48 Hours - The Doctor's Daughter - Encore

Episode Date: April 2, 2023

Can a daughter's frantic 911 call convict or free her father from charges that he killed his wife? "48 Hours" contributor Jim Axelrod reports.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. What is your emergency? Okay, my mother, I don't know if she's breathing, but she's laying on the ground in the shower. I need to go over there and see if she's okay. Okay, how do you know she's down there? The actual call came out where the victim fell in the shower.

Oh, my God, he just went everywhere. The supervisor at the scene called and said, I think you're going to want to come up here. There's quite a bit of blood. I'm thinking this had to have been some fall. Dr. Newlander said that he removed his wife from the shower and ultimately took her into the bedroom in order to perform CPR. Emergency personnel determined that she was dead shortly after they arrived. Leslie was so well known. They were both very active in the philanthropic community. He's delivered thousands of babies, so if you just multiply that out,

there's literally tens of thousands of people that have some connection to Dr. Newlander. The medical examiner makes a ruling. She slipped and fell in the shower, accidental death. Right. I thought, you know, how sad, and then went about doing the other things that I am supposed to do. You know, this was supposed to be a fall in the shower, but we've got blood on this wall, some blood spatter up on an angled wall. And then my suspicions began to rise,

and I'm wondering if we missed something here. Do you have any explanation as to how that rod got on the wall? The best explanation to me is an impact event. On or near the south side of the bed. Impacts batter. Force impacting liquid blood. There was obviously a violent encounter in that bedroom. Inconsistent with a scenario where she wakes up, goes into the shower, slips, and is discovered by her husband.

It's a homicide. It's an arrest 18 months in the making. It was originally ruled an accident, but police have been investigating ever since. I don't think people kill people without some reason. So why did he do it? Sam? Sam? Oh, my God! One of the absolute major, major points of the prosecution's case was the 911 call from the daughter. Oh, my God! My mother! My mommy!

Jenna Newlander was important to the prosecution and the defense because she was the only other person in the house at the time of these events. 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,

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It's just The Best Idea Yet. now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. 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 have urged it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story

that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Inside this grand home, on the morning of September 17, 2012,

A disturbing scene was unfolding. My mom, my mom, my mom! Okay. As 23-year-old Jenna Newlander frantically called 911. Is she doing this? Jenna? Jenna? Oh, my God. Jenna's father, Dr. Robert Newlander, had screamed to her for help.

He said he just found his wife on the floor of the bathroom shower. Within minutes, paramedics arrived at the house. 61-year-old Leslie Newlander had suffered a massive head wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene. You get a call, fall in the shower, you show up expecting to see the accident victim near the shower. That's right. The expectations are that she's going to be either in the shower or immediately right outside the shower. Instead, former DeWitt, New York, police sergeant Scott Capral found Leslie in the bedroom, on the floor, close to the bed.

I walk into the actual bedroom, and that's when I catch all the blood. Capral noticed blood in different areas of the bedroom, pooled on the rug, and spattered on the wall next to the bed. My radar is going off as far as saying, we need to answer why all this blood is here. Capral had plenty of questions, but Dr. Newlander seemed to have all the answers,

telling investigators that after finding Leslie on the shower floor, he carried her out of the bathroom some 60 feet into the bedroom, where he could more comfortably perform CPR. Something he did despite Jenna's protests. As he's relaying the story about what had occurred, and as the medical examiner's digesting it, and as we're all digesting it, his actual story of step-by-step process fit the pattern of where you saw these different pools of blood.

The medical examiner on the scene examined Leslie's injuries and ruled they matched up with Dr. Newlander's account. The death? A tragic accident. Leslie Newlander died from hitting her head on the shower bench. The whole thing was out of character with a fall in the shower. You've been a cop 20 years. Had you ever seen head trauma like that before? The whole thing was out of character with a fall in the shower. You've been a cop 20 years. Had you ever seen head trauma like that before? Well, not from a fall, but as we're listening to the medical examiner explain what he feels could have happened.

You know, we're not physicians. We're not forensic pathologists. We're police officers. We're investigators. So we certainly defer to him. The account of Jenna Newlander, an eyewitness... I see him actually carrying her. ...seemed to back up the medical examiner's ruling that this was an accident when police interviewed her as part of their routine investigation.

He was, like, putting his face up to her and she was breathing. The death of Leslie Newlander shook the community. Everyone knew the Newlanders. Mary Jembelek was a good friend of the Newlanders. They seemed like the perfect couple, the perfect marriage, the perfect family, really. Leslie was a fabulous woman, very vivacious, energetic, unpretentious. She was switched on. Yes, I know people always speak well of the dead, but truly this was her personality, to be so giving and alive.

Leslie and Bob gave generously, both their time and money. They were well known for their philanthropy. Their social prominence dovetailed with Robert Newlander's professional standing, one of the most highly regarded gynecologists and obstetricians in the Syracuse area. He delivered a lot of babies around here. Many, many, with a lot of good feelings toward the care he gave those patients for many, many years. My interactions with Dr. Newlander were joyful, were these wonderful things that were happening and welcoming their baby, becoming a

family. Julie Crosby, who worked with Dr. Newlander assisting pregnant women, says patients were drawn to his supportive demeanor. I found Dr. Newlander to be compassionate, kind, knowledgeable. That caring way, say those who knew them best, was a defining value for this tightly knit family. The closeness is plain to see in these birthday tributes for Robert and Leslie, made by their children, Emily and Brian from Robert's first marriage, and Ari and Jenna from Leslie and Robert's 28-year marriage. Mixed with loving teasing for their mother, She's like, how does everyone know I'm from New York?

I don't understand. How does everyone know I'm from New York? is a deep appreciation. Thank you for being you. I love you. The Newlanders' thoughtfulness was something Mary Jembelek experienced firsthand after becoming gravely ill with an infection while on vacation in the Czech Republic in the summer of 2012. I was in a coma and then in the hospital for three weeks.

When she finally returned home, the first neighbors to check on her were the Newlanders. I remember hugging everybody and I remember Leslie saying, we're so glad that you made it. Just two days later, Mary received the devastating news. Leslie was dead. A freak accident. She'd slipped in the shower. I couldn't believe that she had just been to see me and tell me how grateful she is that I'm alive and she's dead.

It was shocking. It was overwhelming. What did you think about that? Well, at the time, I thought, I guess that can happen, even to a 61-year-old, very healthy, athletic person. That was the same conclusion Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick reached when he first heard about Leslie's death. He believed it was a tragic accident, until a few months later, when a tip changed everything.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this. 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 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. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Three months after Leslie Newlander's sudden death, Mary Jembelek began getting some unusual calls from friends. What are they saying? We don't think it was an accident.

And who better to share their concerns with than a forensic scientist? For 11 years, Dr. Mary Jembeek was the county's chief medical examiner until she retired in 2009. My focus for my entire career has been to speak for the dead. Dr. Jumbellek listened carefully. There were questions about all that blood and whispers about the Newlanders' personal life. Are you hearing about a troubled marriage? Yes. Are you hearing about financial problems?

Yes. In recent years, Dr. Newlander's thriving practice had been derailed by a battle with an insurance company, and he was now delivering half the number of babies he did previously. was now delivering half the number of babies he did previously. Dr. Jembelek was reluctant to get involved, but she finally picked up the phone and called her old colleague, D.A. Bill Fitzpatrick. Did you feel in some way you were betraying the Newlanders? I felt I was responding to gossip. As it turns out, the DA had also been hearing things. He'd received an anonymous letter just before Jembelek's call suggesting a different side to Dr. Newlander.

That he's not the, you know, the good guy that people are making him out to be. Leslie was trying to break away from this guy. Jembelek's initial hope was she could soon put all the speculation to rest. And she volunteers, you know, pro bono to take a look at the case and would I make the file available to her? And I said, absolutely. As you began to look at this file, what jumped out at you? The severity of the injuries compared to the explanation.

Leslie had suffered a penetrating wound toward the back of her head so severe the blood pooled in her eye. Had you seen head wounds like this before? Of course. In what kind of cases? Car accidents, falls from, you know, 20-story building, beatings.

What might cause this kind of injury? A heavy object of some sort. You're talking about getting hit with some object? Yes. What do you tell the district attorney after reviewing the file? That this is a homicide, blunt head trauma from an assault. Half a year after Leslie Newlander's death, the investigation picked up steam. Police revisited the death scene to collect more evidence from the now unoccupied Newlander home, which had been sold. One of the things we find is blood all

over the back of the headboard on the bed. We also found blood spatter on the blinds that were behind the bed. Dr. Newlander was living in a new apartment, which was also searched. By now, he had retained one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the city, Edward Mencken. This has been an open secret and a subject of gossip and irresponsible rumor now for months. Dr. Newlander has not been charged with any kind of offense. Mencken assured the DA his client had nothing to hide, so much so that 15 months after Leslie's death, Dr. Newlander, now retired, voluntarily sat for an interview with prosecutors and investigators, even acknowledging there had been problems in their marriage.

But you were sleeping separately? Okay, what was the reason for that? We had thought about a trial separation. Yet Robert Newlander portrays the home as peaceful and loving, despite the issues in their marriage. The night before Leslie died, the couple, along with their son Ari and daughter Jenna, had a family dinner at a friend's home.

After, Ari headed back to his college dorm, and Jenna went back home with her parents. We said goodnight to each other, and we loved each other, and everybody kissed and went to their respective bedrooms. Dr. Newlander tells the DA that early the next morning he went for a jog at a nearby state park, Green Lakes, and then brought Leslie her usual cup of morning coffee when he got back. The shower is on. I hear the water running and I place it on the nightstand. About an hour later, he says, he returned to check on Leslie.

And there she was, lying on the shower floor. Dr. Newlander says he started CPR and tried to call 911, but the bathroom phone wasn't working. So he ran toward Jenna's bedroom, yelling for her to call 911. The time? 825 a.m. My mother, I don't know if she's breathing, but she's laying on the ground in the shower. He said he then went back to Leslie and began to move her. He says he can't see. The lighting is not very good in the bathroom. see the lighting is not very good in the bathroom. He then put Leslie down just outside the bathroom to give her mouth-to-mouth before moving her again. I don't know at what age we all learn

that you don't move somebody with a serious head or neck injury, but we all know it. And here's a guy that's been practicing medicine for 30 years. Finally, Dr. Newlander says he placed his wife next to the bed to continue CPR. There's, you know, more red flags than a bullfight going off in my head when I hear that story for the first time. Fitzpatrick develops his own theory that hours before that 911 call, Dr. Newlander assaulted his wife in the bedroom

and then likely chased her into the bathroom. I think that he struck her on that shower bench. She may have already been in the process of dying at that point. Fitzpatrick believes Newlander made up the story of finding Leslie in the shower and called for Jenna so he'd have a witness as he carried his wife back to the bedroom. What do you think he was doing when he was moving her? I think now he has got to explain the blood trail

from the assault that took place in the bedroom that eventually made its way into the bathroom, and he's got to do it in reverse. He had to move that body himself to explain that blood. As for the blood spattered in the bedroom, the DA believes Dr. Newlander didn't realize some of it was there because the violence took place before the sun was up. And don't forget, he's committing this crime.

It's dark. He doesn't know where all the blood is. But if Leslie Newlander was attacked in her bedroom, why were the sheets nearly pristine? The Newlander's longtime housekeeper provided a clue to investigators. She looked at the bed and got upset and said, those are not the sheets that were on that bed that Friday. She was very confident of that. The DA believes that Dr. Newlander got rid of the sheets that were on that bed that Friday. She was very confident of that. The DA believes that Dr. Newlander got rid of the sheets and the weapon on that alleged morning run. I think the murder weapon is at the bottom of Green Lake somewhere, along with the missing sheets. With evidence now mounting,

the medical examiner changed his original report from accidental death to homicide. Nearly two years after Leslie Newlander's death, her husband, Dr. Robert Newlander, was charged with her murder. The defendant moved the body of Leslie Newlander after her death to make it appear as if she had died from an accidental fall in the shower. But Dr. Newlander's family says Fitzpatrick has it all wrong. to make it appear as if she had died from an accidental fall in the shower. But Dr. Newlander's family says Fitzpatrick has it all wrong. Leslie's own children stand united with the man accused of murdering their mother. What do you think created that trail of blood? An expert explains the science of blood spatter on Facebook at 48 Hours.

In March of 2015, two and a half years after the death of Leslie Newlander, high drama was about to unfold in the Onondaga County Courthouse. It has all the elements, the rich defendant, a beautiful wife, and the mystery surrounding it. Was it an accident? Was it a homicide? So it was huge. It was huge for this community. Not only was a prominent doctor on trial, but two of Syracuse's top trial lawyers were squaring off to determine his guilt or innocence. People were stopping you on the street, you know, hey Fitz, how's it look, or go get him, or I hope you lose.

I have never had a client whose innocence I believe in more firmly than him. Ed Menken spoke to local reporters but declined our request for an interview. If either one of them finds blood in the water, they go right for it. We asked retired local attorney Jim Stevens to explain the defense's case. He's a CBS News consultant who attended the trial. It was going to be riveting. It was a top-notch trial all the way around. Each day in court began with the same scene in the hallways. Free on a $100,000 bail, the doctor would arrive flanked not only by his children, but by Leslie's sister and brother. He didn't do it. That's the message. He didn't do it. It was not a crime.

He didn't do it. That's the message. He didn't do it. It was not a crime. The state has bigger hurdles to contend with than just images. Prosecutors have no weapon and no clear-cut motive. Is it risky to go to a jury without those things? Sure, sure. I mean, the jurors, you know, they're not any different than you and I. They want answers. Fitzpatrick believes the evidence, like the blood spatter in the bedroom, will tell the jury that this was no accident.

And he's enlisted the help of forensic scientist Karen Green to make his case. Blood stains can tell you a lot. They can tell you a lot, and they're associated with just about every crime scene that we go to. There were no cameras in the courtroom, so we asked Green to take us through her blood spatter analysis. There was spatter on the headboard. There was spatter on items on the nightstand, just south of the bed. Spatter on the blinds above the bed, and there was spatter on the south wall that was about seven feet to the south of the bed. Tell us about the south wall. We've been referencing it. What are the two spatters that are marked SBD1?

That's an area where we saw over 100 spatter stains. The prosecution contends the spatter was primarily something called impact spatter, created when Leslie was attacked in the bedroom. To better understand the terminology, we built a set and supplied Karen Green with stage blood to give us a rudimentary lesson. When we talk about impact spatter, what does that mean?

Impact spatter is force applied to liquid blood. So I'm going to pour some of our artificial blood here into my hand and I'm going to punch it, and that's force going into a blood source. The force impacts the blood, and the blood spatters. Yes, and then the blood breaks up into smaller drops. It's impact. That's one way blood gets out. You can see how it's radiating out.

We have some smaller stains with some directionality up to the top. For the Newlander case, Green conducted various experiments trying to recreate the spatter in the bedroom, going so far as placing a rock covered in plastic and a wig on a bed to simulate Leslie's head. I had a location that was similar to the New Lander bedroom with the slanted ceiling. I used all the measurements that were in the scene, the approximate height of the bed. I had a nightstand, and then I put liquid blood,

and I impacted it. I just had to verify that an impact on or near the south side of the bed could create spatter six to seven feet away in the same distribution. And could it? I was able to recreate with an impact event, an impact scenario, all of the spatter that I saw in this bedroom. But the defense mocked Green's methods and said they amounted to nothing more than whacking a mannequin over the head. said they amounted to nothing more than whacking a mannequin over the head.

The defense had their own blood spatter expert. He testified it was not possible to determine if Leslie's death had been an accident or a homicide because the investigation had been flawed. There were not enough close-up pictures of the blood. Some of the evidence in question, like the headboard and the blinds, had been collected months after the incident. Emergency personnel had walked all over the scene. In fact, the defense suggested that EMTs may have been responsible for some of the blood spatter. First responders probably had blood on their hands and that the gloves were just peeled off.

And in so doing, the blood flies from the gloves, and you don't have an impact, but you have a cast-off. The defense also argued that the blood could have been cast off by Dr. Newlander himself. The doctor said he'd been wearing a long-sleeved shirt that became so wet and bloody as he tried to frantically save his wife's life that he pulled it off. Those spatters by the bed were caused by him removing his shirt. Fitzpatrick scoffs at those theories, pointing out that paramedics are trained

to carefully remove their gloves and that no gloves or shirt could account for the amount of blood in that room. That doesn't explain any of the blood. It's a significant amount of blood. The defense insists it was an accident and that there may have been a good reason why Leslie Newlander fell that morning. She had vertigo, a dizziness disorder. Leslie's personal trainer told the jury that Leslie's condition had grown worse and her sister Joanne testified that it ran in the family,

and that she herself suffered from it. The idea of her sister testifying, is that affecting your view of the case? Sure. Why wouldn't she be madder than hell? And why wouldn't she be saying, I'm not testifying for you, what are you, crazy? You killed my sister. To bolster their case of an accidental death, the defense hired Dr. Daniel Spitz, a medical examiner working in Michigan who's seen more than his share of traumatic head injuries. His testimony basically is the massive head wound that caused her death was caused as a result of her falling in the shower against the stone bench. If Leslie sustained an injury in the shower by her head striking the stone bench,

what does this do for Dr. Newlander's defense? Home run. But the prosecution countered that Leslie suffered at least two blows to her skull and that the wounds were not consistent with her head striking a straight edge like a stone shower bench. It should be like a simple linear fracture with some bleeding underneath of it, but you don't get the complex depressed fracture like this. Dr. Jim Bellick did not testify at trial, but consulted with the prosecution. Leslie's other injuries, they say, don't add up to a slip and fall. There were abrasions, scrapes of the skin on her cheek, bruising on her nose, more on the left side of the cheek as well, bruising and scraping on her neck.

If she slipped and fell in the shower, why aren't there any injuries to her back or her legs, her knees, her elbows? Critical to the prosecution's case, not just how Leslie Newlander died, but when. Dr. Spitz estimated Leslie died around 7.30 a.m., but the D.A. makes the case that her death could have occurred as early as 4-15, which fits his theory of a pre-dawn assault. The time of death is absolutely inconsistent with the defendant's story. There is now just one more witness left to testify, the doctor's daughter. What did she see that terrible morning? She was there. She was there.

She was there. The day that Jenna was to testify, the spectators were lined up in anticipation of what she was going to say. Two and a half years after Jenna Newlander's beloved mother, Leslie, died... Thank you for being you. I love you. mother Leslie died. Thank you for being you. I love you. The now 25-year-old devoted daughter is about to take the stand to defend her father. There was no doubt there was pain in that courtroom when she testified. She's trying to secure her father's freedom and she's dealing with the death of her mother, right? I don't know how she got on the stand to do it. She's the only other eyewitness.

She was very, very important to the outcome of this case. With all eyes on her, Jenna tearfully describes the mother she lost. She was genuinely upset and mournful about testifying. The testimony forced her to bring some memories to the surface of her mother, who she clearly loved very, very much. Jenna then tells the jury what happened in the Newlanders' home in the hours before her mother died.

She says she was with her mom in Leslie's bedroom until 2 a.m. And Jenna clearly remembers the sheets on her mother's bed that night. She says they're the same ones in the death scene photos. Sheets the housekeeper said had been changed. The changing of the sheets was a significant issue. You know, why would you change the sheets? Change the sheets because there was blood on it. No bloody sheets, there's no impact event on the bed. I need to go over there and see if she's okay. Okay. Then there's perhaps the most critically important piece of evidence. I need to put you on hold. It's like a house call. The later part of the 911 call, Jenna put the call on hold in her mother's office to get closer to the bathroom where Leslie was.

Both sides argue Jenna's cry, there's blood everywhere, is key and supports their case. To demonstrate the arguments, we made an animation of parts of the Newlander home based on evidence the prosecution presented at trial. The prosecution believes as Jenna was running into the bathroom, she passes blood here and here. A trail of blood that could not yet exist unless Robert Newlander attacked Leslie earlier in the bedroom and then left her in the shower.

She has passed the entrance to the bathroom where there's a significant amount of blood on the wall that only could have come from Leslie's head, perhaps by being pushed against that wall or perhaps being chased. The D.A. says Jenna then grabbed the landline phone in the water closet to reconnect with 911 and yells, there's blood everywhere. You're saying it's a big deal how she even phrased, oh, my God, there's blood everywhere, that her mother's not part of that sentence. Exactly. Her initial response would have been, oh, my God, my mother's bleeding. My mother's on the ground. She would have referenced what she was seeing. Fitzpatrick believes Jenna drops the phone and the call captures seconds seconds later, the exact moment when she first sees her mom as Dr. Newlander starts to carry Leslie's body around the corner, out of the shower, and into Jenna's view. It is then she lets loose a cry of pure anguish.

Oh my God! Oh my God, my God! My mommy! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! My God! As painful as it is to listen to, it is inconceivable that that call is anything other than a declaration of guilt against her father. But the defense says the same call proves Dr. Newlander's innocence, that when Jenna runs into the bathroom, there is no blood on the walls yet. Jenna testifies she picks up the phone by the toilet, drops it because it isn't working, while rushing to help her father. They carry her mother to this area, right outside the bathroom, and Jenna says it is at that point she takes a cordless phone from her mother's dressing room and reconnects with the 911 operator. In the defense view, this is when Jenna sees blood on and around her mother. This is when she yells, there's blood everywhere.

The defense's take on that is that her mother is present in front of her and she's reacting to her mother, the blood that's on her mother, and maybe blood on the wall and on the floor as well. Jenna was asked on the stand, did you see blood on your way to the water closet? Correct. She answered what? She said no. That supports the notion that the first time she saw blood, she was looking at her mother. Correct.

The DA, though, doesn't believe Jenna could do everything she claims to have done during the 13 seconds the 911 call was on hold. Fitzpatrick tried it himself and says it took him about 50 seconds. It is not physically possible to do that in 13 seconds. It's not even a close question. There is one other part of Jenna's testimony that may be crucial. Jenna tells the jury that as her father was tending to her mother in the bedroom, she saw him take off a blood-soaked shirt and throw it to the side. Now remember, the defense suggested that tossing this bloody shirt may have caused some of the blood spatter in the bedroom. But the shirt has never been found.

There isn't a single witness that saw him with a long-sleeved shirt on other than Jenna. If we injected Jenna Newlander with truth serum and said, did your father kill your mother? She would say no. I don't think in her mind Jenna believes that her father did this. I think she has created a protective world in her mind where mom slipped and fell in the shower. a protective world in her mind where mom slipped and fell in the shower. But the question now isn't what Jenna believes.

It's what the jury believes. I'm worried that they're having an emotional reaction to the agony of this girl. They know that this girl wants them to vote not guilty. And they know that this 60-plus-year-old defendant is unlikely to re-offend.

And all of those emotions can play to the detriment of a case that has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. After eight grueling days of testimony, District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick addressed the jury one last time for closing arguments, asking them to pay close attention to the physical evidence, specifically the blood spatter on the walls and the injuries to Leslie Newlander's body. As I said many times in the trial, Leslie will speak to you, ladies and gentlemen. You have to listen to her.

And also, to listen carefully to the words of Jenna Newlander in that critical 911 call. Oh, no, sir, he just blew it everywhere. It proves his guilt beyond any shadow of a doubt. But there's one thing the DA could not share with the jury. What he suspects was the motive that sent Robert Newlander into a murderous rage that morning. Investigators learned from a friend of the Newlander family that Leslie was planning on signing a lease for a new apartment on the day she died. Leslie was on her way out, and this is not a guy that can deal with that. But this was not presented at trial, Fitzpatrick says, because the memory of that witness changed.

She later said the apartment was for both Leslie and Robert. Ed Menken strongly denies these accusations and insists there was no motive. In the summation, he didn't just say not guilty. He said innocent. Innocent. He said innocent throughout. The jury would deliberate for three days before alerting the judge they had reached a verdict. Robert Newlander returned to the courthouse once again,

arm in arm with his family. The pain etched on his children's faces. Two and a half years after Leslie Newlander's death, the jury found Robert Newlander guilty of her murder. A heartbroken Jenna Newlander broke the silence of the hushed courtroom, crying out loud to her father, I was there. You didn't do it. Let me know when everybody's set. I'm only setting it once. Outside the courtroom, a visibly shaken Ed Menken addressed the media.

Bob Newlander is the most honorable person I have ever met. This case has been a travesty from start to finish. It is not finished. And so, the Newlander children turned to attorney Gerald Shargel, legendary for his defense of mob boss John Gotti, to handle their father's appeal. Shargel wasted little time calling for a hearing to throw out Newlander's conviction, alleging there was serious juror misconduct.

In the spotlight, a juror named Jonna Lorraine. According to an alternate juror, Lorraine had received texts and other communications about the case during trial against Judge Miller's orders not to discuss the case. A search of the accused juror's phone revealed she had received some potentially prejudicial texts, including one from her father, which read, make sure he's guilty. But weeks later, the judge upheld Dr. Newlander's conviction,

pointing out the juror had been undecided in early stages of deliberations. And in the end, the judge ruled she had taken her role seriously. Almost four months after the verdict, sentencing would finally commence. With family photos on display, the Newlander children return to the courthouse. For the first time, cameras are allowed in court.

Facing a maximum sentence of 25 years to life, Newlander's family begged the judge for the minimum sentence of 15 years. Leslie's sister, Joanne, spoke on the family's behalf. Had any of us even slightly suspected foul play of any sort, we would not be here today on boxed behavior. And then it was time for Robert Newlander to address the court. My head is unbowed by the verdict of this court.

For an innocent man, he has been wrongfully convicted. I would not, it did not, take a life. I love my wife, Leslie, very much, and I mourn her every day, now and forever. The judge sentenced Robert Newlander to 20 years to life in a New York state prison. In the jury's eyes, Dr. Newlander, you intentionally murdered your wife and then attempted to use your own daughter to cover it up. A daughter who most clearly adores you, which is as diabolical as it gets. As Dr. Newlander is escorted out of the courtroom to begin his sentence, Jenna calls out.

Love you, Dad. The Newlander children have now lost not only their mother, but their father as well. I hate what this has done to Jenna. That's probably the most painful thing of all. He brought Jenna into that process. He made her a witness for his own purposes, and that is cruel. But Dr. Mary Jembelek knows she has also played a role

in their suffering. Do you have any regret about your involvement in this case? Do you have any regret about your involvement in this case? No. This is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole career. However, it was the right thing to do, and I hold on to that. We are finally giving Leslie the acknowledgment of what happened to her. A popular dentist and his wife on an African hunting safari. The shotgun blast killed her almost instantly. He said she was packing her gun. It boggles the mind of two experienced hunters for this to have been an accident.

Was there a motive? What happened on the safari? 48 hours, next on CBS. 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.