Deadly Mirage - Ep. 4: David and Bathsheba

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Speaker 10 The pizza joint was about half full when the undercover cop walked in. A midweek crowd having dinner out.

Speaker 10 Parents studying menus, while kids played the video games along the wall.

Speaker 10 Beyond the front register, the cop caught a glimpse of Sabrina Lamone's blonde head bent toward Jonathan Hearn's, both deep in conversation.

Speaker 10 At the next table over, he saw some familiar faces. Three other special ops guys, who were also part of the rotating surveillance detail.

Speaker 10 Surveillance work can be tedious work. Hours on end spent on stakeout, waiting, watching closed doors and windows while an oven-hot wind blew off the desert.

Speaker 10 By contrast, this was nice. It was air-conditioned.
And here, at least, they could grab a hot slice and a cold drink.

Speaker 10 The cop took a seat at the table with his buddies and joined them in trying to eavesdrop on the couple at the next table.

Speaker 10 Sabrina and Jonathan spoke in hushed tones while her kids played video games. The cops couldn't make out what they were saying,

Speaker 10 but they did note. the couple's body language.

Speaker 11 They appeared very close to one another, would touch one another, hug each other, kiss, just as a normal couple would.

Speaker 10 Of course, as the cops knew, this wasn't just any other couple out for pizza with the kids.

Speaker 10 In this episode, you'll hear how Sabrina and Jonathan reacted when confronted with a critical piece of evidence.

Speaker 12 He appeared to be very panicked.

Speaker 11 And what does he say in that phone call?

Speaker 12 Does it look like me?

Speaker 10 You'll hear Jonathan and Sabrina's intimate conversations as they try to match wits with the detective investigating them.

Speaker 13 Some of the questions that the detective is asking me, just like how much of our story to tell kind of things.

Speaker 13 Well, yeah, they were asking personal questions about Rob and I.

Speaker 13 Did you guys have an open marriage?

Speaker 10 And you'll hear how two murder suspects turned to the Bible for guidance and absolution. As the pressure mounted.

Speaker 11 And there's just hour after hour in which they're playing David and Bathsheba, in which they're literally reading these passages, trying to come to grips with what happened. I mean, it's just bizarre.

Speaker 11 It's absolutely bizarre.

Speaker 10 I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, a podcast from Dateline.

Speaker 10 Episode 4 David and Bathsheba

Speaker 10 As Sabrina Lamone walked to the Kern County Sheriff's Office that morning for a scheduled meeting with the detective investigating her husband's murder, Sabrina must have felt as if she'd already put in a full day.

Speaker 10 She'd been up since before dawn, getting the kids dressed and fed, and off to school.

Speaker 10 Then there was the two-hour drive she and her sister had made from Silverlakes to the Kern County Sheriff's Department in Bakersfield.

Speaker 10 Inside the low-slung building, Sabrina followed Detective Randall Meyer down a bright hallway to a small interview room, straight out of a TV drama.

Speaker 10 No sooner had the detective settled into his chair than a man wearing a blue shirt walked in. Sabrina had never seen him before.

Speaker 13 I just want to tell you he's been working really hard on this case.

Speaker 13 I was just looking at some stats a minute ago. We've followed up close to 100 leads.
I just want to come here and tell you we all care about this case.

Speaker 13 It's important to us and Randall's been working working diligently on it. It's so nice to meet you.

Speaker 13 I can't even tell you how grateful my heart is to him.

Speaker 10 Once the supervisor left, Detective Meyer reminded Sabrina their meeting was being recorded and that she could leave anytime she wanted.

Speaker 10 Sabrina nodded and Meyer started the interview.

Speaker 13 First, I wanted to talk to you about my meeting with the crime lab this morning.

Speaker 10 With that, Meyer scooted closer to the table and started outlining the way a lab would analyze the fictitious DNA sample that he told Sabrina was found at the scene of her husband's murder.

Speaker 10 There was a company called CyberGenetics, he said, that analyzes DNA with unbelievable precision.

Speaker 13 We're actually the first county in the United States that started using the software.

Speaker 13 And since we started using it, some other counties have, and they've actually solved some cases and stuff they're working on.

Speaker 10 Sabrina sat and nodded as the detective went on and on about alleles and lines and patterns, scientific gibberish she couldn't really follow.

Speaker 13 Well, it's amazing. The mixing and stuff it is.
It is simply amazing. It's beyond my mind.
That's why I'm just like, what? Yeah.

Speaker 13 I need everything explained for this simple,

Speaker 13 sure. This simple mind.

Speaker 10 The detective kept saying this was a huge deal, and it might help them identify the killer.

Speaker 10 Sabrina, who'd been leaning across the table and craning her neck to follow the detective's drawings, seemed to understand.

Speaker 14 And so this lab will send that out.

Speaker 13 And like you said, it'll ping in the system if there was already someone

Speaker 13 arrested.

Speaker 10 Then the detective switched gears and said he just wanted to go back over her history with Rob Lamone,

Speaker 10 starting from the very beginning.

Speaker 13 I met him in Prescott, Arizona. And we were very young.

Speaker 10 Sabrina talked about Rob's job with the the railroad and moving to California.

Speaker 13 He worked for the railroad for 14 years.

Speaker 10 She talked about their wedding and the children and the fact that Rob had been killed two days before their 14th wedding anniversary.

Speaker 13 You always have some friends that have been helping you through this and stuff. Oh my gosh,

Speaker 13 I've had so many friends that have

Speaker 13 been helping me a lot. And I'm so grateful.
I feel God lifting me and like carrying me, you know?

Speaker 10 It's amazing she told the detective the last time she spoke with Rob was around lunchtime on the day he died he called me he was on a train he was on this

Speaker 13 million dollar train or whatever it's like like UPS he was sitting on it because it was broken whatever and he had to wait for somebody

Speaker 13 somebody else to show up something

Speaker 10 Rob told her he'd had a tuna melt for lunch and that he intended to take a nap once he'd finished the repair and was back at the shop.

Speaker 13 Rob would say, you know, this is such a good gig because they have cable. Well, he'd watch TV.
He'd go to all the shops. I think everybody knew him at the Ashby.

Speaker 10 After a short break in which Meyer left the room to consult with investigators who were watching in another room, he returned and asked Sabrina again. about her marriage.

Speaker 13 What type of marriage do you guys have?

Speaker 13 I had a good marriage.

Speaker 10 Meyer leaned back in his swivel chair and kept his eyes locked on hers.

Speaker 13 How about you? When you guys were married, did you ever have an extra marvel affair or a boyfriend or anything?

Speaker 13 You said you always liked the party a lot?

Speaker 13 We just liked to have fun. We did a lot of stuff.
We liked to go to the river, which river. Like the Colorado River.
Did all adult trips?

Speaker 10 The detective rubbed his chin. and briefly paused before asking a question that seemed to catch Sabrina off guard.

Speaker 13 Yeah, I mean that I know how rumors go. Sure.
And I know that that's probably how we were

Speaker 13 viewed by maybe some.

Speaker 13 I think we typically call it swingy. Yeah, no.

Speaker 10 Her partying days were in the past, Sabrina said. Then, looking the detective in the eye, she addressed him by his first name, as if she were a politician who'd gone through media training.

Speaker 13 I feel my purpose

Speaker 13 and the responsibility of taking care of my kids. Randall, I just like, here they are, and I cannot be distracted by anything else

Speaker 13 besides Robbie and Leanna and

Speaker 13 how am I going to, you know, raise them.

Speaker 10 With that, the detective excused himself again to confer with the other investigators when he returned he gave sabrina the number for free counseling and asked if there was anything else she wanted to tell him i have nothing at all it just like i said every time i talk to you like i don't even want it to i just i want

Speaker 13 i just don't get it you know it feels

Speaker 13 Just unreal. Like, how could that have happened? You know, kind of thing.
Like, I have no idea how that could happen to Robert. Yeah.
Because he was quick on his feet.

Speaker 13 You know, we may never really know exactly why and what happened. Is there anything you can tell me? I've heard you guys caught somebody.

Speaker 13 We've been looking at a bunch of people,

Speaker 13 and we've every person that we've looked at has turned out to be not involved.

Speaker 10 And that was that.

Speaker 10 The detective stood and thanked Sabrina for coming in.

Speaker 10 She thanked him again.

Speaker 13 Oh, it's detective. Thank you so much.

Speaker 10 And gave the detective a big hug.

Speaker 13 Something comes out the window. I appreciate your

Speaker 13 everything that you've done. And

Speaker 13 if there's anything I could

Speaker 13 not tell.

Speaker 10 There seemed to be a lightness in her step as Sabrina Lamone pushed through the big glass doors of the building and stepped into the bright afternoon sun. Things had gone well.

Speaker 10 It had been nothing like the grilling Jonathan had warned her about. As she was driving home through the Tehachapi Pass, Sabrina's phone lit up.

Speaker 10 Hello?

Speaker 10 Hello.

Speaker 10 It was Jonathan.

Speaker 13 Hey, how's it going?

Speaker 13 Hey, good, good. I was just calling to let you know that there's a bunch of people praying for you.

Speaker 15 I just wanted to see how you're saying.

Speaker 15 Oh, thank you so much. It's good.

Speaker 15 My sister and I are on my way home right now.

Speaker 10 With her sister Julie sitting right there beside her, Sabrina didn't seem to want to go into much detail about her meeting with the detective.

Speaker 13 Everything, you know,

Speaker 13 things good. I'll talk to you.
Maybe I'll talk to you this evening. Are you going to be around?

Speaker 10 When she called him back later to arrange for a full in-person debrief, she said some of Detective Meyer's questions had been unsettling.

Speaker 13 Some of the questions that the detective asked me, just like how much of our story to tell, kind of thing.

Speaker 13 Well, yeah, and how much of Rob and I's story. I mean, they were asking personal questions about Rob and I.

Speaker 13 You know,

Speaker 13 did you guys have an open marriage?

Speaker 10 Jonathan did not like the sound of that.

Speaker 13 Yeah, I'll

Speaker 13 talk to you about that tonight.

Speaker 10 That was one of those conversations he preferred to have in person.

Speaker 16 Some stories never make national headlines, but stories from small towns and coastal communities deserve recognition too.

Speaker 16 I'm Kylie Lowe, host of Dark Down East, a true crime podcast that gives voice to victims through investigative journalism and powerful storytelling.

Speaker 16 Set in my home state of Maine and the greater New England area, it's my goal to dig through the archives to bring the stories of the people at the heart of these cases to light.

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Speaker 10 Firefighter Jonathan Hearn had been off duty the day Sabrina drove to Bakersfield to meet with Detective Meyer.

Speaker 10 A lot of 24-year-olds might have slept late or taken a ride on their motorcycle. Jonathan did not.
He stayed home, pacing and praying, just as he had told Sabrina he would.

Speaker 13 I'm just going to be doing stuff here today,

Speaker 13 being your prayer warrior today, back here.

Speaker 13 Thank you so much.

Speaker 10 Thinking about Sabrina's meeting with Detective Meyer had been stressful, and the two-room garage apartment Jonathan rented from his grandparents

Speaker 10 probably felt smaller than usual.

Speaker 10 As if the green and maroon accented accented walls were closing in.

Speaker 10 If not for that irritating detective and his murder investigation, Jonathan probably thought he and Sabrina would have been well on their way to living the lives God intended for them, serving his purpose, just the way they'd always said it would be.

Speaker 13 We have an understanding of his purpose we've been given. Yes, for sure.
For sure.

Speaker 10 The wiretaps were like a window into Jonathan Hearn's mind. For instance, the detective learned that God's purpose almost always lined up perfectly with what Jonathan wanted.

Speaker 10 And when it did not, well,

Speaker 10 Jonathan seemed to think that was what forgiveness was for.

Speaker 13 God, please help the DNA thing to be

Speaker 13 the way in which

Speaker 13 we are kept from having our dirty laundry aired. God, we have been sinners and we have cheated.
God, you're a savior.

Speaker 10 The way Jonathan saw it, everything had been going according to plan. That is, until the detectives started calling every day with updates.

Speaker 10 After Rob's death, he and Sabrina had brought their relationship out of the shadows, laundered it, and presented it as something new and natural, without a trace of dishonesty.

Speaker 10 Jonathan's younger sister Emily had gone with Jonathan to Sabrina's home for that initial sympathy call and later acted as a kind of chaperone and witness to their blooming romance.

Speaker 17 I think that Jonathan probably was initiating the few visits that we had,

Speaker 17 but it didn't feel unnatural or forced.

Speaker 10 That's the voice of Emily Hearn.

Speaker 17 I just had such a warm spot in my heart for the family, for the kids.

Speaker 10 I remember taking liliana to her little girl scouts thing one day while i was there emily and sabrina got along so well in fact that jonathan likely imagined they'd make good sisters-in-law someday i spent the night there with him one evening and um we just crashed on her couches um

Speaker 17 it was probably three or four in the morning that we had finished up dinner and talking and getting the kids to bed and stuff.

Speaker 17 And so we were going to go to a church that she had attended with her family the next day. And so we just,

Speaker 17 you know, spent the night on our couches.

Speaker 10 Sabrina had met his mom. And with the holidays coming, Jonathan no doubt anticipated introducing Sabrina to the rest of the family.

Speaker 10 As for Sabrina's people, well, he'd met her parents and sister at Sabrina's house. Shortly after Rob died.

Speaker 20 They came over. It was him and his sister, Emily.

Speaker 10 That's Julie Cordova, Sabrina's sister.

Speaker 11 How's Sabrina introduce him?

Speaker 20 These are my friends that I've met at Costco.

Speaker 10 Jonathan had been eager to make a good impression that day and strike just the right note of respect, sympathy, and support.

Speaker 20 That first day, he must have said two or three prayers when we were there. And I thought, well, you know,

Speaker 20 that's Brina's Christian support or whatever. Her faith is so strong.
And him and Emily would pray and he would keep praying.

Speaker 10 In an effort to impress Sabrina's folks and also demonstrate his honorable intentions, Jonathan volunteered to cook dinner for them.

Speaker 20 The second time I saw him, he was cooking in the kitchen. And my parents were going over.

Speaker 10 He may have thought that gesture made a good impression.

Speaker 10 It did not.

Speaker 20 Was I uncomfortable with it? Yes, because that was Robert's place, you know?

Speaker 10 Jonathan had known all along that taking Rob's place and winning over Sabrina's family would not happen quickly. Even so, he was committed and convinced he and Sabrina would be married soon.

Speaker 10 And why was he so sure? Well,

Speaker 10 because he felt it was God's will.

Speaker 20 I think he just

Speaker 20 wowed her or whatever with his faith in his beliefs in God.

Speaker 10 You see, God had a course mapped out for Jonathan Hearn.

Speaker 10 He might be living the cramped and cluttered life of a 24-year-old now, but he was certain God had big plans for his future.

Speaker 13 I love you and can't wait to be with you, so I want to be everything that I need to be to prepare for that.

Speaker 10 Jonathan knew Sabrina stood to collect $300,000 and perhaps more than that in death benefits from the railroad. He knew that kind of money could come in handy if he and Sabrina married.

Speaker 10 But he told her he wasn't thinking about the money anymore.

Speaker 10 God would take care of that.

Speaker 13 You know, I feel like I was like we talked about money stuff and

Speaker 13 I feel like I was kind of

Speaker 13 sort of being selfish, anticipating a certain

Speaker 13 ease or or anticipating a certain, like, oh, well, this will be super easy because this will happen and this will happen.

Speaker 13 Like, and it's like, no, let God control it.

Speaker 10 There were times during Jonathan's talks with Sabrina when it seemed every fifth word was either love or God, prayer or purpose. And the Bible?

Speaker 10 Well, that was an unending source of inspiration.

Speaker 10 Psalms 51 was a favorite.

Speaker 13 I've reading Psalms

Speaker 13 51.

Speaker 13 The Psalms are so good. The Psalms are so good.

Speaker 13 Because David

Speaker 13 is a lot like you and I, Sabrina.

Speaker 10 The cops in the wire room perked up when they heard that. Detective Meyer knew that Old Testament story of adultery and death as well as Jonathan did.

Speaker 12 And basically with that story, King David finds a woman very beautiful. Ends it being Bathsheba.

Speaker 11 The story of two people who have an affair. Right.

Speaker 13 He is a regular guy, but he loves God. He was someone who committed adultery.
It says in the Bible that David was a man after God's own heart.

Speaker 11 In David and Bathsheba, they have an affair, she gets pregnant, and David has her husband killed. But she's not involved.
David's later forgiven for that, I think. Yes.

Speaker 10 The parallels were far from perfect. Even forgiven sins have consequences.
Jonathan seemed to have missed that part of scripture.

Speaker 13 Like, God really liked him. He was like one of God's favorite people ever.

Speaker 10 As he listened in, the detective felt Jonathan's affinity for that powerful Bible story was essentially a confession.

Speaker 11 Is that sort of how you thought they perceived what had happened? That Jonathan had had Rob kill and expected later to be forgiven? Yes.

Speaker 12 Through their conversations, they believed they were doing what was God's work, and they talked about that many times.

Speaker 11 You ever heard anybody use a story out of the Bible to justify having an affair and killing the other person's spouse?

Speaker 12 That was a first.

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Speaker 10 In the days after Sabrina Lamone's latest sit-down with Detective Meyer, the cops in the wire room remained on high alert, waiting for either Jonathan or Sabrina to slip up and say something clear and unambiguous about the murder of Rob Lamone.

Speaker 13 We were selfish, we did everything, but

Speaker 13 we have God and we have

Speaker 10 That never happened.

Speaker 10 Instead, Jonathan and Sabrina behaved as if the murder investigation was behind them. That Sunday, Sabrina brought Jonathan to church along with her kids and his sister Emily.

Speaker 10 It felt as if a new blended family was being forged.

Speaker 10 For Jason and Kelly Bernatine, who'd initially told Detective Meyer about Sabrina's affair with Jonathan, and who were among the first to suspect him of murder,

Speaker 10 that was a demoralizing development.

Speaker 11 She took him to church with his sister again and was introducing him to our friends.

Speaker 16 And I was freaking out.

Speaker 18 I thought, we cannot have Rob's murderer around our friends and their kids.

Speaker 10 The next day was Monday, November 17th, and it marked the three-month anniversary of Rob Lamone's murder. At 6.34 that Monday evening, Meyer called Sabrina's home phone and left a voicemail.

Speaker 10 The detective told Sabrina the re-release of security camera video of the man on the motorcycle had worked as planned.

Speaker 10 He said a secret witness had just phoned the sheriff's department and said they thought they recognized the man on the motorcycle.

Speaker 12 I provided Sabrina with the actual description that matched Jonathan, tall, white male, possibly riding a motorcycle when the murder occurred, and with a possible name of John.

Speaker 11 Meaning that if that were true, you'd be getting close. Yes.

Speaker 11 You were playing Sabrina and Jonathan like a couple of violins.

Speaker 12 Yes, that's what we were doing.

Speaker 10 I'm surprised you didn't have sheet music.

Speaker 6 We had a lot of music, but it wasn't actually on a sheet.

Speaker 10 True to form, Sabrina called Jonathan at the fire station as soon as she heard that message.

Speaker 13 Hello.

Speaker 13 Hey, I'm not sure what's going on, but Detective Meyer called me. He's going to call me back.

Speaker 10 Sabrina told Jonathan a secret witness had apparently come forward after seeing the re-released video. The police didn't know who the witness was,

Speaker 10 but thought the information sounded credible.

Speaker 13 Tall, white male was leading on a motorcycle, someone that knows Rob by by the name of John. John J-O-N.

Speaker 10 There was a long pause on the other end of the line as Jonathan Hearn processed what he was hearing. Then he said, Someone's trying to frame us.

Speaker 10 Not G-Great News, not hallelujah. I hope they catch the guy so we can get on with living our lives of purpose.
No.

Speaker 10 What he said was,

Speaker 10 someone is trying to frame us.

Speaker 10 And who might that someone be?

Speaker 10 Well, Jonathan had a pretty good idea. He thought it was Jason and Kelly Bernatine.

Speaker 13 I can't imagine Kelly doing that. I feel like Kelly and Jason would do that just to put it out there just because they don't like me.

Speaker 13 But they would mess up my chances, like, to be, you know what I mean? Like,

Speaker 13 yeah, I guess they would, maybe.

Speaker 10 There was just one thing.

Speaker 10 Jonathan didn't think Kelly or Jason even knew he owned a motorcycle.

Speaker 13 Could it be? Oh, I've seen this motorcycle there, I bet you. No, they don't know.

Speaker 10 Like a quiz show contestant who's been stumped, Jonathan decided to ask a friend and called the man upstairs for help.

Speaker 13 God, you've given us a purpose. I think it's somebody trying to frame me because of this affair, Gunn.
And please keep us safe.

Speaker 10 At times during the call, Jonathan and Sabrina both seemed to understand the detective was throwing out some bait, toying with them, just to see what they would say.

Speaker 13 So a tall, skinny, white guy driving away on a motorcycle. A John that knew Rob.
That just sounds like Detective Meyer trying to make something up, honestly.

Speaker 13 Why would he tell you that, other than to record the conversation?

Speaker 10 He was 100% correct.

Speaker 10 And yet, the two continued to discuss the investigation on a line line they now had ample reason to believe, was tapped.

Speaker 13 I wouldn't be surprised if they're listening to us right now.

Speaker 10 There were likely more than a few smiles and knowing glances exchanged back in the wire room when the eavesdroppers heard that one.

Speaker 10 Remember, please, what they had not heard, at least so far, was anything like a confession. An explicit comment.
that could be used to convict at a murder trial. Proof of guilt.

Speaker 10 What What they did here through the bad cell reception was a creeping sense of dread. Both Jonathan and Sabrina seemed to sense.
They could be arrested at any moment.

Speaker 13 I don't think they're going to come tonight, do you? I would say it's a possibility, but

Speaker 13 I honestly, I don't know.

Speaker 10 No doubt, they were feeling the heat.

Speaker 10 So, the detective decided to amp up the pressure. He sent one more text.

Speaker 13 Hold on, detective Meyer.

Speaker 13 Okay, we think we have our guide you working right here.

Speaker 13 Person on the motorcycle.

Speaker 10 In this high-stakes game of nerves, the detective had just played his last card.

Speaker 10 He'd sent Sabrina a still frame from a security camera video. the one from that pilot gas station in Kramer Junction.

Speaker 10 It showed a man on a motorcycle stopping at the gas pumps about an hour after Rob Lamone was killed.

Speaker 13 A black helmet?

Speaker 13 What's he wearing?

Speaker 13 Shorts?

Speaker 13 Does it?

Speaker 13 Tan shorts and a tank top? A black tank top and a mask.

Speaker 13 It looks like.

Speaker 13 Is it like a good quality picture?

Speaker 13 No.

Speaker 13 It looks like the whole face is covered.

Speaker 10 It was then that Jonathan said something odd.

Speaker 13 If they're just using like a picture of me that they randomly found, if it's me, don't be like, like, oh, no.

Speaker 13 Because they could just be checking to be like, oh, it looks like the face is covered.

Speaker 10 If Sabrina wondered why Jonathan would think the man in the photo was him, she didn't say anything.

Speaker 10 She was focused on why the detective thought the man wearing the shorts and tank top was the man who'd killed her husband.

Speaker 13 Are you calling right now?

Speaker 10 The detective, of course, was expecting her call.

Speaker 10 He didn't have much to tell her, only that the fuzzy still frame he'd texted her had come from the security camera video at the pilot station at Kramer's Junction.

Speaker 10 Though Meyer had that video for weeks, he told Sabrina it had just come in. and was being sent out to experts for

Speaker 10 enhancement.

Speaker 10 When Sabrina told Jonathan what the detective said, he told her he could see the writing on the wall. Clearly, I see that they want to look into me.

Speaker 10 Clearly, they want to look into us.

Speaker 10 According to Jonathan, the best thing they could do now was try to get some rest and then start looking for a lawyer first thing in the morning. We want our lawyer there from the beginning.

Speaker 10 because we don't want to just let him grab us for a long time before we have have a lawyer.

Speaker 13 And then after the fact, you get a lawyer who's now already like two steps behind.

Speaker 10 Jonathan and Sabrina had been on the phone for nearly an hour when he offered up one last plea for deliverance from a reckoning he feared was arriving with the sunrise.

Speaker 10 Through this, through our adultery, you have brought us to repentance. Helped us to not be taught for this to not be destroyed for this.

Speaker 10 I love you, Sabrina. I love you too, Jonathan.

Speaker 10 It's unlikely Sabrina or Jonathan slept well that night. They probably tossed and turned, their minds replaying recent conversations and events in a constant loop.

Speaker 10 At 6 a.m. the next morning, they were at it again.

Speaker 10 They spent more than an hour rehashing theories of who the detective's secret witness might be.

Speaker 10 They prayed, and they agreed that if asked, Sabrina should admit she knew Jonathan.

Speaker 10 And Jonathan told her exactly what words to use.

Speaker 13 I know, I know.

Speaker 10 I know, I know that it's not him.

Speaker 10 When Sabrina checked in with Jonathan 90 minutes later,

Speaker 10 it seemed the time for talking hypotheticals was over.

Speaker 22 Hello. Hey.

Speaker 22 Hey.

Speaker 22 Are you okay?

Speaker 22 Yeah.

Speaker 22 They're down here. Happy and happy now.

Speaker 22 It was obvious everything someone posted at a corner.

Speaker 10 For Jonathan, it was as clear as the desert sky. His life, as he'd known it, as he had imagined it might one day be, was over.

Speaker 22 I'm thinking it'll probably be sooner than later. I would appreciate your prayers.

Speaker 22 I'm going to keep praying because

Speaker 22 that's all we can do.

Speaker 10 It turned out an arrest was not as imminent as Jonathan thought. Minutes passed that probably felt like weeks.
The watchers down the street were perched like birds of prey, waiting.

Speaker 10 An hour passed. Still they didn't move.
A little after nine, Jonathan told Sabrina they should use their free time while they still had it to look for an attorney.

Speaker 22 I've always assumed only guilty people get lawyers. And now I'm suddenly reliant the well-funded government system is against you and me right now.

Speaker 22 And they are you know, sitting down here watching, they're listening to this conversation. They're trying to put together a case to go through all this work

Speaker 22 just

Speaker 22 to tell a story, paint us in a bad light, and put us in jail. And that's all they want.
A wife. They want the wife.

Speaker 22 What's that? I said they want the wife. You know, like, that's how crazy.
Like, I know, I can't even believe the rest of my life.

Speaker 22 I've only watched it on TV.

Speaker 10 That was the last time Sabrina Lamon spoke with Jonathan Hearn.

Speaker 10 Shortly after the call ended, the watchers made their move. Jonathan was arrested while sitting in a fire truck.
And Sabrina?

Speaker 10 Well, she went to her children's school for a parent-teacher conference, blissfully unaware that her lover was in custody or that she was under surveillance.

Speaker 10 Coming up next on Deadly Mirage.

Speaker 11 You guys didn't know anything about the poisoning until Jonathan gave that to you.

Speaker 10 That's correct.

Speaker 4 I put the arter snake on some meat and gave it to the dog to see what would happen.

Speaker 11 They actually ended up giving it to Rob. Yes.

Speaker 10 Deadly Mirage is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beacham is the producer.
Brian Drew, Kelly Laudeen, and Marshall Hausfeld are audio editors. Carson Cummins is associate producer.

Speaker 10 Adam Gorfane is co-executive producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer.
And Liz Cole is senior executive producer.

Speaker 10 From NBC News Audio, Sound Mixing by Katie Lau, Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.

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