Derek was just being Derek -- freewheeling billionaire who left his empire to be run by his money managers. They were only too happy to keep milking their cash cow and didn't care that he only communicated by text and never by phone. That was just Derek wanting to disconnect from all technology while he spent time on the beaches of Thailand, or took a trip on a freighter so he could avoid the news of the day, which he found distasteful and stressful.
Lisa knew him well enough that she could mimic his texts and no one was the wiser that he had disappeared -- permanently.
It was only when a staff member went out to the cabin and discovered that Jones had been living there that the jig was up. At that point, Lisa was in jail awaiting trial for the attack on Kate but Jones was taking orders from her, planning for the day that she got out of jail and they could continue their lavish lifestyle.
According to the prosecutor, those were the facts of the case. There could be no doubt that Lisa and Jones had each struck Derek and that the attack killed him. There could be no doubt that they hid his death and buried his body on the grounds around the cabin. There was no doubt that they used his credit cards and bank accounts to transfer money to themselves and carry on a lavish lifestyle, stealing his identity online to enrich themselves.
The evidence would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lisa and Jones murdered Derek. They lured him to the cabin and killed him then hid the evidence. The only question was how long of a prison sentence Lisa would get. Nothing else was in doubt.
The defense attorney countered the prosecution's claims, one by one. She argued that although there was evidence that Derek died in the cabin, the evidence would not show whether the death was the result of a premeditated murder or an act of self-defense. She argued that the defense would provide evidence and testimony that Lisa was a battered woman who merely tried to protect herself from a vicious attack when she was found with her lover at the cabin. Derek had become enraged and had attacked first. He had a history of abusing women and the defense had images and videos of spanking women and of engaging in bondage. Derek was active in the BDSM lifestyle. Lisa was afraid of him. Jones had defended her, grabbing a knife on the spur of the moment to stop Derek's attack on a defenseless and fearful Lisa. When she realized Derek was going to attack her, Lisa found a hammer and struck Derek with it to stop him from killing her. She fought for her life. Then, in fear that no one would believe her, she and Jones buried Derek's body and continued to live there, in a fugue state caused by years of abuse at the hands of older men.
Self-defense. A battered woman who had suffered for years under his power and domination.
The opening statements over, the prosecution brought in its witnesses and experts to build the case against Lisa. The first witness was the beat cop who was sent to the premises to check out a B&E reported by one of Derek's security guards after the staff alerted him of someone living in the cabin. The police officer arrived on the scene, called to the cabin by a very distraught security guard, who found Jones at the cabin and was probably very lucky to have escaped with his life. Jones wasn't fast enough or deceptive enough to think of killing him and so the guard was able to call police and even though Jones left and went to stay at his mother's, he was eventually caught. Initially, when confronted with evidence that Jones had been staying at the cabin, Jones claimed that Derek had given him permission to stay there, but the groundskeeper was adamant that Derek had never done so and he always told the groundskeeper and his wife when either he or his guests would be using the cabin.
Derek had not done so and so the groundskeeper had insisted that the man had no permission to be there. Detectives found some of Jones's possessions, left behind in his haste to escape, and were able to identify him. They traced him to his mother's home in upstate New York through his phone's GPS, when it pinged a tower closer to her house. They showed up at her door asking about Jones's whereabouts and his mother denied he was present, but in panic, Jones bolted, running out the back of the house into a heavily wooded neighborhood. Police chased him and took him into custody and that's when it all came crashing down.
Police got a search warrant to inspect the cabin and grounds, found forensic evidence, including blood and DNA evidence that suggested someone had been seriously harmed in the cabin. When confronted with that forensic evidence, Jones had spilled, laying most of the blame for Derek's death on Lisa's shoulders. He was only too happy to blame her, even telling the police detectives where the body had been buried. The cross-examination of the police officer was minimal, merely going over the details without challenging any of them.
The detective in charge of the case provided his own testimony about the day he interviewed Jones and what the forensic team found in the house and on the grounds when they started to dig. Again, the cross examination was minimal and did nothing to call into question any of the testimony.
The prosecution called the medical examiner to the witness box and she told the court about the condition of the body when it had been exhumed from a shallow grave in the woods surrounding the cabin.
"Mr. Richardson had been beaten and stabbed. He died from blood loss after receiving twelve stab wounds with a very sharp and thin knife and several hammer blows to the head and chest, so his death wasn't immediate. Based on the amount of blood loss and based on the evidence at the crime scene, he took some time to die."
The defense passed on cross examination, apparently not feeling any need to challenge any of the testimony or evidence.
A member of the forensic team that inspected the cabin testified about the trace blood evidence found at the scene. The jury was shown photographs of the floor and walls taken using Fluorescein, which displayed trace evidence of blood even after it had been washed away and wasn't visible to the naked eye. The forensic technician testified that based on the size of the stains and the fact they were spread over a large area in the cabin's main room, Derek had put up a real fight and had been chased, repeatedly being struck with both a hammer and fish boning knife. Both murder weapons had been found at the scene, and while both had been cleaned thoroughly, it was still possible to find trace blood evidence on them, linking them to the murder.
By the time noon came around, the prosecutions first three witnesses had finished their testimony and the defense had cross-examined the witnesses. Apparently, the defense was not going to dispute the physical evidence. They were going to approach the case as one of self-defense. Lisa's lawyer asked each one of the prosecution's witnesses if it was possible to tell from the physical evidence who attacked whom first, and of course, the answer was no. There was no way of knowing, outside of the testimony of those actually present, who attacked whom first. The defense claimed that it was Derek who attacked Jones, from anger that Lisa was involved with another man. Jones was merely defending himself and Lisa against Derek's rage.
Anyone who knew Derek would know right away that he wasn't jealous at all of Lisa. They had no relationship at the time of his murder and hadn't been involved for several years. But it was the defense's contention that they had carried on a secret relationship during those years and that Derek had been obsessed with Lisa, jealous of her every friendship with other men, imagining that she was cheating. He had threatened her before with violence and so she was acting out of fear for her life when she picked up a hammer and attacked Derek with it.
Lisa wept silently when her lawyer cross-examined the forensic tech and medical examiner, making the point that no one could tell beyond a reasonable doubt whether Derek or Jones attacked first. In fact, it was far more likely that Derek did out of jealousy when finding Lisa alone with Jones at the cabin.
"Isn't it true that in cases of domestic violence, it's usually the man who threatens the woman? In your years of experience as a homicide detective, how many cases have you investigated where the husband or boyfri
end was the aggressor vs. the wife or girlfriend?" she asked, her tone authoritative.
The detective shrugged. "Only a few, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Every year there are a dozen or more cases in which the wife or girlfriend kills their partner out of jealousy or for money."
It was up to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jones and Lisa conspired to kill Derek. It was the defense's job to create that reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury so that they would fail to convict.
I couldn't imagine that the jury would fail to convict or that the defense would succeed and was surprised that Lisa didn't take a plea and go to jail for a shorter period on a lesser charge, but apparently, she was going for a finding of not guilty.
Was she self-deceived? Did her lawyer really think she could get Lisa off using the battered woman defense?
The court was recessed until the afternoon and so I got up before anyone else did and made my way out of the courtroom and went as quickly as I could down the hallway to the rear exit, hoping no reporters or interested observers recognized me.
"Drake!"
I turned at the sound of Lara's voice, glad that it was her instead of anyone else.
"Phew," I said and wiped my brow dramatically when she got to my side. "I thought you were paparazzi."
"No, thank God. Just your attorney."
"Were you in the court? I didn't see you."