there, would have them wondering was cara a rape victim or a woman scorned? whose fury ended in murder? coming up cara changes her story, claiming she didn t know it was j.j. coming into her house. just a moment. you were with this guy night and day in bed, intimate, hearing all his grunts, listening to the way he walks right. for 20 years. right. and you didn t recognize who it was coming through the door? when dateline continuese.
did you read her her miranda warning? i did. how long had she been in the patrol car when you did that? about 15 minutes. reporter: and here s how the deputy said cara responded. her comment was, yes, i understand. reporter: but cara swore that never happened. absolutely not. reporter: who was right? that s when futerman got a big idea. we got a lip reader. reporter: you got a lip reader? we got a lip reader. i was looking at this video. and i started thinking. i said, if he so-called read miranda, even though the sound s not on, if we get a lip reader we re going to be able to tell if she answered like he explained that she answered. reporter: and if she didn t maybe futerman could prevent a jury from hearing that first conflicting story. does it surprise people when they find out how well you can read lips? yes. reporter: and here she is. lucinda hebbler, who is deaf, is the lip reader hired by attorney futerman. had you ever heard such a request be
uh-huh. didn t show there wasn t a rape. while cara was at the rape crisis center, the detectives received new information from the crime scene. such as, first responders believed the house lights had pretty much all been on when whatever happened happened. remember, cara said it was dark in the house, but once we gathered a little bit more evidence from the detectives working the crime scene, then we did get definitely more pointed in our question and more direct. and then something odd happened. cara changed her story. remember, she told 911, my ex-husband raped me. i shot him. breaking into your home. but now? she said she didn t know who was coming into the house. somebody was in my home, whether it was jay or jack the ripper. i was scared. somebody came in the house unannounced. could have been j.j. or it could have been jack the ripper? really?
later, they looked at the tapes of cara, recorded during that drive to the station. did she appear to be emotionally battered or anything? i mean, if you watch the in-car camera, she s just kind of casually talking with him about being in the law enforcement community and knowing different people. yaz was on my husband s softball team. it was just kind of, you know, general conversation. she didn t seem so upset in that video. it was around 2:00 a.m. at police headquarters when cara revealed why j.j. was at her place that night, even though he d left her, moved out, three weeks earlier. it was quite a story. remember, cara met a new man after the breakup with j.j. also a sheriff s deputy, his name was scott. scott holderbaum. for a week or so, you were seeing this guy. you were having some it was fun. it was fun. i was giddy. i was like a school kid and i my teacher in the room next
i mean, did what did you think of that? she thought her story, you know, needed to be embellished. i m going to ask you very, very bluntly and very honestly, okay? okay. did the rape occur? it did. let me ask you this point blank. did you know that was john coming through the door, and did you shoot him purposely? no, i did not. i would not shoot john purposely. but you shot that person purposely, correct? in that moment. i was scared. you were scared, why? i had an emotional night. i didn t know what was happening, and you know what? i just i wish i d never gotten that gun. talking with us, she defended this second story, that she didn t know who the intruder was and assumed it could be a stranger. you were in the middle of a big fight. he wouldn t have come