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00:05A cryptic phone call leads to an alarming discovery.
00:09As they pulled away each piece of the clothing,
00:12they were shocked to find that there was a person under there.
00:17The suspected killer comes forward, but the case is far from over.
00:23This wasn't a whodunit.
00:25It was a question of why she did it and whether or not it was justified.
00:31She said she was trying to protect herself and her children from this madman.
00:37He was 6'7 and 230 pounds.
00:40His body was a weapon.
00:43But no one that knows him believes her claims. No one.
00:48And as the investigation unfolds,
00:51the evidence suggests nothing is quite what it seems.
00:57If he passed away in the morning and we didn't get a call until 11 o'clock at night,
01:01what was going on during all of those hours?
01:05If she's lying about that, what else is she lying about?
01:23On August 7, 2012, police in Carlsbad, California receive an unusual call.
01:31The on-duty watch commander for the Carlsbad Police Department received a call on a back line that's not recorded.
01:40That's very rare.
01:42And that has to have somebody who knows the number to that watch commander.
01:48Despite the special circumstances,
01:51what the caller appears to be requesting is a simple welfare check for a resident named Jason Harper.
01:59The person identified himself as the former district attorney, Paul Finks,
02:04who had now become a prominent defense attorney in San Diego County.
02:13The Carlsbad Police Department responded immediately,
02:16and they were there in the neighborhood within a few minutes.
02:20The lights in the home are off, and no one answers the door.
02:25They noticed that the doors were locked and there was no sign of forced entry.
02:30The officers did check around the perimeter.
02:34They did find a door that was open,
02:36and they entered the home to do the check.
02:41It was very cluttered, but it appeared to be just a normal home with nothing out of the ordinary.
02:47Not find anybody on the first floor.
02:49They go to the second story and check all of the bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.
02:56As they entered that primary bedroom of the home,
02:59they were immediately confronted with many objects,
03:02almost to the point of a hoarder.
03:04Numerous items of clothing and bags on the floor.
03:09It was hard to navigate around.
03:12It was just piled up on the floor like it was junk.
03:15And as they pulled away each piece of the clothing,
03:18they were shocked to find that there was a person under there.
03:25He was noticeably deceased.
03:30He did not have a pulse.
03:32We were able to, based on his height, his weight, and what he looked like,
03:37determine it was Mr. Harper.
03:39He was laying face down.
03:42There was what appeared to be a bullet hole in Jason Harper's back on the side,
03:48and that blood had been coming out onto his shirt.
03:53Officers secure the crime scene, and homicide detectives arrive.
03:59There was no weapons found near the body,
04:01but they went in the closet, and they did find a loaded shotgun.
04:05But it was clear, based on the entry wound, that this was not a shotgun blast.
04:10Obviously, the fact that it was in a state of disarray and it looked like a hoarder's den
04:14made it particularly difficult for law enforcement to sort and go through the entirety of evidence.
04:21As we looked through the bedroom, we found multiple bottles of prescription drugs.
04:26Many of them were empty and in bags.
04:29Most of them were prescribed to Julie Harper.
04:33Based on the name, investigators assume Julie Harper is Jason's wife.
04:39The police officers looked at the family pictures all over the house,
04:44and they were able to see the identity of the family that was living there.
04:48We learned that they had three children.
04:51The officers wondered where the other members of the family were.
04:55Where are the children, and where is the wife?
04:59Not knowing what happened or transpired,
05:02our biggest concern were the safety of the children and Julie.
05:07And we were trying to find out ways to figure out where they were.
05:12The best way for us to do that is to interview family members and friends that knew Jason
05:17to get an understanding of who the person was
05:21to help us tell the story of what occurred.
05:29Jason Harper was born October 30th, 1972,
05:34and grew up in the greater Los Angeles area.
05:38Jason was soft-spoken, just an easy person to be around.
05:41I called Jason the Gentle Giant, is what my nickname was for him back then.
05:46You couldn't miss him just because of his stature and his height.
05:51His demeanor was so calm.
05:53He could be very intimidating because he was tall,
05:55but just a sweet, sweet, sweet person.
06:00Jason went to the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA.
06:04He was a proud Bruin.
06:06It's my understanding that he was actually a two-time national champion volleyball player.
06:14Jason remained single throughout college and for many years after.
06:26Jason Harper was a new teacher living in L.A. when he met Julie.
06:30They came from very different backgrounds and different neighborhoods.
06:35I know she came from money.
06:37Her father is a successful businessman.
06:39Julie, I believe, studied at Harvard at some point.
06:43I think she also went to the University of Southern California, USC.
06:51They were immediately smitten with each other, and Jason proposed around six months after they met.
06:58Julie and Jason got married.
07:00They moved to Carlsbad, and they ended up having three children together in this neighborhood.
07:09Julie really thrived in being a stay-at-home mom and made her happy.
07:14My fondest memory of Julie is just hanging out and doing wines with the moms at someone's house in the
07:20neighborhood.
07:20Just having the camaraderie of women, really, and just laughing and cracking jokes and enjoying some vino and doing our
07:30thing.
07:33Also, Jason was a really good neighbor.
07:35There was an instance when our family was out of town, and we got a text that our sprinkler had
07:41blown,
07:41and Jason, he immediately just took care of that.
07:44No second thoughts about that.
07:47He was a well-liked teacher at Carlsbad High.
07:49He was a high school volleyball coach, and he was a math teacher there as well.
07:54He never yelled.
07:55He never put them down.
07:56He was just soft-spoken.
07:57He was even killed.
07:58Jason was just an easy person to be around.
08:02Julie and Jason seemed like a really nice couple.
08:04They had these lovely kids.
08:06They had the supportive families.
08:08It is the American dream.
08:11I know that's cliche, but they had what most people want.
08:14They fit right in.
08:16They belonged where they were.
08:22Now, the Harper's idyllic home life has been shattered by a horrifying discovery.
08:29Jason has been found murdered, and his wife and children appear to be missing.
08:35The police need to figure out what happened, where's Julie, where are the children, and why is Jason Harper dead?
08:43There are a number of possibilities.
08:45This could have been a burglary.
08:46However, there was no sign of forced entry.
08:49And the unusual manner in which the body had been buried under all this clothing didn't seem like your typical
08:55burglary.
08:57The first thing I thought was there was some form of domestic violence that occurred, potentially a kidnapping.
09:03But not having the evidence to know which one it was, we were really focused on trying to find the
09:10kids and Julie.
09:14Investigators begin their search by speaking with the attorney who requested the welfare check.
09:20He said that he was representing Ms. Julie Harper.
09:26Mr. Finks was very cryptic as to the details and didn't want to give away too much information.
09:32He just informed us that she would be turning herself in.
09:38So, you're obtaining a well-known defense attorney and negotiating when you are going to go in to turn yourself
09:47in to the police.
09:49It was something that made us definitely on high alert.
09:55This wasn't a whodunit.
09:58It was a question of why she did it and whether or not it was justified.
10:08Coming up, Julie's attorney goes public.
10:13The defense attorney was already out painting a picture of a woman who was abused.
10:19But in search of the truth, detectives turn to their only witnesses.
10:25You feel sad?
10:26Does anybody ever get hurt?
10:29One time.
10:31The kids hear yelling from the master bedroom.
10:34And then they hear a loud thud.
10:52Hours after the August 2012 welfare check on Jason Harper that led police to discover him shot to death,
11:00His wife, Julie, is preparing to surrender herself to investigators.
11:07Her lawyer, Mr. Finks, informed the police that Julie and the kids were safe and that they were at her
11:12father's house in Scripps Ranch.
11:16The day after the shooting, at approximately 3 o'clock, she turned herself in to law enforcement at her father's
11:23house in Scripps Ranch.
11:25Julie came out of the home and voluntarily went with them.
11:29Julie didn't make any statements to police.
11:32She invoked her rights under Miranda to remain silent.
11:38After that, the police execute a search warrant of their father's house.
11:42They didn't notice anything of importance or evidentiary value.
11:48Neither Julie nor her attorney offer any details to explain the shooting.
11:55Instead, Julie's attorney speaks with the media soon after Julie's arrest.
12:01She wants to be with her children.
12:04The defense attorney was already out painting a picture of a woman who was abused and was the victim of
12:13domestic violence.
12:20Based on the timing and circumstances, detectives aren't ready to accept Julie's version of what happened.
12:29There was a big question in my mind of why did she not call 911?
12:34Why did she not try to provide life-saving efforts if this was self-defense?
12:41When someone says, I have been a victim of abuse in any way, shape, or form, we should believe them.
12:48But in this case, we're talking about a murder.
12:51It needs to be proven.
12:55To verify Julie's claims, authorities search for any record of prior domestic abuse.
13:02We did find one call for service at the home about a dispute between the two.
13:08That call was made nine months before the shooting on November 4th, 2011.
13:14The caller was the Harper's eldest son.
13:18The police arrived and they determined that this was just a verbal confrontation and nothing physical had happened, and so
13:24they left.
13:25Despite the lack of a history of violence, investigators know it's still possible it had been occurring.
13:33In domestic violence cases, it's very common that abuse occurred for a long period of time before something's ever said.
13:43They turn their attention to the only other potential witnesses, the Harper's children.
13:50The children are eight years old and six years old.
13:54There was also a baby in the house.
13:55And the first step was to have the eight-year-old and the six-year-old interviewed.
14:02The police took the children to do a forensic interview.
14:06And a forensic interview is basically an opportunity for an experienced professional to interview the children by asking non-suggestive,
14:15non-leading questions.
14:20The children were asked about any violence between the father, Jason, and the mother, Julie.
14:26How do you feel when they're yelling loud?
14:29I feel sad.
14:30You feel sad?
14:31Yeah.
14:32Does anybody ever get hurt?
14:34One time, that's like, fisking, like, Daddy grabbed one.
14:41But that's the only time she did, is that Thanksgiving.
14:44At Thanksgiving, that happened?
14:46Daddy grabbed right here?
14:47That was a long time, like, on the list.
14:53After establishing a rapport with the children, the forensic investigator asks them to describe what happened earlier that day.
15:04Mr. Day-Morning, you know, tell me about the last time you saw your dad.
15:07Well, you're looking for his computer.
15:10Julie and Jason were arguing over a computer.
15:14Jason was going to leave the residence and get another computer.
15:18When Julie told him that she had hidden it in the bedroom upstairs.
15:25When your dad was looking for his computer, did he, how did he seem to be?
15:29Did he seem, uh, he was pretty pissed.
15:32Mom and dad go upstairs, and then the kids hear the yelling from the master bedroom.
15:39And then, all of a sudden, they hear a loud thud.
15:43Both kids ran upstairs to the master bedroom to see what that sound was.
15:50They tried to open the door.
15:52The door appeared to be blocked by something.
15:55Julie answered the door, and she basically said,
15:58Your father just fell off a chair.
16:00He's fine.
16:01Go downstairs.
16:03Eventually, their mom came out and said that daddy was sleeping and that they needed to go.
16:10The kids described going to a coffee shop.
16:14The son said that they ended up at their grandfather's house.
16:21Although the children didn't witness the shooting, their story provides detectives with a timeline of events.
16:28They were watching a specific cartoon that they were able to describe.
16:31We were able to determine what time that cartoon was airing in our region,
16:37and we determined that between 8 and 9 a.m. is when Jason was killed.
16:43The children said that they went to a coffee shop, and they ended up finding a receipt in Julie's car
16:49for La Costa Coffee for 9.41.
16:53If he passed away in the morning, and we didn't get a call until 11 o'clock at night that
16:58night,
17:00what was going on during all of those hours?
17:05We took all of this information, as well as the coffee shop receipt, and we were able to go and
17:11retrace her day.
17:13The barista said that Julie was acting relatively normal and didn't seem frazzled or concerned or worried about anything.
17:23It almost seemed psychopathic that she was able to go about her day in such a nonchalant manner while planning
17:31her next steps.
17:32The real question I had is, what took place during the actual shooting?
17:38What precipitated this shooting?
17:40Was there a conversation, or was this a planned first-degree murder?
17:46And we needed to do some real forensic work to get more information so we could figure out what to
17:52do next
17:52and figure out exactly how this happened.
18:10California authorities have arrested Julie Harper for the shooting death of her husband, Jason Harper.
18:18And investigators are skeptical of Julie's claims of self-defense.
18:24When they first processed Julie, I remember looking through all those photographs,
18:29and there isn't a single speck of a bruise or a scratch or any sort of mark
18:35to indicate that Julie had just recently been in some sort of a physical confrontation at all.
18:42Detectives hope an autopsy will provide more definitive answers.
18:48There was a .38 caliber bullet that was recovered from Jason's body.
18:53What we wanted to determine was the bullet entrance and its trajectory
18:57to help us determine what Jason's movement was at the time of the incident.
19:04Was he going towards her? Was he going away from her?
19:08Generally, you would see evidence of stippling or soot if he was within three feet,
19:13and there was no evidence of that.
19:16Jason was shot in the left ribcage, kind of more towards the back of the ribcage,
19:22and the bullet traveled at an upward trajectory from the left ribcage
19:27and rested right here in the right pectoral, and it ended up piercing his heart.
19:32To me, what that entry wound indicated was that Jason was actually probably turning his body
19:38away from Julie at the moment that she pulled the trigger.
19:44The day after the shooting, investigators still aren't convinced by Julie's version of events,
19:51so they turned to the Harper's closest friends and family.
19:55I wanted to know whether there was anything to corroborate her claim,
19:59whether witnesses had seen her being abused.
20:03After a thorough investigation, we weren't able to find a single friend or family member
20:09who was able to give any indication of past abuse.
20:16Neighbors say it was Julie's behavior, not Jason's, that concerned them.
20:22There was a lot of speculation because her demeanor, her persona, her personality
20:27has started to change in different ways.
20:30After the second child was born, there was a shift in Julie's warm, attentive nature as a mother.
20:39According to the neighbors, Julie's decline worsened after the arrival of the Harper's third child.
20:47Police are talking to a lot of people that know Julie Harper personally.
20:51And what many of them said collectively is,
20:54I don't know who this person is anymore.
20:56She used to be present, and now we don't see her.
21:00There was concern about her well-being.
21:04There was some suspicion that she was going through postpartum depression,
21:08and that certainly increased the deterioration that she was going through.
21:14Your house can't be 100% clean all the time, especially with little kids.
21:18But Julie's house was normally more well-appointed,
21:22and it was kind of just kind of a disaster over there.
21:30When they offered Julie support,
21:33she explained she'd been suffering from various medical issues.
21:38Julie was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis,
21:41which is very debilitating and painful.
21:44She was prescribed by a legitimate physician medicine to manage that pain.
21:50She was seeking doctors that would prescribe her opioids and narcotics
21:55to help remedy that problem.
21:58It appeared that she had been abusing these medications
22:01because she was taking a whole lot of pills.
22:06Police were stunned by the amount of prescription drugs that were in that home.
22:1352 bottles is a lot.
22:15And when you look and see when these prescriptions were written,
22:18within a year, there were thousands upon thousands of pills that were taken.
22:26Between September 2011 and August 2012,
22:30Julie's drug dependence deepened and began to take a toll on her marriage.
22:36Some of the themes that we were getting from the friends and family
22:38is that it was clear that this relationship was kind of at the end of its rope.
22:43And my theory is that I think he said,
22:47I want to get a divorce.
22:49We should get a divorce.
22:51I think that really upset her because she was trying to save the marriage.
23:00When investigators check court records,
23:03they learned the Harpers were in the process of getting a divorce.
23:06But Jason wasn't the one who initiated it.
23:12We learned that Julie had filed for divorce from Jason
23:16five days prior to the shooting.
23:19She listed that there had been verbal abuse.
23:24We think she wanted to be the first to kind of set the tone
23:28about what was going on in the relationship.
23:30I do think she wanted to have custody of the kids,
23:32and so that's why she initiated the divorce herself.
23:36She's a clever, savvy person,
23:37and she's always thinking about the next step.
23:43Coming up, a second search warrant uncovers
23:47a damning piece of evidence.
23:50This appeared to me to be a getaway bag.
23:53And Julie finally breaks her silence.
23:57He was coming towards me with his arms raised,
24:00and he said, I'm going to kill you.
24:32The divorce filing, it really just set the stage
24:36for her state of mind on the morning of the shooting.
24:39She files for divorce and cites abuse.
24:44And she cites, I don't feel safe.
24:46He's abusing me.
24:48I'm afraid.
24:49Those are things she wanted to make sure were on record
24:52before she did this.
24:57And when detectives speak with Jason's mother,
25:00they discover Julie's escape plan didn't end with a divorce.
25:06Jason's mother, Lina, saw Jason the night before,
25:10and they conversed about Jason seeing what he believed
25:15was fraud on his credit cards.
25:18Julie wrote two $4,500 checks against Jason's credit cards
25:23and cashed those.
25:27Bank records confirm Julie cashed the checks one week
25:31before the shooting.
25:33Julie was able to withdraw the cash by forging Jason's signature.
25:38We were able to get bank video of her going into the bank,
25:42and the signature didn't match Jason's signature.
25:46This was a possible sign that she had been planning the killing.
25:50We believed it was related to her premeditation and deliberation.
25:56We also wondered whether he had confronted her
25:59about the divorce, filing, and the money that was stolen
26:02on the morning of the shooting.
26:09As a theory of murder takes shape,
26:12investigators want more evidence to ensure a conviction.
26:17We felt like we missed something in her dad's home,
26:21and we wanted to have an opportunity to search it again
26:25to gather more evidence.
26:28Police did a search warrant on August 16th,
26:31about nine days after the shooting.
26:34I would say a dozen detectives and myself
26:38went out to really thoroughly search the residents.
26:45We went to the garage area that has been searched before,
26:50and we went into an attic space.
26:53While I was photographing the attic,
26:55I noticed that there was a,
26:57right as you get to the top,
26:59there was a blue Jansport backpack.
27:02I went back down the stairs and I was like,
27:04hey, detectives, make sure that you look at that backpack up there
27:07because it seems out of place.
27:09It appeared that it had been hidden there,
27:12and it was hidden for a reason.
27:14So the police opened it up.
27:17Inside that backpack was Jason's cell phone,
27:21Julie's cell phone,
27:23jewelry,
27:24Jason's last will and testament,
27:27some passports,
27:30and interestingly enough,
27:32a naked photo of Jason.
27:34He was laying on what appeared to be like a hotel bed
27:39in the nude.
27:41That in itself is bizarre
27:43and disturbing.
27:45I don't know why she would need that.
27:48There was also a .32 caliber pistol,
27:51and that belonged to Julie that was registered in her name.
27:58The caliber is not a match for the weapon that killed Jason,
28:02but to detectives,
28:04the contents of the backpack are telling.
28:08This appeared to me to be a getaway bag.
28:10It's something that a killer would use
28:13in order to flee the jurisdiction.
28:16I think the purpose of having the passports
28:18is for her and the oldest two kids
28:21to get out of the country.
28:22I think the jewelry is pricey,
28:25so she needed to sell it,
28:26but the last will and testament
28:28kind of stumps me
28:29because if you're found guilty,
28:32the money you're going to get
28:34is not going to be from his last will and testament.
28:39The backpack was important.
28:41I think it kind of telltale sign.
28:43This was pre-planned.
28:45She knew,
28:46and then she did a really good job
28:48of retaining her attorney
28:49and making it difficult for us.
28:52I would say the level of planning
28:54that she was able to go through
28:56after the fact
28:57and the steps that she took to cover it up
28:59showed me that she wasn't really abused.
29:02And as long as a person
29:04thought about their actions
29:05and planned to take the actions
29:08before the killing,
29:09that constitutes first-degree murder.
29:12We were ready to prove to a jury
29:14that this woman intentionally killed her husband.
29:33In September 2014,
29:37two years after Jason Harper
29:39was shot to death,
29:40his wife Julie Harper
29:42stands trial for premeditated murder.
29:45As expected,
29:47Julie claims self-defense.
29:50But her attorney surprises everyone
29:52by putting Julie on the stand.
29:57Most defendants choose
29:59not to take the witness stand,
30:00but this was not your typical defendant.
30:03She was extremely smart,
30:05and she was ready to tell her story.
30:08Julie claimed that Jason was loud,
30:11he was verbally abusive,
30:13and that she was scared of him.
30:14She said she was trying to protect herself
30:18and her children from this madman.
30:24As evidence,
30:26Julie provides video recordings
30:28of Jason's behavior.
30:31F*** you, bitch!
30:33Carpool bitch.
30:35Figure it out.
30:36Can't help it if you're too dumb to do it.
30:38Too lazy.
30:39Seems like the B-I-T-C-H
30:41is the only word that you can use.
30:44That is darn right.
30:45That's what you are.
30:48He was 6'7 and 230 pounds,
30:51and very athletic and very strong.
30:55His body was a weapon.
30:57It can paint the picture
30:59that he could be
31:00this kind of guy
31:01that could become unhinged.
31:04Once again,
31:05bull, I'm not paying for anything.
31:07I'm paying for the vacation.
31:10That's bull, I am.
31:11That isn't true.
31:14When we saw these videos in court,
31:16I knew that they didn't make Jason look good
31:18because he was being angry
31:20and he was yelling at Julie.
31:22But just because someone's angry
31:24and yelling at their spouse
31:26there's a huge step from that
31:28to physically abusing them.
31:31And Julie swears under oath
31:33that Jason didn't stop with verbal abuse.
31:37She claimed that she was repeatedly raped by him
31:41every single day.
31:43I said, stop, stop.
31:46What are you doing? Stop.
31:49The defense enters Julie's personal journal
31:52as further evidence.
31:54The journal apparently was the evidence
31:57that would, according to Julie,
31:59corroborate her testimony
32:01that she was being raped by Jason.
32:04In her journal,
32:06she would write sex
32:07next to the date that this happened.
32:10And she said that the word sex
32:12was code for rape.
32:16But aside from Julie's private journal,
32:19the defense cannot present any evidence
32:22to corroborate her claims.
32:25It's hard to refute if he's not here.
32:27But no one that knows Jason
32:28believes her claims.
32:30No one.
32:31Nobody had any indication
32:34that she was going to claim this
32:35until we went to trial.
32:37There was no physical evidence
32:39or videos or audio
32:40that would tend to show
32:42that Jason Harper had raped his wife.
32:46Instead, the defense relies
32:49on Julie's emotional recounting
32:51of the events that unfolded
32:53on August 7, 2012.
32:57What Julie said was
32:59they were arguing with one another.
33:01He got this crazy look in his eye.
33:04She said he ran up to her screaming
33:07and began taking off her clothes.
33:10She believed she was going to be raped again.
33:16He was coming towards me
33:18with his arms raised
33:20and he said,
33:23I'm going to kill you, you ****.
33:27That was the first time
33:28we had ever heard
33:29Julie Harper say anything
33:31about Jason Harper
33:33threatening to kill her.
33:35Knowing what I know of Jason
33:36and the gentle giant that he was,
33:40I don't believe he was ever like that.
33:42I grabbed my gun
33:45from under my pillow.
33:46I turned around.
33:48I told him, stop.
33:50Will you stop?
33:52No, I said, stay back.
33:54I felt my hand jerk
33:55and heard the loud noise.
34:00And he was still, like,
34:02coming forward at me.
34:05And then all of a sudden,
34:07he froze completely.
34:11and that he fell with a thud on the ground.
34:18She claims she could tell
34:20within seconds
34:21that he was gone.
34:24The biggest surprise
34:25during her testimony
34:26was what she had done
34:28with the gun.
34:29She claims that she buried it
34:32in somebody's yard
34:34or something like that
34:35to preserve it for evidence.
34:37But it's our belief
34:38that she disposed of it
34:40because it showed her guilt.
34:46To prosecutors,
34:48the story is an obvious fabrication.
34:51As good as she was
34:54at testifying,
34:55I knew that her story
34:56was simply contradicted
34:58by the physical forensic evidence
35:01from the autopsy.
35:04What she basically said
35:05was that
35:06he was approaching her
35:07and he did not turn away
35:09and that at the moment
35:10that she pulled the trigger,
35:11he was standing
35:12directly in front of her.
35:13And so,
35:14the physical evidence
35:15directly disputed
35:17what she said
35:18actually happened.
35:21The medical examiner
35:22determined
35:23there was a single gunshot wound
35:25to Jason Harper's back
35:28on the side
35:29near his ribcage.
35:31The bullet entered
35:32from behind
35:33and traveled to the front.
35:39After closing arguments,
35:42the jury retires
35:43to deliberate.
35:45The jury,
35:46after hearing the evidence,
35:48determined that
35:48we did not prove the case
35:50beyond a reasonable doubt
35:50as it relates
35:51to first-degree murder
35:52and elected to acquit Julie.
35:56The jury was hung
35:58nine to three
35:59for not guilty
35:59on second-degree murder
36:01and so the court
36:02declared a mistrial.
36:04I was shocked
36:05and disappointed
36:06at the outcome
36:07and the prospect
36:09of having to do this trial
36:10all over again
36:11was a daunting one.
36:16A trial date is set
36:18for the following year
36:19and Julie is released
36:21on bond.
36:23After the first trial,
36:24she just wanted
36:25to come back in
36:26like life is normal.
36:28So she was going
36:29to concerts
36:29when she was out
36:31living in the house
36:32that she murdered
36:33her husband in,
36:34having a good time.
36:36The kids were,
36:38I believe,
36:40under the care
36:40and custody
36:41of Jason's parents.
36:47as we approached
36:48that second trial date,
36:50Julie informed the judge
36:51that she needed
36:52to delay the trial again.
36:55We learned
36:56that Julie
36:57had intentionally
36:58become pregnant
37:01through an artificial insemination.
37:06I absolutely think
37:07it was a tactic
37:08to try to be found
37:10not guilty
37:11by either being pregnant
37:13during trial
37:14and or having a baby
37:16right before going to trial.
37:34A year after her first trial
37:36for the suspected murder
37:37of her husband,
37:39Jason Harper,
37:40ended with a hung jury.
37:41Julie Harper's second trial
37:43begins in September 2015
37:46following an unexpected
37:48pregnancy delay.
37:50Whether the recent birth
37:52of her fourth child
37:53will result in sympathy
37:55from the jury
37:56remains to be seen.
37:58Once again,
38:00Julie took the witness stand
38:01and she stuck to her story.
38:03It was a story
38:04about being a battered woman
38:06who was physically,
38:07verbally,
38:08and sexually abused.
38:13Now that they are familiar
38:15with her defense strategy,
38:17prosecutors have
38:18a new approach.
38:20What we were going to do
38:21is we were going to ask her
38:22about all the times
38:23that she's lied
38:24about this case.
38:26And there was literally
38:28hundreds of questions.
38:32They carefully dissect
38:34each piece of evidence
38:36pointing out inconsistencies.
38:39They begin with the videos
38:41the defense used
38:42to establish Jason's abuse.
38:45F*** you, bitch.
38:48It was clear that
38:49obviously Jason
38:50was frustrated,
38:52but what was also clear to me
38:54is that Jason
38:55wasn't doing anything
38:56physically violent.
38:58This was strictly
38:59a verbal argument.
39:02And then when you
39:03looked at her journal,
39:04things just didn't add up.
39:05She says that this man
39:07had raped her
39:07over and over
39:08and over again.
39:09Spousal rape
39:1030 plus times
39:12is what she's accusing
39:13this man of.
39:14But she also was writing
39:16in her journal
39:16at the same time
39:17that she says
39:18she's being raped
39:18that she wants
39:19more sex with him.
39:21She was actually frustrated
39:22with his sexual prowess
39:24and wanted it
39:25to last longer.
39:27That doesn't compute
39:29with someone
39:29who is violating you
39:31in one of the worst
39:32ways possible
39:33continuously.
39:39Jason's search history
39:41from the morning
39:41he was shot
39:42also contradicts
39:44Julie's claims.
39:46Julie had said
39:47that basically
39:48that from around
39:498.30 to approximately
39:509 a.m.,
39:52Jason was trying
39:52to rape her,
39:53essentially.
39:53And what we found
39:55was that he was actually
39:56on his own computer
39:57looking up resources
39:59to help him
40:00with his
40:01soon-to-be-pending divorce.
40:03He could not
40:04have been simultaneously
40:05browsing and searching
40:06the internet
40:07at 8.36 in the morning
40:08and raping Julie Harper.
40:11If she's lying about that,
40:13what else is she lying about?
40:18The prosecution argues
40:20that Julie's desperation
40:21didn't stem
40:22from any alleged abuse,
40:24but her own
40:25dissatisfaction
40:26with her life.
40:29Her relationship
40:30was crumbling,
40:31mostly because
40:32of her own actions.
40:33She just snapped,
40:35completely just snapped.
40:38This time,
40:40the jury is less
40:41sympathetic
40:42to Julie's claims.
40:44Julie was ultimately
40:45convicted of
40:45second-degree murder
40:46and using a firearm
40:48in the commission
40:48of that murder.
40:49She is sentenced
40:51to 40 years to life.
40:5315 was for the murder
40:54and 25 was
40:56for the gun charge.
40:59I mean,
41:00normal people don't
41:01around killing
41:02their husbands
41:02or spouses
41:03and go have coffee
41:04or whatever.
41:05I do believe
41:06that Julie got
41:06exactly what she deserved.
41:08That's a long time.
41:09That's a long time.
41:13I think
41:14one of the
41:15worst parts about this
41:16other than Jason
41:17losing his life
41:18is that Julie
41:19took
41:20real stories
41:22from real people
41:24that sometimes
41:25don't make it out alive.
41:27And she
41:28took these stories,
41:29she concocted
41:30this plan
41:31for her own benefit
41:32and didn't think
41:34about how
41:34anybody else
41:35would feel about it
41:37other than herself.
41:39Julie Harper
41:40ruined Jason's life.
41:42She had shot
41:43and killed him
41:44and then she tried
41:45to destroy his legacy
41:46by dragging his name
41:48through the mud.
41:49It was all
41:50very shocking
41:51and sad.
41:52I think Jason's death
41:54could have been
41:54easily prevented.
41:55I think something
41:56within that combination
41:58of whatever
41:58medications
42:00she was taking
42:00or misusing
42:01and whatever
42:02was going on
42:03in her head
42:04caused her to snap.
42:06The biggest tragedy
42:08is the children.
42:09It's hard enough
42:10for a child
42:11to lose any parent
42:12much less two.
42:14They respect Jason
42:15and I remember Jason.
42:16She killed
42:17a great, great man.
42:19Jason was such
42:20a good person.
42:21He was such a value,
42:22such an asset
42:23and just his loss
42:24was immense
42:25and it was felt
42:26and it still felt.
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