what conversations did you have with your husband about that? i told him something is not right. be careful. her husband, justin, testified that fred s demeanor seemed staged as the group drove together to look for leslie. it just sounded like somebody was crying that there were no tears. he acted like he was very, very upset. and then, a few seconds later he would act like we were kind of buddies driving down the road in the car. the prosecution had hoped to bring the jury up to cottonwood creek. but in january, the terrain was virtually impossible with snow and ice. so, it was up to the prosecutors to set the scene. and show why they thought fred s story defied common sense and science. injuries are going to tell you a story that leslie mueller was drowned by her husband. i solemnly swear prosecutors called michael golob, affirmed first trained rescuer on the scene. i m asking, what happened? tell me how it happened?
take it and watch them say all these horrible accusations about my dad. looking for one person to stand up and say, this is preposterous. this entire there is no evidence. he s a good guy. he s never shown any history of violence. and it was his wife, for goodness sake. we re stopping this. now, fred s lawyers were ready to push back. the defense co-counsel told the jurors there was an obvious rush to judgment that contaminated the entire investigation. kind of an evil, suspicion from the get-go. first responder michael golob testified that neighbor justin sparks started making accusatory comments while they were still trying to revive leslie. justin at one point turn to me and said something along the lines of, i never trusted that guy. i think that the suspicion started with mr. sparks. and never stopped.
they re gone. what s the next thing you s remember? so reading, kind of hanging around. i think the first time i kind of noticed that it was getting a little late, it had gotten dark and, you know, nobody should be kind of hiking or walking around when it s dark. reporter: alex had no inkling of the tragedy unfolding at cottonwood creek. it started right after his dad took this picture of his mother, leslie. leslie and gracie posed here. you can see it s a stunning setting. but just about an arm s length behind me is a cliff. a steep dropoff to the granite below. and the icy cold waters of cottonwood creek. right after fred snapped the picture, leslie fell and was swept away in the water. unable to find her, fred raced for help, driving more than a mile to the nearest house. somebody just showed up at my house. reporter: with no cell service up by the creek, the owner of the house, justin sparks, was the first to call 911. he pulled up, he said, at the waterfall. she s in the
left the camera with those last images of his wife behind. i would imagine i just dropped it while i was screaming. reporter: unable to locate leslie, he abandoned his search of the creek bed and made the decision to go for help. i hauled butt down to justin s house and i m honking and i scream at him to, you know, i think my wife s dead. reporter: after listening to fred s story, the sheriff wanted to go up to the site of the accident. you take fred back up to the mountain? yes, we did a walkthrough on the scene. reporter: up at the scene, fred repeated how the dog seemed to cause leslie s fall. it was that damn dog tangled up in her legs, is what i think it was. reporter: gracie ran off into the woods right after the accident. a member of the sheriff s department later found her and took her back to his house. everything changed that day. reporter: changed forever in ways the kids could not, in their immediate grief, begin to grasp.
murder. two people went on a hike and only one person came back. the prosecution began its case with testimony about fred s behavior that day. they called jennifer spark s whose house fred drove to looking for help. did you observe him become emotional at any time? no. she told the jury fred s lack of emotion concerned her. what conversation did you have with your husband at that time? i told him something s not right, be careful. her husband, justin, testified that fred s demeanor seemed stage as they drove together to look for leslie. it sounded like somebody was crying but there were no tears. he acted like he was very, very upset and then a few seconds later he d act like we were kind of buddies driving down the road in a car. the prosecution had hoped to bring the jury up to cottonwood creek. but in january the terrain was virtually impassable with snow and ice. so it was up to the prosecutors to set the scene and show why