00:00:19
It was a very stressful situation. Very emotional at times. And an emotional trial.
00:00:28
From start to finish. >> He's a very prominent businessman, very successful. Generally to get in that kind of a
00:00:37
position, you you have a pretty big ego. >> We had a camera, we started taking photos. She took a few of
00:00:50
me, I took some of her. >> Leslie Muller took a fall and drowned. How that happened,
00:01:03
no one knows except Fred Muller. >> You cannot fall that far without serious, serious injuries.
00:01:21
>> It's like it just happened in slow motion in front of me. She falls like she just dove.
00:01:29
>> Fred had a great story. >> I'm screaming her name, I'm hollering. She's moving with the current. I can't
00:01:35
really see where I can get to her. >> I mean, he had details and drama and action.
00:01:41
>> The defendant has asked people to believe what is impossible. >> I mean, there were so many
00:01:51
inconsistencies in his story. I don't know if they just thought that we were going to be a bunch of ignorant
00:01:58
Hicks. >> There's no proof someone's going to murder somebody. They're going to have a reason.
00:02:05
>> We don't know these 12 people. They don't know us. They don't know my dad. He would have never hurt my mother in
00:02:12
any way. >> During jury selection, we kind of heard that oh, you know, he's got a new wife.
00:02:19
And it's like oh, the aha. >> She basically rescued me from the pits of despair after Leslie died.
00:02:26
>> I will tell you why I fell in love with Fred. His honesty, his integrity, his
00:02:32
trustworthiness. There are 12 people in a room somewhere deciding my husband's fate.
00:02:44
>> It was uh incredibly stressful. >> It's tough. They were there. They stared at us, you
00:02:51
know, day after day. >> I think it was a lie. I think Fred Mueller is a master of
00:02:58
deception. >> When I saw that photograph of Fred's face a moments before the accident,
00:03:05
I told myself he didn't kill her. >> Just because you don't find something doesn't mean it's not there.
00:03:36
>> Amid the majestic mountains of Colorado and the landscape surrounding the family
00:03:41
vacation house, Leslie Mueller found her sanctuary. >> It was a beautiful house with some
00:03:47
beautiful land around it. >> Bob Burton knew the Mollers. He's the former undersheriff here in Hinsdale
00:03:58
County. >> The people in town would talk about her and how excited she was when she was up
00:04:03
here and how exuberant and she loved to take advantage of everything that was up
00:04:07
here. >> Leslie came here to the town of Lake City each summer to ride horses and at
00:04:13
Christmas to ski. With Fred, her husband of 27 years, and their three children, Alex entering the Naval Academy, Ariel
00:04:23
working for a Dallas bank, and Amanda, who works in the oil and gas industry. Fred and Leslie had married young. He
00:04:31
was 19 and she was 20. A deeply religious woman, she became a pioneering doctor in their hometown of San Angelo,
00:04:39
Texas, the first female OBGYN in the area. >> They are very, very affectionate to each
00:04:46
other. They were the type of couple that you kind of feel uncomfortable cuz they're all over each other.
00:04:50
>> Even on the rare occasions they didn't see eye to eye, the disagreements didn't
00:04:55
last, says daughter Ariel. >> And that's why they had such a great marriage cuz they never
00:05:01
harbored any grudges against each other. >> The Mollers seemed to have it all. Three
00:05:06
successful children, a big home in San Angelo, Texas, filled with a lifetime of family memories.
00:05:14
And Fred owns a thriving metals business in town. They are a proud family going back
00:05:20
generations in the community. But what happened here in the deep mountain woods on May 3rd, 2008,
00:05:31
in this creek filled with rushing water, changed their lives forever. That Saturday started out happily.
00:05:41
>> It was a wonderful day. We basically spent the whole day, us three together. >> They went to church.
00:05:47
Afterwards, Fred and Alex did some work around the house. And then, Fred and Leslie decided to go for a hike.
00:05:55
>> They were urging me to come along with them. >> Your dad, too? >> Yes, both. >> And they're even pressing me saying,
00:06:00
"Well, come on, it'll be fun. We'll see the waterfall." And at that point, I was
00:06:03
pretty wore out cuz I mean, I had I worked all morning. And so, they decided to just make it a date.
00:06:09
>> That date would soon take a tragic turn. Burden was one of the first law enforcement officers on the scene. And
00:06:19
Mueller described to him what had happened. >> You can hear the creek in the distance.
00:06:25
We're getting closer and closer. Fred led us right down to the edge of Cottonwood Creek. Beautiful waterfall
00:06:30
down here. And said he was coming down here with his wife to start taking pictures.
00:06:38
Just to this ledge. Little treacherous here, isn't it? The waterfall in the background was
00:06:44
really the point of interest they had in terms of the picture taking that day. And this particular area would have
00:06:50
still had some snow on it and potentially ice. >> This is one of the last photos taken of
00:06:57
Leslie Mueller before Fred says a bizarre turn of events was set in motion. >> He had her kneel just about where you
00:07:06
are. She was holding the dog. Now, this is where Fred tells me that as he took the picture, a bird flew
00:07:13
by. The bluebird appeared to startle the dog. And that as she was getting up, she
00:07:19
suddenly started going backwards. >> Fred described it himself to police the next day when they interviewed him on
00:07:28
audio tape. >> It's like this happened in slow motion in front of me. First, she falls just like she just
00:07:36
dove. And and lands was the rocks right by the water. >> The one he pointed to was that one
00:07:45
there's a little bit of water coming over the top. >> Right. Pretty big size rock.
00:07:48
>> Pretty big size rock. >> She just did a swan dive. Just like head and shoulders, and just
00:07:56
slides like mush into the channel. I'm screaming her name. I'm hollering. I don't know what I'm doing. And next
00:08:03
thing I know, she's out of sight, man. I can't really see where I can get to her.
00:08:07
She's just face down in the water, head first going downstream. >> Leslie's body was found wedged under
00:08:13
that tree that you can see behind me that goes across the creek. It's just 50 yards downstream from where Fred said
00:08:20
she fell in. Fred says he ran down the mountain trail for help, and rescuers trekked up the
00:08:27
river, eventually finding Leslie's body here. It appeared to be a terrible, tragic
00:08:38
accident. >> I know she's in a better place, and I know that Jesus is with our family. And
00:08:47
so, I had to keep it together for for my dad, for for my mom, still. >> But the family has had a big problem
00:08:56
putting it all behind them. Because as police scrutinized Fred's story of what happened, they weren't at all sure that
00:09:04
it was true. >> Fred Muller says all that occurred here was one horrific accident.
00:09:13
>> I say it was not an accident. I say it was a cold-blooded murder. >> When Leslie Muller's drowned body was
00:09:36
found wedged beneath this log in Cottonwood Creek. Investigators took Fred Muller at his word.
00:09:43
>> Initially, we have every reason to believe it was an accident. >> But it wasn't long before Fred's
00:09:47
eyewitness account of what happened raised some troubling questions. >> Each time
00:09:54
we would talk to him, the red flags kept being waved. >> According to Fred, Leslie fell from that
00:10:01
cliff about 20 ft, but somehow didn't land in this rocky area that's about 6-ft wide. Instead, she somehow landed
00:10:09
out on this boulder and was swept away. >> He said, "I saw her hit with a sickening
00:10:21
thud. She was motionless." >> Hitting headfirst, body >> first, shoulder, and head.
00:10:31
>> Based on Fred's description, investigators expected to see major injuries to Leslie's body.
00:10:38
But her autopsy only added to the mystery. >> There was a significant absence of any
00:10:46
visible injury to any part of the body. You would expect to see broken bones. >> Which begged the question, had Leslie
00:10:55
really fallen from that cliff? Burden says the more Fred spoke, >> I didn't do anything. And and I'm not at
00:11:03
all afraid of the truth. >> the more his story sounded rehearsed. >> He hit me as if he was reading from a
00:11:11
recited script. >> He spontaneously said, "You know, I don't have any reason to kill my wife. I don't have any motive.
00:11:19
I don't have a girlfriend. We love each other very much. In fact, he told me they even had sex that day."
00:11:26
>> He was answering a question that hadn't even been asked. >> Hadn't been asked in advance of that. He
00:11:30
just blurted that out. >> Burden says Fred could suddenly become defensive, like when he started talking
00:11:37
about family insurance policies. >> We had a a big insurance policy on the two of us.
00:11:43
It was strictly for inheritance. So, why in the world would it have been a benefit to me for? The reality is if
00:11:50
there was no reason for my wife to die that benefited me. There's monetary benefit.
00:11:56
>> There are moments, Burden says, when Fred did sound like a man coping with the death of his wife.
00:12:03
>> I've already said the worst the worst thing I can think of in the world happened to me, and I just want to
00:12:08
go home. >> But it was what Burden saw on Fred's face, these scratches, that added to his
00:12:15
growing belief that a crime had taken place. >> His explanation was that there were some
00:12:22
bushes that probably scratched him. First of all, there weren't a lot of bushes there, and the type of scratches
00:12:28
you normally get from bushes are totally inconsistent with the the marks on his face.
00:12:34
>> Burden wondered, could Leslie have scratched Fred's face? And then, this clue, these glasses that
00:12:42
turned out to be Fred's, found just 15 ft from where Leslie had reportedly fallen.
00:12:48
>> I at this point had no idea as whose glasses they were. >> They were broken, and when an officer
00:12:53
asked if he was missing his glasses, Fred turned defensive once again. >> Once again.
00:13:01
You know, you're asking me how many times a day did I have sex, but you won't tell me if you found any damn glasses.
00:13:09
>> Well, we did find some glasses, but we don't know that they're yours. >> It's that kind of crap that makes me
00:13:13
think that you're not believing a word I'm telling you. So, I'm just sticking my head in a noose. You know, I didn't
00:13:19
do anything. >> He got so combative. At one point on the record, he said if you didn't have a badge gun,
00:13:27
I'd beat the [ __ ] out of you. That kind of shocked me. And he at that point raised maybe he
00:13:33
should be getting an attorney. >> And what did that suggest to you? >> At that moment, I felt that we had a
00:13:39
criminal homicide. >> Burden developed a theory of what happened on May 3rd, 2008.
00:13:45
>> The scenario that I put together is that when the picture was being taken, what was allegedly the last picture
00:13:51
before she fell in. He had gone forward towards her and tried to push her in. >> According to Burden's theory, Leslie was
00:13:59
fighting for her life. >> I'm thinking at that point, the scuffle continued in which the glasses were
00:14:05
ripped off and left pretty much where that rock is. >> This is when Burden believes Leslie
00:14:11
scratched Fred. >> I believe at that moment, she was able to break away, gain one, two seconds
00:14:17
maybe, and she fled down a path that paralleled the creek. >> Burden speculates that Fred chased after
00:14:23
her. >> He was probably one to two seconds behind her, and she ended up jumping into here.
00:14:29
And just right behind her was the husband. He jumps in, too. And drowns her in this pool area right
00:14:36
below it. It takes her body and just lodges it under that tree where the body was found.
00:14:44
>> What motive would Fred possibly have had to kill his wife? >> In in many cases, the motive is not as
00:14:51
clear as one would hope. What I believe in this case is that he was tired of her. I just I don't think
00:14:58
he hated her. Uh I just believe he was tired of her. >> Not a very strong motive for murder, and
00:15:06
that was one big problem for police trying to prove their suspicions. Fred's family says there's no motive
00:15:13
because there's no murder. >> There's not a doubt in my mind that he did not kill my mother. It was an
00:15:20
accident. >> And police didn't have enough evidence to charge him with a crime, so they let
00:15:26
Fred resume his life. For a while. >> Always tell him that I love him and that things are going to be okay and that
00:15:46
we're going to be here for him no matter what. >> Fred Mueller returned to his Texas home
00:15:52
to be with his three children just days after his wife Leslie drowned in this Colorado creek.
00:15:59
>> He may be a big guy, but he's very emotional and very soft-hearted and >> Fred's daughter, Ariel.
00:16:05
>> He's a big teddy bear. Yeah, he would have never hurt my mom. He would do anything to make her happy. He would do
00:16:10
anything to make us happy. >> A year passed. Then Fred reconnected with a long-time family friend, Wendy
00:16:18
Walker. The two began dating and were married in 2010. >> There are a number of photographs of
00:16:25
Leslie and the kids as they're growing up. She was a lovely person. He loved her very much. He lost her
00:16:33
too soon. And that's very, very sad. And it was very hard on him. I saw him in the
00:16:40
middle of all of that grief. >> This is Fred and Wendy's San Angelo home. Nearly 4 years had passed since
00:16:47
Leslie's death. Then, on February 6th, 2012, family members started getting phone
00:16:54
calls. >> I was still in high school at the time, and I was pulled out of class by my
00:16:59
principal. >> I'm not going to say it's the it was the worst phone call I'd ever had, cuz the
00:17:03
worst was on May 4th, 2008. It was the second worst phone call I'd ever had. >> The children were stunned to learn
00:17:11
Colorado authorities had arrested their father for the murder of their mom. Fred Mueller was to spend the next year
00:17:19
of his life in a Colorado jail awaiting trial. >> Have any of you ever had a moment of
00:17:25
doubt? >> I've not. >> No. >> No. >> Never. >> Never. >> Not for a moment. >> No.
00:17:32
>> If if you knew my dad, you wouldn't you wouldn't doubt either. >> You wouldn't lie for him in other words
00:17:37
in a situation like this. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. >> and he if there is if something else had
00:17:44
happened that day, he would have said so. >> Also, you have to understand that I mean
00:17:48
as much as he's non-violent, he's also you know, I mean his probably his second biggest trait is the fact that he
00:17:55
doesn't have a nefarious bone in his body. Like he's not the type to spin plots and cover things up.
00:18:01
>> In January 2013, Fred's murder trial got underway in Gunnison, Colorado, best
00:18:07
known for having the lowest average temperature in the continental US. Prosecutor Matthew Durkin.
00:18:15
>> Injuries are going to tell you a story that Leslie Muller was drowned by her husband.
00:18:23
>> Fred's lead defense attorney Mike DeGuerin. >> Don't be tricked into the situation
00:18:30
where the prosecution says we really don't know how it happened. You can't guess
00:18:36
somebody into the penitentiary in the United States. You can't speculate. You're not to come
00:18:41
up with a theory. Guard against that. >> For 4 weeks, the family, including Leslie's parents who support Fred, sat
00:18:50
and listened to prosecution witnesses. >> Do you solemnly swear or affirm? >> As did jurors Betty Haggart, an interior
00:18:57
designer, Janine MacElvaine, a park service supervisor, Brian Turner, another park service employee, and Drew
00:19:06
Zimmerman, an electrical engineer. >> It was one of the toughest things I've ever been involved in.
00:19:12
>> Prosecutors call experts who present a series of video recreations. >> I have dragged the mannequin back up and
00:19:19
we're going to drop it again in that down rushing waters. >> To test whether it was possible for
00:19:26
Leslie's body to have traveled down this winding creek to where she was found underneath this fallen tree.
00:19:34
>> I'm going to test how far we can advance that mannequin or if the mannequin will
00:19:39
flush. >> We obtained the mannequin in the the summer of '09. >> Investigator Jack Haynes used a
00:19:46
mannequin that was the exact height and weight of Leslie Muller. >> Each time he would drop it, the
00:19:52
mannequin would sink. It didn't go anywhere. >> Did the mannequin ever float downstream?
00:19:58
>> Never floated, never flushed anywhere. It It It just would stay at the bottom.
00:20:03
>> Then a woman investigator attempted the same journey. Water rescue expert Andrea Zaffarese
00:20:10
testified to the result. >> It's not possible for the water to have gotten the body there or to have kept
00:20:16
the body in that position. A human being had to physically put a body in that position.
00:20:21
>> You can observe the water elevation >> But the defense presents an expert who
00:20:26
says the tests are meaningless because the water levels had changed between the time of the tests and when Leslie died
00:20:34
in May. >> The opinion is that the the stream flow of Cottonwood Creek on September 9th,
00:20:39
'08 were strikingly smaller by quite a bit than they were on May 3rd, 2008. >> Another question raised by prosecutors,
00:20:48
Fred's motive. They brought in Amy Hiatt-alski. >> Give me a moment. Cuz I'm nervous.
00:20:58
>> Hiatt-alski, a former friend, testifies that the subject of divorce came up once
00:21:04
in conversation with Fred. >> He He said he wouldn't go through a divorce. He wouldn't allow
00:21:11
a woman to dictate when he could or could not see his children. >> What you want to do is you want to be
00:21:17
able to say that's not true. You want to be able to defend him. And you basically have to just sit there
00:21:22
and watch him be attacked. >> He wished he'd met Leslie later in life so that he'd got to sow his oats.
00:21:29
>> Jurors weren't sure what to make of that. >> She was very, very Catholic and probably
00:21:35
would not grant a divorce or not even agree to it. So there could have been some type of motive in that.
00:21:42
>> I wasn't presented a motive other than uh he was tired of being married when he
00:21:46
had neighbors saying they'd seen him walk hand in hand. No motive was huge for me.
00:21:50
>> Dr. Jeff Collina >> In their case, the defense brings in Dr. Jeff Collina, a veteran emergency room
00:21:58
physician. >> Ready? Ready? >> His task to explain why after a 20-ft fall, Leslie's body had no major
00:22:05
injuries. Collina testified that he treated even more serious accident victims. >> But they got propelled out of the uh car
00:22:14
window uh and uh yet may not have any significant injury based on how they landed or or
00:22:20
whatnot. Uh that's very rare. I've seen it. >> solemnly swear or >> The defense also calls Werner Spitz, a
00:22:29
nationally known coroner who has studied Leslie's autopsy report. >> What's your opinion as to the manner of
00:22:36
death for Dr. Moller? >> Accident. Yes, I believe it was an accident. Homicide? I do not believe it was a
00:22:45
homicide. >> Janine, what do you think of Fred's story? >> As soon as the trial ended, I was
00:22:51
pretty firmly convinced that he had some involvement in her death. >> As the case goes to the jury, the
00:23:01
Mollers are struggling to grasp that it's all come to this. After one tragedy with their mother, they could face a
00:23:08
second one with their father. >> Five years ago it was a tragedy. Leslie passed away. The tragedy now, the
00:23:16
tragedy today is ruthlessly coming after an innocent man. And what that's doing not only to him,
00:23:24
but to the rest of the family, this has become a second tragedy. >> As the jury deliberates, the Muller
00:23:46
family retreats into the snowy countryside. To the house where they have lived for the past 5 weeks.
00:23:53
We drove out to see them in the midst of a storm. >> It's been very hard to wait. The minutes
00:24:01
go by very slow. >> This is like a gilded cage in some ways. This is not where you want to be is in
00:24:05
this house no matter how nice it is, no matter how beautiful the setting. >> Yes, we're all anxious to have a
00:24:12
decision made and to be able to go home with Fred. >> As the first day turns into the second
00:24:21
and then a third with no word, tensions are high. >> It's hard not to start thinking about
00:24:28
the worst. >> It was more difficult than I had ever anticipated it would be. >> The jurors were struggling too.
00:24:35
>> I wavered back and forth knowing that there was somebody's life in the balance, but yet there was a victim and
00:24:43
and wanting to make sure that if we felt the evidence supported it, making sure that she got
00:24:49
justice. >> Obviously, there is a debate going on with this jury cuz we're into day four
00:24:55
and there must be factions on either side, and one faction must be trying to convince the other. Are you thinking the
00:25:01
same thing? >> Um, it's it's not very productive to speculate. Um, it kind of just drives you crazy,
00:25:07
but it seems like that. >> I think that we have some very strong people that see that Fred is innocent. I
00:25:17
don't think they're going to let an innocent man go to jail for something that he didn't do.
00:25:27
>> Hello. >> Suddenly, Judge Steven Patrick calls everyone back to court. >> I have another note from the jury.
00:25:37
>> You could feel the tension. >> They used both the words impasse and adamant. >> The jury has hit a wall in its
00:25:44
deliberations. >> There is a great deal of arguing and frustration. >> And there were a couple of times when
00:25:50
tempers did flare. >> Please rise for the jury. >> The judge calls them into the courtroom,
00:25:56
>> You may be seated. >> urging they give it one more try. >> Ladies and gentlemen, I understand what
00:26:01
you are saying. I'm going to give you one more instruction, reflect on that, and then let us know whether you want to
00:26:07
further deliberate or not. >> It's a weighty decision. >> We were all over the place.
00:26:18
>> It went from being a stressful situation to an extremely stressful situation.
00:26:25
>> And just a few minutes later, >> We are deadlocked. I will formally declare a mistrial.
00:26:32
>> It's over. A hung jury. >> I was a guilty vote up until about the last hour, and I changed my vote
00:26:40
basically in the last 15 minutes. >> I want to thank you for your very hard work.
00:26:45
>> What hung up the jury? The lack of a clear explanation of how Fred might have
00:26:51
killed Leslie. >> I would rather let a guilty man go free than sentence an innocent man.
00:26:57
Prosecution did nothing but poke holes in his story. They didn't give us an alternate story. That's where I came up
00:27:04
with my not guilty vote. >> I was pretty firmly convinced that he had some involvement in her death, but I didn't
00:27:14
feel I had the evidence in the trial to vote guilty. >> The bail of his >> In the end, the vote was 11 to 1 for
00:27:21
acquittal. Drew Zimmerman was the lone holdout for guilty. >> I think it was a lie.
00:27:28
I think it was all a big lie. Cuz none of the evidence supported his statement, then that's why I voted the
00:27:34
way I did. >> An outsider looking at this would go, "Wait a second, Drew. 11 people were
00:27:41
wrong and you were right?" >> I guess I'm not easily swayed. My mind was made up. Uh you know, in my my
00:27:48
heart, my mind, in my soul, I felt that that he was guilty. >> Bond will be set at $150,000
00:27:56
cash or surety. >> For the Muller family, it's not a victory, but it is a big sigh of relief.
00:28:05
>> I wish that they could have come to a unanimous decision. It would have been more
00:28:10
satisfying. I haven't been able to um talk to him in person. I've gotten to talk to him
00:28:16
through a glass this last 3 days, and that was the closest I've been to him being able to talk to him, but while
00:28:21
being recorded and knowing that I'm always watched, so it'll be overwhelming. It's overwhelming to think
00:28:27
about it. Um I I can't wait to be able to finally give him a hug after over a year.
00:28:35
I have a friendship wedding ring that I've been wearing around my neck waiting for him to come out so we can
00:28:41
put it back on his finger. >> Soon, Fred Muller will be set free for the first time in a year.
00:28:49
>> Goodbye. >> I love you guys. >> A joyous reunion for the Mullers, but the case is not closed.
00:29:03
I asked Muller's lawyer, Mike DeGuerin, about the possibility of another trial. >> Should there be a second trial?
00:29:11
>> I'm going to give the prosecutor room to decide that on his own. >> Once we catch the bomber
00:29:20
>> Fred returns to San Angelo. Finally. >> Very difficult. Never been in captivity before.
00:29:32
But we'll survive. It's going to make us stronger. I think it already has. >> The Mullers will need every bit of that
00:29:40
strength. 10 days after the first trial ended, prosecutors decide they will retry Fred
00:29:47
Muller. And 8 months after the first trial in a new venue, the Denver suburb of Broomfield
00:29:57
>> Prosecution to call their first witness. >> the second trial of Fred Muller begins.
00:30:14
8 months after a jury could not reach a verdict, Fred Muller is back in court once again
00:30:21
accused of drowning his wife Leslie 5 and 1/2 years ago. >> The man in court, the defendant, put her
00:30:28
head under the water under a log and left her there to die. >> The prosecution will not bring to you
00:30:38
any evidence of why he would do such a thing or how such a thing would be accomplished.
00:30:45
>> Fred's new attorney, >> The evidence in this case, >> Pamela Mackey, is best known for
00:30:51
successfully defending NBA star Kobe Bryant in his 2003 sexual assault trial. >> The whole truth and nothing but the
00:30:59
truth? >> Yes, sir. >> But the prosecution comes out swinging with witness Justin Sparks. After Fred
00:31:06
had unsuccessfully tried to find Leslie in the creek, he ran to Sparks' house for help. Sparks discovered Leslie's
00:31:14
lifeless body under this log. >> He would act kind of frantic one second and then the next second he would he was
00:31:22
talking to me very nonchalant and normal. It almost felt like he was acting more than being um sincere. I
00:31:32
just started getting a kind of a bad feeling about the whole situation. >> Mr. Burden, I'm handing you what's been
00:31:38
marked >> But then, for the defense, Mackey cross-examines other prosecution witnesses vigorously.
00:31:45
>> Did you take a GPS measurement of where it was? >> No. >> Including former Undersheriff Bob
00:31:51
Burden. Mackey attacks Burden's investigation, portraying it as a shotty, mistake-filled mess.
00:31:59
>> Mr. Burden, would you please answer my question? Did anyone take a yardstick and place it in the river to measure the
00:32:07
level? >> If you're asking me, then I can say no. As to what other people did that I did
00:32:13
or did not observe, I cannot testify to that. >> In an attempt to suggest a motive that
00:32:19
Fred had a wandering eye, the prosecution calls up Genie Barnes, Fred's former assistant. She testifies
00:32:27
that Fred was coming on to her. >> Do you remember these texts from the defendant and phone calls from the
00:32:33
defendant caused a strain in your marriage? >> Yes. >> But under pointed cross-examination,
00:32:40
Barnes takes on a very reluctant tone. >> Did you ever have an affair with Fred Muller?
00:32:46
>> No, I did not. >> Did he ever ask you for any sexual favors? >> No, he did not.
00:32:51
>> Did he ever approach you in a sexual way at any time? >> No, he did not. >> Fair to say, Ms. Barnes,
00:32:59
the investigators that you've talked to have tried to make you into the other woman in Fred's life.
00:33:06
>> I feel that. >> But you weren't the other woman in his life, were you? >> No.
00:33:12
Water weighs the same whether it's in your body or out of the body. So, >> And as she did in the first trial, water
00:33:18
rescue expert Andrea Zaferes testifies that Leslie Muller's drowning was no accident.
00:33:25
>> Dr. Muller could not have gotten from the alleged fall site to the lake site.
00:33:31
>> So, Mackey aggressively rebukes her. >> I can't imagine how she got in the water
00:33:35
in the first place from that that cliff. >> Well, there you go again. Volunteering
00:33:39
information to help the prosecution. Ms. Zaferes, excuse me. Excuse me. Please answer my question.
00:33:48
>> I do not know where she >> Mr. Durkin will be happy to get up here and let you talk all you want. But for
00:33:53
right now, the rules are I ask the questions, you give me the answers. >> Okay. >> You know that what the defendant said
00:34:02
happened on May 3rd is unreliable. >> After a 7-day trial, testimony from more than 30 witnesses, closing arguments
00:34:12
begin. >> You know what he said is impossible. >> Prosecutor Matt Durkin says the proof of
00:34:21
Fred's lies can be found on Leslie Muller's body. >> And he can't sell to you that she went
00:34:28
through a gauntlet of 130 ft of Cottonwood Creek and was found in what has been described
00:34:35
as a pristine condition. >> And as for those scratches on Fred's face, >> the defendant can't tell you what
00:34:43
happened to his face. He gives you three different explanations. He says he wrestled with a
00:34:48
bush. He then says that it was perhaps when he was climbing out of the creek. And then
00:34:55
guesses in March of 2009, well, maybe just maybe I self-mutilated myself. Again, impossible.
00:35:08
>> And finally, Durkin argues Fred's behavior that day points to guilt. >> As everyone ran to save Dr. Muller's
00:35:16
life, as everyone ran to save a woman they had never even met or known, the defendant
00:35:24
was running away because he knew she was dead. The defendant didn't run away from
00:35:29
an accident. The defendant ran away from a murder. We ask you to find the defendant guilty.
00:35:39
>> Then, it's Pamela Mackey's turn. >> What the prosecution has done is to take the statement of a man
00:35:48
who has just experienced the most horrific event of his life. Seeing his wife fall
00:35:58
and being swept downstream. And for the next 5 years, they have put that statement under a
00:36:06
microscope and picked it apart. >> Mackey suggests it's the prosecution's story that shouldn't be believed.
00:36:14
>> What evidence, hard physical evidence, do they bring to you of how Fred Muller supposedly caused the death
00:36:24
of his wife? What evidence have they brought to you that he drowned her? Not theory,
00:36:32
not speculation, but hard evidence. Certainly, no evidence that he went from this
00:36:41
to a homicidal maniac. What's the story? They They haven't told you one. >> And if Leslie had fought for her life,
00:36:49
wouldn't her body have shown evidence of a struggle? >> There are no injuries consistent with a
00:36:55
murder caused by drowning. There's no injuries to her neck, her shoulders, her back indicating that she was held down.
00:37:04
Now, what the prosecution relies on is a is a dissection of Mr. Muller's description of the events.
00:37:10
Is that fair? Is that the quantum of proof upon which to convict a man of murder?
00:37:17
>> Mackey says there is a reason why some of Fred's story is confusing. >> The human brain, the human memory
00:37:23
doesn't work like a video camera, particularly in situations that are traumatic and stressful. And so
00:37:32
I ask you, at long last, after five long years, to lift the pain and anguish from Fred
00:37:40
Muller, from his family. I ask you to return the only just verdict in this case.
00:37:49
A verdict of not guilty. >> After the jury deliberates 12 hours over 2 days, the judge comes back with a
00:38:00
stunning announcement. >> Ladies and gentlemen, you have sent me a uh uh what I will will consider to be a
00:38:06
final note indicating that you are um essentially hopelessly deadlocked and do not believe that you can reach a
00:38:13
verdict. Uh Mr. Foreperson, is that correct? >> That is correct, Your >> Okay. >> Fred can't believe what he just heard.
00:38:21
>> Okay, I'll declare the jury deadlocked. We'll declare a mistrial in the case.
00:38:26
>> It's happened again, a hung jury. He tries to control his emotions, but is overwhelmed.
00:38:35
>> No, we'll do that. We're going to set a date fairly quickly. >> Okay. >> The news seems to knock the wind out of
00:38:41
Wendy. >> Um, when do you want to get the >> The jury split, eight guilty, four not
00:38:47
guilty. But Fred Muller's recurring nightmare wasn't over. Now he could face a third
00:38:56
trial for the murder of his wife Leslie. Just two months later, a stunning announcement from the prosecution.
00:39:06
With no new evidence to present, they felt that a unanimous verdict was unlikely. So there would be no third
00:39:15
trial. No chance for a conviction, but no chance for vindication, either. The Mullers told us they were sorely
00:39:23
disappointed Fred didn't get the full acquittal they say he deserves. But they're grateful the case has been
00:39:34
dismissed, so they can resume their lives.