"Certainly those weren't my sister's wishes," said Bertolet of Harold Henthorn spending his wife's money to fight charges that he killed her. She chose ophthalmology, because to look into ones eyes draws a dedication and commitment to the person observed. After his second wife died in an accident, authorities found that circumstances of his first wife's death were more suspicious than they realized. Solutions . He was indicted on first-degree murder charges earlier this month in the second death and officials believe he is. He was a good guy, a loving husband, a good father to their daughter, and extremely busy working as a fundraiser for churches, charities, and non-profit groups. Over the course of those dozen years, Bob and Yvonne Bertolet watched their daughter change. At one point, Sandra ended up underneath the car looking for a lug nut and the car crushed her when it fell off the jack. First published on September 23, 2015 / 11:02 PM. Her husband calls 911 but she dies and, at first, it seems like an accident. The Denver Channel, 7News, brings you the latest trusted news and information for Denver, Colorado, Mile High and. Finally, Detective Weaver took his foot and, in the same place where the original partial print was found, kicked the Jeep. She, like Dr. Henthorn, died in a rural and deserted area. To another he said it was merely spongy. Harold Henthorn with Sandra Lynn, his first wife. Toni. The Defendant slandered the victims family for not publicly supporting his lies and deception and taught his daughter to hate as punishment of the same. According to the show, Tonis family passed a statement claiming that their daughter was quite disturbed in the days leading up to her passing. Friends and family were delighted for the pair, who seemed to be the perfect match. To another he said west. 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. But given the inconsistencies in Harolds story plus the inaccurate life insurance figure he shared, along with the fact that no one could explain exactly how the Jeep had fallen in the first place its existence pointed to an alternative explanation: Harold had kicked the car and killed his wife on purpose. As Warren Buffet stated, Honesty is a very expensive gift. Then, while she was standing below a raised porch with her back turned, Toni felt the weight of something heavy hit her on the neck and knock her to the ground. The Defendant claimed to be a provider, when, in fact he offered and gave nothing. His job, for instance. He had her body cremated, scattered the ashes on Colorados Red Mountain, and collected the $4.7 million life insurance payout from the plan she had recently signed up for. The Bertolets said goodbye to their only daughter a few days later. She had insurance policies, and Henthorn collected $496,000 from her death. Sandra's death is now being re-investigated more thoroughly by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Also, an extensive review found that Henthorn, who had a clean police record besides a couple of minor traffic citations, had been charged with shoplifting underwear! And that might have been the end of the storywere it not for an anonymous tip to authorities, encouraging them to look at the circumstances of Harolds first wifes death. She told Toni she thought Harold wasnt working as much as he said he was, if at all. Yvonne had spent more than a decade suppressing her motherly intuition about Harold so that her daughter would be spared the consequences. We grieve that we were not by her side in her dying moments. Harold was later sentenced to life in federal prison. Henthorn told investigators that his wife paused to take a photo of the view and fell face-first over the ledge. 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. Secondly, we wanted to provide a safe and loving environment for Haley, preferably with her mothers Mississippi family. The Defendant chose his own selfishness and greed over the needs of his family. By Kirk Mitchell. He tossed the flat in the back, as Harold had said hed done in one version of his story. It is often said that when a brilliant mind, talent, and heart come together as one, one should expect a Masterpiece. And despite her having all the trappings of happiness a big house, a healthy child, a yearly Christmas card detailing everything thatd gone right for them that never seemed to happen. Reached this week, Rob Henthorn declined to discuss the half million dollars and referred questions to his attorney, Pam Mackey. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Harold and Toni Henthorn (credit CBS) A federal jury convicted Henthorn of pushing his second wife, Toni, off a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2012. Unlucky in love, but a success just about everywhere else. As fate would have it, the couples Jeep Cherokee suddenly had a problem with one of its tires in the middle of the road. The Defendants estate planning was grossly disproportionate as to his gained benefits from the death of his wife, yet showed little or no reciprocity had the circumstances been reversed and he met his untimely death.Grief is the human emotion that is exhibited by the loss of a loved oneit is the price of love. Initially quite respected and thought of as a regular citizen, people who knew Henthorn were shocked after his conviction as a murderer. 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. "https://secure." Jul 26, 2017 Slain Woman's Ashes Returned 4 Years After Murder. 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. Feds say Henthorn pushed his wife over a cliff at Rocky Mountain National Park. Taking the aforementioned points into account, the police suspect foul play. How does she know that grief and sadness will not fall upon her again at the hands of a person she trusted? Storyline Colorado, 2001: Toni Bertolet Henthorn, a doctor and mother, falls from a cliff in the Rockies. Grief means coping, emptiness, adjusting, loss, and sadness. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. 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. One night, something happened at that cabin that left Toni recovering in a hospital bed. Even though Harold had money, he refused to travel with Toni back to the South. 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. Detective Weaver discovered that there were multiple witnesses to the accidents aftermath who were never contacted. That wasnt really a concern for the Bertolets Tonis father, Bob, had grown wealthy by making smart bets on pieces of land that turned out to be full of oil. It wasnt until Toni came back to Mississippi to visit, for the first and only time in a decade without Harold, that Yvonne began to worry for her daughters safety. DENVER (CBS4) - CBS4 has learned that the brother of convicted killer Harold Henthorn -- Rob Henthorn -- has been ordered to appear in court next month to explain what happened to $500,000. Then he tried to get the car to fall. 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. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time To another he said it wasnt him Lynn was actually rescued by a random group of helpful strangers. Harold Henthorn was one calculating and manipulative murderer. 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. It was only a few days into the new year, 2013, and only a few weeks after the Douglas County Sheriffs Department received a curious letter. Following the death of his first wife, Harold married a second time after meeting Dr. Toni Jill Bertolet Henthorn on a dating site. The file contained a note from a woman named Patricia Montoya, who called the day after the accident with a question. If he is ultimately convicted of murder, he will face a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole. He had no real mentor to help him, Weaver said recently, in his first public comments since his retirement in August. So Yvonne continued with a final warning. Then harder still. IE 11 is not supported. A partial footprint wasnt necessarily evidence of anything. 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. Gacy was a popular Chicago contractor who entertained children in hospitals, yet also raped, tortured, and killed 33 young men. Harold had her body cremated, scattered the ashes on Colorados Red Mountain, and collected the $500,000 life insurance payout from the plan she had recently signed up for. | Special administrators representing Toni Henthorn's estate are trying to recover the money so it eventually benefits Haley Henthorn, Toni Henthorn's daughter, not Harold Henthorn or his brother. Toni Bertolet Henthorn died after she was pushed off a cliff during an anniversary hike in Rock Mountain National Park. A federal jury on Monday convicted a man of murder for pushing his wife off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado to celebrate their wedding anniversary. He insisted at both the verdict and the sentencing that he would appeal the decision. The innocence of a child should not be violated by evil within and, more importantly, evil within a trusted family unit. 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. 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. Tyler Hadley's Killer Party A 59-year-old Colorado man was found guilty Monday of killing his wife by pushing her off a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park in order to collect millions in life insurance money. Harold Henthorn was a grieving widower. Yet every time Toni managed to sneak a look at the couples finances, she found that their bank accounts werent nearly as flush as he made them out to be. var sc_invisible=0; The spring night was cold and Lynn was only wearing a t-shirt. Do not expect it from cheap people. The defendant is morally cheap and is bankrupt of all honesty.In the Defendants sociopathic world, no person, place, or thing had any power over him, as his thoughts and his mind were the only authority. Grief doesnt move on and doesnt end for those that are loved. He said he believed Henthorn's brother, who lives in Massachusetts, was served Monday in Denver federal court because "'obviously they knew he was there.". 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. In the process of his own investigation, Detective Weaver discovered that no officer had called the restaurant where Harold claimed, at least in one version of his story, he and Lynn had eaten before the accident. Douglas County wasnt prepared to investigate Lynns death not only because theyd never seen one like it, but because they werent prepared anything of this magnitude. His bosses told him to work the case the same way he worked every other case, which meant to go where the truth led, no matter where it led. She was in immense pain and had numbness in her fingers when she was taken by ambulance to the ER. As was the case with the crime scene photos, we can close our eyes to things that we dont want to see, but we cant close our hearts to the hurt that we dont want to feel.Tonis life was ruined by the lies and deceitfulness of the Defendant, but, in the end, the Defendant was exposed and convicted by the truth. She told Toni that Harold may have even been having an affair. 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. This despite the fact that the Bertolets had been extra generous to Harold and Toni, gifting them some half-million dollars for a down payment on their house in Colorado, for cars and new appliances and for anything else the couple needed in the 10 years since theyd married. var sc_security="9a0f0d6e"; (Photo credits: Harold Henthorn case update via Dateline, Tyler Cipriani) Gary Clexton, a court-appointed special administrator representing Toni Henthorn's estate, declined to discuss the new court case involving Rob Henthorn and the half million dollars. But all was not as it seemed. 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. Henthorn was able to keep his shoplifting arrest a secret from everyone who knew him. He was 50 when his wife Toni passed away. The U.S. Attorney's crime auditor testified last week that Henthorn had no employment and no steady source of income. Then, he said, he saw nothing but a blurand Toni was no longer standing there. From the time of Tonis death, the Defendant has made it abundantly clear that he just wanted to move on with his life. Prosecutors and police. 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 the text, Harold claimed that Toni had fallen off a cliff and was critically injured. The sentencing today is the final act in completing our first goal and has opened the door to achieving the second goal. The travel for work that didnt seem, to Yvonne at least, to be real? But was it an accident? On May 6, 1995, Harold and Lynndecided to go on a long drive along a highway in Sedalia, Colorado. The Sheriffs Office grew with it, from a few dozen to some 500 employees. Was that a dream?". "We don't have to worry anymore.". 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. The Defendants so called estate planning banked on and invested heavily in the premature demise of his wife. / CBS Colorado. var sc_project=9846729; The Defendant severely limited and constrained the mother / daughter relationship of Toni and her mother and closely monitored all communication, not because they didnt get along, but merely because they were too close. The Douglas County Sheriffs employees registered Harolds conflicting statements and made note of the strange fact that the spare tire he said he was going to use was barely more inflated than the one he was removing. She was an eye surgeon. After a careers worth of experience, Roberts told Detective Weaver that she could confidently say the accident scene that took Lynns life and the behavior of her husband were the most unusual she had ever come across. Grief is place where one never wishes to remain; yet it will be our unending passage due to the wrongful acts of the Defendant. And he maintains his innocence. And, strangest of all from Montoyas perspective, Harold refused to hand over the coat he was wearing. The letter was from the Department of the Interior, which oversees every one of the countrys 417 national parks. In December, Toni Bertolet's husband, Harold Henthorn, received a mandatory life sentence for her death. Read More: Where Is Harold and Toni Henthorns Daughter Now? He slammed the tailgate. 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. Nor did the coroners office report whether the contents of Lynns stomach indicated one story was more plausible than the other. That woman on the mountain, she said. In each case, the Defendant made arrangements to be a lucky recipient of significant benefits from those deathshis own version a post mortem lottery. 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. 48 Hours examines the case of Harold Henthorn whose wives died 17 years apart in supposedly freak accidents. Thus, considering all evidence and statements, the police decided they had enough to charge Harold Henthorn with Toni Henthorns murder. Reading through the file 18 years later, Detective Weaver realized something, which would later come out in court testimony from his superiors: that in almost every one of those conversations Harold made a statement that conflicted with something else hed already said. Plot summary Add synopsis Genres Documentary News Certificate TV-PG Parents guide Add content advisory The Defendant deserves the sentence of this Court as he has worked his entire adult life earning the same. That saying served him well working sex crimes for most of a decade. When Detective Weaver called her nearly 20 years later and asked if she had any idea why he, an officer from Douglas County, might be calling out of the blue, Montoyas answer came quick and definitive. Montoya eventually got so fed up with the fact that Harold wouldnt help warm up his freezing, near-death wife that she used her own coat and left it at the scene once she and her family realized the police were almost there. The Defendant even proclaimed to a group of school mothers that Tonis daughter would be fine, because the real relationship was actually between Haley and him. Stranger still was Harolds behavior on phone calls. Still, Harold persisted in his innocence, and in 2017 he filed an appeal for a retrial, which was subsequently denied. Toni Henthorn was a skilled ophthalmologist and loving mother. In 2012, Harold and Dr. Toni Henthorn celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary with a hiking trip in Rocky Mountain National Park. Technically he was retired. Harold and Toni Henthorn Toni and Harold met online in 1999 and married just nine months later. statements about the tragedy kept changing. In addition, Henthorn has only been in the public eye since 2012, and was only sentenced last year, but his story really spans twenty years. At that time, her death was quickly deemed an accident. The camera he and his wife were passing back and forth had no photos on it. As exhibited previously of the mother / daughter relationship between Toni and her mother, the Defendant saw no value in a mothers love; the Defendant only saw the financial value of the life of the mother.To a child, evil and villains are supposed to be easily identifiable. Harold was convicted of first-degree murder, and in 2015 was sentenced to life in federal prison. Harold stopped to check and had the vehicle propped up on a jack. Harold Henthorn had taken out three life insurance policies totaling $4.5 million before the death of his wife, Toni, on Sept. 29, 2012. 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. Firstly, we wanted to be a strong voice for Toni and to seek justice in her behalf. Did You Know Anxiety Can Enhance Our Relationships? IE 11 is not supported. DENVER - A Colorado man accused of killing his wife by pushing her off a cliff has been found guilty, CBS Denver reports. He refused to allow Toni to help put Haley to bed at night, insisting that the hour or so before Haley fell asleep was his daddy-daughter time. He insisted to anyone who would listen that he was an in-demand fundraiser who had a large staff and made millions a year. A federal jury on Monday convicted a man of murder for pushing his wife off a cliff as they hiked in Colorado to celebrate their wedding anniversary. We feel guilt that we failed to act on our suspicions concerning Tonis welfare in her marriage. 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Shortly before her death, the change Harold made allowed for double the compensation if Lynn died as a result of an accident. The couple met online in late 1999 and got married only nine months later, both in a rush to. Bob Bertolet, Tonis father, and Todd Bertolet, her younger brother, read the following victim impact statements at Harolds sentencing. To another he said they were on their way to the restaurant. They had lunch together, and headed down a nearby ridge to take pictures, passing the camera back and forth all the while. Her greatest asset was her ability to feel what others were feeling. ", VIDEO:Watch the CBS4 special "Inside The Investigation: Harold Henthorn. Maybe even that she would leave Harold. In 1994, Henthorn was arrested for shoplifting $47.49 worth of men's underwear from a JCPenney store. However, Harold kept insisting on his innocence and in 2017 appealed for a retrial which was subsequently shot down. 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. Selena Gomez vs. Hailey Bieber: Why Everyone Thinks They Need to Pick a Side. CBS 48 Hours file photos This wasn't the only circumstance that Walsh saw as suspicious. September 23, 2015 / 11:02 PM When she died, her daughter was only 7 years old. The family had enough money. They even uncovered a startling fact: Harold was already a criminal. 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. To one cop, Harold said that they were driving east. Andaccording to Haroldhe was putting the old tire in the trunk, with Sandra underneath the car, when the car slipped off its jack and crushed her. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". After all, his first wife had also died under unusual circumstances, although her death was immediately ruled an accident. Harold, in contrast to all those grieving family members, had been calm. No. 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. A jury convicted him of murdering his second wife, Toni Bertolet, based on evidence that he murdered his first wife, Sandra 'Lynn' Henthorn. A year after he was sentenced to life in prison, it doesnt look like Harolds appeal has yet been carried out. He needed things done his way something that was becoming more and more evident with each passing day. Lynn Henthorns death was a tragedy, not a crime. Then came the incident at the cabin. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. We want to hear it. How Psychologically Conditioned Rats Are Defusing Landmines, The Innate Intelligence Observed in the Dying Process. We are forced to say goodbye, forced to learn to live without our loved one, and forced to fill the emptiness that remains in our hearts. 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. To the young man facing total blindness from an injury requiring the skilled hands of a surgeon, Tonis life mattered and was indispensable. That she would take it to heart. As always, Dateline NBC will use experts, law enforcement officials, and friends and family members to shape the story. My wife is Yvonne and our two sons are Barry and Todd. I think there is a special place in hell for someone like [Harold].. On the map of the park he had with him the day of Tonis death, there was a literal Xright at the spot where Toni went over the edge. 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. His second wife Toni died in 2012 after a fall during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Harold Henthorn, 59, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn. Family, friends and co-workers were convinced Harold Henthorn was responsible for his wife's death. But at the time of Lynns death, there were only five detectives covering an area half the size of Rhode Island. Investigators searched deeper and found that Henthorn's first wife, Sandra, died in 1995 when their Jeep Cherokee fell on her.
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