48 Hours - Paradise Lost - Encore

Episode Date: February 11, 2018

Did a Wall Street millionaire kill himself or was it murder?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. He was brilliant, phenomenally handsome. He was everything that to me symbolized a future with a capital F. And it just clicked. And from that first day, there was never any doubt

that we were meant to meet. I saw the outline of the gun. He was going to die that night no matter what. This is a story about two people, John and Ann Bender, who from the outside world seemed perfect. John Bender was a Wall Street genius and very quickly made upwards of half a billion dollars by the time he was in his early 30s. Their whole worlds were each other and when they

found each other they really didn't need anything else. We built the house with the idea of it being our home, to our taste. They said, let's retreat to Costa Rica, to the deepest part of the rainforest, and set up a nature preserve. Not many people are willing or want to live in a house that has no walls. Our architect said we were nuts. You were happy. I loved it. And John was happy? Yes. As happy as John could be.

What you think is paradise isn't necessarily paradise. John and Ann had problems that money just couldn't fix. They were living a very inward life. They'd cut off the world. He had decided that the world would be better off without it. There were no lights on. All I knew is he had a gun, and I tried to get it away from him, and I couldn't, and it went off it comes down to basically two people in a room with a gun i tried to stop him it sure looked

like this guy was shot in the back of his head while he was sleeping i was framed I was set up to be accused of the death of my husband. I refuse to give up. I'm just not going to. 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?

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on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. I had accepted the fact that I would have to live the rest of my life with somewhat of a question mark over my head. Ann Bender has lived

under a cloud of suspicion since 2010 when her husband John was shot to death in the Costa Rican rainforest. In 2015, she went to prison for murder, but now says total vindication is so close she can taste it. I've been waiting a long time for this. she can taste it. I've been waiting a long time for this. It was in 2001 that the Benders moved to this remote corner of Central America to live an extravagant, idyllic dream. In a way, this trip is like going home. It is going home. Home was this.

That's the house? Oh, my Lord. Called Boracayan, rising from the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest. It was once Ann and John Bender's vision of paradise. The phrase over-the-top doesn't begin to do this house justice. It's like some bizarre combination of Disneyland, an art museum, and something you'd really only see in a James Bond movie.

Does this strike you as astonishing every time you're here, or are you just totally used to it? I'm used to it by now. It's home. Four floors. There he comes. Oh, my goodness. I just saw a bird. Nearly 50,000 square feet. This is your kitchen.

Tons of gleaming granite. Kitchen. That was the dining room. And the living room is on the other side. And no windows or walls at all. I think that's one of the things I miss the most is the sounds of the birds. Where is the bathroom? Right here. We built the house to our taste, which is crazy. John and Ann always had been a bit eccentric, from the moment a friend introduced them in Virginia in 1998. It was love at first sight for both of us. The daughter of an international banker, she'd grown up all over the world, and he was smitten.

He proposed after just two weeks. They married the next year. We both found in each other a future. They shared many interests and one unfortunate problem. Both struggled with depression, specifically in Ann's case with bipolar mood disorder. I had just been diagnosed with bipolarity. He could go from being extremely happy to extremely sad very quick. His friend, Pete DeLisi, says John hated doctors and dealt with his problems mostly in private. He was absolutely a genius. John Bender had been a math and science whiz in high school,

then studied physics at the University of Pennsylvania. His looks got him work as a male model, and his smarts helped him beat the odds at the local casinos. He had an unusual talent for making money, a talent that blossomed at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. In just about five minutes, he developed a way of trading options that had never been done before. And within just a few years, he was one of the top traders. By the time he was 25, I think he'd amassed about $80 million. By the time he was in his early 30s, he set up a hedge fund that was worth $500 to $600 million. Ned Zeman is a reporter and CBS News consultant.

He says that by 1998, Bender was looking for both a safe haven for his money and a purpose for his life. And that for all his brilliance and his bank balance, he never really fit in with the Wall Street crowd.

He just walks away from it. Just walked away. But not without a plan. He and Ann, both animal lovers, decided to use their fortune to start a refuge for wildlife. In the dense rainforest of Costa Rica, they found the ideal location, 5,000 pristine acres. They named it Boracayan, after a native plant. I mean, this is as out there as you can get.

Setting up a sanctuary for wildlife gave the Benders a sanctuary, too, an escape to an extravagant private universe of exotic flowers, animals, and waterfalls. Here, nothing was ordinary, not even the lights in the house. Many were custom-made of stained glass. How many lamps are we talking about here? Approximately 400. You just said 400. Yeah. She says John thought the lamps would brighten

her outlook on the world. Depression was an immense bond between them. John thought the lamps would brighten her outlook on the world. Depression was an immense bond between them. It's a very isolating disease that people tend to pull away from society. Although construction of the house brought in running water, reliable electricity, and dozens of jobs to the area, the project and the vendors got a chilly reception. There was definitely a degree of, who are these rich Ringo's and who the hell do they think they

are coming down and doing all of this? Then came April 2001. It happened on this mountain road. Ann says armed men in an unmarked car forced them onto the shoulder. The men claimed to be police, but wore no uniforms. I thought it was a kidnapping. One pulled John from his car, and when he protested... This guy had fired the gun between John's legs and held up the gun to John's head. I was terrified.

That's when our entire lives changed. She says an attempted break-in at the house months later only made things worse. The couple bought guns, hired guards, and turned the refuge into a virtual fortress. They lived in fear. It makes me very sad to think back on how painful life could be for him. In 2005, perhaps trying to right the ship, Bender set up a $70 million trust to manage the refuge and provide for Ann's

living expenses. He named this man, attorney Juan Alvarez, to run it. Alvarez was then a trusted advisor. Later, Ann would point to him as a key figure in the events surrounding John's death. But neither the trust, nor the guards, nor the guns stopped the couple's continuing slide into depression. Ann says John saw a psychiatrist but refused antidepressants. She, however, was taking an enormous amount of medication. And by the fall of 2009, says she had all but stopped eating. I was 40 pounds lighter than I am now.

By the next year, they had become prisoners in their own paradise. The natural beauty that brought them here lost in irrational despair. Ann says John became convinced that every problem, her illness, even the death of a pet bird was his fault. He became suicidally depressed. The stage was set.

He wanted to die. 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 Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. 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. on Wondery Plus. 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. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little known British territory called Pitcair, 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 have urged it. It just happens to all of them. 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. I'm sure this seems as real to you today as it did that night. So what happened?

this seems as real to you today as it did that night. So what happened? John brought a gun to bed. It was January 7th, 2010. I opened my eyes and I saw the outline of the trigger of the gun. And he had it pointed at his head, at himself. Horrified, Ann Bender says she recognized their 9mm Ruger pistol. From what I could tell, he was holding it with both hands.

And what'd you do? I got up on my knees and reared towards him, and I tried to grab the gun. Were you able to get it? No. I was able to get my hands around his. And the gun slipped. And it went off. Just minutes later,

their security guard, Oswaldo Aguilar, was first on the scene. She said to me, I tried to stop him, and I couldn't do it, he told us. Was there a long struggle? No. Was it just almost instantaneous?

I remember it as being instantaneous. It couldn't have been any more than two seconds. When it went off, who was holding it? I don't think anyone was holding it. How does a gun go off when no who was holding it? I don't think anyone was holding it. How does a gun go off when no one's holding it? I think that it fell. He dropped it. I never touched the gun. Ann told roughly the same story to the first responders

who arrived here at Boracayan some two hours later. But reporter Ned Zeman says that their examination of the scene actually raised more questions than it answered. Why does somebody who's suicidal shoot himself back here? They said, first of all, that John was left-handed. And how does a left-handed person lying in bed shoot himself here? Prosecutor Edgar Ramirez has a simple answer. He doesn't. If somebody wanted to commit suicide, he says, the way they do it is here, here, or here.

But if a left-handed person did fatally shoot himself behind the right ear, the gun presumably would end up on the same side as the bullet hole. Just to be clear, the gun is on the opposite side from the wound. Yes, the wound is on this side of John's head. He's laying on his back. The gun is over there on this side of his bed, near his arm. So, you know, that doesn't look good. There were no lights on. All I knew was he had a gun, and I tried to get it away from him, and I couldn't, and it went off. But investigators puzzled over the bullet's path, entering just below the right ear and ending up behind the left eye. Odd, too, was the location of a spent cartridge, found some 13 feet behind the bed.

All, they thought, inconsistent with Anne's story of a struggle. Did you move anything, touch anything, change anything in that room? The only thing I remember doing is using the radio, unlocking the elevator, unlocking the elevator, and touching John. But as far as the gun, the shell casings, the pillow? I don't remember anything. A pillow near John's head had a tear with gunpowder in it, which means the pillow was positioned over his head and the gun was fired, the prosecutor told us. Within hours, investigators began to think John Bender may have been shot in his sleep and died where he lay. There were pools

of blood on both sides of his body, the earplugs he always wore still in place. Starting from the fourth floor down, we started looking, says Inspector Luis Aguilar, who led a sweep of the house and quickly discovered something that stopped him cold. We found a great amount of jewels, precious stones, gems, thousands of them, diamonds, rubies, opals, some on display, others in suitcases, worth roughly $20 million. When you talk about the jewelry collection, you know, I have jewelry. I don't think that's what you're talking about. No, no, no, in no way, shape, or form. Investigators didn't see it as a jewelry collection either.

To them, it looked a lot more like a smuggling operation. Do you think that the fact that when the police got here, they find all these amazing jewels, do you think that it prejudiced them? So what? Strange doesn't mean that you're a criminal. Ann says the gems were merely a hobby and an investment, and says she did her best to cooperate that night. I was falling to pieces. Within hours of John's death, after calling her family and Juan Alvarez, the trustee of Boracayan,

I went into some sort of shock mode. She was rushed to the hospital, emaciated and covered with sores. My understanding is they were giving me a 40% chance of survival for the first two weeks. What was her condition then? Terrible. In what way? Dehydrated, extremely thin. Her psychiatrist Carlos Lozano, who Ann authorized to speak with us, met her in intensive care just hours later. Was she in touch with reality? In

and out. Do you think she was even physically capable of doing what the prosecution alleged? No. Ann could not even hold a fork when she was here. Anne Bender would remain hospitalized for seven months under Dr. Lozano's care and under a growing cloud of suspicion. They were beginning to say, this doesn't look like an accident, this doesn't look like suicide, this looks a lot like a murder. And they began looking at her as a suspect. Did you, for one second, until it actually happened, think that you were going to be charged?

No. Inside Ann and John Bender's Costa Rican dream home, now on Facebook at 48 hours. She was skin and bones. I mean, she looked horrid. The bender's friend, Paul Meyer, visited Anne in the hospital just days after her arrival. She weighed 84 pounds. She literally looked like someone who had just walked out of a concentration camp. Sick or not, she already was investigators' number one murder suspect.

Police confiscated her clothes and her computer. But it's unclear if they examined John's messages or ever saw these chilling excerpts, dated just weeks before he died. I wish I were effing dead, it reads. I feel so effing horrible, I want to kill everyone, and then myself. A window, Ann says, on a tormented soul. John was the most tortured person I've ever met. He had been wanting to kill himself for weeks. She thinks the lawyers Bender trustee Juan Alvarez hired for her should have used John's messages in her defense.

They wouldn't comment on strategy. They never manifested that I was innocent. So their position was, oh yeah, she did do this. By not doing anything, they were making it inevitable that I would be charged. Nineteen months after Bender died, Ann was officially charged with murder. Convinced the gems had been smuggled into the country, authorities later also charged her with possessing contraband. All, she is sure, just what Juan Alvarez wanted. Why? To hide the fact, she claims that he had siphoned money from the $70 million Bender Trust. I'm the only person that can stop him or bring scrutiny into what he's done.

In July 2012, with murder charges hanging over her head, Ann Bender took Juan Alvarez to court for fraud. The suit claimed Alvarez used the Bender Trust as his personal piggy bank, buying horses for his horse farm and paying his credit card bills. Authorities raided his office and confiscated 135 boxes of documents. The court then removed Alvarez as trustee. The case still has not been fully resolved. This investigation will go nowhere because the accusations are bogus, he told us. But whatever Juan Alvarez did or did not do, he did not shoot John Bender.

And prosecutors see Ann's lawsuit as an attempt to distract them from their firm belief that she did. to distract them from their firm belief that she did. They just didn't see how that gunshot could have been in that part of his head by suicide. Was this suicide or an accident or murder? The forensic evidence is so vital in this case... It's incredible. ...we brought in outside experts to Boracayan and asked them to take a look at it.

This was the bedroom. This is where John Bender died. In the rarefied world of forensic science... You can see there's a lot of blood in the crime scene. Selma and Richard Eichlenbaum are internationally recognized but sometimes controversial experts. Known for stirring debate in high-profile cases once thought open and shut. From the start, they say, some Costa Rican authorities had a preconceived idea that this was murder. The pathology report is very straight from the beginning. This is a homicide and let's prove it's a homicide. He does look like he's sleeping.

A lot of people who die with their eyes closed look like they're sleeping and they might have been wide awake when it happened. The prosecutor said if you're going to shoot yourself, everyone knows it's here or it's here or it's here. Well, that's completely unscientific. If that's an example of the logic they used in this case, then I'm really very worried. They cite other monumental mistakes. Not immediately testing for gunpowder residue. Not fingerprinting the gun. Not testing the sheets for blood spatter.

What is the most vital thing that they missed? I think the trajectory. Then you can place the shooter on the scene in relation to the victim. It's like this. They told us the trajectory, the path the bullet followed, was critical to understanding where the gun was when it was fired and if Anne or John fired it. Looking at this investigation, how would you grade it? Very poor. Looking at this investigation, how would you grade it?

Very poor. In January 2013, a three-judge panel acquitted Ann Bender of murder. She was safe. But not for long. After her acquittal, Ann Bender hoped for a new start. But never thought of leaving Costa Rica, moving instead to a small apartment. When the trust stopped paying her bills, friends and family helped. She began dating a new boyfriend, another American, Greg Fisher. She has never not done what this court system has asked her to do,

never not done what this government has asked her to do. So, she says, she was shocked in May 2014 when the Costa Rican government put her on trial for murder a second time. It may seem odd to Americans, but in Costa Rica, there is no double jeopardy rule. So if a prosecutor doesn't like a verdict, he can appeal. And if he wins, try the defendant all over again,

with the same charges, the same evidence, and the same witnesses. This time, there are new judges. But prosecutors repeat their case, arguing that the evidence from the body, the bullet casing, the entry wound, blood stains, and pillow case prove this was murder. Defense attorney Fabio Oconotrio is just as insistent it was suicide. In all homicides, there's a reason. In this case, there's no reason. There's a reason. In this case, there's no reason.

And in a risky move, he decides there is nobody better able to make that point than Ann Bender herself. I want to make a statement. And make a statement she certainly does. I was so happy here when we moved here. She stays on the stand the entire day. He was talking about suicide every day for at least four weeks. It was an issue of getting through every day. You seem to be saying that there was no way to prevent him from attempting suicide. I tried my hardest.

I'm not saying just no way for you. There was no avenue open. No. Period. This was destined to be. He wanted to die. In his testimony, security guard and first responder Oswaldo Aguilar describes the scene, but he also raises questions about one of the prosecutor's key assumptions. The main point of evidence for the prosecution was John was left-handed. The bullet wound is behind the right side of his head. You're lying in bed. How does a suicidal man possibly end up shooting himself like this?

Aguilar has an answer, pointing out that though a lefty, John Bender carried his gun on the right side. But testifying for the prosecution, forensic pathologist Gretchen Flores doesn't care if John Bender was right or left-handed. She insists suicide is inconceivable. or left-handed, she insists suicide is inconceivable. Another person, she says, would have to fire the weapon. Her conclusion from the blood evidence and the position of the body, John Bender never saw the shot coming. It's six centimeters from the midline. At Boracayan, our independent forensics experts Richard and Selma Eichlenbaum, tested that idea, that John's body never moved. It would explain the blood we find over here, but it doesn't explain the blood over there.

In their view, it had to have moved for the blood to have pooled as it did on both sides of his body. So his head was completely different. This was the position of his head when he was shot. The blood pattern analysis support the hypothesis that there was some sort of fight. They showed us how a struggle could have happened. How Anne's efforts to get the gun could make it fire. Whoa. The vehicle goes like this. And he starts bleeding, oozing. How John's body then might have moved.

And he slowly falls back in this position. Which accounts for the blood on this side. I lunged forward towards him with my hands. I fell towards the center of the bed. And the gun went off. The hypothesis that he was shot in the position he was found is not supported by this evidence. Also unlikely, the Eichlenbohms say, is the prosecutor's theory that Anne shot her husband from behind the bed. This trajectory is not very likely.

That doesn't make any sense to me. No, I mean, just look at me. If I would shoot him through the head, I would go like this. And they showed us why they think the odd location of the spent cartridge, such damning proof according to the prosecution, really proves nothing at all. The casing can end up in that position if the gun is twisted far enough around. Correct. There is no chance she murdered her husband.

Ann's family and friends want to make sure the judges think so too. If I thought Ann had anything to do with this, in any way, shape or form, I wouldn't be here. But for Ned Zeman, the case is no longer clear. So you can see a scenario where it's an accident? Yes. Where it's suicide? Yes. And where it might be murder. You can see all these?

Yes. I absolutely can. And Yes. And where it might be murder. You can see all these. Yes. I absolutely can. And I think anybody who sat in that courtroom would probably say the same thing, except for maybe Ann and her attorney, because it's any of those makes sense. In his closing, Prosecutor Ramirez insists there is only one plausible scenario. Ann Bender shot her husband. Defense attorney Okonotrio pleads for reason, saying Ann is not an assassin. Facing a possible 25 years in prison, Ann herself has the last word. I did not kill John.

But even after four years and two trials, she is unprepared for this verdict. Translation, guilty of murder. Her friends and family sit stunned. She is sentenced immediately to 22 years in prison. And she is led away. I really don't remember much after that, except the police officers surrounding me.

Her boyfriend, Greg Fisher, is devastated. I don't think she's gonna live. I don't think she's gonna survive. The reality that I could be here for 22 years, have I accepted that? I don't think there's any way that I can. See more of John and Ann Bender's life in their own Costa Rican nature preserve, now online at 48hours.com. The only person who could have made that shot was Anne Maxine Payton.

Immediately after being sentenced to 22 years for murder, Anne Bender appealed her conviction. There's no evidence that proves beyond a reasonable doubt that I killed John. The evidence doesn't exist. We met with her six weeks later in prison. I'm still surviving and I refuse to give up. I'm just not going to. And giving up in this place would be tempting. There are about 50 women per room, three toilets, no hot water. No privacy. None. Zero. Nada. And no guarantee she won't spend the rest of her life behind bars. How do you fight back from something like that in those surroundings? You survive.

You do what you gotta do. Then in the winter of 2015, after nine months in prison, a development almost as stunning as Ann's conviction. She wins her appeal. The court annuls the verdict. She will have to face yet another trial, but she is released for now. She learns all this from a friendly guard. I said, you're kidding. I can leave? And she said, yeah, you're free. I fell to the ground completely. I just lost it. But in this story, bad news always seems to follow the good. And Ann soon learns she is not off the hook. Prosecutors have decided to try her for a third time.

Her third trial begins about six months later, and not only is Ann physically more fragile than ever, she has suffered a major personal setback. Her boyfriend, Greg Fisher, died of an asthma attack while she was in prison. But at this trial, there is no shortage of people to lean on. Anne's parents, her best friend, Celine. She's the best human being that I've ever met. A lot of people that are close to me are very invested in my getting out of this. John Bender's old friend, Pete DeLisi, has called in legal reinforcements, too. Two lawyers from the UK and two from the U.S.

Paid by Anne, they'll advise her local attorney and closely monitor the trial, making sure the judges know they're watching. Anne's biggest challenge may be just holding herself together in court. biggest challenge may be just holding herself together in court. In contrast to her day-long testimony in previous trials, she is on the stand for only two hours. And this time, she tries to appeal to the judges by testifying in Spanish. Once again, telling her story is an emotional ordeal. Prosecutor Edgar Ramirez's approach to this trial is much the same. But he appears to be minus several key witnesses, including his star, medical examiner Gretchen Flores.

She has mysteriously gone missing. mysteriously gone missing. And supporters call it an obvious delaying tactic. It's part of their strategy. They drag this out as long as they can so that everyone leaves. But this time, Team Bender has some star witnesses of its own. So he's lying like this. And put your gun like this. That's what they said.

We've come here to participate in the truth finding. Selma and Richard Eichlenbaum. High-powered and controversial. They investigated the clothing and there was no blood there. Anne's lawyers hired the Dutch forensic experts after the Eichlenbaums completed their independent analysis for 48 hours. But for the Eichlenbaums completed their independent analysis for 48 hours. But for the Eichlenbaums to testify, the Costa Rican judges must agree to make an exception

and allow new witnesses. We don't know if we can testify or not. The prosecution......strenuously objects. The judges decide that Selma can testify. Here you see the bullet. Richard cannot. You would say, okay, it was this gun. But the defense still can use him. He will be allowed to cross-examine the state's medical examiner.

Gretchen Flores finally has resurfaced after two weeks. Richard Eichlenbaum's chance to question this witness is an opportunity, but also a big challenge. Flores is as certain as ever that Ann Bender killed John. And the death sentence was a homicide death sentence. as ever that Anne Bender killed John. We're not lawyers, so it's a new role. Here you have a photo. Costa Rican law prohibits American-style cross-examination, in which lawyers use questions suggesting the answers they want. So Anne's legal team quickly has to train this Dutch scientist to think like a Costa

Rican attorney. We have absolutely a lot of work to do. To help Anne, he'll have to pointedly ask medical examiner Flores about her experiments without seeming to have an opinion either way. It seems to me what we can do is explore what experiments the Crown have, sorry, the prosecution have not done. When did you do this? You didn't do this. You didn't do this. That's fine.

That is providing information and we're not allowed to do that. It's providing information. Yes, indirectly. After working all weekend, the team is ready. Now we have to play lawyer games. Do you know if this gun was tested for the distance of a missile flame? No, I don't know. Am I allowed to show a picture?

Yes, go ahead. Richard Eichlenbaum has to tread carefully. And the constraints limit what he can accomplish. But next, it's Selma's turn. She is a witness. I remember her walking in and the reaction of the judges, you know, just seeing her because she has such an amazing presence in the courtroom. And as a witness, she can go much further. I see no support for the scenario of a homicide.

Her testimony was amazing. In my opinion, as an expert, all the evidence that is available points clearly in the direction of a suicide. available points clearly in the direction of a suicide. The prosecutor makes a last-ditch effort to strike Selma's testimony from the record. But for now, the judges decide it can stay. You can't unring the bell. They heard what she said. It's been three long weeks. At last they are ready to vote on a verdict. After three trials and nearly ten years. The judges are

looking at me and I hear the words, not guilty. Absuelta. And that translates? Absolved. Absolved. Yeah. The world believes me, finally. This time, Ann takes no chances. As soon as Costa Rican authorities return her passport, she flies home to the U.S. with

no intention of ever going back to Costa Rica, regardless of what zealous prosecutors do. We caught up with her in Washington. I don't see you flying down to Costa Rica for a fourth trial. I don't see it either. Not a chance. Not so fast. In a jaw-dropping decision months later, a Costa Rican court announces, yes,

it intends to try Ann Bender a fourth time. Her stunned lawyers immediately appeal. But win or lose, it's doubtful prosecutors actually could try her again. Trials in absentia are not allowed in Costa Rica. While there is an extradition treaty in place, legal experts say that after three trials, they would be shocked to see the U.S. extradite Ann Bender for a fourth. In fact, Ann seems finally to have put this one-time paradise behind her, her past there

as haunted as the abandoned, overgrown jungle compound she left behind. I'll never get back everything that was taken from me, obviously. I'll never get back my husband. Now it's time to go after what can be recovered and find a life again. find a life again. Anne Bender has moved into a new house on the East Coast. She has put the Boracayan property up for sale.

Just last summer, she got her multi-million dollar gem collection back.