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Terra.Anatolia
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00:00:00It's uncovered.
00:00:03The wolf pack is our group of friends in Silver Lakes.
00:00:08They called each other Bear and Pooter.
00:00:15I started thinking, who would want Rob out of the picture?
00:00:18This case had sex, religion.
00:00:21It literally had everything.
00:00:25The story of an it couple behind Dateline's hit podcast.
00:00:29Sabrina and Rob had invited another married couple
00:00:32into their group for an open relationship.
00:00:35She couldn't stay away from him.
00:00:37Good morning, my mother.
00:00:39Well, good morning.
00:00:41They talked about God.
00:00:42God is so good.
00:00:43Yes, God is so good.
00:00:45Did you and Ms. LeMond and her husband and your husband
00:00:50engage in sexual activity together?
00:00:54That was the bombshell of all bombshells.
00:00:57No one could look away.
00:00:59You just couldn't look away.
00:01:10And welcome to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:01:12Rob and Sabrina LeMond were a golden couple at the center of their circle of friends.
00:01:18But that circle was broken when Rob was murdered.
00:01:22Detectives struggled to find a motive until they discovered a marriage riddled with secrets
00:01:28and a web of sex, lies, and religion.
00:01:32But the biggest surprises came in the courtroom, where a killer's confession left everyone stunned.
00:01:38Here's Josh Mankiewicz with Deadly Mirage.
00:01:41Trackless, dry, and desolate, the Mojave Desert fits almost no one's image of the California lifestyle.
00:01:52Unless, that is, you stumble upon this little oasis, Silver Lakes, a community of 6,000, improbably built in the desert, on the water.
00:02:05The lakes are artificial, of course.
00:02:08The houses look solid enough.
00:02:10Stucco and red tile, along with churches, a golf course, and parks for the kids.
00:02:17That's wholesome, anywhere, Main Street, USA.
00:02:22But what if that's a mirage, too?
00:02:25Turns out, behind some of these doors, there are secrets.
00:02:30About religion.
00:02:31About friendship.
00:02:33About sex.
00:02:35And about murder.
00:02:40Rob and Sabrina LeMond were just one of those magical couples.
00:02:45You wanted to invite them to every barbecue you had, and you wanted to make it to every barbecue, or every time they were going to go out on the lake.
00:02:53And they attracted people around them like that.
00:02:56Friends Kelly and Jason Bernatine told me the LeMondes were irresistible.
00:03:02They had two beautiful kids, and a great family, and just always happy.
00:03:07Aww, that's so sweet.
00:03:11I think I'm one with each other.
00:03:12Oh, gosh.
00:03:14They never fought.
00:03:16They were like, they called each other bear and pooter, and hugs and kisses and high fives all the time, just happy, happy, happy.
00:03:25Their happiness was all the sweeter, because Rob's own parents had split up when he was a child.
00:03:32Rob's older sister, Chris Wilson.
00:03:34Divorce is hard on kids, and it was hard on my brother.
00:03:38Mom worked a lot of nights, you know, being a single mom, so I would take care of Robert.
00:03:45After graduating high school, Rob lived with Chris here in Prescott, Arizona.
00:03:49It's where he met Sabrina.
00:03:52Just about everyone called her Brina.
00:03:54He brought her to our home and introduced us, and he said, I think I'm going to marry her.
00:04:02Chris could tell this was serious.
00:04:05She loved my brother, and I could tell she did.
00:04:09Rob adored both Sabrina and her family, says Lydia Marrero, another of Rob's sisters.
00:04:15They were very warm and welcoming, and they did things together, and that's what he wanted for himself and his family.
00:04:23Rob and Sabrina married in a beautiful church wedding on August 19, 2000.
00:04:30Rob thought about becoming a firefighter, then landed a job as a mechanic for a railroad company.
00:04:37He loved his job.
00:04:39Just like everything he did, he put 110% into it.
00:04:43He'd always take pictures of himself at work, and I'd see the trains in the background.
00:04:49Robert with his thumb up and, you know, just enjoy life.
00:04:55Sabrina and Rob settled in small-town Hellendale, California, in a community called Silver Lakes.
00:05:02Some people call it the happiest place in the high desert.
00:05:07Their house was on Strawberry Lane.
00:05:10They had two beautiful children, Robby and Leanna, almost three years apart.
00:05:17Kelly was a hairdresser in town.
00:05:20That's how she and Sabrina met.
00:05:22She made an appointment, came in, was super nice, friendly, like over-the-top friendly.
00:05:30I did her hair.
00:05:31She told me about her family.
00:05:33She talked to me the whole time, non-stop.
00:05:36She was hard to resist.
00:05:37Yeah, she was.
00:05:39Kelly was married to Jason, a firefighter.
00:05:42Soon, the Lamones invited them over for dinner.
00:05:45You remember that first dinner?
00:05:46Yeah, I remember the first time I met Rob.
00:05:48He's actually kind of a scary dude.
00:05:50He's really big, he's got tattoos all over his arm, and he's got his last name tattooed
00:05:55on the back of his head.
00:05:57So his appearance was not like his personality.
00:06:00It only took a minute to realize he was the nicest guy in the world.
00:06:04Jason and Rob became fast friends.
00:06:07So did Kelly and Sabrina.
00:06:09We used to joke that sunshine was coming out of their butts.
00:06:14They were such happy people, and you just wanted to be around them.
00:06:19The four became inseparable.
00:06:21They would often get together with a handful of other young couples.
00:06:25They all called themselves the Wolf Pack.
00:06:28It's a big group when we all get together, and our little pups running around, too.
00:06:34The Wolf Pack spent just about every holiday and birthday together.
00:06:39But one couple was always the center of gravity.
00:06:43Sabrina and Rob Limon.
00:06:46I would look at Rob, and I would watch him, you know, with Sabrina, and I'd like,
00:06:51that's the guy that I needed to be like, like, you know.
00:06:55And all the wives would look at Rob, and it was hard to compare to him.
00:07:01Yeah, everybody would be like, why can't you be more like Rob?
00:07:03Yeah, be more like Rob.
00:07:04That's what everybody said.
00:07:06And as a guy here, it's like, I can never be like that.
00:07:11On August 11, 2014, Rob turned 38.
00:07:16He celebrated his birthday with his family and his Wolf Pack friends.
00:07:23And then, just a week later, everything went off the rails.
00:07:28Rob was working the day shift at an isolated railroad office in Tehachapi, about 90 miles from Hellandale.
00:07:35Sabrina worked part-time, passing out samples at Costco.
00:07:39And the couple often talked or texted during the day.
00:07:42This day was no exception.
00:07:44Call me, Bear.
00:07:45I'm home now.
00:07:46Getting the kids dinner and ready for school.
00:07:49Yay.
00:07:50But Rob didn't respond.
00:07:52And he didn't call on the way home, as he almost always did.
00:07:56Sabrina texted him again.
00:07:58Babe, I'm worried about you.
00:08:00Call me.
00:08:01Leanna wants to say goodnight.
00:08:03That was a little after 8 p.m.
00:08:07Rob Lamone never did call.
00:08:09Instead, this call came in.
00:08:12Tell me exactly what happened.
00:08:14I had opened the garage door and there's a light bulb busted out.
00:08:18He's on the ground, bleeding out of his head.
00:08:20Okay.
00:08:21Oh, my God.
00:08:22A frantic call to 911 answers one question, but there are about to be a whole lot more.
00:08:32Coming up.
00:08:33I looked at her sister and I said, is it true?
00:08:37An apparent burglary and a mystery.
00:08:40We didn't know what was going on.
00:08:42It didn't make a lot of sense.
00:08:44When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:08:52It didn't take long for bad news to spread in Silver Lakes.
00:09:01Kelly Bernatine got the call in the middle of the night and immediately drove to Sabrina's home.
00:09:06She comes to the door, but she was wearing a railroad jacket.
00:09:11And little Leanna was wearing a railroad jacket and holding a picture of her dad.
00:09:15And then she said something like, oh, my Kelly.
00:09:19And she just like reached her arms out and fell on me and cried.
00:09:23And then I looked at her sister and I said, is this, is it true?
00:09:27And she said, yeah.
00:09:29And then I just cried.
00:09:30It was true.
00:09:33Big Rob Lamone, the nicest guy in the world, had been shot to death at work.
00:09:39But I still didn't believe that because Rob was so strong and I couldn't believe it.
00:09:51Sabrina's older sister, Julie Cordova, says they were both stunned.
00:09:55She was crying and just pacing and trying to be strong for the kids all at the same time.
00:10:04So I laid with Sabrina that night and rubbed her head.
00:10:08There was hardly any information at that point.
00:10:09We didn't know what happened.
00:10:11Nightmare.
00:10:12And we didn't know what was going on.
00:10:14It didn't make a lot of sense.
00:10:16Making sense out of Rob's murder was the job of Kern County Sheriff's Detective Randall Meyer.
00:10:23He got the call and headed for the industrial complex in Tehachapi,
00:10:27where Rob was working on the last day of his life.
00:10:30A lot of crime in Tehachapi?
00:10:32Not typically.
00:10:33A co-worker called 911 after finding Rob's body and seeing the blood inside the shop.
00:10:40Do I see any breathing?
00:10:42No.
00:10:43I don't see nothing.
00:10:44I think he's dead.
00:10:45It appeared that he'd been shot twice.
00:10:47Once to the upper right chest and again to the left lower chin,
00:10:52which meant Rob had been facing his killer when he died.
00:10:58Detective Meyer inspected the crime scene.
00:11:00One of the computers from the desk was missing and several doors were open
00:11:05and there were files that were strewn about the office.
00:11:08It looked like a burglary, an odd place for one because it was a railroad warehouse.
00:11:14No cash normally kept here.
00:11:16There were tools and train parts, but not much a thief could easily fence.
00:11:21And what's more...
00:11:23Burglars usually don't kill people.
00:11:25Only in TV do shootouts happen as a result of somebody interrupting a burglary.
00:11:29Usually the burglar runs out of there as quickly as possible.
00:11:32Yeah, that's correct.
00:11:34There was something else that didn't fit the burglary theory.
00:11:38We did not locate any shell cases on the ground.
00:11:40Meaning he was either shot with a revolver
00:11:42or someone was careful enough to pick up the shell casings afterwards,
00:11:48which would suggest what, if that's the case?
00:11:51Would suggest that they had planned and prepared to commit the murder.
00:11:58Rob's killer did leave behind a critical piece of evidence,
00:12:02a bullet lodged in Rob's head.
00:12:05That went to the crime lab while Meyer rethought the case.
00:12:09After looking at the scene,
00:12:11we thought that somebody was upset with Rob and was looking for him.
00:12:16Soon there was reason to doubt that theory, too,
00:12:19after the detectives spoke with Rob's coworkers.
00:12:22They told me that Rob Lamone was a very kind, loving person, a good friend.
00:12:28He was somebody who would help anybody out if they needed help at any point in time.
00:12:34Good guy.
00:12:35Good guy.
00:12:36And everybody said that he never had a problem with anyone at work.
00:12:40Which raised yet another possibility.
00:12:43Maybe Rob was not the intended target.
00:12:46A check of the schedule revealed Rob was covering someone else's shift that day,
00:12:51a coworker named Corey Hamilton.
00:12:55Meyer interviewed Corey, who told him that a couple of nights before Rob was killed,
00:13:00Corey went to a bar with some friends and got into an argument there.
00:13:05After questioning the patrons at the bar,
00:13:08Meyer decided it was unlikely that argument had led to murder.
00:13:13So far, the investigation was not moving quickly.
00:13:16In fact, it was barely moving at all.
00:13:20The railway company put out a $100,000 reward for more information.
00:13:25And Detective Meyer's phone started blowing up with tips,
00:13:29each of which had to be checked out.
00:13:32Meanwhile, friends were trying to make sense of it all.
00:13:36Was it possible that he could have gotten into something,
00:13:40involved with somebody that he shouldn't have been involved with?
00:13:43You worry that you never really know anyone.
00:13:46So that was definitely a worry of ours and we crossed our minds.
00:13:51Of course, they didn't want to believe that about their friend Rob.
00:13:55They just wanted answers.
00:13:57We've actually asked the homicide detective multiple times,
00:14:01like, have you found anything?
00:14:03Another girlfriend and they haven't found anything.
00:14:07He was who he seemed.
00:14:08He worked hard.
00:14:09He was in Tehachapi that day working for his family.
00:14:13In those first few days, Meyer questioned Sabrina Lamone
00:14:16about the couple's marriage.
00:14:18She said what everyone else seemed to know.
00:14:21Rob was a good husband and a terrific dad.
00:14:23He was as well-liked in his personal life as he was at work.
00:14:27And their marriage was great.
00:14:29She said that everybody loved Rob.
00:14:31And that seemed to be the whole puzzling story.
00:14:35But then there was this.
00:14:37A security camera captured someone entering the complex,
00:14:43limping across, carrying a bag,
00:14:46and then later, look closely at the upper edge of the screen,
00:14:50that same person exiting the scene.
00:14:53Who was this man?
00:14:55And did he kill Rob Lamone?
00:14:58Coming up, a suspect on foot caught again on wheels?
00:15:05When you look at the motorcycle and the rider,
00:15:07are you thinking there's our killer?
00:15:09It was something we needed to definitely look into.
00:15:11When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:15:24August 19th, 2014, Rob and Sabrina Lamone
00:15:28should have been celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary.
00:15:33Instead, Sabrina was preparing for her husband's memorial service.
00:15:38Rob's co-workers, friends, and family packed the church.
00:15:42His son stood up and spoke,
00:15:45wearing my brother's hat and just sobbing and sobbing
00:15:51of how much he loved his dad and he missed his dad.
00:15:55Sabrina's best friend, Kelly, spoke on her behalf.
00:15:59I also read a letter that Sabrina had written him,
00:16:02like in 2009 that I found in a scrapbook.
00:16:04I wanted to read it to all of you.
00:16:06I figured if she didn't have the strength to talk
00:16:09that I would try to speak for her in some way,
00:16:12so I read that.
00:16:13You have worked so very hard above and beyond what most men do.
00:16:18Sabrina sat in the front row next to her two children.
00:16:22All the friends rallied around Sabrina and the kids
00:16:25and did everything they could to support her.
00:16:28You know, people donated money.
00:16:29People, you know, made sure there was food there every day.
00:16:34Everyone wanted to make sure she was taken care of.
00:16:37Meanwhile, Kern County Sheriff's Detectives
00:16:39were busy tracking down leads.
00:16:42The biggest so far?
00:16:44Security video showing a man limping into the complex
00:16:48and then later leaving the crime scene.
00:16:51Finding him wouldn't be easy.
00:16:53And then someone called the tip line.
00:16:56They knew of a subject who was younger, who walked with the limp.
00:17:01And they provided the subject's name.
00:17:04His name was Joshua Weehust.
00:17:06He lived near the complex and would often walk through it
00:17:09to get to and from his home.
00:17:11That was interesting to detectives.
00:17:13So were the shoe prints found in the vicinity of the crime scene.
00:17:19Did this guy have a criminal record?
00:17:21A small criminal record.
00:17:22Mostly public intoxication type cases and that type of stuff.
00:17:27And Mr. Weehust owned several guns.
00:17:30So you bring him in?
00:17:31We did.
00:17:32We had our surveillance team pick him up
00:17:34and bring him into the attachment substation
00:17:36so I could speak to him.
00:17:37They checked his shoes.
00:17:39And those matched the shoe prints at the scene.
00:17:42So the prime suspect?
00:17:44No.
00:17:45He had a solid alibi.
00:17:47He said he was with his parents.
00:17:49And we were able to speak to the parents
00:17:50and said that he was with them at the residence
00:17:52at the time the murder was carried.
00:17:54So Joshua Weehust was cleared.
00:17:57And then came another tip.
00:18:00Detectives received a call from a local gunsmith.
00:18:03He'd said that he received a firearm revolver
00:18:05from a gentleman who was having issues with the firearm
00:18:08and asked the gunsmith to change out the firing pin.
00:18:12I'm no gun expert,
00:18:13but how often do people change out the firing pins
00:18:16in their guns?
00:18:17Not very often.
00:18:18Police can sometimes use the mark
00:18:21a firing pin makes on a shell casing
00:18:24to later match that casing to a particular gun.
00:18:27So changing a firing pin could very well be an attempt
00:18:31to throw them off track.
00:18:34It was very suspicious.
00:18:35And the subject also owned a business
00:18:37within that same complex.
00:18:38So I immediately went to Tachvi,
00:18:40seized the firearm,
00:18:41and sent it to our local lab here in Kern County.
00:18:45A firearms analyst compared bullets from that gun
00:18:49to one of the bullets recovered at the scene.
00:18:51And the results were negative.
00:18:53It was not the gun that was used to kill Rob Lamone.
00:18:55Disappointing?
00:18:56It was disappointing at first.
00:18:58Back to the grind.
00:18:59Detectives exhausted lead after lead.
00:19:04Nothing was panning out.
00:19:06They did find more security cameras
00:19:08at a business down the street.
00:19:10The cameras captured vehicles coming and going
00:19:13from the industrial complex on Goodrick Drive,
00:19:16including this work truck,
00:19:18which detectives believed had to be Rob returning from a call.
00:19:23They made freeze frames of the vehicles.
00:19:25We spoke to all the business owners,
00:19:27that went door-to-door, showing them a packet
00:19:29that I had created of all the vehicles
00:19:31that had traveled east and west.
00:19:32And then everybody identifies either their car
00:19:35or somebody else's car,
00:19:36and they all should have been in the area at the time?
00:19:39Yes.
00:19:40Except a motorcycle?
00:19:41Except a motorcycle.
00:19:42There it was.
00:19:45The one vehicle no one was able to identify.
00:19:48The one that seemed to have no business being there.
00:19:51When you look at the motorcycle and the rider,
00:19:53are you thinking there's our killer?
00:19:55It could have been somebody who was driving down the street.
00:19:58It was a Sunday afternoon.
00:19:59They were out for a motorcycle ride.
00:20:01But it was something we needed to definitely look into
00:20:03to try and eliminate.
00:20:04Trouble was, they couldn't eliminate the motorcycle rider.
00:20:08Couldn't find him either.
00:20:10So you're kind of nowhere at that point.
00:20:12Yes, we're looking for anything to lead us in the right direction.
00:20:15And then you get a phone call.
00:20:17Yes.
00:20:19Coming up.
00:20:21Strange vibes from one half of the perfect couple.
00:20:25She was like, oh, like a fake surprise look.
00:20:29And I was like, oh, that was weird.
00:20:32When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:20:36Welcome back to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:20:46I'm Craig Melvin.
00:20:47Rob Lamone was murdered at work.
00:20:50The only lead investigators had not eliminated
00:20:53was grainy video of an unidentified motorcycle near the scene.
00:20:57Now, police were about to get a big break.
00:21:01Turns out, someone had a secret to share.
00:21:04And a conscience to clear.
00:21:07Back to Josh Mankiewicz with Deadly Mirage.
00:21:11Rob and Sabrina Lamone were living a picture-perfect life.
00:21:16Or were they?
00:21:18I feel numb.
00:21:20And you know what?
00:21:21I feel like God has crushed me.
00:21:23And he has gotten my attention.
00:21:25Almost two weeks after Rob was shot to death,
00:21:28his best friend Jason received a voicemail message.
00:21:32I am begging you on my knees right now
00:21:37that I could perhaps meet with you and your wife
00:21:40and say sorry for the hurt that I caused you.
00:21:46And it's Jonathan apologizing not only to me, but to my wife.
00:21:51And he wants to be right with God.
00:21:55Wait, back up a second.
00:21:57Who's this guy Jonathan?
00:21:59I used to work with Jonathan in the fire department.
00:22:02He was an apprentice and he was a paramedic.
00:22:06He was a very good paramedic.
00:22:08And a really smart individual.
00:22:10And handsome.
00:22:12And young.
00:22:13Jonathan Hearn was only 24.
00:22:15This is his oldest sister Nicole.
00:22:18My brother was the gentlest and the kindest person
00:22:20that I had ever met.
00:22:22One of six siblings.
00:22:24All raised in Hesperia, California.
00:22:27Another desert town 25 miles south of Silver Lakes.
00:22:31Jonathan grew up in a Christian household
00:22:34where the emphasis was on helping those in need.
00:22:38Our faith was always not really a supplement to our life,
00:22:42but it was the foundation of our life.
00:22:46Jonathan was homeschooled and later went off
00:22:49to the fire academy.
00:22:52When Jason met him, he was in training.
00:22:54But soon after, Jonathan became a full-fledged firefighter.
00:22:58One of his responsibilities was to buy food and supplies
00:23:01for the fire station.
00:23:03Which made him a frequent customer at Costco.
00:23:06The same Costco where Sabrina Lamone worked.
00:23:09Passing out free samples.
00:23:11Sabrina told us, like, hey, I met one of the guys you used to work with.
00:23:15And I'm like, oh, that's got to be Jonathan Hearn.
00:23:17Smartest guy.
00:23:18I mean, one of the smartest guys I've ever met.
00:23:20That was 2012.
00:23:22Early the following year, Jason and Kelly ran into Jonathan
00:23:26at a wolf pack party.
00:23:27And I was like, oh, you know, Sabrina.
00:23:29So I called at her from across the bar and I said, hey,
00:23:32Brina, Jonathan's here.
00:23:34And now Sabrina's normally like a, oh, hi, like very animated kind of person.
00:23:42And this time she was like, oh, like a fake surprise look.
00:23:46And you noticed that.
00:23:47And I noticed it.
00:23:48And I was like, oh, that was weird.
00:23:52Just about then, Rob came by.
00:23:54And I said, hey, Rob, do you know Jonathan?
00:23:58Sabrina's told me about him at work.
00:23:59She knows him from Costco.
00:24:01And he looked at me like confused and he goes, yeah, yeah, Kel.
00:24:05But like, he really didn't.
00:24:08Something was up, but Kelly couldn't figure out what it was.
00:24:12I had no idea, but something wasn't right.
00:24:15Something was not right.
00:24:17Nevertheless, the wolf pack partied on.
00:24:20Jonathan hung out with us and started mingling with friends,
00:24:23talking to them.
00:24:25Then in the days following the party.
00:24:27I started getting text messages from Jonathan.
00:24:30You know, you guys are so cool.
00:24:31I would love to come hang out with you guys.
00:24:33And I was like, oh, okay.
00:24:34Yeah, sure.
00:24:35Someday we could do that, Jonathan.
00:24:36Cool.
00:24:37But then the text messages started coming every couple days.
00:24:42And then to the point where they're coming every day.
00:24:44He's like doing everything he can to become part of your circle of friends.
00:24:47Yes.
00:24:48And it was to the point where it was obsessive.
00:24:50One day, Rob was helping the Bernatines remodel their home.
00:24:54Jonathan kept texting Jason, which by now seemed almost routine.
00:25:00Until Jonathan sent a text that did not seem routine.
00:25:03Jason, I really need to talk to your buddy Rob.
00:25:07I need his phone number.
00:25:09I went outside and I called Jonathan.
00:25:11And I asked him, like, Jonathan, what's up, man?
00:25:14Why do you want to talk to Rob?
00:25:15No, it's your radar that's going off.
00:25:17Yeah, my radar finally goes off.
00:25:19And he says, Jason, I'm sorry, but I've been living my life wrong.
00:25:23Jonathan spilled it.
00:25:25He wasn't just a would-be wolf packer.
00:25:27This deeply religious man had something to confess.
00:25:31So I go inside the house and I tell Rob, I don't know how to tell you this, Rob,
00:25:35but I got Jonathan Hearn on my phone.
00:25:37Apparently he's been having an affair with Sabrina.
00:25:40An enormous surprise to Jason, but not, it seemed, to Rob,
00:25:46who had already figured out his 33-year-old wife was having an affair with a 24-year-old firefighter.
00:25:53And Rob says, I know, buddy, I know.
00:25:58I found out the other day.
00:26:01Rob told Jason he'd discovered texts Jonathan had sent Sabrina
00:26:05and became so angry he broke Sabrina's phone.
00:26:09Then Rob agreed to talk with Jonathan and walked outside.
00:26:14When he came back in, I said, what's up, Rob?
00:26:16Do we need to go handle this?
00:26:18And he said, no.
00:26:19No, I got it, buddy.
00:26:20This is, we're good.
00:26:21We're good.
00:26:22He said that, you know, Sabrina's really embarrassed.
00:26:27You know, please don't tell anybody.
00:26:29Jason and Kelly promised to tell no one,
00:26:32not even their wolf pack friends.
00:26:34Nobody wants to be embarrassed, particularly in front of your friends
00:26:37who sort of look up to you as the perfect couple.
00:26:40Exactly.
00:26:41We didn't want to, like, damage their reputation or anything.
00:26:44I mean, we loved them.
00:26:46Jonathan's text messages stopped.
00:26:49Life went back to normal.
00:26:51Until about a year later, Kelly made a quick stop at the Costco
00:26:54and spotted Jonathan talking with Sabrina.
00:26:58I was upset.
00:26:59I think she could tell I was upset.
00:27:01Kelly told Jason.
00:27:02I was pissed.
00:27:03Jason called Jonathan.
00:27:05And I said, Jonathan, what the heck are you doing in Costco
00:27:10talking to Sabrina?
00:27:11He starts saying, you know, Jason, I'm sorry it's not like that.
00:27:15Sabrina and I are just friends now.
00:27:18We have a spiritual relationship.
00:27:19And I told him, well, Jonathan, you've had an affair with this woman.
00:27:22You've caused damage to this family.
00:27:24So, in the end, I tell him, never go into her Costco again.
00:27:31And I'm yelling at him emphatically.
00:27:33And he agrees.
00:27:34He says, OK, I won't.
00:27:36A few months later, Rob Limone was shot and killed by someone who was standing right in front of him.
00:27:4312 days after that, Jonathan left his cryptic voicemail.
00:27:48God needs me to have a clue.
00:27:50And I wanna, I wanna fix this with you.
00:27:53Fix what?
00:27:54What exactly was going on?
00:27:59Coming up, more secrets behind bedroom doors.
00:28:04Sabrina and Rob had invited another married couple into their group for an open relationship.
00:28:10When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:28:23The sudden loss of a spouse, a life partner is devastating.
00:28:27And it always brings up a question.
00:28:30When is it OK to move on and try to find happiness again?
00:28:35After Rob Limone was murdered, his wife Sabrina faced that question.
00:28:39And to her best friends, Kelly and Jason Bernatine, it seemed that someone was all too willing to help her answer it.
00:28:48Kelly says, well, you'll never guess who just came and visited Sabrina last night.
00:28:53And I said, please, no.
00:28:56She says, yes, it was Jonathan.
00:28:58This is two weeks to the day after Rob's murder.
00:29:02Jonathan Hearn brought Sabrina flowers.
00:29:05And we're not talking like a little thing of flowers.
00:29:07I mean, we're talking like a huge bouquet of flowers that just happened to be the flowers that were in her wedding bouquet.
00:29:14Jonathan also wrote a letter to Sabrina.
00:29:17Sabrina read it to Kelly.
00:29:19And it talked about what a wonderful man Rob was and how he wants to be the kind of person that he was and all these things.
00:29:27And she's reading you the letter like, can you believe this jerk?
00:29:29Or she's reading you the letter like, isn't this sweet?
00:29:32Isn't this sweet?
00:29:33Listen to this.
00:29:34Listen to how sweet Jonathan is.
00:29:36So I'm trying not to throw up.
00:29:38I'm trying not to scream.
00:29:39I'm just like freaking out.
00:29:43Jonathan had already admitted he'd had an affair with Sabrina a year earlier, but said they'd broken it off.
00:29:50Their relationship now?
00:29:52Purely spiritual.
00:29:53The Bernatines thought it was tasteless at best for him to be hanging around Sabrina just days after Rob was murdered.
00:30:02I said, how did that make you feel?
00:30:04The letter.
00:30:05And she said?
00:30:06And she said, well, I don't feel like he has any bad intentions.
00:30:10The Bernatines thought otherwise.
00:30:13Jonathan's obsessive interest in the wolf pack.
00:30:16His affair with Sabrina.
00:30:18His weird voicemail.
00:30:20I started thinking, who would want Rob dead?
00:30:23Who wanted Rob out of the picture?
00:30:24And the only person that popped into my mind was Jonathan Hearn.
00:30:29Jason called the sheriff's department.
00:30:31I told the cops my story.
00:30:33I let them listen to the voicemail.
00:30:36They're concerned.
00:30:37But at the end of everything, they're like, well, you know, sounds like they had an affair.
00:30:41That's pretty far from murder.
00:30:44Maybe this guy is just trying to move in on your dead friend's wife.
00:30:50Definitely doesn't mean he killed your best friend.
00:30:53And this might be a guy you have to learn to live with.
00:30:57And so Jason wondered if maybe he'd misjudged the whole situation.
00:31:02After all, Jonathan was intelligent and had his whole life ahead of him.
00:31:07Why would he murder for Sabrina?
00:31:10Why would he throw away his life?
00:31:12Why would he risk that for a married woman with two kids?
00:31:15He's young.
00:31:16He has a good career as a firefighter paramedic.
00:31:20And he's no murderer.
00:31:21And he's not a murderer.
00:31:22I've known him for a long time.
00:31:24He did some bad stuff.
00:31:26But an affair is very far from murder.
00:31:29And in this case, even farther than usual.
00:31:32Because Detective Meyer had learned something else about Rob and Sabrina.
00:31:38A few years prior, Sabrina and Rob had invited another married couple into their group for an open relationship between the four of them.
00:31:51And that was something of a way of life with those folks?
00:31:55I'm not sure if it's exactly a way of life, but you could say they had met before and swapped partners for the evening.
00:32:02So, if Rob and Sabrina already had an open relationship, maybe Sabrina's affair with Jonathan was no big deal.
00:32:10Maybe Jason and Kelly just needed to get over it.
00:32:13I mean, look, okay, the guy's presumptuous.
00:32:16Okay, he's a snake.
00:32:18Okay, he wants you to sort of absolve him of this burden of guilt for having had the affair.
00:32:24But none of this makes him a killer.
00:32:26It just makes him a kind of a guy you'd rather stay away from.
00:32:29Absolutely.
00:32:30Still, Jason felt he had to talk with Sabrina about the situation.
00:32:34I explained to her in detail all the reasons I didn't like Jonathan, and the conversations I'd had with him, and how he was texting me so much, trying to manipulate me to bring him closer to her.
00:32:47And at the end of my speech, I thought it was a pretty good speech, she says,
00:32:52Well, Jason, you know I get that guy. You don't have to worry about him.
00:32:56I feel like everybody was brought into my life for a reason.
00:32:59What reason would that possibly be?
00:33:03Coming up, Rob Lamone was killed by a large caliber gun.
00:33:10Jonathan Earn had a gun like that registered to him?
00:33:12Yes, he did.
00:33:13Coincidence?
00:33:14When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:33:28Ever since Sabrina Lamone got the news of Rob's death,
00:33:31her big sister Julie Cordova hardly left her side.
00:33:35Sabrina stayed in her room a lot.
00:33:38She just was crying.
00:33:41Sabrina was trying to cope with the loss of her husband and having to raise their two kids on her own.
00:33:48She's like, I don't, I don't know what I'm gonna do.
00:33:52She was just in a fog.
00:33:55She couldn't make decisions, think, or anything.
00:34:00That worried Julie.
00:34:02But even more worrisome, she says, was a certain someone who was coming around Sabrina and the kids way too soon.
00:34:10Jonathan Hearn.
00:34:12He would just show up random, you know, at times, and he wouldn't leave.
00:34:18Julie, unaware of the affair, would see him at Sabrina's house, praying constantly.
00:34:25But she says what really caught her attention was this.
00:34:28He was cooking in the kitchen.
00:34:32And that's what Rob did.
00:34:34It was like he was moving in.
00:34:36And was feeling right at home.
00:34:38Was I uncomfortable with it?
00:34:39Yes.
00:34:40Because that was Robert's place.
00:34:42You know?
00:34:43And now this guy's taking his place.
00:34:45Mm-hmm.
00:34:46Yes.
00:34:47And Brina didn't.
00:34:49She didn't like it either.
00:34:51Who was this guy?
00:34:53And what was his reason for coming into Sabrina's life?
00:34:56Sheriff's Detective Meyer wondered the same thing.
00:34:59Jason Burrentine thought the detective had discounted his suspicions about Jonathan Hearn.
00:35:05But Meyer had not.
00:35:07In fact, he wanted to learn much more about this young firefighter from Hesperia, California.
00:35:12No criminal record that we were able to locate.
00:35:15But this was interesting.
00:35:17The bullet recovered from Rob Lamone's head was tested.
00:35:20And?
00:35:21The results from the lab was somewhere like a .44 caliber to a .45 caliber bullet that killed Rob Lamone.
00:35:28Big bullet.
00:35:29Big gun.
00:35:30Yes.
00:35:31Did Jonathan Hearn have a gun like that registered to him?
00:35:34Yes, he did.
00:35:35And they found something else registered in his name.
00:35:39A Yamaha motorcycle.
00:35:41We went to the Yamaha website, checked out some other motorcycles.
00:35:44Similar in the same year.
00:35:46And was able to look at those motorcycles compared to the video that we captured from Goodrick Road.
00:35:51And they were very similar.
00:35:53And cops pulled video from this gas station at an intersection in the middle of nowhere.
00:35:59What made you look at video from that gas station?
00:36:02That would be the easiest path of travel from Teachapi to Hesperia, California.
00:36:08Where Jonathan Hearn left?
00:36:09Yes.
00:36:10The video showed a motorcyclist pulling up to the gas pump and then walking inside the store.
00:36:16This was on the same day Rob was killed.
00:36:19The time stamp was about an hour after a similar motorcycle was picked up on security footage near the crime scene.
00:36:25It appeared to be the same motorcycle with a clothing change, same stature, knees very high on the gas tank,
00:36:32wearing a backpack, which the subject was wearing a backpack on Goodrick Road.
00:36:36So at that point in time we believed same motorcycle, same subject, but with a clothing change.
00:36:41So this person stopped somewhere to change clothes?
00:36:43Yes.
00:36:44Once inside, still wearing a helmet, the biker grabbed a drink, then appeared to notice the security cameras and looked down.
00:36:54Detectives by now thought that man had to be Jonathan Hearn.
00:36:59I'm sort of hearing the word search warrant here.
00:37:02Yes.
00:37:03We started looking into phone records.
00:37:05When they did, they found thousands of calls and texts between Jonathan Hearn and Sabrina Lamone.
00:37:13No surprise, since detectives already knew the two had had an affair.
00:37:18Can you tell what the text messages were or you just know that there were text messages between them?
00:37:22Not at the time.
00:37:23They were having some text conversations back and forth, but the content we did not know.
00:37:27The communications seemed to stop four months before Rob's death.
00:37:31But this was interesting.
00:37:33Jonathan's phone didn't ping anywhere near Rob's shop the day of the murder and registered zero activity at the time of the murder.
00:37:42But in the days before and after, there were thousands of texts and calls to and from a number that detectives did not recognize.
00:37:50When you run that number, who does it come back to?
00:37:53It came back to no subscriber information found.
00:37:55Meaning it's a pay-as-you-go phone, a burner?
00:37:58Possibly, yes.
00:37:59Detectives decided to keep a close eye on Jonathan.
00:38:02And when they tailed him, they watched Jonathan throw something away.
00:38:07He had driven to a target and dropped some motorcycle pipes off into the dumpster.
00:38:13Meyer thought perhaps Jonathan had changed out his exhaust pipes to make his bike look and sound different.
00:38:20It sounds like you're becoming more and more certain that not only did Jonathan Hearn kill Rob Lamone, but that he used that motorcycle to get to and from the murder.
00:38:28Yes.
00:38:29And now he's trying to cover his tracks.
00:38:30Yes.
00:38:31Cover those tracks.
00:38:32Kelly and Jason never did tell Sabrina that they'd talked with Detective Meyer about Jonathan.
00:38:38And Meyer asked them to please not say anything to anyone.
00:38:43It was extremely hard.
00:38:45It was, it was hell.
00:38:46It was absolute hell.
00:38:48Detective Meyer was looking hard at Jonathan Hearn.
00:38:53There was that unfamiliar number that showed up in Jonathan's phone records.
00:38:57Meyer requested the location of that phone and he got it.
00:39:02And he didn't stop there.
00:39:04I was able to get a wiretap authorized.
00:39:09And so we were able to go up on the phones and listen to their conversations.
00:39:13When they finally listened, their suspicions were confirmed.
00:39:17Hello?
00:39:18Jonathan was on one end of the call and on the other, Sabrina Lamone.
00:39:23Hey.
00:39:24Hey.
00:39:25What are you asking?
00:39:27No, it's okay.
00:39:29It was immediately obvious the two were lovers.
00:39:32I love you so much, my girl.
00:39:35I love you.
00:39:36I love you so much.
00:39:39How many hours of conversations do you think you listened to between Sabrina Lamone and Jonathan Hearn?
00:39:45Hundreds.
00:39:46Jonathan often spoke with Sabrina from the fire station.
00:39:51What are they talking about for most of that time?
00:39:53They talked about their future together.
00:39:55They talked about God a lot.
00:39:58About God's plan for them.
00:40:01They also talked about Detective Meyer.
00:40:04I just got a text message from Detective Meyer and he asked me to call him.
00:40:08So, I'm going to.
00:40:10Okay.
00:40:11And...
00:40:12I'll...
00:40:13I'll pray.
00:40:14Okay.
00:40:15Okay.
00:40:16I just wanted you to be praying.
00:40:18I'm going to pray and...
00:40:20God, please help us.
00:40:23God, please help us to be wise.
00:40:26Help Sabrina to have the right words.
00:40:29A couple of minutes later, Sabrina called Meyer.
00:40:32She asked about the investigation of her husband's murder.
00:40:36So, there's no...
00:40:37There's no information at all.
00:40:39Honestly, I don't have anything.
00:40:42And I wish I did.
00:40:43But I think we're kind of getting into a dead end.
00:40:46Which was not true.
00:40:48Minutes later, Sabrina called Jonathan.
00:40:51Everything's fine.
00:40:52Did he ask you any questions?
00:40:54No questions at all.
00:40:57Meyer was tickling the wire.
00:40:59It's an expression police use, giving wiretapped suspects something to talk about while the cops
00:41:05are listening.
00:41:06Meyer often found himself in the mood to tickle.
00:41:10Like when he told Sabrina police had found DNA at the crime scene.
00:41:15The best news you've gotten so far.
00:41:18Really?
00:41:19Oh, gosh.
00:41:20That's great.
00:41:21That was not true.
00:41:23That was a ruse we were using.
00:41:25And what happens as a result of that?
00:41:27Another immediate phone call to Jonathan to talk about the possible DNA.
00:41:33Sabrina and Jonathan did not exactly rejoice over this apparent break in the case.
00:41:38Instead, it sounded as if they suspected Meyer was playing them.
00:41:43Jonathan even knew the right terminology.
00:41:46Officers are allowed to use ruse, meaning they're allowed to, if you want to get information,
00:41:52you're allowed to lie to get information.
00:41:54I don't know.
00:41:55No.
00:41:56I mean, I, yeah.
00:41:57That's kind of what I feel like.
00:41:59It didn't appear that that would be a normal conversation you would have in hopes that
00:42:05the suspect would be caught.
00:42:06No, it wasn't.
00:42:08And it was nothing compared to what they'd say next.
00:42:12Coming up, lovers feeling guilty about something.
00:42:16I have been a bad girl.
00:42:18I feel like I feel like the most horrible person in the world.
00:42:21I do, too.
00:42:22When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:42:26Welcome back to Dateline Secrets Uncovered.
00:42:36I'm Craig Melvin.
00:42:38A secret wiretap confirmed what investigators had long suspected.
00:42:43Sabrina Lamone and Jonathan Hearn were having an affair.
00:42:47With detectives monitoring their every call, Sabrina and her man left little doubt.
00:42:52They were sinful lovers of biblical proportions.
00:42:56But did that relationship have anything to do with Rob Lamone's murder?
00:43:02Back to Josh Mankiewicz with Deadly Mirage.
00:43:06Detective Randall Meyer told Sabrina Lamone there had been a big break in the case.
00:43:11DNA had been recovered from the scene of her husband's murder.
00:43:15Of course, that wasn't true.
00:43:18He just wanted to see how she and her lover Jonathan might react.
00:43:22Sabrina called him immediately.
00:43:25But as investigators listened in, Jonathan seemed to suspect they were being played.
00:43:32Still, the calls continued.
00:43:35Good morning, my lover.
00:43:37Well, good morning.
00:43:40They talked about the Bible.
00:43:42There's a lot of good stuff in there.
00:43:44God is so good.
00:43:45Yeah.
00:43:46God is so good.
00:43:48Including the Old Testament story of David and Bathsheba.
00:43:53David is a lot like you and I, Sabrina.
00:43:57It's the story of King David and the affair he had with Bathsheba, who was married to another man.
00:44:03After Bathsheba became pregnant, David tried to cover up the affair but failed.
00:44:08And then he even went on to kill the guy.
00:44:12Like, sent him into battle and pretty much had him killed off.
00:44:16In the Bible, David and Bathsheba eventually married.
00:44:19David suffered the consequences of his sin but repented and God forgave him.
00:44:25He was someone who committed adultery, who had an affair.
00:44:29And so he went way out of his way to cover his sin.
00:44:32Sin was a recurring theme for Jonathan and Sabrina.
00:44:36I have been a bad girl.
00:44:38I feel like, I feel like the most horrible person in the world.
00:44:41I do too.
00:44:42I, I do too.
00:44:44I feel like I see all of my sins and who I've been.
00:44:49And I see it all laid out in front of me.
00:44:52Exactly what sins were they talking about?
00:44:56By now, detectives had shared with Kelly and Jason some details of the investigation.
00:45:01So they knew.
00:45:02Jonathan Hearn was the prime suspect.
00:45:05And detectives suspected Sabrina as well.
00:45:09It was something Jason couldn't imagine when he first spoke with police.
00:45:14And I told him, I bet my life she's not involved.
00:45:18Absolutely not.
00:45:19No way.
00:45:20No way.
00:45:21If Jonathan did this, he did it on his own.
00:45:24You know Sabrina better than he does.
00:45:26Would you have bet your life that she wasn't involved?
00:45:28Probably not my life.
00:45:30I did not want her to be involved at all.
00:45:33I prayed she wasn't.
00:45:34But would I bet my life on it?
00:45:36No.
00:45:37Meanwhile, detective Meyer continued to tickle the wire.
00:45:41And while listening to the lovers talk in real time, he texted Sabrina a photo.
00:45:48And she read the text to Jonathan.
00:45:51Sabrina, we think this is our guy.
00:45:54Do you recognize this person on the motorcycle?
00:45:57Jonathan heard that and prayed.
00:46:00I hate that.
00:46:13You were playing Sabrina and Jonathan like a couple of violins.
00:46:17Yes, that's what we were doing.
00:46:19I'm surprised you didn't have sheet music.
00:46:22Jonathan seemed to realize police were closing in,
00:46:25yet was trying to convince himself they were not.
00:46:28All they have kids.
00:46:31Dead husband.
00:46:32Yes.
00:46:33I have a little bear.
00:46:35Sabrina seemed to suspect her phone was being tapped.
00:46:39There's a clicking on the phone.
00:46:40Do you hear it?
00:46:41When the lovers said goodbye that night,
00:46:44it sounded as if they thought it might be for the last time.
00:46:48I love you, Sabrina.
00:46:50I love you too, Jonathan.
00:46:51I love you too, Jonathan.
00:46:52So much.
00:46:53I'll try to get in touch with you.
00:46:56I'll leave by your contact next Thursday.
00:46:58I love you too.
00:46:59I love you so much.
00:47:01I can put you down in place.
00:47:03Two days after that phone call,
00:47:06three months after Rob Lamone's murder,
00:47:09Sabrina and Jonathan were placed under arrest.
00:47:13Detective Meyer called Jason and Kelly.
00:47:16We got them.
00:47:17Everything looks good.
00:47:19The evidence looks good.
00:47:21And you think, well, this is finally over.
00:47:23That's what we thought.
00:47:24Well, you couldn't have been more wrong.
00:47:26No.
00:47:28Coming up.
00:47:30I know, okay, I know it doesn't look good.
00:47:34No.
00:47:35There's a difference between it doesn't look good
00:47:37and absolutely is not good.
00:47:38This is absolutely not good.
00:47:40Sabrina Lamone in the hot seat.
00:47:43Do you plan to kill Rob?
00:47:44No.
00:47:45Oh my God, no.
00:47:46But not for long.
00:47:48Detective Meyer called me and said that he's got
00:47:51some really bad news.
00:47:52When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:48:00In late November 2014,
00:48:06Jonathan Hearn pleaded not guilty
00:48:08to the murder of his married lover,
00:48:10Sabrina Lamone's husband, Rob.
00:48:13Sabrina had been arrested too.
00:48:15By now, her friends Jason and Kelly were convinced
00:48:18she belonged behind bars.
00:48:21It was by Sabrina's own actions.
00:48:23She let him into her life, into her house.
00:48:26And then, on the day Sabrina was scheduled to be arraigned.
00:48:31Detective Meyer called me and said that he's got
00:48:36some really bad news, that they're going to release Sabrina.
00:48:41The D.A. decided there was not enough evidence to charge her.
00:48:45Good case against Jonathan, not as good a case against Sabrina.
00:48:48Yes.
00:48:49How did that feel?
00:48:51Like, that's literally like defeat from the jaws of victory.
00:48:55I mean, you think you got it, and then she's turned loose.
00:48:58That was a tough feeling, obviously.
00:49:00There was circumstantial evidence against Jonathan.
00:49:04Like the security video showing a motorcycle that looked like his.
00:49:09But the best evidence against Sabrina came from the wiretap.
00:49:12And in all those hours of conversation,
00:49:15she never once said that she conspired with Jonathan,
00:49:18or even thought he might be the killer.
00:49:21And in hours of intense questioning by detectives,
00:49:25Sabrina never budged.
00:49:27Did you know that he had planned to murder your husband?
00:49:30No.
00:49:31No.
00:49:32You didn't know that?
00:49:36No, I did not know that he planned on murdering Robert.
00:49:39Because he did.
00:49:42I can't.
00:49:44It's like I want it to just be a lie.
00:49:47You know, like there's no way.
00:49:49Did you plan to kill Rob?
00:49:51No.
00:49:52Oh my God, no.
00:49:53When did Jonathan tell you he did it?
00:49:55He never told, he never came out.
00:49:57Yes, he did.
00:49:58Yes, he did.
00:49:59Yes, he did.
00:50:00You guys are doing nothing but hiding this thing the whole time.
00:50:02Yes, he did.
00:50:03No.
00:50:04Well, what are you trying to hide?
00:50:06I know, okay, I know it doesn't look good.
00:50:10No.
00:50:11There's a difference between doesn't look good and absolutely is not good.
00:50:15This is absolutely not good.
00:50:16I understand that.
00:50:18Kelly and Jason were devastated when the DA turned Sabrina loose.
00:50:22We first spoke with them three months after her release.
00:50:26You think right now, what, she's getting away with murder?
00:50:28Yes.
00:50:29She's getting away with murder right now.
00:50:31The next time we sat down with the Bernatines, they told us their tight circle of friends had all turned on Sabrina.
00:50:40After she was released, what was the effect on the wolf pack?
00:50:44What did the other wolves think?
00:50:46You know, nothing's been the same.
00:50:52Were there people in the pack who supported Sabrina, who thought that she wasn't guilty of anything?
00:50:59No.
00:51:00So really there was like sort of unanimity among your friends?
00:51:03Yeah.
00:51:04Sabrina told her sister, Julie, that the wolf pack was mistaken.
00:51:08And so were detectives.
00:51:10About her and about Jonathan too.
00:51:13She thought Jonathan couldn't be involved.
00:51:15Mm-hmm.
00:51:16She just couldn't believe it.
00:51:18Could not believe it.
00:51:20Her pack gone, Julie says life grew miserable for her sister.
00:51:24The people out in Silver Lakes were so cruel.
00:51:27And Sabrina and the kids couldn't go anywhere.
00:51:29She had to homeschool them.
00:51:31Because the other kids were talking about it.
00:51:33Yes, the other kids would say things.
00:51:35The parents were brutal.
00:51:37And she was, what, sort of a pariah in that community.
00:51:41Yes, she was.
00:51:43Sabrina took her children and relocated more than a hundred miles away.
00:51:48At the same time, Jonathan Hearn was preparing to face trial on charges he'd murdered Sabrina's
00:51:55husband Rob.
00:51:57Months went by and then years.
00:52:00Kelly and Jason never wavered from their belief that Sabrina Lamone had been involved in her
00:52:05husband's murder.
00:52:06I always had hope that they would get her somehow.
00:52:10I didn't know how or when, but, like, I definitely had that hope.
00:52:14Jonathan still hadn't been tried.
00:52:17He was still awaiting trial.
00:52:19We always knew that there was a chance that he might decide to tell the truth and hoped for
00:52:25that day.
00:52:26And it finally came.
00:52:28More than two years after Rob's murder and just weeks before his own trial was about to
00:52:34start.
00:52:35Jonathan Hearn, who referred to himself as David from the biblical story, told investigators
00:52:41he was ready to talk about Sabrina, his modern day Bathsheba.
00:52:48Jonathan's story, eagerly awaited by everyone except Sabrina.
00:52:54Coming up.
00:52:55It was a relief and sickening all at once.
00:52:58Must have felt like vindication for the two of you.
00:53:01Definitely.
00:53:02When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
00:53:09Late 2016, firefighter Jonathan Hearn was just weeks away from trial when Detective Randall
00:53:22Meyer heard some unexpected news.
00:53:24Jonathan's attorney approached the district attorney and said that Jonathan could provide
00:53:29information that would lead to the possible prosecution of Sabrina Lamone.
00:53:34Jonathan made a startling confession.
00:53:37Yes, he had fired the gun that killed Rob Lamone.
00:53:41But he hadn't acted alone.
00:53:44Sabrina, he said, wasn't there when the murder occurred.
00:53:47But he said she'd helped him plan it every step of the way.
00:53:52He gave her up.
00:53:53He did.
00:53:54Jonathan said Sabrina wanted Rob out of the picture so she could be with Jonathan.
00:53:59And he said she did not consider divorce to be an option.
00:54:04She was concerned about the perception of the community that she lived in.
00:54:09So, murder is better than the stigma of divorce?
00:54:12Yes.
00:54:13Jonathan had no hard evidence to prove Sabrina's involvement.
00:54:18Remember, those wiretap recordings certainly proved an affair.
00:54:22I love you, baby.
00:54:23I love you.
00:54:24I love you.
00:54:25I love you.
00:54:26I love you.
00:54:27I love you, baby.
00:54:28I love you, baby.
00:54:29But there was no explicit mention of a murder plot.
00:54:32This would be Jonathan's word against Sabrina's.
00:54:36The district attorney offered Jonathan a plea agreement.
00:54:40In exchange for testifying against Sabrina in court, his murder charge would be reduced
00:54:45to voluntary manslaughter.
00:54:47Jonathan took the deal.
00:54:49His sister, Nicole, said the family believed Jonathan was innocent and had no idea he planned
00:54:55to confess until they got a call from his attorney.
00:54:58I felt like it was so surreal when I heard it.
00:55:03I was shaken to my core.
00:55:06Sabrina and Rob's former best friends, Kelly and Jason Bernatine, were in the courtroom
00:55:12when Jonathan pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
00:55:15From that moment, we knew that this was real, that he just pled guilty and was going to implicate
00:55:22Sabrina.
00:55:23It was a relief and sickening all at once.
00:55:26Jonathan had faced a possible sentence of life without parole.
00:55:31Under the terms of his plea deal, he could be out after less than 25 years.
00:55:36He'll be under the age of 50.
00:55:38He shot a man in the face.
00:55:39I have a hard time with that.
00:55:41It's hard because if that's what we needed to get her and we knew that she was behind
00:55:47this, then what do you do?
00:55:49What do you do?
00:55:51Detective Meyer drove more than 100 miles to Sabrina's new home to arrest her for the
00:55:58second time.
00:55:59She was confused because she was scheduled to testify in the trial of Jonathan Hearn.
00:56:06Instead, she was a defendant charged with murder.
00:56:09Now we're at the point where our story strays a bit from the biblical tale of David and Bathsheba,
00:56:15because there was never any suggestion that Bathsheba played any role in the plot to murder
00:56:21her husband.
00:56:22And in the Bible, David does not roll on Bathsheba in return for a reduced sentence.
00:56:29What was it like to see her in court in shackles?
00:56:33It was awesome.
00:56:35Must have felt like vindication for the two of you.
00:56:37Definitely.
00:56:38She was always very into her hair and makeup and her clothes and superficial things like
00:56:44that, so knowing that it was probably killing her to be in that state in front of people
00:56:49the cameras was very satisfying also.
00:56:52Very satisfying.
00:56:53Sabrina's sister, Julie, believed she belonged anywhere but jail.
00:56:58Is it conceivable to you that Sabrina played any role in her husband's murder?
00:57:02No.
00:57:03No.
00:57:04She couldn't be talked into it?
00:57:05No.
00:57:06She couldn't be persuaded to do it?
00:57:07She couldn't be manipulated to do it?
00:57:09No.
00:57:10For what?
00:57:11There is no way she would want that for her husband.
00:57:16Good morning, everyone.
00:57:17Good morning.
00:57:18Sabrina's trial began in September 2017.
00:57:22It had everything.
00:57:23It had sex, religion, the seemingly perfect, beautiful family that had all these secrets.
00:57:31It was tense and emotional.
00:57:33Olivia LaVoice covered the trial for NBC station KGET in Bakersfield.
00:57:38Her station made a last-minute decision to stream the trial live on its website.
00:57:44We were blown away by literally thousands of people during the day, all day, were just glued to it.
00:57:53People who were typically watching soap operas now were watching this trial.
00:57:59So Bakersfield probably took a big hit in productivity during this trial.
00:58:02Yes.
00:58:03Throughout this trial, you will hear from the mouth of Sabrina Lamont and Jonathan Hearn that they had a purpose.
00:58:10Prosecutor Eric Smith laid out his case for the jury.
00:58:14They had a plan, and that plan was to get rid of Robert Lamont.
00:58:19Why?
00:58:20So they could be together.
00:58:22The state presented mountains of evidence of Sabrina and Jonathan's communications before and after the murder.
00:58:29My Jonathan, I love you.
00:58:31Including letters.
00:58:33I love you for the hopes and faith in our future together.
00:58:37I love you for giving me a new perspective on life.
00:58:40Text messages.
00:58:42I am in love with you deeply.
00:58:44A love that I've never felt before.
00:58:46And of course, those wiretapped phone calls, which often centered around God.
00:58:52God, please help us.
00:58:54God, please help us to be wise.
00:58:57Help Sabrina to have the right words.
00:59:00It appeared that they were justifying all of their actions through religion, through prayer, and through this promise that they were going to live for God and that God had a purpose for them that they were going to fulfill.
00:59:15According to the state, Sabrina and Jonathan's purpose was to eliminate Rob Lamont so they could embark on a new life together.
00:59:24Of course, there was no smoking gun.
00:59:27The state's case centered on the testimony of an admitted killer who was about to tell the jury everything, or so he said.
00:59:36Was he making a true confession or spinning a tale to save himself?
00:59:42It was the moment everyone was waiting for.
00:59:44The testimony you shall give in this matter shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God?
00:59:49I do.
00:59:50Good news.
00:59:51Coming up.
00:59:52I fired the first shot from within the bag.
00:59:56He felt seemingly mortally wounded.
00:59:59Would Jonathan Hearn really turn on the woman he said he loved?
01:00:04When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:00:07Sabrina Lamont was on trial for her husband Rob's murder.
01:00:19Testifying against her was the man who pulled the trigger, her former lover, Jonathan Hearn.
01:00:25And his confession was just the start.
01:00:28He had a lot of secrets to spill.
01:00:31According to Jonathan, Rob's life was in danger long before the day he was killed.
01:00:37Back to Josh Minkowitz with Deadly Mirage.
01:00:41It's not every murder trial where the prosecutor asks the jury to believe the words of the admitted killer.
01:00:51But here he was, the star witness for the state, Jonathan Hearn, who would spend the better part of seven days testifying against his former lover, Sabrina Lamont.
01:01:03She seemed very friendly, very, very nice.
01:01:06Jonathan talked about meeting Sabrina at Costco and asking for her number.
01:01:11He told the jury he didn't learn she was married until later.
01:01:15A fact he said didn't mesh easily with his conservative Christian upbringing.
01:01:20I enjoyed spending time with her, but then there was also the guilt of recognizing that I was doing something immoral.
01:01:27He said there was just something irresistible about this older married woman.
01:01:33I know in most affairs you would assume it's, it's a sexual draw or something along those lines.
01:01:41And with her, while we were engaged in that, there was, there was a lot more than that.
01:01:47In time, he said, Sabrina revealed to him a deep unhappiness in her open marriage to Rob.
01:01:54She expressed to me that he was pretty exploitative and objectifying her.
01:02:01He was willing to pretty much pass her off to any other guy and not really leave the doors of their marriage closed.
01:02:09Jonathan listened, absorbed, and he said his disgust for Rob Lamont grew.
01:02:16Her frustrations with Rob became my frustrations. Her demons became my demons.
01:02:21Jonathan told the jury they spoke about how much easier life would be without Rob.
01:02:27You know, I distinctly remember it coming up in conversation as a joke at first.
01:02:33A joke that quickly took a dark turn.
01:02:37That progressed from humor towards what?
01:02:41Towards an actual plot to kill her husband.
01:02:45What was the plan for your relationship once he was gone?
01:02:48To, in time, marry and continue to live our lives together.
01:02:56Jonathan said Sabrina did not want to simply divorce Rob and marry him.
01:03:02She expressed that he would honestly rather be dead than divorced and losing her would essentially kill him.
01:03:10He said they discussed several ways to get rid of Rob and at first settled on poisoning.
01:03:16The proof, Jonathan told the jury, was in the pudding.
01:03:20Banana pudding, to be precise, laced with arsenic he'd purchased.
01:03:25It happened in April of 2014.
01:03:28I made a pretty large batch of banana pudding with Nilla wafers.
01:03:35He said he put a small portion into a plastic container.
01:03:39And stirred in the arsenic into the pudding.
01:03:43He said Sabrina kept the poisoned pudding in her refrigerator.
01:03:47The plan, he said, was for her to put it in Rob's lunch.
01:03:51But, Jonathan testified, they lost their nerve.
01:03:55She had told him to not eat the pudding because I think she said that she told him the bananas had gone bad in it.
01:04:04By August 2014, he said they had a new plan.
01:04:09Jonathan said Sabrina told him the location of Rob's workplace at the rail yard.
01:04:15He even did a drive-by one day to check it out.
01:04:18Sabrina, he said, told him Rob would be at work on August 17th.
01:04:23Jonathan testified he packed a mask to disguise his face and modified his motorcycle too.
01:04:30Which included using some adhesive flashing to change the color of the tank, the exhaust pipes, and the rear fender.
01:04:41Jonathan said he rode his disguised motorcycle out to Tehachapi.
01:04:46That was him on the security camera video, he said.
01:04:49He told investigators he faked a limp to throw them off.
01:04:53But, he said, once he saw Rob opening the shop's garage door, Jonathan said he felt conflicted about becoming a killer.
01:05:03Obviously there's some apprehension in the thought of senselessly taking someone's life.
01:05:08Jonathan said he paused before entering, so he could pray.
01:05:14There'd been sort of an ongoing narrative of Sabrina and I and seeking purpose in our lives.
01:05:23If a murder could have a catchphrase, said Jonathan, seeking purpose would be it.
01:05:29It was a tagline that essentially we gave to ultimately seeing this relationship through
01:05:35and living the lifestyle that we wanted.
01:05:38After praying, Jonathan said he entered the shop.
01:05:42I fired the first shot.
01:05:44He fell seemingly mortally wounded.
01:05:47Jonathan said he then tried to make it look as if there'd been a robbery.
01:05:52Opening cabinet drawers, pulling out papers, and stealing a laptop computer.
01:05:57And then, before he left.
01:06:00I really didn't want to leave him if he wasn't entirely dead.
01:06:06So he fired a second shot into Rob's head.
01:06:10Jonathan said he returned home and called Sabrina to tell her.
01:06:14I had done it and that everything was about to change.
01:06:19Jonathan told the jury he knew from the start the affair would be found out and he would become a suspect.
01:06:26Did you trust Sabrina to speak appropriately with law enforcement?
01:06:31I did.
01:06:32Why?
01:06:33Frankly, this was the culmination of something we had essentially planned together.
01:06:39And so perhaps my weakness, my trust was pretty strong in her.
01:06:44The defense had its own cross-examination of Jonathan.
01:06:48And right off the bat, Sabrina's attorney, Richard Terry, questioned Jonathan's credibility.
01:06:53Like the claim she'd held the poisoned pudding in her refrigerator.
01:07:00Potentially putting her children in danger of eating that pudding, right?
01:07:06If you actually delivered it to her and she knew about it, right?
01:07:11Uh, no, sir.
01:07:13You don't know who's going to get into it or who's going to have access to it, right?
01:07:18If you'd actually given her anything like that, right?
01:07:23Uh, yeah, I was not overseeing the status of her refrigerator.
01:07:27The defense attorney reminded the jury no one benefited more from blaming Sabrina than Jonathan Hearn, who could have received life in prison without parole.
01:07:39Now, under the plea agreement you've entered into, you're only getting 25 years and a few months, right?
01:07:47Uh, yes, sir.
01:07:49Means you'd probably be out before you were even 50 years old then, sir, after having murdered a man in cold blood. Is that right?
01:07:56Uh, that was definitely cold-blooded, sir.
01:08:02My question was, is you would be out before you were 50 years old. Is that right?
01:08:08Uh, that was part of your question, yes, sir.
01:08:11Jonathan's attorney, Clayton Campbell, sat next to him during his testimony.
01:08:16And Campbell insisted to us, Jonathan's confession was genuine.
01:08:21Jonathan wanted to come clean about what he did from very early on.
01:08:27He knows what he did was wrong, and he felt that maintaining a not guilty plea was dishonest.
01:08:35Challenging Jonathan's credibility was just the start.
01:08:39The defense had its own case to present.
01:08:42And wait until you hear it.
01:08:45That was the bombshell of all bombshells.
01:08:48Coming up, who exactly was on trial here?
01:08:52Did you and Ms. Lamone and her husband and your husband engage in sexual activity together?
01:09:01When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:09:13Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
01:09:15When it came time for the defense to present its case, Sabrina Lamone's attorney, Richard Terry,
01:09:21didn't even try to convince the jury that his client was as wholesome as apple pie.
01:09:27You weren't claiming that Sabrina had been the perfect wife to Rob.
01:09:30Nope.
01:09:31You weren't claiming that she had never cheated.
01:09:33Nope.
01:09:34You weren't claiming that there had never been an affair with Jonathan Hearn.
01:09:36Nope.
01:09:37You weren't even claiming that Jonathan Hearn hadn't killed Rob Lamone.
01:09:41You were just claiming she didn't have any part in it.
01:09:43Right.
01:09:44Because beyond Jonathan Hearn, there was nothing else that said that she was.
01:09:48This case, said Attorney Terry, was really all about Jonathan Hearn.
01:09:52What he said.
01:09:53What he did.
01:09:55And why.
01:09:56He was highly intelligent.
01:09:58And he manipulated Sabrina Lamone.
01:10:01And he decided he knew Sabrina was never going to divorce Robert.
01:10:08But he had to have her.
01:10:10She had to be his.
01:10:17And in his mind, the only way to get that, to have her, was to get rid of Robert.
01:10:23And perhaps, Terry told the jury, Sabrina wasn't the only older married woman to catch Jonathan's eye.
01:10:31He was very smart and just seemed way older than he was.
01:10:38Jennifer Lentz testified she met Jonathan Hearn online.
01:10:43They chatted by text and on the phone.
01:10:46And it was kind of flattering to have someone who was focusing so much attention on you.
01:10:52Would that be right?
01:10:53Of course.
01:10:54Attention Jonathan continued to lavish on Jennifer, even after he started sleeping with Sabrina.
01:11:02Even during the time that he's supposedly so madly in love with Sabrina, he's still constantly texting her, sending her pictures, communicating with her.
01:11:11The defense argued Jonathan Hearn was a slick, Bible-quoting predator.
01:11:17Sabrina, his innocent victim.
01:11:19You said that she and Rob...
01:11:21The real head snapper came when the defense argued Sabrina was also a victim of her own supposed best friend, Kelly Bernatine.
01:11:30Remember, she'd suspected Sabrina before almost anyone.
01:11:36Because she'd already lied to me once.
01:11:38On the witness stand, Kelly was forced to admit she didn't just know about the Lamones' open marriage.
01:11:44She and her husband, Jason, participated.
01:11:47Some of her testimony was for mature audiences only.
01:11:51Did you and Ms. Lamone and her husband and your husband engage in sexual activity?
01:11:59Yes, we did.
01:12:01I'll admit, when I approached this issue with the Bernatines, I was in uncharted territory.
01:12:08You said the two of you had a sexual relationship with Rob and Sabrina?
01:12:12Yes.
01:12:13But you never had sex with Sabrina and you were never with Rob?
01:12:18No.
01:12:19What am I missing here?
01:12:20Without going into any more detail, that's about as much as I'll tell you.
01:12:24Kelly cleared things up a bit on the witness stand.
01:12:27It was usually Sabrina and I, and then we would go have sex with our husbands.
01:12:33Quite the seething cauldron of passion out there.
01:12:36What else are you going to do in the desert?
01:12:38Rob, they brought you gifts.
01:12:40At trial, the defense attorney suggested Kelly had a grudge against Sabrina.
01:12:46Because Kelly was in love with Rob Lamone.
01:12:50You pointed a finger at your best friend and believe that she's a killer.
01:12:54I do.
01:12:55It's a horrible thing.
01:12:57As far as you know, Sabrina may not have known anything about Jonathan's killing her husband,
01:13:02right?
01:13:03No, I know she knew.
01:13:04I know she knew by her behavior.
01:13:06And because of that feeling, you want to get Sabrina, right?
01:13:10I believe she should pay for his murder.
01:13:13Because you believe she was involved.
01:13:15Yes.
01:13:16And that's because you cared about her husband so deeply, right?
01:13:21I believe I cared about him more than she did.
01:13:25How did Sabrina really feel about Rob and Jonathan?
01:13:30There was only one way to find out.
01:13:32Calling a defendant to testify is always a risk.
01:13:36Sabrina's attorney felt it was one worth taking.
01:13:40She's not slick like Hearn is.
01:13:43She's not articulate like Hearn is.
01:13:45The jury needed to get a better picture of who Sabrina Lamone was.
01:13:48My name's Sabrina Lamone.
01:13:50Sabrina told the jury what had attracted her to Jonathan Hearn.
01:13:54He was like nobody I'd ever met before.
01:13:59He was very, very intelligent.
01:14:01I felt like I was with the human dictionary.
01:14:04Sabrina said at the time she met Jonathan, her husband had been inattentive.
01:14:09She said he was hooked on watching porn and overly fixated on sex.
01:14:14And she said she felt some guilt about their lifestyle.
01:14:18Jonathan, she said, offered something different.
01:14:21Something appealing.
01:14:23He would pray with me and be very caring and spiritually focused.
01:14:32Jonathan used religion, Sabrina said, to give himself power over her.
01:14:40Jonathan controlled me through carrying his Bible with him everywhere that he went and using that to guilt me, but also make me feel safe and secure.
01:14:53She admitted it was true that she dreamt about a future with Jonathan.
01:14:58I definitely fantasized with him a lot.
01:15:03Were you in love with Jonathan Hearn?
01:15:07Yes.
01:15:09Did you still love your husband?
01:15:11Yes, I did.
01:15:13Were you wanting to give up your life with Rob to be with Jonathan?
01:15:19No.
01:15:20I had the best of both worlds right there.
01:15:23I didn't, I guess I didn't want to give up either one of them.
01:15:28After Rob's death, she said Jonathan was there for her, someone to lean on.
01:15:33He was like my, he felt like my rock at that moment in time.
01:15:39So then why, asked her attorney, did she conceal her affair with Jonathan from investigators?
01:15:45Because I was embarrassed.
01:15:47I didn't, that's something that Robert and I didn't want exposed.
01:15:54Sabrina insisted she never planned to poison her husband with arsenic laced banana pudding.
01:16:00And when Rob died, she said she had absolutely no idea Jonathan was the killer.
01:16:06Would you allow someone who had killed your husband around your children?
01:16:11No, absolutely not.
01:16:14Had you ever discussed any time from the time you began being involved with Jonathan
01:16:22until the day Robert was killed and after Robert was killed, discuss with him killing your husband?
01:16:29No, I did not.
01:16:31At any time did you discuss about wanting Robert to be gone or dead?
01:16:37No, I never said dead or gone.
01:16:42No, I did not want Robert gone.
01:16:45Kelly and Jason did not buy Sabrina's defense.
01:16:49And as to Rob and Sabrina's open marriage?
01:16:53As far as I know, it was Sabrina's idea, not Rob's.
01:16:56I think Sabrina was using that as an excuse and she used it against Jonathan to manipulate him.
01:17:02The prosecutor was equally skeptical.
01:17:05Good afternoon, Ms. Lamont.
01:17:07And now it was his turn to cross-examine Sabrina.
01:17:10Coming up.
01:17:12I didn't have permission to go astray from our group, friends.
01:17:22Was Sabrina Lamont just a cheating wife?
01:17:25It's a lifestyle that I don't expect people to understand.
01:17:28Or a calculating killer?
01:17:31This is not a case of he said, she said.
01:17:34This is a case of he said, she lied.
01:17:37When Dateline Secrets Uncovered continues.
01:17:50Sabrina Lamont told the jury she'd had no knowledge of or involvement in her husband Rob's murder.
01:17:58Now it was prosecutor Eric Smith's turn to cross-examine her.
01:18:02He used the huge trove of phone records, wiretapped calls, and texts to find plenty of evidence which he said undermined Sabrina's story.
01:18:12Including all the time she spent on the phone with her lover Jonathan Hearn.
01:18:17On the very day he murdered her husband.
01:18:21I added it up.
01:18:22223 minutes.
01:18:24Three hours and 45 minutes you talked with Jonathan Hearn.
01:18:29Prior to him leaving to go kill your husband.
01:18:32I did not know he was leaving to go kill my husband.
01:18:36Remember, Sabrina claimed she never wanted her husband gone.
01:18:40She said she had the best of both worlds.
01:18:43A good husband and a younger lover.
01:18:46I guess I didn't want to give up either one of them.
01:18:49Okay, but then why, in her texts, did she seem so happy to embark on a new life with Jonathan?
01:18:56Just after Rob's murder.
01:18:59Like when she wrote to him, I feel super blessed.
01:19:03So, 25 days after your husband was killed, you felt super blessed?
01:19:09No, I didn't.
01:19:11Okay.
01:19:12Well, what you wrote at the time, you felt super blessed.
01:19:17Well, I wasn't.
01:19:20And another text on that same day.
01:19:23I got something practical for you today in town.
01:19:27It will one day be something we share in our home.
01:19:33I don't remember what that was or why I wrote that.
01:19:37Well, wouldn't it make sense that you wrote that because you bought something to share in your home with Jonathan?
01:19:43That's what it sounds like there.
01:19:46According to the prosecutor, there was only one explanation for those texts.
01:19:51From all the texts we've just gone through recently, you had replaced Robert in essence.
01:19:56No, there's no replacing Robert ever.
01:19:59The prosecutor asked why, considering the relaxed rules of their marriage, she'd have to lie about her affair with Jonathan.
01:20:08Silver Lakes is a small community, is it not?
01:20:12Yes, it is.
01:20:14Everybody knows everybody's business, do they not?
01:20:17Um, yes, everybody's, uh...
01:20:21So this concept that somehow you were concerned that other people would find out about it,
01:20:26everybody already knew about your lifestyle in Silver Lakes, did they not?
01:20:30Well, they weren't in the bedroom with us.
01:20:33Okay.
01:20:34We didn't invite all of Silver Lakes over.
01:20:38In her corner of Silver Lakes, she said, marriages may have been open, but affairs needed prior approval.
01:20:45I didn't have permission to go astray from our group, friends.
01:20:54So now it's your testimony that you had to be given permission to sleep around?
01:20:58Yes.
01:20:59Who had to give you that permission?
01:21:02Robert.
01:21:04He controlled you.
01:21:06He was my husband, but he did not control me.
01:21:11It's a lifestyle that I don't expect people to understand.
01:21:15Well, your testimony is that everybody else decides everything that you do.
01:21:19Is that your testimony now?
01:21:21No.
01:21:22Okay.
01:21:23Jonathan Hearn controlled you.
01:21:24That was your testimony yesterday.
01:21:26No, Jonathan Hearn was controlling.
01:21:28Okay.
01:21:29Now your husband controls you.
01:21:31That's your testimony today.
01:21:32No, my husband was my husband.
01:21:34Okay.
01:21:35Do you make decisions on your own at any point?
01:21:37Um, yes, I sure do.
01:21:42Apparently many bad ones.
01:21:45Was Sabrina Limone guilty of nothing more than colossally poor judgment?
01:21:50Or of something much more sinister?
01:21:54Each side made its closing arguments.
01:21:56Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
01:21:57Defense attorney Richard Terry reminded the jury the DA didn't have enough to charge Sabrina
01:22:03with anything until Jonathan Hearn pointed the finger at her.
01:22:07And that's when they made their deal with that devil.
01:22:10He, to save his own hide, came in and spun his story.
01:22:16Prosecutor Eric Smith begged to differ.
01:22:20This is not a case of he said, she said.
01:22:24This is a case of he said, she lied.
01:22:27That's what I'm calling it.
01:22:29She needs to be held accountable for what she did with Jonathan Hearn.
01:22:33She needs to be held accountable for letting her husband suffer.
01:22:38It took the jury less than seven hours to decide Sabrina's fate.
01:22:44We, the jury, and panel to try the above entitled case, find the defendant, Sabrina Limone, guilty of a felony to wit, murder of Robert Limone.
01:22:53Guilty of first-degree murder and a litany of other charges, conspiracy, accessory, and solicitation to commit murder.
01:23:03Her only break, the jury found Sabrina not guilty of attempting to murder Rob with arsenic-laced banana pudding.
01:23:11Sabrina's former best friends, Kelly and Jason, say they felt satisfaction after a long fight to prove Sabrina's guilt.
01:23:23I would do it all again for Rob. He didn't deserve what happened to him.
01:23:28Rob would have done the same for us.
01:23:30Yeah.
01:23:31We know he would.
01:23:32Sabrina was sentenced to 25 years to life.
01:23:37In 2022, an appellate court upheld her conviction.
01:23:40The Supreme Court has also denied her petition for review of the case.
01:23:44Her former lover, Jonathan, could be back on the street very soon.
01:23:49He is eligible for parole in November, 2028.
01:23:53What do Sabrina and Robert's children say about this?
01:23:56They don't believe it, that Sabrina had anything to do with it.
01:24:00They know more than we...
01:24:02Wish they did.
01:24:03Exactly. Yes.
01:24:06Kelly and Jason are now divorced.
01:24:09The wolf pack still exists, still hangs out, and still gathers to remember Rob Limone.
01:24:16The lake remains their little oasis.
01:24:19But it's no longer the happiest place in the high desert.
01:24:24I look back at pictures and I see, like, we're just such a fun, loving group of people.
01:24:29After this, it's like, you can barely trust anyone.
01:24:33And, you know, things just change.
01:24:39I mean, she broke all of our hearts.
01:24:41Not only were we just so devastated finding out who she really was, but we missed Rob so much.
01:24:50For this edition of Dateline Secrets Uncovered, I'm Craig Melvin.
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