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To another he said they were on their way to the restaurant. CBS 48 Hours file photos This wasn't the only circumstance that Walsh saw as suspicious. The Sheriffs Office grew with it, from a few dozen to some 500 employees. Her husband, Harold Henthorn, was convicted of first-degree murder in. Lynn Henthorns death was a tragedy, not a crime. Over the course of those dozen years, Bob and Yvonne Bertolet watched their daughter change. She was a volunteer with the West Douglas County Fire Department who arrived on scene shortly after Montoya left. The Defendants entire adult life was a lie and scam to live his life and lifestyle while others paid the price. He rested the car on the same type of jacks Harold said hed used, in the same spot on the same side of the road where Lynn died. The audacity of Henthorns crimesand the fact that hes only been charged with one murder, though public opinion has deemed him overwhelmingly guilty of twocontinues to shock and amaze, even years after they first came to light. But I would be very careful. Harold was convicted of first-degree murder, and in 2015 was sentenced to life in federal prison. We grieve that we were not by her side in her dying moments. Bertolet said he and his family believe Harold Henthorn funneled the $500,000 to his brother anticipating that he would eventually be charged criminally for Toni Henthorn's death and might not have access to the money. To one cop, Harold said he and Lynn left their house to go on the drive around 1 p.m. To another he said 7. The Defendant demeaned the investigative authorities for uncovering his murder and sinister intentions. That woman on the mountain, she said. How else to explain all the strangeness? I disagree with the Defendants counsel when he proclaimed that the Defendant told lies to his detriment; the truth is the Defendant told lies for his direct benefit. Every great doctor had seen loss, had seen suffering, had seen lifes struggles, but all had discovered a purpose in their own lives to rebound from the lows of tragedy. Tonis alma mater, the University of Mississippi, has set up an endowment in her name that will raise money for ophthalmology education and surgical equipment. Bob and Yvonne watched as Harold slowly took control of Tonis life. She was killed while trying to change a flat tire when the car she was underneath fell on top of her, thousands of pounds of metal pinning her to the ground. His attorney, Craig Truman, said prosecutors failed to prove he killed her. However, Harold kept insisting on his innocence and in 2017 appealed for a retrial which was subsequently shot down. My wife is Yvonne and our two sons are Barry and Todd. If you would like to donate, you can visit www.umc.edu/tonibertoletendowment. Harold owned a little house in the mountains west of Denver and took Toni and Haley there often. If Toni mentioned a stove wasnt working properly or noticed something else that needed fixing, the issue got deliberated for hours, until Toni was so exhausted by the argument that she gave up. At that time, her death was quickly deemed an accident. Henthorn has sociopathic tendencies, without doubt, but what makes this so challenging is that a murderer is typically not a sociopath. Toni Henthorn was a skilled ophthalmologist and loving mother. Toni always carried the pain of a loss, but she also knew what those tragic moments taught her as a person. The case now before Weaver was different, though. The Bertolets hoped life might get better for Toni with the birth of Haley in 2005, but found, to their dismay, that things only got worse. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni.. And, ultimately, the investigation rattled Harold. DENVER - A Colorado man accused of killing his wife by pushing her off a cliff has been found guilty, CBS Denver reports. All of this led to the filing of murder charges last week. When Weaver finally left the Air Force and asked her where she wanted to live, she chose Denver. She died on the operating room after being flown to the hospital in a helicopter. The money was purportedly for a business investment, according to evidence presented at an earlier federal court hearing. Toni and Harold Henthorn were celebrating their 12th wedding anniversary the weekend when she died. Many notorious serial killers have been sociopaths, such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. I would not go anywhere alone with this man.. Shortly before her death, the change Harold made allowed for double the compensation if Lynn died as a result of an accident. The Bertolets found it odd that long after shed ceased to be a baby, Harold kept a video monitor running in his daughters room. Bertolet said he supported what the court-appointed administrators were doing since Toni Henthorn's family believes Harold Henthorn has likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his dead wife's money to pay his own defense lawyers. Editors picks What that something actually was, the Bertolets were slow to find out. Its a mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Colorado; Henthorn was 59. I think of how desperately she wanted a child and now she will never see that child grow up, never see her grandchildren.There is a picture of a smiling Toni resting on an easel in our home. Henthorn had been in prison since his arrest for Tonis murder in November of 2014 Since then, hes been transferred twice: in March, he went from Colorado to a Federal holding pen in Oklahoma City; then, to the high-security United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1995, long before Weaver ever stepped foot in Douglas County, a woman died on the side of a dark road on a cold night. Nothing budged the car. She had already suffered through one previous marriage, and her parents knew that her deepening faith and the fact that she and Harold now had a child of their own meant it was unlikely she would ever choose to divorce him. How does she know that a trusted person is not lying to her? A jury convicted Henthorn of murder in 2015 after about 10 and a half hours of deliberation. / CBS Colorado. A former rural ranching community turned, nearly overnight, into one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. It is often said that when a brilliant mind, talent, and heart come together as one, one should expect a Masterpiece. And the only reason Weaver was even looking at this thin excuse for a file was that now that same husband was a widower once more. Montoya wanted to cover his wife with something warm. At least that's what he told family, friends, and everyone else. "); I dont think that was an accident at all, she said, sitting on a bed next to Toni. Although the police found a partial footprint on the Jeeps tires and Harolds statements about the tragedy kept changing, Lynns death was soon determined an accident. He had to give his bosses credit; they were telling him he was likely going to find something that embarrassed them, but encouraged him nonetheless. (The detective would later testify to this in court.) Create and promote branded videos, host live events and webinars, and more. He was older. You do with this what you want to. Secondly, we wanted to provide a safe and loving environment for Haley, preferably with her mothers Mississippi family. It took Harold 45 minutes to get to her, and he claimed he performed CPR as best he could after dialing 911. Her husband, Harold Henthorn, was convicted of first-degree murder in her death. Nice, right? September 23, 2015 / 11:02 PM Prosecutors and police. And, though hes already serving a life sentence for killing his second wife, the total lack of charges stemming from the strange, mysterious death of his first continues to fuel general outrage and disbelief. Toni was not a life form on this Earth with wings and halo; she was a grounded person living an everyday life while doing remarkable deeds that touched peoples lives.Remarkable deeds didnt always shield Toni from the heartaches and losses seen in the practice of medicine, but those heartaches and losses defined and elevated her compassion and care. The U.S. Attorney's crime auditor testified last week that Henthorn had no employment and no steady source of income. However, his first wife, Lynn . We want to hear it. Overwhelmed by the loss of the child, Toni never wanted to see the hurt in another persons eyes, much less a childs eyes. Did you arrest the husband yet? shed asked. In 1994, Henthorn was arrested for shoplifting $47.49 worth of men's underwear from a JCPenney store. The preparation of the Victim Statements by Barry, Todd and myself have helped us move ahead in the journey to recovery.Prepared by Bob Bertolet, October 19, 2015Amended December 5, 2015, My name is Todd Bertolet, and I am the younger brother of Toni Bertolet Henthorn.Toni Bertolet Henthorn was blessed with the gift of intellectual brilliance, impeccable character, extraordinary talents, and a big heart. He was careful and methodical and knew how to navigate the choppy waters of bureaucracy even when it came to the toughest cases. By the time Detective Weaver called Roberts, she had been promoted all the way up to chief of the department, and had witnessed more deaths than she cared to count. Eventually, Harold is arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. At first glance, it wasnt even apparent that it was a case. Trending If she hadnt moved a millisecond before it hit her, she later told her mother, it may have landed right on her head, perhaps with enough force to kill. Early in her medical career, Toni received a call to give emergency care to a 4 or 5 year old little boy that had been critically injured in a car accident. Bertolet said, "There's no doubt he paid for his defense with Toni's money.". In 2014 federal magistrate judge Kathleen Tafoya said at a hearing, "The court views these transfers as an attempt to hide $500,000 in cash assets which could be used should the defendant decide to flee the country. When Harold Henthorns second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn, appeared to lose her life after a tragic fall, authorities became suspicious of the two times widower. Harold Henthorn, accused of pushing his second wife to her death in Rocky Mountain National Park, is being eyed in the 1995 death of his first wife. Bundy was recognized for being very charming but also killed more than 30 young women. We feel guilt that we failed to act on our suspicions concerning Tonis welfare in her marriage. After Tonis death, the Defendant routinely proclaimed that Haley Henthorn was doing just fine without her mother. Grief means coping, emptiness, adjusting, loss, and sadness. She died after plummeting about 130 feet off a cliff in a remote, rocky area where the couple had been hiking on Sept. 29, 2012, their 12th wedding anniversary. It is unknown when Harold married for the first time, but he and his first wife, Sandra Lynn Henthorn, were together for 12 years before a terrible tragedy affected their seemingly happy lives. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Testimony in the Henthorn trial showed Harold Henthorn never really had steady employment, had brought in no income while married to Toni Henthorn, and had been living off his ophthalmologist wife and her family's money for years. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Harold was usually cheery, often irrepressibly so. Toni Henthorn's brother, Todd Bertolet, told CBS4, "They're going to go after assets that should be in Toni's estate." According to the show, Tonis family passed a statement claiming that their daughter was quite disturbed in the days leading up to her passing. He had no real mentor to help him, Weaver said recently, in his first public comments since his retirement in August. No. After all, his first wife had also died under unusual circumstances, although her death was immediately ruled an accident. Was that a dream?". Rather, it defines an individual that doesnt meet the criteria for anti-social personality disorder, yet occasionally carries out anti-social acts. The lies? But for us, there will be, forever in this life, the pain and tears, maybe not seen by others, for our daughter, killed in a cruel, sadistic, senseless and cowardly act of violence.On September 29, 2012, the family as a whole decided on a course of action, not believing that the tragedy was an accident. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The Defendant has blamed the victim for her own death. The couple met online in late 1999 and got married only nine months later, both in a rush to have a child. Storyline Edit 48 Hours re-examines and updates the case of Harold Henthorn whose wives Lynn and Toni died 17 years apart in what were supposedly freak accidents. The Douglas County Coroner had ruled Lynns death as accidental. Video marketing. Prosecutors said Harold. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Since Harold was treated from the start as a victim, not a suspect, and since his wifes death was treated as an accident, not a deliberate murder, clues that wouldve appeared to others as red flags had no discernible hue at all. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. "That was very meaningful," Bertolet said. My child now asks the appropriate question of how do I know. July 26, 2017 at 11:59 a.m. In the document, he implied that. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4. Now those cops had a message for Douglas County: You need to go take a second look at something you thought you were done with. She was deeply religious-teaching Sunday school, singing in both college and church choirs. What they wanted was to see Toni happy. For most of their lives, Toni and her mother Yvonne had been best friends. Harold, in contrast to all those grieving family members, had been calm. Yet as soon as she moved to Colorado, Toni was no longer able to speak to her mother alone. 48 Hours examines the case of Harold Henthorn whose wives died 17 years apart in supposedly freak accidents. To Detective Weaver, it was just one sign among many that the investigation was botched from the beginning. (When reached for comment, the Douglas County Sheriffs Department disputed this characterization, but said they could not elaborate. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice James 3:16. Which he always did. The Defendant referred to Haley as a trooper and that life moved on as if nothing ever happened with respect to the permanent absence of Haleys mother. On May 6, 1995, Harold and Lynndecided to go on a long drive along a highway in Sedalia, Colorado. It turned out that Harold sent texts to friends and family telling them his wife was injured well after he knew that she was dead. It just so happened that every time Bob or Yvonne called their daughter, Harold was the one to answer. Then he tried to get the car to fall. The family had enough money. She was 10 when her mother, Toni was pushed off the cliff. As fate would have it, the couples Jeep Cherokee suddenly had a problem with one of its tires in the middle of the road. Harold claimed that one of the cars tires felt mushy, and pulled over to change it. When she died, her daughter was only 7 years old. Harold Henthorn faces a mandatory life term when he is sentenced Dec. 8. This trial was about the last moment in Tonis life and the moment that Toni took her last breath, he saidand he was actually speaking for two Bertolets; his brother, Todd, wrote the statement. His second wife had $4.5 million in life insurance. But in Detective Weavers mind, none of that mattered to the men investigating the case because every piece of information they gathered was viewed through the same distorting prism. It took the jury about 10 hours to find Harold Henthorn, 59, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his second wife, a wealthy Mississippi native. Barry Bertolet, Toni Henthorn's brother addresses the media following the guilty verdict (credit: CBS), Harold and Toni Henthorn (courtesy to CBS), Watch the CBS4 special "Inside The Investigation: Harold Henthorn. Harold told her he was a wealthy businessman who fundraised for schools and Churches. For some reason, though it was clear she needed their help, Harold yelled at them when they dragged Lynns unconscious body out from underneath the Jeep. Even though he said he could work from anywhere, he didnt see a future in Mississippi, where Tonis family, friends and nearly everyone else who was dear to her already lived. A partial footprint wasnt necessarily evidence of anything. The file contained a note from a woman named Patricia Montoya, who called the day after the accident with a question. The Defendant claimed to be financially wealthy, when, in fact he had no fortune at all. But all was not as it seemed. The innocence of a child should not be violated by evil within and, more importantly, evil within a trusted family unit. He probably could have continued to live that lie, but if he did this, then greed got the best of him. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Little did Harold Henthorns friends and neighbors know of the terrible secret he had been hiding for most of his married life. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The Denver Channel, 7News, brings you the latest trusted news and information for Denver, Colorado, Mile High and. In a horrible turn of events, Lynn crawled under the car to retrieve a lug nut when the vehicle came down on her crushing her fatally. One night, something happened at that cabin that left Toni recovering in a hospital bed. Initially, the couple appeared ecstatic in their new life and were happy with each other. Unlucky in love, but a success just about everywhere else. Of Henthorns defense, Peter Christofolo said, It didnt meet the common-sense barometer., It was supposed to be the perfect weekend #Dateline pic.twitter.com/ccPUf1sDEy, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) November 23, 2016, A few weeks later, in early December, a judge handed down the official sentence: life in prison. The sentencing today is the final act in completing our first goal and has opened the door to achieving the second goal. A chance to speak frankly with her daughter was something she hadnt had for a long time and Yvonne didnt waste it. The letter was from the Department of the Interior, which oversees every one of the countrys 417 national parks. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Firstly, we wanted to be a strong voice for Toni and to seek justice in her behalf. Dateline reporter Andrea Canning talked with family members who still live in Mississippi and retraced the day of her death and the investigation by federal authorities. Although Toni lived near her family in Mississippi and was a well-established opthalmologist, Harold persuaded her to leave her roots behind and move with him to Colorado. If Harold said they needed a new car, the car got bought. When that didnt work, he threw it a little harder. To another he said it wasnt him Lynn was actually rescued by a random group of helpful strangers. At one time she had been assertive and confident a former high school athlete with a deep commitment to God and an unwavering belief that she was put on Earth to help people heal. In the Defendants selfish quest to hoard a child as a possession, he interfered with and severed a sacred relationshipthat of a mothers love for her child and the childs need for the love her mother. Then came more subtle attempts to choke off any contact Toni might have with those who loved her. Moments after a federal court jury convicted Harold Henthorn Monday of killing his second wife Toni, a process server surprised Rob Henthorn with court papers compelling him to appear in court in Douglas County Oct. 30 to tell a probate judge what happened to the half million dollars Harold Henthorn transferred to him, or a business controlled by him, in early 2014 before Henthorn was arrested for his wife's murder. For a time, she wondered if she would ever be able to perform another operation. Gacy was a popular Chicago contractor who entertained children in hospitals, yet also raped, tortured, and killed 33 young men. Even early on, Weaver could see that the truth was leading somewhere he didnt want to be. The silence of the victim, Toni Bertolet Henthorn, in the court today is another word for the pain that she lived at the hands of the Defendant. Dale Archer, M.D., is a clinical psychiatrist and the author of Better Than Normal: How What Makes You Different Can Make You Exceptional. He organized playdates with other parents, told Haley when and what to eat, and made it clear to everyone paying attention that he, not Toni, was in charge. To the little boy that was dying on the emergency room table that felt the healing hand of a wonderful physician, but was in need of a guiding hand to heaven from a person of tremendous faith, Tonis life mattered and was indispensable.On September 29, 2012, the Defendant murdered Toni Bertolet Henthorn. The wrongful death was affirmed by an attentive, intelligent, meticulous, and methodical jury that considered the facts and evidence in this case and reached the verdict of guilty of 1st degree murder. Henthorn had been living a lie for years. Shatterdaymorn Plot summary Add synopsis Genres A Colorado jury of eight women and four men deliberated for 12 hours over two days before deciding Monday afternoon that Harold Henthorn, 59, was guilty of murdering his wife three years ago. It would take a lot less time to find out that for Harold, their son-in-law, his tragic present looked very much like his past. Most people dont know that within that department there are teams of cops who work cases just like police in less scenic precincts. He took away one jack and ran through the whole scenario again. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time And he maintains his innocence. The Defendant never showed grief as to the loss of Toni, and has yet to tell anyone in this family that he actually loved her. He pushed her.. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. As an ophthalmologist, Tonis commitment was her recurring choice to make a positive difference in the lives of so many. We feel some of the information in the article is misrepresented or incorrect, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock toldRolling Stone in a statement, but we still have an ongoing criminal investigation and are not at liberty to discuss the case any further.). "We don't have to worry anymore.". Their grandchild was now in the care of the man they believed to be her killer. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". All of Lynns belongings, along with the Jeep, were returned to Harold. In fact, the Defendant has never been unlucky; only the Defendants wives have been unlucky with their untimely and obscure deaths. On September 29, 2012, Harold and Toni Henthorn went for a hike at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Full disclaimer: I have not evaluated Harold Henthorn, but if he is guilty of murder, then he would fall into the range of what I call a borderline sociopath. But every time she broached the subject of Harolds job, the couples lack of money or his need for control over every part of her life, Toni always had the same response: If you do that, Ill suffer the consequences. Similar to his first wifes death, Harold Henthorn began showing inconsistencies in his statements, but the police were cautious this time. Prosecutors argued during a two-week trial that Henthorn carefully staged Toni Henthorn's death to look like an accident because he stood to benefit from her $4.7 million in life-insurance policies, which she didn't know existed. His first wife Lynn died in 1995 after a car held up by a jack fell on her. A jury convicted him of murdering his second wife, Toni Bertolet, based on evidence that he murdered his first wife, Sandra 'Lynn' Henthorn. He was constantly talking, often bragging, and always had to be the center of attention. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Related: Man Accused in Wife's Deadly Fall Also Killed First Wife: Prosecutor, They seized on Henthorn's inconsistent accounts of the fatal fall and said the evidence did not match his shifting stories. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Detective Weaver now had no doubts. First published on September 23, 2015 / 11:02 PM. Harold Henthorn, and his wife Toni. Yvonne had spent more than a decade suppressing her motherly intuition about Harold so that her daughter would be spared the consequences. He was a wealthy fundraiser for hospitals and churches. Months later, when they got the news that she was dead, and that she had died while alone with Harold, her father Bob said what most in the family were already thinking. I know he killed her, he says. To the young medical physician in need of an accomplished mentor to guide a promising medical career, Tonis life mattered and was indispensable. But the rescue team couldnt make it to their position in time, and Toni died. This is an adapted chapter from Caleb Hannans new Kindle Single The Accidents; read the full story here. The 2 Most Psychologically Incisive Films of 2022, The Surprising Role of Empathy in Traumatic Bonding. But there was something else. "Toni was either a blessing to the people that surrounded her or a lesson to those that she mentored. Harold was convicted of first-degree murder, and in 2015 was sentenced to life in federal prison. Then, when she found out that Lynn had died, she asked the follow-up question, the one record of her that still remained in the case file and made it clear how she felt about Harold. She chose ophthalmology, because to look into ones eyes draws a dedication and commitment to the person observed. The Defendant claimed to be a provider, when, in fact he offered and gave nothing. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. A medical physician of Tonis caliber doesnt just happen because one simply holds a medical degree; this type of physician evolves through extraordinary experiences and is not readily replaced.There is no unique perspective or lesson to garner from the wrongful death and loss of Toni it is what it is a devastating loss. This has nothing to do with borderline personality disorder.