48 Hours - Death of an Olympian - Encore

Episode Date: May 28, 2017

Olympic hero Dave Laut shot six times.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Real people. Real crimes. Real life drama

they didn't high school she was a homecoming queen and he was you know one of the big studs in high school. He also was an Olympian. The USA may be able to do it. He is sitting in third position. He wasn't just my big brother. He was like Superman. They had a good relationship. Hey, Mike.

They just decided they wanted to adopt. Hi, Michael. That was an exciting time. They had their child. adopt. Hi, Michael. That was an exciting time. They had their child. It was like, wow. I think they were the perfect couple up until towards the end. What's the one and two? One and two is scalp matter, we believe, from Dave Lott.

And three, four? Three, four are blood. To even try to figure out what happened, it just kind of goes beyond your scope of understanding. How did a pool of blood get over here if his body is here? What theory would you like to hear first, the prosecutions or what actually happened? I notice you don't call this a crime scene. It's not. It's not a crime scene. It's where a woman saved her life.

Who is Jay Lent? She was a woman who was battered and abused for years, and who accepted that as her plight. You have to understand this man was a monster. Why did you shoot him? He was going to kill us. Michael. He was going to shoot Michael.

He was going to kill me. I didn't think I was going to live that night. When did you hear what her defense was going to be? When she hired Ron Bamier, he started saying things in the media. Outlandishly, just bashing Dave. He beat her and she did what any mother would do to save her son.

And he suggests they will find evidence of a troubled home life. You have to understand, a lot of people didn't want to confront Dave Loud. He was an Olympic hero. I was afraid because he's Dave Lout. Nobody would believe what was really happening. She kept a secret for years from the people closest to her. Do I believe that he hit her? Absolutely not.

He loved her. Were you in love with Dave? Yes. Yeah, I really was. There are a lot of people who will look at Jane, and they see a meek, quiet woman. Don't let it fool you. There's a different person living inside of her than what you see.

Is Jane Lout going to testify? Of course. She'll be our first witness. I'm confident a jury's going to know that Jane was in fear of her life that night and that shooting Dave was her only escape. I'm Erin Moriarty. Tonight on 48 Hours,

death of an Olympian. the end. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story

that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney,

I've seen some crazy cases. And this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. It was shortly after midnight, August 28, 2009, and in Oxnard, California, Jane Lout was frantically telling a 911 dispatcher that her husband Dave may just have been shot by an intruder. Dave's younger brother, Don, and his wife, Rebecca, were asleep in their home when they got the call. Hi, you've reached the Lout family. When the phone rings that early, you know it's... Yeah, something's not right. Hi, this is Detective Sonia Sanchez with Oxnard Police Department. But we kind of laid there frozen.

Right. Let it go to voicemail. Jane Lout called her brother, Hank Laubacher. Can you hear the noise in the backyard? He went out and he heard some shots. How close are you? It's at 1048. It's in the alley. This is an audio recording of first responders to the crime scene that night.

Who saw him last? I did. Okay. Officers found Dave Laut dead in the side yard. Oh, check on Dave, please. Dave's been injured. From a distance, I observed Dave's body, and he had two very close proximity gunshot wounds.

Lead detective Mike Young. One was to the back of his head, and there was a second very close proximity gunshot wound to the back of his right shoulder. I hit the floor, and I was in tears. My Superman was gone. Not long after the shooting, Jane was questioned by Oxnard homicide detectives

about what she said happened. I've told you I'm trying to remember everything. Jane said that while their 10-year-old son Michael was asleep in his bed, her husband heard a noise out back. He said there's something going on in the backyard. Her husband, Dave Lout, had gone outside to investigate that she'd gone out briefly with him. He told her to go back in the house and that she had heard gunshots and that Dave had not come back into the home. I went in the house.

I mean, I kind of, like, stood there. I heard the shots, so I slammed the door. That, Jane said, is when she called 911. Your husband is outside? My husband's still outside. Your husband is outside? My husband's still outside. How did you first hear that something had happened to your son? It was about 5 o'clock in the morning, and the doorbell rang.

Dave's mother, Dottie Lout. It was Jane's brother, Hank, and Hank said, Jane and Michael are okay, and Hank said, Jane and Michael are okay, but Dave's dead. Dottie was devastated, but relieved that Michael and Jane were safe. Jane had been a beloved part of the Lout family for over 30 years. This is a memorabilia room. Yeah, quite a few things, huh?

Back in 1980, Dave was a hometown hero who had set shot put records and was destined for Olympic fame. His biggest supporter was the young woman who was about to become his wife. I mean, if you knew Dave and the kind of person he was and the way he beamed when he talked about Jane and how he had her up so high on this pedestal.

I mean, he just, he loved her. She was a nice girl. I loved her all these years, I did. Jane Loud spoke to me for her first TV interview. You remember your wedding day? Mm-hmm. Were you happy that day? I was. I was really happy, you know, and it was, it was very special. They had a good, strong friendship and something that I always thought, you know, I want to have a marriage like that. But the marriage faced challenges. In 1984, Dave finally won an Olympic medal, but it was bronze. Everyone was proud, but Dave was determined to win the gold in the 88 games.

And then while training, Dave tore tendons in both of his knees and forever lost his chance at the gold. He tried, but he couldn't come back. He then became a teacher? Mm-hmm. Did he like teaching? He loved it. And the one that was important was that one. Athletic director from high school. It was his dream job.

Jane and Dave seemed to settle into their new life and tried to have a family. When Jane couldn't get pregnant, the couple adopted a baby boy from South Korea. Say hi to Daddy. Hi. Daddy. And named him Michael. We had happy times.

The time right before Michael arrived was good. Right up until Michael was probably five was the best time of our marriage. And it just started going downhill, and it got worse and worse every year. But no one seemed to know how bad. I'm trying my best. I don't know. bad. Back at the Loud Home, Detective Young made a stunning discovery that would change everything. You found the weapon, didn't you? I did. Where? Inside the grandfather clock that was in the living room of the house. I walked over to the grandfather clock, opened the door, and looked inside, and there was a gun underneath the weights.

Dave had been shot with his own.22 caliber single-action revolver, the kind of gun you see in cowboy movies. It's a single-action revolver. Heavy, and an effort to use, gun expert Nabil Katar showed me that the hammer must be cocked for every shot. Now bring that hammer back and fire. Six shots were fired at Dave Lout that night and according to authorities, all six hit their target.

And the gunshots that people heard, were they boom, boom, boom, boom? They were separated, as I recall, by about a second a shot. So boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Just hours after being interviewed by police before she even knew they found the gun, Jane changed her story. Now she said it was self-defense and hired attorney Ron Bamier. There's no dispute that she wanted him dead that night. Yeah, it was going to be him or her. Jane says it was when her husband also threatened to kill their 10-year-old son, Michael, that she felt she had no choice.

I think if it didn't happen, we would both be dead. But even then, it would be nearly six months before Jane Lott was arrested. And then she would be released on bond for six years until her trial finally began. Why? Why did it take so long? Because knowing the who is only half the story. We wanted to try and figure out if there was a legitimate why. So why do you think she killed your son? My personal feeling is that she was afraid Dave was going to take Michael. Next, Jane tells us her side of the story. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago Housing Project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America.

If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The best idea yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of

the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. You're a John St. Byers? Yeah. Jane Laut says she never planned to kill her husband. I thought it for sure. It was the only way to stop him. You don't get how he would not stop coming after me.

She was used to abuse, she says, but that night she says Dave went further than he ever had. Normally he'd get mad and it would taper off sometimes, but he never stopped all night. He just kept raging. Jane claims she first noticed Dave's temper when they were dating, and Dave was going for the gold. Signals I didn't really pay attention to before. Just his anger. His, um... You know, if something didn't go right. If he couldn't find something. If he's throwing away the shot and it doesn't go as far as he wants.

He's just losing his temper. The first time Dave hit her, Jane says, was also shortly after they were married. Dave was going out of town to an Olympic training session, and it was Jane's job to pack his bags. He was leaving for a trip and I forgot to buy something. It was like bathroom supplies

and he hit me and I had like a black eye and my lip was split. He told me if anybody asked, tell them some did it. And that, says Jane, is exactly what she told everyone.

I told him somebody mugged me. A black person mugged me. But Jane admits that physical violence was not the norm. Instead, she describes a pattern of mostly emotional and psychological abuse. How often would there be incidents, and what would they involve? It was mostly verbal abuse.

What would he call you? Well, stupid, idiot, fat, bitch, , Jew,. How often would that happen? The last two years, it was all the time. Jane also says that Dave would taunt her and their young son Michael with his vast gun collection, claiming that he even made her play Russian roulette. And he kept trying to make me hold the gun, and I wouldn't do it.

The older Michael got, says Jane, the more unreasonable Dave became. There's so many times I should have called the police and I didn't and I so regret that. Especially the times when Michael was involved. I can't believe I let him stay in danger like that. Why did you stay? I always thought it would get better. Yet she says she was still unprepared for what happened on the night of August 27, 2009. When Jane and Michael returned home late from a day at the beach, she says, Dave exploded. I didn't ask Dave anything about his day. I didn't. It just started it that we didn't

ask him. We didn't respect him. Jane put their 10-year-old to sleep early and did what she had been doing for two years, crawled into bed with her son. Why were you sleeping in Michael's room? Because he was scared. Michael was scared? Dave would stay up in the living room, and he'd been drinking all night. And he's just

raging at whatever. It's the TV. It's something in email. That would happen every night? Almost every night. Jane says she was in Michael's room when she heard Dave raging in the hallway

and got up to try and calm him. He just started just swearing at me, and I kept telling him I was sorry, and he started to come down towards Michael's room, and I saw the gun in his hand. She says she focused on diverting Dave away from Michael and drawing him out of the house. We went to this side of the house, and we stumbled. I don't know if we were falling or just, like, moving, but I felt one gunshot go off. And then we did fall, and I was, like, straddling him,

and I honestly don't remember after that. Five more shots were fired. When you got up, you had to realize he was dead. I didn't think he was, honestly. I mean, I saw him. I remember seeing his socks. I just thought for sure he was going to jump up and run after me. But if you were terrified, why didn't you right away then tell the 911 operator, oh my God, he tried to kill me and he's going to come back in?

I can't explain why. The district attorney's office offered Jane a deal, plead to manslaughter, and agreed to a six-year prison term. But Jane did the unimaginable. She turned it down. I felt if I took the plea, nobody would know what really happened. It would be like accepting what the prosecution said happened that night. It would be like accepting that they said there was no abuse with Michael or me. She's full of baloney.

She's lied so many times. As I look back and think back, so many lies. The Lout family now says the woman they embraced as part of the family is a pathological liar and cold-blooded killer. Rebecca, you once said to me that there are two faces of Jane. What do you mean by that? Jane likes to portray herself as very meek and quiet and shy. And then there's another part of her that's F the world and F everything.

I'm going to do what I want to do. I don't care who I hurt, in some cases kill. I'm going to put this cookie right here and see which kind of big game animal comes and eats the cookie. Was Dave Lout, a hometown hero, a beloved coach and high school athletic director, secretly abusing his wife at home? Oxnard homicide detective Mike Young was determined to find out. We spent five or six months doing dozens and dozens and dozens of interviews with friends and family, seeing if anyone was aware of any domestic violence issues. Another direct neighbor right next door, who was an ex-LA County deputy,

I specifically asked if there was any domestic issues, and he said, absolutely not, I would have seen that. Did Jay never tell you that Dave hit her? Never. Never. Dave's brother Don and his wife Rebecca, in interviews, were adamant. They never witnessed or heard about any abuse. Pushed her.

Never. Was verbally abusive? Never. Did you ever see her with any kind of bruises? Never. Never. Never ever. Even Jane, on the night of the shooting, denied any abuse in her marriage.

I asked you about your relationship. Is it abusive? No. Physically? No. Even Jane, on the night of the shooting, denied any abuse in her marriage. I asked you about your relationship. Is it abusive? No. Physically? No. Mentally? What's more, Jane didn't look like someone who had been in a battle for her life. There were no fresh scratches on Dave or Jane. She had two small, maybe nickel-sized or so, older bruises on the inside of her left bicep

that were greenish and yellowish, as if they were in late stages of healing. Young says that evidence collected from the scene tells a different story. He says Jane followed Dave out into the side yard, holding this flashlight in one hand and this gun in the other. Then she took a shot from behind. The first shot was fired from a distance, striking him on the left part of his head above his left ear. Then the next two shots, we believe, are contact wounds to the side of his face. Then there's another gunshot wound while he's down on the ground. He's at least four to six feet away. And then you've got two more, one in the back of his right shoulder. And the sixth shot that we believe was the gunshot wound to the back of the head, which is the fatal gunshot.

And because the gun was a single-action revolver, Young says, every shot shows premeditation. She had to physically, manually cock that firearm each time she shot him. Police say after she shot Dave, she hid the gun in the grandfather clock and then called 911 with that story about the prowler. Somebody was in our backyard. According to the Loud family, unbelievable stories were nothing new for Jane. She told me one time that a man died in her arms at the bank.

She told me another time that she was held up at knife point at the grocery store. Was that true? I don't think so, but it was was Jane so you kind of just say oh okay mm-hmm but Jane now says all those stories were to cover for Dave's abuse is it possible she did make up these stories about a stalker and an attack to cover up injuries that her husband gave her? Well, I guess it's possible. You know, I don't know. I find it convenient. Another secret that police uncovered? It turns out Jane and Dave were deeply in debt.

Rebecca Lout blames Jane. She was the one in charge of the finances, and I don't think Dave knew that she hadn't paid her taxes in three or four years. I don't believe he knew that they were behind on their mortgage. And Dave may not have known that Jane had borrowed nearly $60,000 from his own mother, Dottie. She would say, I need X amount of dollars for Dr. Bill. I need X amount of dollars. I have to pay some tuition. I just gave it to her.

A large sum of money also went missing from the Parent Teacher Association at Michael's school, where Jane was a treasurer. She told Dottie that she needed $25,000, otherwise the bank was going to basically foreclose on the home. And it turns out that she took that $25,000 check, deposited it in the bank, cashed out $20,000 the next day and deposited it into the parent club account.

Jane again says she was covering for Dave, who had thrown the money into the fireplace in a fit of anger. But you had to borrow $20,000. He didn't burn all that, did he? No, there was some I used because the house payments were two months, three months behind. So I paid for that. But where was all the money going?

I don't know. I paid for household bills. I paid for groceries and I paid for tuition. I know Dave ordered a lot of stuff. I know, but we're talking about thousands of dollars. I don't know. We hired a forensic accountant who went through everything and I think that their conclusion was that she was just a reckless spender. Rebecca and Don say they are just as puzzled. We have since found out that Dave's wages were being garnished. Right.

Because apparently there was issues with the IRS. Maybe he found out that day that his wages were being garnished and he went home and asked. I honestly think that he was fixing to leave. I truly believe that he was fixing to leave. I truly believe that he was done with the whole financial thing. Rebecca and Don both say the terrible shooting and Jane's story of abuse came completely out of the blue. She told me a lot about their relationship, very personal things about the relationship. So I know that if that was happening, she would have said something to me.

But as we have learned since this interview, Rebecca might know more about Jane and Dave's marriage than she told us. In a phone call with Detective Young, just five days after Dave's death in 2009, Rebecca admitted Jane had confided in her. Rebecca admitted Jane had confided in her. And she may not have been the only told you is very, very important. Could there have been signs of physical abuse? physically being violent towards towards her you sort of i think sensed it but she she never said anything no she would get very quiet rebecca insists that jane never mentioned any physical abuse and says that with all she's learned she now believes that jane lied about it all do you think that dave's mother or your sister-in-law knew this was going on? They knew.

A lot. They did. They knew what was going on. As the date for Jane Lout's murder trial approached, Dave's family feared what they'd have to hear. In her defense, Jane Laut would be testifying that her husband, the Olympian hero, was also a sadistic abuser. Rebecca, what if the jury believes her? I mean, it's going to be a horrible day, but...

What are you going to do? On January 11, 2016, more than six years after Jane Laut shot her husband, the trial finally began. Cameras were only permitted for opening and closing statements. Good morning, everyone. Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ramin Manui began to lay out the state's case against Jane Lout. Shot by shot. On August 27, 2009, this defendant took this Ruger New Model single-six revolver.

She followed her husband of 29 years to the side yard, and she shot him with this gun. The shooting was premeditated, Manui said, because Jane had reasons to want her husband dead. Approximately $300,000 worth of insurance benefits and the fear of a contentious divorce. Several weeks before the murder, Dave Lapp was researching divorce on his laptop. He was looking up divorce lawyers. Yeah, there was some web activity of divorce lawyer research. There's research done on the computer looking up divorce attorneys. I didn't know that. It was on his laptop, I guess. Did he threaten to leave you? No. Never talked about it. But the computer evidence was only one part of the state's case.

Investigators insist Jane was never in danger the night of the shooting and that she lied to police from the start. Minoui even showed the jury that grandfather clock where Jane hid the gun after she killed her husband. You said there was no sign of a struggle out in the back. No. Was there any sign that there had been any kind of fight inside the house? Nothing.

What about on Jane? She had nothing visible on her face. During the interview, Detective Moore actually noted that she had a small nick on one of her hands. He asked her how she'd gotten that, and she attributed it to her cat. The defense has never denied that Jane shot Dave that night, but attorney Ron Bamier has always said she had no choice. There's no sophisticated plan here. If you really wanted to kill the guy, you don't do it in your house with your kid 20 feet away.

What evidence is there that he was the aggressor that night? The bruising on Jane. Bamier showed the jury these photos taken the morning after the shooting of a large bruise on Jane's left arm. An injury she says she sustained while struggling with Dave over the gun. According to the detective that saw her naked, the only bruises on her inner arm were these two old green bruises. But it's possible a bruise can develop with time. Sure it can, but I don't believe it.

This knock-down, drag-out fight for your life. No injuries on your face, no injuries on your breasts. Having turned down five plea deals, Jane had only one option now. If she wanted the jury to understand why she did what she did that night, she had to tell them herself. How difficult was it to testify a trial? It was awful, but it felt kind of good.

It felt almost a relief that it would be over. She sobbed through most of her testimony. Marjorie Hernandez, a reporter for the Ventura County Star and a consultant for 48 Hours, says all eyes in the courtroom were on Jane. This was her opportunity to tell jurors this is what I was going through behind closed doors for 29 years in this marriage. It took two days as Bamye walked Jane through a harrowing tale of abuse and even sexual assault at the hands of her husband. The guy sexually, physically, and verbally abused her for years.

Did things to her that are just awful. Just awful. and verbally abused her for years. Did things to her that are just awful. Just awful. Which explains, says Jane, why she felt she had to kill her husband on that August night. He pushed me up against the door jamb. And it was just like yelling in my face,

telling me how much he's sick of us. And that he was going to blow Michael's f***ing head off. When the prosecutor finally stood up to question jane the first thing he wanted to know was why jane didn't ever call out for help did anyone hear anyone screaming yelling nothing the only thing that was heard were gunshots by several of the neighbors. You can understand people wonder why you didn't scream for help if he's trying to kill you. I never scream. Ramin Manoui pressed Jane on why she can't recall the actual shooting. You don't remember anything? Is it just a blank? Yeah, it is. I mean, I don't, I remember the first shot.

Do you remember pulling the trigger on the first shot? Mm-mm. I just remember feeling it. But, I mean, it takes more than that. You have to pull the trigger and pull the hammer back. I mean, it takes a real effort to shoot that gun. I don't remember that. I mean, I block it out. To bolster Jane's defense,

Bamier called witnesses who also testified that Dave had a dark side and said that looking back, they missed telltale signs. They saw signs of his temper. They saw signs of him being very aggressive. They saw signs of him yelling at Jane. They saw signs of him yelling at Jane. They saw that and what people would be disgusted by, but nobody would say anything.

JUDY WOODRUFF But the prosecution had witnesses too, friends and family who never saw signs of violence, and described Dave Lout as a loving family man and true hometown hero. DAVE LOUT He was not the monster that they tried to portray him to be. He was a good guy. He cared about other people. Jane and Dave's son, Michael, now 17, testified on his mother's behalf.

His father had a bad temper, yelled a lot, and called him names sometimes, he said. But when asked by the prosecutor if his father was ever violent with him or Jane, Michael said he couldn't recall. Do I think that there was absolutely no domestic violence in that house? I don't know. I can't say for 100%. I didn't live in that house. I'm very certain that the level of abuse, if it did exist, was nowhere near to the degree that she testified to. nowhere near to the degree that she testified to.

One person who did not testify was Dave's sister-in-law, Rebecca Lout. So jurors never heard the call between her and Detective Young. She was just very, very verbally abusive. Because Rebecca now believes Jane was lying, the defense never called her to testify. She once told me towards the end she was complaining about Dave and she says, you know, sometimes I think that we'd be better off without him. The final witness called by Bamier is the executive director of Los Angeles County's Domestic Abuse Center, Gail Pincus. She thinks like a battered woman. She acted like a battered woman. Pincus says that all of Jane's seemingly odd behavior, like lying to everyone, including the police,

is actually a classic symptom of battered woman syndrome. There's all of these things going through her head at the same time, none of which are logical and none of which make sense unless you understand the degree of fear and the degree of trauma. After two months, the case was about to go to the jury when Jane Laut took one final gamble. We're all in. We're all in. Murder One wasn't the jury's only option.

They could also choose to convict Jane of a lesser charge of manslaughter. Or if they thought it was justifiable homicide, they could set her free. Jane insisted that Bamier tell the jury it's all or nothing. It's self-defense. It's not voluntary manslaughter.

And don't think for one second I don't know what I'm saying. It's not a crazy risk at all. You either believe it 100% or you don't. Why? That was such a big gamble. It just made... It just... Because it's the truth. It's been a long, long, horrible haul. Over six years have passed since Olympian Dave Lout was shot and killed by someone his family once loved, Jane Lout.

It's heartbreaking. For me, it's heartbreaking. Because I love both of them. I mean, obviously I loved him because he was my brother, but I loved her too. She was like a sister to me. Obviously, I loved him because he was my brother, but I loved her, too. She was like a sister to me. But as they wait for a verdict, their love has turned to anger. She's a murderer, and she's a desperate woman trying to get herself off.

We would like to see her put away for life, because she took a life. And now what matters most is what 12 strangers think of Jane. The jury can convict her of murder, the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter, or they can decide Jane killed in self-defense and acquit her of any crime. Your verdict on each count... As the jury deliberates, Ron Bamier remains optimistic. I'm very confident the jury's not going to convict her of first or second degree murder.

I can predict these things. I haven't been wrong yet on one of my cases in terms of what the jury's going to do. So it's going to come down to either voluntary manslaughter or acquittal. Right. We either walk out of the courtroom together or we don't. For Jane, the waiting is unbearable. It was awful. It was.

I was trying to be positive, but scared to death. All right, let's bring in the jury, please. At stake is more time with her son. You know, I had to tell Michael that if I'm found guilty, that I'm remanded right away. I won't come home. After nearly four days of deliberating, a decision. We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendant, Jane Laubacher-Laut, guilty of the crime of first-degree murder.

action find the defendant Jane law Bucker allowed guilty of the crime of first-degree murder guilty of first-degree murder I was pretty shocked honestly I tried to prepare myself for everything but I was surprised and in a poignant twist it is Bamiy, once so confident the jury would believe his client, who needs to be consoled. It just was like somebody punched you in the gut. Jane ended up consoling you. Yeah, she did. That's Jane Lowe. Dave's mother, Dottie, was in the corp room.

I was afraid that she was going to get acquitted. And then when she wasn't, it shocked me. I cried. I don't know if I cried because she was found guilty or because it was over. The verdict is no victory. I mean, Jane's been part of your life for over 30 years. That's right. That's why I've lost a son, I've lost a daughter, and I guess I've lost a grandson, too. I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again.

I guess I've lost a grandson, too. I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again. Michael has been living with Jane's relatives since she was arrested and released on bond. Did you miss him? Terribly. Yep. I know he's okay. I mean, I know he's safe. But Jane, who turned down that last plea deal of serving a maximum of six years in prison, may never be free to be with her son again because she is facing a mandatory sentence of 50 years to life. For Jane Lout, who's in her late 50s, this is truly a life sentence. She will die in prison. Yes. Maybe they can find something I did wrong or I should have done better that could be

grounds for a new trial but the odds are you know you get what two percent of cases like this are overturned on appeal. Do you have any regrets? Well of course, I mean, I regret that it happened. I, you know, killed my husband, but Michael's alive. Hi, Michael. I think if it didn't happen, we would both be dead. Yeah, boy. This is your girl. we would both be dead. You got a boy? This is your girl.

Jane Lout's first chance at parole is in 2066. She would be 108 years old. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.