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It all started
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that January morning.
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When I arrived at the scene,
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it was very easy to see
the victim's body from the road.
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You could equate it
to looking at a mannequin.
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It... It was ghostly.
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There was a rope around her neck.
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It was obvious
that she was the victim of a homicide
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and probably a sex crime also.
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It was noticeable
that her jeans were down below her knees,
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and then, as I got really close...
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...I could see that a section of the jeans
in the fly area had been removed.
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That's the first time
I'd seen anything like that.
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Well, whoever did it
had to be a sick individual,
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because he wanted a...
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a souvenir of some sort.
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Unless you're extremely cold-blooded,
when you see something like that,
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it has some effect on you.
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If it doesn't,
in my opinion, you're not human.
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We're running now
on all cameras and sound.
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Here we go.
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This goes on TV, right?
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I grew up in a... a town
called Hamilton, Ohio.
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I started out studying business.
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Well, to be real honest with you, uh,
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in my second semester,
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I didn't do very well
in my business classes.
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I had other interests.
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And, uh...
...a lot of it involved partying.
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They started a program
in criminal justice,
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and I thought
that sounded kind of interesting,
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and so I changed majors.
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I started work
for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office,
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in Portland, on June 23rd, 1969.
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And the next thing I knew,
I ended up in the Homicide, uh, section.
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You'll see headlines
in the paper or in the media,
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and they're always talking
about the suspects
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when the victim's the forgotten person.
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The police become that victim's voice.
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That morning, at the crime scene,
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the first big problem
was identifying the victim.
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There was no identification
on or about her person,
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in any of her pockets.
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We gotta find out who she is.
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We had no idea.
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So, a sketch was made
of the victim's face,
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and it was circulated to the news media.
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About a week
after the sketch had been released,
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I was contacted by a woman
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who informed me that she believed
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that the person depicted in the sketch
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was her daughter.
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I took a relative
to the medical examiner's office...
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00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:08,414
where he identified the victim
as definitely being...
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...Taunja Bennett.
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Taunja Bennett was 23 years old
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and resided with her mother
in northeast Portland.
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Mrs. Bennett told me Taunja could be
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a wonderful, loving person
around her family.
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But she said Taunja liked the bar scene,
she liked to party.
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It wasn't unusual for Taunja
to meet someone in a bar
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and spend a night or two with him.
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What I gathered
from the interview with Mrs. Bennett
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was that Taunja was very naive,
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and she was
a potential target for violence.
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00:04:59,757 --> 00:05:00,967
A few days later...
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00:05:02,302 --> 00:05:04,595
...a phone call comes in
to the Detective's section
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of the Sheriff's Office.
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00:05:06,639 --> 00:05:09,767
And it was a female who said
that the person who'd committed the crime
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was named John Sosnovske.
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I ran his name through the databases...
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...trying to spell it correctly.
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And finally got a hit.
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00:05:25,158 --> 00:05:28,786
And found out
that John Sosnovske was on probation.
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So, I phoned his probation officer.
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He told me
he had also received a phone call
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from John Sosnovske's girlfriend,
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Laverne Pavlinac.
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Ms. Pavlinac told the probation officer...
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that she'd overheard John Sosnovske
telling someone in a bar
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that he had met Taunja Bennett.
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He said that he had picked her up,
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and he ended up murdering her
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and dumped her body up by Vista House
in the Columbia Gorge.
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Okay, now we've got something
to work with here.
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Myself and my partner drove
to Laverne's house.
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My first impression was
she was very cordial and very pleasant.
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A nice older lady.
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I asked her why it took her
a couple days to come forward.
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She said
that she was afraid of John Sosnovske.
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That he had abused her.
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She said that John was an alcoholic,
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and that John would become violent
at times during sex.
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And he had this strange habit
of tying knots into rope.
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Uh, she was in her late fifties,
uh, 58 or so.
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John was around 40 years of age.
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I just found it odd that she would,
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with the age difference and everything,
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that someone would put up
with a relationship of that nature.
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00:07:22,358 --> 00:07:26,863
So, I asked Laverne what she was doing
on the night of January 21st,
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when Taunja was murdered.
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She explained that John asked her
to take him to JB's Lounge in Wilsonville.
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Laverne said he arrived home
around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m...
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...and immediately took a shower.
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And she found that to be unusual.
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The next morning, she noticed
that he had a bruise on his left hip,
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and he was complaining about his hands
and his wrists hurting him.
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She seemed to be telling the truth.
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00:08:10,531 --> 00:08:15,620
So, we ask her if she would consent
to a search of her apartment.
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And she said yes, she would.
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We were hoping to find anything
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that may relate back
to John having known Taunja Bennett.
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As I began to search in the bedroom...
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I found an envelope
addressed to John Sosnovske.
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On the back, I found written...
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...the letter "T. Bennett,"
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with the notation "good piece."
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"P-I-E-C-E."
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00:09:01,958 --> 00:09:04,669
At that point, it's looking pretty bad
for John Sosnovske.
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As we were preparing to leave,
John Sosnovske arrived home.
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00:09:13,886 --> 00:09:15,972
We identified ourselves
as police officers,
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and... he was very cooperative.
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He volunteered to go with us
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and be interviewed.
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I'd like to ask you,
do you know Taunja Ann Bennett?
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Not... not
to my recollection, sir.
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We have been to your apartment
and retrieved various things,
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one of them being a piece of paper
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with the name "T. Bennett."
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Is that your printing?
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I cannot answer that
in full honestness.
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John Sosnovske
was being somewhat evasive.
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They were
pretty straightforward questions.
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00:10:00,182 --> 00:10:01,309
Yes or no.
135
00:10:02,101 --> 00:10:04,437
Okay,
then once again, I'll ask you,
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and this will be the final time I ask you.
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Do you have any knowledge
of the death of Taunja Bennett?
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00:10:12,069 --> 00:10:13,070
No, sir.
139
00:10:17,366 --> 00:10:20,911
Of course, I knew that
if he had done it, he would deny it.
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00:10:22,747 --> 00:10:25,541
But we had no probable cause
to arrest him at that time,
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and he was released.
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00:10:32,465 --> 00:10:34,675
I felt like I had this inner sense...
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...that was telling me,
"Don't jump to conclusions."
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"You've got to build the case
one way or the other."
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That's my job.
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00:10:53,110 --> 00:10:57,239
And that was when Deputy DA Jim McIntyre
was assigned to the case.
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I think we're ready to roll.
148
00:11:01,202 --> 00:11:02,286
Okay, it's done.
149
00:11:02,370 --> 00:11:05,456
Can we just adjust Jim's tie
a little bit, please?
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00:11:07,208 --> 00:11:08,042
Yeah, cool.
151
00:11:08,125 --> 00:11:10,586
Your generation
doesn't appreciate a half-Windsor.
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I know I haven't.
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His reputation was A-one.
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He was an ace, he was a charger,
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a go-getter.
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00:11:18,135 --> 00:11:19,135
Very knowledgeable.
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00:11:21,514 --> 00:11:24,892
On February 19th,
my boss walked into my office
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and told me that there had been
a body found at the end of January.
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He wanted me to get on it
to get the investigation moving.
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He viewed me as someone
who was a little bit reckless,
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00:11:36,570 --> 00:11:39,156
um, a little bit over the edge,
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someone who would start directing people
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and pushing people around
to get things done in a certain way.
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I briefed him on the case and, uh,
the... the information I had obtained
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to that point.
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It struck me that they were
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floundering a bit in their investigation.
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00:12:00,845 --> 00:12:05,099
It seemed as if they were stuck
and didn't know which way to go next.
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00:12:05,182 --> 00:12:08,561
So, I made it clear
to Detective Ingram and his partner
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00:12:08,644 --> 00:12:12,314
that they needed to get
some information and some evidence
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00:12:12,398 --> 00:12:14,817
about whether or not
Sosnovske was involved.
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They needed to go back
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and put this together,
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or prove that it couldn't be put together,
and we had to move on.
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I still wasn't convinced
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that John Sosnovske
had any involvement in the case.
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00:12:33,294 --> 00:12:35,921
But then I got a phone call from Laverne
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saying that she had found some items...
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00:12:40,050 --> 00:12:42,928
...which she thought were...
would be of value to the police.
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00:12:48,225 --> 00:12:52,021
She had placed these items
in a paper sack and stapled it shut.
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In the sack, I found... a purse.
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And upon opening the purse,
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I found the fly section
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from a pair of acid-washed jeans.
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00:13:12,541 --> 00:13:14,919
I thought, "Okay, wait a minute here."
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00:13:15,002 --> 00:13:18,255
"Is this really the fly section
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from Taunja Bennett's jeans?"
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I found it almost too good to be true.
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And it did set off some alarm bells.
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00:13:29,433 --> 00:13:31,977
But, regardless,
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00:13:32,061 --> 00:13:35,064
we had to interview John Sosnovske again.
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00:13:41,904 --> 00:13:45,241
I make the above statement
freely and voluntarily.
193
00:13:46,283 --> 00:13:50,246
I have been advised of my rights,
which I understand.
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00:13:56,418 --> 00:13:59,213
I have seen T. Bennett at JB's truck stop
195
00:13:59,296 --> 00:14:01,131
on several occasions.
196
00:14:02,633 --> 00:14:03,633
All right.
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00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,764
Now he's claiming
that he had seen her at JB's Lounge.
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00:14:09,807 --> 00:14:13,269
The last time
was 21 January, 1990.
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00:14:14,144 --> 00:14:16,814
I was visiting with Chuck,
who was playing darts.
200
00:14:17,773 --> 00:14:22,444
Later on in the evening, Chuck left,
and T. Bennett left shortly after.
201
00:14:23,612 --> 00:14:25,197
Now you got John saying...
202
00:14:25,281 --> 00:14:28,450
"Well, yeah. Hey, I knew this girl."
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00:14:28,951 --> 00:14:30,578
Why would he change his story?
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00:14:31,620 --> 00:14:34,748
I believe
she left to go to a motel room
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00:14:34,832 --> 00:14:36,667
to have fun with Chuck.
206
00:14:37,835 --> 00:14:40,963
Later that evening, I saw Chuck
and asked him for a ride home.
207
00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:46,176
I believe I saw a body
in the back of the car.
208
00:14:50,723 --> 00:14:55,769
The hackles on the back of my neck rise up
when I hear stuff like that.
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00:14:59,189 --> 00:15:01,775
I got into
the front passenger seat.
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00:15:03,861 --> 00:15:05,946
The body was wrapped in a blanket.
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00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:09,533
The body was one of a white female adult.
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00:15:11,368 --> 00:15:13,037
During this ride home,
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00:15:14,121 --> 00:15:16,916
the dead female
was in the back of his car.
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00:15:18,584 --> 00:15:20,336
"Oh, sure, just give me a ride home."
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00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:22,296
"Oh, what's that?" "Oh, a dead woman."
216
00:15:22,379 --> 00:15:25,466
"Oh, no problem." Ahem.
"Just take me home and drop me off."
217
00:15:25,966 --> 00:15:26,966
"See you later."
218
00:15:28,636 --> 00:15:30,012
Come on, I ain't buyin' it.
219
00:15:30,971 --> 00:15:31,971
Uh-uh.
220
00:15:34,183 --> 00:15:37,728
John Sosnovske's statement
did nothing more than raise more red flags
221
00:15:37,811 --> 00:15:40,189
that he was probably involved.
222
00:15:41,690 --> 00:15:43,442
And why would this somebody
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00:15:44,735 --> 00:15:47,279
confess to being
in the presence of a dead body
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00:15:48,030 --> 00:15:50,407
if they weren't
in the presence of a dead body?
225
00:15:53,953 --> 00:15:56,789
The next morning
when I came into work, my partner said
226
00:15:57,373 --> 00:16:01,251
the results are back from the crime lab
with regards to the section of jeans...
227
00:16:01,335 --> 00:16:04,088
...that was, uh, found at Laverne's house.
228
00:16:07,257 --> 00:16:10,094
The jeans were not a match
to Taunja Bennett's.
229
00:16:13,555 --> 00:16:14,598
I mean, I don't...
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00:16:15,683 --> 00:16:19,019
I'm befuddled. I'm thinking,
"What the hell?" "What's going on here?"
231
00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:25,526
I confronted her with the fact
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00:16:25,609 --> 00:16:27,987
that the jeans
were indeed not Taunja Bennett's.
233
00:16:30,114 --> 00:16:32,908
And Laverne admitted
that she had planted them there.
234
00:16:35,411 --> 00:16:38,330
She said,
"I really wanted John Sosnovske caught."
235
00:16:38,872 --> 00:16:39,957
"I, uh..."
236
00:16:40,666 --> 00:16:42,918
"I was trying
to make it easy for the police."
237
00:16:46,046 --> 00:16:49,216
I was frustrated. I was disappointed.
238
00:16:50,968 --> 00:16:52,720
But I wanted to know the truth.
239
00:16:54,763 --> 00:16:56,640
So, we started again.
240
00:16:57,433 --> 00:16:58,475
Okay.
241
00:16:59,393 --> 00:17:04,565
What happened during
the evening hours of January 21st, 1990?
242
00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:07,526
The phone rang.
243
00:17:08,068 --> 00:17:10,696
It was John Sosnovske calling
244
00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:15,117
to tell me he was in trouble
and to come fast.
245
00:17:15,743 --> 00:17:19,163
And to bring... bring something large
to wrap something in.
246
00:17:20,247 --> 00:17:21,665
What did you take with you
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00:17:21,749 --> 00:17:24,877
when you went to see John
at the J&B Lounge?
248
00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:26,795
A blue shower curtain.
249
00:17:27,963 --> 00:17:30,174
This was
a new version of the story.
250
00:17:33,969 --> 00:17:38,140
When you arrive there,
Laverne, what did you find?
251
00:17:40,851 --> 00:17:41,851
A female.
252
00:17:42,811 --> 00:17:46,398
She was lying, uh, on her side,
253
00:17:47,149 --> 00:17:49,359
very prone, very quiet.
254
00:17:50,402 --> 00:17:52,988
And John Sosnovske came up to the window,
255
00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:54,239
and I asked...
256
00:17:55,657 --> 00:17:56,825
if she's sick.
257
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:00,412
He says, "Worse than that, she's dead."
258
00:18:04,625 --> 00:18:08,712
She said that John placed the body
into the shower curtain.
259
00:18:10,214 --> 00:18:12,216
At that point, he got into the vehicle,
260
00:18:12,299 --> 00:18:15,135
and she asked, "What do we do now?"
261
00:18:15,219 --> 00:18:17,096
And he said, "Just drive."
262
00:18:22,810 --> 00:18:23,810
I said,
263
00:18:24,353 --> 00:18:28,315
"I think we need
to take her to a hospital."
264
00:18:28,899 --> 00:18:30,526
"We need to report this, John."
265
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,779
He says, "No, no, I'll go to death row."
266
00:18:34,446 --> 00:18:35,697
"You will not do it,
267
00:18:36,198 --> 00:18:38,450
because I will kill you...
268
00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:42,121
and harm your family
269
00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:44,790
and your grandchildren."
270
00:18:47,876 --> 00:18:51,296
I was starting to think that,
you know, this guy is really a monster.
271
00:18:52,381 --> 00:18:56,385
And I could understand
why she would be in extreme fear of him.
272
00:19:00,347 --> 00:19:04,434
He opened the back door
on the passenger side
273
00:19:05,435 --> 00:19:07,563
and pulled her out.
274
00:19:07,646 --> 00:19:10,065
He went off into the woods...
275
00:19:10,274 --> 00:19:13,360
...and he was gone about 15 minutes.
276
00:19:20,159 --> 00:19:21,869
I felt sorry for Laverne.
277
00:19:22,953 --> 00:19:26,707
She had gotten herself
into something way over her head,
278
00:19:27,374 --> 00:19:28,458
undeservingly.
279
00:19:29,585 --> 00:19:34,006
You know,
I had, uh, some feelings, emotionally.
280
00:19:35,883 --> 00:19:37,843
With what we had been told,
281
00:19:37,926 --> 00:19:40,888
we thought we had enough reason to believe
282
00:19:40,971 --> 00:19:45,559
that John Sosnovske murdered
Taunja Bennett,
283
00:19:45,642 --> 00:19:50,022
and, therefore, he was arrested
on the charge of aggravated murder.
284
00:19:56,069 --> 00:20:00,908
But I wanted to make sure
we had enough for a murder conviction.
285
00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:05,555
We had a conversation
with Ingram and his partner
286
00:20:05,579 --> 00:20:09,958
that, uh, they should take,
uh, Laverne up into the Gorge
287
00:20:10,042 --> 00:20:15,088
and see if they could bolster
her rendition of what happened.
288
00:20:22,971 --> 00:20:25,891
We asked
if she would be willing to accompany us
289
00:20:25,974 --> 00:20:29,019
to retrace the route that she had taken...
290
00:20:29,102 --> 00:20:30,437
...the night of the murder.
291
00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:37,903
We were anxious to see
whether or not she could show us
292
00:20:39,238 --> 00:20:42,950
where the body
had been placed by Sosnovske.
293
00:20:45,244 --> 00:20:49,915
So, we proceeded up
past Crown Point and Vista House...
294
00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:54,878
to the area
where the... the body had been dumped.
295
00:21:00,259 --> 00:21:03,845
We drove on past the area
where the body had been found.
296
00:21:06,431 --> 00:21:08,100
We kept on traveling eastbound.
297
00:21:12,312 --> 00:21:13,313
And then, suddenly...
298
00:21:15,899 --> 00:21:17,985
...she said, "Stop the car and turn around."
299
00:21:22,364 --> 00:21:23,490
Laverne said...
300
00:21:25,284 --> 00:21:27,077
"This gives me the creeps."
301
00:21:29,746 --> 00:21:31,623
And she pointed...
302
00:21:34,209 --> 00:21:35,877
almost directly...
303
00:21:35,961 --> 00:21:38,380
...to where that body had been located.
304
00:21:39,965 --> 00:21:42,843
It couldn't have been a distance
of more than ten feet off.
305
00:21:47,764 --> 00:21:48,764
My gosh.
306
00:21:49,808 --> 00:21:50,809
She's nailed this.
307
00:21:56,481 --> 00:21:59,276
Five days after John Sosnovske
was arrested,
308
00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:01,903
I receive a phone call
on my pager at 3:00 a.m.
309
00:22:05,490 --> 00:22:08,910
Laverne wanted to have a conversation
with me and my partner.
310
00:22:10,495 --> 00:22:12,331
Oh, crap.
311
00:22:12,414 --> 00:22:13,957
Where are we going now?
312
00:22:22,299 --> 00:22:26,094
When you drove over
to JB's from your daughter's house
313
00:22:26,178 --> 00:22:28,618
and you pulled into the lot...
314
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,265
...what did you see, if anything?
315
00:22:33,643 --> 00:22:36,563
Um, I seen John standing
with the young lady,
316
00:22:38,106 --> 00:22:43,528
and they appeared
to be arguing... in a... playing way.
317
00:22:45,489 --> 00:22:46,656
Wait a minute, now.
318
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,369
You've told us
this... this one... this one story
319
00:22:50,452 --> 00:22:54,623
where you said Taunja was dead
in the parking lot of JB's Lounge.
320
00:22:54,706 --> 00:22:58,418
Now you're saying
that she was alive when you got there.
321
00:22:58,502 --> 00:23:00,087
Now, see, listening to that
322
00:23:01,797 --> 00:23:03,799
makes me question the whole damn thing.
323
00:23:05,509 --> 00:23:08,387
He said to her,
"Get in the car, it's cold."
324
00:23:08,929 --> 00:23:11,056
And as you
continue to drive,
325
00:23:11,139 --> 00:23:13,975
there was a point
that Taunja Bennett apparently agreed
326
00:23:14,059 --> 00:23:15,227
to have sex with John.
327
00:23:15,310 --> 00:23:16,561
Yes, she did.
328
00:23:17,062 --> 00:23:18,855
So, I'm anticipating,
329
00:23:18,939 --> 00:23:22,776
I'm waiting to hear
where this is going to lead.
330
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,823
We arrived at Crown Point.
They got out of the car.
331
00:23:27,906 --> 00:23:29,116
I remained in the car.
332
00:23:30,158 --> 00:23:32,994
I understand
that a short period of time went by,
333
00:23:33,078 --> 00:23:34,788
and John came back to the car.
334
00:23:34,871 --> 00:23:36,498
- Is that true?
- That's true.
335
00:23:36,581 --> 00:23:39,793
He went to the trunk,
and there was rope in there.
336
00:23:39,876 --> 00:23:41,962
And he took the rope.
337
00:23:42,045 --> 00:23:45,841
I asked him, "Why do you need the rope?"
He says, "I'm gonna tie her up, it's...
338
00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:48,677
more of a thrill this way."
339
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:49,760
Damn.
340
00:23:51,138 --> 00:23:52,138
So...
341
00:23:53,098 --> 00:23:55,434
at that point,
you walked with John to where Taunja was?
342
00:23:59,271 --> 00:24:00,689
Where did you see Taunja?
343
00:24:00,772 --> 00:24:04,818
She was laying in a doorway,
and she was laughing.
344
00:24:07,863 --> 00:24:10,657
He told me to take the rope...
345
00:24:13,952 --> 00:24:14,952
and, uh...
346
00:24:16,204 --> 00:24:17,372
put it around her neck.
347
00:24:23,879 --> 00:24:25,839
How in the hell could this...
348
00:24:27,215 --> 00:24:29,301
older lady, this grandma...
349
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,807
place a rope around a young lady's neck
and draw it tight?
350
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,854
I'm having trouble processing that.
351
00:24:41,980 --> 00:24:45,650
What happened then?
Did... Did John have sex with her?
352
00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:47,359
Yes.
353
00:24:47,777 --> 00:24:50,405
And I had my eyes shut...
354
00:24:50,489 --> 00:24:53,700
...because I knew what he was doing,
and I didn't wanna observe it.
355
00:24:53,783 --> 00:24:55,785
And he kept saying, "Hang on, hang on."
356
00:24:57,204 --> 00:24:59,831
I must have tightened it
as I was hanging on.
357
00:25:00,540 --> 00:25:02,334
He was hitting her in the face.
358
00:25:02,417 --> 00:25:05,253
- What was he hitting her with?
- His fists.
359
00:25:06,963 --> 00:25:07,963
And then...
360
00:25:08,632 --> 00:25:10,383
Then she became limp.
361
00:25:17,474 --> 00:25:21,353
Did you realize
that Taunja Bennett had expired?
362
00:25:23,605 --> 00:25:24,605
Yes.
363
00:25:29,861 --> 00:25:33,823
You listen to her story,
the emotion in her voice and her tone,
364
00:25:33,907 --> 00:25:36,284
and just fact, bam, bam,
365
00:25:36,993 --> 00:25:38,828
and you're thinking, "God, this..."
366
00:25:38,912 --> 00:25:43,041
"Maybe this is... This is sounding
like it really happened this way."
367
00:25:46,253 --> 00:25:48,547
Ms. Pavlinac,
let me ask you a question.
368
00:25:49,047 --> 00:25:51,675
Do you believe, sitting here today,
369
00:25:51,758 --> 00:25:54,135
that by pulling that rope tight,
370
00:25:54,219 --> 00:25:57,180
that you caused the death
of Taunja Ann Bennett?
371
00:26:01,434 --> 00:26:02,434
Yeah.
372
00:26:05,230 --> 00:26:06,230
You do?
373
00:26:06,898 --> 00:26:09,067
I... I feel like it's my fault.
374
00:26:13,613 --> 00:26:17,659
I just couldn't... I couldn't...
I just... I couldn't believe it.
375
00:26:24,249 --> 00:26:26,501
And I knew right then that,
376
00:26:28,086 --> 00:26:31,047
at some point,
we were going to have to arrest her.
377
00:26:34,884 --> 00:26:37,387
But something was still bothering me.
378
00:26:42,601 --> 00:26:47,439
There must be a side of this woman
that I am missing very badly.
379
00:26:48,064 --> 00:26:51,318
I've either terribly misjudged her,
380
00:26:51,401 --> 00:26:54,613
you know,
as being this older, grandmotherly type...
381
00:26:58,158 --> 00:27:03,413
or, at some point,
she had to have some evil in her,
382
00:27:04,205 --> 00:27:06,458
which was a shock to me, you know.
383
00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:13,923
So, I had two thoughts in my head.
Is there a side of this woman I don't see?
384
00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:18,386
Or is it John Sosnovske
with this influence over her?
385
00:27:24,601 --> 00:27:28,188
I remember
Detective Ingram seeming exasperated,
386
00:27:28,271 --> 00:27:32,025
dropping his notebook on the table
and going, "You're not gonna believe it."
387
00:27:32,651 --> 00:27:37,530
And he then walked us
through Pavlinac's confession.
388
00:27:38,281 --> 00:27:39,908
At the end of that conversation,
389
00:27:39,991 --> 00:27:42,369
I looked at Det. Ingram
and said, "Where is she?"
390
00:27:42,452 --> 00:27:45,705
And I said, "Jim, we didn't arrest her."
391
00:27:46,956 --> 00:27:47,791
And he says to me...
392
00:27:47,874 --> 00:27:49,834
"Well, Jesus Christ, go get her."
393
00:27:49,918 --> 00:27:52,629
"Get her and arrest her
and put her in jail."
394
00:27:53,129 --> 00:27:56,091
"You've left the confessed murderer
sitting at home,
395
00:27:56,174 --> 00:27:59,302
drinking coffee and tea
with her daughter." Um...
396
00:27:59,386 --> 00:28:00,428
"You don't do that."
397
00:28:12,482 --> 00:28:15,360
Myself and my partner
drove out to Wilsonville,
398
00:28:15,443 --> 00:28:17,195
and we took Laverne into custody.
399
00:28:18,571 --> 00:28:21,449
Procedure requires me to handcuff Laverne
400
00:28:21,950 --> 00:28:24,327
prior to placing her
in the police vehicle.
401
00:28:25,203 --> 00:28:26,246
I didn't do that.
402
00:28:28,456 --> 00:28:31,626
I felt comfortable around Laverne.
403
00:28:33,586 --> 00:28:35,088
And I felt sorry for her.
404
00:28:35,171 --> 00:28:37,298
She had just talked herself...
405
00:28:40,135 --> 00:28:41,803
into a charge of murder.
406
00:28:48,435 --> 00:28:51,312
I remember Laverne turning around
407
00:28:51,396 --> 00:28:53,565
as I was escorting her
to the holding cell.
408
00:28:56,025 --> 00:28:58,403
And she looked in my eyes,
and she gave me a hug.
409
00:29:01,823 --> 00:29:04,784
I'd never had that happen before.
That's for sure.
410
00:29:05,910 --> 00:29:07,579
And I thought, "Wow."
411
00:29:09,622 --> 00:29:11,958
It just made me feel
like I was putting my mother
412
00:29:12,041 --> 00:29:14,753
or my grandmother into that holding cell.
413
00:29:17,422 --> 00:29:19,257
And it made me feel sad.
414
00:29:23,219 --> 00:29:24,219
Phew.
415
00:29:34,147 --> 00:29:35,565
I need a break for a minute.
416
00:29:56,795 --> 00:29:57,962
Suck it up, boy.
417
00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:04,844
Laverne Pavlinac
had those investigators charmed.
418
00:30:04,928 --> 00:30:06,471
Not only did she have them charmed,
419
00:30:06,554 --> 00:30:09,933
but she had control of them
without anybody realizing it.
420
00:30:12,977 --> 00:30:13,853
I think, at one point,
421
00:30:13,937 --> 00:30:16,773
that maybe he was slightly
the victim of a Stockholm Syndrome.
422
00:30:18,107 --> 00:30:19,192
From my perspective,
423
00:30:19,275 --> 00:30:23,404
I had sympathy or empathy for her,
for the position that she had been in,
424
00:30:23,488 --> 00:30:27,158
but it still did not negate the fact
that she had killed Taunja Bennett.
425
00:30:39,212 --> 00:30:41,005
As we were getting ready for the trial,
426
00:30:41,089 --> 00:30:42,507
Laverne was now contending
427
00:30:42,590 --> 00:30:47,095
that her confession
was basically a fabrication and a lie.
428
00:30:51,057 --> 00:30:53,268
And that she had done all this
429
00:30:53,351 --> 00:30:57,355
solely for the basis
of getting John Sosnovske arrested
430
00:30:57,438 --> 00:30:58,648
and out of her life.
431
00:30:59,315 --> 00:31:01,860
The fact that Pavlinac wanted
to recant her confession
432
00:31:01,943 --> 00:31:03,194
was not surprising at all.
433
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:09,784
So, just prior
to the trial beginning...
434
00:31:09,868 --> 00:31:11,588
...I went down
435
00:31:11,619 --> 00:31:12,996
to the District Attorney's office
436
00:31:14,038 --> 00:31:15,665
and I said, "You know,
437
00:31:15,748 --> 00:31:18,042
there's something bothering me
about this case."
438
00:31:18,835 --> 00:31:22,338
Jim says, "Well, what's the matter?
Don't you believe they're guilty?"
439
00:31:23,464 --> 00:31:25,884
And I said, "There's something
in the back of my mind
440
00:31:25,967 --> 00:31:28,720
that keeps telling me
that we've missed something here."
441
00:31:29,387 --> 00:31:31,472
He was trying his best
to reassure me that,
442
00:31:31,556 --> 00:31:34,642
"Hey, based on those facts,
you know, it's... it's there."
443
00:31:34,726 --> 00:31:35,643
"What's wrong?"
444
00:31:43,776 --> 00:31:47,155
The trial was moving along just fine.
445
00:31:47,238 --> 00:31:49,324
I mean, there had been no... no hiccups.
446
00:31:51,075 --> 00:31:52,493
During the closing arguments,
447
00:31:52,577 --> 00:31:54,537
Ms. Pavlinac's attorney
was trying to argue
448
00:31:54,621 --> 00:31:57,916
all of the reasons
why she would make up the confession
449
00:31:57,999 --> 00:32:00,001
and why she would be so desperate
450
00:32:00,084 --> 00:32:03,212
to get Sosnovske removed
from her family and from her life.
451
00:32:04,839 --> 00:32:06,090
My closing argument,
452
00:32:06,674 --> 00:32:08,009
I didn't say anything.
453
00:32:09,177 --> 00:32:10,386
I simply got up,
454
00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:13,431
walked over to the table
where I had laid out a tape recorder,
455
00:32:13,514 --> 00:32:16,809
and I let that tape play
for the length of her confession.
456
00:32:19,896 --> 00:32:21,856
Ms. Pavlinac,
let me ask you a question.
457
00:32:22,649 --> 00:32:27,153
Do you believe that,
by pulling that rope tight,
458
00:32:27,236 --> 00:32:30,448
that you caused the death
of Taunja Ann Bennett?
459
00:32:31,324 --> 00:32:32,324
Yeah.
460
00:32:32,742 --> 00:32:35,703
- You do?
- I... I... I feel like it's my fault.
461
00:32:41,668 --> 00:32:42,668
Um...
462
00:32:45,171 --> 00:32:47,090
And, you know, that... And that was it.
463
00:32:50,593 --> 00:32:54,722
Laverne Pavlinac was convicted
by a jury of 12 for felony murder.
464
00:32:56,265 --> 00:32:59,435
After that,
Mr. Sosnovske entered a plea of no contest
465
00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:00,979
to the murder of Taunja Bennett.
466
00:33:04,232 --> 00:33:06,317
Every murder case I ever handled,
467
00:33:06,401 --> 00:33:09,195
there was more
a kind of a feeling of sadness
468
00:33:09,278 --> 00:33:10,822
than success.
469
00:33:13,324 --> 00:33:15,952
But at least there was some closure
470
00:33:16,703 --> 00:33:18,121
for Taunja Bennett's family.
471
00:33:42,228 --> 00:33:43,521
Want me to read everything?
472
00:33:51,446 --> 00:33:52,989
"I killed Ms. Bennett."
473
00:33:54,782 --> 00:33:57,285
"I cut the buttons off her jeans."
474
00:33:58,286 --> 00:34:02,123
"I left her facing downhill
and her jeans down by her ankles."
475
00:34:06,544 --> 00:34:07,795
Now, three years later...
476
00:34:09,213 --> 00:34:12,508
letters started to surface
that were written by an individual
477
00:34:12,592 --> 00:34:15,178
claiming responsibility
for Taunja Bennett's murder.
478
00:34:15,970 --> 00:34:17,805
"A man and a woman got blamed for it."
479
00:34:17,889 --> 00:34:20,725
"She was my first,
and I thought I would not do it again,
480
00:34:21,392 --> 00:34:22,643
but I was wrong."
38658
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