00:00:00
Help me please. My wife and body. She's not breathing. Please hurry up. >> I think about Lena every day.
00:00:22
>> She's on the floor. I don't know what's going on. >> She was stunningly beautiful.
00:00:27
>> Lena. Lena, come on. Wake up. Get off. >> She had class, elegant, style. >> He's not breathing. Oh my god. Oh my
00:00:37
god. This particular [music] morning. It was about 5:00. Remember waking up and seeing her not
00:00:52
there. And I figured, okay, she's with the baby. She's not in bed. She's with the
00:00:57
baby. Right around 6:00, I woke up again. She wasn't there. [snorts] That's when I got a pit in my stomach.
00:01:12
I remember calling, no response. I remember walking into the bathroom and seeing her there, slumped over onto
00:01:22
the magazine rack. >> She looked sick. She had moist on her neck. I don't know what happened.
00:01:30
What the hell happened? >> I just remember being in a frantic mode to to save her.
00:01:36
>> Please 15 16 14 18 19 >> I can tell what he's thinking, what he's going through. We do feel each other's
00:01:46
pain. That's how close we are. I am Seth Calfman, Adam Calfman's [music] twin brother.
00:02:01
When I got there, Adam was at the top of the staircase, hysterical, completely [music] distraught. I've
00:02:09
never seen him that way before in my whole entire life. [music] Total shock. What happened to her? My
00:02:22
name is Elaine [music] Calfman. My son lost his wife, Lena. >> Hello. >> 5 years ago. We'll never be the same. We
00:02:32
never will be. They were happy. They loved each other. They had a beautiful life. And they're
00:02:40
raising two beautiful kids. What could be more of a tragedy than this? >> Want to say hi
00:02:57
18 months later was like a second death in the family. A SWAT team came in with laser pointed
00:03:06
rifles and threw at him on the floor and arrested him. >> What? What happened? >> It was the most unbelievable thing.
00:03:16
>> Come on. Oh my god. My name is Adam Calfman. I've been accused of murdering my wife.
00:03:34
I'm Aaron Morardi. Tonight on 48 hours, Lena's heart. >> [music] >> I hear whispering when I go places.
00:04:05
Some people just ignore you. Some people don't want to hear from you. Elaine Calfman never imagined it would come to
00:04:13
this, that she and her close-knit [music] family would be snubbed in their own community, an affluent suburb of
00:04:21
Miami. >> There are people in this town [music] who think your son is a killer. >> Let them think what they want to think.
00:04:27
We're going to get through this and we're [music] going to show everybody that he's not. Adam Kaufman, a
00:04:33
successful real estate executive, husband, and father of two, now found himself branded a murderer.
00:04:40
>> You got to be kidding me. How could this happen? >> But there are these photos taken after
00:04:46
Lena's death that show marks on her neck. And in April 2009, a year and a half after he says he found his wife
00:04:56
unresponsive in their home, Adam Calfman was charged with strangling her. >> There's a mistake. What evidence is
00:05:04
there? [music] >> No one took the news harder than Adam's identical twin, Seth. >> Oh, it was devastation. They might as
00:05:11
well lock me up. >> Is he scared? >> Of course he's scared. The news of Adam's arrest and Lena's death shook
00:05:20
everyone around them. It simply didn't fit with the couple they knew. >> She was his soulmate and they were just
00:05:30
amazing together. >> Did you [music] ever see anything that concerned you about their marriage?
00:05:37
>> Never. I saw them all the time. They [music] were happy. They they loved each
00:05:41
other. And so friends and family search back in their minds. Did they miss something? Lena's mother, Freda Eisman,
00:05:51
remembers a strange conversation she had with Lena [music] just 2 months before her death. She said, "Listen, if
00:05:59
something happened to me, I want you [music] to know that I trust my kids only to you. I don't know why she asked
00:06:07
me. I don't know what what her [music] thought was in this moment." But Freda says there was no sense that anything
00:06:14
was wrong on November [music] 6th, 2007. She saw her only daughter at work at the
00:06:20
family's upscale [music] furniture business, never dreaming it would be the last time. I said, "You look so
00:06:27
beautiful, so classical." She said, "Are you proud of me?" Said, "Of course." [music]
00:06:31
>> And how would you describe her mood when you saw her? >> She was very, very, very happy
00:06:39
>> at the time. Lena, Adam, and their kids [music] live right around the corner from Adam's brother, Seth, and his bride
00:06:47
to be, [music] Raquel. Was Lena excited about the wedding? >> Oh, she was so looking forward to it.
00:06:53
She was one of Raquel's bridesmaids. I was Seth's best man. She was her happiest.
00:06:59
>> That evening, Lena got a spray tan, her first [music] to prepare for the big day. On the way home, she visited a
00:07:08
friend to show off her tan. have a glass of wine and a bite to eat. Adam was home, he says, taking care of
00:07:15
five-year-old Haley and two-year-old Jake. >> I remember her coming home around 11:00.
00:07:20
>> Did you see her when she came home? >> Yes. Yes, I was already in bed watching
00:07:24
TV. >> According to Adam, Lena undressed. >> You could definitely tell she was spray
00:07:28
tanned. It just seemed a lot to me. They went to bed and the next time Adam says
00:07:34
he saw his wife was in the early morning hours of November 7th. >> She was in this bathroom, he says,
00:07:45
slumped over the magazine rack. I remember going over to her, seeing all this red stuff all over, pink, frothy,
00:07:54
whatever it was. And I remember grabbing her from the back and she felt cold. Lena, Lena, Lena, wake up.
00:08:08
>> My wife and body, she's on the floor. >> At 6:10 a.m., Adam called 911. There's
00:08:16
blood, this stuff coming out of her mouth. This whole She looks pale. She looks sick. She has marks on her neck. I
00:08:22
don't know what happened. >> The operator instructed him to give his wife CPR. >> I need you to do compressions. Okay.
00:08:29
>> Push down on her chest rapidly 30 times. 1 2 3 4 5 >> and then back to breathing into her
00:08:38
mouth twice. >> Can you hear her breathing? >> No, she's cold. You told the operator there were marks
00:08:48
on her neck. Where were those marks? >> Here. Here. There were maybe three or four of them that I could see.
00:08:56
>> If something happened, did she fall? >> No. No. >> Calm down, sir. Help is on the way.
00:09:05
Okay. It would take fire rescue teams 16 minutes to find the Calfman home. >> They were frantic, putting something
00:09:16
over her face and putting something in her mouth, continually asking me questions about her health. I'm thinking
00:09:22
of, okay, what health problems does she have? Lena was always healthy to me. >> Seth and Raquel raced over to help Adam
00:09:34
and his children. We got there and they were working on her in the bedroom at that time.
00:09:41
It was just a an awful scene. It's just tough to to to [music] look at. >> They couldn't save her. Lena Kaufman was
00:09:52
pronounced [music] dead at the hospital. >> I was numb. I I [snorts] couldn't I couldn't think straight. [music] I
00:09:59
couldn't I I couldn't feel my body. What are you [music] thinking had happened to Lena?
00:10:07
>> I had no idea. >> Adam had to break the news to Freda. >> Adam was crying. Then he said she's
00:10:18
gone. That Lena is gone. >> What did you think? >> I don't know if I could think on this
00:10:25
moment. I just uh the only one thought I have that it's not true. That it's not true. She cannot leave me here
00:10:34
without her. She cannot do this to me. >> I could not comprehend how a healthy 34year-old woman just dies.
00:10:47
>> Lena's friends, Melissa [music] and Jennifer, were also in shock. >> Something happened. And that was my
00:10:54
question for months. [music] What happened? It was the question everyone was asking, including the Aventura
00:11:02
police. >> There are officers who said you didn't act normal. How do you act? Is there a
00:11:08
book on how you act when your wife just passes away? How do you act? How do you act?
00:11:25
When Lena Calfman was buried in November of 2007, no one could explain why she died,
00:11:34
making her loss even more painful. >> What did you think? What killed her? >> I didn't know. And it was very, very,
00:11:43
very frustrating. What do you miss the most about your daughter? >> I miss her love. I miss her smell,
00:11:57
her humor. Yes, I miss her a lot. >> Freda Eisman raised her daughter and son in [music] five countries before Lena
00:12:08
settled in Florida. Lena was as brilliant as she was beautiful. She spoke Russian, English, Danish, Flemish,
00:12:16
Hebrew, um, a little bit of Italian, >> sophisticated, >> very sophisticated. And I was just in
00:12:24
awe. >> They met at a party [music] and after dating 3 years, Lena and Adam were
00:12:32
married. >> Everybody say hi. >> Hi. >> Wow. One big happy family. >> Before long, Haley and Jake were born. I
00:12:43
was just kind of patting myself on the back saying, "Wow, you're a lucky guy." >> But in an instant, everything changed.
00:12:50
His wife of seven years suddenly died. And for almost 18 months, no one seemed to know why.
00:12:59
Adam says he repeatedly called the Dade County Medical Examiner's Office. >> And they all kept telling me, "We're
00:13:05
waiting on test results. We're waiting on test results." And I kept calling in. No return phone calls, no answers.
00:13:12
But in April 2009, the answer he got stunned everyone. After exhaustive [music] testing, the
00:13:24
chief medical examiner ruled that Lena died from mechanical [music] esphyxiation.
00:13:31
Adam was thrown in jail, accused of strangling his wife. I know my brother more than anyone in
00:13:42
this world and I know he's just not capable of anything like that. He just cannot [music] do that.
00:13:49
>> Adam's family cared for Haley and Jake while he was behind bars. At a hearing two months later, Adam's
00:13:57
lawyers made headlines with a unique defense. They said the spray tan did it. A few
00:14:05
hours before she passed away, she had a spray tan for the first time. It is possible to have an allergic reaction
00:14:10
from this. So that was our thought that everything else was normal. >> But prosecutor Kathleen Hog scoffed at
00:14:17
their theory. >> It was a laughable defense. Truly, >> laughable or not, Adam Calfman was
00:14:25
released on a half million dollars bond. Tracked by an electronic ankle monitor,
00:14:31
he went home to his family to prepare for trial. It would take three years. >> The defendant is charged with
00:14:40
seconddegree murder. >> But finally, in May 2012, >> ladies and gentlemen of our jury,
00:14:46
>> Adam Calfman goes on trial in downtown Miami. >> Do you swore the testimony you're about
00:14:52
to give? >> As the prosecution case begins, >> take me through it. What did you do
00:14:56
next? First responders testify they found Adam's behavior suspicious. >> Mr. Kaufman on the scene was sometimes
00:15:05
very calm, just talking like us right now. And within a second, he would be completely a grieving type, out of
00:15:15
control. It It was almost like an act. >> Everyone acts differently under pressure.
00:15:21
>> True. But probably there's probably nobody that sees more of that than these people. All right.
00:15:26
>> You know, they didn't think that it was real. >> Did you notice any marks on her neck or
00:15:31
on her shoulders? >> Yes, ma'am. >> But more troubling, Adam's initial stories seemed inconsistent.
00:15:38
>> Okay. Did you describe how he found her in the bathroom? >> Yes. >> Paramedic Kimberly Burke says Adam told
00:15:44
her that he found his wife slumped over the toilet. crouched over the toilet as if she was vomiting
00:15:51
>> when he woke up at 6:00 a.m. >> But the doctor at the hospital says he heard a different version.
00:15:58
>> She had some strange marks on her neck [clears throat] and uh I was asked him if he knew how
00:16:02
those might have occurred and at that point in time he stated that maybe the patient was laying on a magazine rack in
00:16:09
the bathroom. >> Why would these people think that you had something to do with Lena's death? I
00:16:14
I I I pondered that for for years now. And when someone that young and healthy dies, people want answers.
00:16:25
And I can't give people answers they want to hear. [music] >> Prosecutor Kathleen Hogue doesn't have
00:16:33
all the answers either. Unlike most spousal murders, this one doesn't appear to have a motive.
00:16:41
Is [music] there any evidence that Adam Kaufman was having an affair? >> No. >> Is there any evidence Lena Kaufman was
00:16:50
having an affair? >> No. >> Is there any evidence that there were serious domestic problems in this
00:16:57
relationship? >> No. But isn't that going to make it very difficult in front of a jury to believe
00:17:03
that this couple who seemed to love each other would just blow up one time and end up with with a homicide?
00:17:11
>> Well, you know, the injury speaks for itself. I don't know that he necessarily
00:17:15
meant to do it, but I know that he did it because of the injury to her neck here, there in the strap muscles. It was
00:17:23
very deep sustained pressure. Hogue believes Adam and Lena got into a fight in the early morning hours of
00:17:32
November 7th. Exactly what [music] they fought about, she isn't sure, but she says the proof is in these crime scene
00:17:41
photos. >> You believe that was an argument that started in the kitchen? >> I do because her her breakfast was half
00:17:47
done. >> Hogue is certain the compulsively neat Lena Kaufman would not have left a bowl
00:17:53
of cereal and a halfeaten banana on the counter. She believes the argument moved from the
00:17:59
kitchen upstairs. >> You know, she may well have just been going into the shower saying, you know,
00:18:04
screw you. I'm not going to listen to you anymore. I don't want to talk about it. And, you know, he just flew off the
00:18:08
handle. Yes, you are. Grabs her and, you know, it's not that hard for someone as
00:18:14
big and as strong as him to strangle someone. >> The prosecutor says that she believes
00:18:20
that there was a fight that morning before. Did you fight with Lena? >> Absolutely not. Lena and I argued just
00:18:27
like every married couple. Did we argue that day? Absolutely not. Everything was
00:18:31
perfect. >> But some say things weren't [music] quite so perfect. In the weeks before
00:18:37
she died, Lena was threatening not to go to Seth and Raquel's upcoming wedding. [music]
00:18:43
>> There were some minor issues that I tried to stay out of. There were some um there was an issue with walking down the
00:18:50
aisle. >> Adam was Seth's best man. Raquel wanted him to walk down the aisle, not with
00:18:56
Lena, but with her mate of honor. And that upset Lena, says her friend Jennifer.
00:19:03
>> When Lena found out that she wasn't walking with Adam, it it really set her off.
00:19:10
>> You call it a minor issue. Some of her friends say it was a >> I can't say it did not bother Lena, but
00:19:17
Lena and I did talk about it. We did. And she was upset about it. Definitely was
00:19:20
>> fight over that. Did that become a physical fight? Not at all. No. Never. [music]
00:19:26
>> She didn't do it to herself. You know, has to be done by someone else. [music]
00:19:32
He's the only person that could have done it. >> I've never laid a hand on her in our
00:19:38
entire relationship. Nothing happened. Look at the evidence. All right, jury. >> There is absolutely no doubt in my mind.
00:20:00
>> Good morning, members of the jury, >> that Adam Kaufman is innocent of this charge. None zero zip.
00:20:08
>> There are two sides to every story, ladies and gentlemen. to tell Adam Calfman's side. His family luckily had
00:20:15
the money to hire a dream team of defense attorneys. >> An innocent man has been falsely
00:20:20
charged. >> Two of Miami's toughest lawyers. Bill Matthew. >> I'm an ex- cop. >> And Al Millian.
00:20:28
>> I was a prosecutor for 12 years. [music] >> They're very different. They're the good
00:20:32
cop, bad cop. >> Adam's mother, Elaine, believes they're the perfect combination.
00:20:37
>> Bill never gets excited about things. We believe that this situation is unique
00:20:41
>> and Al is quite the opposite. >> It is improper. >> He's a ball of fire. >> I don't have any trouble hearing so
00:20:48
please don't raise your voice at me. Mr. Matthew, you may proceed. >> To counter Kathleen Hog and her
00:20:54
prosecution team. The defense attorneys have suddenly changed their strategy. They're no longer blaming Lena's death
00:21:02
on her spray tan because there's not enough evidence to support it. Now they're attacking what they say was
00:21:09
[music] a botched investigation by the Aventura police. >> This case was assigned to a detective
00:21:15
who had never conducted a homicide investigation. >> The lead investigator reported that Adam
00:21:21
told emergency personnel conflicting stories about how he found his wife. But Adam's attorneys question those witness
00:21:30
accounts. >> I've always been consistent with one story. one story that she was slumped
00:21:36
[music] over. >> You didn't tell anyone that she was over the toilet like she was throwing up?
00:21:41
>> Never. Never. Absolutely not. >> Where was [music] she exactly? >> Adam agreed to show us how he found
00:21:48
Lena. >> We had a leather magazine holder rack. >> And where was that in that corner?
00:21:54
>> That was right here. >> When I walked in, she was on top of it. She was draped over and her head, if you
00:22:03
turn your head to the right like that, and her hair was in her face, >> but she wasn't on the toilet.
00:22:10
>> No, it was almost like she was sitting on the toilet and then got up and this
00:22:14
happened or was about to sit down on the toilet and this happened. >> But then, how do Adam and his attorneys
00:22:20
explain the suspicious injuries on Lena's neck that prosecutors say prove that she was strangled? When Lena
00:22:27
Kaufman passed out, she fell onto a rack filled with very thick magazines. And those marks are consistent with her
00:22:36
resting on top, falling on top of those magazines in the magazine rack. And they're inconsistent with any type of
00:22:43
fingernails or fingers of anything of that nature. >> And those deep internal injuries inside
00:22:49
Lena's neck. Al Millian blames them on the paramedics. They tried to intubate her and and they made multiple efforts.
00:22:57
>> Witnesses admitted that there were three failed attempts to insert a tube down
00:23:02
Lena's windpipe to help her breathe. >> If a tube is is jammed into a person's throat, it could actually cause damage
00:23:10
around the throat area. Isn't that correct? >> Yes, sir. >> And Millian admits that Adam might have
00:23:15
caused some of the injuries himself in his desperate attempt to save Lena. My wife can get from it. She's on a poor
00:23:24
guy. >> I need you to do compressions. Okay. >> Do you think when you were giving her
00:23:29
CPR, you might have left some of these injuries? >> I I I I can't tell you one way or
00:23:35
another. I I'm working on my wife. >> 14 16. >> I want to believe that I wasn't rough on
00:23:45
her. >> I tilt her head back. I thought [snorts] I did it gently. >> Is it possible that I didn't? Yeah, it's
00:23:54
possible. >> The other bruises and abrasions on Lena's arms and legs occurred. According
00:23:59
to the defense, when Lena was being moved from room to room by firefighters, not from a struggle with Adam.
00:24:07
>> Nothing on her body indicates that she was involved in a struggle. You would have expected to see that Adam would
00:24:12
have had scratches on his face, on his arms, on his hands, on his wrist, none of which existed. and that bathroom
00:24:20
would have been full of marks. That tanning spray leaves trace evidence everywhere.
00:24:26
>> Crime scene technician Anna Howell admits in court she didn't find any marks on the wall.
00:24:32
>> Did you swab or test the side of the wall here? >> No, sir. Because there was nothing of
00:24:37
evidentary value on there. But a defense expert enhanced [music] photos and found what appears to be
00:24:44
traces of spray tan where Adam says Lena had contact with the bathroom wall. >> A rectangular to ovalshaped mark.
00:24:54
>> And then there's the magazine rack that Lena was laying on. Howell took the rack
00:25:00
as evidence, but says lead investigator Anthony Angulo told her to leave the magazines.
00:25:07
>> By the direction of Detective Angulo, the magazines were not collected. There
00:25:12
was no evidentary value on them. There was no blood. There was they were not wet.
00:25:16
>> But Bill Matthew contends there was some kind of fluid on top of the magazines as
00:25:23
seen in this enhanced photo. And it could have been crucial evidence. What happened to all that?
00:25:29
>> That's the $10,000 question. Where are those magazines? >> They're gone. They're not there.
00:25:36
>> You can't test it. >> We can't test them. [music] >> And then a development no one expected.
00:25:43
That raises even more questions about how this case was investigated. >> You're friends with Detective Angula?
00:25:50
>> I'm a co-orker of his. Yes. >> But when you've been off duty, you socialize with Detective Angula?
00:25:56
>> No, sir. But the defense knows it's not quite the truth. >> Good morning everybody. You may be
00:26:02
seated. >> And the following day, in a stunning about face, >> do you swear the testimony you're about
00:26:08
to give will be the truth? The whole truth. >> Anna How admits her real relationship
00:26:12
with the lead detective. >> Did you have an affair with Detective Angula? >> Yes. And my husband is well aware of it,
00:26:19
sir, and I am happily married and I don't have any issues with that any longer. Did you have any idea that this crime
00:26:27
scene technician was having a relationship with the lead detective? >> No. None.
00:26:35
>> It wasn't about the affair. It's about the lying and the motivation for covering up.
00:26:39
>> Yeah. It was very, very bad for us. >> But the biggest court battle is about to
00:26:48
come. >> The experts say that it's not a homicide. The experts say that it's absolutely not a murder. And the experts
00:26:55
[music] say that it is a natural death. >> There are unexplained deaths that happen
00:27:13
in this country every day. People pass away from natural causes and [music] sometimes they can figure out what it
00:27:18
is, sometimes they can't. And yet, a seemingly healthy young woman is dead with injuries and bruises on her neck
00:27:27
and body. The county's chief medical examiner testifying for the prosecution says there can be only one conclusion.
00:27:35
>> Cause of death is mechanical asphixxia. >> Mechanical esphixxia. >> Yes. >> And what would be the manner of death?
00:27:41
>> Homicide. >> Homicide. Dr. Bruce Hima tells the jury that Lena Calfman was murdered when someone or
00:27:50
something cut off her airway. >> And why would it be a homicide, Dr. Hima? >> Given all of the totality information
00:27:58
and and all of the injury and this mechanical esphyxiation could only occur at at the hands of somebody else.
00:28:04
>> And Dr. Heimmer's opinion is backed by his former associate medical examiner who supervised the original autopsy.
00:28:12
>> Did you know you had an asphixial death? Yes. >> Did you know you had a homicide?
00:28:17
>> Yes. >> But the defense has its own medical witnesses and they say something completely different.
00:28:25
>> Was the death of Eleanor Kaufman a homicide? >> No. >> And why do you say that?
00:28:31
>> The evidence does not point to that. >> According to Dr. John Maracini, a pathologist, Lena Calfman died simply of
00:28:40
undiagnosed heart failure. And these slides taken of her heart, he says, prove it.
00:28:46
>> This area is where normal heart muscle used to be and something happened. There
00:28:53
was disease here and disease changed the tissue from this to this. >> He tells the jury she had myocarditis,
00:29:02
an inflammation of the heart. >> My opinion is she developed an irregular heartbeat. She collapsed.
00:29:12
>> That's also what Dr. Michael Bodton, the former New York City chief medical examiner, concludes.
00:29:18
>> Mrs. Calfman died of her pre-existing natural, acute, and chronic myocarditis.
00:29:26
>> It's a shocking claim, especially since Lena Calfman appeared to have no history
00:29:31
of heart disease. But her husband now recalls unexplained figning spells after they married.
00:29:38
>> I remember standing at the bar in a club with her and all of a sudden, you know,
00:29:42
we're talking and she just collapses straight down. And luckily, I was standing there. I caught her. 2 3
00:29:49
seconds later, she kind of came out of it. I'm all right. I'm all right. >> Hi. >> There was a much more serious incident
00:29:57
after Haley was born, Adam says. >> Hey, what's going on? Lena had been home with a toddler when
00:30:04
she suddenly collapsed. >> She had called me and said, "I just fainted. I just passed out and I can't
00:30:12
get off the floor." I said, "Okay, I'm I'm rushing home." When I remember when I got home, she was up. She was fine
00:30:19
walking around like nothing had happened. >> Didn't that concern you? >> Of course. Of course.
00:30:24
>> But Adam admits Lena never sought treatment from a doctor. Why not push her to go see the doctor? Yeah. Um, she
00:30:32
didn't want to go. She She said she was perfectly fine and and life was back to normal.
00:30:38
>> Do you believe that she had a history of fainting spells? >> No. Her friends didn't, you know, didn't
00:30:44
corroborate that. >> What's more, says prosecutor Kathleen Hogue, none of the doctors hired by the
00:30:51
state believe the signs of inflammation seen in Lena's heart were serious enough
00:30:57
to kill her. >> Any indication she had trouble with her heart? No. >> Any indication she had a pre-existing
00:31:02
medical condition? Signs of dizziness, shortness of breath, anything that would have caused you concern about what she
00:31:09
had going into this? >> No. >> Nothing. >> Nothing at all. >> Did you see any signs at all in Lena
00:31:14
Kaufman's heart that suggested she had congestive heart failure? >> No. >> Dr. Monzo, do you agree with the
00:31:20
findings that Lena Kaufman had active inflammation in her heart and evidence of a scar?
00:31:25
>> I do not. I found nothing abnormal. How could six reputable doctors, four testifying for the prosecution and two
00:31:34
for the defense, take a look at all the same evidence, but reach such different conclusions. Was Lena Kaufman murdered
00:31:43
or did she die of heart failure? Her husband's future hangs on that answer. >> Does a case like this scare you?
00:31:52
>> It does. >> Dr. Gregory Davis [music] isn't working for either the prosecution or the
00:31:57
defense. He's the medical examiner for the state of Kentucky, [music] the expert we asked to look at all the
00:32:04
evidence. As you sit here now, do you now believe you know what killed Lena Kaufman?
00:32:10
>> I do. >> You have no question about it. >> No question. She died of myocarditis
00:32:15
that caused an acute cardiac dysriythmia and caused her death. >> It was Lena's heart that killed her, not
00:32:22
her husband, says Dr. Davis. He points to [music] the evidence that convinces him. This pink thing is a heart cell and
00:32:31
these are inflammatory cells that are actually attacking and destroying that heart cell.
00:32:35
>> The inflammatory cells are those small dark ones. >> That is a true myocarditis, a true
00:32:42
inflammation of the heart where the body's own immune system is actually attacking the heart.
00:32:48
>> And those injuries on Lena's neck, sadly, says Dr. Davis, they may have been caused by Lena herself. if she were
00:32:58
suffering a cardiac dysriythmia which causes can cause an air hunger in a patient whose hearts is rapidly failing.
00:33:06
She she feels out of breath. It can be very common for a person to grab at their own neck in that kind of scenario.
00:33:14
I think she died a natural death. >> Dr. Davis is just as sure of his diagnosis as is every medical expert who
00:33:22
testified at trial. proof that even in this age of high-tech crime scene investigations,
00:33:30
what is written on a death certificate is not fact, but simply one doctor's opinion.
00:33:37
>> I think these are honest, good physicians, but they are interpreting these findings differently. And I know
00:33:44
that can be scary because people's lives are on the line based upon these interpretations. But even if all these
00:33:51
doctors can't agree, 12 jurors are going to have to. [music] >> Two weeks into the trial, a surprising
00:34:13
witness for the defense. Your honor, at this time we would call Miss Freda Eisman,
00:34:20
>> Lena Calfman's [music] mother. >> Do you swear affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the
00:34:25
whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> Yes. >> Do you love Adam? >> Like my own son.
00:34:32
>> Do you support him? >> I'm here. >> Do you? >> I really believe that he is not guilty.
00:34:39
He is not guilt. He did has nothing to do with this. Freda Eisman is Adam's best hope.
00:34:46
>> The fact that she was willing to come in there and testify for Adam and support
00:34:51
Adam in front of that jury was critical for us. >> Critical because attorney Bill Matthew
00:34:58
says she backs up Adam's claims that Lena had undiagnosed health problems that caused her death.
00:35:06
>> She had a habit, let's see, uh to faint. Yes. According to Freda, Lena suffered
00:35:13
fainting spells as a child. >> So, what did you think? It was just normal that she would faint
00:35:18
occasionally. >> Um, no. Of course, it's not normal, but it was when she was little. We went to
00:35:22
the doctors, of course, and they didn't find anything. >> Now, Freda believes the reason her
00:35:28
daughter asked her to take care of her children was because Lena knew she was ill. But prosecutors [music] say there
00:35:35
are no records Lena ever consulted a doctor about fainting spells. >> Was Lena ever taken by ambulance to the
00:35:42
hospital in response to any one of these episodes she had? >> No. >> So the fainting spells that you observed
00:35:48
in Lena were a long time ago, not close to her death. >> Yes. >> If she thought Adam killed her daughter,
00:35:55
why would she testify for him? >> She has no idea what's going on between Adam and her daughter. She's never
00:36:00
really seen the injuries to her daughter or, you know, she only knows what the Kaufman family has told her.
00:36:07
>> Adam Kaufman is not guilty. >> In closing arguments, the defense emphasizes Freda's unwavering belief in
00:36:15
her son-in-law. >> Freda Eisman lost her daughter. Freda still supports Adam, loves him
00:36:22
like a son, knows he's innocent. But the prosecution questions her motive for testifying.
00:36:30
>> Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Eisman has two beautiful grandchildren. What do you
00:36:36
think would happen if she didn't support him? >> Do you think for a second she would be
00:36:41
seeing her grandchildren? You think she's going to go against him? >> Are you accusing me?
00:36:50
>> Freda's outburst angers the judge. All right, I'm not going to have any outbursts from the audience. You can
00:36:56
have a seat outside. >> Who orders her to leave the courtroom? >> If there was a side of you that thought
00:37:01
that Adam did have something to do with your daughter's death, would you have still defended him in court?
00:37:08
>> Of course not. >> Even to keep a father for >> Of course not. What What father he can
00:37:14
be if he can do this to a mom to this kid. So what father he can be? Of course not.
00:37:23
On June 5th, 2012, after a month-long trial, the case goes to the jury and the waiting begins.
00:37:33
>> It's a scary, scary, scary thing. >> Look what I made for you, Dad. >> Adam's biggest fear that his children,
00:37:41
[music] who have already lost their mother, will now lose him. kids live in poverty.
00:37:47
>> Every morning I leave and I go to um I go to work or the kids go to [music] school and you know you hug the kids and
00:37:54
you kiss the kids >> and you know you're going to see them. This morning was um was uh was different.
00:38:08
>> That hug and and kiss was was different. After [music] eight agonizing hours, the
00:38:16
jury reaches a verdict. >> Okay, please bring the jury. >> It was It was definitely that feeling
00:38:23
of, "Okay, here it is. Here we go." >> Madam clerk, please come. >> And I stood up in between Al and Bill
00:38:33
and put my head down and just thought of my kids. >> We the jury in Miami Day County,
00:38:40
Florida, finds The defendant is not guilty. So say we all for a person Bernard Wh Jenny.
00:38:52
>> All I heard was not guilty and I felt >> either party. >> Bill grabbed me and Al grabbed me and I
00:38:59
could hear the family and crying and and I'm like, is this it? Is it over? >> The defendant is discharged at this time
00:39:07
and free to go. Thank [snorts] you. The man branded as a killer for more than three years is acquitted of his
00:39:14
wife's murder. >> And it was uh amazing. It was unbelievable. It was pretty overwhelming. It was It was overwhelming
00:39:24
>> for prosecutors. It's a crushing defeat. Even though you're acquitted, aren't
00:39:30
there still some people who wonder, did you have anything to [music] do with your wife's death? Of course there's
00:39:36
people out there that are that are going to sit and wonder. People that matter, know the truth, and that's all I care
00:39:42
about. >> Freedom. >> Adam is now trying to get his life and his reputation back.
00:39:49
>> Has it occurred to you that you might not be sitting here if it wasn't for Lena's mom coming forward and
00:39:55
testifying? >> Absolutely. >> She probably saved your life. >> Yeah. Yeah, I think so.
00:40:04
saved by Lena's mom, Adam says, and Lena herself. >> I believe she she was she was a big part
00:40:12
of this entire process and she was uh she was watching over it. >> In the end, [music] Lena's heart saved
00:40:20
my life. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] >> [music] [music]