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Produced by Lindsey Schwartz, Lauren Clark, Alec Sirken, Chuck Stevenson, Chris Ritzen and Doug Longhini
[This story previously aired on October 22, 2016. It was updated on August 24, 2019.]
EVANS, Colorado – "It's incredibly amazing to see your child lying in a bed with a bullet," says Jenna Fox.
The pain is still present for Jenna Fox and her adoptive father, Joel Raguindin, following the death of their daughter, Ashley Fallis, 28, in the early hours of New Year's Day 2012.
"After his death, even the day after his death, I – in my mind, I could not understand that I would not talk to him every day," said Fox about the girl that she described as "alive – full of life, funny."
Joel Raguindin
Ashley, they say, would never leave her three children – Madelynn, Jolie and Blake, all under the age of 10. It's unimaginable.
"She just loved her family and she loved life," said "48-hour" correspondent Erin Moriarty. "She would never do anything like that.
Fox says that she and her daughter were extremely close.
"To be honest, they were like best friends," said Raguindin.
Ashley married his girlfriend in high school shortly after graduation. They had two daughters, but this marriage quickly collapsed. In April 2007, she met Tom Fallis. He seemed responsible and ready for a family.
"And it seemed like their relationship had progressed very quickly," said Raguindin.
Just a few months after the start of their relationship, Ashley became pregnant.
"I think– that it was a way for them to feel more connected to each other in too short a time," Fox said.
They had a son, Blake. Two weeks after birth, the couple is married. Tom Fallis soon adopted the girls after their biological father gave up his parental rights. The family of Ashley felt that everything was going too fast.
"We were not happy about that and we actually tried to dissuade Ashley," said Raguindin.
Jenna Fox
Ashley and Tom Fallis had only known each other for a short time. His parents say that they began to notice troubling aspects of Tom's personality.
"I did not like – his mindset – to be right all the time and beat me all the time and – aggression," Fox said.
Tom and Ashley settled in the small town of Evans, about an hour north of Denver. Ashley worked as a respiratory therapist and Tom worked as a correctional officer at the Weld County Sheriff's Office at the local jail.
"Joel and I were like:" Pfff, it's the perfect job for someone who has an ego who has to tell people what to do, "Fox said. "I think that he was a very precarious person and that he wanted to control her totally."
"Do you think you were a threat to Tom?" Moriarty asked Fox.
"Absolutely," she replied. "I was the only person against whom he could not isolate Ashley."
Ashley was caught in the middle and the pressure exerted on her rose only when Blake – still a young child – was diagnosed with a chronic brain disorder that required Ashley's constant attention. Ashley and her marriage have all been severely tested.
"At any time during this time, did you have the impression that your daughter was depressed?" Moriarty asked.
"No, I think she was worried and that she was worried and that she would have – a lot of work to do and – I think outdated," Fox replied.
"I would say that they were definitely going through difficult times," said Raguindin.
The stress was so great that they even considered divorce. After talking to the police after Ashley's death, Tom Fallis insisted that things were resuming as the holidays approached:
Tom Fallis at the police [crying]: We were doing so well.
They planned to hold a New Year's Eve party and Ashley even thought she had just got pregnant.
Tom Fallis at the police: When we discovered this, when she had this positive test, it was as if everything was fine, it was as if we had finally overcame everything.
She stopped taking her medications as a precaution, and then on the day of the party, Fallis said that Ashley had started bleeding and believed that she had miscarried.
Tom Fallis at the police: So she was a little out of order today.
But Fallis says that they have continued their way and that the night has passed, Fox said that the friction between her and Fallis began to surface.
"I've always known that Tom hated me," she says.
As the party ended, Fallis furiously won when he heard one of the guests, Fox's brother, offer Ashley's marijuana:
Tom Fallis at the police: I told Ashley that I was like, "You do not need to get high." I was like, "If what happened today with miscarriage," I was like, "It happened." … I was like, you know what? F — your mother. F — everyone. Let it go.
As Fox and Raguindin left the party, they saw Fallis, still upset, enter the bedroom and slam the door.
Ashley followed them outside. It was around 12:40 when they said goodbye.
"And how was Ashley's behavior? Was she angry?" Moriarty asked Fox.
"No, she's a bit like," It does not matter. " "It's normal, it's Tom," she replied.
"We were the last to see Tom Fallis angry," said Raguindin. "A rage crisis, our daughter gave us hugs and kisses of goodbye, and she got up on the stoop by saluting, and this is the last time we saw our girl."
Ashley's autopsy shows that she did not smoke marijuana that night, but Fallis says that after putting the kids to bed, Ashley came into the room with challenge.
Tom Fallis at the police: She's like, "F — you, if I want to be high, I'll be high." … I'm like, "Do what you want."
By the time Fallis says it, he was in their closet to change clothes, when he suddenly heard the sound of a loaded pistol from the other side of the room.
Tom Fallis at the policeShe has a Taurus 0.9 mm. She keeps it under her mattress. … she was behind the bed. She was low.
He says everything has happened so fast. He was about to come out of the closet, closing the door and asking Ashley what she was doing, when he heard a "pop".
Tom Fallis at the police: I heard that and there was smoke. I just run to her and I catch her head. And I was holding his head and I reached out, grabbed his phone and dialed 911.
Tom Fallis at 911: "You stay here, you do not leave me, you do not leave me!"
This 911 call went into the dispatcher at 12:50
Tom Fallis at the police [crying]: And I opened his eyes and started talking to him. I was like: "I – I'm right here, you do not leave, you do not leave me."
It was just 10 minutes after the departure of Ashley's family.
"There were literally two squad cars coming in. We were in between when we turned around, it was shocking, and everything was happening so fast," said Raguindin.
Joel Raguindin and Jenna Fox did not see Ashley again before arriving at the hospital. Ashley suffered a serious brain injury following a gunshot wound to the head.
"Have you had the opportunity to say goodbye?" Moriarty asked.
"Yes, yes, I do not know how you say goodbye," Fox replied.
"I'm just going to ask you nothing, do you think your daughter has committed suicide?"
"No, not at all, no," said Fox.
"Since the last minutes we saw it alive, we have always known that Tom Fallis had murdered it," Raguindin said.
Question Tom Fallis
In the early morning of New Year's Day 2012, officers from the Evans Police Department responded promptly to the Fallis home call. The video of the scene was shot by the first responders.
Evans is a peaceful community with low crime rates, said Police Chief Rick Brandt.
"I do not think we've had an armed robbery – maybe one or two armed robberies here since I've been here for almost eight years," Chief Brandt said.
Even though Tom Fallis had called the shooting as a suicide, the police took him for an interview early that morning, while his parents were watching the kids. The investigators were immediately suspicious because the neighbors said they heard screams. Fallis was interviewed by Inspector Rita Wolf:
Det. Wolf: Then she tells you to leave her.
Tom Fallis: I was not on it.
Det. Wolf: So someone invented that, Tom?
Tom Fallis: My wife never told me to leave her.
Det. Wolf: And then, when you went up and you were arguing with her. The injury at the back of her head is not where she could heal herself, Tom. This is not it.
Tom Fallis [pounding table]: Oh bulls —! Bulls — Bulls — Bulls —! I did not shoot my wife!
The investigators also searched his body and noticed scratches on his chest. Fallis says that he's scratched:
Tom Fallis at the police: Because I just shave my chest. I just shaved it, because I had never done it before … I sit there, like that, with my shirt. Because itches, it scratches.
Fallis is more and more agitated while Wolf continues his interrogation:
Tom Fallis: You blame me for killing my wife. I'm not supposed to annoy me? It does not make sense …
Det. Wolf: You were angry before that.
Tom Fallis: Yes, because I have been here all the time.
Det. Wolf: You are known for blowing, that 's what they say.
Tom Fallis: I did not shoot Ashley. I did not shoot my wife. I did not shoot the mother of my children.
The police also found evidence that raises questions about Tom's story: photos seem to have been torn, indicating a clash, divorce papers were found on the dresser, Ashley had bruises on her legs and Fallis was angry at the end. Of the party.
"How angry was he at that moment?" Moriarty asked Fox.
"He was very angry, very angry, I mean, he said: 'I'd like you to die all,'" he said. She replied.
Det. Wolf: You were mad at the fact that she was listening to her mother.
Tom Fallis: I already told you.
Det. WolfYeah.
After his interrogation the first morning, Fallis was released without charge.
"Did you expect Tom to be charged?" Moriarty asked.
"Yes, yes, we were shocked, we were shocked that they let him go," Raguindin said.
Despite their concerns and evidence pointing to a possible homicide, the coroner ruled that Ashley's death would be a suicide on January 5, four days later and until the end of the forensic tests. The case was officially closed two months later.
"… The fact is that, if there was evidence to support a finding of probable cause concerning Tom, we would have stopped it," Brandt told Moriarty.
Ashley's parents had a hard time believing it.
"She would never do anything like that," Fox explained. "She has a mission for Blake."
Tom Fall being free of charge, he moved with his children to Indiana to pursue graduate studies. Ashley's parents had lost their daughter, but they also did not want to lose their grandchildren. So they maintained a relationship with Tom.
"He's in another state with my grandchildren – he's crazy," Raguindin said. "And we continue to do what we need to do because our love for our grandchildren is much bigger and more powerful than the hatred we have for Tom Fallis."
But two years later, an unexpected turning point occurred. A local TV reporter opened his own investigation.
"It's not very often that you hear someone confessing the murder and you get away with it," said Justin Joseph.
CASE CLOSED?
In early 2014, Jenna Fox and Joel Raguindin were still convinced that their son-in-law, Tom Fallis, had murdered their daughter, Ashley, after New Year's Eve in 2012.
"How would you describe the last two years?" Erin Moriarty asked Fox.
"It's really a roller coaster, it's hard to mourn," she replied.
"But why would he kill her?" Moriarty asked.
"Out of anger," Fox explained. "I think it's a great possibility because of the divorce papers, everything that was going on."
But the Evans Police Department ruled that Ashley's death was a suicide and filed the case. And he remained closed until the journalist Justin Joseph received a call.
"I had a source of law enforcement forces who called me and told me," Something is wrong with this case, "" said Joseph, also a consultant for CBS News.
Joseph spent months investigating and interviewing neighbors who had initially spoken to the police. In April 2014, he had a major break:
Nick Glover, a young neighbor next door, told Joseph something about Tom Fallis that was not in the police reports.
"I saw him go out, so we all hid under the window sill and his parents were outside and he said:" Omigod, I can not believe that I I did it ", three or four times …. And then his parents said, "What? What are you saying?" And I remember hearing him say, "I shot him," he told Joseph.
Nick Glover said that he had talked to the police officer Evans, Michael Yates.
"And he said:" Detective Yates sat here, next to you, heard my story and wrote everything, "Joseph told Moriarty.
And then Joseph reported corroboration of Glover's story. Two years later, a sheriff's deputy went to the scene to tell investigators that he had also heard Fallis say that he had shot Ashley.
Nick Glover's mother, Kathy Glover, also spoke to Joseph, telling her that she had received a call that night from another neighbor, a teenage girl named Chelsey Arrigo.
And she said: "Yes, Chelsey called me that night right after it happened and said," Tell me you called the police, your neighbor just shot his wife. "
That was a shock, because in Yates' official police report, he writes that Kathy Glover told him that Arrigo had said, "Your neighbor just shot himself"- a major difference.
"Thus, the Glover never had the opportunity to review their statements.They thought for two years that their statements were properly recorded.And they thought that the Evans Police Department had simply refused to sue, so they were just as shocked that everyone had to do it – to learn that the statements were omitted and the statements were changed, "said Joseph.
"I think it's a matter of one person's word against another," Chief Brandt told Moriarty.
"To date, officer Yates has insisted that Nick Glover had never told him that he had surprised Tom Fallis saying that he had shot his wife?" Moriarty asked.
"It's okay," Brandt said.
"What about the complaint of Kathy Glover, who claims to have received a call saying," I hope you called the police, your neighbor just shot his wife. "Did the witness actually say that to officer Yates?"
"Not according to officer Yates," says Brandt to Moriarty.
Still, Chief Brandt can not explain why his officers failed to do a follow-up interview with Chelsey Arrigo. From the first night, they knew that she had heard Ashley shout "Let me go."
"But Chelsey Arrigo was an auditor," Moriarty said.
"She was," Brandt nodded.
"And you did not go to interview him, why not?" Moriarty asked.
"I can not answer that, but I think it was a mistake," Brandt replied.
"A serious mistake, is not it?" Moriarty in a hurry.
"I agree with that," Brandt said.
Ashley's parents believe that these omissions are part of a concealment by Evans police.
"The Evans Police Department has decided to conceal his death as a suicide from the beginning," said Raguindin. "Now the big question is, why?"
Chief Brandt insists that there was no camouflage – that his officers had simply made mistakes.
"There is this allegation that there was some kind of camouflage, and if it happens, somebody will find it," he said. "To my knowledge, none of this has happened."
But Brandt can not really explain why her department concluded so quickly – just a few days after Ashley's death – that she had committed suicide, especially when there was so much circumstantial evidence of misrepresentation.
The photos, the divorce papers – many witnesses at the party said that he was angry that night.
"Are not all these inconsistencies very disturbing?" Moriarty asked the chief of police.
"I'm not aware of this level of detail about the cases, I have a kind of overview, briefing, where are we now, so much of the details you're talking about now, in hindsight, after that." have examined, yes – – These questions attract, "said Brandt.
Chief Brandt said his less experienced officers had sought help from the CBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, before closing their own investigation.
"So, I mean, it's a very important question, why would you close the file while you still have lab results on hold?" Moriarty asked Brandt.
"I think it was a mistake, I do not think you close a case when lab results are waiting," he said.
"So why was he closed?"
"I can not answer that question," Brandt replied.
"But that's your department," Moriarty noted.
"It's my department, but I do not conduct investigations," he said.
In fact, Chief Brandt says that he did not know that there were questions about the investigation until Justin Joseph reported two years later.
"You know, the first time I got to know of any problems in this case, it's when Fox 31 m summoned for an interview." And that's frankly the first time that I started to examine the report with the slightest detail, "he said.
Justin Joseph's report reopened the case and proceeded to a new investigation by a larger neighboring police department in Fort Collins, all with the full cooperation of Chief Brandt.
"This new information includes so-called accounts for the eyes and ears, which we did not know before and are serious enough to warrant further investigation into this case," Chief Brandt told reporters.
"I feel it's a relief, it's been a lot of work, but I'm really relieved by that," Fox said. "I mean, it will not bring Ashley back by any sense at all, but I think I just want the truth to be revealed."
What did Tom Fallis think of developments? Joseph surprised him on a return trip to the area:
Justin Joseph: I wonder if we could talk about the death of your wife.
Tom Fallis: I'm not talking to you about that – the investigation was already over and she was already judged that she was committing suicide.
Curiously, more than two years after his death, Fallis produced for the police what he said were suicide notes written by Ashley. We said:
"Dear Tom … I'm sorry for your suffering … I'm a failure in all areas … I do not even find myself loving my children anymore, I love them, I can not do anything just not live longer in this life. "
"I think the most curious thing about these letters is that when … we were told it was a suicide, these letters never came in. These letters have arrived recently," Fox said. . "If an investigation was going on for me and I had information, I would … communicate it to the police at that time."
"What I would like to see happen is truth and justice," Raguindin added. "I'd like to see Tom accused of killing my daughter."
Family photo
In November 2014, a grand jury indicted Tom Fallis for the murder of his wife. The next day he was arrested in Indiana. After three years of freedom, thinking that all this was behind him, Fallis suddenly found himself in prison and separated from his children, who were now supported by his parents.
"… it was like a prayer answered and a weight that had just been lifted," said Raguindin about the arrest of Fallis. "And just to feel that sense of justice has occurred."
In March 2016, the trial begins. Tom Fallis is ready to defend himself vigorously.
Conflicting theories
After his first words to the jury, Tom Fallis' defense attorney, Iris Eytan, beat him for his client.
"Tom Fallis did not kill his wife and the mother of their three children, " she told the court. "Ashley Fallis committed suicide on January 1, 2012," she told the court. "Ashley Fallis was a gorgeous woman, but she had a terrible pain inside … She had documented her mental illness, was impulsive and self-destructive and she committed suicide at the time of her seizure with her own handgun."
Surprisingly, the defense relied on the prosecution's own witnesses to assert that Ashley, an already unstable personality, drank heavily on the night of the party.
"She was intoxicated, she had just had a miscarriage, she was boiling," Eytan continued in court.
The uncle of Ashley, interviewed by another defense attorney, admitted that there was a history of suicide in the family:
Dru Nielsen: Your mother and brother died from gunshot wounds to the head.
John Schmitzer: This is correct.
However, Ashley's therapist, Dr. Russell Johnson, told the jury that he did not consider it a danger to herself:
Attorney Ben Whitney: When did you meet her in December 2011, did she seem depressed?
Dr. Russell Johnson: No she does not.
Attorney Ben Whitney: Did she seem suicidal?
Dr. Russell Johnson: No she does not.
But when pushed by the defense, Dr. Johnson acknowledges that he was unaware of all the drugs that Ashley was taking, including the prescriptions she had received from her family. other doctors.
Defense attorney Iris Eytan: … You did not really know how many Seroquel pills and how many milligrams she took in December 2011, is not it?
Dr. Russell Johnson: No.
Ashley had apparently concealed from the doctor other crucial information, including the so-called suicide notes she had written to Tom:
Defense attorney Iris Eytan: And you did not know … that she had written a second suicide noted on July 24, 2011, is not it? She did not tell you, is not it?
Dr. Russell Johnson: No.
Defense attorney Iris Eytan: All these things, Dr. Johnson, would they change your thinking about Mrs. Fallis' state of mind?
Dr. Russell Johnson: Yes.
But when Attorney Ben Whitney questioned Jenna Fox, she repeated what she and her husband, Joel Raguindin, had always said: Ashley was fine all night and that Tom was the one who burst at the end of the night .
Jenna Fox: He climbed up the stairs and came right in front of me and told me that he "hated us all and wished we all died." And went to their room and slammed the door.
Attorney Ben Whitney: How was Ashley 's behavior?
Jenna Fox: She seemed good. She seemed just frustrated, maybe embarrassed.
And there are those key witnesses with whom Justin Joseph spoke after the death of Ashley: Nick Glover, the next door neighbor who said he heard Tom Fallis confess, told the jury that he remember it very well.
Nick Glover: What I heard him say, "Oh my god, oh my god, what did I do? Oh my god, what am i? Did I do? " … and he started saying "I shot my wife."
Prosecutor Anthea CarrascoTo what extent are you sure that the voice you hear is Tom Fallis's, which you see standing in this quadrant of your driveway?
Nick Glover: I – 100 percent. … I would not forget, or would not hear something like that and would not remember it.
But Tom's parents deny that this conversation ever took place.
Defense Counsel Dru NielsenHave you ever heard Tom admit to having shot Ashley at the time?
Jim Fallis: Never.
And others who were there with Nick that night say that they did not hear it either. Nick's mother, Kathy Glover, then informs the jury of that phone call she received from neighbor Chelsey Arrigo.
"When I answered the phone, she said, "Please, tell me you called the police." … because your neighbor has just shot his wife, "testifies Kathy Glover.
But her story is broken when Chelsey Arrigo herself speaks up and says that she does not even remember the call:
Chelsey Arrigo: All I could remember was to hear arguments. But that's all.
Attorney Ben Whitney: Do you remember any particular statements?
Chelsey Arrigo: No.
Attorney Ben Whitney: Do you remember telling Kathy Glover during a phone conversation that very morning: "I heard her shout," Let me go. Let me go. "
Chelsey Arrigo: No.
She admits that she was intoxicated that night and does not corroborate any of the important statements that the investigators say they made after the shootings. Nevertheless, Chris Graves, MP for Weld County Sheriff, also said that he had heard Tom Fallis confess to having killed Ashley.
"I heard him scream, I can not believe I shot him." And – I can not believe that she's dead & # 39; "Said Graves.
But his reliability as a witness is also questioned when he admits that he did not warn his superiors until two years after the shooting, after reopening the case:
Prosecutor Anthea Carrasco: … Do you write a report on what you heard?
Chris Graves: No Madam. … it was Evans' case.
Prosecutor Anthea Carrasco: Is it something you feel you should do?
Chris Graves: Absolutely.
The medico-legal testimony of the shooting night is crucial. State expert Dan Gilliam, who spent 400 hours reviewing the case, explains to the jury where Ashley's head was to be when the fatal blow was given.
"She must be in this position – in a place like this," Gilliam explained, leaning on his knees in a model of the Fallis room. "… the rod that runs through my head must be aligned with this rod."
But during the cross-examination, his conclusion does not seem to favor the case of the prosecution, but the defense:
Defense attorney Iris Eytan: The most likely result of Ashley Fallis' shot at the head is that he self-inflicted himself, did not he?
Dan Gilliam: I believe him.
Defense attorney Iris Eytan: So, suicide? Correct?
Dan Gilliam: Yes.
To counter this, the prosecution appeals to a second nationally renowned criminalistics expert, Jon Priest, who tells the jury that he had concluded the opposite – that Tom was to be close to Ashley when she would have been shot.
"Mon opinion ultime est que, au moment où le coup de feu a été tiré, Tom et Ashley Fallis étaient en contact l'un avec l'autre ou près l'un de l'autre", a déclaré le prêtre.
Le prêtre suggère au jury que les éléments de preuve montrent que ces deux personnes auraient pu se débattre lors du tir.
"Nous pourrions être en train de nous débattre pour cette arme à feu, là où je l'ai posée contre sa tête, menaçant de crier, peu importe," expliqua Priest, montrant le modèle de la chambre à coucher. "Je pourrais l'avoir ici, elle pourrait la saisir et la saisir au moment du déchargement. L'arme à feu s'éteint, je pourrais déposer l'arme à feu, la tirer dans ma hanche en la tournant pour créer cette tache et ensuite redescendre ici sur le sol."
Alors, était-ce un meurtre? Ou Ashley Fallis s'est-elle suicidée? Face à des théories contradictoires, le jury devra peser les preuves souvent contradictoires.
"Avait-elle eu des difficultés dans son passé? Bien sûr. Vous avez beaucoup de monde? Absolument. Est-ce que cela veut dire qu'elle s'est suicidée? Non", a déclaré la procureur Anthea Carrasco à la cour. "Elle allait bien … Il est en colère. … C'est l'homme qui était dans cette maison. C'est ce qui se passe dans sa tête, c'est ce qui se passe dans son cœur, et c'est la personne qui était dans cette chambre avec Ashley Fallis. "
"Ils doivent prouver qu'il avait son arme, hors de tout doute raisonnable. Porte une arme à feu à la tête, hors de tout doute raisonnable. Et a tiré la gâchette, hors de tout doute raisonnable. Vous devez tous en être convaincus", a déclaré Iris Eytan. les jurés.
L'avenir de Tom Fallis est dans la balance.
Un verdict
"De le voir dans la salle d'audience, je me sentais comme si c'était le cas. Nous avions l'espoir que justice serait rendue", a déclaré Joel Raguindin.
En tant que témoins clés de l'accusation, les parents d'Ashley n'étaient pas autorisés à regarder une grande partie du procès en dehors de leur propre témoignage. Mais d'après ce qu'ils ont entendu de la part de ceux qui se trouvent dans la salle d'audience, l'affaire contre Tom Fallis n'est peut-être pas le slam dunk qu'ils pensaient être.
Mais Jenna et Joel sont restés optimistes alors que l'affaire était soumise au jury; Cependant, ils ont rapidement eu un choc.
"Les jurés étaient dehors combien de temps?" Moriarty a demandé.
"Trois heures et demie", répondit Fox.
"Trois heures et demie, et une heure de cela a été leur déjeuner", a déclaré Raguindin.
"Est-ce que ça a semblé juste, trois heures et demie?" Moriarty a demandé.
"Non", dit Raguindin.
Quatre ans après le décès d'Ashley, le juge a lu la décision du jury:
Juge: Nous, les jurés, déclarons l'accusé, Thomas Fall, non coupable de meurtre au deuxième degré et de toute infraction mineure.
Tom Fallis était libre.
"Dites-moi ce moment où vous avez entendu le verdict", a déclaré Moriarty
"Choc", dit Raguindin. "J'étais juste, comme, ici – 'Tom vient juste de s'en tirer avec un meurtre à nouveau", a déclaré Fox.
Pour les parents d'Ashley, la rapidité du verdict a encore aggravé la situation.
"Pour moi, ils parlent de la vie de ma fille et du bien être de mes petits-enfants. Et pour eux de prendre cette décision -" a déclaré Raguindin.
"Que rapidement—" dit Moriarty.
"- C'est écoeurant pour moi. C'est vraiment ça. C'est– c'est– c'est obsédant," continua-t-il.
«C’est beaucoup d’informations. Vous ne pouvez pas passer trois heures et demie. Je ne les comprends pas. Je ne les ai pas vraiment», a déclaré Fox.
Deux des jurés, Dillon Pierce et Davana Mijares, étaient disposés à expliquer leur verdict.
"J'ai immédiatement compris que des vies étaient en jeu. Non seulement la vie de Tom, mais aussi les enfants", a déclaré Mijares à Moriarty. "… S'il était coupable, je cherchais cela.… Je l'ai regardé, je l'ai étudié et je ne pouvais tout simplement pas le voir. Mais je voulais le trouver coupable s'il le faisait… Je voulais être cette voix pour Ashley s'il l'a fait. "
Mais les jurés dire que dans l'isolement de la salle d'audience, l'affaire semblait simple. Ils pensaient qu'Ashley Fallis était dans un état mental catastrophique, ce qui l'avait conduite à se suicider.
"S'agissait-il d'un doute raisonnable pour vous tous? Est-ce simplement parce qu'il n'y avait pas suffisamment de preuves, ou êtes-vous absolument convaincu de savoir ce qui s'est passé?" Moriarty a demandé aux jurés.
"Je suis convaincu", a déclaré Dillon Pierce.
"Je pense que c'était une tempête parfaite qui n'attendait que d'arriver", a déclaré Mijares.
Mijares pense cependant que la vérité sur ce qui s'est passé pourrait ne pas être ce que l'une ou l'autre des parties a présenté dans la salle d'audience.
"Je pense que l'argument qu'ils ont eu cette nuit-là était probablement un peu plus intense. … Mais je ne pense pas qu'il l'ait fait. … Je ne pense pas qu'il ait en fait appuyé sur la gâchette", a poursuivi Mijares. "Il n'y avait rien là qui dise que Tom tenait le pistolet. Je juste – je – je ne pouvais simplement pas le mettre là."
Et, ils se demandent comment l'affaire a même été jugée.
"Je ne pense pas qu'il y avait suffisamment de preuves pour rouvrir le dossier. Je pense que le dossier a été rouvert sous la pression… des médias", a déclaré Mijares.
"Je pense que c'est ce que Jenna Fox et Joel Raguindin ont décidé de faire", a déclaré Pierce. "Ils cherchaient à obtenir justice pour Ashley. Ils ont besoin de l'attention des médias pour rouvrir le dossier."
"Pour moi, mon travail de journaliste consistait à rassembler autant de faits et à les communiquer aux jurés.… Et je ne regrette certainement pas l'intégrité de nos reportages", a déclaré Justin Joseph. "But in the end … the police department and the Weld County Sheriff did not do their jobs the night this happened … they didn't have what they needed to … be able to decide whether or not Tom Fallis pulled the trigger. …And from that standpoint, the jury made the right decision."
Tom Fallis declined to speak with "48 Hours."
The verdict changes nothing for Ashley's family. They still believe Ashley would never take her own life and leave her children behind.
"Is it at all possible that she just — after her husband got so angry with you she just couldn't handle the stress and she took her life?" Moriarty asked Ashley's parents.
"No way," Raguindin replied. "Absolutely not."
"I don't think so," Fox said. "Non."
As they wrestled with their frustrations after the verdict, Ashley's parents could barely contain their emotions during their interview with Moriarty …
"I know you're pissed, but don't…" Fox said to Raguindin. "I'm f—–g pissed goddamnit," he replied and left the room.
…especially because of how they believe their daughter was portrayed in court.
"They made her look bad by callin' her a spitfire, and this jury fell for it?" Fox said in tears. "They were up there callin' her a spitfire like it was this bad thing. And it just — that's what he used to call me — 'My spitfire—'"
"It's a person—it's a person who loves life, has a passion for life," said Raguindin.
"I think Jenna Fox is– is angry, understandably," said Mijares.
"She doesn't have any power in this situation. She keeps looking for this — for a way to take back control of what's happening. And there's no power… and that — that sucks," said Pierce.
"I mean, I'm going to say — we're not parents in denial. I mean, that's just not the case," said Fox.
"Every day this is the battle, is that — we live with — we're having to live with what the jurors came up with and it is not easy. But we are also — we, me and Jenna, are both fighters. And the truth is the truth. And it always will be in our minds, in our hearts," an emotional Raguindin said.
Joel Raguindin
What lies ahead for their relationship with their three grandchildren – now back in Tom's care – remains unclear, but they are committed to preserving Ashley's memory in the childrens' minds.
"Madelynn, Jolie and Blake, I wanna talk to you about your mother. She loved you guys wholeheartedly—wholeheartedly," Joel Raguindin said. "She loved life … And that — because she loved life so much, Erin, that's why I know that my daughter would never take her own life."
The children remain in Tom Fallis' custody in Indiana.
Jenna Fox and Joel Raguindin now have visitation rights.
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