question, if he didn t feel like we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us. you need to restate your question and put it into context. i believe that he felt like he was smarter than cameron and i. reporter: did you just wanna smack him? yes. reporter: leon, they argued, didn t care who lived or died in his wake. he did nothing to stop this. in his mind his ex-girlfriend, is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere, in this city, zip-tied, with duckttape around her mouth. he thinks he can just walk away from this. reporter: it took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide leon s fate. we the jury find the defendant, leon phillip jacob, guilty of solicitation of capital murder. reporter: guilty of all charges. and in texas, the jury can also decide punishment. in the penalty phase, prosecutors called a new witness, leon s ex-wife annie. she testified in vivid detail that leon was abusive. what did the defendant tell you? that was my punishment
samantha knecht and her co-counsel, cameron calligan, knew they had a strong case against leon jacob for solicitation of capital murder, and additionally, for solicitation of kidnapping. they also knew they had a potential problem. as you headed to trial, what was gonna be the cornerstone of your case? the recordings. the recordings. there was no way that he was gonna be able to get himself out of all of the things that he said. reporter: what would you say was the weakest part of your case? well, an aspect of the recordings, as well. the defendant is educated, he s intelligent, he was cautious in his approach to talking to the undercover officer. reporter: that was the problem. in all those recorded conversations leon never said, kill meghan. yet the prosecutors had to prove that s exactly what he meant. reporter: leon jacob does not stop until he gets what he wants. reporter: the trial began on march 20, 2018. the prosecution called the bail bondsman, michael kubosh,
harris county prosecutor harris county prosecutor samantha knecht and her samantha knecht and her co-counsel, cameron calligan, co-counsel, cameron calligan, knew they had a strong case knew they had a strong case against leon jacob for against leon jacob for solicitation of capital murder, solicitation of capital murder, and additionally, for and additionally, for solicitation of kidnapping. solicitation of kidnapping. they also knew they had a they also knew they had a potential problem. potential problem. as you headed to trial, what was as you headed to trial, what was gonna be the cornerstone of your case? the recordings. the recording the recordings. the recordings. there was no way that he was there was no way that he was gonna be able to get himself out gonna be able to get himself out of all of the things that he of all of the things that he said. said. reporter: what would you say reporter: what would you say was the weakest part of your was the weakest part of
question, if he didn t feel like question, if he didn t feel like we had phrased it right, he we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us. would rephrase it for us. you need to restate your you need to restate your question and put it into context. question and put it into context. i believe that he felt like i believe that he felt like he was smarter than cameron and i. reporter: did you just wanna reporter: d smack him? yes. reporter: leon, they argued, didn t care who lived or died in his wake. he did nothing to stop this. in his mind his ex-girlfriend, is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere, in this city, zip-tied, with duckttape around her mouth. he thinks he can just walk away from this. reporter: it took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide leon s fate. we the jury find the defendant, leon phillip jacob, guilty of solicitation of capital murder. reporter: guilty of all charges. and in texas, the jury can also decide punishment
reporter: as for leon s claim he never suggested killing meghan. if you injected someone with potassium chloride and stopped their heart that it would hurt them? yes. it would kill them? yes. and you knew that as a doctor. yes. when we would ask him a question, if he didn t feel like we had phrased it right, he would rephrase it for us. you need to restate your question and put it into context. i believe that he felt like he was smarter than cameron and i. reporter: did you just wanna smack him? yes. reporter: leon, they argued, didn t care who lived or died in his wake. he did nothing to stop this. in his mind his ex-girlfriend, is sitting by herself in a warehouse somewhere, in this city, zip-tied, with duckttape around her mouth. he thinks he can just walk away from this. reporter: it took the jury all of an hour and 15 minutes to decide leon s fate. we the jury find the defendant, leon phillip jacob, guilty of solicitation of