48 Hours - Moment of Truth

Episode Date: October 11, 2017

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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. All rise. Drawing and entering. Please proceed.

Kill or be killed. Kill or be killed. Kill or be killed. The defense calls on its first witness, Virginia Vertides. This was a case about a woman who shot and killed the person attacking her, Patrick Gilhoolie. The prosecutor's position is, my client murdered Gilhoolie in cold blood. They were the only two people in that house that night.

One of them is dead, and one of them is on trial for his murder. 911, where's your emergency? Somebody was breaking into my house. Police arrive on scene at 10-07. I didn't know who was coming into my house. I was in bed. Father?

I was in my bed. They see Patrick laying there, motionless, dead. Is there anybody else in the house? Who else in the house? I live alone. Who else is here? They see the gun, the.38 caliber. She was immediately handcuffed,

then placed into a patrol car. This defendant tried to orchestrate a story to make herself look like a victim. She calls 911 and she lies. So what happened? We have to know who these people are. Who was Patrick Villahoyle? Who is Virginia Vertidas? I know Virginia Vertidas. I've spent hundreds of hours with her. She had a high-paying corporate job. She gave it up and went to teaching. All the parents would ask for her because she was such a great teacher. A loving mother, loving daughter. To me, she got mixed up with the wrong man. This is a guy that retired as a police officer, was working on security for construction sites. Everybody loved this guy. Everybody loved this guy. He beat the hell out of her. He choked her. He looked her straight in the eyes and said he was going to kill her.

Why did you have to throw me and Beanie like that? Look at the evidence. I have this woman's life in my hands. This is the moment of truth. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. We'll see whether the defendant was telling of truth. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. We'll see whether the defendant was telling the truth. Why did you kill him? Because he was going to kill me. 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 reach the age of 10 that would still a virgin. 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 Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Hotshot 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 Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defence 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 Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows

early and ad-free right now. I'm like jumping out of my skin. Someone's life is in my hands. This case is a monster. It's a tremendous weight on my shoulder. I just want this to start. Defense attorneys Ed Belinkas and Sarah McArdle are on edge as Virginia Vertides' murder trial begins.

I can't sleep anymore. I'm literally bouncing off the walls. If I lose, she'll spend the rest of her life in jail. It's been three years since Patrick Gihuly was shot to death in Virginia's home, in Mount Olive, New Jersey. My client is not guilty. She killed Patrick Gihuly in self-defense. But it won't be easy for Belinkas to prove that.

It's a difficult case. There's a lot of things that we need to address. 911, what is your emergency? Starting with Virginia's 911 call. Somebody was breaking into my house. One of the biggest challenges for the defense is what Virginia said on that call. She makes up a story.

She lies. I didn't know who was coming into my house. I was in bed. I makes up a story. She lies. No one was breaking into her house on the night of March 3rd, 2014. Big problem for her. She was with Patrick Ahuli, her on-again, off-again boyfriend of more than five years. There's a legitimate reason why she did what she did. There is only one person who can explain it. How are you doing today? Okay, just very nervous. But it's a big gamble. It's always a risk to put a defendant on the stand. Even riskier because Virginia, severely depressed and anxious, is now heavily medicated. If you didn't put her on, the jury would never know what happened that night.

Do you still love Patrick Gilhoun? Objection, Judge. I'll allow it. Yes. Their story began in 2008. How did you meet him? I met him online at Match.com. Patrick was divorced. His two daughters are here in court. Patrick Gilhooly was

not perfect, ladies and gentlemen, by no means. He was, says prosecutor Matt Troiano, a complicated man. He drank too much and too often. But he had a big heart. He worked hard. He was loved by his family and friends, and he loved them. Patrick was working in private security, including a stint as a bodyguard

for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt after he had retired as a cop. It was a good relationship. He was very attentive. When Virginia met Patrick, she had been unlucky at love. She had married three times in search of it. The first time, she had married young, and it didn't last. She had fallen hard for husband number two, Scott Fertittis, also a police officer. Oh, she loved him very, very much. Virginia's mother, Craney Kohlhofer, says when the couple's children, Kelly and

Billy, were young, Virginia left a high-paying job at AT&T to become a teacher so she could spend more time with them. Virginia would do just about anything for her children, wouldn't she? Absolutely. She was a marvelous mother. But she says that marriage collapsed when Scott cheated on Virginia. That tore her world apart. Just tore her world apart. She was never the same after that. She has a history of abandonment from men.

Jim Faulkner was Virginia's husband number three. I met her on Match.com. That was back in 2004, four years before Patrick. She had her master's degree, working on her doctorate. So she was very smart and she knew what she wanted. She wanted this perfect life, this white picket fence and a happy family. But he says the relationship was volatile, and whenever he tried to leave, Virginia begged him to come back. She sent me 100 roses. She did everything in her power to get me back.

She said she'll do whatever it takes, and we even went to therapy. get me back. She said she'll do whatever it takes and we even went to therapy. Do you get the impression that it's very difficult for Virginia to be without a man? Yes, she has to have somebody at all times. The marriage to Jim didn't last either and soon Virginia was back on Match.com. I saw an email that she was dating somebody. Patrick Ahuli. Yeah. And that relationship was also volatile.

We broke up a lot. How many times had you broken up over the years? Countless. I can't even tell you how many. They fought a lot, she says. Patrick was unfaithful, at other times jealous. He did not like me talking to other men. It made him feel humiliated. They even fought over taxes

because Patrick hadn't paid his in years. But mostly, she says, they fought about his drinking. When he was drinking, he was terrible. He was terrible. Virginia says there were several times when Patrick was drinking that he was violent with her. He pushed me down on the bed. He shoved me into a wall. He threw me on the floor. A couple of times, this was towards the end, I would see bruises.

They would be on her arms or her legs or whatever, and I would say, Virginia. She goes, oh, I'm just clumsy. But Virginia never reported any of these alleged incidents to police. But you're convinced that he was abusive? Oh, I am absolutely convinced that he was abusive to her. Why do you think then she stayed with him? Every time I ask her those same questions, I love him.

But I would say, there's no but, Mom. I love him. Why, I would say, there's no but, Mom. I love him. Why did she remain silent? She had various medical issues. Virginia struggled with an autoimmune disease. Three months before the shooting, she went on disability from her teaching job. She was weak, vulnerable. Gihuly took advantage of that. And the defense says there's

a bigger reason Virginia didn't report anything. Throughout the entire relationship, Patrick Gilhooly had thrown up in her face when he abused her. I'm a cop. They're never going to believe you. And that is the reason, says the defense, that Virginia panicked the night she shot Patrick and then lied about it. The cops come running in, get down, get down. At that point in time, while she's on 911, she's thinking to herself, after all of the beatings, over the years that he beat her and what he said to her, they're never going to believe you.

She makes up a story. She lies. On the stand, fighting through the haze of medications, Virginia tries to convince the jury she is now telling the truth. The couple argued that night as they had many times, she said. But this time was different. I never saw his eyes look like that before. He said, I'm going to f***ing kill you, you f***ing c***. I was scared to death.

I ran up the stairs and ran into the master bedroom. I went over to the bed and I reached under the mattress and I grabbed the gun. I just kept shooting. I quickly looked and he was still on the stairs, so I just kept shooting down the stairwell. So what led up to that horrible fight? She's the ex, and I'm the new, so probably there's going to be a disgruntled ass. As a kid growing up in Chicago,

there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? 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 bolder 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+. It's just the best idea yet. A few weeks before Virginia Vertita shot and killed Patrick Cahouly, trouble was brewing

in their rocky relationship once again, this time over this woman. Colleen Roper had been seeing Patrick, and when Virginia discovered it, she wasted little time contacting her. I was getting prank hang-ups on my phone. Can you approximate how many prank calls you received? Three or four. I'd like to direct your attention to February 4th, 2014. Do you recall whether or not you had received some communication on Facebook? I was getting

friend requests. I didn't know who this person was because I'm very selective about who I'm friends with on Facebook. So I said, who are you? Colleen says Patrick had told her about Virginia, but had been less than truthful and said she was an ex-girlfriend. Believing him, Colleen sent Virginia this message back. I'm under the impression the two of you broke up. Please don't friend me again. I didn't do anything to you. Sorry. Take your time. And she texts me back something like, do you think sleeping with my boyfriend of six years isn't doing anything to me? And I said, no, not if it's

over. Virginia's response? She told Colleen she had slept with Patrick that very morning. Patrick was so angry, he broke up with Virginia via text. We are done. So done. Wish you luck. Find someone else. You can do it. Good luck. A week later, they had another heated text exchange after Patrick accused Virginia of contacting Colleen again. Patrick left Virginia this angry voicemail. He's psycho. Psycho woman. I'll call your mother up. Yet fighting was part of their relationship, and Virginia and Patrick kept communicating. But the defense says in the weeks before the shooting, Virginia had bigger problems on her mind than Patrick Ahuli.

She had petitioned the school board to return to work, and they had voted against her. I was very upset. I was ready to go back to school, and I missed the kids. Virginia also missed her own children. Kelly was away at college, and Billy, then 16, had recently decided to move in with his father. Virginia has shared her distress over her son with her therapist on March 3rd, the morning of the shooting. It was just really tough to talk about, Billy. I was heartbroken. Later that day,

around 6 p.m., Virginia texted Patrick asking if he was coming over, and he showed up a half hour later. Ed Belinka says Patrick had sex on his mind when he went over there.

He had taken Viagra, which, not based on personal experience, you're going to find out, takes a while to kick in. So it had to have been planned. And the evidence shows that Patrick mixed it with something else that night. How drunk was Patrick Ohuli on March 3, 2014? Crazy drunk. What, almost three times the legal limit? Three times the legal limit, absolutely.

I unzippered his pants. According to Virginia, after a failed attempt at sexual intimacy that evening, Patrick grew frustrated. And he kind of pushed me away and zippered up his pants and put his belt back on. Virginia says she left Patrick sort of dozing off on the floor and went to get firewood at the 7-Eleven.

But when she returned, he was gone. They finally connected on a telephone call, and he was screaming at her and ranting and raving about, you know, why did you leave me? You didn't tell me. And she's trying to calm him down, and she finally convinces him to come back. Virginia left open the front door, and while she was in another room, she heard him slam and shatter the storm door, dropping glass on the mat inside. When he came back to the house, he was a raving lunatic.

So this is Virginia's home. We asked Belinkas to take us through what he says happened in the house he was a raving lunatic so this is virginia's home we asked belincas to take us through what he says happened in the house next patrick eventually calmed down belinka says but they soon started arguing again and that started the rage that to me was building up inside of him she sees that she gets up and she starts to walk away from him. But then Virginia, says Belinkas, made a fatal mistake and said to Patrick, at least I pay my taxes.

Do you think that line is what set everything off? Absolutely. At least I pay my taxes? Yep, you know, that's when he comes after her. The defense believes that earlier that evening, Patrick had discovered an IRS form that Virginia had filled out to turn him in for unpaid taxes. Ed, where did the physical altercation actually take place? It started here as she was entering the foyer.

He grabs her from behind. She's trying to get away, and he pushes her up against the front door. He grabs her by the throat and starts choking her. He looks her dead in the eye and says, I'm going to kill you, you. After fighting on top of the broken glass in the foyer, Belinka says Virginia managed to escape and ran upstairs to her bedroom, where she grabbed the gun she says Patrick had left under the mattress.

She reaches under, she grabs the gun, she runs out here, she sticks the gun around the corner and starts firing. The defense says Virginia, fearing for her life, shot at Patrick. The first shot missed. The second shot is to the hand as he's reaching up, maybe to try to stop or grab the gun. The next shot goes to the neck. And the third shot is the one that hit his arm. He's starting to come down. He gets a shot in the back.

It goes throughout and out his chest. He's starting to collapse, and his body lurches forward, and that's when he gets the last shot. He's fatally wounded, and he collapses. And that's where he died, right here. Virginia told the jury she sat frozen in fear before walking over to him, prone on the floor. I sat down next to him, and I kept shaking him, and I said, Patrick, please wake up. Please wake up.

Daddy wasn't waking up. She was lying to the jury under oath. The state contends that Virginia's story about what happened in the house that night is full of holes. Oh my gosh. In my office, I keep a wall of people that have been killed or the victims of some crime. And it does become personal. I think it should. Prosecutor Matt Troiano can't help becoming invested in murder cases, especially when he believes the victim has been dragged through the mud.

Basically, her defense is blame the victim. Oh, yeah. And it's hard. It's a very one-sided argument because, you know, Patrick's not there to defend himself. You were angry. No, not angry. That's why Troiano felt pressure to prove to the jury that Virginia was the real aggressor that night. It sounds like what you're saying is Virginia Fertittis is a liar.

It's a good way to say it. The truth, Troiano says, is that Virginia was obsessed with Patrick. She simply couldn't accept that the relationship was over. Why do you believe that Virginia Fertittis shot and killed Patrick Cahouly? Because she was having problems, you know, with her son. She was having issues with work. And Patrick, the person that really she felt closest to, was just up and leaving her. And the proof, he says, is in the text, sent after that February 4th breakup over Colleen. You recall saying to him things like, there won't be another relationship. I'll be dead first. Yes. Troiano says Virginia tried to get Patrick back by playing on his sympathy.

She claimed she had multiple sclerosis. At that time, did you specifically know that you had MS? I specifically believed I had MS. I understand that. But you didn't tell him that you believe you had it. You told him, in fact fact that I do have it. Yes. But when that tactic didn't work,

Troiano says Virginia tried to lure him with sex. Did you ever ask him to come and say that it was just friends with benefits? Yes. By March 3rd, Patrick may finally have had enough. His friends and family say he went to Virginia's that evening to end things with her once and for all. Patrick's brother, Paul Gahouly. And he said to me that this is it. I can't do this anymore. And he also said to me that he wanted to discuss with her some tax

situation. But that testimony seems to support the defense theory. And attorney Ed Belinkas seizes on this. And why would he talk about that tax situation with my client, if you know, based on your conversation? On prior conversations, he had told me that he was worried about Virginia talking to the IRS about a tax situation. Belinkas says it's more proof that it was Patrick's unpaid taxes that sparked the fatal fight. He had beaten her that night. He had threatened to kill her that night. But was there a physical fight that night at all? Matt Troiano doesn't buy it. He charges that Virginia's injuries are self-inflicted and shows the jury what he

says appears to be Virginia scratching herself in the interrogation room video. So when the state says that she created those injuries, what do you say? Bull crap, you know? How about the injury to the throat? When did she create that? If she did one, she did all. You believe that?

Patrick Guajuli was a big guy. If what she says is true, she would have looked beat up really, really bad. And if Patrick had broken the glass storm door in anger and struggled with Virginia on top of the shards of glass, why doesn't Virginia have cuts and slashes? You know, you hear about essentially this death struggle that happens in the middle of this foyer, but there's no cuts from glass.

There's none of that. And Troiano says he knows why. Patrick didn't break that glass. I don't think that the evidence supports that at all. This is the glass from the exterior storm door. Tryano called forensic expert Howard Ryan to the stand to explain to the jury why Virginia's story about Patrick breaking the glass storm door couldn't be true. There's generally three types of glass we deal with. They're all going to do certain things.

For starters, Ryan says storm doors are not that easy to break. To test the state's position, we hired Jim Molinaro, who works with Howard Ryan at Forensic Training Source. So are almost all storm doors now that are used made of tempered glass? Yes. What makes tempered glass different? Tempered glass is stronger than regular glass. Generally speaking, it's about four times stronger. When the defendant says that she heard the door break after Patrick Cahouly slammed it, what's your first reaction to that? The likelihood of

that happening, I wouldn't expect that to happen. Okay, do you want to try? We can give it a try, yes. Okay. We tried slamming it over and over again. And when that didn't work, we tried kicking it. Do you believe that a Bennett, when she says that door, she heard the door break before the shooting? No. And you see them right here. Even giving Virginia the benefit of the doubt that Patrick somehow managed to break the storm door,

forensics appeared to disprove that, too. Howard Ryan explained that during the shooting, one of the bullets went through both the front door and the glass storm door. Emanating from the bullet hole were something called radio lines, and these are telltale clues Radial fracture lines will only occur on the first break of the window

Using a set of doors similar to the crime scene We asked Jim Molinaro to show us what happens to an unbroken storm door when it's hit by a bullet And you're not going to be actually firing the gun Show us what happens to an unbroken storm door when it's hit by a bullet. Now, you're not going to be actually firing the gun. No, I'm going to turn this over to Jeff Brannion from the Gwinnett County Police Department. Eyes and ears in place. Everybody behind the 15-yard line. You ready to go look? Let's go take a look. Oh, my gosh.

You can see they point directly to where the bullet perforated the glass. I mean, this looks almost identical to the photos in evidence. Yes, exactly. We couldn't have asked for better results. Just to see what the bullet hole would look like if the glass was already broken, like Virginia said it was... All right, range is hot. We had Officer Branion shoot the door again. But what is not here that we saw with the very first shot?

You don't have the production of any radial fracture lines emanating out from where the bullet went through the glass. All this is proof, the state says, that the bullet was the only thing that broke the glass that night, that Patrick never shattered it in a rage. But what do they believe happened right before the shooting? Jory answering? Patrick's own daughter, Jennifer Gahouly, says she heard everything.

I heard my dad screaming, she's hitting me, she's hitting me, stop, stop. Mr. Toronto, call your next witness, please. At this time of the day, we call Jennifer Gahouly. Jennifer was going to be the star witness in the case. Do you know an individual by the name of Virginia Vertidis? I do. And do you see Ms. Vertidis in court here today? I do.

Could you identify her, please? She's sitting at the table right over there. I'm stipulating she's identified my client. Jennifer Gahouly, Patrick's older daughter, was as close to an eyewitness as the prosecution had. Jennifer, I'd like to direct your attention to March 3rd, 2014. Do you recall that day? I do. That night, Jennifer got three calls from her father in just four minutes, right before he was shot. The first phone call, when I picked up, he was screaming,

She's hitting me, she's hitting me. And I kept hearing him screaming, stop, stop. He called me again. I just heard yelling. I didn't really hear words. The phone calls proved, Troiano says, that Patrick was not attacking Virginia. It was the other way around. Did you communicate with your father again?

I said, Dad, I'm coming. He's like, it's too far. You won't get here in time. And the next thing I know is I heard three loud shots. I heard him say, holy s***, he's shooting. And the phone call went dead. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That was the last phone call Patrick Ahuli ever made. But he didn't just call Jennifer those three times.

He also made three other phone calls to friends in those same four minutes before he was shot. Patrick's phone was later found in his pocket, which is why defense attorney Ed Belinka says most of those calls were actually pocket dials. But they go to a number of different people. Okay, they go to a number of different people, but there's no real communication between any of those calls. You know, I made three pocket dials yesterday. Pocket dials would suggest that Patrick's hands were free to attack Virginia. The defense calls legendary pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht to buttress their case.

He's been involved in cases like John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Elvis Presley. In this case, Dr. Wecht draws the jury's attention to the wound on Patrick's right hand, which Wecht says was caused by the first bullet to hit him. PATRICK WECK, WITNESS, VIRGINIA, It was fired as Mr. Guajuli was reaching up with his right hand, would fit in with that grazing gunshot wound of his right hand. JUDY WOODRUFF And that, says the defense, suggests Patrick was coming up the stairs towards Virginia, just as she described.

My opinion is that Mr. Guajulis, or right hand, was reaching up toward Ms. Vertides. It is almost physically impossible for that to have happened that way. So how do you believe that Patrick sustained that bullet graze wound on his hand? I think that he was on the phone with his daughter. He was going down the steps, and he had a phone up to his ear, and the bullet came right past. But if the prosecution is right, how did Patrick's phone get back into his pocket? I think she put it there.

Virginia did have plenty of time, he points out, because she didn't call 911 for 25 minutes. Not 25 seconds, not two and a half minutes, 25 minutes. Virginia's explanation? She says she couldn't find her cell phone and the battery on her landline was dying. But the state believes she was really using that time to clean up and place Patrick's phone in his pocket, staging a scene that would match the lie she told police. Somebody was breaking into my house. Police say they found her bedroom shower wet and a single pair of pink pajama pants in the washer, which was running. Patrick Gilhoolie left a.38 caliber loaded revolver underneath your mattress.

Yes, he always had it under the mattress. Most important, Troiano is determined to pin Virginia down on where she got the gun. She claims Patrick left it there in the spring of 2012, two years before the shooting, and it had been under her mattress ever since. Did he leave it there because he forgot it, or did he leave it there because you wanted it? You leave it there because you wanted it. He left it there. He knew I was worried. He knew I didn't like being alone.

When he, when, oh God, I just lost my train of thought. Sitting in the courtroom, Patrick's younger daughter, Heather, hears this and then realizes she has proof that Virginia's story can't be true. She calls the prosecutor that night after court. I told her that, well, you can't just tell me this. I can't testify about it. Heather, do you recognize this photo? Yes, I do. You have to testify. She brings in a picture taken when her father was still alive. What is that photo of? That's a photo of my father's first gun that he had when he was a cop. And when did you take that photo? August of 2012. All right, and do you recall where you took that photo? In Staten Island at my mother's house where I was living at the time. That puts

the gun 50 miles from Virginia's house, months after Virginia said she had the gun hidden under her mattress. Maybe he took the gun, maybe he cleaned it, maybe he brought it back. But Troiano thinks she stole it. Two weeks before the shooting, cell tower data traced Virginia driving from New Jersey to Patrick's home in Staten Island when he wasn't there. She says she never went inside. It's just your testimony that you didn't have a key for that apartment.

Yes. The defense is now struggling, and Ed Belinkas is frustrated because the rules of evidence limit what he could tell the jury about an incident in Patrick's past. He was suspended from the New York police force for beating his first wife. Newspaper articles from 1996 tell the story of an alleged assault where Patrick slammed his then-wife's head against the wall and the sink. But all the jury heard was this.

He told me that at one point he hit his wife, got in trouble with the police, but that he really just got a slap on the wrist. Patrick was charged with misdemeanor assault and suspended without pay. The charges were later dropped. Let me tell you something. If you put your hands on a woman once, you can do it again. But what would the jury think? We heard voicemails, we read text messages. He had a temper.

It's a huge undertaking. There's a lot of responsibility that's on you. You feel the weight of the world. It's very nerve-wracking. As prosecutor Matt Troiano prepared for closing arguments, he reviewed crucial evidence in the case. The storm door. Heather Gahouly's photo of the gun.

And then there was this. Patrick's car key fob. It was found in pieces throughout the house. Troiano thinks he knows how it got that way. My theory is she just takes it and she breaks it herself. The way to keep him there was to break that key fob. But it was just a theory. There were no fingerprints and no DNA on the fob.

So Troiano didn't know whether he'd be able to make that argument to the jury. All rise. We're ready for summations, Mr. Belinkas. But during the defense closing argument, Troiano saw his opportunity. Who broke the key fob? Ed Belinkas offered the jury his theory of how the key fob may

have been broken. Prosecutor's position is there was no signs of a struggle. There's a broken key fob. And that gave Troiano the opening he needed. Do you know what you can't do after the key fob's broken? You can't drive your car anymore. If Patrick couldn't use his car to leave the house, You can't drive your car anymore. If Patrick couldn't use his car to leave the house, then that would explain the six calls he made in the minutes leading up to the shooting. Patrick Gahouli would have to call somebody to pick him up. He wasn't going anywhere if this was broken.

The defense is hoping the jury will believe that Patrick was a violent man. The evidence is clear that my client was in fear of her life. If she didn't kill him, he would have killed her, period. Patrick Cahouly does have at least one incident, his background. Doesn't that make you wonder if, in fact, there was some kind of physical altercation with Virginia? No. No, I will be as emphatic as I can be, no. There was an incident with his wife a very long time ago, and that wife, who was his ex-wife at the time of the trial,

sat through that trial every single day. This is not self-defense. This is a murder. is a murder. I was in the office and somebody said, they have a verdict. You got to let everybody know. You got to get the family. All rise.

Morning, everyone. Please be seated. After almost seven hours of deliberations. The jury has reached a verdict. I'm getting more nervous. All right, let's get the jury, please. I was definitely not confident at all. Madam, fool lady, with regard to count one, what is the verdict of the jury?

Guilty. Oh, my gosh! Guilty of first-degree murder. We will now take an individual polling of all the jurors. I prepared them for the worst. I think that they were probably expecting the worst. So when it turns the other way, it felt good. It was emotional. All right, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, your service in this case is complete. I hope you found it to be a rewarding experience for you. I felt really comfortable with, you know, our decision. We spoke to three of the jurors after the verdict.

John Hoover, Gina Samara and Patty Mew. Did any one of the jurors believe that it was self-defense? No. Not one? No. No. And they say the key fob was critical. Do you believe that she broke it so he couldn't leave?

I really do. I really do. Because we actually took all the pieces in the jury room and put it all back together. It wasn't broken. There was not one broken piece. Down to the battery. Put the whole thing back together.

And what did that say to you, Patty? It looked like it was intentionally taken apart. Not letting him get away. Not letting him start the car and get away. This is State of New Jersey versus Virginia Vertitas. Matters on for sentencing before the court, ma'am. Two months after the verdict... My name is Paul Gahouly, Patrick's brother. Patrick's family addresses the judge at Virginia's sentencing before the court, ma'am. Two months after the verdict... My name is Paul DeHooley, Patrick's brother.

Patrick's family addresses the judge at Virginia's sentencing. Patrick would not be there to walk his daughters, Jennifer and Heather, down the aisles when they married. One of the statements comes from the woman he allegedly attacked all those years ago. Can I get your name for the record, please? It's Theresa Higgins, and I'm going to be reading on behalf of my daughters, Jennifer

and Heather Gilhoul. Patrick's ex-wife, the mother of their children. Our father will never be able to hear us wish him another happy birthday or another happy Father's Day. Our father will never again get to hear, I love you, Daddy. Miss Routitis, please stand for a moment on the charge of first-degree murder. Virginia was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

You must serve the full 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole. without the possibility of parole. Do you think you will at some point see Virginia walk out of prison? Before I die, I hope so. Her mother Craney is helping with her appeal. One of the things she keeps telling me is, Mom, don't leave me. And I hope I don't have to before she gets out.

And now Virginia, who feared abandonment, could spend the rest of her life alone. Virginia's daughter and son did not attend the trial or sentencing. Her mother says Virginia did not want them to see her that way. 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.