"That was very meaningful," Bertolet said. The control Harold seemed to demand over Toni extended to their daughter as well. Here's everything to know about them. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Alex Murdaugh Found Guilty of Murdering Wife and Son. Harold Henthorn pleaded not guilty and has always maintained his innocence. 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. Prosecutors and authorities learned that before Tonis death, she had been subjected twice to injuries allegedly caused by a wooden beam. The Defendants jealousy and selfish ambition prevented any of his energies from being expended in considering the good of others, and, as such, his actions were accordingly contemptible.The Defendant mistakenly believes that he is a father and parent just because he has a child. My child now asks the appropriate question of how do I know. But was it an accident? Maybe it wasnt the most critical detail. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. / CBS Colorado. Harold Henthorn talked to many different members of Douglas County law enforcement on May 6th, 1995, the night his wife Lynn died after being crushed underneath their Jeep Cherokee. His bosses told him to work the case the same way he worked every other case, which meant to go where the truth led, no matter where it led. 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.". Toni and Harold Henthorn were celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary the weekend when she died. Technically he was retired. In photographs released by the US Attorney's Office after the. To another he said it was merely spongy. Toni always carried the pain of a loss, but she also knew what those tragic moments taught her as a person. IE 11 is not supported. Still, Harold persisted in his innocence, and in 2017 he filed an appeal for a retrial, which was subsequently denied. Secondly, we wanted to provide a safe and loving environment for Haley, preferably with her mothers Mississippi family. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni.. The Danger of Manipulative Love-Bombing in a Relationship, 7 Ticking Time Bombs That Destroy Loving Relationships, An Addiction Myth That Needs to Be Revisited, 5 Spiritual Practices That Increase Well-Being. Buried inside the report, Detective Weaver found a reference to a footprint. In 1994, Henthorn was arrested for shoplifting $47.49 worth of men's underwear from a JCPenney store. His attorney, Craig Truman, said prosecutors failed to prove he killed her. After all, they had been witness to Harolds efforts at trying to alienate his second wife from her close ones. The only witness to the accident was her husband. Stranger still was Harolds behavior on phone calls. But in Detective Weavers mind, none of that mattered to the men investigating the case because every piece of information they gathered was viewed through the same distorting prism. Harold was convicted of first-degree murder, and in 2015 was sentenced to life in federal prison. Can Humans Detect Text by AI Chatbot GPT? A true parent places a childs needs above their own selfish wants. Then, while she was standing below a raised porch with her back turned, Toni felt the weight of something heavy hit her on the neck and knock her to the ground. Bob and Yvonne voiced their concerns to Toni when they could, which meant the few times they traveled to Colorado to see her in person and got her alone. Grief is place where one never wishes to remain; yet it will be our unending passage due to the wrongful acts of the Defendant. After all, Harold was a respected member of the community. The Bertolets had accepted those quirks early on because thats what a good family does they worked hard at liking the person that made their daughter happy. According to the show, Tonis family passed a statement claiming that their daughter was quite disturbed in the days leading up to her passing. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Months later, when they got the news that she was dead, and that she had died while alone with Harold, her father Bob said what most in the family were already thinking. That she would take it to heart. When she died, her daughter was only 7 years old. The couple met online in late 1999 and got married only nine months later, both in a rush to have a child. 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. Toni Bertolet Henthorn died after she was pushed off a cliff during an anniversary hike in Rock Mountain National Park. 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 Defendant slandered the victims family for not publicly supporting his lies and deception and taught his daughter to hate as punishment of the same. After being found guilty of first-degree murder, Harold received a life term in federal prison in 2015. Did you arrest the husband yet? shed asked. The Douglas County Coroner had ruled Lynns death as accidental. Friends and family thought they knew him, but did they, really? He pushed her, said Tonis father, Bob. She told Toni she thought Harold wasnt working as much as he said he was, if at all. A medical physician of Tonis caliber doesnt just happen because one simply holds a medical degree; this type of physician evolves through extraordinary experiences and is not readily replaced.There is no unique perspective or lesson to garner from the wrongful death and loss of Toni it is what it is a devastating loss. A Colorado jury of eight women and four men deliberated for 12 hours over two days before deciding Monday afternoon that Harold Henthorn, 59, was guilty of murdering his wife three years ago. She called the Sheriffs office the next day to ask where she could pick up the coat. Toni Henthorn fell to her death off a cliff while hiking with her husband, Harold. He was a good guy, a loving husband, a good father to their daughter, and extremely busy working as a fundraiser for churches,. A former rural ranching community turned, nearly overnight, into one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. All of this led to the filing of murder charges last week. To the young man facing total blindness from an injury requiring the skilled hands of a surgeon, Tonis life mattered and was indispensable. She was an eye surgeon. Detective Weaver discovered that there were multiple witnesses to the accidents aftermath who were never contacted. She was a volunteer with the West Douglas County Fire Department who arrived on scene shortly after Montoya left. My wife is Yvonne and our two sons are Barry and Todd. 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. Harold claimed that one of the cars tires felt mushy, and pulled over to change it. To one cop, Harold said that he jacked up the fallen car and pulled Lynn out from underneath it in a desperate attempt to save her life. 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. 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. CBS 48 Hours file photos This wasn't the only circumstance that Walsh saw as suspicious. This trial was about the last moment in Tonis life and the moment that Toni took her last breath, he saidand he was actually speaking for two Bertolets; his brother, Todd, wrote the statement. He slammed the tailgate. Harold Henthorn flanked by first wife Lynn and second wife Toni. Toni was not a life form on this Earth with wings and halo; she was a grounded person living an everyday life while doing remarkable deeds that touched peoples lives.Remarkable deeds didnt always shield Toni from the heartaches and losses seen in the practice of medicine, but those heartaches and losses defined and elevated her compassion and care. Toni. On September 29, 2012, the couple was hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park when Tonis brother received a chilling text. We are forced to say goodbye, forced to learn to live without our loved one, and forced to fill the emptiness that remains in our hearts. 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. Of Henthorns defense, Peter Christofolo said, It didnt meet the common-sense barometer., It was supposed to be the perfect weekend #Dateline pic.twitter.com/ccPUf1sDEy, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) November 23, 2016, A few weeks later, in early December, a judge handed down the official sentence: life in prison. His wife supported him, he didnt work, and he could have continued to live that life forever. Dateline Toni Henthorn, Harold Henrhorn's 37-year-old wife, was killed in October 2015. 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 basic facts of the case are these. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. We can forgive a child for being afraid of the dark, but we cannot forgive the darkness of selfish desolation that lies within the Defendants heart.The Defendant would have us erroneously believe that he is an unlucky man, a hard luck husband, and a person in which lightning has tragically struck twice. So Yvonne continued with a final warning. 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. Toni had fallen off a cliff? Nor did the coroners office report whether the contents of Lynns stomach indicated one story was more plausible than the other. Harold had her body cremated, scattered the ashes on Colorados Red Mountain, and collected the $500,000 life insurance payout from the plan she had recently signed up for. Investigators searched deeper and found that Henthorn's first wife, Sandra, died in 1995 when their Jeep Cherokee fell on her. Haley is not fine without her mother. Maybe even that she would leave Harold. 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. His second wife Toni died in 2012 after a fall during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Montoya and her family had been driving home that night from a day of fishing and picnicking when Harold appeared in the glow of their cars headlights and waved them down. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. "Certainly those weren't my sister's wishes," said Bertolet of Harold Henthorn spending his wife's money to fight charges that he killed her. statements about the tragedy kept changing. After years of trying, the two managed to have a daughter, Haley. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni.. He had arrived with grand promises, including a claim that he was so rich that Toni would never have to work again. Hey Mrs. B! Harold would say, using the pet name hed given Yvonne. In 2014 federal magistrate judge Kathleen Tafoya said at a hearing, "The court views these transfers as an attempt to hide $500,000 in cash assets which could be used should the defendant decide to flee the country. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Toni sat next to her mother saying nothing. She told Toni that Harold may have even been having an affair. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Send us a tip using our anonymous form. He rested the car on the same type of jacks Harold said hed used, in the same spot on the same side of the road where Lynn died. We ask: How could money be so important to a man, that he would kill the mother of his seven year old daughter? A jury convicted him of murdering his second wife, Toni Bertolet, based on evidence that he murdered his first wife, Sandra 'Lynn' Henthorn. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. You do with this what you want to. The Bertolets said goodbye to their only daughter a few days later. In December, Toni Bertolet's husband, Harold Henthorn, received a mandatory life sentence for her death. Over the course of those dozen years, Bob and Yvonne Bertolet watched their daughter change. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Harold couldnt account for how the SUV fell off not one, but the two jacks he said hed used to prop it up. To another he said it wasnt him Lynn was actually rescued by a random group of helpful strangers. IE 11 is not supported. He had her body cremated, scattered the ashes on Colorados Red Mountain, and collected the $4.7 million life insurance payout from the plan she had recently signed up for. 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. Now that Harold had taken that daughter away from them, however, and made it almost impossible to talk with her, the quirks became decidedly less charming. But, as the lead investigator would later testify to in court, theyd never checked the print against the shoes to see if they were a match. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. Toni was a medical doctor that had this unique perspective on life, and those moments affirmed her compassionate care and concern for others. The Denver Channel, 7News, brings you the latest trusted news and information for Denver, Colorado, Mile High and. The Sheriffs Office grew with it, from a few dozen to some 500 employees. 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. 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. 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. As always, Dateline NBC will use experts, law enforcement officials, and friends and family members to shape the story. He took away one jack and ran through the whole scenario again. Toni Henthorn was a skilled ophthalmologist and loving mother. Special administrators representing Toni Henthorn's estate are trying to recover the money so it eventually benefits Haley Henthorn, Toni Henthorn's daughter, not Harold Henthorn or his brother. 48 Hours examines the case of Harold Henthorn whose wives died 17 years apart in supposedly freak accidents. var sc_security="9a0f0d6e"; "We are overjoyed with the verdict and relieved this won't happen to any other lady," said Barry Bertolet, Toni Henthorn's brother. 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. The camera he and his wife were passing back and forth had no photos on it. Do not expect it from cheap people. The defendant is morally cheap and is bankrupt of all honesty.In the Defendants sociopathic world, no person, place, or thing had any power over him, as his thoughts and his mind were the only authority. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. It went on like this for years, with occasional sunbreaks, moments when both Harold and Tonis moods improved and the union seemed salvageable. Bertolet said he supported what the court-appointed administrators were doing since Toni Henthorn's family believes Harold Henthorn has likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his dead wife's money to pay his own defense lawyers.