Based on Ann Rule s true crime book Practice to Deceive. In this New York Times Best Seller, a small, island community is turned upside down when Russel Douglas.
[chatter] jim huden and peggy thomas were charged with the murder of russel douglas in the summer of 2011. from that moment, whidbey island prosecutor greg banks had been hoping they would turn on each other and spill the details of what had happened on the day russel was killed. that was the plan. but that didn t happen. did not happen. josh mankiewicz: because why? they re still in love? they wouldn t rat on each other? greg banks: you know, if you get a chance to interview them, you could ask them. josh mankiewicz: because jean huden was still married to jim, the prosecutor decided to split the case, and tried jim and peggy separately. greg banks: we needed jean to testify against peggy, but washington has a rule that says you can t call the spouse against a defendant. so if you tried jim and peggy separately,
but that question now complicated their relationship with brenna and the grandchildren. and we ve tried to be as supportive as we could, especially for the kids. but i know she listens in on all their conversations, so it s a very controlled conversation. josh mankiewicz: but when it comes to awkward telephone conversations, none could have been more strange than the ones that took place between jim huden s lover and jim huden s wife after he fled to mexico. you call her first or did she call you? no, she called me. and what did she want to talk about? well, she wanted to know what you know, how much the cops had been bugging me and what they knew, and if i had heard from jim, or anything like that. and you, what, told her? i told her what the cops had said. i remember that i didn t tell her anything about jim. why just not hang up the phone? i don t know. i don t know. i mean, this isn t even jim. this is jim s mistress. jean: yeah, i know. i m an idiot. josh mankiewicz: but that s n
it seemed odd that the murder weapon wasn t simply dropped into puget sound. but keith ogden told the court that in early january, just days after the murder, jim huden had asked him to keep the gun in a safe place. please take the stand. josh mankiewicz: the last witness for the prosecution was detective mark plumberg. he told the court that while he was questioning huden at his home back in 2004, huden asked a rather odd question of him. he said, is peggy angry enough at me that she would implicate me in this? greg banks: had you told mr. huden that peggy thomas had implicated him? i did not. i had not implicated peggy thomas and i had not suggested that she had any knowledge or part in the crime. josh mankiewicz: in closing, the prosecution played the videotaped statements huden later made to island county detectives down at the punta gorda police station. i m a son-of-a-bitch, but i m no killer.