Suddenly under suspicion. Were trying. He said they think i hurt mom. Three daughters stand by their dad and one prosecutor stands firm. He is holding his wife of almost three decades under the water. My job is to get justice for christy hall. Was it murder . Someone was watching. Good evening. Welcome to dateline. Im lester holt. Tonight a story that calls to mind the master of suspense. A plot straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock film. A young woman peers into her neighbors yard and sees something for a few mysterious seconds. A man, a woman, and a moment thats unsettling. Was it some kind of accident . A crime . Maybe even a murder . What she saw and what she did would set in motion a chain of events that would divide a family and a jury. Heres keith morrison. We know the truth, and we know everything that happened. How do we know what we know . Emotionally unsatisfying not to have that answer. Though it is even if weve seen something or if we think we have. Thats the question at the heart of the whole puzzle. Is this woman right . I know what i saw. And i know the conclusion of my story. Of course, she does. Of course, she does. Why does this other woman think this . She didnt know for sure what she saw. The question, we say, on which all the rest will turn. Why dont we begin here. Calamesa, california. Historic missions, sprawling suburbs, creeping out to the recommend of mountains around the eastern flank of los angeles. Here is where chris and christy hall had come to live out their golden years, though they were far from old when it happened. Just experienced with life and each other. As far as i can remember its only been chris and christy. They were never thought of as separate. They were a unit. These are the three daughters. Courtney the he wouldest a teacher. Briana, a personal trainer, and ashton, the youngest, here just returned from playing professional volleyball in europe, and all of them, of course, have heard scores of times the story of how their parents met. It was 1978. Christy had gone to see a relative at an air force base in San Bernardino, and quite by chance encountered a Security Guard who, to her at least, looked just like elvis. It was christopher hall. Chris to his friends. Apparently she was a little flirty at the gate. In short order chris and christy got married. She was 17. He, 20. As the girls were up, they said they never doubted for a single moment the powerful bond of love their parents with them and with each other. I wondered if they would most children and the parents that i hoped to one day be. For years chris hall was a Police Officer in San Bernardino until he was shot in the line of duty. Then he went off to become police chief in two small towns in idaho. Then in 2005 anticipating an empty nest and eventual retirement, the halls bought this place back in cala mesa which they loved for its backyard pool and spa and life in the spring of 2007 seemed to have hit a sweet spot as ashton and briana remembered their mother telling them. We were laying on the bed with her. She just started talking. She was, like, im just im so happy that i have you girls and dad. It was kind of one of those conversations that you dont have every day. Still, there was work to be done. It was not a new house. Could use some remodeling. Particularly the bathroom. Courtney was still living with her parents as the work began. They were going to be doing the tile work and stuff so we wouldnt have a shower for that day. So shower out of commission, they decided wake up early, put on their bathing suits, and rinse off in the outdoor spa before the contractor arrived at 6 45 a. M. It was june 7th, 2007. Chris got up first, turned on the spa to warm it up, and then called briana at her college dorm in san diego. Heres your wakeup call, babe. Get on, go on that run. Back at the house court dozed through her first wakeup while chris and christy made their way out to the spa. Chris looked in on courtney again, second call, and then headed back to the spa. Lifes last normal moments. 6 37 a. M. I got up out of bed. Putting on my robe. I just heard this panicked, panicked scream of dad yelling for me. I ran down the hallway to the back court, and i saw him trying to pull my mom out of the spa. 911 emergency. It was she who dialled 911 as she and her father struggled to lift her mother out of the spa. It was the worst day of our lives. Is it possible for people to understand what its like to be in that situation . I dont think so. Its to see both your parents in the worst time that you have ever seen them. Obviously, my mom unconscious and my dad just panicked and for the first time in my life to see him just that way not knowing what to do. He was a cop. He was used to dealing with those kinds of things. A cop used to dealing with those kinds of things with people that were not his wife. So courtney took charge. After calling 911 she started cpr on her mother with her father. He and fire firefighter eric norwood was the first to respond. Help my wife. Oh, my god. Help my wife. Chris was kneeling at his wifes side. More in the way than anything, and so hysterical it was hard for the e. M. T. s to help. Took a little bit to get him out of the way. He didnt want to lose her. He was holding her hand yelling her name. The paramedics worked on christy for more than 20 minutes. No vital signs. None. No words to describe the fear and the anxiety. You are losing your mother. Youre watching her go right in front of you. We tried to save her together, and we just couldnt. The ambulance rushed her off to the hospital where she was declared dead. She had drowned in the family spa. A private family tragedy. Except maybe not so private after all. Someone was watching. Coming up it was a horrible scream. A witness. But to what . What dg exactly did she see . I dont know. You know, i i i cant explain what shes saying she saw. When dateline continues. Is more than a paycheck. We know all the hammering, shaping, driving, serving, planning, writing, nursing and teaching it took to earn it. So we give you the power to keep as much of your hardearned money as possible. Our customized interview covers everything from a Service Members deployment to a Students Loan interest, right down to a teachers crayons. Youve worked hard to earn your money. Were here to help you keep it. Turbotax. The power to keep whats yours. Try it free at turbotax. Com. In our homes, our minds. We can share every second in data dressed as pixels. A billion roaming photojournalists. 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After all, whats the point of talking if you dont have something important to say . Zarchlgts on the morning of june 7 thd, 2010, briana hall was on the road to san diego driving home from college to except her he wouldest had come and it sounded bad. She said there was an accident. You need to just come home right away. It was courtney who eventually broke the news to ashley and briana. Their mother, their fathers wife of close to 30 years, was dead. But neither courtney nor chris waited at the house to tell the sisters what happened or to comfort them. Nor did they linger over the body of the hospital. They couldnt because father and daughter were escorted to separate squad cars and driven to the Police Station to talk about the accident. What was that ride like . Quiet. I just remember crying the whole time. I couldnt comfort my father. He couldnt comfort me. We got to the station, and my dad said he would just be a few more minutes. Chris had calmed down by then. He was a cop among cops, and he understood, he said, what was necessary to help them sort out what happened. I cant even start to imagine what you are going through, okay . Just, you know, its a death investigation, and we have to do this, okay . Happy to help, he said. Whatever would get him back home to comfort his daughters as quickly as possible. They were all so close. Chris told investigators what happened. How as courtney slept he and christy were in the spa bathing. She got out, uh, went in, went to the bathroom, uh, got some more coffee, tried to wake up courtney. Courtney didnt wake up apparently. She came back out. As christy returned to the spa, they passed each other on the pat wroe. He went in the house then, he said, stopped by courtneys room to make sure she was awake, and then went right outside, and saw his wife floating face down in the spa. He calls courtney then, he said, and they began a frantic effort to revive her. I could tell we were losing her. From what . A fall . Must have been. In your gut you didnt have enough time . She slipped in. She slipped or something. I dont know. Thats the only thing i can think of. But chris apparently hasnt noticed the nasty three inch laceration on christies head, and here suddenly the point of the Police Interview is revealed. The gash she has on her head shes got a huge gash on her head. Okay. Something like that is not consistent with just falling down. Not consistent with just falling down . Why would the police think that . You know, i mean, you have been around for a while. I know where you are going. No, theres nothing. Why would this expolice chief be questioned at all about the apparently disastrous accident that killed the love of his life . The answer was right next door. When chris and christy hall took their outdoor bath in june someone was watching. Her. I got up at 6 00, got my coffee. Lindsey patterson was on leave from her i. T. Job in the navy, visiting her moms house just over the backyard wall from the hall house. Lindsey was inside in the bathroom that faced away from the hall house and out in the street. When she heard a noise. It was a horrible scream. It was just something was wrong kind of scream. A woman, she thought. She went outside to tell her mom. I said did you hear that scream . And she said yeah, but i think its just kids playing in the pool. Kids at 6 00 in the morning . Lindsey walked over to the six foot brick wall between their house and the halls. She stepped on the planter, she said, and looked over the wall. At that point i saw a man with his hand one hand on top of a womans head and then one hand on her back, and she was face down in the water. Like something was going on. Thats what i assumed. That is she thought she was looking at a sex act in progress. I dont know why it didnt seem right, but something made me want to look again. 90 seconds between her first and second looks, and this time she said she only saw the man in the spa. He was leaning back just relaxed in the hot tub, but i dont see her. He had his elbows back, and he was kind of looking around like nothing. Where did the woman go . Lindsey told her mom something seemed strange. She said lindsey, stop being nosey and dont worry about it. But it just didnt seem right. It wasnt enough time for her to have gotten out and gone inside the house. So she went to the wall again. Her third and final look. At that point he was getting out of the jacuzzi, and neffs a very big rush. Shes still nowhere to be seen. The look on his face was almost undescribable. It was almost as if he had just gone into another world. It was scary. It was instinct that told her something was wrong. So she called 911. 911, state your emergency. I heard a woman scream. So now hours and hours later the detectives are confronting chris with lindseys story. Why, they ask, didnt her story match his. So am i supposed to believe the witness is lying . I wouldnt say shes lying. I mean, i dont know. You know, i i cant explain what she is saying she saw. So now that question we posed as we began, did Lindsey Patterson really know what she saw . Coming up she didnt see what was really happening. What had really happened. There would soon be a turn in the case. This was not an accidental drowning. It was purely much more suspicious than that. When someone was watching continues. Sleep in my contacts. Relax. Air optix® night day aqua contact lenses are approved for up to 30 days and nights of continuous wear, so its okay to sleep in them. Visit airoptix. Com for a free 1month trial. Pizza huts new big pizza sliders aretheyre big delicious sliders. Get nine in a box for just ten bucks. Ten bucks . i like that math you can mix and match. Up to three ways. Three . 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Chris and christy halls three daughters clung together in grief and shock all through the dismal evening hours that worst of all days june 7th, 2007, waiting for their father to return from the Police Station as they wondered why was it taking so long . Then the phone range. They had their answer. You know, broken up words, and he is crying, and were crying, and thats when he said they think i hurt mom. He was very upset. But he didnt sound surprised when he said he was crying. He was crying. He was upset. Very upset. But by the time Police Investigators were questioning chris, remember, they had heard from Lindsey Patterson, and at the station chriss version of events in the spa differed in one Crucial Detail from what lindsey described seeing that first time she appeared over the wall and into the halls backyard. That specifically me holding her down in there, theres nothing that took place that would explain that. There was no sex. I dont even think we had any contact when we were in the jacuzzi other than when i was getting her out of the jacuzzi. But investigators were getting a good look at christies body, and saw wounds that to them suggested a struggle and more than just one nasty blow to the head. So the police had to choose which version chris halls or Lindsey Pattersons was more likely the true story of what happened. Tom done led the investigation for the riverside d. A. I think they felt there was enough to say this was not an accidental drowning. It was purely much more suspicious than that. So before the night was over chris hall was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife. The girls could stop waiting. He wasnt coming home. It was obviously a tragedy losing our mother that day, but this is a tragedy on top of a tragedy now. Because knowing our parents its the farthest thing from the truth. And one that felt infected by some sort of madness, said the girls. Christy was the love of their fathers life where are after all, the center of everything for him. How they wondered could anyone so happy in his marriage and his life be accused of harming her . She was happy too. They said as happy as she had ever been. They knew it, they said, based on that motherdaughter talk they had. Not long before she died. She just kept reiterating how happy she was. Of course didnt think much of it at the time, but the last time we actually saw her kind of burned into your memory. Yeah. Right or wrong, the legal trigger had been pulled. Chris hall spent almost two months in jail until his daughters received the payout from christies Life Insurance policy and used the money to meet his Million Dollar bail. Then he went back to what was to be his retirement retreat, to prepare with the help of his daughters for a murder trial. Thats very surprising to have a client in a murder case out on bail, but he was a special man, and this was a special situation. These are attorneys who would eventually defend him, though at first they only heard about the case. Steve harmon and paul grech. You have said two things there. Special man, special situation. I think both of us can say that this is a man that we like and that we know and we dont feel he could have done anything like this. So chris hall and his daughters prepared for a trial which they hope would make clear to everybody, the police, the maybe, the world, that chris would not, could not, did not harm the love of his life. There was never in 30 years of marriage never one moment of violence. There was no motive for this man to kill his wife. Harmon and grech had a look at neighbor Lindsey Pattersons account. It was really not conclusive at all. It was tragically incomplete. Is he shaw three snap shots. What is missed by everyone is the wife getting into the jacuzzi, slipping, falling into the jacuzzi, hitting her head, going unconscious, and drowning. See this sharp corner sticking out into the spa . Hitting her head on this would certainly have opened a gash and knocked christy out, said the attorney. She didnt see what was really happening during the times when she was not looking. That scream that made Lindsey Patterson. Lindsey was in a bathroom that faced the street. She wasnt in the backyard when she says she heard it. Could have been anybody. And courtney who was inside her own house near the spa didnt hear a thing. We dont think that she is lying. We just think she misinterpreted what she saw. Lindsey to a certain degree concedes she didnt know what she was seeing in her glimpses that morning. Zoog something was wrong. Yet, you hadnt really seen anything. No. But i knew something was wrong. I dont know if in my brain i was putting things together from wean the scream, the position that he was holding her, and them not just not having enough time for her to have gone inside. So its like you kind of got three different snap shots. Right. Something going on in there. Had to kind of work out what this was. Yeah. You know, i wasnt thinking at that point. But now based largely on that account chris hall would go on trial for murder, and it was a trial for his daughters too. He loved her. They were each others best friends, and this is just this is not fair to him because he truly loved her more than anyone. Coming up, the case begins. Evidence is revealed in court. You lose that amount of hair, its not reasonably explained by any kind of fault. And secrets are revealed from the past. This man had an uncanny ability to fabricate stories. When someone was watching continues. How advanced is the new ford fusion . Well. It has outstanding pe rformance and handling. And it offers a plugin hybrid that gets a projected 100 mpge. Of course, theres still one thing it cant do. Introducing the entirely new ford fusion. Its an entirely new idea of what a car can be. 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