Transcript of He Said, She Said

It was Friday, January 6, 2017, when Sabrina Lamone heard the knock at her door. When she answered, she saw a group of men standing there. 1 had a familiar face. It was homicide detective Randall Meyer. Strong hands pulled Sabrina's arms behind her back, and handcuffs were snapped onto her wrists.

As soon as Sabrina's sister Julie saw detective Meyer, she dialed Sabrina's attorney, Richard Terry, in Bakersfield. He had assured Sabrina she had nothing to worry about. Now, the cops were at the door.

Richard, her attorney, would tell her, live your life, Brina. There's nothing. They don't have anything. You didn't do this.

Just as Sabrina was being placed in a patrol car, Julie says she heard the lawyer on the phone say, don't say anything. Within hours, secrets from Sabrina's past life were once again leading local newscasts.

It is no coincidence that Sabrina Limon was arrested just days before her former lover was scheduled to go on trial for her husband's murder.

That's right. Sabrina's lover had turned on her. The plea deal was announced in open court a few days later.

The defendant, Jonathan Heard, will pend your plead guilty in return for his full and truthful testimony in court proceedings involving Sabrina Leung.

In this episode, we'll take you inside the California courtroom where 2 ex lovers were brought together again for the first time in nearly 3 years.

You can call Jonathan her.

You'll hear what Sabrina and Jonathan had to say about each other and about the murder of Rob Lamone.

I did express that I had done it and that everything was about to change.

I never wanted to believe that Jonathan was the

1 that did this, ever. Which 1 was telling the truth?

When you evaluate the witnesses' statements, you are allowed to take into account if they lied about 1 thing, they might be lying about another thing.

Who manipulated who?

People thought she seduced him and used sex to make him kill her husband.

And you'll hear what a jury of 9 women and 3 men decided.

The courtroom was absolutely packed. You have Rob's family and friends on 1 side, Sabrina's friends and family on the other side, and everyone, everyone in that room was very anxious.

I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 6, He Said, She Said. On September 11th, 2017, the trial of Sabrina Lamone opened in the packed Bakersfield courtroom of Judge John R Brownlee.

She was facing first degree murder, conspiracy, solicitation, the poisoning charge, attempted murder, and accessory after the fact.

That's the voice of Olivia LaVoise. She covered the trial for NBC affiliate, KGET, in Bakersfield, which also live streamed the trial online.

People could not get enough. As soon as we started live streaming opening statements, I mean, we were blown away by literally thousands of people during the day, all day were just glued to it. I mean, they wanted see every single second of this. People who were typically watching soap operas now were watching this trial.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted to see the 2 lovers face off in court to hear 2 versions of a story that had resulted in murder. For prosecutor Eric Smith, the case was about a conniving woman who conspired with her young lover to have her husband murdered in cold blood.

Evidence will show that Robert Limon was killed to replace him as the father to Liana and Robin. This was their plan. This was their purpose.

For defense attorney Richard Terry, the case was about a confessed killer who was willing to lie about his mistress in order to avoid life without parole.

Everything implicated him. All of his statement implicated him. The only thing that made it now it's Sabrina's is, well, this was our plan.

In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jury the circumstantial case they were about to hear would leave no doubt about Sabrina Lamone's involvement in her husband's murder.

She provided information about where the shop was located. She would also keep him informed of the days Robert worked in Tehachapi.

According to prosecutor Smith, the plot to kill Rob Lamone was about more than romantic bliss. It was also about money.

Why? So she could get in excess of $300,000 in life insurance money, and also that she could get lifelong benefits from the railroad because Robert was killed while working at the railroad in Tehachapi.

As with most murder trials, the prosecutor began his case with a series of foundational witnesses. Detectives and first responders described the crime scene and the evidence recovered. Other witnesses such as Sabrina Limone's former friends, Jason and Kelly Bernatine, told the jury what they knew about Sabrina's love affair with Jonathan Hearn.

I told him to never contact the Lamones, stay away from Sabrina, and, yeah, I said a lot of things.

Why did you speak with detective Meyer?

Because someone killed my friend. They needed to pay for it.

All of that, of course, was just the opening act. The main attraction, the reason why 1,000 were watching a live feed of the trial was Jonathan the confessed killer.

Good morning, sir. Can you tell us your name and spell your first and last name for the record?

Yes, sir. My name is, Jonathan Hearn. Last name spelled h e a r n.

For a few moments, there was silence in the courtroom as Jonathan Hearn stared intently at a spot on the floor about 6 feet in front of him. Sitting a few feet away, Sabrina Limon's long blonde hair hid her face as she seemed to be studying the back of her hand.

How old are you? 27 years old.

How old were you when you were arrested November 18, 2014?

24 years old.

How old were you when you met Sabrina Lamont?

22 years old.

The jury was about to hear a story the prosecutor implied about a young man in the clutches of an older woman. In the prosecution's telling, Jonathan Hurd had been inexperienced in the ways of the world until he met Sabrina Lamone.

When you first met, miss Lamone, were you attracted to her?

I was.

At that point, had you had a steady girlfriend?

No. According to Hearn, he and Sabrina met for trysts anywhere and anytime they could be together. And that wasn't all.

Did miss Limon send you photographs where she was naked as well through your phone or from her phone to your phone?

Yes, sir.

How regularly?

I don't wanna give, exact approximation, but I have direct recollection of of having many.

And so it went, month after month, the increasingly slippery slope of infidelity. When Rob Lamone discovered the affair in the spring of 2013, Hearn said they broke it off. That resolve did not last.

Now, how deep was your relationship with miss Lamone, your connection in 2014?

Very deep. We were planning to marry, so very deep.

For Christmas 2013, Sabrina gave Jonathan an engraved snow globe. It captured an idyllic scene, much like the future they had imagined together. In the 1st few months of 2014, Jonathan said they had talked about Sabrina possibly divorcing Rob, but she did not like that option.

She expressed that the loyalty of her family and friends would most likely be with Rob, and she would be seen as, the bad guy. As sad as this sounds, for Rob's sake, she expressed that he would honestly rather be dead than divorced.

According to Hearn, talk about Rob Lamone's death had started in jest, as in wouldn't our lives be simpler if Rob wasn't around? Then by early 2014, he says, those late night musings about Rob Lamone's demise had progressed from mere wishful thinking to a serious plan of action.

Did you settle on a method to kill Robert initially?

Yes. I did.

What was the initial method that you decided upon?

Poisoning.

Hearn testified he and Sabrina had first planned to kill Rob with arsenic laced banana pudding in April 2014. Jonathan said that attempt was called off when Sabrina began to fear their affair might be revealed if police retrieved her phone records.

If the investigator was to query her phone records and and see, sub a substantial amount of communication with someone else, that would obviously be something pretty suspicious.

So he said they decided together it was better to wait and put some time between Rob's murder and all that activity on their phones. Hearns said he bought Sabrina a burner phone and kept it loaded with prepaid minutes. It was while waiting for his next opportunity that Hearns said he had second thoughts about the idea of poisoning Rob.

He thought that it might be better to just, approach him directly, for the killing.

Few things are more direct than a 45 caliber slug at point blank range. That became Jonathan Hearn's plan. He says he spent the next few months prepping for murder. He cased the railroad shop where Rob worked in Tehachapi. He took photos and noted where the security cameras were located.

He bought clothes and a mask to disguise himself, and adhesive flashing to disguise his motorcycle. When Sabrina told him her husband would be working in Tehachapi on that Sunday in August 2014, Jonathan says he told her he was ready.

She asked me if I could be detected, and so I explained that I didn't think I would be recognized. She asked me about the motorcycle, if that would be noticeable, because it did have custom lettering on it, and I explained that I was taking measures to to disguise the motorcycle as well.

On the day of the murder, Hearn said, he arrived in Tehachapi around midafternoon. After parking his motorcycle in a secluded spot, Hearn said he donned an old man mask and set out on foot, walking with a limp. He was looking for the unmarked shop where Rob Limone worked.

And when you got off your bike, what items did you have with you?

A backpack with a firearm.

Unable to determine exactly which building Rob Limone worked in, Jonathan said he was about to call it off and go home. Then he said he saw Rob Limone pull up to 1 of those buildings in his service truck and open the garage door.

I began, walking back down towards where I had seen Robert Park and where the garage door was still open.

Hearn said his mind was filled with conflicting thoughts at that moment. 1 of those thoughts he said was, thou shalt not kill, and another, God's purpose. All that stuff he and Sabrina had been saying about God wanting them to be together.

It was inevitable that Rob needed to die for, Sabrina and I to move forward with our relationship.

And so just before he stepped into that shop to murder his romantic rival, Jonathan Hurn said he paused to pray.

I remember, sort of praying about the the conflict that arose out of that purpose, but, essentially, it it felt like I was approaching something that inevitably had to be done.

Rob Limone was sitting in the office when Jonathan Hearn entered through the open garage door. Hearn told the court that when Rob Limone saw him, he came out of the office to meet him.

We briefly spoke. I don't have distinct recollection right now.

What distance were you from Rob when you spoke?

Within 10 feet.

Were you wearing the mask at that time?

I was. What must Rob Lamone have been thinking in that moment? A stranger standing in his railroad shop on a Sunday afternoon wearing an old man mask. And that voice, did it sound familiar? Did Rob know who he was talking to?

We will never know just as we may never know what those 2 men said to each other in those final seconds. According to Jonathan Hurn, Rob turned his back on the masked man and walked to the kitchenette area in the rear of the shop. He opened the fridge and grabbed a Gatorade. Hearn said he intended to shoot Rob then, but the silencer on his gun was wedged in the corner of his backpack, and he could not get the gun out of the bag.

At some point, he turned around. I fired the first shot from within the bag.

At what angle did you fire the first shot?

It was a very steep upward, directed shot just because, the trajectory was affected by the fact the end of the gun was still stuck in the corner of the bag that I was holding.

After you fired the first shot, what happened to Robert?

He fell seemingly mortally wounded.

Heard said he walked to the office and ransacked it. He also took a laptop in hopes of making investigators think Rob's death was the result of a robbery, and that maybe Rob was collateral damage. As he was headed for the door, Hearn said an unsettling thought suddenly popped into his head. What if Rob Limone was not dead?

I really didn't wanna leave him if he wasn't, entirely dead. So I went back around the backside of the truck and quickly fired 1 more shot at him and then closed the garage door behind me and ran from the facility.

As soon as he could, Hearns said, he found a place to change out of the clothes he'd been wearing and strip the adhesive flashing from his motorcycle.

Were you feeling happiness, elation, excitement?

Immediately leaving, probably fear, regret. Later on, I guess, a feeling of relief, that what had been in the works for so long was finally done.

Hearn told the court that by the time he got to the 4 Corners intersection at Cramer's Junction, his motorcycle was running on fumes. He had to stop for gas. Of course, the prosecutor knew that part of the story well. He had it on video and played it for the jury.

Do you recognize the motorcycle entering to the gas pumps? I do. Who's on the motorcycle? I am. What are you wearing?

Shorts and, sleeveless t shirt.

Jonathan Hearns said he hadn't taken his cell phone on that trip to Tehachapi because he didn't want investigators looking at the GPS tracking feature and learning where he'd gone. According to Hearns, he called Sabrina as soon as he got home.

What did you tell her?

She was worried she hadn't heard from either of us and, had been trying to call both of us and, referring to both me and Robert. And, she wanted to make sure I was okay, and I did express that I had done it and that everything was about to change.

Everything was about to change. That might very well have been the truest thing Jonathan Hearn has ever said. As the trial entered its 3rd week, its focus changed as well. This would be Sabrina Lamone's turn to take the stand.

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For the better part of 3 weeks, defense attorney Richard Terry sat beside Sabrina Limone and listened to the prosecution's case. It had been brutal. Photos of his client hugging her now dead husband, intimate details about their marriage, hours of cringeworthy phone conversations between Sabrina and her lover.

I love you. I love you. I love you. To the end of the world, I love you.

I love you back.

All of it topped off by Jonathan Hearn's assertion that she had been his partner in crime.

What did Sabrina tell you she wanted you to do?

With respect to Rob to kill him.

When you hear Jonathan's statement, what do you think?

Basically, it sounded like a load of crap, to put it mildly.

That's Sabrina Lamone's attorney, Richard Terry.

She was nowhere involved in the murder of her husband. It was a deal that he cut to get himself out from underneath being convicted in life without the possibility of parole.

Terry saw it this way. Jonathan was at the rail yard. Jonathan had his hand on the gun, Jonathan's gun. Jonathan admits being the murderer. And there's absolutely nothing on the wiretaps where Sabrina admits to knowing about or taking part in Jonathan's plan to kill her husband.

So then, how does Jonathan get the deal? And Sabrina is looking at maybe life in prison. The way attorney Terry saw it, Sabrina Limone was a victim of circumstance, a high school dropout who'd married young, a people pleaser who went with the flow. And when her husband suggested sex with other couples, well, she'd always been a teen blare.

She just doesn't make waves, and she kinda goes with it. And I think with Jonathan, he, you know, fulfilled a need that was missing in her relationship with her husband.

In other words, it was it was fun to have this open marriage, but it was also nice to have somebody who was totally devoted to you and not dating anybody else. Right. In many ways, Richard Terry's defense began with his cross examination of those who had turned on Sabrina, like Jason and Kelly Bernatine.

And when your husband, Jason, was present, he

He got them to admit that, yes, they too had had sex with Rob and Sabrina. Here's how Terri's cross examination of Kelly Bernatine went.

Did you and miss Limon and her husband and your husband engage in sexual activity together?

Yes. We did.

Okay. Now when your husband wasn't present, how often were you having sexual, relations with Robert Lamont?

I was not.

Did you ever have sexual relations with Robert Lamont, or it was just the 2 of you? No. Is there some reason in particular that you really wanna get Sabrina?

Because she killed Rob.

Well, she didn't kill anyone, did she?

I believe she did.

And, because of that feeling, you wanna get Sabrina.

Right? I believe she should pay for his murder.

Because you believe she was involved?

Yes.

And that's because you care about her husband so deeply. Right?

I believe I cared about him more than she did.

When cross examining Jonathan Hurn, Richard Terry questioned his religious sincerity.

You previously testified that you didn't really believe or you really weren't a true Christian. Is that right?

Yes, sir.

In other words, you mouth the words. Is that right?

That would be a good characterization.

Was all that religiosity intended to fool Sabrina into thinking of him as more virtuous than her husband?

With regards to your faith, were you using that to deceive miss Limon also?

Miss Limon had the distinction of knowing that I was involved in an extramarital affair, so perhaps she was less deceived.

Well, the whole time during the course of your relationship, you were constantly making references, available references, were you not?

Sir, in the in the time that we've had, though, these wiretaps, was a pretty narrow, perspective of our relationship, which went all the way back to 2012. I think back in 2012 and 13, you would have heard less references to God.

Though Jonathan testified he and Sabrina had emailed with each other about their plan to kill Rob, Richard Terry questioned why investigators had found no evidence of that. After all, they'd recovered his Internet searches on arsenic poisoning and on railroad death benefit payouts.

I would assume since they did so much work to get those web searches that they would have turned over these emails you deleted. Right?

If you would like to assume that.

Wow. Wouldn't that make sense to you if they actually existed?

That they would present them here?

Yes, sir.

That would seem reasonable.

After calling several of her family members to vouch for Sabrina's good character, Richard Terry then made a bold, but risky move.

Yeah, I just signed a gun to call Sabrina Lamone to the stand.

The defense attorney's gamble was that given the chance to compare Sabrina's story with Jonathan's, at least 1 juror might find Sabrina's version more credible, more sympathetic, so he called his client to the stand.

Jesus only state that the testimony usually made with this matter shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing mental truth will help you out.

Richard Terry started by leading Sabrina through a brief review of her life with Rob Lamone.

Did you have a group of friends that you regularly partied with?

Yes.

Were these groups of friends that you went on adult only vacations with?

Yes.

Were Jason and Kelly Bernatine 1 of these couples?

Yes.

As the years passed, Sabrina said she felt less special to the man she'd married.

Rob kinda got hooked on watching porn on the computer? Yes. Did you feel like at that point in your marriage with Rob that it'd become kinda overly fixated with sex in your opinion?

Yes. Let

me ask you this. Were you? Yes.

Nevertheless, Sabrina said she felt trapped and controlled by the swinging lifestyle. Her marriage, she said, had become emotionally unsatisfying. Then came Costco and the day she met Jonathan Hurd. Jonathan was something different, she said. A straight arrow type, smart, and curious.

The kind of guy who could talk about anything.

He was like nobody I'd ever met before. He was very, very intelligent. I felt like I was with the human dictionary.

Did he talk about his his faith a lot to you during those time periods that you were talking to you?

You know, not in the beginning. No.

Let me ask you this. Did you go to church on a regular basis?

Not at that time, no.

As the relationship progressed, becoming sexual, Sabrina said she and Jonathan also became more spiritual. They coped with their guilt over the cheating, she said, with prayer. Jonathan quoted the Bible to her, encouraged her to memorize certain verses. Sabrina was all in with that. Though in hindsight, she said, Jonathan used religion to manipulate her.

He knows what he's doing and everything that he does. Jonathan controlled me through carrying his Bible with him everywhere that he went and using that to guilt me, but also make me feel safe and secure and, like, I was doing right, I guess. Even though I knew there were definite definitely things I was doing wrong in my life.

To hear Sabrina tell it, she was satisfied with the double life she was leading with 2 different men, and she saw no reason to change that.

Did you and he discuss having a future together?

Yes. I played into dreams and and life with this guy, but had a life of my own as well. So it's hard to explain today. That's for sure.

In your mind, the best of both worlds?

Yes. I had the best of both worlds, but not really.

Did you discuss leaving Rob with Jonathan?

Yes. I guess, I did. Yes.

Was that part of the playing into the fantasies?

Yes.

Were you at any time seriously really considering leaving Rob?

No. Why not?

I couldn't imagine my life without Rob.

Why?

Because I loved him.

Sabrina said she'd been devastated when Rob died. In those darkest of days, she said, she felt Jonathan was her rock, somebody she could cling to, someone who would take care of her and the children.

Now, when detective Meyer contacted you, he asked you if you or Rob were involved in any extramarital affairs. Is that right?

Yes. He did.

And you told him no. Is that right?

Yes. Why? Because I was embarrassed, and I just felt like that was a, embarrassing personal private lifestyle that I didn't want known.

Were you trying to protect your husband's reputation somewhat?

Yes.

Why?

Along with my own because that's not how I wanted Rob to be known at all.

Sabrina said she not only lied to investigators about her lifestyle. She said she had lied about her affair because Jonathan had told her they'd both be in for a world of hurt if investigators ever found out about it.

He had told me that, you know, just the dangers of of what could happen, when an affair is exposed, how the police think, and how they work. So he kinda he just started scaring me, I guess, with how it could be portrayed.

Lead back to him, you?

Yes. Him and I.

According to Sabrina, she never discussed killing Rob with Jonathan. There'd never been any poison pudding plot, And she had never imagined Jonathan would ever wanna harm Rob. Yes, she admitted. She had told Jonathan where Rob worked, but only in passing as a small part of a larger conversation. And yes, she had told Jonathan Robb would be working in Tehachapi that day, and that was only because Tehachapi days were long days for Robb, and typically a time when she and Jonathan could meet up.

Her defense against all those accusations was a familiar 1 to any follower of true crime. Yes, I lied to my husband about the affair. Yes, I lied to police about it too. But murder? I never thought of it, and you can trust me on that.

Even after investigators told her they suspected Jonathan of killing her husband, Sabrina said she didn't believe it.

When you were talking to detective Meyer, you still continued to not believe that Jonathan was the 1 who killed Robert. Why were you still denying that Jonathan could have done this?

I guess my my my guilt of being in a relationship with him, I didn't want it to be him at all. I don't know.

According to Sabrina, Jonathan Hearn had used the shame she'd felt for her days as a swinger to manipulate her. During his cross examination, prosecutor Eric Smith questioned that.

Jonathan Hearn controlled you. That was your testimony yesterday.

No. Jonathan Hearn was controlling.

K. Now your husband controls you. That's your testimony today.

No. My husband was my husband. Okay.

Do you

make decisions on your own at any point?

Yes, I sure do. Apparently, many bad ones.

Friday night on Dateline. She'd been strangled and left here for debt. The story only she can tell.

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On the morning of October 3rd, the jury got the case. They had spent the better part of 3 weeks listening to testimony, and they had heard the confessional testimony of Jonathan Hearn, the man who murdered Rob Limone in cold blood. And they had seen the dead man's widow up close. At midmorning, they sent a head scratching note to the judge. Jurors wanted to see that sparkling snow globe Sabrina had given Jonathan for Christmas, 9 months before Rob's murder.

It puzzled me then and puzzles me now, except that clearly the jury saw the snow globe as a symbol.

That's Michael Fleeman, the true crime reporter who would later write a book about the case titled Better Off Dead.

But the jury seemed to fix on the snow globes. I mean, well, why would she give him this present? Why it was inscribed, it was a Christmas present, it sat at his house for months. If she was being played by him, you know, if she was the victim here, she was the damsel in distress, and he was the puppet master, why would she give him this nice present? You know, I that's all I can think.

A few hours later, another note, this 1 asking if the attempted murder count in the list of charges pertained to the poison pudding plot. Yes, the judge replied. It did. Then a little after 4 PM, the jury sent 1 last note. They had reached a verdict.

Yeah. I was I was surprised at how quick the verdict was. At the very least, I would have thought the jury would have gone through the wiretaps a little more carefully, but no, it was essentially a 1 day deliberation.

Because it was late in the day, the judge delayed announcing the verdict until the next morning.

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning.

Nice to see you all back. You see the note yesterday at 4:10 PM that we have completed all the verdict forms. Madam foreman, is that correct?

That's correct.

Reform does appear

to be in order. Madam Clerk, plea.

The people of the state of California, plaintiff versus Sabrina Lemont, defendant. First count. We the jury find the defendant Sabrina Lemont guilty of murder in the first degree.

Sabrina Limon dropped her head as the clerk read the remainder of the verdict form. Guilty of premeditation. Conspiracy, guilty of accessory. But on the attempted murder charge in the poison pudding plot, the jury found her not guilty. There had been no physical evidence presented that would have supported Jonathan Hearn's claim that Sabrina Limon had put arsenic laced pudding in her husband's lunch.

Madam Foreman, is that a true and correct verdict as each count?

After the jury was dismissed, Sabrina Lamone cried softly as she was shackled and led away. Outside the courthouse, family and friends of Rob Limone gathered and spoke with the assembled media.

I have to thank, the 12 jurors for listening to the evidence.

That's Rob Limone's sister, Chris Wilson.

I'm excited. I'm relieved. It's just been a long 3 years. It'll never bring my brother back, but it'll bring justice.

It was an emotional moment for the sisters who had not only lost a brother and a sister-in-law, they had also lost contact with their niece and nephew who were living with Sabrina's sister, Julie. Here's Rob's sister, Lydia Marrero.

I love my niece and nephew. As a nope, I love to them.

Hope to

see them.

We hope to see them 1 day and tell them all the great stories we have of their father.

I could not imagine Sabrina's family and Robert's family being on even remotely good terms.

That's crime reporter Olivia LaVoise again.

I think so much of what went down in this case had to do with what Rob Limone's family wanted. To them, Jonathan Hearn wasn't the 1 who betrayed them and Rob Lamone. Right? The betrayal for them was with Sabrina. So if you're Sabrina's family, you could imagine how they might look at Robert's family and think, yeah, you guys are a huge part of why she's in there.

On November 16, 2017, almost 2 years to the day after he was arrested and charged with murder, Jonathan Hearn was back in court for his sentencing.

The defendant does qualify for punishment in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

With Rob Limone's sisters sitting just a few feet away, Hearn read a long statement he'd composed while waiting for his sentence to be handed down. The calm and unflappable demeanor he had worn like a coat of armor at trial was gone.

I have evoked God's name,

and yet behaved exactly

opposite of his dictates. I have sinned.

In comments addressed to the court, to Rob Lamone's family, to his own family, and also Sabrina's family, Jonathan Hearn begged for forgiveness.

I am aware that for my crimes, anything short of death is really merciful. Yet for my sin, I truly do deserve much worse. I have wept and struggled searching for adequate words to express my repentance. It seems like saying I'm sorry to you all will never be enough. And so speaking on on borrowed and undeserved breath, I offer you my brokenhearted and genuine apology, knowing that it cannot compare the degree that

I've caused all of you.

To Robert's family, his dear friends, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for stealing your brother, your friend, your beloved relative, and taking your joy from you.

When all was said and done, the judge sentenced Jonathan Hearn to the agreed upon 25 years and 4 months. However, not long after Jonathan began serving his sentence, the California legislature passed a new law, giving youthful offenders the opportunity for early parole. In Jonathan Hurn's case, that means he could be released from prison before his 40th birthday.

Essentially, the law says if you are under the age of 26 at the time of your offense, you are eligible for parole after serving a full 14 years.

Olivia LaVoise.

It's possible he'll be denied parole, but based on everything that we know about what they're looking for at parole hearings, he's checking all the boxes for being a model inmate.

In February 2018, Sabrina Lamone was sentenced to 25 years to life for her role in her husband's murder. An appellate court upheld her conviction in 2022. And last year, the California Supreme Court denied her petition for review of the case. Neither Sabrina nor Jonathan responded to our requests for an interview for this podcast. So ends a story that began more than a dozen years ago in a busy shopping aisle at Costco.

An ordinary day, except for the fateful meeting of 2 strangers. If not for the unique makeup of those 2 people, and the astounding number of bad choices they made, their story might well have ended right there. A closer reading of the Bible might have been useful back then. It's the book of Hosea that talks about how mistakes from the past can cause those who made them to reap the whirlwind. Sometimes the lessons from scripture and from real life are 1 and the same.

Deadly Mirage is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beecham is the producer. Brian Drew, Kelly Laudeen, and Marshall Hausfeld are audio editors. Carson Cummins is associate producer. Adam Goren Fein is co executive producer.

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