cover of episode 101: Black Widower: A Monster in My Bed

101: Black Widower: A Monster in My Bed

Publish Date: 2023/12/18
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Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly.

Hey everybody, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. Welcome, if you are watching the video version of this, to my new podcast studio. Now, it's not complete yet. We're a work in progress. Sorry, let me get my phone out of here. It's like bugging me. It's on the table. It's a work in progress, but we are getting there. So it's a little bit cozier vibes, a little bit...

better table situation, especially guest friendly because spoiler alert, we're going to be having some amazing guests coming soon onto the podcast.

But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about today. I'm here to talk to you about another true crime case. Now, let me just start this by saying the case we're talking about today is one that I legit think we could have talked about in over the course of three or four hours. There are so many details, guys, in this case. And this guy is just like...

the freaking slimiest of slime balls douche canoes out there. It is, it's really hard to wrap your mind around people existing who are this awful.

So we could have gone a lot longer, but I know that you don't have, you know, hours on end to listen to me, even though I wish you did. But I condensed it a little bit. But as always, if you want the full like crazy ass deep dive, let me know. And we could definitely do that in the future. I might do it as like a part one, part two, part three, things like that. But I'm trying to give it just all to you at once so you could digest the case.

know all of the big takeaways, and hang with me for an hour. So let's just get into it, guys. So on September 29th, 2012, a truly chilling phone call came in to the 911 department. The caller continued, saying,

And the caller was a man named Harold Henthorne. His wife, Toni Henthorne, had just fallen off a 130-foot cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park. And even though Harold called 911 around 5.54 p.m., help didn't arrive until well after 8 p.m. And when the first park ranger arrived, Toni was already dead. So who was Toni? Who was Harold? And how did we get from point A to Z?

So let's talk about Tony for a second.

Toni Henthorne was a true Southern belle through and through. She was born in Louisiana, but she was living in Mississippi and running a very lucrative ophthalmology practice when she first met Harold. Toni had been married once before to a dentist that she had met while in medical school, but since then, she focused on her career, her business, and her family, which consisted of her mom, her dad, and her two brothers. Toni's dad was in the oil industry since she was young, so her family was very financially stable.

But Toni really wanted to make it for herself. She wanted to earn her own living. She wanted to be successful in her own right. That was something that was very important to her, and it was also something that she achieved as she became an ophthalmologist. Toni was well-liked, and she had many friends. She had everything going for her.

But the one thing that she felt like was missing in her life was a partner, the true love of her life. Her chance to have her own fairy tale, this one true love, this perfect happy ending, the dream, which many women hope for and envision for their future. And she wanted to start a family of her own. Now, because she had this dream after Tony's first divorce, not being married was really hard on her. It hit her extremely hard.

She felt that societal pressure of having that ideal first marriage that works out, that lasts forever, and she felt disappointed in herself that her first marriage didn't work out. Still, she hoped that at some point in life, she would have a second shot at love and meet her true soulmate. But at 37 years old, she started having doubts that her life was going to work out that way for her. She was worried that it may never happen. But that all changed in 1999 when she met Harold.

The two of them met on a Christian matchmaking dating site. And by all accounts, Harold checked all of the boxes. Plus, he was a very successful businessman who told Tony she would never have to work a day again in her entire life. She would be set for life with him.

Now, of course, money wasn't really something that was important to Toni because she had come from money. She had her own money. She enjoyed working. But Harold was telling her, you know, I'm set. I'm a businessman. I'm successful. You never even have to work again a day in your life if you don't want to. That was just who Harold was.

Harold was 44 years old, he dressed really well, he was charismatic, he said all of the right things, and he was traditionally attractive for his age, just gonna be honest. He was incredibly warm, he was kind, and all of those characteristics also directly translated into his work. Because Harold's natural charm and charisma kind of just led him into having this really

savvy business type persona and it really led him to be an entrepreneur where he raised private funds for non-profit organizations and for other charities and he made a really pretty penny doing so

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.

An official message from Medicare. A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's Extra Help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov slash extrahelp.

Paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services. - So Tony and Harold honestly didn't date for long until they just fell absolutely head over heels for one another. They felt like they were each other's soulmates, they were in love, everything was perfect.

So after dating for less than a year, they got married. And then shortly after that, the two of them moved to Colorado. And a few years later, in 2005, they welcomed a daughter together, a daughter named Haley. So now fast forward seven years to September 29th, 2012, when Harold called 911 after seeing his wife, the love of his life, his soulmate, fall off of a cliff.

Now, Harold and Tony were only at Rocky Mountain National Park to begin with because Harold had planned it as an anniversary present and surprise trip to celebrate their anniversary. You see, Harold always planned something every single year on their anniversary. So this time, he surprised Tony with this trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. This year, it was their 12th anniversary, and Harold really wanted to do something special for Tony.

So, Harold's idea was a weekend getaway to this national park, staying at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. Harold executed this surprise by showing up at Tony's work. He already had their bags packed, they were in the car, he told her he already had a sitter for their young daughter Haley. He was sweeping her up, sweeping her away to go on this romantic getaway to celebrate their 12th anniversary together.

And to set the scene for how romantic and how beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park is, it's one of Colorado's four national parks, and it's known for its diverse landscapes, the forested areas to the alpine tundra. It's a really popular destination. It attracts millions of tourists annually, as a matter of fact.

So during the second day of their getaway, the two of them decided that they were going to go for a hike together on the Bear Lake Trail. And they specifically wanted to hike this trail rather than other areas of the mountain because it was a relatively easy hike. And Toni had had quite a few knee surgeries in the past. So this was one of the more entry-level trails, if you will. They felt like it was something they could easily achieve given all of her knee surgeries, that it would be something that would be somewhat simple for her, and it would be the perfect setting to go on a hike.

So when they arrive, they were all ready to go, but they noticed that the entry to the trail was a little too crowded. They were a little worried about how many people were planning on hiking that trail that day. However, they were already geared up. They were ready to do their hike. They were super excited about it. So then they decided to pivot their plans and to go and to hike Deer Mountain Trail, which was another trail, but a little bit more of a difficult trail to hike.

Because of the shift in plans, they also weren't starting this hike now until late in the afternoon, which anybody who is a hiker or has hiked in the past will generally say is a huge no-no. You never go in the late afternoon because, of course, things can happen. The elements change. It gets dark. It's way more high risk, and you should always try to go earlier in the morning.

And this is kind of honestly just a big rule of thumb, but especially if you're not an avid hiker, and Tony and Harold certainly were not. According to Harold, as they went through their hike, around 3.30pm, they decided that they wanted to explore a little bit further away. They wanted to see if they could spot some wild turkeys, and they wanted to find a secluded little spot that they could have a romantic little lunch picnic together at. So

So they found this little secluded area that was tucked away. They had their lunch. They took some pictures together and enjoyed the scenery. Then after they finished lunch, they decided that they wanted to continue to explore off the trail. So they began walking a little bit further and then walking towards a cliff that was nearby.

And this was around 4.45 in the afternoon. So as they're walking towards this cliff, Tony walks pretty close to the edge of it and turns around to pose for a picture for Harold to take a photo of her on this beautiful cliff mountainside with all of this incredible scenery behind her. But as she poses for this picture, Harold at the same time receives a text message about his daughter Haley's soccer game that day and that she had won the game.

Harold absolutely panicked, and he rushed down to get his wife, Toni, which was actually a lot harder than it sounds.

The distance that he had to go to reach Tony was extremely steep and rocky, and it actually took Harold about 45 minutes to even reach her. He then spent another 30 minutes moving her off of the rocks and placing her on more of a flat surface nearby. Then after that, Harold said that he just started pacing around frantically,

hoping to find a spot where his cell phone would regain service so that he could make that 911 call, which he ultimately made around 5.55 p.m. Hello, my name is Harold Hinton. I'm in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Okay. I need an Alpine Mountain Rescue Team immediately. Okay, what is your exact location? My exact location is Deer Mountain North Summit, about one mile south of the visitor center. Thank you. My wife has fallen off Summit of Deer Mountain, the Deer Mountain Trail.

and she's in really critical condition. She's at a fast, she is a white female, 50 years old, great health. She has respiration approximately 5 to 8 beats a minute. Her pulse, 1580 beats a minute. A head injury. No, she has not been conscious. She is breathing. Between 5 and 8 beats a minute now. I didn't see it exactly. I was messing with one camera. She was messing with the other one. I saw the motion, but I didn't.

Now, despite not arriving until after 8 p.m., like I had mentioned, the Rangers did respond very, very quickly to this 911 call. They made it to the trailhead by 6.15 p.m., so literally just 20 minutes after that call.

But because Harold and Tony were not on the trail and they had been exploring off-trail, it made it really difficult for them to be found. So by the time park rangers actually found them, it was after 8 p.m. and Tony was already dead. And unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done.

Because this place was so remote, so steep, and such a thick wooded area that landing a helicopter at night was just not going to happen. It was not possible. So park rangers told Harold that there was nothing that they could do for the night and that he needed to go home. However, before he could go home, park rangers knew that they needed to conduct a fatality investigation. One of the rangers that was looking in Harold's car found a map in the glove box.

And this map had a picture of the park, with the trail that they had taken highlighted on it. However, one thing they noticed on this map was super peculiar. On the map, there was a small X drawn on it, which also happened to be where Tony's body was found. Almost as though it was like a treasure map, and you see where the treasure is hidden, but this time we know it's not treasure. It's where Tony died.

So it was an odd detail, but surely nothing super suspicious right off the top. So the next morning, park rangers came back to take pictures of the scene in the daylight. They also wanted to take measurements and really just analyze how this could have possibly happened.

The Rangers saw a huge pool of blood from where Tony initially fell to where Harold had brought her body to more of a flat surface. One park ranger saw one of Tony's shoes, a hiking boot, off to the side and also untied, which he thought was kind of weird. And he even said, and I quote, usually when someone falls down a cliff, their shoe doesn't become untied in the process.

Additionally, Tony's diamond from her ring was missing. He also noticed the placement of Tony's camera and backpack, which were right beside her. Now this struck him as extremely odd, because during a fall, you don't typically expect everything to land in the exact same spot, and especially since there was a tree with freshly broken limbs that they identified as the impact site from when Tony fell.

So how is she still holding on tight to all of her belongings as she's falling down the side of a cliff, and then she lands perfectly with her camera, her backpack, everything right beside her. Yet still in that fall, her shoe becomes untied, the diamond from her ring falls out, but everything else is still right beside her. Make it make sense.

Make it make sense. And the Rangers couldn't make sense of it either, because they felt like it would be more likely that the items would be scattered rather than right next to her, especially since Harold had moved her body to that flatter surface. There was also evidence of a campfire near Tony's body, and investigators wondered when exactly Harold built a fire while on the phone and giving his wife CPR the entire time.

Additionally, when one of the park rangers spoke to Harold about what had happened, he recalled the story about how he got that text message about Haley's soccer game right when Tony fell, and he showed the ranger the timestamp. It was 5.54 p.m. Yes, I said 5.54 p.m.

Because the only problem was Harold said it took him 45 minutes to reach Tony's body after she fell, if you remember. And then he had to go get phone service to be able to call 911, which we know that 911 call was at 5.55 p.m. So according to that timestamp, the 911 call took place just one minute after that text message had come through. Mm-mm, something smells fishy.

So with all of this conflicting information, the park rangers gave the case to the ISB, which is also known as the Investigative Services Bureau, and they gave them the case for further investigation. And the ISB is pretty much like a branch of law enforcement that investigates crimes in national parks, since anything nefarious that happens in a national park is actually considered a federal crime, not a state crime.

now if you're like me when you hear all these details it sounds like this case sounds pretty much cut and dry right so if it sounds cut and dry to you so far buckle up guys because if you think everything so far is damning evidence against harold you will not believe what investigators uncovered next but before we get into that i've got to do it we're going to take a quick break and hear from today's episode sponsors

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. An official message from Medicare.

A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. Maybe you can save too. With Medicare's Extra Help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. Go to ssa.gov slash extra help. Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Okay, so they have all of these conflicting reports. They have timestamps that aren't matching with the phone call, with Harold's story. They have Tony's personal belongings that are right by her person, even though she had been moved, according to Harold. And yet her diamond is missing from her ring, her shoes untied. Nothing is making sense, right? And Tony's family still had to be notified of what had happened to her.

And when Tony's family found out what happened, they were of course very, very devastated. And they really struggled to understand how something like this could happen in the first place. They also did not understand why Tony was out on that trail.

They knew Toni wasn't a hiker. They also knew that she had had multiple knee surgeries in the past, like I had mentioned. So hiking on a strenuous trail on this extremely steep and rocky part of a mountain was definitely not Toni's idea of some sort of romantic getaway. And her family knew that.

It also was their 12th anniversary. So while I get that sometimes maybe you do something that isn't in your wheelhouse because you want to appease your spouse or your partner, this isn't like they just met and they were dating and she was trying to play cool girl and pretend she had the same hobbies as him. They'd been married 12 years.

She could have easily been like, no, this ain't my cup of tea. Why am I doing this? Rather than just humoring him. Her family knew she didn't like to hike, which amen, sister, neither do I. But her family knew that something didn't quite smell right with this entire situation. But nonetheless, now they just had to deal with the fact that this was just some freak accident and that she did go hiking with Harold and had this freak accident falling off the side of a cliff and was now dead.

So after Tony's death, and once Harold returns back home away from this National Park Hotel getaway campsite, investigators went to Harold and Tony's home because they needed to speak with Harold, right? They needed to get more information. Now, at first, the conversation with Harold and the investigators was going very well, at least a

according to Harold. He thought it was going very well. That was until they asked him about that X that was drawn on the map. And that is when Harold just stood completely shocked.

That question completely caught him off guard, and he almost stopped talking. And one of the officers even said that it seemed like Harold just wanted them to leave immediately after that. Now, as the investigators were talking to Harold, ISB also wanted to talk with Tony's family. So they met with Tony's family to ask them a few questions about Tony and to kind of just like get their take on things. And

And Tony's family didn't hold back. They told investigators that when they met Harold, they were initially impressed by him. Because all that her parents wanted for Tony was a really happy life. And from the outside, it certainly looked like that's what she had. She had this luxurious home, a healthy daughter, and every year her family would receive these annual Christmas cards that were just filled with positive upheavals.

almost in like a yearly newsletter type style. You know the kind if you receive Christmas cards. There are some families that actually send like a yearly newsletter of all of the updates. And that is also what Toni did. She would talk about everything that was positive going on in their life, how happy they were, the strides that little Hailey was making. But for some reason, despite receiving all of this,

they had this lingering doubt in their mind that Tony was truly happy. The reason why is because after Harold and Tony got married, Tony's parents noticed a dramatic change in Tony's behavior, and they also noticed how Harold gradually began to dominate Tony's life. He had persuaded her to move to Colorado, claiming he could work from anywhere but that he didn't see a future for himself in Mississippi, where Tony's friends, family, and loved ones all lived.

and Harold then began to apparently monitor and choose who he would allow Tony to contact.

Just very controlling, appears as though he was trying to isolate her, love bombing her, I'm sure, was involved in the start of all of this. And then also once they moved, despite Harold's immense wealth, he always made excuses as to why he couldn't travel back to Mississippi with her whenever she would go. And Toni would go back to Mississippi often to visit her parents, because them visiting Toni in Colorado became very challenging for her parents after both of them experienced mild strokes.

So not only do you have all of that, but also Harold's behavior during some phone calls was also a huge red flag. You see, once Toni moved to Colorado, her phone calls with her mother were never private. Harold never explicitly told Toni that she couldn't talk alone, but it was always him who answered the phone. And he would engage in most of the conversations on speakerphone,

with Tony's voice sounding far away, very distant, as if she were in a completely different room. They also said that Harold's demeanor was a little bit off-putting, despite being initially impressed, remember, because they said that he came off kind of like an attention seeker. He always seemed to love being the center of attention, and they were worried because they felt like it seemed like maybe Tony was more of an afterthought for Harold.

Tony's parents hoped that Tony's life with Harold would improve once little Haley was born in 2005.

But instead, apparently Harold's controlling behavior only worsened. He meticulously would plan Haley's schedule, controlled how they parented her, and always had to make it known that he was the parent in charge, not Tony. He controlled everything that she ate, that she drank, and after having Haley, friends and family said it almost felt like Tony was now the third wheel in that dynamic, in that family dynamic, which is really freaking weird, right?

And get this, as if those weren't enough red flags, right? It gets even weirder with his creepy behavior because Harold even had a rule that only he was allowed to put Haley to bed.

Not her own mother, not Tony, which creepy can we like wave the red flags all over the place right now, right? He even went as far as calling it special daddy daughter time. Honestly, if you're not vomiting right now, props to you because it makes me want to gag. It's disgusting. He also kept a video baby monitor in Haley's room well after she was a baby or even a toddler.

Always wanting to keep this watchful eye on her. Creepy, disgusting, weirdo. I don't like it. So through all of this, Tony's parents really just felt powerless as they watched Tony's unhappiness. Knowing that her commitment to her faith and her family made leaving Harold not just a hard decision, but also something that she more than likely would never physically do. Remember, she wanted the happy ending. She wanted the soulmate. She felt at 37 that...

she wasn't going to be able to have that happy ending. So now fast forward, and she's already in the trenches of her second marriage, that becomes even a more daunting thought. Now you're older, you're feeling more self-conscious, feeling like you're aging. So you feel really just

stuck in this situation that you're in, especially now having a daughter. And her parents watched all of this happening and felt like she was just settling and feeling stuck in this marriage with this man who wasn't bringing her any sort of joy. Again, this is their perception from the outside.

But while noticing all of this, they also noticed inconsistencies in Harold's life regarding his finances. You see, despite his claims of being a very successful fundraiser, they were majorly struggling financially. And her parents could never figure out why they were struggling financially, because over the years, they had been very generous with their money, and they gave Tony and Harold a substantial amount of money as gifts.

Tony's mom wanted to bring up all of these concerns with Tony and talk with her about them, but she felt like she never really could have a true conversation with her about this. Not in a way that would be effective, not only because Harold was listening in on the majority of their calls, but also not really feeling like Tony would be forthright in what the truth was, what the reality of the situation was, because she just wanted to have this picture-perfect family and tie it up in a bow.

And because of that, Toni's standard response to any feedback always seemed like she was just making excuses for Harold, for all of his issues, and that it was something that she just never wanted to talk about at all. They were able to occasionally talk with her candidly whenever she would come to visit, because remember, Harold would never go with her, and they did express their concerns in these conversations.

but it still wasn't enough and then they could never follow up on it because remember harold was always answering the phone he was always there and he always had his nose in every single conversation so isb is getting all of this information from tony's family meanwhile they were continuing to look into tony's death and they were met with even more troubling information after reviewing the files from her autopsy you see tony had taken a really hard beating as she had tumbled down the side of the mountain

One of her worst visible injuries was a huge laceration to her head, something that the coroner described as almost like a scalping type of injury, and it measured at least six inches wide. And ISB officers then remembered back to Harold's 911 call when Harold told the police dispatch that her main injury was a concussion. This puzzled the ISB officers because Harold didn't say anything about Tony profusely bleeding, which...

They knew based on this cut and laceration, she had to have been bleeding immensely. Not just because of that injury either, but because of the giant pool of blood at the impact site that was documented early on in the investigation. Harold also had told the police dispatch that he was performing CPR on Tony the entire time while waiting for those park rangers to arrive.

But investigators found that detail troubling as well, because the fall had caused Tony's lungs to be crushed and broke all of her ribs. And Harold also was not covered in blood, as you might expect from someone tending to somebody with such horrific and bloody injuries. If you're on top of them, giving them CPR, there's that amount of blood, clearly there would be some sort of transfer, correct?

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. An official message from Medicare.

Go to ssa.gov slash extra help.

Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. So because of all of this, ISB wanted to go through Harold's phone even more, since part of his story just quite literally did not add up.

the timestamps of his version of the events, the text messages, the 911 call. He said he got that text at 5.54, saw Tony fall off the cliff, and then one minute later called 911, all according to the timestamps. But when Harold was asked if they could go through his phone, he said no. And investigators later learned that he had actually gotten rid of his phone already, as if that's not a big red flag and a big, like,

Huge sign of guilt, in my opinion, or something shady, for sure. But luckily, a subpoena fixed that problem right away. So after reviewing his phone records, investigators had solid proof that not only was Harold 100% lying, but he also sent almost 100 text messages that very night.

all giving different peopl and he had multiple versi what actually happened. He was very vague, very vag accident. And you know, specifically what happen stories, each version in see what happened. And th

Tony was taking a picture when she slipped and fell, he said at one point. He was reading a text message on his phone. Then he was looking for a text message on his phone.

she was checking a text m balance. Now all of this suspicious activity aside, of Harold and Tony's thou behavior was a little odd

He didn't seem to be showing much emotion and almost seemed like he was doing too well given the circumstances. For example, within just two days after Tony's death, Harold had already planned her entire funeral and her memorial. He had it planned to the very last detail. Within just two

two days. He also hired a photographer to put together a video slideshow to play at the service, and he had already at that point carefully selected 70 photos to go in the slideshow. That's a lot of work to do within just a couple of days of your soulmate, love of your life partner, tragically falling off the side of a cliff.

most people and I get everybody grieves differently but I would think that most people would still be in shock in mourning not rushing to plan the memorial and funeral service I don't know maybe that's just me and I'm naive but that's what I would think would happen but no he was ready to go he had everything perfectly meticulously planned out every single detail

And when Tony's family flew in for her memorial service, Harold kept telling them that Tony wanted to be cremated. And he kept saying it over and over and over again, even sometimes without being asked or prompted. It was as though he was just adamant that that was going to be the plan, and he wanted everybody to know it. Which Tony's family thought was a little odd, considering that Tony had never mentioned before in the past any sort of desire to be cremated.

So Harold's bizarre behavior didn't stop there either. He had planned out Tony's memorial so much that he even created a seating chart for everyone, placing Tony's family at the very back of the seating chart. Yeah, you heard that right, at the back, her own family. That even left some of Harold's friends very uncomfortable, saying that it felt weird that somehow in just 30 minutes,

36 hours after his wife died, he had all of these memorial arrangements planned so quickly. But remember the slide show that I mentioned, the 70 picture slideshow? That was the cherry on top of all of it because Harold was in every single photo.

Every single one. It wasn't some beautiful memorial and video slideshow about Tony's life where it showed her as a child with her family, her and her daughter together. Harold was in every single photo.

Ugh, gross. One friend even said, "...it was like Toni's life started when she got married to Harold, and I thought how insulting and hurtful this must have been for Toni's family. And Harold didn't cry or even appear to be in mourning at all. He seemed more angry that there was an investigation going on. And he was even overheard saying, Toni had to go and get herself killed on federal lands. As though he was annoyed by this, he was inconvenienced by her death."

People that knew Harold for a long time were pretty disturbed by his behavior. And I mean, honestly, how could they not be? But there was something else that they knew from Harold's past that they felt investigators needed to know. So within just a couple of months after Tony's death, 17 anonymous letters were written to the FBI, also written to a local news station, the coroner's office, and the ISB. And all of the letters said the exact same thing.

something's not right here. Tony's death needs to be investigated more. And not only that, guys, but this was the second time that one of Harold's wives had died and died from a suspicious incident where the circumstances were eerily similar. It's

It's like the staircase murders walked so Harold could run. I mean, it is so eerily similar. So get this. Harold had been married once before. He was married to a woman named Lynn Rochelle. Harold met his first wife in college in Virginia, and she was known for her very kind, bubbly personality, and she also worked as a social worker. Just a true good human through and through.

According to reports, on May 6th in 1995, Harold and Lynn went on a nighttime drive along a remote highway in Colorado. They stopped to fix a flat tire while they were on the drive, and according to Harold, Lynn went underneath the car to retrieve a lug nut that had dropped and had, you know, rolled away under the car. So at that same time, he said that he threw the flat tire into the trunk of the Jeep, causing the car to fall off the jack and to crush Lynn completely.

She later died in the hospital. The county sheriff's office closed the case six days later, calling Lynn's death an accident, and that was that. Or was it? And we'll get there. Now, what's so weird about all of this is Lynn and Tony had very similar personalities as well. They were both kind. They were Christian women. Their faith was extremely important to them. They also both had the traditional mindset that the husband is always right.

Right? Wrong, indifferent, they are always right. Women should honor their husbands. And what the husband says goes. And apparently, Harold was also very controlling with Lynn. For example, when they got married, Harold planned their wedding down to the very last detail. Something that is usually the woman's doing, or woman's choice. Sometimes the guy's involved, sometimes he's not at all, but it's very rare that we see a man plan every single detail so meticulously.

But it was, it was all his doing and everything, every choice that was made was his choice. He had binders and binders full of everything that he wanted in the wedding. And Lynn just went along with it. It can happen, but bad luck can happen to somebody. There's no getting around that. But it always causes me, when I see cases like this,

to be suspicious. And afte of Harold Henthorne's sec we decided to take a clos of his first wife Lynn 17 died right here. And what of questions about the st told about that death. And questions about the Dougl

- Friends and family say Harold Henthorne and his first wife Lynn had what appeared to be a good loving marriage with no outward signs of trouble. - I think Lynn was very much in love with Harold, but I don't know if Lynn, I don't think, something makes me think that Lynn might not have been happily married. - In May of 1995, after 12 years of marriage, the couple left their suburban Denver home for an evening drive into the foothills west of Sedalia.

But they stopped late that night in this dark, remote location to change a tire that Harold said was soft, not flat, just a bit mushy, according to Harold. It was a tire change that would go horribly wrong, with Lynn Henthorne ending up under the Jeep, the Jeep slipping off a jack, crushing and killing the 37-year-old social worker. Harold Henthorne was the only witness to what happened.

It didn't seem like that was an accident. We tracked down Patricia Montoya, who was in a carload of people who stopped to help the Henthorns that night. He got kind of angry at us, and I thought that was odd that he got angry after stopping for help, stopping us to help him.

He didn't want us to touch her. Montoya said Henthorne's behavior was bizarre. It was a cold night, but he refused to take his jacket off and cover his wife as the Montoya group pitched in to help. It was creepy. It was like he was trying to harm her. We all said that he probably set it up to where that car fell on her.

And that was all of our thoughts. Lynn Henthorne would die of her injuries the next morning. Within a few days, Patricia Montoya went to the Douglas County Sheriff's Department asking if they had arrested Harold Henthorne yet. No way that woman ended up under the car like that, she told authorities. But six days after Lynn Henthorne's death, the coroner and the Douglas County Sheriff declared the case an accident and shut down their investigation.

They should have looked at everything and they should not have ruled it an accident within a week. I thought that was shocking that they didn't look into it more. But we did look further, obtaining the Sheriff's Department case file which they have never released. And it contains numerous red flags about what happened that night. Just like with the death of Tony Henthorne, Harold told wildly inconsistent stories about the night Lynn Henthorne died.

and tony's family knew that harold had been married once before but they had no idea that she died in a freak car accident like this and not a car accident like collision accident like an actual freak accident involving a vehicle and over the years it seemed like harold was telling different people different versions of what had happened he told some people that it was a car accident and he also told some people that she had died of cancer

I mean, kind of opposite ends of the spectrum, right? And it's never a good sign when somebody is making up multiple different versions of events and storytelling. So with the news of Tony's death, the county sheriff's office decided to reopen the investigation into Lynn's death because there was still so much that didn't seem to add up. Harold had said that Lynn was standing about six feet away from the Jeep when he picked up that flat tire and then went to walk it over and drop it in the trunk.

And according to him, the time it took him to get that tire and then walk to the back of the Jeep, Lynn had somehow walked right up to the Jeep, dropped the lug nuts, those rolled underneath the Jeep, and then she went onto the ground searching for them underneath the Jeep. In that short walk of him taking the tire to the trunk, he also says that she inched her body underneath the brake rotor. And then when Harold threw the tire in the back of the trunk, the jack somehow malfunctioned and wasn't working and it failed and it just crushed her body underneath the car.

Well, there were a few problems with that story. When investigators took a second look at this case, they realized there wasn't even enough time for Lynn to have done this the way that Harold had described. Second, the road that the Jeep was pulled into and onto was at an angle, so somehow these lug nuts, and I'm not trying to say I'm a mechanic or an expert, but somehow these lug nuts, which aren't round in the first place, would have then had to have rolled uphill.

Okay, that doesn't really seem scientifically possible, but again, I'm not Bill Nye the Science Guy. But he also said that he had tried to use the Jeep jack, but that it didn't work, so he had used a second jack that he happened to have in the trunk, which was a boat jack, something that wasn't at all safe to change a car tire with. Obviously, it's a boat jack. So in

Investigators are seeing all of this and realizing like, okay, the math ain't mathin', right? So they decided to hire an accident reconstructionist to basically try to recreate what Harold had said happened that night to see if it really actually could happen that way. And surprise, surprise, it could not have happened that way. They threw the tire in the back of the Jeep, they pushed the Jeep, and of course nothing was happening. None of it. The Jeep wasn't falling, the jack wasn't failing.

So this led them to believe that the only way that this could have happened is if Harold had physically undone the jack while Lynn was underneath the car. So with this information, the ISB knew that they had a major case here, and they took all of this information to federal prosecutors. Meanwhile, for a year after Tony's death, her family had remained very close to Harold because they were concerned for Tony's daughter Haley's safety.

So they pretended that they were on Harold's side, that they believed him, and they did this out of fear of what he might really be capable of, and what he could possibly do to Haley, or if he could abduct her or take her. She was now eight years old, and they were worried what he could possibly even do in a moment if he felt like he was backed into a corner. They didn't know what he was capable of. So they stayed very, very close to him, and it was all about to unravel.

Now I'm feeling a little parched, guys, so I'm going to take a quick drink of water. We're going to hear from the final sponsors of today's episode, and then we're going to talk about the shitstorm that was about to come.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

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Alright guys, we are back. So now everything's kind of coming undone. Harold's lies are really unraveling. People are looking into his first wife's mysterious death. It is not looking good for Harold. Meanwhile, park rangers took the prosecutors out to the cliff where Tony had fallen. And this was done just to further illustrate how bizarre, unnecessary, and dangerous that trail that Harold and Tony took really was.

This wasn't just off the beaten path. This was literally crawling over boulders at a 60 degree angle to get closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. And just to play devil's advocate, even if the scenery was just so incredibly beautiful and there was such a beautiful view and you wanted to take a photo there, you literally could get that exact same view from

over 100 feet away. There was no need to be climbing over these boulders to get right on the edge. Absolutely unnecessary. So when they got there, they were able to see firsthand how she fell. How she fell almost 15 stories.

And they said once you're at that site, that there is not a shadow of a doubt after seeing it, that the only reason that somebody would go to that exact spot would be to kill someone. But still, your thoughts and certain circumstantial evidence, it certainly isn't enough to charge anyone. So Harold was still a free man, and he wasn't charged. It wasn't enough. Yes, it was damning, but again, it was only circumstantial evidence.

There also wasn't an eyewitness for Tony's death. It was really just the digital footprint and Harold's word that they had to go off. So they worried that maybe they wouldn't be able to prove to a jury that Tony was pushed and that she didn't just fall. However, prosecutors were determined to find a way to connect all of the dots because now they were also very hyper-focused on his daughter Haley's safety. Investigators began to dig deeper and deeper and eventually they saw a pattern.

Harold had taken out a $300,000 life insurance policy on his first wife, Lynn. And this policy was taken out one year before she died. Now get this. According to the policy, if Lynn died in an accident, Harold would receive double the amount of money, which he did.

$600,000. So now that they were armed with this information, they wanted to look in and see if Tony had a similar policy set up that was taken out in her name. And sure enough, she did. And not just one policy. There were three policies taken out in Tony's name, totaling to around $4.5 million.

I always say, guys, the insurance policies, the Google history, and the phone records will get you every time. That is a big red flag. You're taking out a life insurance policy on your spouse, and then they go missing or they die like six months, a year later, sometimes even honestly like a month after they take out the policy. But you know what? I love it because these criminals are just so stupid that they eventually are the ones who solve their own case. It's unbelievable. So once again,

This appears to be motivated by greed. Or was it something else? Let's continue. So at this point, Harold was still a free man, and investigators were getting more and more worried about his daughter Haley with each piece of new information that they uncovered. They knew that they had to act quickly, but they also knew that they needed enough evidence to be sure that they could put Harold away for life.

So they got a search warrant to go through Harold's house. His office was in the basement downstairs, where Harold was essentially a pack rat and had the biggest paper trail that they could have ever even imagined. And they also looked into Harold's business.

so harold had always maintained that he had about 12 offices across the country and that he also had 90 employees working for him at any given time for his independent fundraising firm all for these non-profits he had notebooks he had pens all that were inscribed with his company's name on it however when investigators looked into this further they realized that it was all a lie it was complete no such company existed

All of the money that Harold also said he had was a complete fabrication. All a lie. There was no business registered to him in Colorado or in any other state for that matter. And it turned out that Harold had not been employed since 1992, just a few years before his wife Lynn tragically died in that car accident. He was stark black.

broke when he and Tony got married. Yet he was the one in charge of the finances because remember he was so micromanaging and wanted to control every aspect of their life. So he was in charge of the finances, of managing it, of everything, leaving Tony completely in the dark. Yet he was completely broke going into the marriage and she had no idea, absolutely no idea that anything was off.

Investigators wondered what could possibly be Harold's endgame here in all of this. Did he have a mistress? Did he have a secret life? What was he doing with all of these truckloads of money? So they started looking into his cell phone records, and they found out that he was communicating very often with a woman named Grace Rochelle. Now, if that last name sounds familiar, it's because that is Harold's ex-sister-in-law.

Grace was married to Lynn's brother. Beyond bizarre. Way too close for home. You see, after Lynn passed away, he stayed very close to her family. Even after marrying Tony, he stayed very close to Lynn's family. He continued to attend family vacations and even celebrated holidays with them. He was also helpful wherever he could be, especially after Grace divorced her husband and she was working three jobs to care for her four daughters.

In fact, he was so close with Grace that in 2009, he actually convinced her to take out a life insurance policy that named her daughters as beneficiaries, just in case something happened to her, so that the girls would of course be taken care of. And Grace, unsuspecting of anything shady or ulterior motives, she was just so beyond thankful to Harold for helping her in this way. "Helping her."

However, this budding friendship, this weird friendship relationship situation, situation-ship, I guess I'll call it, this all came to a head. Because when Grace said that she was thinking about moving to Texas for a new job, Harold got very angry and his controlling side immediately came out. He wanted her to move to Colorado.

And when Grace insisted that that was not going to happen, he became even angrier and basically just started calling her ungrateful for everything that he had done for her, all of the advice that he had given her, just...

gaslighting her. I don't know what other term to use for, but really just putting all the blame on her. So Grace was very disturbed by this and wanted nothing to do with Harold, but that didn't stop him from relentlessly calling her and texting her over and over and over again. So finally, she had had it, and she canceled the life insurance policy altogether, hoping now that he had absolutely nothing to hold over her head and try to control her with. She was hoping that this would mean that she would be left alone.

Because of how often he and Grace had talked, investigators came to her to make sure that she wasn't a mistress or involved in Tony's death in any way. And they quickly realized that she was not involved, not at all. And not only that, but the policy that Grace thought that she had canceled was not canceled at all.

They pulled the records from the insurance company, and Grace still had a $400,000 life insurance policy out in her name. And the beneficiary was not her daughters. It was none other than Harold Henthorne. He had forged Grace's signature. So now you've got three women, two who seemingly were victims of Harold. One, a victim certainly of Harold's, but luckily still alive.

So investigators started looking into the other women that Harold could have possibly victimized over the years, since he clearly had a type. He had these Christian women that he believed that he could control, and the women all said the same thing, that he was controlling, he was scary, and he actually had pinned one against a wall until she admitted that he was correct in the situation.

just extremely alarming and straight up terrifying behavior he wants to feel like he's the man he's in charge he's the tough guy which you are just such an ultra loser like get a job my man

But investigators still needed more in all of this. So then Tony's mom told them about an incident that occurred in May of 2011 when Harold threw a very heavy beam off of a deck that he was repairing at the couple's vacation cabin near Grand Lake, Colorado.

The beam struck Toni in the back of the neck and the upper back, injuring her neck pretty badly. Toni said that Harold said that one of the floodlights was broken, and for some reason Harold wanted her to go and clean up the glass that was outside. This all at 10 o'clock at night, by the way. So while she was down below the deck, she bent down to pick up that glass when she was then hit in the back of the head and in the neck.

Harold called 911 and Tony was taken to the hospital, but everything happened so fast that she didn't even know what had happened to her. Tony's cervical spine was fractured, and Tony told her mom that if she hadn't been down, she believes that she actually would have died. Now, this was one year after the third life insurance policy had been taken out on her, and prosecutors now believed this was actually Harold's first attempt to kill her.

Based on Harold's cell phone records, prosecutors were able to see that Harold's cell phone actually pinged up in that area of Estes Park where all of this went down from his home and back, pinging all along the way, eight times. Eight times in the weeks leading up to Tony's death.

Which would indicate that he was sussing out the situation, trying to find the perfect place to kill her, staking out the scene, getting familiar with the territory and the terrain. Why else are you going back and forth eight times in the weeks leading up to her death? Make it make sense.

He was definitely scouting this place out. He knew what he was going to do. And on his last trip, it was just eight days before Tony's death. So this, on top of the map that he had with that X drawn on it, and then everything else, of course, this led prosecutors to finally believe that they had enough to charge him. And Harold was finally arrested.

Today's episode of Serialistly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yes, I know you are. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you are not in some kind of moving vehicle, there is something else you can be doing right now, getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you could save money by doing it right from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what.

Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. An official message from Medicare.

Go to ssa.gov slash extra help.

Paid for by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. First tonight, we are following disturbing new details about what led to the arrest of a man accused of killing his wife. Harold Henthorne is accused of pushing his wife over a cliff at Rocky Mountain National Park two years ago. 7 News reporter Mark Stewart in the newsroom now breaking news about what he's found in the search warrants. Mark.

Indeed, and for the past 90 minutes or so, I've been going through this thick stack of just released records, all revealing Harold Henthorne was very controlling of his wife, Toni, some even suggesting he may have tried to kill or even hurt her before.

Another detail that caught our attention, a former employee of Tony Henthorn told investigators that Harold Henthorn had been dating three women before marrying Tony, adding he created financial profiles so he could decide who to marry. Now get this.

And I'm sorry to laugh, but like this next piece just like absolutely kills me because it's like the audacity and like, again, you are just such a like douche canoe loser. But when they took him in after the arrest and had him fill out his booking information, they point blank, of course, asked Harold his name, his date of birth, his occupation, all of the things. And this guy still lied and said that he worked for nonprofits because he was talking to a really attractive FBI agent and was trying to impress her. Like,

It's time to let the dream go, my friend. You haven't worked since 92. The jig is up. The FBI knows that you're a liar. So, I mean, it just blows my mind. As they arrived in Denver, Tony Henthorne's parents told me they were relieved their son-in-law was facing a federal murder charge. We've been waiting over two years for this to happen. So...

Our spirits were really lifted. But it was a relief too for me because I haven't been able to face the death of my daughter. How did your wife die? Federal agents arrested Henthorne last week charging his wife's 2012 fall in Rocky Mountain National Park on an anniversary hike was no accident.

Did you push your wife? A judge will hear arguments Wednesday on whether the 58-year-old should get bond. Tony Hanthorne's family believes he has hidden money and satellite phones and is a flight risk. He could disappear very easily, and I suspect that he would. Why would he stay? Hanthorne has virtually no criminal record, except this bizarre 1994 case we uncovered when he was arrested for stealing men's underwear from a JCPenney store.

As he heads to court tomorrow, his in-laws are rooting against him. I think that it's all going to come back to bite him. I keep asking myself, did it really happen? Every morning I ask, was that a dream?

I just want to say this. I think the fact that it took two years to prosecute him for them to find something to charge him with, I just want to say bravo to law enforcement for being that thorough. So for them, actually, Lonnie, to actually arrest him, it means they have something substantial. He changes his story four times. He changes his story, the lies, the manipulator doesn't make him a murderer. Vanessa, let me throw a little more fly in the ointment here, which is they were married 12 years. Now, she was an ophthalmologist. She probably did well financially. Right.

Why kill her? And if he wanted to kill her, why wait 12 years? And they had a kid, by the way. Maybe it took 12 years to be done with her. Maybe it wasn't all a bad marriage. Maybe it took some years for him to be really over her and really want that $4.5 million. But to me, these are

These are pretty open and shut cases. That first case, I don't know about you, but I don't know a wife alive that helps out with the changing of a tire. That's not my job. And I don't understand. Certainly not one you want to kill. I mean, of course not. Exactly. And then to say, hey, hey, wife, get under that car and get that. Are you kidding me? I would never be belly down in gravel. That's ridiculous. And the second case, the coroner's report said that she fell face forward. You only fall face forward.

on face forward when you're being pushed from behind. These are very, let me be the judge. They're very open and showcasing. - So Harold went to trial in 2015 and his lawyer was a very well-known and top criminal defense attorney in the area. - She fell nearly 140 feet to her death. Her husband says,

She slipped. Well, now Harold Henthorn of Highlands Ranch goes on trial for the death of his wife, Toni. It's our top story on CBS 4 News at 6:00. And prosecutors told that jury today that Henthorn's first wife also died under suspicious circumstances. The government contends both were murdered.

CBS4's Brian Moss has been in the cart room all day long and he joins us now live from federal court. After Tony Henthorne fell in Rocky Mountain National Park, Harold Henthorne made frantic 911 calls indicating he was trying to save his wife's life. But 911 dispatcher Julie Sullivan testified as she was giving him instructions on performing CPR. He did not appear to be out of breath, as most people are. I did not believe he was doing the CPR, testified Sullivan.

Also testifying, Tony Henthorne's brother, who said after his sister's death, Harold Henthorne told at least four different versions of what happened and had Tony Henthorne cremated against her family's wishes. Prosecutors said Henthorne shoved her off a cliff, interested in his wife's $4.5 million in life insurance. Prosecutors also argued the death of Henthorne's first wife, Sandra, in 1995 was also an insurance grab.

"The evidence will show you these deaths were not accidents," argued prosecutor Sunita Hazra. Henthorne's lawyer, Craig Truman, told jurors Henthorne loved his wife, Toni, very much, and her fall was a terrible accident. Truman said prosecutors just don't believe in multiple accidents like what befell Harold Henthorne. "If you win the lottery twice, the first one's a celebration," said Truman. "The second leads to an investigation."

Truman admitted Harold Henthorne had lied about having a job and had told shifting stories about his wife's deaths. But Truman maintained they were both accidents. Testimony here in federal court will continue tomorrow. The trial is scheduled to run until late September. Harold Henthorne has pleaded not guilty. Ultimately, Harold was convicted of killing Tony in September of 2015, almost three years before the anniversary of Tony's death.

Calling him a liar, a con man, and a killer. A jury today convicted Harold Henthorne of murdering his second wife, Toni, in 2012. You know, I talked to four out of the 12 jurors, and it became very clear that none of them liked him from the start. Jurors told me that 11 of the 12 were ready to convict Henthorne last Friday, but one juror wanted some clarifications. So today, after about 10 hours of deliberation, the jury handed down its guilty verdict.

Good job. The guilty verdict met with emotion outside the courthouse. Harold viewed women as if they were property. I don't think that he ever viewed them as people. And when he had gotten what he needed out of them, they were discarded. The jury said Hamthorne discarded his second wife, Toni, by pushing her off a cliff three years ago this month on an anniversary hike.

AFTER THE VERDICT, JUROR DAWN ROBERTS IMMEDIATELY EMBRACED TONY HENTHORN'S MOTHER. I FELT SO SORRY FOR THE FAMILY AND FELT HORRIBLE FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL WOMAN THAT DIDN'T DESERVE HER LIFE TO BE ENDED SO QUICKLY AND HORRIBLY. AND SHE JUST SAID AS ONE MOM TO ANOTHER.

I feel your pain. Roberts called Henthorne arrogant and said his lies made her hair stand on end. He had not worked for so long but lied about it and had convinced so many intelligent people that he was working. That was the start for me. It spoke of the character of the man. Roberts said she believed Henthorne also killed his first wife, Lynn. Lynn Henthorne died in 1995 in what was then closed out as a freak accident. But that case has been reopened and Lynn Henthorne's family found solace in today's verdict.

We think the perfect place for him is in a prison where he can continue to tell his stories and hang out with murderers, thieves, and liars. Harold's love was lethal. If you got married to him, you probably would be the next one. Tony Hanthorne's brother said his family would now try to adopt Haley Hanthorne, Harold and Tony's daughter, who's 10 years old. A life has been saved by this verdict.

And he was sentenced to life in prison. He has appealed his conviction multiple times, but none of those efforts were successful.

The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals made the decision to uphold Harold Henthorne's murder conviction yesterday. They found the judge in the original trial was justified in allowing certain evidence against Henthorne, including the circumstances surrounding the death of his first wife. However, he still maintains that he is innocent and that he didn't kill Tony, he didn't kill Lynn, that he is just innocent in all of this and a stand up great guy.

Lynn's cause of death was eventually ruled as indeterminate, but her family feels like Harold 100% killed her. They also feel like Lynn's story played a role in helping convict Harold for murdering Tony and that that was a form of justice for Lynn. Little Haley, Tony's daughter, now lives with one of Tony's brothers. He and his wife are raising her, and Hulu actually did a four-part docuseries on this case, and I highly recommend watching it,

It's called "Wild Crime," and in that series, a criminologist basically says that Harold is one of the most scary types of psychopaths because he isn't the kind that hurts strangers, no no no, but instead, he hurts those closest to him. She also believes that Harold's controlling behavior over everything that Haley did, what she ate, what she drank, what she did, was so that he could almost raise her in his likeness. Really creepy.

This is a wild one. Like I said at the top of the episode, guys, it goes so deep that I could honestly be here for hours talking to you about it because there are just so many little like nuances in the case. I just don't ever really do a part one, two, or three because I feel like people prefer to digest it in one sitting. I know personally for me, I do. But if that's not the kind of thing you dig and if you do want multiple parts on different cases in the future, just let me know in the Q&A section on Spotify or in the review section on Apple Podcasts.

this was a wild one today guys I know I kind of got a little wild in it as I was telling you this case it's just I have a lot of feelings about Harold he is just such a

I just hate people like this, like the audacity. But again, I am very happy that he is a moron in the sense that like there was so much evidence that his timestamps didn't line up, that he had the X on the map, that all of the things, the history, this life insurance policy. It's like you told on yourself, bro. And, you know, now you're trying to appeal as saying you're innocent. Nobody's believing you, my guy.

Anyways, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Serialistly with me, Annie, and thanks for checking out my new set. Hopefully the audio quality is good. I'm going to be tweaking things still over the next couple of weeks, so any feedback is always appreciated, of course.

but I appreciate you guys hanging with me and hearing the story today, hearing the case, and hearing about Lynn and Tony and loser-ass Harold. So until the next one, guys, make sure that you are subscribed and following the podcast if you're not already so that you get notified of new episodes as they drop, and we always do our headline highlights throughout the week, giving you all the updates happening this week in true crime, so check that

out too and as a reminder you can always get ad free bonus episodes that are exclusive to apple subscribers and patreon sign up so i'll leave that link in the show notes below but you can get ad free bonus episodes merch discounts all of the things so if you're interested in that and just want a little bit more of your true crime fix head over there and you can choose what you want or choose what you don't want all right thanks again guys and until the next one stay safe and i will talk with you true crime besties very soon bye

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