Deliberations resume for man accused in wife’s cliff death

A 911 dispatcher who attempted to coach Henthorn through CPR testified during the trial that she concluded he was not actually attempting to save his wife’s life, and prosecutors said Henthorn could not explain why he had a park map with an “X” drawn at the spot where the victim fell. “We don’t have to worry anymore”.

Henthorn’s conviction carries a mandatory life sentence, Justice Department spokesman Jeff Dorschner said. He was searching for the “perfect place to murder someone”, where there would be no witnesses and no chance of her surviving, prosecutor Suneeta Hazra said. The couple had been in the park to celebrate their anniversary, though friends said she was not an avid hiker and questioned why she would be in such rugged terrain.

His dishonesty was so firmly cemented that Truman, his attorney, nearly apologized that his client “can’t tell the same story twice”, but he added that none of that proves Henthorn killed either of his wives.

Two jurors told The Associated Press that though some of the evidence was circumstantial, they were overwhelmingly convinced of Henthorn’s guilt.

In closing arguments Friday morning prosecutor Valeria Spencer portrayed Henthorn as a man who killed his first wife in 1995, but was never charged in a case that was ruled an accident.

“Today a jury in federal court has spoken – finding Harold Henthorn guilty of the First Degree Murder of his wife, Toni Henthorn”.

Details of the earlier case dominated the trial. Henthorn collected more than $600,000 in life insurance from the death of Lynn Henthorn.

Toni was Henthorn’s second wife to die under suspicious circumstances.

But a jury in Colorado didn’t buy that claim, finding him guilty of first-degree murder. She was a successful ophthalmologist with a stake in her family’s oil business. They had a daughter, now 10.