residents in cars, even in your own house. correct. you became a practiced, skilled and chronic liar? correct. now bill s lawyer tried to prove motive. it was, he argued, at the money. the jury was told jason was a spendthrift. he put some money into motorcycles and nice cars and trips and vacations. at that same time, jason was expanding his farm operation. where did all that leave him? more than half 1 million dollars in debt. jason was as broke as he d ever been. he had $40 in his personal bank account. $80 in his business bank account. the glor said jason saw only one way out. getting control of his parents farmland worth millions. jason knew that he stood to inherit all of it. my dad said that shelley and i and our kids will inherit the granary. and that your sister and brother will inherit everything above ground. the lawyer mapped out his theory. had shirley found out about jason s affair. and if shirley new, then bill son would know, to.
jason and tara exchange more than 100 text on that secret phone. some of them steamy. do you recall what your last text message from mr. carter was? it was something sexual. the lawyer said the conversation ended only when jason stop texting as he pulled up to his parents house. text, text, text, text, text until 10:50 am. at which point, the text traffic goes dark. quiet for 13 minutes, until jason made a phone call to his sister, telling her their mother was dead. the lawyer argued that was more than enough time to kill his mother and stage a robbery. the plaintiffs call jason carter. mr. carter if you would come up then came the moment so many had been waiting for. jason, the favorite son in his own words, telling the jury about seeing his mother dead. i couldn t believe what i found her. the lawyer confronted jason about the affair. you today any friends
the father, the plaintiff. his son, the defendant. the burden of proof is much lower than it would be in a criminal trial. the plaintiff only has to prove the defendant liable by a preponderance of the evidence. in other words, 51% likely that you are right. bill carter s lawyer plead jason s 9-1-1 call. he argued, jason s stated something about the time of death he couldn t possibly have known. it looks like she s been laying here for two hours. you hear him say that his mother has been dead for two hours. which medically, is absolutely not the fact, they simply what we know about the condition of the body. but also, why would he be seeing that other than to already start to create the narrative, hey, it wasn t me? then bill s lawyer attacked jason s character. to show the jury he wasn t a devoted family man. do you solemnly swear i do. jason s other moment took the stand. her name, tara hogan. she was questioned by another
that courtroom. tara recounted her 15 month affair with the married jason carter. how frequently were you guys having sex? on average, it would be several times a week. did you ever tell mr. carter that you left him? i did. did he ever reciprocate and tell you that he loved you? he did. and bill s lawyer said that on the morning of the murder, jason and tara exchange more than 100 text on that secret phone. some of them steamy. do you recall what your last text message from mr. carter was? it was something sexual. the lawyer said the conversation ended only when jason stop texting as he pulled up to his parents house. text, text, text, text, text until 10:50 am. at which point, the text traffic goes dark. quiet for 13 minutes, until jason made a phone call to his sister, telling her their mother was dead. the lawyer argued that was more than enough time to kill his
jason carter s lawyers, steve, challenged the accusation that jason in his 9-1-1 call, was trying to push back that time of shirley s death to morning hours, when he d been accounted for on video at the granary. it looks like she s been laying here for two hours. this is all happening within the matter of minutes. jason was simply so distraught. and to see, you know, you should ve done this and you should have done this and that, i think it s just ridiculous. as for jason s affair, the lawyer told the jury it was irrelevant. a salacious destruction. and of course, jason lied about it to preserve his family. if you want to characterize him as a bad guy for carrying on an affair, fine. but that doesn t make a man a killer. jason s wife, shelley, told the jury despite everything, she still supported her husband. every day, i work on forgiving. but never forgetting.