Ex-"Survivor" producer: "I didn't kill my wife"

It's been almost two years since Bruce Beresford-Redman hitchhiked his way out of Cancun, leaving behind a troubling crime scene. He's returned on a midnight flight to Mexico, wearing handcuffs and a bulletproof vest.

"I had hoped that the United States would take a look at the request from Mexico and say: 'Not good enough. There's no sufficient evidence. There's no probable cause, here.' They didn't agree with me. And it became clear to me that the longer I stayed in the United States, I was simply wasting my time," Bruce told "48 Hours Mystery."

Bruce is transported to the prison where he'll do his time if convicted. The next morning, he appears in court to hear the evidence against him.

"It was not at all like...the courts in the United States. But there was a judge and there were attorneys representing the Constitution and there were attorneys on my behalf," he said.

The prosecution hopes to convince a judge at the preliminary hearing that there's enough evidence to go to trial. Bruce looks on from a cage in the courtroom with a translator by his side.

"...they claim that in one hotel room with my two small children...that I killed her and then I left her in a room all day long, while my children and I went in and out," Bruce said. "All the while, Monica's dead body is supposedly in the room. ...It's ludicrous and it's also completely false."

Alison Triessl is an attorney representing Monica's two sisters.

"I discount and discredit anything that man has to say," Triessl said. "...this man, we believe, killed his wife in front of his children. ...And if that is in fact the case and he has, how incredibly horrific. How horrible!"

There's no evidence the children saw anything out of the ordinary, says Bruce's Mexican attorney, Jaime Cancino. In fact, he says, there's no physical evidence linking Bruce -- or his hotel room -- to Monica's murder.

"Our experts...say it is not possible to kill someone and produce that type of injuries without leaving blood," Cancino explained. "If that have happened there...it would produced a humungous quantity of blood."

Investigators found only two tiny specs of blood in the hotel room and they were not from a female.

"I don't even understand how they come up with a theory like this..." said Bruce.

Mexican prosecutors feel they have a strong circumstantial case. They cite the fact that Bruce would not allow any hotel workers to service his room the day Monica disappeared, those English teenagers who heard loud screaming coming from Bruce's room, and the suspicious scratches on his body.

"I don't think there is a circumstantial case against me," Bruce told "48 Hours Mystery." "And it makes sense that there isn't because I'm innocent. I didn't kill my wife. I haven't killed anybody."

If the hotel guests on the floor below heard screams around 6 a.m. that woke them, Bruce says, "What they heard in fact was my son and my daughter squealing and laughing and playing...And just roughhousing."

As for those scratches, Bruce says he got them on two separate family outings before Monica disappeared. Investigators never checked under Monica's fingernails to determine if she had scratched her attacker.

"Well, you know, I had a couple of scratches on my fingers and on feet which have long since healed," Bruce explained. "And my daughter remembers putting Band-Aids on those cuts."

The prosecution's case against Bruce Beresford-Redman has significant holes and weaknesses. Much of the evidence that was recovered from the crime scene went missing. Some that was saved was contaminated. And two key prosecution witnesses, it turns out, are away on vacation.

"There were a lot of mistakes... serious omissions made by the investigation," said Cancino.

In fact, when a judge ordered prosecutors to produce their physical evidence, they could not. Among the items missing: Bruce's sandals, a pillow with blood specs, and a swab containing a blood sample.

A defense forensic expert testifies the way the blood settled in Monica's body proves she was not killed in her room as prosecutors argue, but believes she died close to the sewer where she was found.

"...it is almost impossible that you can carry -- a body...go two floors down, cross one hallway, cross one path to which more than 20 rooms...have a view, and nobody sees nothing," said Cancino.

Another defense witness tells the court there were footprints from two unidentified people near the body, but neither was a match for Bruce.

"They never found her clothes," Cancino said. "They found her bag. And they didn't found none of her money...her credit cards were missing. And all of her money was missing."

Bruce has always maintained his wife went off shopping, alone, the day she disappeared. A local shopkeeper testifies he saw her in his jewelry store. He told "48 Hours Mystery" she was there for 30 to 40 minutes and identified herself by name. He even recognized her picture. The shopkeeper seems to help the defense case, although he cannot remember the exact day he saw her.

For Bruce and his defense team, it all adds up to one thing: Hope.

"It's OK to hope -- but only a very little bit," Bruce said in prison. "Hope is like a drug. You can get addicted to it in here."

By the sixth and last day of the hearing, Bruce is convinced he is just hours away from going home.

"I can't imagine how anyone who listened to everything said could possibly think I had anything to do with killing my wife," he said. "All I want is to get back to my children."

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[originallab]

A splendid vacation huh? Monica supposedly heads out at 8:30am for a day traipsing around dangerous Cancun, Mexico shopping and pampering herself for a planned 14 hours. When Monica didn't return at 10:00pm why didn't Bruce contact the police? Your wife is missing in Mexico Bruce! Did he even contact the hotel? Nope, he placed a Do Not Disturb sign on the door the entire next day. He eventually called her family in the USA but when did he contact the local authorities?
Here's the clincher; on tape Bruce says he was in and out of their hotel room all that night knowing it was a 'silly hope' that she would walk back in the room. Yep. it was a 'silly hope' because Bruce knew there was NO hope because Monica was already dead by his hands. Guilty, guilty, guilty. I have a big hope that a Mexican prison is where this murderer will spend his miserable life.

[Jesus_to_ground_control]

Tainted Justice System

He will not get a fair trial in Mexico.

[openthinker]

how do you know there was no one with a motive? was you there?!? I have no thoughts as to rather he had anything to do with it or not but NO ONE can say that he is the only one who could have done this. way to much on both sides of the case to tell. and for all we know someone could have watched her shop and spend money all day to follow her back to hotel and attack her. or how about the guy that worked there who attacked the girl a few weeks later.... how about his motive?

[commenter777]

Yeah sure you didn't kill your wife. And I bet you admit it and are honest when you pass flatulence in a crowded elevator. I bet you never look at someone else like you think they did it.

[dandelionlad]

Were the children every questioned by any authorities? They are old enough to speak up. But so much time has passed it would probably be useless now. Was Monica actually cremated? If she hadn't been they could have done samples to see if she had been sexually assulted.

[bradoxn]

He didn't kill his wife. She just drowned herself

[debbie1120]

It stated that she was badly beaten. How do you think she drowned herself

[WendySeattle]

Did you even watch the show Bradoxn? She was badly beaten, naked & stuffed down a drainage hole? Think about it.

[unclebernies]

I don't see alot of emotion coming from this guy who supposedly lost the love of his life. He could get away with it because they sound like the keystone cops down there.

[Transatlantique]

At first, one might think he would be guilty the way the story is shown. However, when we consider where this took place, we have to think twice. He really doesn't seem like the kind of person who would kill, despite the fact that most feminists think all men will kill, especially that femi-butch solicitor of the two sister's claiming that he killed the children's mother in front of them. He would not have done that because they would have talked.

If you had been wrongly accused of killing someone in Mexico, and you had the opportunity to flee, wouldn't you? Yeah, I would have as well. All one has to do is consider that there is no evidence that he killed her, and that they may not consider this during the trial....in MEXICO...where the justice is different than America's. By the end of the programme, I had much sympathy for him.

[jgnv]

You're correct that there doesn't appear to be any evidence that he killed her, but fleeing from Mexico didn't help his case in the public eye. I find it very odd that given the intent of this trip was to hopefully mend their marriage, they shared one hotel room with two young children. Normally a couple of their means would take along a family member or nanny and have the children stay in an adjoining room. He constantly references the children being in the room during their entire stay, which could suggest that his wife's assault, while appearing to take place while she was alone, provided him with an alibi. He was apparantly still in contact with his mistress and could have been concerned that if his wife decided to file for divorce, he would not only lose custody of his children, but a large portion of his wealth as well. There are just too many questionable acts on his part to believe he had no knowledge or participation in her death.

[ThatHotGrl]

he looks like a serial drug user

[Transatlantique]

I'll bet people say a few choice things about you as well.

[irreverentasever]

Regardless of how his parents try to defend him someday his kids will come to the realization that he did it. I hope her sisters win custody and I say to them fight on!