At the bottom it reads: In Loving Memory, January 10, 1962-September 29, 2012. Not only for the death of the wife hed just lost, but for the one whod died so many years before. After all, Harold was a respected member of the community. He pushed her.. The letter was from the Department of the Interior, which oversees every one of the countrys 417 national parks. var sc_invisible=0; When the friends and family of Toni Henthorn heard how she died, only one was able to put into words what so many others were thinking. Eventually, Harold is arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. The basic facts of the case are these. This development recalls the story of another notorious convicted Colorado killer: Harold Henthorn, who was convicted of killing his second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn. Sandra's death is now being re-investigated more thoroughly by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. 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. She had a passion to console and give advice to those who were in need of direction and comfort. No. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Toni Henthorn fell to her death off a cliff while hiking with her husband, Harold. The Defendant never showed grief as to the loss of Toni, and has yet to tell anyone in this family that he actually loved her. 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. Then, he asked Sandra to come help him. Harold Henthorn had taken out three life insurance policies totaling $4.5 million before the death of his wife, Toni, on Sept. 29, 2012. Toni Bertolet Henthorns life was a masterpiece and role model to those who were fortunate to be a part of her life. Finally, Detective Weaver took his foot and, in the same place where the original partial print was found, kicked the Jeep. Perhaps the most difficult part to understand is that Henthorn had it made. If you would like to donate, you can visit www.umc.edu/tonibertoletendowment. She died after plummeting about 130 feet off a cliff in a remote, rocky area where the couple had been hiking on Sept. 29, 2012, their 12th wedding anniversary. Only then did it come crashing down. Harold Henthorn talked to many different members of Douglas County law enforcement on May 6th, 1995, the night his wife Lynn died after being crushed underneath their Jeep Cherokee. 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. It appeared instead to be a terrible accident. In the text, Harold claimed that Toni had fallen off a cliff and was critically injured. Henthorn was able to keep his shoplifting arrest a secret from everyone who knew him. Harold Henthorn, who shoved second wife off cliff, loses appeal for a new murder trial. The Defendants entire adult life was a lie and scam to live his life and lifestyle while others paid the price. Her greatest asset was her ability to feel what others were feeling. Initially, the couple appeared ecstatic in their new life and were happy with each other. This is an adapted chapter from Caleb Hannans new Kindle Single The Accidents; read the full story here. To others he said the flat tire actually bounced out; it was the spare, which he said he loosened, that fell and provided the impact necessary to jolt the Jeep off its moorings and crush his wife. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time 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. Toni was a successful eye surgeon yet she wanted nothing more than to be in a loving marriage and have a family. Harold, in contrast to all those grieving family members, had been calm. Prosecutors said Harold. The story behind that tragedy was revealed last November in an episode of CBS' "48 Hours" and, apparently, more details are forthcoming with the "Dateline" broadcast this month. So Yvonne continued with a final warning. Feds say Henthorn pushed his wife over a cliff at Rocky Mountain National Park. 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. Nice, right? Harold owned a little house in the mountains west of Denver and took Toni and Haley there often. Sandra suffered numerous severe injuries, but hung on long enough for the paramedics to arrive. Suffer the consequences meant having to listen to Harold talk until he got what he wanted. Stranger still was Harolds behavior on phone calls. Solutions . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. On September 29, 2012, Harold and Toni Henthorn went for a hike at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. 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. 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. To Toni Bertolet Henthorns family, her friends, and the people for whom she cared, Tonis life was about the moments that took our breath away.Todd Bertolet. Oh it was nothing, Mrs. B! Harold had insisted on one of their phone calls afterwards. Harold Henthorn was the only witness to both bizarre deaths of his two wives. They were the first people to witness his incredibly odd behavior the evening his first wife died. In the Defendants selfish quest to hoard a child as a possession, he interfered with and severed a sacred relationshipthat of a mothers love for her child and the childs need for the love her mother. 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. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It would be years before they would find justice. Jul 26, 2017 Slain Woman's Ashes Returned 4 Years After Murder. Henthorn has sociopathic tendencies, without doubt, but what makes this so challenging is that a murderer is typically not a sociopath. Incidentally, the highway was quite deserted at that time of the year and did not witness much traffic. He took away one jack and ran through the whole scenario again. In photographs released by the US Attorney's Office after the. After all, his first wife had also died under unusual circumstances, although her death was immediately ruled an accident. 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. 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. 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. How Psychologically Conditioned Rats Are Defusing Landmines, The Innate Intelligence Observed in the Dying Process. The Defendants phony status and perception took priority over his family, and he chose family and friends based solely on his ability to deceive the same. Case closed. She was a volunteer with the West Douglas County Fire Department who arrived on scene shortly after Montoya left. After all, they had been witness to Harolds efforts at trying to alienate his second wife from her close ones. After a few years sharpening his golf game Weaver got bored and applied for a job in Douglas, the county just to the south. He was older. In fact, the most endearing and only statement that has been uttered by the Defendant is that he lost his best friend, a less than committed affirmation of a supposedly loving relationship. David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78 Family, friends and co-workers were convinced Harold Henthorn was responsible for his wife's death. That she would take it to heart. 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 was a wealthy fundraiser for hospitals and churches. When Weaver finally left the Air Force and asked her where she wanted to live, she chose Denver. One night, something happened at that cabin that left Toni recovering in a hospital bed. There was something else, too, buried inside the file. Related But at the time of Lynns death, there were only five detectives covering an area half the size of Rhode Island. Toni Henthorn's brother, Todd Bertolet, told CBS4, "They're going to go after assets that should be in Toni's estate." On May 6 of that year, Henthorn and his first wife, Sandra Lynn, were driving through the dark. Children shouldnt have to sacrifice so that one can have the life one wants, one makes sacrifices so ones children can have the life that they deserve. They couldnt talk about Harold on the phone, since every call with her was also a call with him. We agonize over the question: Did Toni know she was being murdered and what were her thoughts as she fell 140 feet? Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Even after shed fallen asleep, Harold found a way to keep his eye on his only child. All Rights reserved. Detective Weaver discovered that there were multiple witnesses to the accidents aftermath who were never contacted. The Bertolets found it odd that long after shed ceased to be a baby, Harold kept a video monitor running in his daughters room. A jury returned a guilty verdict Monday in its second day of deliberations. My child now asks the appropriate question of how do I know. Three years later we are still heavy laden with the emotional shock of her death.Toni was a special child, a precious gift to us from God. What that something actually was, the Bertolets were slow to find out. The Defendants jealousy and selfish ambition prevented any of his energies from being expended in considering the good of others, and, as such, his actions were accordingly contemptible.The Defendant mistakenly believes that he is a father and parent just because he has a child. I will never celebrate my birthday again. Yvonne and I will never again hear Toni say, Hi Momma, Hi Daddy, this is Sissy.We hear you, Sissy, in our hearts. In the document, he implied that. This begs the question, why was he deceiving himself? Montoya wanted to cover his wife with something warm. This has nothing to do with borderline personality disorder. The innocence of a child should not be violated by evil within and, more importantly, evil within a trusted family unit. We feel guilt that we failed to act on our suspicions concerning Tonis welfare in her marriage. ", VIDEO:Watch the CBS4 special "Inside The Investigation: Harold Henthorn. Now that effort is laid to waste. We feel some of the information in the article is misrepresented or incorrect, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock toldRolling Stone in a statement, but we still have an ongoing criminal investigation and are not at liberty to discuss the case any further.). The U.S. Attorney's crime auditor testified last week that Henthorn had no employment and no steady source of income. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time When Dave Weaver first sat down with the file he wasnt impressed. He was able to hide the fact that he didn't work, even though he maintained for years that he did. The control Harold seemed to demand over Toni extended to their daughter as well. Henthorn was able to persuade police his first wife died as the result of a tragic accident. 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. CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Then, he said, he saw nothing but a blurand Toni was no longer standing there. Harold Henthorn, 59, was convicted of one count of first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn. Do it carefully, not quickly, was Weavers. Storyline Colorado, 2001: Toni Bertolet Henthorn, a doctor and mother, falls from a cliff in the Rockies. What they wanted was to see Toni happy. IE 11 is not supported. Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. However, his first wife, Lynn . However, Harold kept insisting on his innocence and in 2017 appealed for a retrial which was subsequently shot down. The Dateline NBC episode 'Over the Edge' tells the story of Toni Henthorn who fell to her death while hiking with her husband Harold Henthorn in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2012. 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. According to the file, the investigators noted the brand of shoes Harold was wearing at the time Sperry Topsider and took pictures of the tread. 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. react copy object from state, bar sazerac new orleans airport menu,