What the Jury Doesn’t Hear | "Married to Death" | "48 Hours" Podcast | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] there was only one person who wanted to harm David and at that point it was
David he was acting with his Physicians suicidal it's the only explanation reynella Lee is guilty of the first
degree premeditated homicide of David Lee I'm Aaron Moriarty 48 hours and this is married to death we've returned to
the case of reynella lead the Tennessee Widow accused of murdering her second husband
did she really shoot him or did he shoot himself it's not a clear-cut case as you're about to hear in part five we
return to the courtroom where reynella Leith is on trial I understand the presumption of
innocence I understand about proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt is that correct Tuesday May 9 2017 day seven of the
murder trial for raynella Lee one week after it began judge Paul Summers tells the jury the case is
coming to a close but I expect this case to be concluded so far as proof is concerned
today but before final arguments begin Mr Hedrick you may proceed thank you Miss Legrand the defense wants to leave
a lasting impression on the jury this is the mattress and box spring headboard footboard so am I right yes what I
should point out that's defense forensic expert Celia Hartnett she has brought the crime scene to the
courtroom including the actual bed where David Leith was found shot today defense
attorney Josh Hedrick the record the only hole in the headboard um were you able to identify this hole in
the headboard as Bullet Hole yes it's a jarring sight right below the judge a light brown wooden bed frame is
set up along with matching nightstands on either side each holding green lamps with white Shades just as they did 14
years ago the mattress is hidden under a light blue sheet still staying with David Lee's blood
it looks like a stage scene of a Macabre play all right there in the center of the courtroom what's that it's a wooden
doll thank you ma'am two wooden dowels they look like sticks indicate the trajectory of bullets that went into the
mattress and David Lee's headboard ma'am I'm going to demonstrate for you some positions attorney Hedrick has to
convince the jury that David Leith could have fired all three shots so he takes a
gamble he actually climbs onto the bed with a Colt 38 revolver in hand but we're to lie in bed and I were to
aim at my head and pull the trigger and miss high and create this am I okay so far yes yes
he touches the dowel poking out from the hole in the headboard and then frustrated that I've missed
sat up and pulled the trigger it would enter my head here am I right yes then he refers to the third and
final shot the one prosecutors claim David Leith could not have fired and then if I fell
and my hands squeezed again it would be consistent with this direction am I right not just with the
direction but also with the distance defense attorney Rebecca Legrand we're not saying we know exactly what
happened we're just saying we know there are multiple ways away all of this makes sense
who wanted to harm David and at that point it was David he was acting with his Physicians
suicidal you know one of the takeaways I think that they were trying to keep with the
the jurors here's my producer Josh Gainer you can't necessarily put yourself Inside the Mind of somebody
who's committing suicide because you can't put reason behind the unreasonable and the other thing is if they're going
to go to that point take their own life it's not always going to play out the same way just if something is done
unusually it doesn't mean it didn't happen [Music] Wednesday May 10 the 8th and the final
day of trial everybody ready to get started with the final arguments both sides making their
final case David Lee's bed is still set up looming in the background commit police the court
ladies and gentlemen of the jury good morning for the defense it's Josh Hedrick David
Lee was a proud man he was a proud man who knew he wasn't going to be able to do the
thing that they will be able to do then he does something out of the ordinary Hedrick sits again on the deathbed with
a gun in his hand that click you just heard that's the gun cylinder spinning in his
hand he's getting lost in West Knoxville where he lived his whole life he's becoming
he's becoming useless and a proud man doesn't want to be useless foreign man doesn't want to be a burden
[Music] the most dramatic moment in the trial was with that bed it's very difficult to
hear all this very technical testimony about the evidence when you actually bring in the bed and you really see
someone act out like Josh Hedrick did what he contends happened it certainly does bring some clarity in the courtroom
but the idea that it was the actual bed the idea that there were still blood stains on the sheets and the mattress
there was something kind of disturbing about it too and maybe that's what you have to do
it's real somebody died there and there is a lot at stake [Music] we can't say David Lee shot himself as I demonstrated
for you I'm gonna come in Under The Wire by asking you to be as diligent as you have been since
we started and to return a verdict of not guilty because the burden to prove guilt is on
the prosecution Stephen Crump gets the last word so here we are eight days later
thousands upon thousands of words hundreds of exhibits and here we are I want you to assume
that David Lee had Alzheimer's for everything I'm going to say to you right now I want you to assume that he had
Alzheimer's I want you to assume that he was despondent about that because you will see it doesn't matter
but where all this falls apart for anything except homicide is where the blood spatter is found you
all recall round blood spatter acts very specifically it must be horizontal it must be perpendicular to and it must be
facing you cannot lay in this bed and face that direction and get that blood spatter on the wall
crumb is saying that the blood spatter from the gunshot wound in David's head must lie on a perpendicular surface to
the path of the bullet he believes that the defense's previous demonstration of the gunshots and their
trajectories is invalid Crump says the blood spatter on the wall indicates the Fatal bullet came from a different
direction blood doesn't turn Corners you heard her say that the only way that this gets
there is if David Lee is facing you on this bed and The Gunshot enters where that void is in the bed it's the only
explanation reynella Lee is guilty of the first degree premeditated homicide undatedly
the closing arguments are now complete so all eyes turn to the jurors assuming that within moments the fate of reynella
leaves will be in their hands the jurors have sat through more than a week of trial dozens of hours of
testimony and nearly 150 pieces of evidence and yet there are still things about reynella Leith they'll never hear
for example they don't hear about the strange circumstances surrounding the death of her first husband Ed dossett in
1992. did anyone wonder about how Ed Dawson died David's cousin Beth Roberts says
yes the reports were an agricultural accident but some folks in the community had a
problem with that scenario Ed grew up on a farm for him to have been trampled by his own cattle that
just didn't make sense Dawson had also been terminally ill with cancer and heavily medicated leaving
folks to wonder how he managed to get out into the field on his own however true crime writer Diane Fanning
mentioned a local theory that Ed may have orchestrated his death to look accidental so his family could receive a
bigger insurance payout than if he died from cancer because if Ed knew he was about to die
but he wanted his family to be more secure financially he might have said take me out there
let the cows tromp on me however in 2008 Dr darinka malusanec the same medical examiner who ruled David
Lee's death as a homicide also ruled Ed Dawson's death a homicide she determined
that dossett died not by cattle but by a morphine overdose we'll never know for sure reynella was
charged with murder for Dawson's death but she never went to trial the charges were dropped after jurors convicted her
of murdering David Leith in 2010 she was six years into a life sentence when her conviction was thrown out
bringing us to the present third trial judge Summers concerned that jurors would be negatively influenced refused
to allow any of that information at trial the judge also refused to allow jurors
to hear about the shooting of Steve Walker but you're going to hear about it because he talked to us
[Music] precious just give me your name and what you do in town Steve Walker and I run an automotive
shop I'm a crouton on a real big salad here and this is a big salad in this town
[Music] Steve Walker owns an auto shop in Knoxville raynella's first husband Ed dossett used to come into His store
Steve considered Ed a friend and there was another connection Steve Walker's wife was a secretary in Ed's office when
Ed practiced law and served as a district attorney general in Knox County what Steve Walker didn't know was that
his wife's relationship with Ed dossett was more than just professional Steve says he found out in 1995 three
years after Dawson's death he says he discovered during divorce proceedings that the son he had raised from birth
was actually Ed dossett's biological child Ed Dawson had had an affair with Steve's wife it was a terrible shock
well this is a soap opera that I never wanted to be in it came as a shock to reynella as well but when Steve Walker
first talked to raynella he said he thought she was taking the news in stride I shared this thing she was hurt
by Ed you have been hurt by Ed you guys had signed in common here you both have been hurt I mean did you get on ambition
to get the truth both of you were yes I mean in some ways you felt that you were on her side
Ray Dallas yes I thought we was on the same team he could not have been more wrong I'm going to take you back to May
26 1995 because what happened shortly after Walker discovered the true fraternity of his son
drastically change both Steve and raynella's lives and their versions of what happened are quite different
according to a police report filed by reynella she was home on her farm that morning remember it was May 26 1995 when
she heard a disturbance out by her cows she grabbed her gun a 38 and went to investigate
she don't believe she found Steve quote acting psychotic unquote near Ed's grave
on the property from an interview done with raynella years later with investigators
in case you can't quite hear what she's saying reynella told investigators that she found Steve Walker attempting to
urinate on Ed dossett's grave raynella told police she began firing warning shots into the ground to chase
him away but she says Steve took the gun and fled that was raynella's story but Steve
piled his own police report and Steve's version is very different he says he didn't go alone to her property
he says that reynella showed up at his auto shop unannounced and asked him to jump in her car and
come back to the farm she told him she found some papers about the affair that Steve would want to see
yeah and did she seem upset with you that day that she picked you up until I seen the gun we was as friendly as me
and you right now when they got to reynella's Barn Steve says she suddenly pulled out a revolver
and said quote I'll kill you you son of a unquote and then told him she'd raise the child you saw when you turned
around she had a she had a tail around her hand and she comes up with it and and start shooting Steve says she missed
and she didn't hit you oh no no thank God but I did start running he did start running but he says in his
Panic he tripped and fell I'm just laying there and I'm I'm defenseless at this point and I talked
to her and I said you know uh what are we doing I said you know if you kill me I said I can't raise my kids you
can't raise yours because we had talked of children she said it used to be a better shot than that but I can hit you
from here and she aimed that gun at me and uh I just uh I just closed my eyes I mean I knew I was gone
at that moment reynella pulled the trigger Steve says but the gun was out of bullets I mean
there's no doubt in my mind if she hadn't run out of bullets I'd be dead [Music]
which story did the police believe after Witnesses said they saw reynella drive up and pick up Steve raynella was
arrested and she was charged with attempted murder attempted murder but she took a deal and was allowed to
plead guilty to the Lesser charge of assault after six years her record was cleared
so what does this say about what raynella may be capable of Josh Hedrick and Rebecca Legrand weren't
her attorneys back then they are now and they insist this incident means nothing
her attorney told her then and it's the same thing I would have told her is this
is a plea that will get expunged there is no jail time take this deal and walk away
reynella Lee did walk away the charge was expunged from her record and the jury at this trial heard nothing about
the shooting [Music] it's been a good job and I thank you for your time and attention
and Ms Lee thanks you for your time and attention 22 years later will she walk away once more a free woman I was really
looking forward to deliberating that's the voice of Michael persicano one of the jurors we spoke to after the
trial you're going to want to hear what the jurors said because just as the trial was about to end something
happened that no one saw coming if you can picture like a cartoon you know of someone's jaw hitting the floor
I'm Aaron Moriarty 48 hours and that's married to death part five part six the amazing finale is next
this podcast series Married to death is developed by 48 hours in partnership with CBS News Radio Judy teigart is
executive producer Nancy Kramer is our executive story editor Mike valet and Alan Pang are the series producer
editors this episode was produced by Josh Gainer Lisa freed and Luis Geraldo and edited by Mike McHugh Dwayne
Tolleson Jamie Benson and Meghan Marcus thanks to composer Richard fioka for his
original scores Gabriella de mergian and Morgan Canty are our associate producers Kayla cadell
is our production associate thank you to Craig swagler the vice president and general manager of CBS
News Radio and finally a shout out to all of you our fans we owe it to all of you the millions of fans of 48 hours in
the U.S and around the world don't forget to join me online I am at EF Moriarty on Twitter and we are at 48
Hours on Twitter Facebook and Instagram see you soon

Josh Hedrick and Rebecca LeGrand present their final arguments to the jury. They bring in a bed with the actual bloody sheets from the crime scene for a dramatic reenactment. Prosecutor Stephen Crump reiterates his argument that the blood spatter present at the crime scene is not possible unless someone else shot David Leath. Amidst this back-and-forth, we sat down with Stephen Walker, who claims Raynella Leath tried to kill him years ago, a claim Raynella denies. And none of Walker’s claims are allowed in court. Join "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty as she revisits the murder investigation of Raynella Leath. Listen to "Married to Death from My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty" on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/MTDYTE5

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "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.

Brief Summary

Raynella Lee's trial reveals complex evidence and past incidents as jurors deliberate her fate in the murder of her husband David Lee.

Key points

The Trial of Raynella Lee. Raynella Lee stands trial for the murder of her husband David. The case is complex and filled with emotional testimony.
The Shocking Revelation. New evidence emerges about Raynella's past and her first husband's mysterious death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You can't put reason behind the unreasonable.

4:35WatchJul 12, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.