i gave her my strong recommendation she should take it and she said no. i was stunned. i kept saying do you understand. i understand fully. it s not on you ron. it s my decision. she was crying. she said i have to fight for this. mind you by then jane had some powerful moral support from her old friend, helen. she rose that night. she didn t fall. she rose that night. you know, became the a very strong powerful woman and defended the life of her son. then at last in january 2016, jane laut went on trial for murder. her friend helen sitting right behind her. do you think she ll go to jail. i don t.
notes, but she wouldn t tell you. so the implication is somebody is after her, she s in some danger. now when they look back at the things they noted over the years, it was like something fell into place for them. there was a separation. it was like jane was the parent and michael was the child and dave was in the way. you got the sense she was pushing dave away. yes. that was stress on the marriage. there was stress was pretty clear says rebecca. for a while, every time she would call me, it seemed like it was to vent about something she didn t like about what dave was doing. oh, in february 2010 jane laut was arrested and charged with first degree murder, and the story said investigators was clear. she lured him out, shot him, shot him a second and third time.
quite some time. defense attorney ron bamieh countered the real victim was jane laut, who suffered the utmost cruelty at the hands of her husband. he is not the hero of the olympics. he is the monster who abused her for 27 years. the defense called family and friends and neighbors who all testified jane was an abused spouse. but attorney bamieh said the most important witness was the defendant herself. if you re going to get a not guilty, which is what we re shooting for, she has to testify. the judge would not allow cameras to roll when for the first time publicly through tears jane told her story. she said she took dave s abuse for nearly three decades, until the night he threatened their son. i think she could live with the fact that he could kill her. she could not live with the fact that he would kill michael. on the stand, jane admitted that she lied in her 911 call. 911 emergency
prosecutors offered to cut jane laut s sentence to just six years if she aeld plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, she said no. would she regret that decision? here s keith morrison with the final chapter of the hometown hero and the home coming queen. jane laut was facing 50 years to life for the murder of her husband. but when prosecutors offered a deal, a sentence of six years if she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, she said no, she wanted to face a jury. would she regret that decision? here s keith morrison with the final chapter of the hometown hero and the homecoming queen. dave laut was a son. he was a father. he was a colleague. he was a friend. more than six years after the death of olympic bronze medalist dave laut, the murder trial of his wife jane finally began in this ventura, california, courtroom. prosecutor rameen minoui told the jury jane was a calculating killer. if you look at each of the six shots they were administered by this defendant as she
i absolutely do not. reporter: you believe the jury will believe her story? i do. reporter: and see it as a case of self-defense? i do. i believe that. i believe that. i sincerely believe her and i don t say that about many people. i sincerely believe her. reporter: do you usually get this personally invested in a case? i am always invested in my cases, yes. but do i care as much about clients like i do about jane laut? no, that s i would be lying if i said i did. but could he persuade a jury to believe in jane too? coming up, jane takes the stand. i get a not guilty, which is what we re shooting for. she has to testify. a gun takes center stage. pull back the hammer, fire. each and every time.