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Tonight, reality show producer Bruce Barersford Redmond found guilty of killing his wife
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Monica. 48 hours has been covering the trial of Bruce Barersford Redmond for more than
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three years. It's a journey Bears for Redmond allowed us to follow from the inside. Watch and decide for yourself if
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you agree with the verdict. >> [cheering] >> My name is Bruce Baris for Redmond.
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>> I am in a Mexican prison where I have been on trial now for more than 2 years
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and 9 months. I am accused of the murder of my wife Monica for a crime that I did
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not commit. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her and miss her. >> Justice for Monica. Justice for Monica.
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>> I wish I could believe that it didn't have anything to do with my sister's murder.
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>> It's for the love that we have for her and all the memories that we have about
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her that we are here today demanding justice. >> What you will see tonight is a glimpse
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into uh Mexican prison. We first told you the story of Bruce Bersford Redmond in 2012. His wife was murdered at a
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Cancun hotel where the family was vacationing. Bruce returned to the United States to take care of his
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children. But when Mexico charged him with his wife's murder, he was extradited here to stand trial. Tonight,
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we will show you an exclusive sitdown interview and an extraordinary video diary taken inside these walls.
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I agreed to do these video diaries to give a sense of what life is like here in hell. Making these videos has really
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made me much more visible here, which is really not a great thing for me. My existence in here has become a very
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basic struggle to simply survive. For many years, I worked in reality TV. And the reality of reality television,
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even at its best, it's a world that that is created. Being in here is real. It is
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real and it really sucks. It's noisy and it's smelly and it's sweaty and hot and
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cramped. It's extremely uncomfortable. This is not an easy place to be. I really don't have any any what you could
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call real friends here. And it's impossible for me to really have anybody in here that I can trust.
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>> In the middle of the night when the prison is asleep, I lay awake and I miss Monica.
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>> Come on, walk your daddy. >> I don't think that I could possibly convey what it feels like to have not
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seen my children, not held my children for nearly 3 years now. >> Wow. Yay. Hey,
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>> everything that I worked my life to build is gone. >> Really angry, disgusted, and determined
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to fight this through until we get Bruce home. He is an innocent American citizen
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and he does not belong in a horrible Mexican jail and he is not guilty of murdering his wife.
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>> I feel relieved that he was convicted of murder. We were waiting for 5 years for
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this. Finally, my sister can rest in peace. I'm Troy Roberts. Tonight on 48 Hours,
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Bruce Barerisford Redmond. The verdict. Let's watch again. [music] I installed this for use during rides.
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We cut this piece of wood. to keep this locked, maintain the integrity of our salmon stay in here.
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>> Uh, it's Friday. I heard some pops and then uh I could smell the the tear gas.
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This is really strong, itchy, burny. Um, oh god, it's awful. Today, this is reality for Bruce
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Barisford Redmond as it has been since 48 hours first met him back in February 2012.
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>> This is not the United States. I really don't know this system. I don't know how
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it works. >> Back then, Barisford Redmond was housed in the high security wing of Cancun's
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Bonito Wades prison, a cell block full of drug traffickers and assassins responsible for countless murders around
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Mexico. Now he's in general population where he has more freedom. He agreed to make
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these prison diaries to document his day-to-day life. It is a rare glimpse inside a Mexican prison.
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>> Being incarcerated anywhere, but I think maybe especially here it time just gets warped.
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It is almost impossible to live in the present because the present is just absolutely miserable.
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>> [music] >> I spent a lot of time in the past reliving times with Monica, with the
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kids, just times when I was free. >> Images of Monica, lovely, vivacious, and headstrong, haunt Barerisford Redmond.
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>> I've had a lot of time to think back on things and to remember things from the
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past. Hi, Bruce. Nice to meet you. Pleasure. >> For more than two years, we tried to get
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permission to do a sitdown interview in this prison. Finally, we got it. For better or worse,
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>> how did you meet Monica? >> Monica owned a restaurant and a nightclub in in West Los Angeles called
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Zubumba. >> Are you the owner of this place? >> Yes, I am. I'm proud to like have
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Brazil, a part of Brazil here. you know, the fun and the happiness. >> I randomly went there one night for
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dinner and this beautiful woman served me great food and and there was a fun place and I
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I went back to try and get her attention and then I sort of never left. [music] Monica was the most beautiful,
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engaging uh just she was great. She was so cool. And very quickly I found that my relationship with her was different
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than any relationship I'd ever had before. And and I was in love with her and she was in love with me. It was
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terrific. >> Monica's sisters Carla and Giani Bergos say that when Bruce and Monica first met
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back in 1997, they seemed like a happy couple. The Berggo sisters spoke to us in 2012.
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>> She had life. She was a very um outgoing and uh self-confident person. Bruce was
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a very well- read person. He can be very eloquent, but not necessarily the emotion.
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[cheering] >> After marrying in 1999, the couple had two children. Camila, now 10, and Alec,
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now eight. We agreed not to show the children's faces and recent pictures. >> Daddy, he's playing catch.
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Monica had the restaurant and Bruce had his career which was taking off in a hurry.
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He was a top producer on the CBS program Survivor and also worked on several hit
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reality shows for other networks and cable outlets. >> As the money poured in, the family moved
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to a $2 million house in Los Angeles. With a more lavish lifestyle came some unexpected challenges.
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>> Things became difficult >> at times. Sure. Both Monica and I worked a great deal. I
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worked during the day. She worked at night. There was a long period of time when we were sort of passing one
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another. >> If that sounds like a recipe for marital discord, it was. Barisford Redmond began an affair with
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his longtime casting director Joy Pierce. At times, the two had trouble keeping their hands off each other, even
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in front of Monica's sister, Carla. >> I went with him to a party. As soon as you got there, she jumped on his lap
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like here and here and I was, you know, >> you were stunned. >> I Yeah. >> Bruce was struggling with the affair on
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an emotional level. He considered telling his parents, David and Wanita, and eventually confided in his mother.
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>> Did you encourage him to break off the affair? >> I did. I said, you know, that's the only
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smart thing to do. You will hurt yourself. he will hurt Monica. I got the impression that he had really fallen in
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love and it was going to be very difficult for him to break it off. >> After Monica [music] angrily confronted
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her husband, Barersford Redmond wrote her a brutally frank email. It was written on March 4th, 2010, only one
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month before the couple was to leave on their ill- fated Mexican vacation. In the email, Bariser Redmond laid bare the
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painful truth, writing, "Joy and I were lovers. Monica was devastated. >> My relationship with Monica was good.
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>> You can't paint a rosy picture on this, right? I mean, you guys had problems.
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>> Like any marriage, like any family, we had we had issues, certain issues, but
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we were we were happily married and we were in love with each other. We were we were good." Barersford Redmond wouldn't
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talk to 48 Hours about his affair, but in an email written to Joy Pierce in the spring of 2010, Bruce outlined the steps
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a furious Monica had taken against him. Quote, "She denied me access to my children. She shut me out of my home and
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liquidated all my money." >> It was a point where she had decided to get divorced from him.
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>> But Bruce did all he could to change Monica's mind. He promised he'd break off his affair with Joy and told Monica
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he would change his ways. Monica agreed to go with him for the family vacation they took every year for her upcoming
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birthday. This time they traveled to the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico. >> How was the trip initially?
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>> It was good. It was it was really fun, you know. >> So you and Monica got along well during
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this trip. >> Yeah, >> we had a really good time. That's hardly the way Monica described
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the trip, according to her sister, Giani, who says she spoke to Monica by phone the day before she was murdered.
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Giani says Monica was upset about Bruce's cheating. >> I told her, "Monica, don't worry. You
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know, come back here. Just move on with your life. You're just going to build up
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your life again, and you're going to be happy again." >> The next day, April 5th, 2010, was to be
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the last day of Monica's life. She was going to do some shopping. Uh, and then she was perhaps going to go to a spa.
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>> And when did you grow concerned? [sighs] >> Probably 10:30 or 11:00 that night.
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>> Bruce's concerns were made all the worse because he says Monica had not taken her
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cell phone so he could not call her. Police later discovered that she did not take her passport or a room key either.
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Is that surprising that she didn't take her cell phone when you were alone with the kids?
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>> No. No, not really. When Monica was off the grid, she was off the grid. >> Did you think it odd that she didn't
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take her cell phone with her that day? >> Of course, she doesn't take her cell phone. She left the kids all day with
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him. She never does that ever. One of the things that I remember from the night that
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uh Monica was first missing was my children sleeping. I had given them baths and I had put them to bed. And
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then I thought, "Okay, I'm going to go outside and I'm going to take a look and I'm going to see Monica walking back
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towards the room." But Monica did not come back to the room. Not that night and not ever.
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The long upward trajectory of Barerisford Redmond's one successful life and career was about to end
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abruptly. [music] >> In my dreams, I'm free. In my dreams, I'm I'm home. I'm with my children.
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When Bruce Barerisford Redmond left on his family vacation to Mexico back in 2010, he probably never thought home
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would turn out to be here. This prison where he has spent more than 3 years on trial for his wife's murder. It houses
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more than 1,800 men and women in a compound originally built for 700. When I uh walk around the prison, no
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matter where I'm going or what's going on, I am constantly aware that this is just a hostile environment for me.
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I'm completely shut down. I am simply in survival mode. To make it here, you cannot indulge in human sentiments. You
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really have to deaden a part of yourself and just survive. My Spanish is still not very good, so
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I'm always paying attention. and you never really are able to relax. >> It's a pressure cooker of criminals and
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contraband that often boils over. >> You're with people who have demonstrated [snorts] poor impulse control and a
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number of them may have mental problems. It's not uncommon to have fist fights, screaming matches. It is a very
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dehumanizing situation. >> The cell that I'm in is a very small cell. It's designed for three men and
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there are 10 of us in here. There have been as many as 17. This is the bathroom of the cell. All of
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these buckets are full of water. The water here runs only for a couple hours a day.
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>> That is pretty much exactly what it looks like, which is an open sewer. And the smell is
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winding. >> [music] >> The cell is open to the elements, rain and relentless heat.
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>> And the whole country, it feels like, is just steaming. This is the bunk where I sleep. I've
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awakened probably seven or eight times now with a cockroach on me someplace. And up here, I've got some vitamins and
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mouthwash and toothbrush. Keep my change in here. There is a picture of Camila and Alec. That is one of my favorite
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pictures. This is breakfast this morning. Brown liquid with some beans at the bottom there. I think I have gotten
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violently ill eating the prison food. It's got a nice thumb print on it. >> Okay.
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Guards basically maintain a perimeter on the outside and their concern primarily
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is making sure that nobody gets out. The prisoners discipline each other and it's
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much more dangerous because there's really nobody to come to your help, to your aid if you are in trouble in here.
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>> Danger is all around, but he says Mexican prison also means a freedom that he never had in American prison where we
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spent 18 months awaiting extradition. >> In many ways, this is like a very small
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village that they just threw razor wire around. There's churches in here. There's a mechanic shop in here. Guys
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making hammocks. >> Some of the women prisoners are even allowed to have their children live with
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them. >> Three times a week, it's visiting day. >> As you can see, this place is full today
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of families. On visit days, from 8:00 in the morning to 3:00 in the afternoon, the prison
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fills up with families and wives and kids. Family is extraordinarily highly valued
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here. >> Pisto days have a tendency to make me a little sad, a little melancholy, and
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they certainly make me miss my family. >> There are no family visits for Bruce. >> I would not allow them. Um, I don't want
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them to be confronted with how I am forced to exist in here. >> So, he hasn't [music] seen them in more
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than 3 years. Okay, another attempt to call home. >> His lifeline is phone calls to his
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children, Alec and Camila. >> Hi, good morning. How you doing, buddy? >> Who live with his parents in California
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>> to hear my kids' voice, to hear my parents' voices. >> Love you, sweetheart. >> All right. I love you, Mom.
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>> Bye. >> Byebye. >> It's the best, most human part of my day. >> All right. I love you, sweetheart. I'll
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talk to you later. I have not been able to be a father to Camila and Alec for years now. It is
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devastating. It takes all of my energy just to keep going. >> But there's no choice. Bruce,
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>> his family >> and Monica's sisters all are navigating an unfamiliar landscape. Justice in a
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foreign country. >> There's no question that the Mexican legal system is different from ours in
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the way. Sonia Ciros is US Council General for the Cancun area. She says she is closely following the Barisford
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Redmond case and that by Mexican standards, it doesn't surprise her. >> Has Mr. Barisford Redmond complained to
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you about the length of this trial? >> He has raised that issue and we're following through on that.
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>> Do you have any sense of what the prison conditions are like? I would say that
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the prison conditions are are not up to what we would consider standards in the United States.
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>> Nine guys in this cell. >> Bruce at least has a bed. We [clears throat] found another American,
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38-year-old Johnny Menu from Seattle, who incredibly sleeps on the floor under Barisford Redmond's bunk. It's not
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uncommon in this prison. As the sun begins to set, >> another night here, another night in
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paradise. They're locked in for the night. >> And then I just lay down and try to go
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to sleep. >> Asleep, he says, that is haunted by the memory of his murdered wife.
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>> I still miss her all the time, and I still think about her all the time. I I never lose sight of the fact that this
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is really Monica's story. >> Monica's [music] story is a murder mystery, and for Bruce, it's a real who
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[music] done it. Why do you think Monica's family is convinced that you killed her?
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>> This is the view from my cell at night. Uh that spotlight shines in here pretty
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much all night long and it never gets very dark. So at night time, this is what I see. With so much time on his
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hands, Bruce Barerisford Redmond says he thinks often of the day Monica disappeared.
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>> As soon as I was awake, I called the hotel desk, I guess, and I said, "You know, my wife didn't come back
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yesterday. Do you know where she is?" >> After reporting that she was missing, he
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called Giani Bergos, Monica's sister. >> When Bruce called you to say that Monica
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was missing, what went through your minds? >> My sister missing. Monica. Monica is not a person that get lost.
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She doesn't get lost. >> She's a person that she goes anywhere and she makes friends and she knows what
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she's doing. >> It's a sister. >> A worried Giani immediately flew to Cancun to help with the search. But the
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next day, hotel workers found Monica's body in that sewer situated near the family's hotel room. How could someone
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can put a person in a [music] sewage? Very, very, very horrible. >> How did you learn that her body was
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discovered? >> I was at the hotel. I was sitting there waiting and they brought me back to my
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room and I had no idea what was going on. Finally, someone told me that they had
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found Monica's [music] body. >> It would have been her 42nd birthday. I could not make sense of that. It it I
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it just uh it just um it didn't seem possible. >> Bruce Berisford Redmond became a suspect
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almost immediately because investigators thought his story of Monica's disappearance defied logic.
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>> They didn't believe she would leave the children behind without taking her room
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key, her passport, or even her cell phone. What's more, Barisaur Redmond had visible scratches on his body.
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>> He says the injuries to his hand occurred after a boat ride as he tried to carry his children up a steep
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incline. >> It was rocky and slippery and I had to lift the kids out and then climb out
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myself and I scratched my hands a little bit. As for the scratches to the back of
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his neck, >> we were diving and I surfaced and there was a nylon rope and it was just a rough
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nylon rope and it araided the back of my head a little bit and that was it. >> Police also learned that two English
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teenagers had reported hearing screams coming from Barisford Reven's room very early on the morning. Bruce said Monica
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went shopping. A female screamed crying for help. >> Jen Hegger covered the story for Radar
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Online. >> The next morning, the teenagers told their parents about what they had heard
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to the concierge. The concierge called the hotel room to see what was going on. And Bruce said that [music] they Bruce
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and Monica were arguing about the children and that everything was fine. Barerisford Redmond maintains that he
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and the children were simply playing a loud boisterous game, but now his every move was coming under scrutiny.
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>> You had a do not disturb sign on the door all day. >> Yes. >> Why? >> Well, I was in and out all day with the
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kids. We were napping and doing stuff and didn't want to be disturbed. It It's simple as that, really. The Mexican
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authorities believed that Bruce wouldn't allow the maids to clean the room that day because there was a dead body inside
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and that dead body belonged to his wife, Monica. >> The police theorized that Barisford
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Redmond had suffocated his wife and later that night went looking for a place to stash her body.
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>> We also know someone went in and out of the room nine times in the middle of the
00:24:03
night. Barerisford Redmond says he was nervously checking to see if Monica was about to return.
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>> I was in and out of the room many times to take a look, to see if I could see
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her, to walk down to where the the foot path is visible and to take a look and to return to the room.
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>> Back in Los Angeles, Monica's sister Carla thought back to the last time she [music] had seen Bruce and how agitated
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he seemed to her. It was just 2 days before the family left for Cancun. And I've seen him before they traveled and
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he was totally angry and crazy. I said, "Don't be around him. Monica, please listen to me. Get out."
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>> Why do you think Monica's family is convinced that you killed her? >> I really don't know. I understand their
00:24:54
pain. I understand their sense of loss. After my children and myself, their loss
00:24:58
is the greatest. However, why they want to blame me, I don't know >> that. I don't know.
00:25:06
>> Monica also had life insurance. Bruce was not the beneficiary, but the children stood to inherit $500,000 each.
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All in all, investigators believe they had a strong circumstantial case. But there remained a huge question. How
00:25:20
could Barisford Redmond kill his wife and then dump her body while taking care of two young children?
00:25:29
They were in one hotel room [music] and it was not a suite. It was one room. >> There was scant physical evidence
00:25:36
against Barisford Redmond except for a very small amount of blood investigators found on the bedroom pillow and a
00:25:42
balcony railing. >> When people look at you with suspicion, how do you feel? >> I've been accused of a horrible
00:25:50
abhorrent crime and I'm innocent. >> You did not kill Monica. I did not kill Monica.
00:25:57
>> But the police were convinced Bruce Barisford Redmond did kill Monica and they had no other suspects. The hotel,
00:26:04
which says it kept written logs of everyone entering or leaving the grounds, reported it had no record of
00:26:10
Monica leaving that day. And if there are security cameras at the Moon Palace, no recordings have surfaced. My best
00:26:17
guess would be that somewhere in the course of her day, she ran into some people that she should not have run
00:26:24
across. I think perhaps she attracted the attention of someone who was very dangerous.
00:26:31
>> While Barisford Redmond was cooperating with police, his children were taken back to Los Angeles by a friend of Giani
00:26:37
Burgers. >> Have you spoken with Ruth? >> She also arranged for her sister's body
00:26:41
to be brought back, even though Barisford Reban had already paid for Monica to be cremated. Why do you think
00:26:47
Bruce moved to have Monica cremated? >> I think it's pretty self-explanatory. >> Why do you think?
00:26:53
>> Is to get rid of any evidence. >> Barisford Redmond stayed in Mexico for about a week after Monica's body was
00:27:00
found. Authorities took his passport and insists they ordered him to remain in the country. Bruce says his lawyer told
00:27:07
him he was free to return to the United States. This is what I I find a little difficult is that they're investigating
00:27:16
your wife's murder and you go home. >> Mhm. Why wouldn't you stay here? >> Well, because I have two small children
00:27:28
who are at my home. They're just lost their mom. And I believed at the time that I had done all I could do to help
00:27:36
the police. So, I went home to be with my children. Having no passport, Baris for Redmond
00:27:42
got a ride to the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, and simply walked across [music] using his driver's license for
00:27:48
identification. From there, he took a train rather than fly back to Los Angeles. His unorthodox journey raised
00:27:56
suspicions. >> You didn't go back to the United States to escape possible arrest.
00:28:01
>> No, I went home to be with my children. I was at my home. I was not hiding. If
00:28:06
I'd been trying to evade, I would have attempted to evade. I went back to the United States and went directly home.
00:28:12
>> Bariser Redmond cared for his children for 7 months, but in November 2010, Mexico declared him a fugitive and
00:28:20
issued a warrant for his arrest. He was taken to a federal jail in Los Angeles where he stayed for more than a year
00:28:27
until he was finally extradited back to Cancun to stand trial for the murder of his wife.
00:28:34
Bruce probably feels that he is trapped in the worst reality show he could ever imagine.
00:28:58
In February 2012, Bruce Ferrisford Redmond, outfitted in a bulletproof vest, was extradited back to Mexico in a
00:29:05
scene straight out of a movie. >> I was taken by US Marshalss to the airport. >> I was brought here in the middle of the
00:29:14
night in a rainstorm. I hoped that my trial would end quickly when I got here. >> That is not what happened.
00:29:26
>> Essentially, the courts here move at their own pace. There are no juries, and
00:29:30
in many courtrooms on any given day, there is more than one trial going on at the same time.
00:29:36
>> The courtroom that I'm being tried in looks like a very busy shipping office above a warehouse someplace. They just
00:29:43
don't have the resources to do the things the way we do. >> Criminal defense lawyer Pat Fanning
00:29:48
lives part-time in Mexico and has experience with the country's judicial system.
00:29:53
>> Here, it's more like a municipal office in the United States where you'd go to
00:29:56
get your driver's license, where you'd go to pick up a birth certificate or something.
00:30:00
>> US Council General Sonia Ciros says the differences are more than cosmetic. There's not a trial per se in that
00:30:09
there's one period of time in which a judge hears all of the evidence. It's done through a series of written
00:30:15
presentations to the judge. It doesn't occur in the same fashion in the United States.
00:30:23
>> But as the trial has dragged on, what once seemed like a strong prosecution case appear to evaporate in court.
00:30:30
Testing revealed that the blood droplets found in the hotel room did not belong to Monica. That raised questions about
00:30:37
where Monica had been killed because she had suffered a substantial head wound. >> Our experts, they say it is not possible
00:30:44
to kill someone and produce that type of injuries without leaving blood. >> Haimey Canino is one of Bruce's lawyers
00:30:53
in Mexico. If that had happened there, uh, it would produce a humongous quantity of blood.
00:31:02
>> In court, prosecutors could not even produce the Q-tips investigators used to
00:31:06
collect the blood. Most everything else they took from the family's hotel room as potential evidence turned out to be
00:31:12
contaminated by mold and water damage while in police custody. And some of the physical evidence
00:31:19
presented at trial actually helped Barisford Redmond. footprints found near the crime scene were not bruises. It
00:31:26
also came to light that Monica's fingernails [music] were not tested for the presence of DNA because her body was
00:31:33
so decomposed. >> There isn't much direct evidence and the evidence they do have has been
00:31:39
contaminated largely. >> Well, it has in in large part, but you still have, for example, that they were
00:31:45
having marital troubles, that he had a girlfriend, the life insurance policy on her for half a million dollars.
00:31:53
But in court, even the circumstantial case against Barisford Redmond appeared weaker than advertised.
00:31:59
>> It's clear to me that they have no idea what happened to my wife. >> Some witnesses, like the English
00:32:04
teenagers who reported overhearing screams coming from the Barisford Redmond room did not appear in court.
00:32:10
Bruce says other witnesses did not repeat the stories they had first told police.
00:32:15
>> There was a witness who was a housekeeper, I think, and he came and they swore him in or did whatever they
00:32:20
do. And before anyone asked the question, he said, "I wasn't there that day. I didn't see anything. I didn't
00:32:25
hear anything. I don't know anything. I'm not sure why I'm here as a witness." >> Another person not called to the stand
00:32:30
or even part of the case was Emily Hamilton from Baltimore. She says she was nearly raped at the Moon Palace 1
00:32:38
month after Monica was murdered. And her attacker, Emily says, was a hotel worker
00:32:43
delivering food to her room. >> He threw me on the bed. He had his arms around me. I was trying to force him
00:32:52
off. I remember feeling pain because I thought I could fend for myself, but he was too strong and overbearing. And
00:33:00
that's when I yelled for my friend Casey. And she came back in and that's when he was pulling up his pants. And
00:33:06
that's when he ran out or ran out of the room. >> So, you must have been frightened of
00:33:10
your mind. >> Very much so. >> That worker was fired. In the United States, it's likely he'd be a suspect in
00:33:17
Monica's death, but that possibility was not raised in Bruce's trial. However, in
00:33:22
2013, an independent criminologist was appointed by the court to review all the evidence against Barersford Redmond.
00:33:30
>> He reviewed [music] the case. He visited the crime scene. He did all the things
00:33:34
required to make his report. >> After 6 months, the criminologist released a bombshell of a report. His
00:33:42
conclusion, Monica was not murdered in her Moon Palace hotel room and there was no physical evidence linking Barisford
00:33:49
Redmond to her murder. >> I naively assumed at that point that the prosecution would drop charges and would
00:33:57
focus their investigative efforts elsewhere. >> I'm broken inside. I have lost my wife.
00:34:03
I have lost my children. I've lost everything else. I'm on an emotional autopilot just surviving every day in
00:34:11
the hopes that I will finally at some point get out of here. But that is a diminishing hope.
00:34:17
>> Of course, Bruce is not the only one who lost a loved one. >> Everybody loved her.
00:34:24
She was so awesome, so full of life. She was so fun, so smart, everything. Each side hopes for justice, and that
00:34:35
may soon be coming because after nearly 3 years, the last witnesses will finally
00:34:40
testify. It's a Thursday afternoon. Tomorrow I will be taken back to court and I am
00:35:07
told it will be the last hearing in my trial. >> After years in Mexican prison and in
00:35:12
legal limbo, Bruce Perishford Redmond's trial finally may be nearing an end. It's very difficult for me to get my
00:35:20
hopes up because there's I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop and and so often it seems to drop on my
00:35:27
head. >> He says the trial so far hasn't made any sense. Lost or contaminated evidence, missing
00:35:35
witnesses, and agonizing delays. It's his first court date in about 3 months. And today he's set to face the
00:35:43
prosecutor's final two witnesses, hotel employees who may have witnessed Bruce and Monica arguing the day before her
00:35:50
murder. >> How many times have you appeared before this judge? >> If I had to guess, I would say probably
00:35:57
40, maybe 45 appearances in court over two and a half years. At many of those appearances, however, uh the witness
00:36:05
doesn't show up and we stand around for a little while. They reschedule the witness for another eight weeks or 10
00:36:10
weeks down the road and we all go home again. >> But these witnesses actually do show up.
00:36:16
Today, it's the judge who doesn't. >> Like many of the other hearings, this one goes ahead anyway with the judge's
00:36:25
assistant presiding. >> The witnesses arrived. No one, including the prosecution, seemed to have any idea
00:36:31
what they were going to say. Incredibly, the final two prosecution witnesses sound like part of the defense team.
00:36:38
Both tell the court they never laid eyes on Barisford Redmond or his wife. >> We didn't hear them arguing, he says. We
00:36:48
didn't even see their faces. With no more witnesses on either side, Mexican law requires the judge to
00:36:56
conclude the evidence phase of the trial within 5 days. But that doesn't happen.
00:37:01
>> Why don't we have a verdict? because we're in Mexico. That's how things are done here. Nobody gets excited about it.
00:37:07
>> For nearly 3 years, 48 hours has asked Mexican authorities to go on the record
00:37:11
about this case, but they refused. [music] >> You know, yesterday was a good day and
00:37:22
you sort of take them as they come. >> Back in prison, it's hard not to hope. I am absolutely confident that if if
00:37:29
there's a ruling according to the facts that I will be exonerated. >> And when will that happen? Well,
00:37:35
>> that I don't know. That's my problem. >> But the Burggo sisters insist Bruce is
00:37:41
right where he should be. And justice for Monica demands that he stay there. >> If he really killed my sister, which it
00:37:49
looks like he did, I want him in jail. But it it doesn't make me happy. >> I spend a lot of time in here looking
00:38:02
over the the barbed wire. Uh you know, I can see birds and green trees and life outside of this hell.
00:38:15
>> And it's it's really it's time for me to go home. It's time for me to be with
00:38:19
Camila and Alec. It's time for me to try and put back together some kind of a life for for them and for myself.
00:38:29
>> His parents are trying to keep life in California as normal as possible for Alec and Camila, but it's not easy.
00:38:35
They're 82 and 76. >> It's about 8:30 in the morning. The children have gone off to school.
00:38:44
It's reasonably quiet at the moment. Wanita Barersford Redmond has been keeping a video diary, too.
00:38:51
>> Camila's birthday is coming up, and she asked me yesterday, did I think Daddy
00:38:56
might be able to be home for her birthday this year? And I told her, "Honestly, no, honey. He's he's not
00:39:01
going to make it this year." >> Is your fear that this will go on indefinitely? >> It is a fear. I mean, I I can't I can't
00:39:08
see why it's gone on this long. Carla and Giani Bergos tried and failed to get custody, but they have regular
00:39:17
visitation with the children. >> Really, we love those kids more than anything in this world. It's not that uh
00:39:23
it's good what is good, what is bad, is what is the best for the kids. >> We are a family, but we're not their
00:39:30
father. You know, we're their grandparents. We love them, but [music] it's not the same.
00:39:35
>> So beautiful here. >> I will never make my peace with being incarcerated for something I didn't do.
00:39:40
I will never rest [music] or stop fighting. I may lose continually, but I'm never gonna stop because this is
00:39:47
crap. >> But all Bruce Barisford Redmond can do is [music] watch, wait, >> Dad. Happy Father's Day. Happy birthday, Mom.
00:39:58
I really wish that I was home to celebrate with her. >> And wish his children well.
00:40:04
>> I love you guys. I miss you. Be strong. And and all I want is for you guys to
00:40:09
have the best life you can. [music] Thursday night, just past 6:00 p.m., an officer of the court went to the Bonito
00:40:29
Wararez prison to give Bruce Barisford Redmond the judge's verdict. guilty of homicide for killing his wife Monica.
00:40:37
>> The case, the evidence, the witnesses have nothing to do with the verdict. The
00:40:41
verdict is somebody's desire to have Bruce guilty. >> His sentence, 12 years, considerably less than the maximum 50 he
00:40:51
could have received. With time served, he will be in jail for 8 years. But Barisford Redmond, now 43, could get out
00:40:59
even earlier for good behavior. His lawyers of course plan an appeal. However, the prosecution is also
00:41:07
appealing because they feel the sentence is too light. >> It's been very difficult, very lonely.
00:41:13
>> Monica's sisters greeted the verdict with mixed emotions, says family attorney Allison Trezel.
00:41:20
>> The sentence should be a lot longer than it is, but there is a sense of justice.
00:41:26
Bruce was labeled by this court now with this very addict like he's the murder of
00:41:31
my sister. >> Bruce's parents say they will do what they've been doing since Monica's death
00:41:38
in 2010, caring for their grandchildren as best they can. >> It's not difficult to keep things normal
00:41:45
for them really because they are adaptable. They're so uh they deal with things well. Um they're bright. They're
00:41:53
full of life. Bruce's parents will retain custody of the children, and Monica's sisters have
00:41:59
not said if they will challenge that. >> I don't believe the custody status has changed at all. We still have in place a
00:42:06
visitation arrangement with the sisters. That will remain the same. There's no reason for that to change.
00:42:11
>> As for Barisford Redmond, prison life had become much worse even before the verdict. After our broadcast in
00:42:18
November, he was stripped of most of his privileges and moved to a more restrictive cell block. He now sleeps on
00:42:25
a mattress on the floor, waiting for whatever will come next. The court proceedings for now are over.
00:42:33
What's left is a painful loss. >> I think of her every day because she was part of my life every day. I loved her.
00:42:42
She was kind of part of me. I miss her every day. >> [music] >> Heat. [music] [music]
00:43:15
Heat. >> [music] [music]