December 19, 2010 4:34 AM
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48 Hours Mystery: In Too Deep
Prosecutors say Laura Hall did everything wrong the day of the murder: she left Colton's apartment and never told anyone what she had seen - not police, and not even her mother, whom she spoke with several times that afternoon. In fact, she spent most of the day running errands before she went back to pick up Colton and drive him to Mexico.
Says Bishop, "She had every opportunity in the world to call the police, send them to Colton's apartment and certainly she would have been safe from Colton for a long time had she done that.
"I guess, to use my word, I would say you have to be, you have to have, a good case of evil."
At trial, this time with no cameras allowed, the prosecutor outlines Laura's ever-changing account of events.
"She gave a series of statements to the police," says Bishop. "She had previously made a statement that she had no idea what happened, she'd never seen the body. Her statement then became she'd seen the body but didn't know what had had happened. And it eventually grew into, 'I was a victim, I was kidnapped, I had nothing to do with it.'"
Prosecutors produced witnesses who claim Laura told them about her involvement in the mutilation. And Bishop says Laura's DNA was found on a key piece of evidence. "Her DNA was on the gun - the murder weapon itself, that was found in Colton's car."
Bishop does not accuse Laura of murdering Jennifer Cave, but the autopsy showed Jennifer was shot through the head after death. In addition to the gun, Laura's DNA was also found in Colton's apartment.
"It was on a flip flop in the bathroom. There was a shop towel out in the living room of the apartment that had both her DNA and Colton Pitonyak's DNA," Bishop says.
Asked if that was enough physical evidence to tie her to the dismemberment, Bishop says, "When put with her statements to co-workers and things such as that, absolutely."
But Laura was in Colton's apartment dozens of times before the murder and she says the DNA - even the DNA on the gun - means nothing.
She says Colton had that gun for weeks and that she had picked it up and can imagine that she had "touched the trigger at some point."
And the D.A. had more; a photo of Laura and Colton taken while they were on the run in Mexico. Bishop says of the smiling couple, "She does not appear to be there against her will."
"That photograph to me means nothing," Laura says dismissively. "How hard is it to go like this?" she says, reenacting the smile for Maher.
The defense had wanted the jury to see the tape of Laura's police interrogation, where for nine emotional hours, she firmly maintained she had nothing to do with the dismemberment.
"I didn't try and help him cover it up at all," she says on the tape.
Watch an excerpt of Laura Hall's interrogation
But the judge refused to allow it, calling it inadmissable hearsay. The ruling, in effect, tossed attorney Joe James Sawyer's defense out the window.
"The net result is I have to advise my client, even though we planned on you testifying, 'You can't do it,'" Sawyer explains.
So just as in Colton's trial, Laura never takes the stand. Sawyer can only hope the jury sees it his way.
"There's no question the most volatile component in this case is that people are going to be repulsed by what happened to Jennifer Cave," Sawyer says. "The great challenge is to say to them, 'Feel any way you want. Remember the difference between feeling and proof.'"
As the jury deliberates, Laura tries to remain optimistic.
"I'm ready to be acquitted," she says. "I will have a heart attack and die, probably on the courtroom floor if they come back with a guilty verdict. I can't allow myself to think that way."
The jury finds Laura guilty of tampering with evidence, for cutting up Jennifer Cave's body and helping Colton to escape to Mexico. She's sentenced to five years.
"All of a sudden I'm in a courtroom and then they're just taking me into jail. I could not believe it," she recalls.
But, as is usually the case with Laura Hall, that was not the end of this story.
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. Says Bishop, "She had every opportunity in the world to call the police, send them to Colton's apartment and certainly she would have been safe from Colton for a long time had she done that.
"I guess, to use my word, I would say you have to be, you have to have, a good case of evil."
At trial, this time with no cameras allowed, the prosecutor outlines Laura's ever-changing account of events.
"She gave a series of statements to the police," says Bishop. "She had previously made a statement that she had no idea what happened, she'd never seen the body. Her statement then became she'd seen the body but didn't know what had had happened. And it eventually grew into, 'I was a victim, I was kidnapped, I had nothing to do with it.'"
Prosecutors produced witnesses who claim Laura told them about her involvement in the mutilation. And Bishop says Laura's DNA was found on a key piece of evidence. "Her DNA was on the gun - the murder weapon itself, that was found in Colton's car."
Bishop does not accuse Laura of murdering Jennifer Cave, but the autopsy showed Jennifer was shot through the head after death. In addition to the gun, Laura's DNA was also found in Colton's apartment.
"It was on a flip flop in the bathroom. There was a shop towel out in the living room of the apartment that had both her DNA and Colton Pitonyak's DNA," Bishop says.
Asked if that was enough physical evidence to tie her to the dismemberment, Bishop says, "When put with her statements to co-workers and things such as that, absolutely."
But Laura was in Colton's apartment dozens of times before the murder and she says the DNA - even the DNA on the gun - means nothing.
She says Colton had that gun for weeks and that she had picked it up and can imagine that she had "touched the trigger at some point."
And the D.A. had more; a photo of Laura and Colton taken while they were on the run in Mexico. Bishop says of the smiling couple, "She does not appear to be there against her will."
"That photograph to me means nothing," Laura says dismissively. "How hard is it to go like this?" she says, reenacting the smile for Maher.
The defense had wanted the jury to see the tape of Laura's police interrogation, where for nine emotional hours, she firmly maintained she had nothing to do with the dismemberment.
"I didn't try and help him cover it up at all," she says on the tape.
Watch an excerpt of Laura Hall's interrogation
But the judge refused to allow it, calling it inadmissable hearsay. The ruling, in effect, tossed attorney Joe James Sawyer's defense out the window.
"The net result is I have to advise my client, even though we planned on you testifying, 'You can't do it,'" Sawyer explains.
So just as in Colton's trial, Laura never takes the stand. Sawyer can only hope the jury sees it his way.
"There's no question the most volatile component in this case is that people are going to be repulsed by what happened to Jennifer Cave," Sawyer says. "The great challenge is to say to them, 'Feel any way you want. Remember the difference between feeling and proof.'"
As the jury deliberates, Laura tries to remain optimistic.
"I'm ready to be acquitted," she says. "I will have a heart attack and die, probably on the courtroom floor if they come back with a guilty verdict. I can't allow myself to think that way."
The jury finds Laura guilty of tampering with evidence, for cutting up Jennifer Cave's body and helping Colton to escape to Mexico. She's sentenced to five years.
"All of a sudden I'm in a courtroom and then they're just taking me into jail. I could not believe it," she recalls.
But, as is usually the case with Laura Hall, that was not the end of this story.
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