by the jury, is the only title that the Defendant has earned. My name is Bob Bertolet, father of the victim, Toni Bertolet Henthorn. Many notorious serial killers have been sociopaths, such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. Hey Mrs. B! Harold would say, using the pet name hed given Yvonne. A jury convicted Henthorn of murder in 2015 after about 10 and a half hours of deliberation. He had arrived with grand promises, including a claim that he was so rich that Toni would never have to work again. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. His second wife had $4.5 million in life insurance. var sc_project=9846729; 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. PostedNovember 18, 2014 Firstly, we wanted to be a strong voice for Toni and to seek justice in her behalf. At the bottom it reads: In Loving Memory, January 10, 1962-September 29, 2012. The Douglas County Coroner had ruled Lynns death as accidental. He was careful and methodical and knew how to navigate the choppy waters of bureaucracy even when it came to the toughest cases. The Defendant is neither a good father nor a replacement for a loving mother. Harold said Toni got a text message from the babysitter, letting her know that her daughters soccer team had won. The basic facts of the case are these. What they wanted was to see Toni happy. Nothing budged the car. He found a Jeep Cherokee similar to the one that fell on Lynn and went about trying to recreate the scenario that killed her. His attorney, Craig Truman, said prosecutors failed to prove he killed her. Suffer the consequences meant having to listen to Harold talk until he got what he wanted. Only then did it come crashing down. Henthorn has sociopathic tendencies, without doubt, but what makes this so challenging is that a murderer is typically not a sociopath. 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. The sentence to be handed down by this court is the only result that the Defendant has actually earned in his adult life. Harold Henthorn was a grieving widower. And, ultimately, the investigation rattled Harold. On looking back, authorities realized that they had failed to follow up on numerous leads regarding Lynns death, including the partial footprint found on the Jeeps tire. You do with this what you want to. My wife is Yvonne and our two sons are Barry and Todd. He said he believed Henthorn's brother, who lives in Massachusetts, was served Monday in Denver federal court because "'obviously they knew he was there.". They were out hiking when Toni lost her balance on a steep cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park on September 29th, 2012, bleeding out on the ground 130 feet below where she fell. It would take a lot less time to find out that for Harold, their son-in-law, his tragic present looked very much like his past. To others he said the flat tire actually bounced out; it was the spare, which he said he loosened, that fell and provided the impact necessary to jolt the Jeep off its moorings and crush his wife. As Warren Buffet stated, Honesty is a very expensive gift. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. July 26, 2017 at 11:59 a.m. 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. Was that a dream?". 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. Had they checked, they would have found that Harold actually received twice that much. Toni was either a blessing to the people that surrounded her or a lesson to those that she mentored.Toni used her extraordinary abilities to become an accomplished medical physician in the specialty of ophthalmology. Solutions . On May 6 of that year, Henthorn and his first wife, Sandra Lynn, were driving through the dark. The show even traced the subsequent investigation, focusing on the authorities as they cast their net around the murderer. The Defendants so called estate planning banked on and invested heavily in the premature demise of his wife. The Defendants phony status and perception took priority over his family, and he chose family and friends based solely on his ability to deceive the same. All Rights reserved. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Toni. How does she know that the person she chooses loves her for who she is and not for her wealth and lifestyle? Bob Bertolet, Tonis father, and Todd Bertolet, her younger brother, read the following victim impact statements at Harolds sentencing. The camera he and his wife were passing back and forth had no photos on it. As always, Dateline NBC will use experts, law enforcement officials, and friends and family members to shape the story. Henthorn was able to persuade police his first wife died as the result of a tragic accident. The control Harold seemed to demand over Toni extended to their daughter as well. "https://secure." Harold Henthorn, 59, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn. The Sheriffs Office grew with it, from a few dozen to some 500 employees. "She contributed a lot to society, and to be wiped out for no good reason, it's more devastating." He had to give his bosses credit; they were telling him he was likely going to find something that embarrassed them, but encouraged him nonetheless. Something wasnt right, and Yvonne wanted to talk with Toni. The Douglas County Sheriffs employees registered Harolds conflicting statements and made note of the strange fact that the spare tire he said he was going to use was barely more inflated than the one he was removing. Harold told her he was a wealthy businessman who fundraised for schools and Churches. var sc_invisible=0; The story went like this: Late one night, while Haley slept inside the cabin, Harold asked Toni to help him clean up some debris. In 1994, Henthorn was arrested for shoplifting $47.49 worth of men's underwear from a JCPenney store. At one point, Sandra ended up underneath the car looking for a lug nut and the car crushed her when it fell off the jack. The questions from Douglas County police to Harold were perfunctory. Her husband calls 911 but she dies and, at first, it seems like an accident. 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. However, his first wife, Lynn . To some people he said the Jeep fell when he threw the flat tire into the open hatch in the back. Andaccording to Haroldhe was putting the old tire in the trunk, with Sandra underneath the car, when the car slipped off its jack and crushed her. We ask: How could money be so important to a man, that he would kill the mother of his seven year old daughter? I dont think that was an accident at all, she said, sitting on a bed next to Toni. 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. Toni worked long and hard in pursuing her goal of being an ophthalmologist. 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! This case has revealed more than just the circumstances behind the wrongful death of Toni Bertolet Henthorn; it has also revealed the ugly truth of the extent of the deceitfulness of the Defendant.The Defendant is the evil that lurked in unthinkable places to manipulate his way into Tonis life as well as others of her character. But given the inconsistencies in Harolds story plus the inaccurate life insurance figure he shared, along with the fact that no one could explain exactly how the Jeep had fallen in the first place its existence pointed to an alternative explanation: Harold had kicked the car and killed his wife on purpose. After all, Harold was a respected member of the community. 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. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. Oh it was nothing, Mrs. B! Harold had insisted on one of their phone calls afterwards. Then, he asked Sandra to come help him. Feds say Henthorn pushed his wife over a cliff at Rocky Mountain National Park. Every morning, she wakes up asking herself, "Did it really happen? Instead, it appears he risked it all for some insurance compensation. In the document, he implied that. The Defendant claimed to be a family man, when, in fact he was a selfish man. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Detective Weaver discovered that there were multiple witnesses to the accidents aftermath who were never contacted. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. If Harold said they needed a new car, the car got bought. He would put them on speakerphone and then do the majority of the talking, while Tonis voice came in faint and distant, as if she were standing in another room. Harold Henthorn, who shoved second wife off cliff, loses appeal for a new murder trial. The Accidental Husband: With Peter Van Sant, Brian Maass, Barry Bertolet, Toni Henthorn. It appeared instead to be a terrible accident. Investigators searched deeper and found that Henthorn's first wife, Sandra, died in 1995 when their Jeep Cherokee fell on her. The strange saga of Henthorn and his two ill-fated wives began back in the spring of 1995. His wife supported him, he didnt work, and he could have continued to live that life forever. A partial footprint wasnt necessarily evidence of anything. 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. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni.. Rather, it defines an individual that doesnt meet the criteria for anti-social personality disorder, yet occasionally carries out anti-social acts. In December, Toni Bertolet's husband, Harold Henthorn, received a mandatory life sentence for her death. The silence of the victim, Toni Bertolet Henthorn, in the court today is another word for the pain that she lived at the hands of the Defendant. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. This despite the fact that the Bertolets had been extra generous to Harold and Toni, gifting them some half-million dollars for a down payment on their house in Colorado, for cars and new appliances and for anything else the couple needed in the 10 years since theyd married. The travel for work that didnt seem, to Yvonne at least, to be real? Initially, the couple appeared ecstatic in their new life and were happy with each other. 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,. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Toni had a profound effect on people with her care, having been consistently described by her patients and their families as that of an Angel and a Godsend in the time of need. According to the show, Tonis family passed a statement claiming that their daughter was quite disturbed in the days leading up to her passing. It was Yvonnes job as a surgical nurse and the fact that she kept medical textbooks lying open around the house while Toni was growing up that first inspired Toni to get her start in medicine. (Photo credits: Harold Henthorn case update via Dateline, Tyler Cipriani) If you would like to donate, you can visit www.umc.edu/tonibertoletendowment. In 1995, long before Weaver ever stepped foot in Douglas County, a woman died on the side of a dark road on a cold night. 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. As the little boy lay on the emergency room table, he pointed to his head and moaned hurt..hurt. Little did Harold Henthorns friends and neighbors know of the terrible secret he had been hiding for most of his married life. That woman on the mountain, she said. Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) November 23, 2016 A few weeks later, in early December, a judge handed down the official sentence: life in prison. Harold Henthorn, convicted of killing his second wife by shoving her off a cliff, will not get a new trial according to a ruling. In the text, Harold claimed that Toni had fallen off a cliff and was critically injured. After Tonis death, the Defendant routinely proclaimed that Haley Henthorn was doing just fine without her mother. The Defendant evidently perceived a strong and viable mother / daughter relationship as a threat to his authority in his warped world. IE 11 is not supported. Even after shed fallen asleep, Harold found a way to keep his eye on his only child. Haley Henthorn is the daughter of Harold Henthorn. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. They couldnt talk about Harold on the phone, since every call with her was also a call with him. After being found guilty of first-degree murder, Harold received a life term in federal prison in 2015. statements about the tragedy kept changing. She said she believed Harold was living off of his first wifes life insurance, a death that everyone in the Bertolet family understood to be the result of a tragic car accident. The Bertolets could sense that Toni was unhappy but felt there was little they could do about it. To one cop, Harold said he and Lynn ate dinner at a nearby restaurant just prior to the accident. 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. Not only for the death of the wife hed just lost, but for the one whod died so many years before. 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. Dale Archer, M.D., is a clinical psychiatrist and the author of Better Than Normal: How What Makes You Different Can Make You Exceptional. We never imagined that murder would come into our lives like a thief in the night. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. His job, for instance. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. But there was something else. Secondly, we wanted to provide a safe and loving environment for Haley, preferably with her mothers Mississippi family. Finally, Detective Weaver took his foot and, in the same place where the original partial print was found, kicked the Jeep. All of Lynns belongings, along with the Jeep, were returned to Harold. Case closed. 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. The audacity of Henthorns crimesand the fact that hes only been charged with one murder, though public opinion has deemed him overwhelmingly guilty of twocontinues to shock and amaze, even years after they first came to light. 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.
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