it was getting dark as the hunter pulled the trigger, the shape someone said looked like a bear wasn t. i heard this god awful scream. but was this an accident? there was absolutely no allegation of evil intent. or something else? he says i m worth more to her dead than i am alive. hello, and welcome to dateline. to outsiders, every marriage is a mystery. some who knew the couple in our story saw two people in love, others a marriage in trouble. but all agreed this husband and wife had one thing going for them, they both loved hunting. they were also both excellent shots, so good they rarely missed whatever the target. here s keith morrison with as darkness fell. twilight, the day going that s, now the night eating up the wild black fast now, the meadow, wild blackwood. what did she know, now as she studied herself in the truck bed, was it hours ago did she know already back at the camp in the morning? or was it later, much later, when they showed her th
i heard this god awful scream. was this an accident? there was absolutely no allegation of evil intent. or something else? i m with more to her dead than i am alive. hello, and welcome to dateline. to outsiders, every marriage is a mystery. some who knew the couple in our story sought to people in love, others a marriage in trouble. but, all agree this husband and wife did have one thing going for them, they both loved hunting. they were also both excellent shots, so good they rarely missed whatever the target. here s keith moore with as darkness fell. twilight, the day going fast now, the meadow, a while in blackwood. what did she know, now as she studied, herself was it hours ago on did she know already back at the camp in the morning? where was it later, much later that they showed her the evidence, and darkness that swallowed them all. they call it the rock, this gorgeous island with this fishing and cove and mile after mile of woods. a place to fall in lo
babysitter, they moved out and got married. you might wonder what mary beth thought about it all. the shooting, the in laws, the accusations. the trial, barry. well of course, we did as well. we met with mary beth as she went about rebuilding life with the kids after spending all of those months in jail awaiting trial. she told us she avoids contact with the harshbarger s now, and for that matter, just about everybody in the towns surrounding her, where the gossip turns as usual. we made a date for an on camera interview so she could tell her side of the story, and then as the date approached, she changed her mind. won t do it, she said. don t care what anybody thinks about me, especially the harshbarger s. who are now only left with memories. the only thing we have left to remind us of mark s family pictures and of course, those two grandchildren, mark s children. lee harshbarger walked the
answer, was it a simple hunting accident, or did mary beth, a competition level sharpshooter, put that in her husband s chest on purpose? and this was a case that raised a lot of questions for people. they would ask themselves what if? so who covered the story and the trial for the canadian press. for people who believe may bat, this was a horrible tragic accident. and, for people who don t believe, her they would say, if this was deliberate, how would you ever prove it? that is just the thing. for all the public, chatter murder was never on the table. the mounties did not allege murder. it was not the charge against mary beth harshbarger. even though, as complained about the media. they were reporting on this as if it were a murder charge, or manslaughter charge. when at the actual charge
then with the canadian news press agency. she was visibly shaking, waiting for the judge. trembling? just shaking. mary beth s attorney had the jitters as well. i was nervous. it was a cliff-hanger. that kept us all in suspense for the bulk of his decision. it suspense because the judge read from a 35-page decision he had written. it went on for quite some time. what she shot at was what she hit. and finally i think about halfway through page 30 of the 35-page decision, he showed his hand. people cannot always act perfectly, and even when people act reasonably, accidents unfortunately can occur. the charge of criminal negligence against mrs. harshbarger is dismissed. and that was that. not guilty of any crime at all, mary beth harshbarger was free to go. she burst into tears, and was let out.