cover it up. to plan a fraud, to lie about it, not just lie about it, but lie about it effectively. i think that was very telling about who we were dealing with. suddenly the prosecutor s prospects were looking better. at the trial, strunsky made lindsay patterson his star witness, of course. it was her story, after all, that got the whole thing started. but almost as important, he called the riverside county medical examiner who testified that those lacerations in cristi s could not in his opinion have been the result of a single accidental fall. and the m.e. argued the particular type of bruising on cristi s face and body was the hallmark of a homicide. the totality of injuries were not consistent with somebody slipping and falling and then a rescue attempt. and there was a clump of hair in the bottom of the spa, still entwine with a broken plastic hair clip. that, said the prosecutor, could have only come from a violent struggle. when you lose that amount of hair, it s not
suddenly the prosecutor s prospects were looking better. at the trial, strunsky made lindsay patterson his star witness, of course. it was her story, after all, that got the whole thing started. but almost as important, he called the riverside county medical examiner who testified that those lacerations in cristi s could not in his opinion have been the result of a single accidental fall. and the m.e. argued the particular type of bruising on cristi s face and body was the hallmark of a homicide. the totality of injuries were not consistent with somebody slipping and falling and then a rescue attempt. and there was a clump of hair in the bottom of the spa, still entwine with a broken plastic hair clip. that, said the prosecutor, could have only come from a violent struggle. when you lose that amount of hair, it s not explained by any fall. there were minor hiccups in the case. lindsay patterson, for example, was a little inconsistent about how long she looked over the
course. but prosecutor strunsky poked around in chris hall s past as a policeman. and what did he find? this man had an uncanny ability to fabricate stories. seven years earlier, while hall was chief of police in cascade, idaho, he was charged with and convicted of misuse of public money, embezzled $19,000, spent ten months in jail. a white collar crime, hardly murder. but what struck the prosecutor is that he says hall tried to cover it up. to plan a fraud, to lie about it, not just lie about it, but lie about it effectively. i think that was very telling about who we were dealing with. suddenly the prosecutor s prospects were looking better. at the trial, strunsky made lindsay patterson his star witness, of course. it was her story, after all, that got the whole thing started. but almost as important, he called the riverside county medical examiner who testified that those lacerations in
cover it up. to plant a fraud, to lie about it, not just lie about it, but lie about it effectively. i think that was very telling about who we were dealing with. suddenly the prosecutor s prospects were looking better. at the trial, strunsky made lindsay patterson his star witness, of course. it was her story, after all, that got the whole thing started. but almost as important, he called the riverside county medical examiner who testified that those lacerations in cristi s could not in his opinion have been the result of a single accidental fall. and the bruising on her face and body was the hallmark of a homicide. the totality of injuries were not consistent with somebody slipping and falling and then a rescue attempt. and there was a clump of hair in the bottom of the spa, instinct entwined with a broken hair clip. that, he said, came from a violent struggle. when you lose that amount of hair, it s not explained by any fall.
this man had an uncanny ability to fabricate stories. seven years earlier, while hall was chief of police in cascade, idaho, he was charged with and convicted of misuse of public money, embezzled $9,000, spent ten months in jail. a white collar crime, hardly murder. but what struck the prosecutor is that he says hall tried to cover it up. to plant a fraud, to lie about it, not just lie about it, but lie about it effectively. i think that was very telling about who we were dealing with. suddenly the prosecutor s prospects were looking better. at the trial, strunsky made lindsay patterson his star witness, of course. it was her story, after all, that got the whole thing started. but almost as important, he called the riverside county medical examiner who testified that those lacerations in cristi s could not in his opinion have been the result of a single accidental fall. and the bruising on her face and body was the hallmark of a