Defending Your Life | Full Episode | Forensic Files

Shooting has been a a hobby for me for at least the past 33 years. It helps you think in a way that is
tactical and practical as well. >> Personal security of course has always been a concern,
especially as a prosecutor. >> All rise. >> My name is Ron Dur. I'm a deputy prosecuting attorney for Snowish County.
>> I'm trying the Jerry Jones case now for the third time. The case has spanned approximately 17 years of my career.
>> This is [music] um a shocking scene, I think, even to the veteran police officers who responded.
>> I'm Joe Ward. I'm a homicide detective for the Snowomish County Sheriff's [music] Office, and I was here 17 years
ago to investigate the murder of Lee Jones. Mrs. Jones had received a lot of injuries to her body. She had over 60
wounds, slashes, [music] stabs. She's in the bathtub while she is being killed. And she is vocal. She is
yelling. She is screaming. She is battling [music] her asalent. It looked like she had
fought for her life in that room and lost. [music] Jerry Jones says he heard a noise and
responded and found his wife stabbed. And as he found her, someone brushed by him and pushed him against the wall and
cut his hand. Jerry's story is unbelievable. Uh, Detective Ward begins to realize
that it just doesn't add up and that he has the the murder suspect right in front of him.
[music] It was a great relief to to get that first guilty verdict in this case. [music]
We have the Ninth Circuit deciding that it was a weak circumstantial case and uh
that it should be retrieded. It's 2001. [music] We did it the second time. The jury find
the defendant Jerry Har Jones guilty of the crime of murder first charge after a ver that was extremely satisfying one
that uh I hoped meant the end of the case the court of appeals of the state of Washington reverses us again I'm quite
angry and embittered by what the court of appeals has done as a prosecutor there are certain cases
that resound in your consciousness that that affect you on some emotional level.
This was one of them. So I was not looking forward to visiting that place yet again.
I came the dawn. Round three. >> Opening statement from the defense. Mr. Jones. >> Thank you, your honor.
>> This trial had a strange twist as the murder defendant acted as his own attorney. I've decided to represent
myself. >> He just keeps coming back. >> Nobody knows the case better than I do.
>> It's almost as though [music] he and I were meant to show up in the same courtroom and fight this thing out.
Defending your life. [music] [music] I loved my mother very much. And if I had any doubt whatsoever
that my dad might have done it, I wouldn't be standing by him like this. for almost 17 years.
>> My sister and I can come down this [music] evening. >> Kim Jones and her younger sister Beth.
>> Our other interview starts at [music] about 6. >> Have been on a mission. >> There's no way that he did this.
>> Trying to prove their father Jerry Jones Jr. >> No, this is wrong. >> Is innocent [music] of brutally killing
their mother, Lee. >> Has there ever been a moment where you've said, "Maybe dad [music] did do
this." No. >> No. >> You have to know my dad. >> No. >> My dad is a very peaceful man.
>> He never even raised his voice at anyone in the family. >> Jerry, how you feeling?
>> I'm feeling great. >> 48 hours began following this story in 1999 when Jerry Jones was released from
prison for the first time. >> This is a dream come true. >> After an appeals court ruled his lawyer
was ineffective. My dad deserves freedom just like everybody else. >> His release marked the beginning of an
incredible legal drama. In 2001, Jerry Jones was retrieded and reconvicted. And then, remarkably, an appeals court
reversed that conviction because the jury didn't hear crucial evidence. Now, Jones and his daughters are back for
round three. And this time, Jones will be represented by the man he says knows this case better than anyone himself.
>> All rise. Court is again in session. >> Do you have any [music] legal training
at all? >> No, I don't. >> Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, >> if they can get a feel for me as a human
being, then they'll be convinced that I am not capable of murdering anyone. The evidence will tell you that I loved my
wife. >> He'll be going toe-to-toe with the man who has prosecuted him twice before.
>> Please listen carefully to the evidence in the case. >> Ron Dersh. >> We do our best to make sure that
murderers don't get away with murder. >> The prosecutor will be unable to prove to you
that I murdered Lee for one very simple reason. I did not do it. And to ensure a fair
verdict, this jury won't hear about Jerry Jones's earlier trials or convictions.
>> I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes, but I'm not a murderer. >> I'd give anything if I could have her
back right now. >> It was Lee's beauty that first caught his attention back in 1970. I
encountered the most gorgeous creature I'd ever laid eyes on in my life. When Jerry was stationed in Vietnam serving
in the Air Force, >> she had these beautiful brown eyes and the most gorgeous smile you've ever
seen. And for me, it was just love at first sight. >> They married in Vietnam and their first
child, Kim, was born there. Within months, Jerry's tour ended and Lee left her family behind and moved to
the US to start a new life. >> Two more children are born. >> Mhm. Beth and Thomas.
>> Yes. >> Jerry retired after 20 years in the Air Force. And the family moved to Buffalo,
Washington, just outside Seattle. >> They were just in the prime of their marriage.
>> Look at those love birds. Oh, that's sweet. >> They were always hugging each other.
They were always kissing and just they were very close and very happy. >> Jerry became a successful pharmaceutical
salesman. Lee was a busy housewife raising three children. Everything in our home was encouraging and positive.
>> These are the last pictures of Lee taken at a Thanksgiving celebration. 9 days later, she would be stabbed 63
times in the family bathtub. >> When my wife needed me the most, I couldn't do it. I couldn't help her.
[snorts] On the night of December 3rd, 1988, Jerry and Lee were at home with four-year-old Thomas. According to
Jerry, Lee had put their son to sleep, then went to the hallway bathroom to take a bath.
Jazz music was playing from a radio in Jerry's study. He was across the hall in the master bedroom. His shower was
running in the adjoining bathroom. >> I heard this horrible scream, one loud, piercing scream. I'd never
heard anything like that before in my entire life. >> Jerry says he raced towards the bathroom
door. >> This is happening so quickly, so fast. You start perceiving that something is
coming out. And [music] as I'm moving closer to the doorway, you see more and more. And it's a knife.
>> Jerry remembers colliding with an intruder and reaching for the knife. >> And in the process, I suffered some
cuts. I'm knocked back. I hit my head against the wall. Boom. Fall to the floor. And I'm seeing these black and
white flashing lights. And when I got up, there was nobody in the hallway any longer.
They immediately went into the bathroom. And I encountered the most horrible situation I've ever seen in my life.
>> 911, what do you have? Hurry. Uh, my wife, she has been stabbed repeatedly. >> I find my wife in the tub and she is
struggling. I said, "My godly, what happened?" She was trying to speak. I'm convinced of that. I can recall this
this chattering sound of her teeth. Can you tell me where she's stabbed? >> All over.
>> Okay. Is there a knife in her anywhere? Do not remove the knife. >> Her eyes were wide open and she was
looking right at me and I realized that she was losing her physical life very rapidly.
>> Will you help me help her? >> I'll try. What can I do? >> Is she breathing? >> I don't think so, ma'am. I think she's
dead. Amid this blood and chaos, Thomas woke up. >> I went upstairs and I found my mother.
She was in the bathtub and uh was bloody. No father on this earth would want his
son to see his mother in that condition. It was one of the most violent murders I've ever seen. She was viciously
attacked [music] and she fought for her life. These are all scene photographs taken the night of the investigation.
>> Detective Joe Ward was the lead investigator. >> All I could see was that I had a wet and
bloody [music] man with a hand wrapped in a towel and a dead wife in the bathroom.
>> I think they had already made up their mind. Lee is dead. Jerry's at home. Case
is closed. >> We don't have any witnesses that saw anybody run from the house. We don't
have any DNA. There's really an absence of any evidence of an intruder. >> Jerry, did you murder your wife, Lee
Jones? >> No, I didn't. Peter, they didn't do an investigation that night, and within 2
hours, I found myself under arrest for something I didn't do. >> Making an arrest that night without
talking to anybody else other than my dad was a very big mistake. I'm the one who knows what happened on that December
night better than anyone else. >> As daughters Kim and Beth listen to their father's opening statement, they
know this third trial may be his last. >> There was no reason, no motive >> and his best chance to prove.
>> It was an intruder who did it. >> Someone else murdered Lee Jones. You will hear that a disturbed teenage
neighborhood boy committed this awful crime. I think he's desperate. Too sure the finger is pointed
elsewhere. I lived in the shadow of the L, the uh the J train. It ran about 10 ft from my window.
My mom and dad owned a delicatess [music] there for about 35 years. This Queens, New York neighborhood is a
long way from Everett, Washington. But for prosecutor [music] Ron Dur, there's a close connection.
I [music] think that Ron saw Lee Jones as someone similar to his mom. >> Mara Rosano is Ron's [music] wife and
also a prosecutor. >> His mom was someone very special in his life. >> My mother was an immigrant and [music]
she always spoke heavily accented English. She was about 5'4 and uh her [music] name was Elizabeth and
everyone called her Leah. >> And he's determined to get justice for Lee Jones. [music]
>> Here's the old case file. >> Even after all these years, >> this is all Jerry Jones. These are all
his. Well, there's no doubt I'm sick of the case. Not sick enough to let him go. [music]
As prosecutor Ron Dur begins his case, he's feeling the pressure. He's won hundreds of trials, but now faces the
possibility of professional humiliation. What if Jerry Jones, a self-taught lawyer wannabe who Dur has convicted
twice before, wins this case? >> That'd be a hard one to swallow, would it? That'd be tough.
>> Is Jerry a good attorney? >> I think he is. He's he's done a lot better than all and
I have on occasion. >> Let's take you back to December 3rd of 1988. >> Dur believes his opposing council is in
fact his best evidence. >> The strongest piece of evidence is Jerry Jones. He is still here. He is still
alive. Her autopsy will show that. He tells the jury about Lee's defensive wounds, the blood spatter in the
bathroom, and the cuts on Jerry's right hand that Jerry says were caused by the intruder.
>> They're consistent [music] with a defensive move on my part to knock the knife out of his hand when I encountered
him in the hallway. >> Showing you exhibit number 121. But a forensic expert testifies the cuts more
likely occurred when Jerry's hand slid off the knife handle. >> How sir? >> Blood on the hand of the asalent can be
transferred to the handle of the knife, making it slippery >> as he allegedly stabbed Lee dozens of
times. >> Report on the >> Jerry counters with his own expert. >> It's a cut. That's all you can say.
>> My fingerprints were not on the knife. My blood was not on the knife. and my DNA is not on the knife. How on earth is
it possible to stab someone 63 times and yet leave no physical evidence whatsoever?
>> I think that he rinsed off the handle of that knife. I think he was fully aware
that uh there would be some testing, fingerprint or otherwise. >> The jury also hears that Jerry let
crucial minutes pass. 3 5 minutes. >> 911. Where do you hurry? >> Before calling 911.
>> Let me give you a >> Jerry Lee is in the tub bleeding to death. And you still haven't called 911.
>> I don't get it. >> I don't get it either. >> But Ron believes he knows why. In the
midst of everything, four-year-old Thomas comes upstairs. >> And not just once, but several times, as
far as we're able to tell. And at this point, uh, Jerry's hands are already full. He's got a dying woman. He's got
cuts on his hands. And here comes his kid. >> Jerry takes Thomas back to his bedroom.
>> If you didn't kill Lee, why in the world would you have taken your young son,
back downstairs, and left him there when you don't know whether or not the killer is still in
the house? Well, Peter, you're presuming, of course, that I'm thinking clearly, coherently, and logically at this point
in time. >> There is no intruder in the home, and there never was. The killer is Jerry Jones. He knows
Thomas is safe downstairs. >> Thomas comes upstairs again. [music] This time, Jerry takes his son to Graham
Smith, his next door neighbor. >> As I open the door, uh Jerry was there on the porch. The judge has asked us to
not show the faces [music] of some witnesses. >> Jerry said that he was watching TV. He
was hit over the head and when he came to he found Lee leading and stabbed. >> You tell your neighbor that you were
struck on the head while watching TV. You tell the police that you collided with the intruder. Two separate stories.
>> I didn't tell two different stories. My response to him was, "I hit my head and
when I got up, I found Lee bleeding all over." It is only after he returns home that
Jerry finally calls 911. >> Yes, my wife. >> What's the address? >> 190 160. >> But he gives them the wrong address.
>> You're going to have to help me because we have a conflict with your address.
Lead investigator Joe Ward believes Jerry's mistake was intentional. >> I think that's just another part of his
plan to delay the response to the house just to make sure that his wife was dead.
>> It took the police 10 minutes to find the house. And when they went inside, they discovered Jerry wet [music] and
bloody. A forensic scientist testifies to scenarios of how the crotch area of Jerry's jeans became stained with Lee's
blood. >> One potential would be if the rail of a bathtub in this crime scene had been
saturated with blood and an individual sat on that rail. The other object that I know is long and narrow and bloody is
the limbs, the arms and legs of Lee Jones. >> I think at some point he is sitting on
her to hold her down. sitting on her while he's stabbing her. >> Yes. >> Not true, says Jerry Jones.
>> I loved her. I did not murder my wife. I could not do [music] it. There was no
reason for me to do it. >> In fact, Jerry says if he wanted Lee dead, he had his chance right here in
their bedroom. It was during a rough period in their marriage when the couple separated, Lee attempted suicide,
overdosing on sleeping pills. Jerry found her and rushed her to the emergency room.
>> Their separation was the best thing that [music] ever happened to them. They really realized how much they
appreciated each other. >> Look at those love birds. Oh, how sweet. >> The couple soon reconciled.
>> In the last year um before my mom died, they were very close. >> Marriage was perfect
maybe for him. But Lee's friends, Barbara Sleeper and Mary McNotton, say right before she was murdered, Lee was
looking for a way out. >> Jerry and his daughters can say anything they want to. He can talk about how in
love he was and that they, you know, were reunited and everything else, but I knew that she wanted to get divorced.
>> Isn't it possible that Jerry Jones is innocent? >> I I don't see how it's possible.
But Jerry Jones insists he knows who really killed Lee. >> President, if you would raise your right
hand, [music] >> and he's about to put him on trial. >> You think you'll see Busby today?
>> Probably. You looking forward to that? >> Not looking forward to that. No, >> Paul rise
calls Daniel Busby. >> We're not allowed to show his face. >> Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help you God. >> I do. >> But for more than 16 years, Jerry Jones
has insisted this man [music] is his wife's real killer. >> Danny Busby did it, Peter. There's no
doubt in my mind about that. Do you have a mouth on you back there? >> Yeah. >> You wise ass.
>> Yeah. >> Prosecutor Ron Dur says there is no evidence [music] that Danny Busby, then
a 15-year-old teenager, was involved. >> On December 3rd of 1988, did you murder Lee Jones in her house in
Boston? >> No. >> There is no connection basically between [music] Danny Busby and the crime scene
that night. All the DNA evidence tends to exclude Danny Busby, >> but Ron knows Danny's tough guy presence
will vastly complicate his case. >> Chew a gun there. >> Yeah. >> Can you swallow that?
>> No. >> He's kind of a loose cannon and I'm concerned about that. >> At the time of Lee's murder, Danny was a
friend of Beth Jones. >> I knew he had a crush on me, >> a neighborhood loudmouth. He was always
the one that would initiate something troublesome >> who liked to tease Thomas, >> growling at him like a lion or tiger and
just scaring him >> and antagonize Lee. >> He appeared to [music] us to be just an
obnoxious teenage boy. We know that he has grown and developed into a very disturbed, vicious, uncaring, brutal
person. Now, for the first time in three trials, Jerry Jones is allowed to tell the jury about Danny Busby's troubled
past, a history of violence that Jerry says began the night that Lee died. He'll directly confront Busby about his
assaults against ex-girlfriends, and threats to kill people. It's evidence that Jerry Jones hopes will convince the
jury that Danny Busby is capable of murder. >> Mr. Mr. Do, do you have any questions,
Mr. Busby? >> I do. >> I think we're going to be allowed to paint him as the monster that he is.
>> Would you describe yourself as prone to violence? >> I have been in the past.
>> Was it common for you to become so angry that you would lose control and black
out? >> Slightly. >> What's it like for you to look into Danny Busby's eyes? >> I see a disturbed person, a violent
person, a person almost without a soul. And would you describe yourself as having an uncontrollable temper
>> at times? Yeah. [snorts] >> Jerry says it was that uncontrollable temper that exploded after Lee banned
Danny from visiting and calling Beth. >> But you continued calling Beth, did you
not? >> Probably. >> You continued to come to the house asking for Beth, didn't you?
>> It's quite possible. Jerry claims that an enraged Dany was looking for Beth the night of the
murder, but found Lee instead. And he viciously stabbed and slashed and attacked her over and over and over
again that night. [music] >> The problem with your allegation is that there's no physical evidence that Busby
was at your home. There's no witness that places him there. >> I think there is. I think there is. I
think Thomas was awakened by a growling sound. >> Do you recall ever growling at Thomas
like a lion or a tiger to frighten him? >> I don't recall. >> Are you saying that never happened?
>> No. Saying I don't recall. >> Danny Busby growled at Thomas >> prior to going upstairs and murdering
Lee. And he is the only person who ever growled at Thomas. Ron Dur believes if there were any growling sounds that
night, they came from Jerry himself. >> Is there growling going on? Is Jerry Jones grunting or growling while he's
stabbing Lee? This is hard work. You take a look at those autopsy photos. This is hard work. This is not easy
stuff to do. >> Then there's Busby's long history of violence against his girlfriends.
>> Did you begin physically abusing Crystal? >> Yeah. Did you punch Vandra on the
shoulder numerous times? >> Yeah. >> Did you throw Joey to the ground? >> No, I pushed her.
>> Your honor, I have no further questions at this time. >> Things get even worse for the
prosecution as those [music] former girlfriends take the stand. >> You solemnly swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God. >> We can't show their faces.
>> He was both verbally and physically mean. He could be kind and fun one minute and then freak out.
>> He would just kind of snap and change personalities. He'd be so furious. >> They're very sympathetic people. There's
just no question that he has put them through hell. >> He gave me a black eye. >> He started kicking the crap out of me.
>> Pretty much attacked me and spit in my face. >> But Ron Durst says Jerry is using Danny
Busby as a convenient scapegoat. Remember that when we look at what Danny Busby's done as an adult, he has [music]
not attempted to murder anyone on any occasion. Did he, in your opinion, seriously try to kill you?
>> No. >> He has not [music] physically stabbed or assaulted anyone in the way that we have
in this case. >> Danny never threatened you with a knife or any kind of weapon, did he?
>> No. >> And the challenge is going to be to draw that line between Danny Busby as a
15year-old and Danny Busby as an adult. Did he once tell your mother that she was dead?
>> Yes. >> And has he also threatened to rape your mother? >> Yes. >> If the jurors decide that Danny Busby is
volatile enough to have done this, then the case is lost. >> All rise. >> The defense may call the next witness.
[music] Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth? So help you God. >> Yes, I do. >> All of them wanted to be there. >> I do.
>> All of them wanted to testify. >> Yes, I do. >> All of them wanted to tell their
stories. >> And all of them want to help free their father. To do that, Jerry is counting on
their testimony to put then 15-year-old Danny Busby at the crime scene in December 1988.
Were you ever present when Danny Busby would growl at Thomas like a lion or a tiger?
>> Yes, he did that very frequently. >> Did he ever growl at you? >> I think so. Yes. What asked Jones, did
Thomas hear on the night his mother was murdered 16 years ago when he was just four years old?
I remember it being more animallike than that. >> He said he woke up when he heard
growling noises and that a lion or a tiger got mom. >> He was repeating a lion or tiger had
gotten mom. >> While I'm watching them testify, I'm thinking, you know, this is amazing.
These people are flawless. They are polished. They are rehearsed. You think to yourself, "Damn it, wise
up." >> While Beth, Kim, and Thomas lovingly stand by their father, Jerry Jones knows
that it is his testimony and not his children's that jurors really want to hear. So, as his own attorney, he
decides to take the stand and come face to face with Ron Dur. A confrontation 16
years in the making. >> [music] >> Once I knew that the case was coming back, it was clear to me that there
would be some [music] sort of face off. >> I don't look at it as a match between
[music] Ron Dur and myself. >> The defense would call Jerry Jones, your honor. >> I look at it as an opportunity [music]
to present the evidence to a jury of 12 people. >> Solemnly swear to tell the truth, the
whole truth, >> and prove my innocence. But before [music] Ron faces Jerry, >> Jerry, did you kill your wife?
>> I did not kill my wife. >> A public defender assigned by the court to advise him asked Jones to explain his
bizarre behavior after he discovered Lee had been stabbed. >> Did you at any point that evening go and
get wet? >> Yes. >> How did you do that? [clears throat] I ran into the master bedroom and
heard the water running in the shower and I went to turn it off and I felt a sting on my hand
>> and I looked and saw that it was bleeding and I just ran back out. >> That's not the story Jerry told at his
first trial. >> Cross examination. >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Ron believes he's caught Jerry in a lie.
He whips out the transcripts and reads Jerry's own words back to him. >> I open the shower door and instead of
reaching in and turning the shower off, I step inside. Clothes and all, I let the water run
from the top of my head down the front of my body. You're called testifying to that effect in 1989.
>> If if that's what it says, that's obviously what I testified to. >> I have no further questions. After just
a handful of questions, Dur retreats. >> I was amazed at how few questions Ron Dur asked me. I believe he was fairly
convinced that he had lost the trial. >> I expected you to take off the gloves, that this was going to be a bare knuckle
confrontation with Jerry. And it seems like he played a little patty cake. Was that a strategy?
Were you Did you choke? I couldn't get mad at him at that point. Just because I have a stick to hit him with doesn't
mean I'm going to hit him with it. [music] >> But Ron uses that stick in his closing
statement. >> Exhibit one for the state is Jerry Jones because he is still here. He is still
alive. Danny Busby is as subtle as a brick through a plate glass window. Do you think having listened to Danny Busby on
the st, having seen his behavior here, he could keep his mouth shut, Danny Busby is offered up as the boogeyman?
And he was not. And he did not kill Lee Jones. We know who did. And it's Jerry Jones.
For Jerry and his family, their long [music] battle to win his freedom comes down to one final argument.
The prosecutor has failed to [music] prove that I murdered my wife, Lee Jones, for one reason. I did not do it.
As you know, I'm on trial here. [clears throat] You're going to go into that room soon
and deliberate and you're going to vote either guilty or not guilty. Jerry Jones's name is on that ballot.
[snorts] Danny Busby's name is not there. It's outrageous. Just it doesn't add up.
I had no motive. I was not a violent person. I was not an explosive person. I'm the person you see standing before
you today. >> I think what the jury got to see was >> Jerry Jones acting in closing.
>> The crying. >> Yeah. rehearsed. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Genuine. >> No. >> For the third time, Jerry Jones fate is
in the hands of a jury. In a scant four and a half hours, the jury reaches a verdict.
[music] >> All rise. [music] Court is again in session. >> After a grueling 3-week trial,
>> all parties are here. We have a verdict. Please bring in the jury. >> Jurors reach a verdict in just 4 and 1/2
hours. >> I'm thinking they came back too soon. They're going to walk it. >> It's a joint. If you please stand for
the reading of the verdict. >> Oh, I'm expecting a not guilty verdict. >> We all took it very seriously.
>> Just the weight of it. It was almost overcoming. >> Jurors remember a tense courtroom as
they filed in with their verdict. >> I looked at Jerry Jones and I looked at Ron Durst. I think both of those guys
have had a very personal role in this thing for the last 16 years. >> We the jury find the defendant Jerry
Bartlett Jones Jr. guilty >> of the crime of murder in the first degree [music] as charged
>> when you hear the word for the third time guilty. What was that moment like for you?
>> You just shake your head in disbelief and um what on earth are they thinking?
>> [music] >> When I hear the word guilty, I'm thinking this is over for now. This is
over. >> For prosecutor Ron Dur, winning a third conviction is a [music] tremendous
relief. >> Was justice served here today, Ron? >> Absolutely. It was served in 2000. It
was served in 1989. >> It's the right verdict. >> All right. >> Yeah. >> [music]
>> 36 jurors from three trials have now heard the evidence in this case and not one believes that you are innocent.
>> Yeah, that's very disappointing. I don't have an explanation for it. >> Do you think you should have done
anything differently? >> I think I did everything humanly possible. I can't imagine anything more
I could have done. Tell me what the evidence is that convinces you that I murdered my wife.
We went [music] through everything and it just didn't fit. A lot of us look through every single piece of evidence,
including the clothes, the knife, [music] every single picture, making sure there wasn't something that we were
missing. That's why we took 4 and 1/2 hours, or else we could have came out of that jury room in 45 minutes.
>> Jurors didn't buy Jerry's version of events. >> He had a lot of inconsistencies [music]
with his stories >> or his explanation for the cuts on his hand. It looked like there was at least
two contacts with a knife that we could tell, which didn't match up with him telling us that he had a runin with an
asalent and knocked that knife out of his hand. They also didn't believe Jerry's story of only hearing a single
scream as his wife [music] was being stabbed 63 times in the next room. >> I've lived in a split level house
myself. I could be downstairs and hear stuff going on upstairs in the bathroom. I think there was a terrible struggle
and I think you would have heard that all over that house. >> Can you tell me where she's stabbed?
>> All over. >> And after listening to the 911 tape several times >> on the whole 911 tape, he never cried.
>> No, never. >> I thought that was odd. >> And then he would put down the phone and
run and go do this. >> Sir. Sir. >> And put down the phone and run and go do that.
>> Hello. >> When you're on the phone with 911, you stay on the phone. >> He solemnly swear to tell the truth. And
what about Danny Busby, the person Jerry Jones claims is the real killer? >> There was no evidence that Danny Busby
was in that house that night. There was no DNA evidence. There was no blood evidence.
>> Right. >> There was nothing that put Danny Busby in that house except Jerry Jones wanting
him to be in that house, and he wasn't. >> Jurors found Danny Busby unlikable. >> Busby is a really nasty human being,
>> but believable. >> He was being very honest about the fact he had hit the woman. He had pushed her
head into the steering wheel. He had admitted to everything, but when it came down to did you kill Lee Jones? No, I
did not kill Lee Jones. >> It was Jerry Jones they didn't believe. >> Every move, [snorts] every emotion he
made seemed planned [music] out. >> I'm sure he's loving with his children and his grandchildren, but I think his
wife was a whole another matter. >> He looks nice on the outside and he speaks with a soft tone, but he gives me
[music] the creeps. >> He could not hide himself from the jury. >> I did not murder my wife. They saw
through to him to his [music] essential core. >> All rise. >> 5 days after being convicted,
>> state versus Jerry Bartlett Jones. >> Jerry [music] Jones is back in court for
sentencing. >> He is present. He is in custody. >> And for the third time, >> we stand up for him because we believe
in his innocence. Absolutely. >> His daughters ask for compassion. Everyone talks [music] about how much we
love our dad, but they seem to forget how much we loved our mother. >> You can send him [music] to prison, but
prison isn't going to make us suffer any more than we already have in these [music] last 16 years.
>> But for Pam O'Keefe, Danny Busby's mother, Jerry Jones doesn't deserve any sympathy.
>> The evil started the night Jerry Jones murdered his wife. and the next day when
he accused my son of doing it. >> No one knows how years of being vilified affected Danny Busby's life. But his
mother believes Jerry Jones needs to [music] be punished for all the lives he's damaged. I hope a day doesn't go by
for the rest of your life that you don't think of your wife and how you took her life away from your
children and then you accused a 15-year-old innocent boy. You have ruined so many lives.
>> When it's Jerry's turn, [music] he seems remorseful. >> Wish Danny Busby's name had not come to
mind. I have no reason to bring his name into these proceedings. Stop damaging Danny Busby.
>> Jerry is chastised one last time >> and let him heal and grow the best he can
>> before Judge James Allenorfer sentences him. >> I'm going to sentence you for the third
time in your life to 25 years in the penitentiary. got anything in your pockets at all?
>> But just a few months later, back in prison, Jerry Jones is defiant once again.
>> Do you owe Danny Busby an apology? >> No, I do not owe Danny Busby an apology
and none will be forthcoming. >> I think it's entirely likely that at this point he's managed to convince
himself that he did not commit this this murder. For Ron Dur, the battle against Jerry
Jones is finally over. He's moving on, but not to another case. >> I, Ronald Ders, swear that I will
support, defend, and obey. >> Instead of prosecuting, he'll be enforcing the law.
>> You sure you want to do this? >> Yes, sir. >> Welcome aboard. >> As a deputy sheriff,
>> but the case that has consumed his life for so many years will be much more difficult to leave behind. I don't know
that anything we can do in in a courtroom can really put the dead to rest. Clearly, the family has [music] been
damaged, I think, beyond repair by what Jerry Jones did. So, in terms of whether
Lee Jones can rest, I hope she can rest. The rest of us, I don't think can >> [music]
[music] [music]

A man is tried twice for murdering his wife. Now, facing a third trial, he's defending himself. "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports in this episode from December 2007. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the 17-year legal battle of Jerry Jones, accused of murdering his wife Lee, and the complexities of his trials.

Key points

The Emotional Toll of the Case. Prosecutor Ron Dur reflects on the emotional weight of the case over the years.
Jerry Jones's Unbelievable Story. Jerry Jones claims he is innocent, but the evidence against him is compelling.
The Shocking Murder of Lee Jones. Lee Jones was brutally murdered in her bathtub, leaving behind a mystery that haunts her family.
The Verdict is In. After a tense trial, the jury finds Jerry Jones guilty of murder in the first degree.
A Mother's Pain. Danny Busby's mother expresses her anger towards Jerry Jones for accusing her son.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I loved my mother very much.

Jerry Jones expresses his love for his mother.

4:05WatchMar 17, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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