Aug. 2, 2008

Addicted To Love

A Plastic Surgeon's Risky Affair With A Patient Turns Deadly

  • Lesa Buchanan and Christ Koulis.

    Lesa Buchanan and Christ Koulis.  (CBS)

(CBS)  Standing trial for murdering his girlfriend though may be very sobering. And Lesa's family hopes the jury holds Koulis responsible for her death.

Nearly two weeks after the trial began, the jury begins deliberating in the Lesa Buchanan murder case. It's been a challenge for prosecutors, who’ve had only circumstantial evidence to rely on.

Jurors have four charges to consider, ranging from second degree murder to simple assault.

The wild card is there's no telling how jurors will react to the sex video. But prosecutor Kim Helper felt she had no choice. "The evidence on the tape, from the state's perspective was too important to not show it," she says.

In fact, just one hour into the deliberations, the jurors request to see the video again.

The jurors take less than a day to reach a verdict. Koulis is found not guilty on charges of second degree murder and reckless homicide, but is found guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

Lesa's family members are devastated. For them, Koulis is getting away with murder. He now faces just months in prison, instead of years.

"I was really upset, almost more upset than the night when I found out like she passed away," says Lesa’s daughter Jessie, who ran from the courtroom in tears.

For Koulis and his attorneys, the verdict is welcome news, even with the felony conviction. "I am relieved it is over. I accept the verdict of the jury. It’s a tragedy Lesa died. Should never have happened," Koulis says after the verdict.

Asked if jurors concluded that Koulis bears some responsibility for Lesa's death, Lee Ofman says, "With the finding of criminally negligent homicide, they are saying that as a doctor, he should have done more to prevent her from killing herself."

Not according to the jurors 48 Hours spoke with. They said they didn't buy the doctor's testimony or his innocence, but felt there just wasn't any hard evidence to convict him of murder.

"A good majority of us thought that he probably did the injection. But there's no way to know for sure," one juror explains.

"They couldn't prove that he directly acted to kill her," another says.

But prosecutor Kim Helper still maintains that Koulis killed Lesa. "And quite frankly, we just didn't have a photo of Christ Koulis with a needle in his hand, injecting Lesa Buchanan," she says.

Continued



Produced By Ira Sutow and Taigi Smith
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