A Raging Son | Full Episode

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>> I identified her through a photo and I can close my eyes and I can see that photo still.

Jason has taken my only child for me.

>> I’ve seen many murder scenes.

You got to move beyond the emotion.

I had to dig.

And when I did dig into Jason’s life, there is no doubt that he is suffering from a mental illness.

So I turned to Dr.

Sasha Bard, Harvard education, one of the best forensic psychiatrist that I have seen.

>> My job is to climb inside the mind of a killer.

In other words, I have to dissect him.

>> My mother was in the process of giving us up.

>> At the age of nine, his own mother abandoned him.

That leaves a psychological mark.

>> Based on mental illness, I believe that Jason Bond should not be held responsible for murder.

>> Has the jury reached the verdict? >> Yes, we have.

>> It’s absolutely ridiculous to believe that because his mommy didn’t treat him necessarily as well as she should have that somehow 15 years later he’s not responsible for the torturing murder of his girlfriend.

He was caught virtually red-handed.

We had a tape of him killing her.

It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever heard.

>> 5 seconds.

I’m going to let you off and then you need to answer quickly or else you die.

>> I’m Troy Roberts.

A raging son.

It was the horror that happened here among the neighborhood streets of Atoria, Queens, with the glittering Manhattan skyline just across the river that made one of a great city’s best detectives, Dennis Frolley, decide he didn’t want to be a cop anymore.

>> This did it.

This set the ball rolling.

>> But you’ve covered thousands of cases.

You’ve >> not quite like this.

>> So many.

>> Not quite like this.

>> It was early summer 2012 when cops at the precinct just around the corner got a tip over the telephone and investigators rushed to this apartment.

>> The door was open, but it didn’t look like it had been broken in in any way.

Assistant District Attorney Marilyn Fill & Jerry took in the image of the broken body of a young woman.

>> She’s in the bathtub.

Her head and her face are covered by her hair.

>> Frantic dog that had been standing watch already removed.

>> I’m just examining, looking, you know, for an injury, maybe a fall.

>> But in minutes, the cop knew this was no accident.

>> It’s almost as if someone held her down and hit her head or maybe did this with their foot.

The apartment was now a crime scene.

>> This was murder, pure and simple.

And it was vicious.

>> And someone had already tried to manipulate the evidence.

That fan venting the smell.

Those bags of ice now empty and drained.

>> That threw the time of the crime scene off by maybe 12 hours.

>> How long do you think the body was there? probably over 36 hours.

>> Detective Frolley soon learned the batter young woman was a vibrant, successful New York City professional.

But there was something else, something knowing at the veteran cop.

And it was a terrible realization once he learned her name, Danielle Thomas.

>> I remembered her.

I remembered speaking to this victim not too long prior to that awful day.

>> 27-year-old Weight Watchers executive Danielle Thomas had been on the NYPD’s radar for weeks before she was killed.

Starting with an incident in May between her and her boyfriend witnessed by neighbor Sheret Corsy who called 911.

91 operator 2277.

Where’s the emergency? >> There’s um altercation going on next door to me where the guy seems to be forcibly holding this girl from leaving >> and then I saw her run out and then he kind of chased her and grabbed her back into the apartment.

>> Did she say anything as he was pulling her back inside the apartment? >> No, she was just screaming.

>> But that night, May 24th, police never connected with Danielle.

It wasn’t until two weeks later when she came into Detective Frolley’s precinct that police heard her story.

Danielle told police her boyfriend Jason Bond had beaten her up that night her neighbor called 911.

In the 114th precinct, Danielle Thomas showed police her still black and blue bruises.

That’s when Jason Bond called Danielle’s cell phone and she put him on speaker right in front of police >> and they heard him on speaker like yelling like a mad, you know, very angry, very upset.

>> Lead prosecutor Patrick O’ Conor would soon review the details of that call.

>> What did he say? >> He said, “I’m going to make your life impossible.

I’m going to hunt you down like a dog in the streets.

>> This is war.

>> This is war.

” Jason Bond would be arrested and charged with assault, but Danielle would eventually refuse to cooperate.

Still, police tried to help her.

I pointed out to her that you did the right thing by coming to us and the courts will protect you.

You have an order of protection.

>> This is that order of protection given to Danielle Tannis.

Police had no problem finding it just a few feet from her lifeless body along with a bouquet of flowers and handwritten notes from her boyfriend, Wall Street lawyer, 33-year-old Jason Bond.

>> What do the notes say? >> One of the notes said, “Danny, I will love you forever.

” Jay, >> she just loved adventure.

She loved skydiving.

She went swimming with the sharks, bungee jumping, >> fearless.

>> Yes, she truly was beautiful inside and out.

>> Danielle’s grandmother, Wanita, and mother, Jamie, live in a world changed forever by the loss of the child they both adored.

>> When she was a little girl, I told her, “Danielle, just shoot for the stars.

” And she said, “I’ll do that, Nana.

” And she did.

She’d graduate the University of Florida with an MBA and was soon working as a revenue analyst at Disney World.

There were boyfriends.

>> Danielle always dated what she always said, “Mom, always marry the nerd.

” >> Then in October 2011, at a tailgating party >> at a football game, um I think a friend introduced them.

Danielle met an intense young man, a lawyer who also seemed to be shooting for the stars.

>> That’s what she looked for, is intelligence and ambition.

>> His name, Jason Bond.

>> This was a whirlwind romance.

>> Yes.

>> Danielle wanted her family to meet Jason and pay for them all to take a Disney cruise.

Jason turned on the charm.

And when you were with them together, how did he treat Danielle? >> He always called her his princess, he never took his eyes off of her.

I just thought, you know, they were in love.

Then in March 2012, just 5 months after they met, Danielle followed her new boyfriend up to New York City, taking a job as an executive at Weight Watchers and moved into an apartment with Jason in Atoria, Queens.

But Danielle’s mother wanted assurances about Jason and was thrilled when a trip was scheduled to Tony Greenwich, Connecticut to meet Jason’s mother, Marino Connell.

I even bought a new dress for the occasion, you know, because uh Jason’s mother was the chief financial officer of Scholastic Books.

I wanted to make Danielle proud.

>> But at the last minute, Danielle told her mother the visit was off.

>> She just said, “We’re not going.

” That was it.

And that dress that I chose to meet Moren in, that’s the dress I wore to Danielle’s funeral.

What her family didn’t know was that Danielle’s world had become a hell, caught up in a gruesome web of domestic violence.

>> Why didn’t she tell me? Why couldn’t she tell mom or me? Searching for safety, Danielle was staying at hotels or with friends.

But she eventually began living with Jason again.

And on June 23rd, Danielle suggested drinks with Jason and his work friends here in a bar near New York’s famous Times Square.

As the night grew late, they’d argue.

Danielle would confide in one of Jason’s friends that he was abusing her, and she would be urged to spend the night in a hotel.

Then Danielle remembered Jason had threatened her dog >> and she goes home because she’s afraid for her dog.

>> So to protect her dog at 2:15 am Danielle Thomas walked back into their apartment just 16 minutes later she dialed 911.

The phone call is chilling.

>> 911 operator 28 emergency.

>> 911.

Hello >> 911.

Hello.

Hello, ma’am.

What was he addressing? >> Can I please? >> She called 911 and the police failed to respond.

>> That really hurts me at night is she called and no one came to to help her.

It’s not clear precisely what happened, but that would be the last time the NYPD had a chance to save Daniel Thomas.

>> And the next time I saw her, she was dead.

Hours after brutally beating to death his girlfriend Danielle Jason Bond is at the local ride aid store shopping for cleaning supplies and ice.

>> He was trying to buy time to extricate himself from the situation to figure out what he was going to do by putting the ice in the tub, putting her body in the tub.

Neighbors wouldn’t smell her body for some time.

Prosecutors say Jason picked up Danielle’s Blackberry and pretending to be her sends texts that she’s just walking the dog and indicates that she has not seen Jason.

>> Saying that everything’s okay.

Jason spent the night at a friend’s house.

So, you know, we think that that one of his initial attempts was to set up an alibi that he wasn’t even there when when she was killed.

>> Then with Danielle’s lifeless body in the bathtub, Jason flees New York, drives through New Jersey.

Surveillance cameras show him in an ATM in Washington DC.

>> He ended up in Chicago, I believe, >> at one point.

>> But while it looks like Jason’s trying to get away with murder, his lawyer, Todd Greenberg, says something entirely different was going on.

>> He was not running away from this.

He wrote a letter.

He makes an admission.

>> Jason left a letter cradled in Danielle’s arm in the bathtub.

It reads in part, >> “It was an accident.

It was an accident.

It was an accident.

” And Jason continued, “I’m so sorry.

” >> Evidence.

Jason’s lawyer says that Jason wasn’t trying to hide anything.

And remember that phone tip that police responded to and found Danielle’s body? Well, it was Jason who made that call.

>> There is no hiding this crime.

There is just no hiding this crime.

>> So, what was Jason doing? >> He was contemplating suicide and he was biting time.

Jason’s defense says he accepts that he killed Danielle, but doesn’t actually remember doing it, and that could be very important at trial.

Jason says he remembers arguing with Danielle, grabbing her wrist, and maybe even pushing her, but not much more.

After his arrest, he told investigators what happened the next morning.

>> Waking up and my head was spinning.

I was still in my clothes.

I went into the bedroom.

She was unconscious.

I picked her up and ran her to the bathroom and stripped off her clothes and ran cold water on her and try to revive her.

>> Slowly, Jason says he understood he must have killed Danielle.

>> I just started crying hysterically.

>> He left this message for an ex-girlfriend.

>> I’m in serious trouble.

Danielle and I went out together on Saturday night.

We both were got intoxicated.

Uh had a disagreement and I blacked out and Danielle is dead.

>> Jason’s defense believes his lack of memory about the murder could be symptomatic of a serious mental illness.

Dr.

Alexander Sasha Barde is a Harvard educated forensic psychiatrist and a consultant for the TV show Law and Order SVU.

>> I spent a total of about six or seven hours with him over the course of three different sessions.

>> Now working for the defense, he spoke with Jason and others who know him.

>> What conclusion did you reach? I concluded that uh Jason was suffering from intermittent explosive disorder.

>> What is that? >> That is a mental illness characterized by bouts of loss of control and bouts of anger and bouts of violence.

I described him as the Hulk.

I mean this is a metaphor and the metaphor is for someone who is one minute calm and rational and then because of some trigger turns into an angry monster.

>> I mean it sounds preposterous.

>> It sounds preposterous.

>> But Dr.

Barde says it’s very real and supported by hundreds of documents from Jason’s childhood, including psychiatric reports.

And they draw this startling conclusion.

This Ivy League graduate was an abandoned child.

>> He developed a mental illness because of his genetic background, because of his experiences as a child, because of the trauma that he endured.

>> And Dr.

Barde says that trauma begins with Jason’s mother, Marino Connell, the wealthy, accomplished executive at a children’s book company who lives here at this Greenwich, Connecticut mansion worth almost $3.

5 million.

But it wasn’t always that way.

Marine Okonnell was once a pregnant teenager living here in the Bronx.

She married Jason’s father and had a second child, Jason’s brother.

But Jason then claims his mother was ready to move on.

>> My mother kicked my father out.

>> And from the age of 3 to nine, his mother gradually disengaged from Jason and his brother.

Jason was primarily in the care of his grandmother who may have been schizophrenic.

>> She used to like talk to herself and pee on the floor.

There were imaginary people that she dealt with.

>> Then when Jason was 9 years old, his mother remarried.

>> She completely severed ties and turned her back on Jason and his brother, wanting to put them into a group home.

>> Instead, Jason was sent to live with his father in Miami.

And the story he told social workers is heartbreaking.

>> His father turned out to be an abusive, crack addicted man who abused his sons uh emotionally, physically, would point loaded guns at them.

>> I put my hand on the stove cuz I told him I turned the stove off and it wasn’t turned off.

And then another time when he was drunk, brought out his shotgun so I ran.

>> Jason says he called his mother for help.

I was telling her that my father was beating me.

She would say, “Oh, you know, just stick it out.

Once things settle down, I’m going to take custody of you.

” >> But his mother was never going to bring Jason to live with her.

Instead, she found an apartment to rent in Westchester for Jason to live again with his grandmother.

>> I was hanging out with bad kids and stealing stuff and just angry that I wasn’t going to be living with my mother.

His grandmother moved to an assisted living facility.

At 14 years old, Jason was living alone until authorities got involved.

Court papers were filed.

Jason is a neglected child left alone without adequate food to sustain him.

>> My mother was charged with neglect and abandonment.

I became a ward of the state.

Marine O’Connell submitted papers of her own, saying Jason was verbally abusive, brought knives to school, requested he be placed with social services.

Jason would spend the rest of his youth in group homes.

One psychiatrist noted Jason is seething with rage and shows resentment, especially in regards to his mother.

>> And records from the group homes repeatedly document efforts to engage his mother in Jason’s treatment.

And consistently the records indicate that she refuses any involvement.

She’s too busy with her work.

She can’t come to a meeting.

She can’t be part of the treatment planning.

She can’t be part of any assessment that has to do with her son.

She just didn’t want to have anything to do with them.

And Jason knew this.

Then a miracle happened.

Jason met this man, Dr.

John Pasenti, who himself overcame a rough childhood.

He encouraged Jason to get a GED and go to college.

Jason got a scholarship to Columbia University, the Ivy League.

He became a lawyer, but his deep-seated anger, his defense believes, never went away.

>> The rage at 13 years old that never never left him and that was exhibited again on the night of of the murder.

>> The defense will argue Jason believed Danielle was going to leave him just like his mother did.

It was too much for him and because of his mental illness, he snapped.

>> Patently absurd to believe that he somehow lost control and killed this young woman because of that past trauma.

>> What’s more, prosecutors say they have evidence Jason was not suffering from mental illness when he killed Danielle, and they have tape to prove it.

>> 5 seconds.

I’m going to light you up and you need to answer quickly or else you die.

>> Prosecutors Patrick O’ Conor and Marilyn Philair still can’t quite believe it.

They know Jason Bond brutally beat Danielle Thomas to death, but Jason’s defense is claiming he’s mentally ill.

His anger stemming from his mother abandoning him almost three decades ago.

It’s ridiculous and it makes a mockery of the judicial system.

This is why people have a problem with science, with psychology, with psychiatry because they come up with these concepts which are meant to excuse us from taking personal responsibility for our actions.

I’ve covered thousands of cases.

I’ve heard all kinds of creative defenses.

>> Veteran crime reporter Murray Weiss is a 48 hours consultant.

>> This case was an extraordinary one.

The tabloid newspapers had a field day with this case.

They called it blame it on his mother.

>> But intermittent explosive disorder is not something Jason’s defense team has made up.

It’s been listed in psychiatric manuals for 30 years.

And three doctors, including one who works for the prosecution, say Jason suffers from it.

>> Over the years, Jason Bond exhibited some deeply violent and disturbing behavior.

It ranged from choking girlfriends to flying off the handle at people over insignificant things.

There was even an incident where a friend of his put his feet on his table and he became so intensely angry about it that his pupil took over his eye and it went completely black.

One of his friends even recalled the time when he talked to him about his mother and he would suddenly go from being this nice guy into like Jackal and hide.

>> But Jason never killed anyone before.

>> He ended numerous relationships before he met Danielle.

>> Mhm.

>> Why was his relationship with Danielle different? I thought it was different because it was a deeper, more profound relationship and they had begun to speak about marriage and a life together.

>> A woman who he thought wouldn’t leave him like his mother did.

And strangely, a woman who his mother really liked.

>> After he went to law school and he was involved with with Danielle, his mother came back into his life.

>> Jason says out of the blue, his mother contacted him apologizing for what happened in his childhood.

He says his mother even offered to help Danielle with her career.

>> And I think having his mother back in his life was a a very much a mixture of emotions for him.

On one hand, he was still the child that really wanted his mom, but at the same token, having her back in his life reignited a lot of the anger.

He still had, in my opinion, murderous rage toward his mother.

That was turned to Danielle on on on the night of the murder.

In the weeks leading up to the murder, Jason was violently threatening Danielle.

He sent her a series of emails accusing her of repeated lies and broken promises.

>> I think it was all around whether she was reacquainting herself with a a prior boyfriend.

>> Evidence Bardday says that he feared Danielle was leaving him.

>> It’s pretty clear that Jason felt that that Danielle was lying to him.

On the morning before the murder, Jason says they fought again about Danielle’s ex-boyfriend.

Then, after a night of drinking, Dr.

Berde believes Jason in the throws of mental illness lost all control and killed her.

>> Do you think he is mentally ill? >> No, he’s just a person who has an anger issue.

He could control it if he wanted to, but he has a problem with doing that.

Ultimately, prosecutors say it doesn’t really matter whether Jason has this illness.

It’s whether in the course of murdering Danielle, he was actually suffering from it.

And they believe they had the proof he was not.

>> What we have here is a small snippet of a longer period of time where Jason Bond is strangling Danielle Thomas, killing her.

>> They call it the pocket dial.

>> So, what happened? >> I can’t breathe out.

At some point in the process of him killing her, her phone was activated.

>> And a recording of Jason killing Danielle was made.

>> He speaks in a very calm voice at several times throughout the tape, saying, “Listen, Danielle, you don’t have a lot of time.

” >> It’s extraordinarily graphic, so 48 hours has decided just to play a small portion of it.

You >> have 5 seconds.

I’m going to light you up and you need to answer quickly or else you die.

>> Daniel Thomas on this tape is begging for her life.

She’s being strangled repeatedly and at various points she’s saying that she can’t breathe.

She repeatedly claims that she loves him.

What’s worse, the recording was made an hour after Danielle called 911.

That means prosecutors say Jason was attacking Danielle for at least 60 minutes.

>> There’s 7 seconds on this voicemail recording.

That’s silence.

That’s a period of time when you hear Snoozer, her dog, bark two times.

>> That 7 seconds of silence is indicative to me that the defendant had his hands around her throat and was strangling her to the point where she couldn’t even make any sounds.

He taunts her that you’re so stupid.

You think I’m going to stop? I won’t stop.

>> You’re so stupid.

You think I’m going to stop? I won’t stop.

>> It made me sick to my stomach.

Her last seconds were nothing but horror.

And I can’t imagine.

>> It was the prosecutor’s smoking gun.

Evidence, they say that proved Jason Bond knew exactly what he was doing that night.

and he took his time doing it.

>> This tape is going to be the crucial piece of evidence.

>> All right, let’s do this.

>> Have 5 seconds.

I’m going to light you up and then you need to answer quickly or else you die.

Defense attorney Todd Greenberg concedes that Danielle Thomas’s pocked voicemail is chilling, but he hears a different story in that recording.

>> When I heard that tape, I heard howling.

I I heard shrieking from Jason.

>> It’s almost like somebody else coming out of him.

at trial.

>> Case on trial 1830 of 2012.

Jason >> Greenberg hopes to persuade jurors that when Jason Bond was beating and strangling Danielle, he was overwhelmed by his emotions.

>> Jason Bond is a classic case of intermittent explosive disorder.

>> It’s a rare defense used in fewer than 1% of murder cases in New York State.

Jason Bond should have a reduced degree of responsibility because he suffered an extreme emotional disturbance.

>> It’s a viable psychiatric illness that people suffer from.

>> Psychiatrist Alexander Sasha Barde is a key defense witness.

>> You hear him strangling her and then stopping, telling her she’s going to die in 5 seconds.

It sounds like someone who is in control to me.

>> Being out of control doesn’t mean you’re just screaming gibberish and and and waving your arms and flailing around.

You’re just doing something that you really shouldn’t be doing, that you don’t want to do, that your rational reason would tell you not to do, but you can’t help yourself.

>> Despite all of Jason’s achievements, says Dr.

Berde.

Despite that law degree, Jason was unable to overcome his horrendous childhood.

He grew up thinking that he was a worthless individual.

His own mother abandoned him.

>> Marine O’Connell, the financial executive at the heart of the defense’s case, is a no-show at her son’s trial.

Yet, surprisingly, she’s the one footing the bill.

>> The mother did retain me to help him.

I will say that she stood behind him at this trial, even knowing what the defense was going to be.

>> Jason’s mother declined her request for an interview.

Her spokesperson says Marine Oonnell is horrified by this tragedy and her heart goes out to Ms.

Thomas’s family.

>> Did you have an opportunity to interview her? >> She declined.

I met her uh but she did not want to uh provide any background or history of her own.

>> Were you surprised that she was paying for his defense? >> I mean, it’s unfortunate.

I think it’s a little too little too late.

I mean, I think none of this, I believe, would have happened if if uh his life had been different early on.

>> Many people who who survive horrific childhoods don’t go on to being a killer.

Right.

>> Of course.

Right.

>> But in Jason Bond, and that’s what we’re talking about here, that childhood caused him to suffer from a mental illness.

>> Greenberg is not asking jurors to let Jason go free.

Instead, he says they should convict him of a lesser offense.

But Richard Brown, the district attorney, says once he heard that voicemail and realized what happened in that apartment, the state had only one option.

>> The voicemail confirms in your mind that this was murder, not manslaughter.

>> Certainly.

So, and it fits very clearly in the definition of murder in the first degree, which is a torture murder.

The victim is tortured prior to being killed.

The prosecutors who report to Brown point to a text message that Jason sent to a friend just a half hour after that voicemail ends.

>> I just wanted her out of my life.

She’s been nothing but trouble.

He actually was able to type on a phone using perfect grammar, punctuation on the she’s been nothing but trouble.

>> Jason knew exactly what he was doing.

There’s not a doubt in my mind.

Daniel’s mother and grandmother say Jason even tried to manipulate them.

>> I got a Christmas card from Jason expressing how sorry he was.

>> I cried till my eyes bled, he told them.

I don’t even remember our fight that night.

I have had mental and emotional issues since childhood.

>> Do you believe that he could not recall killing your daughter? >> Oh, I believe I believe he remembers it.

I believe he does.

But what will the jurors believe? >> I am a very firm believer the environment of the child has a lot to do with what he becomes.

>> What did you think of Dr.

Bardau’s testimony? >> I thought that he was helpful in trying to get us to understand >> the stakes are high.

First-degree murder could mean life without parole.

>> How do I feel? I’m on edge.

>> But prosecutors say manslaughter could mean as little as 5 years.

You never know what a jury is going to do.

>> Jason committed the most terrible murder when he took Danielle from Jamie and me.

Danielle Thomas’s family, who relocated from Kentucky for the 7-week trial, had been waiting for some sense of closure for nearly two years.

>> I was so emotional.

>> Now, after deliberating less than two days, jury forwoman Elena Rodriguez takes a final vote.

>> And we went around.

Everybody was to Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

>> Remain seated.

Come order.

>> And with that, the jury returns.

>> Jason Bond, please stand.

My heart was pounding out of my chest.

>> Under the first count, murder in the first degree.

How does the jury find the defendant? >> Will the jury find the defendant guilty? >> Jason Bond, Ivy League grad and Wall Street lawyer guilty of first-degree murder.

>> Jason Bond, please be seated.

>> Jurors in the end decided he tortured Danielle, enjoyed killing her.

That chilling 911 call and voicemail recording of Jason murdering Danielle proved crucial.

>> No one considered manslaughter.

>> No, nobody went for that one >> because they just didn’t believe that Jason, while in the midst of an extreme emotional disturbance, lost control for some 60 minutes.

>> I feel he would have been out of control if he would have grabbed her by the neck and that’s it.

Finish her right there.

Then that could have been like a moment of madness.

But when you release and you go again at it right there, there’s control.

>> We did get a just uh verdict and just >> women of faith.

>> My Bible teaches me that I have to forgive.

>> Danielle’s mother and grandmother hope they can forgive Jason.

I think it would help me if he would show some remorse, if he would speak at the sentencing to mom and I.

>> And they would soon find out >> today is uh the sentencing for Jason Bond.

>> 5 weeks after the verdict on a cold, rainy morning, everyone gathers back in the courtroom.

>> Both signs ready for sentencing? >> Yes.

>> First, Danielle’s family gets the chance to confront Jason.

I’d like to be able to see Jason >> to look him in the eye and show him their heartache.

>> You murdered Danny while she was gasping for breath and begging for her life.

Jason, only a beast Jason could have done to her what you done to her.

>> They begged to know how he could choke the life out of the woman who would have married him.

Jason, three weeks before she died, I asked Danielle, “If Jason were to propose, what would you say?” Jason, she immediately said, “I’d accept with a big smile on her face.

” >> Before the judge imposes his sentence, Jason’s lawyer implores him to consider his horrific childhood, the root of his mental illness.

Jason’s life was one of physical abuse.

>> To this day, he points out, Jason lacks any loving support.

I look around this courtroom, your honor, and I’m noticing, as I did throughout the trial, that there is not one person, not one person who was here for Jason Bond.

>> Now, just as Jason is about to learn his fate, he stands and to everyone’s surprise, addresses the court for the first time.

Danny and I were best friends that planned to marry.

Nana and mom were my adopted family.

>> Then turning to Danielle’s mother and grandmother.

>> Nana, mom, I don’t know what to say.

Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.

I don’t know how this happened.

It’s the moment they’ve been hoping for, but the judge shows no mercy.

>> As far as this court is concerned, with respect to murder in the first degree, you are sentenced to the rest of your natural life without parole.

>> With respect to tampering with physical evidence, >> 35-year-old Jason Bond will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Before being led away, he again turns to Danielle’s family and mouths an apology.

He said, “I am so sorry.

I love you.

” In my heart, I feel that uh Jason meant what he said.

>> He showed remorse, I think, for the first time today.

>> For Danielle’s mother and grandmother, it’s the beginning of their journey of healing.

While Danielle’s life was cut down so tragically, they take comfort in knowing that she lived her short life to the fullest fearlessly.

Her grandmother will always remember something Danielle liked to tell her.

Nana, she said, “I would rather die young and do the things that I want to do and make good memories than to live with regret and not have done any of the things I’m doing.

” So, she lived as much in her 27 years as a lot of people do in a lifetime.

I think of that often.

The gunshot that echoed through Marysville, California, that sweltering August morning in 1873 was not what changed Cole Norwood’s life.

Though it certainly got his attention as he rode down Main Street with dust caking his worn leather boots and exhaustion pulling at every muscle in his body.

What changed everything was the woman who did not flinch at the sound, who simply continued arranging golden-crusted pies on a wooden table outside the general store.

Her capable hands moving with practiced grace while chaos erupted around her.

Cole had been riding for 3 weeks straight, trailing a herd of cattle from Nevada to Sacramento with nothing but whiskey-breathed ranch hands and ornery steers for company.

He was 32 years old, alone in every way that mattered, and so bone-tired that he had started talking to his horse just to hear a voice that did not belong to someone who wanted something from him.

The cattle drive was done.

His payment sat heavy in his saddlebag, and all he had wanted was a hot meal and a bed that did not move beneath him.

But then he saw her, and suddenly his exhaustion seemed like a distant concern.

She had auburn hair pulled back in a practical bun, though rebellious strands escaped to frame a face that was neither classically beautiful nor plain, but something far more arresting.

Her features held character, from the determined set of her jaw to the slight crook in her nose that suggested it had been broken once and healed without a doctor’s care.

She wore a simple calico dress in faded blue, an apron tied around her waist that bore flower stains like badges of honor.

But what struck Cole most were her eyes, green as new spring grass, which finally lifted to meet his as he brought his horse to a stop before her makeshift stand.

“You selling those pies, miss?” His voice came out rougher than he intended, gravelly from disuse and trail dust.

“That is generally what happens when you set up a table full of baked goods in the middle of town,” she replied.

And there was a hint of amusement in her tone that took any sting from the words.

“Apple, cherry, and peach.

50 cents each.

” Cole dismounted, his legs protesting the movement after so many hours in the saddle.

Up close, he could see the fine lines at the corners of her eyes, the slight calluses on her fingers, the way she held herself with the kind of quiet strength that came from weathering storms.

She was perhaps 27 or 28, he guessed, old enough to have lived through hardship, but young enough to still have hope in her eyes.

“I will take them all,” he heard himself say.

Her eyebrows rose.

“All of them? Every single one.

” Cole reached for his saddlebag, pulling out a small leather pouch.

“How many you got there?” She blinked at him, clearly reassessing.

“12 pies.

That is $6.

” “Done.

” He counted out the coins, aware that he was likely making a fool of himself, but finding he did not particularly care.

“But I got a condition.

” Her expression shifted, weariness creeping in around the edges.

She took a small step back, her hand moving almost imperceptibly toward the pocket of her apron where Cole suspected she kept some form of protection.

He had seen that careful retreat before, in women who had learned to be cautious around strange men with too much money and odd requests.

“I am a respectable woman,” she said quietly, firmly.

“If you are looking for” “No, madam, nothing like that,” Cole interrupted quickly, holding up his hands.

“I apologize.

I did not mean to suggest anything improper.

I just meant, well, these are the finest-looking pies I have seen in months, maybe years.

And I was thinking, a woman who can bake like this, she should not be selling on street corners.

She should have steady work, steady pay.

” Suspicion had not entirely left her face, but curiosity was beginning to edge in alongside it.

“What are you proposing, mister?” “Cole Norwood, madam.

” He removed his hat, running a hand through sweat-dampened dark hair.

“I am proposing employment.

I got a ranch about an hour’s ride north of here.

It is nothing fancy, just a small operation I’ve been building up the past 5 years.

Got a herd of about 200 head, three ranch hands who live in the bunkhouse, and a main house that is sorely lacking in decent food.

My cooking is terrible enough that I think my own horse would refuse it.

I need someone who can prepare meals, keep the kitchen, and if you are willing, bake.

I will pay you $20 a month plus room and board in the main house.

Separate quarters, of course, all proper.

” She studied him for a long moment, those green eyes seeming to see right through his trail-worn exterior to something deeper beneath.

“You make a habit of offering jobs to strange women on the street.

” “No, madam.

But I make a habit of recognizing quality when I see it, and I see it in these pies.

” He gestured to the table.

“Also, if I am being honest, I am desperate.

The last woman I hired to cook lasted 2 days before she ran off with a traveling salesman.

The one before that burned everything she touched, and I do mean everything.

We lost a good stove in that incident.

” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, brief but genuine.

“You have not asked my name.

” “I figured you would tell me if you wanted me to know it.

” “Catherine Cain.

” She said it simply, without elaboration, and Cole sensed there was a story there, but knew better than to pry.

“I have been in Marysville for 3 months.

I live in a boarding house on Cedar Street, and I have been trying to make enough money selling pies and taking in laundry to save for a proper bakery shop.

” “How is that working out for you?” Catherine’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly.

“Slowly.

Mrs.

Henderson at the bakery on 4th Street does not appreciate competition, even from someone working out of a boarding house kitchen.

She has made certain that I cannot get a loan from the bank, and she has persuaded most of the town’s establishments not to carry my goods.

” “Sounds like you could use a change of scenery.

” “It also sounds like you could be a madman planning to murder me and leave my body in a ravine.

” But there was no real heat in her words, just a kind of weary pragmatism.

Cole could not help but laugh, surprised by her directness.

“That is fair.

” “Tell you what.

Take the $6 for these pies, think on my offer.

I will be staying at the Marysville Hotel tonight.

If you want the job, meet me at the livery stable tomorrow morning at 8:00.

Bring whoever you want as chaperone to ride out and see the place.

If you do not feel safe about it, no hard feelings, but I will tell you truly, Miss Cain, I am just a tired rancher who is sick of eating his own terrible beans and salt pork.

” She regarded him thoughtfully, then began stacking the pies carefully.

“You said now bake only for you.

” “I did.

” “You said these pies were fine enough that I should be baking for steady work.

Implied that steady work would be for you.

” Catherine met his eyes directly.

“That is quite a presumptuous statement from a stranger.

” Cole felt heat rise to his face, but he did not look away.

“You are right.

That was presumptuous.

I apologize, Miss Cain.

Blame it on too many days in the saddle and not enough decent conversation.

Or blame it on knowing what you want when you see it.

” Her tone had shifted slightly, thoughtful rather than accusatory.

“I will consider your offer, Mr.

Norwood.

I make no promises, but I will consider it.

” “That is all I can ask.

” Cole gathered up the pies carefully, stacking them in a crate she provided.

“The $6 still stands, regardless of what you decide.

” “That is more than fair.

” Catherine pocketed the coins, then began folding her table.

“Mr.

Norwood, did you really just spend $6 on pies because you think I can bake well, or was there another reason?” He could have lied, could have kept up the pretense that this was purely a business transaction born of practical need.

But something about her directness demanded honesty in return.

“I think you bake well.

I also think you did not flinch when that gun went off earlier, which tells me you are steady under pressure.

And I think you have kind eyes, even though you have got reason to be suspicious of strangers, which tells me you have not let this world make you bitter.

Those seem like good qualities in a person.

” Catherine’s expression softened almost imperceptibly.

“8:00 at the livery stable.

I will bring my landlady, Mrs.

Patterson.

She is a formidable woman with a pistol in her reticule and a strong throwing arm.

I would expect nothing less.

Cole tipped his hat to her, managing a smile despite his exhaustion.

Good day, Miss Cain.

Good day, Mr.

Norwood.

He led his horse toward the hotel, the tray of pies balanced carefully in one arm, very aware that Catherine was still watching him.

When he glanced back, she had returned to folding her table, but there was something different in the set of her shoulders, as though a burden had shifted slightly.

That night, Cole lay in an actual bed in an actual room and ate three slices of Catherine Cain’s apple pie and thought that perhaps his lonely days might finally be coming to an end.

The next morning arrived with the kind of bright, cloudless sky that made California feel like God’s favorite place.

Cole was at the livery stable by 7:30, his horse freshly groomed and a second mount saddled and ready for Catherine, if she decided to come.

He had slept better than he had in months, though whether that was due to the comfortable bed or the prospect of seeing the pie-selling woman again, he preferred not to examine too closely.

At precisely 8 o’clock, Catherine appeared at the end of the street, accompanied by a gray-haired woman of considerable girth and even more considerable bearing.

Mrs.

Patterson had the look of a woman who had seen everything life could throw at her and had thrown most of it right back.

She carried a large reticule and walked with a cane that Cole suspected was more weapon than walking aid.

“Mr.

Norwood,” Catherine greeted him, looking fresh and composed in a green dress that matched her eyes.

“This is Mrs.

Adelaide Patterson, my landlady and friend.

Madam.

” Cole removed his hat respectfully.

“Thank you for accompanying Miss Cain.

I have a horse ready if you would like to ride out to the ranch, or I can arrange a wagon if that would be more comfortable.

” Mrs.

Patterson fixed him with a gaze that could have stripped paint.

“I will be staying right here in town, young man, but I will be expecting Catherine back by supper time, and if she is not here, I will be coming looking for her with the sheriff and every able-bodied man I can round up.

Are we clear?” “Crystal clear, Madam.

” “And if I hear one word, one single word, about improper behavior or suggestions or anything that even hints at taking advantage, I will personally see to it that you regret the day you were born.

” “I would expect nothing less, Madam.

” Mrs.

Patterson’s stern expression cracked slightly, a hint of approval showing through.

“Well, at least you have manners.

That is more than most.

Catherine, you keep that knife I gave you handy and you trust your instincts.

They have not steered you wrong yet.

” “I will be fine, Adelaide.

” Catherine squeezed the older woman’s hand, and Cole saw genuine affection pass between them.

“I promise.

” The ride north out of Marysville took them through rolling golden hills dotted with oak trees, the landscape both harsh and beautiful in the way of California in late summer.

Catherine rode well, sitting her horse with the easy competence of someone raised around animals.

For the first mile, they traveled in silence, but it was a comfortable quiet rather than an awkward one.

“You are a good rider,” Cole finally said.

“Grew up on a ranch, farm, Iowa originally.

” Catherine’s gaze swept across the landscape.

“My father raised corn and hogs.

I learned to ride almost before I learned to walk.

We had a bay mare named Clementine who was the sweetest creature God ever made.

” “What brought you to California?” Her expression closed off slightly.

“The usual reasons.

” “Looking for a fresh start, better opportunities.

” “The farm was failing, my father died, and my brother inherited what was left.

He married a woman who made it clear there was not room for me anymore.

” “I am sorry.

” “Do not be.

It was 3 years ago, and I have made my own way since then.

” She glanced at him.

“What about you? You do not have the look of someone born to ranching.

” Cole found himself surprised by her perceptiveness.

“You are right about that.

I was a lawyer back in St.

Louie.

Worked for a big firm, wore fancy suits, argued cases in courtrooms.

” “What changed?” “The war.

” Two words that held a thousand stories, most of which he had no intention of sharing.

“After that, I could not go back to arguing about property disputes and contract law.

It all seemed so small and meaningless.

So, I came west, worked as a ranch hand for a few years, saved my money, and bought my own place.

It is not much, but it is mine, and I built it with my own hands.

” Catherine nodded slowly.

“I understand that.

The need to build something that belongs to you, that no one can take away.

” They rode on, and Cole found himself stealing glances at her, noting the way the sunlight caught the auburn in her hair, the competent way she handled the reins, the slight smile that played at her lips as they crested a hill and she caught sight of a hawk circling overhead.

She was beautiful, he realized, not in the delicate china doll way that society preferred, but in a way that was real and solid and lasting.

The Norwood ranch came into view as they rounded a bend in the trail.

It was not impressive by any grand standard, just a sturdy two-story ranch house with a wide porch, a barn that Cole had built himself, a bunkhouse for the hands, several corrals and pastures stretching out toward the tree line.

But it was well maintained, the fences straight and strong, the buildings painted and solid.

“It is a good-looking place,” Catherine said, and Cole heard the sincerity in her voice.

“You should be proud.

” “I am,” he admitted.

“It is not fancy, but it is honest work and honest land.

” Three men emerged from the barn as they approached, ranch hands who had been with Cole for over a year.

Pete was the oldest, a weathered cowboy in his 50s with a salt-and-pepper beard and a game leg from a horse accident years back.

Danny was barely 20, all enthusiasm and clumsy energy.

Hector was somewhere in between, a steady hand from Texas with a quiet demeanor and a gift for working with horses.

“Boys, this is Miss Catherine Cain,” Cole announced as they dismounted.

“She is considering taking the position as ranch cook and housekeeper.

I expect you to be on your best behavior and show her the respect she deserves.

” “Madam.

” Pete removed his hat, and the other two quickly followed suit.

“We would be mighty grateful to have decent cooking again.

No offense, boss, but your biscuits could be used as ammunition.

” Catherine laughed, a genuine sound that made something warm unfurl in Cole’s chest.

“I promise my biscuits will not double as weapons, though I make no promises about what I might do with them if anyone gives me trouble.

” “I like her already,” Danny said with a grin.

Cole showed Catherine around the property, starting with the bunkhouse where the men lived.

It was clean and well organized, with three beds, a stove, and a table for meals.

Then the barn, where she met the horses and the milk cow and expressed appropriate admiration for Cole’s breeding stock.

She asked intelligent questions about the operation, how many head of cattle, what the seasonal work looked like, how supplies were managed.

Finally, they entered the main house, and Cole felt suddenly nervous about how she would perceive his living space.

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