48 Hours - Marriage Secrets

Episode Date: December 19, 2024

In December of 2007, Jocelyn Earnest was found dead from a gunshot wound in her Virginia home. Beside her was a revolver and a suicide note. But investigators believed that the scene was staged and found fingerprints on the note that matched her estranged husband, Wesley Earnest. Amidst a divorce, it was the lake house they fought over: Jocelyn wanted it sold and Earnest didn’t want to let it go. Investigators charged Wesley for murder, and then fifteen months after the death, another bizarre twist: the lake house burned down while Wesley was out on bond awaiting trial. “48 Hours" correspondent Tracy Smith reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 6/2/2012. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Befri County is very rural in places. If you were driving through, you would think it's a very beautiful place. I arrived on the scene on December the 20th. Immediately when I went in the door, I noticed to my right was a female laying on her back. And there's a weapon laying beside her. And at that time I looked down and I saw a sheet of paper lying on her back. And there's a weapon laying beside her. And at that time I looked down, I saw a sheet of paper lying on the floor. There was typing on it

that appeared to be a suicide note. It was not signed Jocelyn, it was typed Jocelyn. When you lose a child, it changes who you are. It leaves a gaping hole in your soul. We found out that she was married and was separated at the time. She was married to Wesley Ernest. The most athletic person I've ever met. Can do anything she wants, successful, master's degree, great job,

working for a great company. They had built a lake house that was worth a lot of money. We're talking multi-million dollar homes all over this lake. Was there romance? Very little. She kept telling me I needed to go sleep with other women and come home to her.

He seemed to adore me. The way he would look at me, it would always just make me get those butterflies. We asked Mr. Ernest if we thought his wife could be suicidal, and he told us yes. I was there for the autopsy. I thought the bullet wound was to the left temple, and it turned out being that the bullet wound was the back of the head back here. I received a phone call from the guy in fingerprints in the lab and he stated that he had found prints on the note. They were Wesley Ernst's fingerprints. What did the note say?

Please forgive me. Wes has put us in such financial bind that I can't recover. I'm a public school administrator. I'm that guy who's making it safe for kids to go to school. And I'm in this situation. That's pretty scary. Do you think Wesley's capable of murder? No. He wanted that lake house.

He wanted that me and our image. And there was one thing standing between him and that image. Oh my word. The roof just fell in. I'm at home and get a phone call. Wesley Ernest's house is burning down right now. Oh, my word. It's actually an age-old story of greed and lust,

sex and money. I have been charged with the most heinous crime. I'm an innocent man who's been charged with the most heinous crime. I'm an innocent man who's been charged with the murder of my late wife. Secrets of a Marriage, tonight's 48 hours mystery. In March 2010, in this scenic southern community nestled near the Blue Ridge Mountains. 37-year-old high school assistant principal Wesley Ernest is on trial for his life. So how are you feeling heading into this trial? Everything from nervous to anger, frustration, scared about things, but excited.

And I'm looking forward to getting my life back. On December 19th, 2007, six days before Christmas, Jocelyn's close friend, Marcy Shepherd, who'd been texting with her all day, became concerned when Jocelyn never responded to messages she sent that evening. She became concerned when Jocelyn never responded to messages she sent that evening. The next morning, Marcy drove over to Jocelyn's house. She let herself inside with Jocelyn's home, they found a

shiny revolver beside her, a bullet wound to her head, a note by the front door. What did the note say? It was addressed to Mom, I'm sorry for what I've done, please forgive me. Wes has put us in such financial bind that I can't recover. My new love will not leave the family. Love, Jocelyn." Financial problems. A new love. The notes seem to raise even more questions than answers. Did it seem like a suicide note?

Not to me. I've worked a lot of suicides through the years and most people, it's a little more personal. The note contained 83 typed words and those two fingerprints that authorities say matched Jocelyn's estranged husband, Wesley Ernest. How did they get there? Well, there's only one way they got there. He touched that note. But Wesley Ernest had been living and working in another city more than three hours away.

My first thought was impossible, but you think about it, I lived in that house for 10 years. I guess it could be possible. And you're confident it's not your fingerprint? I'm very confident it's not mine. Guys, how y'all doing? Good morning. Ernest hired a well-known and rather unusual defense team

from Lynchburg, Virginia. Joey Sansone and his daughter Blair are firmly convinced this case is not what it seems. Wesley was a suspect mainly because he was the estranged husband. And that's always a difficult position for anybody. I'm going to go check that out. Sanzone says forensic tests determined Ernest's fingerprints were not on the gun,

and his DNA was nowhere to be found at the scene. Investigators believe she was shot sometime between 7.30 and 9 p.m. the night before, and her body had been moved. And there's no way that she could have moved herself. There's no question this body had been moved by someone, and a pretty strong someone. Whoever shot this lady moved her at that time. We found a couple items in the bedroom. We found a condom packaged lying by the bed. We found a condom unwrapped in the trash can. It's almost as if someone had attempted to make it look

like a sexual assault or some kind of love affair gone wrong. And the other end of the house, it was made to appear like a suicide. The heat inside her home was overwhelming. The thermostat had been jacked up to 90 degrees. Jocelyn's home appeared untidy, but there were no signs of forced entry. Her faithful black lab Rufus was discovered locked in his crate in her bedroom without food or water.

She would never, ever lock her dog in there, turn the heat up, shoot herself, knowing her dog could be in there, and die in that cage. Package of condoms there in the bed. Are they attributed to Mr. Ernest? No. Where did they come from? We're here because we believe in Wesley.

We're going to show that he's the only person linked to that fake suicide. That is the only person linked to that murder. Prosecutors Wes Nance and Randy Krantz believe the murder scene was set up to deflect attention away from the killer. When you have a staged crime scene, that immediately makes it a whodunit. And by definition, a staged crime scene indicates premeditation. And so we have to follow the evidence back to that source.

So I have to ask you, did you kill your wife? No. Who did? Hopefully we'll be able to find something out. It turns out the words on that mysterious note would reveal even more clues about a husband, a wife, and their very troubled life. He was hip-hop's biggest mogul, the man who redefined fame, fortune, and the music industry. The first male rapper to be honored on the Hollywood Walk Cafe, Sean Diddy Combs.

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you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker rated ancient folklore,

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That always made me feel good to hear her laugh. MUSIC You knew when you talked to her that you had her attention. And I think that's pretty special. A devoted daughter to Mom Joyce, and a big sister to Laura. My parents divorced when I was two. My sister was six. She was like a second mother.

She'd get me off the school bus and make sure I did my homework, cook me some ravioli. On the high school basketball team, she was number 21, a star shooting guard, team captain, and all-state honorable mention. She was a shooter. At West Virginia University, Jocelyn was praised as one of the Mountaineers' best three-point shooters ever. Then her junior year, Jocelyn, a business and economics major, met Wesley Ernest, a

mathematics student. Just met outside a calculus class. She walked by and I introduced myself. And said, hey, you want to go out sometime or what? Let's go play some basketball. I know a little something about basketball myself. What kind of couple were they? Cute.

Ernest's mother, Patricia Wimmer. Both of them would be laying on the middle of the floor watching the ballgame together. Wherever you saw one, you saw the other. Jocelyn's sister saw it differently. I remember seeing Jocelyn after she had gotten on the phone with him. She was crying on the bed. Did Jocelyn tell you why she liked Wes?

It was kind of the standard excuse, I love him. I just, I never understood it. They were like polar opposites. But in the summer of 1995, they got married. I had mixed emotions about the wedding. I didn't think it should happen. I didn't think he was right for her. The newlyweds moved to Bedford County, Virginia.

Jocelyn began working at Genworth Financial in Lynchburg. Ernest was the assistant principal at a high school. It was a fantastic relationship as far as great friends. We were great friends. Was there romance? Very little. Very little. Was that part of the problem? That was the problem. I'm a little uncomfortable talking about the negative things

because she's a wonderful person. And I don't want to talk negatively about somebody. Makes you emotional. Why is that? You care about somebody. [♪ music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, background chatters and music playing in background, Despite their marriage troubles, they would start a new venture together. They built a luxurious weekend getaway on Smith Mountain Lake. Wesley Ernest had loved the lake since he was a boy. What's that house like?

Seven thousand square feet, seven bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms. Every bedroom had a lake view, sunset view. Designed it myself. Their combined salary was nearly $200,000 a year, but this new second home would be expensive, a multi-million dollar project. He wouldn't let her make a lot of the decisions, and it was a control thing.

Did he see it as Wesley's house, not Wesley and Jocelyn's house? This was his baby. Kind of a status symbol. The bigger the better. The lake home seemed to be on solid ground, but the couple's nine-year marriage was crumbling. Wesley Ernest says Jocelyn had an unconventional proposal.

She kept telling me I needed to go sleep with other women and come home to her. She'd tell you that? Yeah. Jocelyn told me about the conversation. Wesley had said that he wanted it multiple times a day from her. And she jokingly said, well, if you need it that much, then you better go find somebody else who

can provide it that much. Kind of a ha-ha joke type thing. It was no joke to Wesley Ernest. He began seeing this woman, Shemeika Wright. He was handsome, good looking, tall. And what did he tell you about his wife? He just said that they were friends,

and he really did not like the situation, but he felt like he didn't have any other choice. He told me that he was separated. He wanted to be upfront and honest, and I appreciated that. Upfront and honest? Not exactly. He was still married and living with Jocelyn. Did you really think that everybody could get along? That you could have a girlfriend and have a wife and everybody would be okay?

You make it sound in a way that I was trying to be this circus act juggling things, but it wasn't like that. Did you think eventually you two would get married? That was my dream. As soon as Jocelyn learned her husband was cheating, they separated and she filed for divorce. It was a nasty split. According to prosecutor Randy Krantz, to get through it,

Jocelyn had been seeing a therapist. She had recently seen her counselor. Within hours of her death, in the counselor's assessment, this lady was not suicidal. In fact, was the opposite, was upbeat. Defense attorney Joey Sanzone disagrees. Agree. Jocelyn is a sad person to me. She's someone that had obvious difficulty with her social relationships. I'm sure you've looked into what she was like in the days leading up to her death. Well, she was certainly on medication. What about the idea that her medication was increased? That's understandable. I mean, you're getting ready to go into a divorce that's been nasty, and I think that you're getting ready to go into a divorce. That's been nasty.

And I think that that would be natural to increase your medicine, either for depression or anxiety. Could that mean that she was depressed enough to take her own life? My sister would never, never do that. These are Jocelyn's journals. 17 spiral notebooks authorities believe

hold the key to her life and her death. After his split with Jocelyn, Wesley Ernest took a job three hours away as an assistant principal at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia. Working with kids, just there's no other more satisfying career that I can think of. To teacher Tim McGovern, Ernest was a boss and a friend. When Wesley walked down the hallways, he commanded respect just naturally

because he got along with kids. It seems Wesley Ernest was a man of many faces. At trial, teacher Sonia Stevens says Ernest told her he was well off. He did not have to work for a living. Is that something he told you? He did. He did. Teacher Molly Sullivan said Ernest told her he wasn't just rich, but single, and even refused to accept her condolences

after Jocelyn died. And I said, oh my God, I'm so sorry to hear about your wife. And he said, what the fuck are you talking about? How many times do I have to tell you I'm not married? He told people that he was independently wealthy, he was unmarried. Who is that Wesley Ernest? That's a Wesley Ernest going through a midlife crisis.

And yes, he did have a lot of money. He had that lake house. Realty shares had valued it at close to $3 million. As Wesley and Jocelyn started divorce proceedings, it was the lake house, his prized possession, they fought over. She wanted it sold. He, investigators say, didn't want to let it go.

He wanted that big lake house. He wanted that millionaire image. And there was one thing standing between him and that image, and that was Jocelyn Ernest. He had tried to sell the lake house for about $2.9 million, but couldn't. It was 2007, and the housing bubble had burst. Ernest, in charge of the couple's finances,

was in a fix with loans, credit card debt, and that more than $6,000 a month lake house mortgage. I had plenty of money. When you say plenty, what do you mean? Thousands, plenty of money to take care of everything. It turns out the math major and assistant principal, Wesley Ernest, was more than one million dollars in debt. Wesley was living on credit cards, borrowing from this card

to pay this card to pay the house, and he couldn't carry that load. But after Jocelyn died, the bill collectors kept calling and another person pitched in to bail Ernest out of debt. His new love, Shemeika. How often were their collection agency calls? Regularly. And what did you do? I actually paid them.

So how much money were you paying Shemeika? I don't remember the exact number of how much. Hundreds? More than that. Thousands? Mm-hmm. Investigators thought they had their motive. Wesley Ernest killed his wife Jocelyn for money.

But there was that puzzling phrase in the purported suicide note, Jocelyn's new love. Jocelyn's new love. Jocelyn was a wonderful person. She was somebody people aspired to be. There was definitely an emotional attachment where we both felt it. Jocelyn's co-worker and friend, Marcy Shepard, thought she knew who the new love was and stunned the courtroom with her answer. We kissed maybe three times.

Did you love Justin? Yes. Had you met this woman before and thought she was just a co-worker? Never met her. And there were no rumors? I'm living a couple hundred miles away. Who would bring a rumor to me?

Prosecutor Wes Nance described their relationship as little more than a crush Marcy had on Jocelyn. Her private life did not lead towards her death that night. What do you make of the relationship between Marcy and Jocelyn? I think that only Marcy and Jocelyn knew that answer. And if my sister was happy, you know, she deserved to be happy. And Lord knows she spent the last three years unhappy.

Unhappy and afraid of Wesley Ernest, according to her best friend, Jennifer Kearns. She just wasn't sure anymore what he was capable of. She, on more than one occasion, expressed the fear to me and the worry that he would kill her. Even more revealing, Jocelyn chronicled her feelings in these spiral notebooks she used as journals. If I die, Wesley killed me, and he probably shot me. What did you think when you read that? I thought she got it right.

It was explosive information, but the prosecution had a problem. Because Jocelyn couldn't be questioned by the defense, her journals were considered hearsay. The judge ruled they couldn't be used as evidence. She had decided to stand up to him as far as the divorce and the finances go. But on a personal level, she was scared to death of him. And you see that in her journals?

Absolutely. Then, 15 months after Jocelyn's death, another bizarre twist. I get a phone call as I'm traveling from one of our investigators on the homicide case. It happened while Assistant Principal Ernest was out on bond awaiting trial. He says, Mr. Crantz, you're not going to believe what is occurring. Look, oh my God, look, there's flames right down at the shoreline.

The multi-million dollar lake house was burning to the ground. And what is being described as 40-foot flames. The roof just fell in. And it is burning hot and fast. Oh my word. And it is Wesley Ernest's house, and Wesley Ernest cannot be found. There's now been two major incidents. This man, wife, has died a traumatic death. The house burns down. And

so you have to start thinking this is the most unluckiest individual in the world. Or his absence from these major incidents are not coincidental. Couldn't he just be a really unlucky guy? Certainly. But as we continue to investigate the fire, certain things start to emerge. Wesley Ernest is due a huge insurance payoff and plus retains the land. Now the debt that burned that house is eliminated, plus the land is still there, which is worth millions. Problem solved.

Problem is solved. The cause of the fire was inconclusive. The judge ruled it could not be used as evidence in the murder trial because the fire could not be linked to Jocelyn's death. But, according to prosecutors, Ernest's behavior that day was suspicious. At the time of the fire, Mr. Ernest was allegedly in Northern Virginia with Shemeika Wright. He had maintained a rental website renting this lake house out, serenading the lake Mr. Ernest was allegedly in Northern Virginia with Shemeika Wright.

He had maintained a rental website renting this lake house out surreptitiously behind Jocelyn's back. Within minutes of the fire, the website goes down. Suddenly the house isn't for rent anymore. Suddenly the house is not for rent anymore. You know the scuttlebutt is. Wesley burnt down the house, couldn't afford it anymore, set it on fire. Wesley would have taken pride in being able to go by sometime and say,

I designed and I built that house. Do you think he's capable of burning down that house? I wouldn't think so, no. Prosecutors were confident Wesley Ernest was the trigger man. But without the journals, without the fire, could they prove it? Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, there are hidden stories

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you get your podcasts. To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. From the award-winning masters of audio horror. Oh, I see a face right up against the window. Bleach white, no hair, black eyes, a round hole for a mouth. It's flat, Taylor. It's completely flat. I don't know what that is.

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Join Wondry+, and the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Ernest believes justice is on his side. Keeping open mind. Realize there's more than one side of the story. Bring the jury in, thank you. He claims he never had any money problems and that he didn't know about Marcy Sheppard. Did you develop a friendship with Jocelyn? I did.

Or the journals, or that Jocelyn was frightened of him. In the end, make a decision when you have all the information. The women who stand by Wesley Ernest believe the evidence against him does not add up. A partial fingerprint. At a place he called home for over 10 years. Excuse me. Where's his DNA? Yes, he committed adultery.

Okay. Being an adulterer does not make him a murderer. Do you think Wesley's capable of murder? No. Is there any chance that he's put one over on you, that you've fallen under Wesley's spell? I don't think so. I feel like I'm strong enough to know when someone has pulled

the wool over my eyes. Jocelyn's father, Bill, was now face toto-face with an alleged murderer who used to be his son-in-law. The first time in a long time that I had seen Wesley was in the courtroom. I was thinking, that is the son of a bitch who killed my daughter. If it's not you, do you want to find who did this? Certainly. Are you making an effort to do that?

I've got the best defense team in the state. The defense won't be easy. The prosecution painted the assistant principal as a manipulative, desperate, and greedy man who executed his wife. A few days before her death, Ernest borrowed a co-worker's pickup truck. He was on the highway for hours, they say, driving from Chesapeake to Jocelyn's home on Pine Bluff Drive.

By the time he got there, it was dark. Wesley Ernest either snuck into an unlocked door on Pine Bluff Drive. By the time he got there, it was dark. Wesley Ernest either snuck into an unlocked door or forced his way in when Jocelyn was at the door. She had time to run, and he pulled out the.357 and shot her in the back of the head. Because the evidence of guilt is overwhelming. It was Wesley Ernest, prosecutors say,

who cranked up Jocelyn's thermostat to 90 degrees to make it appear she had died much earlier in the day. I think that Wesley Ernest not only thinks that he's smarter than everybody else, he believes that he is smarter than everyone else. They insist the note was not a suicide note, but a homicide note Ernest typed to stage the murder scene. Do you think that Wesley's capable of writing a fake suicide note?

Wesley would never end sentences and prepositions. Some of the punctuation in there is wrong. No, he would not write a suicide note. And that truck Ernest borrowed a few days before Jocelyn died? Oddly enough, he borrowed it again two weeks after her death. He goes to a Kramer tire station, speaks to the manager. It was a Chevy Silverado maroon color. And if you're the next witness, come forward, please.

Tire store manager Rick Kuhn remembers that truck and Wesley Ernest. And the gentleman picked the least expensive tires that we had in that size. I said, you sure you wanna replace those tires? I said, I don't see a thing wrong with them. Because the tires were almost brand new. He says, yeah, I don't like those tires.

They give me a bad ride. Please take them off. I can't speak for that tire expert, but all I know is Wesley, if he thought that they were damaged and needed to be changed, he would change them. Changing the tires does not make him a murderer. Then on April 1, 2010, April Fool's Day, the star witness, Assistant Principal Wesley Ernest would finally tell his side of the story. Ernest told the jury when he learned of wife Jocelyn's death.

It was devastating. And he testified about the weapon found near her body. Do you recognize this gun, Mr. Ernest? Yes, sir. It looks like the... Yes, sir, I do. And tell me, who purchased this gun? I purchased it. It was a gift, he says, for Jocelyn so that she could feel safe. Did you kill Jocelyn Ernest?

No, sir. Did you return to this area on the 19th or the 20th and do anything that caused harm to her in any way? No, sir. What was it like watching him testify? Sometimes it was hard to keep my lunch down. Um, it was very fake, very rehearsed. Mr. Arnett was shunning your affection. Shunning seems awfully harsh.

My goal on his cross-examination was to let his real personality emerge. Prosecutor Randy Krantz grilled him about his lies and deception. You lied to your friends and your co-workers about your marriage status, didn't you? You misled them. I was trying to move on. The questioning was heated. You misled them, didn't you, Mr. Ernest? Yes, sir.

But Ernest seemed to keep his cool. Are you having any difficulty understanding my question? No, sir. Wesley Ernest has a goal of success that he wouldn't allow anyone to get in the way of. And we believe that it's his frustration over her unwillingness to give him that goose that lays the golden egg is ultimately

what drove him to kill her. When asked about his whereabouts on the day Jocelyn died, Ernest testified he left work around four o'clock in the afternoon. I considered going to the wrestling match, but because my throat was hurting, I decided to go catch a nap instead. Between four o'clock and the next morning, no one can vouch for your whereabouts, can they Mr. Ernest? In the next morning, no one can vouch for your whereabouts, can they Mr. Murders?

I suppose not. Prosecutors believe the assistant principal's sore throat story was just one more lie, one more piece of his premeditated murder plot. After 10 days of testimony, when you have reached your unanimous decision in this case, if you'll knock on the door to let us know... the jury would finally get the case. Are you prepared if the verdict comes back guilty?

Have you thought about that? I have. What do you do? Have you thought about that? I have. What do you do? I stare at the walls in a 6x8 cell. Three hours and 35 minutes of deliberations and then… If they do have a verdict…

Defendant, sir, if you would stand please. We the jury find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder as charged... Assistant Principal Dr. Wesley Ernest was guilty of murdering his wife, Jocelyn. It's like a two-edged sword. I had to feel what his mother must have been feeling. A heartbreaking defeat for Ernest's family. He was now a convicted killer. But one month later, while waiting for sentencing...

It was like we'd been punched in the stomach. A bombshell that could change Wesley Ernest's fate. A prosecutor has a duty to make sure that justice is done for Jocelyn Ernest, but also Wesley Ernest. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announce they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard

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The guilty verdict was a victory for prosecutors. But it wouldn't last long. A posting on the local newspaper's website was about to turn this contentious case upside down. The postings essentially said that the jurors had read the journals. That they weren't supposed to read? That they weren't supposed to read. To whatever extent they had evidentiary value, there was a strong risk that if these journals had been allowed in, that it could have created all sorts of issues on appeal that would

require us to try the case over. Turns out those journals, Jocelyn's handwritten, heartfelt thoughts, had been placed in the wrong box and taken to the jury room. And it came to my attention that there were media accounts of the journals of Jocelyn Ernest been in the jury room during deliberations. A special hearing was called and the jury admitted to reading the journals. The jurors said they based their guilty verdict on inadmissible evidence, Jocelyn's very own words.

It made us physically ill. We did not want those journals in for that very reason. And then a simple human error created that situation. The judge had no choice but to declare a mistrial. The court orders that the verdict in this matter is set aside. A new trial is ordered. Ernest would get a second chance,

and Jocelyn's family would have to face their nightmare all over again. I think that he's happy to be in a situation where he's no longer convicted of an offense in Virginia. We're disappointed for the jurors, but most of all for the family. We know the judge did the right thing today. And you have to pick yourself up and realize that life can kick you in the stomach sometimes.

But in the back of my mind, there was Jocelyn. And we can do it. We can do it for Jocelyn. Defense attorney Joey Sanzone believes a new jury will see reasonable doubt. Nothing is ironclad, and nothing is 100% certain in this case. Nearly seven months after the first trial,

more than two and a half years after Jocelyn's death, Assistant Principal Wesley Ernest would once again face a jury for the murder of his wife. There were no TV cameras allowed at the second trial. The prosecution focused on the purported suicide note, Jocelyn's fear through the voices of her friends, her relationship with Marcy Shepherd, and Ernest's debt and deceptive ways. The defense hammered on the unreliability of the fingerprint evidence and Ernest's alibi.

And once again, the assistant principal, Wesley Ernest, would take the witness stand. The question that I ask him, isn't it true, Mr. Ernest, that you will lie and deceive people when it is in your best interest? And even then, he eventually conceded, yes I will. Same judge, new jury.

But this time Ernest would be given more leeway to explain his answers. And it seemed the defense was gaining ground. We left the courtroom that day, I felt somewhat defeated. Did you think I could be losing this? I felt that personally that I had let down the team. They desperately needed a new approach.

Prosecutor Nance came up with an idea at 4.15 in the morning. A piece of evidence that we had sort of set aside throughout the first trial and all the way through the second trial could be a key component to put Mr. Ernest in a corner that he would have a hard time backing out of. The plan was to confront Ernest about a very unusual timeline handwritten by Jocelyn, a detailed history of her life she'd been keeping as part of her therapy. It was discovered inside her home, and prosecutors were certain Wesley Ernest had altered it. Mr. Ernest had written entries as if he was Jocelyn Ernest

writing those. He would either have to deny writing that, or he would have to admit that he had done this before. He had assumed her identity, just like the killer had in the fake suicide note. Jocelyn's mother will never forget the question prosecutor Nance asked her former son-in-law. Well if you wrote on the timeline how did you get in the

house to write on it? He was looking at prosecution and he just kept talking. He turns to the jury and with a smile on his face indicates that she had a broken window on her home and he pantomimes with his hands how he could move that window up and enter into it. Frankly, I was shocked to, quite frankly, have a Perry Mason moment for the first time in my 15 years of prosecuting. Could you tell, looking at the jury, that they got it?

You know, I'm just hoping and praying, I'm like, please, hear every moment of this, because, you know, he's nailing his own coffin. The second time around would be swift and deliberate. When it came time for the verdict, we sat there holding hands, and I felt just this peace come over me. I got this, sis, don't worry.

It'll work out. Once again, Wesley Ernest was found guilty of first-degree murder. The jury recommended a sentence of life in prison plus three years, and the judge agreed. I think it's an overwhelming sense of relief. A lot of dedicated people worked very hard to come to this day, and we're glad to see it finally here. All the faces of Wesley Ernest hardened into one defining image, pale and resigned. Still, to his mother, he's a victim.

When you look at him now, what do you see? I see an innocent man that's behind bars that was convicted by a jury that I feel had preconceived ideas. There's an old photo of Ernest, a joke from his days as an assistant principal that seems like an eerie prediction. The prisoner for a day is now locked away for life.

Wesley Ernest is a killer. He's a person who attempted to manipulate his wife and did so for many years. But when that stopped working is a killer. He's a person who attempted to manipulate his wife and did so for many years, but when that stopped working and when she stood up to him, he had to remove her and he did it in a very deliberate way. He's where he belongs. You have to pay for it. It doesn't bring Jocelyn back.

And that hole in my heart will take a long time to heal. But we'll make it. We'll make it. We'll be fucked. 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. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made.

A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near LA in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Laney Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together they were trying to break into the movie industry, but things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth

of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus.

Harvard is the oldest and richest university in America. But when a social media-fueled fight over Harvard and its new president broke out last fall, that was no protection. Claudine Gay is now gone. We've exposed the DEI regime, and there's much more to come. This is The Harvard Plan, a special series from the Boston Globe and WNYC's On the Media. To listen, subscribe to On the Media wherever you get your podcasts.