0:11

After her controlling husband turned physically abusive,

0:13

Jennifer Corbin was looking to get out

0:15

of the marriage. What she didn't know

0:17

was that 14 years before, another woman

0:20

tried to leave him and the two

0:22

women, who never met, would forever have

0:24

their names linked to this one man.

0:26

I'm Turley and welcome to Crimelines. Hello

0:37

and welcome to Crimelines. A quick look ahead

0:39

at the schedule. Next week is the fifth

0:41

Wednesday of the month, so I will not

0:43

have an episode. But if you miss me

0:45

too much, you can always check out Crimelines

0:48

and Consequences, which is available wherever you get

0:50

your podcasts. Or you can

0:52

check out my premium content Beyond the

0:54

Files, which is on the Crimelines Patreon

0:57

feed as well as Apple subscriptions. My

1:00

kids are about to wrap up the

1:02

school year, and with them home for

1:04

the summer, I cannot really make any

1:06

promises about the release schedule. Most

1:09

years I've been able to stay weekly

1:12

or at least only take a couple

1:14

weeks off, so if there's

1:16

just one week where there's no episode, know

1:19

that I traded Researching True Crime

1:21

for a park day with my

1:23

kids. And it is what

1:25

it is, this time when their young is

1:27

so fleeting, and while my husband and I

1:29

have a pretty good trade-off schedule for the

1:31

summer where one of us is working while

1:33

the other is making memories, things happen. I

1:36

definitely won't have as many hours as I usually

1:38

have during the school year, so maybe I'll

1:41

just learn to be more efficient, who knows. I

1:44

know no one else cares if I take a week

1:46

off, but I do have to tell myself that it's

1:48

okay to not work around the clock. Anyway,

1:51

let's go ahead and get into today's episode.

1:53

All of my sources are linked as always,

1:55

but I do want to mention one at

1:57

the top, and that is Anne Ruhl's book.

2:00

too late to say goodbye. It is

2:02

one of her later full-length true crime

2:04

novels and the background

2:06

information in there was pretty

2:08

important to putting together this episode. This

2:12

is one of those cases that I've been

2:14

aware of, but I started digging into it

2:16

and realized just how much I did not

2:18

know. We are going to

2:20

start with Jennifer Corbin, who was

2:23

born in January of 1971 in

2:25

Bowling Green, Kentucky. She grew

2:27

up in the middle of three

2:29

girls and she was quick with

2:31

a smile and a laugh, but

2:33

she was also the stereotypical middle

2:35

child who did things her own

2:37

way. Her family moved to Georgia when

2:39

she was young and after high school,

2:42

Jen went to college in Savannah. She

2:44

considered going into nursing and she did

2:47

take a few pre-nursing classes, but she

2:49

wasn't entirely sure which direction her life

2:51

would take her at that point. She

2:54

was a caretaker at heart, so it's

2:56

really easy to see why nursing was

2:58

an attractive option for her. In

3:00

1995, when Jen was 24, she

3:04

was working at an oyster bar with

3:06

a man named Bobby Corbin. Bobby

3:09

introduced Jen to his older brother Bart

3:11

and the two hit it off. Bart

3:14

was a little bit older than Jen. He

3:16

was 32 and his career appeared to be

3:19

on the rise. He knew

3:21

what he wanted to do since he was

3:23

an undergraduate student. He wanted to be a

3:25

dentist. He attended and

3:27

graduated from the Medical College of

3:29

Georgia and like a lot of

3:32

new dentists, he put in some

3:34

time working in someone else's practice

3:36

while he started making plans to

3:38

launch his own. In

3:42

1996, Jen and Bart took

3:44

a romantic trip to Italy and it

3:46

wasn't long after that trip that Jen

3:48

found out that she was pregnant. She

3:51

and Bart talked about it and decided to

3:53

go ahead and get married. It seemed like

3:55

the natural next step in their relationship anyway.

3:58

So on September 1st, 1996

4:01

they got married and then their son was born

4:03

in March of 1997. Jen was a stay-at-home mom

4:07

for the next few years and they had a second

4:09

son in January of 1999. Bart was not ready

4:14

to have another baby so soon and

4:16

reportedly did not have a pleasant reaction

4:18

to the news, but Jen

4:20

was up for the challenge. With

4:23

two under two, Jen's life

4:25

was full-on mom mode until

4:28

the boys were about preschool

4:30

age. At that point,

4:32

Jen got a part-time job at

4:34

the preschool at their church, which

4:36

worked perfectly for her schedule. She

4:39

could work part-time and again this

4:41

is a caregiving position, but

4:43

she would still have energy left over

4:45

for the boys in the evenings and

4:48

having that energy after work was very

4:50

important. Bart was the type

4:52

of guy who left all of the

4:54

household duties to his wife. She

4:58

did the cooking, the cleaning, the

5:00

mowing of the yard, all

5:02

while also doing most of the

5:04

parenting. Bart focused on

5:07

his work, but when he was home

5:09

he expected Jen's time to be spent

5:11

with him. According to

5:13

Ann Rule, Bart put an entry in his

5:15

journal complaining that Jen

5:17

spent an hour cleaning the

5:19

kitchen when she could have

5:22

instead spent that time with him.

5:25

Bart was particular about what

5:27

he imagined his life would

5:29

look like and for

5:31

several years Jen just took it.

5:34

Even when he withheld compliments instead critiquing

5:37

her to try to get her to

5:39

change into what he wanted, she

5:41

let a lot of it roll off her back. She

5:44

told her family it was fine because he wanted to

5:46

be the king of the house and it didn't really

5:48

bother her that much. The good

5:50

times outweighed the bad by a

5:53

lot, but as

5:55

often happens the scales

5:57

slowly started shifting. B.A.D.

6:00

started weighing quite a bit more.

6:03

One issue in the marriage was their financial

6:05

situation. Bart wanted to run

6:08

his own practice, but he had

6:10

trouble building a loyal client base

6:12

because – well, let's

6:14

be blunt – it was because of his personality.

6:18

Patients complained about his bedside manner,

6:20

or his lack of bedside manner,

6:22

and that is tricky when you're

6:24

a dentist. A lot

6:26

of people have dental anxiety and imagine

6:29

being worried about a procedure, and then

6:31

you have a dentist who is cold,

6:33

distant, and yelled at his office staff.

6:36

The yelling at his staff and

6:38

literally cursing during procedures really turned

6:40

a lot of people off. Bart

6:44

ended up with one pretty

6:46

significant complaint against him with

6:48

the Georgia Board of Dentistry.

6:51

He oversold his ability to do

6:54

a specific procedure, and the woman

6:56

had to immediately seek medical care

6:58

because he couldn't get her mouth

7:01

to stop bleeding. The

7:04

complaint wasn't necessarily about the

7:06

mishap – those things can happen –

7:08

but she had prepaid for the procedure. He

7:11

didn't complete it, so she wanted her money

7:13

back. From my understanding,

7:16

she wasn't even asking for medical bills

7:18

to be paid due to the bleeding.

7:20

She just wanted a refund of the money she

7:23

did pay Bart for the work he didn't do,

7:25

which seems pretty reasonable to me. But

7:28

Bart would only give her a partial

7:30

refund, so she went to the board

7:33

and they ordered him to repay her

7:35

the rest. Business

7:37

ended up being so slow that

7:39

he defaulted on payments for some

7:41

dental equipment and asked another dentist

7:43

to let him know if he

7:45

needed to hire some part-time help.

7:48

Making a dental practice is a full-time

7:50

job. I mean, it's really full-time plus.

7:53

And if Bart was working even part-time

7:55

for someone else, he would never be

7:57

able to keep his own practice afloat.

8:00

But he needed the money. They owned

8:02

a very nice home in Buford, Georgia

8:05

that he took out a second mortgage

8:07

on. And he started

8:09

moving things into Jen's name just

8:11

to keep them from creditors. And

8:15

another part of Bart's method for

8:17

managing their strained finances was to

8:20

keep Jen on a very tight

8:22

budget. He did this from the

8:24

beginning of their marriage, deciding how much she

8:26

could have for groceries and household expenses.

8:30

And he would check her receipts to make

8:32

sure she didn't buy anything they didn't need.

8:35

So money and lack of money

8:37

was definitely a stressor, and the

8:39

arguments over some little thing Jen

8:42

bought at the grocery store that wasn't approved

8:44

by Bart definitely got old. But

8:47

it seems based on the timeline of what

8:49

happened, it wasn't so much

8:51

how Bart treated Jen that really

8:53

started bothering her. It was really

8:56

how he treated their children. Bart

8:59

aimed his hypercritical commentary

9:02

to their seven-year-old, even out

9:04

in public. He

9:07

would yell at him during little league games

9:09

to the point that Jen wouldn't even sit

9:11

with him anymore because it was embarrassing. He

9:14

would call this little boy names like Idiot,

9:16

and it was just too much. Over

9:19

the course of their marriage, Jen had

9:21

suspected Bart was cheating on her with

9:24

someone who worked in his office, which

9:26

she was. She had

9:28

put up with him criticizing her

9:30

over everything from her intelligence to

9:33

the nail polish she wore. She

9:35

dealt with his tirades over the money

9:37

she spent. But things started

9:39

falling apart when he started treating their children

9:41

poorly, and that's why I think that was

9:44

her breaking point. Jen

9:46

wasn't entirely sure what to do about it, though. If

9:50

they split up, the boys would go

9:52

with Bart alone during his parenting time.

9:56

Being a jerk isn't enough of a reason

9:58

for a court to deny a- unsupervised

10:00

visits, so which was

10:02

better? Staying together at first seemed

10:04

like the best idea for everyone.

10:07

She could be there as the

10:10

buffer between Bart and the kids.

10:13

But that left Jen feeling very

10:15

alone and somewhat isolated in the

10:17

marriage, particularly in the hours after

10:19

she put the boys to bed.

10:22

So Jen turned to the internet

10:24

for entertainment and she started playing

10:26

an online game called EverQuest. For

10:30

those not familiar with this game, first,

10:32

welcome to the club, and second, welcome

10:34

to Wikipedia, which is how I know

10:36

what EverQuest is. According

10:38

to Wikipedia, it is a massively

10:40

multiplayer online role playing game where

10:43

you complete quests with your team.

10:46

The relevant part of this game for us

10:49

today is that you can communicate with people

10:51

in the game so there is also this

10:53

social component to it, which is

10:55

attractive if you're someone who's feeling

10:58

alone and trapped in your real

11:00

life. Jen loved the

11:02

game and soon became friends with a

11:04

player named Chris. They

11:06

played the game together and

11:09

chatted. Then little flirtations between them

11:11

grew until they were sending

11:13

each other some pretty spicy emails

11:17

and Jen started seeing the

11:19

possibility of a life outside

11:21

of her marriage to Bart. In

11:25

September of 2004, Jen and Bart

11:27

had been married for about eight

11:29

years and Jen told Chris that

11:31

she worried that she was stringing him

11:34

along since she was married at the

11:36

time and not currently looking to get

11:38

a divorce. But

11:40

though Jen was staying in the marriage,

11:42

she couldn't exactly fake being passionately in

11:45

love with Bart anymore and he

11:47

noticed. We know he

11:49

noticed because he started confiding in

11:51

her family about it, even

11:54

complaining to her mom that Jen wasn't

11:56

having sex with him anymore. Over

11:59

the years, Bart had had grown pretty close to

12:01

Jen's family, and he considered them

12:03

his friends, so going to them

12:05

was not entirely unexpected. But

12:08

still, what an awkward situation,

12:10

particularly for Jen's mom. Eventually,

12:13

after a couple months of this, her

12:16

sister called one of Bart's brothers

12:18

and suggested he help support his

12:21

brother. Bart

12:23

noticed the emotional distance growing

12:25

between him and Jen, and

12:27

then he started suspecting that

12:30

Jen was now preparing to

12:32

leave him. It

12:35

started when he went to go

12:37

buy a classic car and he

12:39

had his credit report run. Yes,

12:42

while keeping Jen on a tight budget with a

12:44

failing business, he bought a car he didn't need.

12:47

Anyway, on that credit report was a

12:49

credit card that Bart didn't know about.

12:52

Jen had secretly gotten it and started

12:54

buying household goods with it. As

12:57

Bart would at any time review her

12:59

receipts and spending, there was really no

13:01

way she could squirrel anything away from

13:04

the family funds. And she

13:06

knew if she left him, he would do

13:08

what he had to to keep her from

13:10

accessing money when she needed it the most

13:12

right after leaving. So she started

13:14

buying these little things and storing them

13:16

at a warehouse at her mother's business.

13:20

If she had to walk out with nothing but

13:22

her children, she would be ready. By

13:25

November of 2004, Bart knew that Jen

13:27

had one foot out the door and

13:29

he said he wanted to see a

13:32

marriage counselor. For

13:34

Jen, it was too late for that. She

13:36

had previously suggested it and Bart shot

13:38

her down saying that he didn't want

13:40

to air out their business to a

13:42

counselor they didn't know. And

13:45

in her heart, Jen had moved

13:47

on to her online friend, Chris.

13:51

Bart did not initially know about

13:53

this online affair, though he did

13:55

notice how much time Jen was

13:58

spending playing the game. And

14:00

he did accuse her of being addicted to

14:02

it. And I call

14:04

this an online affair because that's where it

14:06

started and that's where it stayed. Jen

14:09

and Chris had never met in person and

14:11

they never even spoke on the phone. Anytime

14:14

Jen tried to have a

14:16

phone call or arrange an

14:18

in-person meeting, Chris had

14:21

some excuse for why it was bad

14:23

timing. And

14:25

the real reason for this bad

14:27

timing was that Chris wasn't Chris.

14:30

Chris was a woman named Anita.

14:33

Now remember I said EverQuest is a

14:35

role-playing game. It isn't unheard

14:37

of for people to play characters that didn't

14:39

represent them in real life. That's

14:42

part of the fun. So Anita

14:44

started playing as a male named Chris

14:46

and she struck up a friendship with

14:48

Jen. And then their

14:50

friendship got closer and then it turned

14:52

romantic and then it just got a

14:54

way from her until she knew she

14:57

had to come clean. On

14:59

November 18th, Anita emailed Jen and

15:01

told her the truth. Jen

15:05

was understandably very upset and

15:07

initially cut off contact with

15:10

Anita. But then

15:12

she spent a few days processing it.

15:15

Did it really matter that Anita was

15:17

a woman if the rest of it

15:19

was true? Maybe it did.

15:22

Regardless of anything else, Anita

15:24

was a friend that Jen had been

15:26

confiding in about Bart. And

15:28

unlike others in her life who would

15:31

suggest maybe try marriage counseling, maybe work

15:33

things through with Bart, Anita

15:35

supported her moving ahead with a

15:38

divorce. So

15:40

it really was just a matter

15:42

of days of silence between them

15:44

before Jen and Anita started talking

15:46

again. And now without

15:48

this big secret between them, they

15:50

exchanged phone numbers. Jen

15:53

also printed out some of the emails

15:55

she wanted to keep and stashed

15:57

them in her purse. most

16:00

of them from the computer because she didn't

16:02

want Bart to find them. She

16:04

knew that would not end well. A

16:07

week after Jen learned the truth about

16:10

Anita, she and Bart took the kids

16:12

over to her sister's house for Thanksgiving

16:14

dinner. On the drive

16:16

over there, they stopped at the grocery store to

16:18

pick something up and Bart waited in the car

16:20

with the kids while Jen ran in. When

16:23

Jen got back into the car, she could

16:26

tell Bart was angry. She

16:28

was angry through the entire family

16:31

dinner, barely talking to anyone and

16:33

making it pretty awkward. After

16:36

the main meal was over, Bart abruptly

16:39

stood up and said it was time

16:41

to leave. No conversation about

16:43

it. The boys wanted to

16:45

stay and play with their cousins, but if

16:47

Bart wanted to leave, they were leaving. They

16:51

barely made it out the door when Bart

16:53

started screaming at Jen.

16:57

It turned out he had gone through her

16:59

purse while she was in the grocery store

17:01

and saw the printed out emails from Chris.

17:05

He had been seething about this

17:07

online affair all day and now

17:10

he was letting it all out. Yes,

17:13

this man who had been having an on

17:15

again off again affair for most of

17:17

their marriage was shocked at this

17:19

betrayal. Jen managed

17:21

to get Bart, who had also had several

17:24

glasses of wine by that point, her headed

17:26

to the car and she strapped the boys

17:28

in. They drove off and

17:30

at some point along the drive, Bart

17:33

from the passenger seat hauled off

17:35

and hit Jen in the face.

17:39

This strike has been called a punch

17:41

in some of the reporting and a

17:43

slap in other places. Now,

17:45

I'm not sure it really matters which it

17:47

is, but it did make my brain go

17:49

down a little bit of a rabbit hole

17:51

on the subtext of a slap versus a

17:53

punch. But regardless,

17:56

we do know that he hit her in

17:58

the face and basically told her it

18:00

was her word against his if she

18:02

told anyone about it. The

18:04

arguing continued on the ride home and Jen

18:06

called her family when they got there. She

18:09

told them what happened and her dad told her to

18:11

pack up the kids and head back to her sister's

18:13

house. Today's

18:21

podcast is brought to you by

18:23

newspapers.com, the ultimate destination for exploring

18:26

the mysteries of the past. As

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18:30

Crime Lines episode because if you

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true crime mysteries that keep you

19:33

up at night. Bart

19:42

called Jen's family, and he

19:44

denied he instigated anything. He

19:47

said that it was Jen who started it

19:49

by putting her hands on his throat, and

19:51

he accidentally hurt her while trying to get

19:53

her off of him. They

19:56

didn't believe him, not just because they believed

19:58

Jen, but because he seemed to forget there

20:00

were two witnesses strapped in in that

20:02

backseat. Jen and Bart's children

20:05

witnessed this. Jen

20:08

and the kids spent the night at her sister's

20:10

house and then went home the next day. Jen

20:13

and Bart were already at that point sleeping

20:15

in separate rooms and she thought things would

20:17

be calm enough that she could just

20:19

stay in the house. They could make it

20:22

through Christmas for the sake of the kids

20:24

and then figure out what comes next after.

20:28

But Bart decided to file for divorce

20:30

sooner than that. He filed

20:33

on November 29th, hoping that by

20:35

filing first, it would put him

20:37

in better standing. In

20:39

his petition for divorce, he asked for

20:41

full custody of the boys, all

20:44

of the marital assets, but he

20:46

wanted to split the debts 50-50. Bart

20:50

then started moving money around and taking

20:52

out cash advances on his credit card. To

20:55

help in the divorce, Bart wanted to

20:57

find evidence of this affair Jen was

21:00

having. So the first thing

21:02

he did was he started looking for

21:04

Chris's number on Jen's cell

21:06

phone. He had taken it from her purse

21:08

when he found the emails. Of

21:11

course, there was no Chris in there, so

21:13

he never would have found him, but he

21:15

did call multiple numbers he didn't recognize, trying

21:17

to figure out if one of them was Chris. He

21:21

also took the computer hard drive

21:23

to a data recovery center, hoping

21:25

to retrieve any emails that she

21:27

deleted. In the

21:29

meantime, Jen consulted with an attorney of

21:31

her own who warned that leaving the

21:33

house could be

21:35

twisted by Bart into

21:37

abandonment and that she should

21:40

stay as long as it was safe. So

21:43

Jen decided to stay in the house, but

21:45

knowing that she'd have to support the kids

21:48

largely on her own, she applied for full-time

21:50

work. She also ordered a

21:52

new cell phone to replace the one

21:54

Bart had taken. The

21:57

two of them were both making their moves

21:59

towards divorce but while still

22:01

living under the same roof. On

22:04

December 1st, two days after Bart filed

22:07

for divorce, Jen was downstairs running on

22:09

the treadmill around 6 a.m. and

22:11

Bart was upstairs taking a shower. When

22:14

Jen finished running, she went upstairs and

22:16

found that her purse had been emptied

22:19

out. Her credit

22:21

card, journal, and new cell

22:23

phone were gone. She

22:25

asked Bart, probably not very nicely,

22:28

where these things were, and he

22:30

ran out of the house. Mind

22:33

you, Bart had just gotten out of the shower,

22:35

so he was wearing only a towel, clutching

22:38

Jen's belongings, and hopping into his

22:41

car. Jen grabbed

22:43

the cordless phone and called

22:45

911 to

22:48

report that Bart was stealing her

22:50

things. She went outside and

22:52

stood behind his car to try to stop

22:54

him from leaving, but he started

22:56

backing up anyway. While

22:59

on the line with the dispatcher,

23:01

Jen got out of the way

23:03

of the car, but not entirely,

23:05

so Bart ran over her

23:07

foot. Jen also

23:10

told the police that they had a shotgun in

23:12

their house that they kept unloaded in a closet,

23:14

and it was gone, and she thought that Bart

23:16

may have taken it. Jen

23:18

went in to have her foot x-rayed, and they

23:20

found that there were no broken bones. She

23:23

decided not to press charges against

23:25

Bart, but by the time he

23:27

got home, she had packed up and left.

23:30

Again, Jen spent a night away

23:33

and then went back. Her

23:36

family didn't want her to, but

23:38

she knew legally leaving the house put

23:40

her at a disadvantage in the divorce,

23:43

so she and Bart spent December

23:45

2nd and December 3rd mostly

23:47

avoiding each other. He

23:49

went to work and then out afterwards, and

23:52

Jen didn't care where he was as long

23:54

as he wasn't home. December

23:56

3rd was a Friday, and Bart

23:58

came home pretty- much long enough

24:01

to eat dinner with the family and

24:03

bicker with Jen before he left the

24:05

house to go out with some friends

24:07

around nine-ish. Jen put the

24:09

kids to bed around 10 and then she

24:11

hopped on to play her video game and

24:13

chat with Anita. They stayed up

24:15

until about 1.40 in the morning. Then

24:18

around 7.30 in the

24:20

morning, Jen's neighbors, Kelly and Steve,

24:23

heard a knock at their door.

24:25

It was Jen's seven-year-old upset, saying

24:28

that his mommy wasn't breathing and that

24:30

his daddy had killed her. He asked

24:33

Kelly to call 911. Kelly

24:37

wasn't sure what was going on. Maybe

24:39

he had a nightmare, thought it was real,

24:42

and ran over to the neighbor for help.

24:44

So Kelly walked over and let

24:47

herself into Jen's house, calling Jen's

24:49

name and getting no response. She

24:52

went into Jen's bedroom where she found

24:54

her lying diagonally across the bed. Initially,

24:57

it just looked as if she was

24:59

sleeping, but when Kelly touched her

25:02

arm, she was cold. And

25:04

that's when Kelly noticed a small

25:07

amount of blood coming from her

25:09

nose. 33-year-old Jennifer Corbin was dead.

25:12

Kelly grabbed the cordless phone, but the

25:14

battery was dead, and that's actually why

25:17

Jen's son went across the street to

25:19

look for help. He had tried

25:21

to call 911 himself, but the phone didn't

25:23

work. So Kelly took the two

25:26

boys across the street to her house and called 911

25:28

from there. The

25:30

dispatcher wanted to talk to Jen's son

25:33

directly, and he asked him questions like,

25:35

was his dad home the night before?

25:38

And he said, yeah, he's the

25:40

one who killed my mom. He

25:43

said his parents had been fighting for

25:45

a long time, but he

25:47

meant for months, not that they had

25:49

been fighting all night, because after he

25:52

went to bed around 10 o'clock, after

25:54

Bart left, he slept through the

25:56

night. He didn't witness

25:59

anything. But in the weeks

26:01

leading up to Jen's death, he had become

26:03

so scared of Bart and

26:05

his temper, he would hardly leave

26:07

Jen's side. So when he couldn't

26:10

wake Jen up, he just assumed

26:12

Bart had killed her. In

26:14

an interview with the police later, he repeated

26:16

that he hadn't seen his dad kill his

26:18

mom, but he said he figured

26:20

it out himself. This

26:23

poor boy, he was only seven.

26:27

When the police responded to the house,

26:30

they found that Jen had been shot

26:32

behind her right ear. Though

26:35

stippling, which is the burning from

26:37

the gunpowder, was not seen, there

26:39

was soot around the wound, so

26:41

they knew it was at close

26:43

range but not contact. The

26:46

gun was partially covered by the comforter in

26:48

the bed and the

26:50

divorce papers were nearby. Jen's

26:53

hands were bagged and her body was sent

26:56

for an autopsy. Though at

26:58

least one investigator thought the scene

27:00

looked staged to look like a

27:02

suicide, they needed more information to

27:04

make that the official ruling. But

27:07

before Jen's body had even been removed

27:10

from the scene, the investigators wanted to

27:12

talk to Bart Corbin. He

27:15

had found out that Jen had been killed

27:17

when the neighbor Steve called Bart's mother, who

27:19

called his brother Bobby, and it

27:21

turned out that Bart had slept at Bobby's

27:23

house the night before, so

27:25

he was the one who had to break the news

27:28

to Bart. He said Bart

27:30

got very upset and ran to

27:32

the bathroom and started vomiting. When

27:35

the police talked to Bobby on the phone,

27:37

he told them that Bart was too upset

27:39

to speak to them but that they would

27:41

be over to the house soon. And

27:44

then they didn't show up. The

27:47

lead investigator called Bobby again and

27:49

this time he seemed hesitant to

27:52

commit to coming out to the house. He

27:54

said that Jen's family had started calling

27:56

and accusing Bart of killing Jen. See

27:59

you next time. The investigators said that they were

28:01

still in the process of figuring out what

28:03

happened, and Bobby said he'd call him back.

28:06

It was a few hours later before

28:09

Bart's lawyer called the police and let

28:11

them know that he was representing Bart.

28:14

The police said they had a warrant for

28:16

a gunshot residue test, which Bart showed up

28:18

to submit to that day. But

28:22

he refused to answer any questions,

28:24

including ones that were not about the

28:26

murder. Like if there

28:29

was anything the police needed to do to

28:31

secure the scene when they finished processing it.

28:34

He wouldn't answer. It was clear Bart was not

28:36

going to speak to them at all. Bart's

28:39

GSR test was negative, but at that

28:41

point they knew Jen had died at

28:44

least a few hours before her son

28:46

found her around 7.30. Bart's

28:49

hands weren't tested until 4pm. It

28:52

would have been more surprising if they

28:54

did find gunshot residue. It's usually gone

28:56

within 6-8 hours in

28:59

someone who was alive and moving around.

29:01

Had Bart showered, it would have been gone even

29:04

sooner. I

29:06

know there are some people out there who

29:08

think that if you hire a lawyer very

29:11

quickly in an investigation it shows you have

29:13

something to hide. But

29:15

I'm not one of those people and

29:18

I don't think that move was all

29:20

that suspicious. But the next

29:22

move Bart made seemed very strange to me.

29:25

Rather, it's a move he didn't make. He

29:28

didn't try to get his children.

29:31

He left them in the care of

29:33

the neighbors until Jen's family came and

29:35

got them. He didn't even

29:37

try to contact them for a few days

29:39

even though he was making other phone calls

29:42

all weekend. I get if

29:44

he didn't want to talk to the police or didn't

29:46

want to talk to Jen's family, but you would have

29:48

thought he'd make some effort to see his children. In

29:52

part due to this inaction,

29:54

Jen's family applied for and

29:56

were granted emergency custody. Jen's

30:00

autopsy was conducted the day after her

30:02

body was found, and

30:04

the test for gunshot residue on

30:07

Jen's hands was negative, and

30:09

she also didn't have any blood spatter

30:11

on her hands, which you would expect

30:14

to see if she had shot herself.

30:17

But that's not enough to rule

30:19

out suicide completely. However, when

30:22

you pair it with the way

30:24

the gun was found in the

30:26

bed, the circumstances definitely point away

30:28

from suicide. The

30:30

ME found that the bullet had

30:33

severed Jen's brainstem. She would have

30:35

immediately lost her grip on the

30:37

gun, and based on the position

30:39

she was laying, it

30:41

would have fallen behind her, either

30:44

landing on the mattress or possibly

30:46

even falling to the floor. Instead,

30:50

it was found with the barrel

30:52

partly under the comforter near her

30:54

hand. It was absolutely

30:56

impossible it would have landed there naturally.

30:58

It looked more like someone was trying

31:01

to stage a suicide. Though

31:03

the killer missed the detail of where the

31:05

gun would have naturally fallen instead trying to

31:07

put it near her hand, they

31:09

did add some other details. There

31:12

was a glass of wine on the

31:14

nightstand, even though Jen's blood alcohol level

31:16

was zero. And the divorce

31:18

papers were near her. All

31:20

to craft this narrative that Jen was

31:22

up late drinking, and she was distraught

31:25

over the upcoming divorce when she decided

31:27

to take her life. But

31:30

physics said that didn't happen, so this

31:32

case was ruled a homicide. And

31:34

they knew from Jen's phone records and

31:36

computer records that she was still alive

31:38

until at least one forty. Based

31:42

mostly on rigor mortis and body temperature, it

31:44

was determined Jen died four to

31:46

five hours prior to being found,

31:49

meaning around two or three in the

31:51

morning. And this

31:53

aligns with something the neighbor Steve

31:55

said. He had gotten

31:57

home late that night around one forty-five.

32:00

in the morning and he was tinkering

32:02

around his garage before going to bed.

32:05

Steve heard a truck come down the

32:07

road and he recognized the sound as

32:10

Bart's. You know how when your

32:12

neighbor has a distinct sounding car or motorcycle you

32:14

know it when you hear it? Steve

32:16

said he knew Bart's truck and it came

32:18

to the house and stopped. Then

32:21

about 15 to 20 minutes later he

32:23

heard it start up again and leave.

32:25

So the police really wanted to talk to Bart to

32:28

find out what he was doing around 2am but he

32:30

continued not to talk. So they

32:32

would end up building out his alibi

32:34

through other witnesses but that wouldn't come

32:36

without subpoenas. And before

32:38

they even got that far they got

32:41

a call that expanded this investigation. The

32:43

call initially went to Jen's family. When

32:46

the news hit about Jen's death the

32:48

family was of course flooded with condolences

32:50

from people who knew Jen and even

32:52

people who didn't. And one

32:55

call two nights after her murder was

32:57

from a woman Jen worked with. She

33:00

mentioned that she had a relative who

33:02

had been in dental school with Bart

33:05

and though it was many years ago

33:07

she remembered that there was an incident

33:09

there where Bart's college girlfriend had died

33:12

in an assumed suicide. Now

33:16

that Jen had died and the manner of death

33:18

had not been made public yet she

33:20

thought it was worth mentioning. She

33:23

knew the girlfriend's name was Dorothy

33:25

or Dolly. The family

33:27

told her to call the police with this

33:29

tip which she did the next morning. And

33:32

this turned out to be a very

33:34

accurate and important tip. The

33:37

woman in question's name was Dorothy

33:39

but she went by Dolly. Dolly

33:43

Hearn was born in July of 1962

33:45

and she grew up in the Atlanta

33:47

area. Her father was a

33:49

dentist and she would help in his office

33:52

as an assistant and she

33:54

saw how kind he was and how

33:56

his work really helped people. Like

33:59

I've already mentioned going to the

34:01

dentist can be anxiety-filled for some people.

34:04

And by making it more comfortable for

34:06

them, Dolly's father increased the chances that

34:08

they would seek dental care and just

34:10

have overall better dental health. Inspired

34:14

by this example, Dolly attended the

34:16

Medical College of Georgia to pursue

34:18

her degree in dentistry. While

34:21

there, she met fellow student Bart Corbin,

34:23

who was a year ahead of her.

34:26

The two dated for about a year and

34:28

a half total, though it was on and

34:30

off. When it was on, it

34:32

was very on, and that's

34:34

part of why Dolly would break things off.

34:37

She felt suffocated by Bart, who

34:40

was possessive of her and her

34:42

time, not unlike that journal

34:44

entry complaining about his wife spending too

34:46

much time cleaning and not enough time

34:48

with him. Bart would

34:51

also get very jealous of the

34:53

time she spent with male friends

34:55

and classmates, which I'm not

34:57

sure what he expected her to do about that. It's

35:00

unreasonable to expect someone not to

35:02

work with or have friends of

35:04

a different gender in any circumstances.

35:07

But at dental school, in 1990, only

35:10

12% of practicing dentists

35:12

were women. Yeah, I looked

35:14

it up. So how was Dolly going

35:16

to avoid other men? In

35:19

mid-1989, they split up again, but in

35:21

the fall, they reconciled when Bart made

35:24

promises to stop acting jealous about her

35:26

male friends. It

35:28

didn't last, and Dolly broke up with

35:30

him again in October, in part because

35:32

he was talking about marriage, and

35:35

she was not ready for that step. For

35:38

starters, she wanted to finish school first and

35:40

establish her career. Bart was

35:42

graduating, and his expectation would be that

35:45

she would follow him wherever he set

35:47

up his practice. The

35:49

other issue was that Dolly wasn't sure

35:52

they were that great of a match.

35:54

The thing they had in common the

35:56

most was dentistry, but they were coming

35:58

at it from two different angles. Dolly

36:01

was very passionate about how she

36:03

could improve people's lives. Bart

36:05

was a lot more focused in getting the

36:07

title of doctor and the money

36:10

that would come with it. With

36:12

one person ready for marriage and the other

36:14

one not, they split up again. And

36:17

then shortly after this breakup,

36:19

weird things started happening. On

36:23

November 14, 1989, Dolly and her

36:25

roommate Angela came home and saw

36:27

that the sliding glass door

36:29

to their apartment was open. Dolly's

36:32

cat Tabitha was missing and they

36:34

worried that someone had come into

36:36

the apartment. They contacted the

36:38

police. You said it looked like

36:40

someone had actually lifted the sliding glass door

36:43

off the tracks to open it. And so

36:45

they showed the women how you can put

36:47

a dowel in the way so that they

36:49

can't force that door open. Nothing

36:52

in the apartment appeared to be stolen

36:54

and it was assumed that Dolly's cat

36:56

Tabitha had just slipped out the open

36:58

door. Dolly was

37:00

devastated and she spent a lot of

37:02

time looking for Tabitha. Then

37:05

on November 21, a maintenance man

37:07

at the college found

37:10

some of Dolly's patient charts

37:12

in a garbage can. Dolly

37:15

realized that they had been taken

37:17

from the lab along with casts

37:20

of a patient's mouth that she was

37:22

using to make dentures. That

37:25

set of dentures was pretty much the entire

37:27

grade for that class. So this was a

37:30

very big deal. On November

37:32

27, Dolly showed up

37:34

to school with bloodshot eyes.

37:38

Someone had replaced her

37:40

contact lens solution with

37:42

hairspray. And

37:44

the same thing had happened to

37:46

Dolly's roommate, meaning someone definitely went

37:48

into their apartment. They then

37:51

had the landlord change their locks. This

37:54

was the point where Dolly realized she was being

37:57

targeted, so she went to the campus police on

37:59

November 21. 29th to file a

38:01

report. She suspected that

38:03

Bart had made a copy of her

38:05

keys and he was the

38:08

one behind this. Others

38:10

in their social circle also

38:12

suspected Bart and they prodded

38:14

him into at least admitting

38:16

that he had stolen Tabitha.

38:19

He ended up showing Dolly where he let

38:21

her out, which was miles away on the

38:23

edge of town. Tabitha

38:25

had been gone for two weeks at

38:27

that point and she had always been

38:29

an indoor cat so Dolly was worried

38:31

she wouldn't be alive but she looked

38:33

for her anyway. She walked

38:36

around the area, she went door to door

38:38

asking if anyone had seen the cat and

38:41

miraculously she found her. Bart

38:44

seemed about as apologetic as a

38:46

person could be but Dolly

38:48

wasn't anywhere near trying to smooth

38:50

things over with him. She

38:53

was understandably very angry at

38:55

him and when

38:57

Dolly didn't forgive him the harassment continued.

39:00

On December 10th Dolly went out to

39:02

her car to drive to class only

39:04

to find that two of her lights

39:07

were broken out, someone had

39:09

let the air out of one of her tires

39:11

and there were scratches along both sides. The

39:14

next day her mailbox was broken into and

39:16

a package was stolen. Dolly

39:19

kept reporting these incidents to the

39:21

campus police and Bart

39:23

began telling their friends that Dolly

39:25

was acting weird and paranoid. She

39:27

would flirt with him and lead

39:29

him on and then accuse him

39:31

of doing these awful things that

39:33

he definitely didn't do. Dolly

39:36

was, if you listen to Bart,

39:38

the entire problem. But

39:40

it's clear someone was doing these things

39:43

because they were documented and

39:45

they didn't even stop for Christmas break. While

39:48

Dolly was at her parents house

39:50

someone dumped paint into her gas

39:52

tank and then back

39:54

at school the next semester in January and

39:56

February of 1990 the harassment continued. $1,500

40:02

in dental tools were stolen from

40:04

Dolly's work area and the dentures

40:06

she had been working on were

40:08

gone. Starting those

40:10

over at that point would mean being

40:12

so far behind she might not be

40:14

done in time for her grade and

40:17

she'd failed a class. If

40:19

she failed the class, there was no way she'd

40:21

get the internship she wanted and she might not

40:23

even graduate on time. To

40:26

find out what was going on, Dolly

40:28

met with Bart with a tape recorder

40:30

in her pocket. She

40:32

recorded herself asking him if he could

40:35

at least give her the dentures back.

40:38

He told her that she would never

40:40

find them. She asked

40:42

him if he was sure and if there was just any

40:44

way he could give them back to her and

40:46

he said something like, what do you want me

40:49

to say? How do I know you

40:51

don't have a recorder on you? Dolly

40:54

went ahead and took Bart to the student

40:56

honor board over this but they dropped her

40:58

complaint due to lack of evidence. Bart

41:02

just kept telling people he wasn't doing

41:04

anything and Dolly was paranoid. It

41:07

seemed the campus police were wondering about

41:09

her too because there was talk about

41:11

having her take a polygraph at

41:13

the police station. Then

41:16

on February 23rd, Bart showed up banging on

41:18

her door while she was watching a movie

41:20

with a boyfriend and so she called 911

41:23

but Bart was gone by the time they

41:25

got there. He came back

41:27

at 4am and started banging on

41:29

the door again. So she

41:31

called 911 again and the officers

41:33

made it out there while Bart was still

41:36

there and they told him to leave or

41:38

get arrested and he decided to leave. Finally

41:42

this was some proof that Bart

41:44

was harassing her and

41:46

then it all stopped. No

41:48

more vandalism to her car, no more things

41:51

missing from the lab, no more

41:53

break in attempts at Dolly's apartment and

41:55

when she would see Bart out and about on

41:57

campus or at a party, he would be

42:00

downright pleasant to her, and

42:02

Dolly was desperate to keep it

42:04

that way. During those

42:06

months of being stalked, she could

42:08

hardly focus on anything and her

42:10

grades were slipping. And

42:13

when it stopped, she was able to

42:15

bring her marks back up. To Dolly,

42:17

it looks like Bart had finally gotten

42:19

over her and their relationship to

42:21

the point that things were smoothed

42:24

over. But it

42:26

was a cautious piece. Dolly

42:30

did not want to trigger Bart into

42:32

starting up again, and she

42:34

only had a few months left to

42:36

go. Bart was graduating and

42:38

he would start working elsewhere, and

42:41

she could finally move on in

42:43

school without him around. So

42:45

she acted friendly towards him, so long

42:47

as it looked like things were peaceful.

42:56

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44:17

In May of 1990, Dolly went back home to

44:19

visit with her family and to

44:22

go to her little brother's graduation. But

44:25

in early June, she went back out

44:27

to Augusta for a job. Her landlord

44:29

needed some help getting the financial books

44:31

in order and was paying Dolly to

44:33

handle it. On June

44:37

6, 1990, Dolly planned to work on

44:39

the accounting stuff at her apartment while she

44:41

watched some TV in the background. At

44:44

around 5.30pm, her roommate Angela

44:46

got home and heard that the TV

44:49

in the living room was on. She

44:52

saw Dolly sitting up on the couch,

44:54

but she was leaning back in an

44:56

odd way. Then Angela

44:58

noticed that there was blood all around her

45:00

and she ran out

45:03

of the apartment. She went to a

45:05

neighbor's house and asked them to call 911 because her

45:08

hands were shaking so badly she couldn't

45:10

make the phone call. Then

45:12

Angela ran to another neighbor who was

45:14

an emergency room resident to see if

45:16

he could help. He

45:18

was home and went over to check

45:21

on Dolly but realized that she was

45:23

beyond saving. At the age of 27, Dolly

45:26

Hearn was dead from a single

45:28

gunshot wound to her head. When

45:32

the police arrived at the scene, the

45:34

first thing that was done was to

45:36

secure the gun that was on Dolly's

45:38

lap. The gun, which did

45:41

belong to Dolly, was one that

45:43

she had gotten for protection during

45:45

the stalking. To

45:47

the investigators, this looked like

45:49

a possible suicide. They processed

45:52

the scene and didn't see anything

45:54

that pointed them away from that

45:56

assumption. But when Dolly's family

45:59

was told about Her violent death. They.

46:01

Told the police to look at

46:04

Part Corbyn. Bart.

46:06

Was interviewed by the police at least

46:08

twice. And of the first any talk

46:10

to them he said he hadn't seen dollars in a

46:13

couple of days. He. Had stopped by

46:15

to check on Earth and she wasn't

46:17

feeling well and they talked for twenty

46:19

or thirty minutes before he left. As

46:22

far as where he was on the

46:24

sex of the day Dolly died. Bird

46:26

said he was at school until

46:29

noon practicing for his boards. Then.

46:31

He ran an errand and grabbed to launch

46:33

a being back to the school within about

46:36

forty five minutes. He. Stayed until

46:38

two and then went home again where he

46:40

took a shower and made a few phone

46:42

calls. One. Of the calls

46:44

Bart made was to Dolly by he said

46:46

she didn't answer. He left a message saying

46:49

that he couldn't go to a party that

46:51

they had both been planning on attending. Bart.

46:54

Said after that he went to

46:56

a schedule terracotta three sixteen and

46:58

then he walked to campus around

47:00

for. He. Then met a friend

47:02

at the gym outside and was there

47:04

until about five forty five when he

47:06

went home. After making

47:09

the statement, Bart was allowed to leave his

47:11

alibi accounted for most of his day, with

47:13

a few gaps in there when he was

47:15

alone. And rule

47:18

noted in her book that

47:20

his alibi was incredibly detailed.

47:23

Like. The average person wouldn't

47:25

really remember quite so many

47:27

tiny details and points of

47:29

time in their day. But.

47:32

This was an a red flag for investigators.

47:34

What was a red flag was that they

47:36

soon found out that part lied to them.

47:39

Based. On two witnesses, Bart was

47:41

at Bally's place on the day

47:43

of her death. One. Person

47:45

saw him knocking and the other

47:48

person said they saw him standing

47:50

in her bathroom. So.

47:52

The next day the investigators talked

47:55

about again and they confronted him

47:57

about these eyewitnesses. Part.

47:59

then admitted that he hadn't told

48:01

the truth and he said it was

48:03

because he was afraid of Dolly's father. When

48:06

he thought Bart was behind the stalking and

48:08

harassment, Dolly's father

48:11

did talk to him. According to

48:13

Bart, he threatened him. Bart

48:16

was worried that if he said he was there that

48:18

day, Dolly's father would assume he had something to do

48:20

with it and come after him. Basically,

48:23

the conversation Bart said happened a

48:26

day or two before Dolly's death

48:28

actually happened the day. He

48:31

was there for 20 to 30 minutes while

48:34

Dolly was watching soap operas and working. To

48:37

him, she seemed normal, though she complained a

48:39

little about needing more work hours because she

48:41

needed the money. When he

48:43

left, Dolly was alive and well. The

48:47

investigation continued, but they kept coming up

48:49

against the same roadblock. They

48:51

could not exclude suicide as

48:53

a possibility in Dolly's death.

48:56

So the family hired an

48:58

independent forensic pathologist and

49:01

he came to the same conclusion. There

49:03

was nothing to say that this

49:06

was homicide. So

49:08

the case went cold and Bart moved on

49:10

with his life. Jen

49:13

and her family had never heard

49:15

the name Dolly Hearn before, so

49:18

the investigators on Jen's case called

49:20

the Augusta police. And

49:22

with Bart now having a second person

49:25

in his life dead in what looked

49:27

like a staged suicide, they

49:29

decided to take another look at Dolly's

49:31

case. When Jen's

49:34

funeral was held on December 10th,

49:36

Bart attended with his family, but

49:39

also in attendance were members of

49:41

Dolly Hearn's family, who

49:43

wanted to reach out to Jen's family

49:45

and support them through this grief that

49:48

they knew all too well. I

49:51

want to point out a weird coincidence here

49:53

that may or may not have been relevant.

49:56

Remember Jen Corbin's online friend Chris,

49:58

who was really a nee- While

50:00

Anita's last name was Hearn, she

50:03

was no relation to Dolly, but

50:05

was it possible that Bart saw that when

50:07

he saw the emails in Jen's purse or

50:10

when he started looking into things? Did

50:12

he think that this may

50:14

be someone from Dolly's family

50:17

reaching out to Jen? Because

50:19

that would have only contributed to his rage

50:21

against her. Now we don't

50:23

know if Bart ever saw the last name

50:26

and it really is just a coincidence, but

50:29

I can see it as even more reason

50:31

Bart wouldn't want to simply divorce Jen because

50:33

his connection to Dolly Hearn might

50:35

enter his current life. But

50:38

that's just speculation. Let's

50:40

get back to the facts. We

50:42

know in Dolly's case, the investigators

50:44

built out a timeline of his

50:47

movements based on his own self-reporting

50:50

and the new investigators certainly

50:52

didn't miss the fact that

50:54

Bart initially lied

50:57

about where he was and then he admitted

50:59

he was at the scene. The

51:02

investigators in Gwinnett County also wanted to

51:04

build out a timeline for the night

51:06

of Jen's murder, but Bart

51:09

wasn't talking. They

51:11

only got his alibi by subpoenaing

51:13

the people he was with to

51:16

testify in front of a grand

51:18

jury in mid-December. To

51:20

their credit, they all told the truth

51:22

to the best of their recollection, though

51:24

they did believe in Bart's innocence. On

51:27

the Friday night before Jen's body was found,

51:30

Bart was supposed to have dinner with

51:32

his friends earlier in the evening, but

51:34

they ended up not going out until around

51:36

10. They

51:38

went to a sports bar and left around

51:40

1.10 in the morning based

51:42

on the credit card receipts. The

51:45

designated driver of the three men drove

51:47

them home and Bart was going to

51:49

sleep at his friend Kevin's house where

51:52

he had parked his truck. Bart

51:55

had about six beers over the course of

51:57

the night, so while he wasn't falling

51:59

down drunk, he also shouldn't

52:02

be driving. On the

52:04

way to Kevin's house, they stopped at Walmart

52:06

to buy coffee for the morning, and that

52:08

means they would have gotten to Kevin's house

52:10

around 135.

52:13

Bart then changed his mind about spending

52:15

the night and said he needed to

52:17

go. Kevin said no

52:19

and took his keys. Bart

52:22

could just crash on the couch and leave in the

52:24

morning. Kevin then

52:26

went into the bathroom to get ready for

52:28

bed, and Bart just kept saying he needed

52:30

to leave. But Kevin had stashed

52:32

the keys in a drawer so that Bart couldn't

52:34

just grab them and go. As

52:36

Kevin came out of the bathroom, though, he

52:38

heard Bart say something about having his own

52:40

set of keys. Apparently, Bart

52:43

had the spare on him, so he

52:45

was able to get into his truck

52:48

and drive off. It was

52:50

around 1.45 that Bart was on the road. The timeline

52:54

then picks up with Bart's brother

52:56

Bobby. According to him

52:58

and phone records, Bart

53:01

called him at 3.23am.

53:03

He said he was downstairs and

53:05

he needed to come inside. Bart

53:08

said he used the garage code to

53:10

try to get in himself, but the

53:12

door between the garage and the house

53:14

was locked. He didn't want

53:16

to call and wake Bobby up, so he

53:18

first tried to just sleep in Bobby's vehicle

53:20

that was in the garage, but it ended

53:22

up just getting too cold overnight and he

53:24

wanted to come inside. So

53:27

how long was Bart in the garage?

53:29

No one knows. Bobby's dog

53:32

was barking around 2.30 in

53:34

the morning, so it could have been then, but

53:36

really the dog could have been set off by

53:38

pretty much anything. It

53:40

was a 12 minute drive

53:42

from Kevin's house to get to Bobby's.

53:45

So if Bart did get there at 2.30, prompting

53:48

the dog to start barking, he had

53:50

at least 30 minutes unaccounted for.

53:53

But If he made up that story about climbing

53:55

into Bobby's vehicle to go to sleep and

53:57

he didn't really get there until he called

53:59

and. Three Twenty Three. He.

54:02

Had nearly an hour and forty

54:04

five minutes unaccounted for. And

54:06

regardless of the length of time, This

54:09

death in his alibi was during

54:11

the exact a period of time

54:13

that the any said jan was

54:15

killed. And the time

54:17

the neighbor heard parts truck at

54:19

the house. This was a

54:21

huge gap in the alibi. Enough to

54:24

say. That. This really isn't much of

54:26

an alibi at all. The.

54:28

Investigation into Gems murder and

54:30

the investigation into Dolly's death.

54:33

Were. Running parallel and it stopped

54:35

being a question of if part

54:37

would be arrested. For. More

54:39

which county would make their case

54:41

first? Dolly's. Case

54:44

had a huge hurdle that Jens

54:46

did not. They. Already proved

54:48

agenda.take her on like. But.

54:50

They had to experts from

54:52

nineteen Ninety who said Dolly's

54:54

case could have been suicide.

54:57

They. Needed evidence to the contrary

54:59

and all. They really had to

55:01

do that with where. The crime

55:04

scene photos. The. Done

55:06

had been secured a prior to being

55:08

photographed so unlike and gents case they

55:10

couldn't confirm the scene was staged A

55:12

based on where the gun landed. But.

55:15

What no one had done back in

55:17

Nineteen Ninety was a close examination. Of

55:20

the blood spatter. This. Time

55:22

a forensic expert looks at the photos

55:24

of Dolly's body, Focusing on

55:26

the blood evidence and sounds.

55:29

Three areas that indicated. Her

55:31

body had been rearranged asked

55:33

her death. And this

55:36

included a smear have blood on

55:38

her thighs. It could only

55:40

have been smudged if someone touched her

55:42

and the responding officer said that the

55:44

only teams to the scene made. Before.

55:47

The photos were taken. Was. A

55:49

Securing the done. So.

55:51

The Da's had the evidence they had

55:54

which included parts that lie about not

55:56

being there that he then admitted tail.

55:59

And eight. Grand Jury indicted Doctor

56:01

Bart Corbyn for felony murder and

56:03

malice murder for the death of

56:06

Dolly Hearn. He. Was

56:08

arrested on his forty first birthday.

56:10

December Twenty second. Two thousand and

56:12

four while cameras. Rolled. Delhi's

56:15

brother Guild told Nbc. News

56:17

that watching bark quarter arrested

56:19

on T V. Was one

56:22

of the best days since they last

56:24

dolly. Meanwhile. The

56:26

investigation into gems murder

56:28

continued. They. Had a lot

56:30

of circumstantial evidence like the hole in

56:33

his alibi right wing chun was killed

56:35

and they have the ear witness testimony

56:37

of the neighbor. Part.

56:39

Also. Had weird behavior after

56:41

Jan death. Like waiting a

56:43

couple of days to even try to

56:46

talk to his sons and then refusing

56:48

to give gents family access to their

56:50

belongings, their clothing and even the Christmas

56:53

gifts that Jan had a bot and

56:55

wrapped for them. Gems.

56:57

Father actually ended up breaking into the

56:59

house to get those things and know

57:02

bar to report this as a burglary.

57:04

The police opted not to press. Charges.

57:08

The investigators also found a journal of

57:10

birds that had what looked like seat

57:12

and trees in the days leading up

57:15

to gems death. On December

57:17

first, he wrote about a deep conversation

57:19

he had with Jan and how he

57:21

was able to comfort her. On.

57:24

The second, he wrote with

57:26

detail. About. A sexual encounter

57:28

that couldn't have happened because she

57:30

was at her sister's house when

57:32

he said it happens. And

57:35

then on December third, he wrote about all. This. Time

57:37

he spent with his sons and his

57:39

family, which was time he wasn't spending

57:41

with them. So. Why put

57:43

together these fake journal entries if

57:45

he wasn't going to later try

57:47

to use those to prove that

57:49

things were okay between him and

57:51

fans? Alike they said

57:53

this was a circumstance el Pais even

57:55

though those circumstances were pretty strong. And

57:58

if the investigators had a whistle. For

58:00

what they wanted, in this case, a confession

58:02

would probably be number one for number two.

58:05

Would be a free country for murder

58:07

weapon to the killer. Since.

58:09

Wish number One seems highly unlikely.

58:11

They worked on tracing the gone

58:13

and they found that the last

58:15

place the gun had been sold

58:17

was in for a Alabama in

58:19

the nineteen fifties. Or. That's

58:22

at least the last place the

58:24

gun was documented as having been

58:26

sold. It was possible

58:28

it was passed down within the same

58:30

family it may be had been given

58:32

away or just sold to someone else.

58:35

Alabama is not a state that requires

58:37

much documentation when it comes to guns,

58:40

teaching hands, Support. Just

58:42

so happen to have a good

58:44

friend named Richard who did live

58:46

in a hurry Alabama. And

58:49

game had told a friend that

58:51

she sounded parking stab in Bart's

58:53

shirt while she was doing laundry.

58:55

It. Was from a library in

58:58

Alabama from November twenty ninth. a

59:00

few days before the murder. It.

59:03

Was a seven hour round trip from

59:05

their house in and Buford Couturier and

59:07

Jed had no idea why he would

59:09

have made that trip. These.

59:12

Pieces were definitely pointing in richards direction

59:14

said the police decided to go talk

59:16

to him. And. Richard was.

59:19

Hesitant. To speak with the police.

59:22

Who. Didn't seem to want to get involved. They

59:25

tried a few times to get him

59:27

to open up, but when they started

59:29

pushing talking about things like obstruction of

59:31

Justice. Richard. Did not

59:33

respond well. This was the wrong tactic

59:35

to take with this guy and he

59:37

completely shut down. The.

59:39

Investigators really did think Richard was the

59:41

person who could a link apart to

59:43

the god, but they didn't have that.

59:45

so they went ahead and filed charges

59:48

anyway. Part. Was still in

59:50

custody in Delhi's case when he was

59:52

arrested for Jens murder. Gems.

59:55

Case was going to go to trial first and

59:57

in the media the defense made it clear they

59:59

were going to. Dude, this was a

1:00:01

know murder at all. Jan.

1:00:04

Was losing her marriage she

1:00:06

had her heartbroken. When.

1:00:08

She found out her online love affair

1:00:10

was really a cat says. And

1:00:13

all of that was going to

1:00:15

be exposed through the divorce were

1:00:17

bar would fight for custody. She.

1:00:19

Couldn't handle the stress and opted

1:00:22

to take her own Like. This

1:00:25

day. Agreed with the defense on one

1:00:27

point that the online affair was one

1:00:30

of the reason stretch died, but not

1:00:32

at our own hand. It. Was

1:00:34

parts anger and jealousy and

1:00:36

his reaction to being rejected

1:00:39

that led to her murder.

1:00:42

The. Trial started in September of two

1:00:44

thousand and six and on the second

1:00:47

day of jury selection the prosecutor was

1:00:49

passed a note. It

1:00:51

said come out of the court

1:00:53

room Now. When. He got

1:00:55

out in the hall he was

1:00:57

told that Richard parts friend. Decided.

1:01:00

To talk. He finally

1:01:02

admitted that part had called him.

1:01:05

And was looking for a done. He

1:01:07

said it was because dead was cheating

1:01:10

on him and he was worried for

1:01:12

his own safety. And because

1:01:14

Richard own multiple guns, he told

1:01:16

Bart he to get something for

1:01:18

him. Days. Before gems

1:01:21

murder part drove to try and

1:01:23

Richard gave him an older done.

1:01:25

He. Had recently acquired when

1:01:27

he treated at a used

1:01:29

a lawnmower for the done.

1:01:32

Good old American bartering. The.

1:01:35

Gun he gave bart was the

1:01:37

one used to killed said. This.

1:01:41

Was new as it is, so

1:01:43

the see turned it over probably

1:01:45

a little gleefully to that offense.

1:01:48

And. Then they all sat down for. A little

1:01:50

talk. Bart's.

1:01:52

Attorney on hearing that they could

1:01:54

have link bar to the murder

1:01:56

weapon. Went. From wanting to

1:01:58

defend his club. at trial

1:02:01

to wanting to spare Bart's life

1:02:03

and keep him off death row.

1:02:06

At the time this case was

1:02:08

happening, Georgia was executing three

1:02:10

or four inmates a year. On

1:02:13

September 15th, 2006, Bart

1:02:16

Corbin took a deal. He

1:02:19

admitted that he killed both

1:02:21

Dolly Hearn and

1:02:23

Jennifer Corbin. He spared

1:02:26

their families the pain of an

1:02:28

uncertain trial, but what he

1:02:30

didn't spare, and something that

1:02:32

I keep thinking about as I

1:02:35

have been researching this case, he

1:02:38

didn't spare his children. And

1:02:40

I'm not talking just about the pain they

1:02:42

suffered losing their mother. When

1:02:44

Bart shot his wife and left the

1:02:46

house in the overnight hours, he

1:02:48

knew it was only going to end one

1:02:51

way, with his seven-year-old

1:02:53

and his five-year-old finding

1:02:55

her body. There was

1:02:57

no alternative scenario, but his

1:03:00

anger was so much more important

1:03:02

to him than his own children

1:03:04

that he did it anyway. Bart

1:03:07

was given a sentence of life with

1:03:10

parole eligibility. Jen

1:03:12

Corbin's children were then adopted by

1:03:14

her sister. Bart's

1:03:16

brother Bobby spoke with CBS News and

1:03:19

said that the family truly did believe

1:03:21

Bart was innocent, but it turned out

1:03:24

they had backed the liar. Months

1:03:27

after Bart's guilty plea in April

1:03:30

of 2007, the Medical College of

1:03:32

Georgia awarded Dolly a

1:03:34

posthumous doctor of dental medicine

1:03:37

degree so that she

1:03:39

will forever be remembered

1:03:41

as Dr. Dorothy Hearn.

1:03:44

As part of the guilty plea, Bart

1:03:46

had given up his right for a

1:03:48

direct appeal, but he did file a

1:03:50

handwritten petition for habeas corpus. He

1:03:53

claimed he had ineffective assistance of

1:03:55

counsel in making his guilty plea

1:03:58

and he didn't have it fully Oh

1:04:00

who am. I won't get the

1:04:02

full document up on my website. Basement

1:04:04

for Productions. You. Can either

1:04:07

go to the website and head timelines

1:04:09

he and Flying the Keys where there's

1:04:11

always a link to eat cases timeline

1:04:14

in this show notes and you can

1:04:16

just click that. I

1:04:18

mean, I paid for the document, so we might as well get

1:04:20

our money's worth out of it. His.

1:04:23

Petition was dismissed because he

1:04:25

filed outside of the deadline

1:04:27

and I'm usually against barring

1:04:29

appeals for procedural issues like

1:04:31

this. Because. They're so often not

1:04:33

be inmates fall or rather their attorneys.

1:04:36

But. It's really hard for me to muster

1:04:38

the energy to care about fairness when it

1:04:40

comes to Bar Corbyn. But.

1:04:42

There is a reason I do care about this

1:04:45

case. On the whole. And why

1:04:47

I wanted to bring it up again. And

1:04:49

that's because apart sentence. He has

1:04:51

parole eligibility. As of

1:04:53

right now. He. Could apply

1:04:56

for parole. Now

1:04:58

we have to ask ourselves when

1:05:00

we're looking at criminal justice issues,

1:05:02

and even criminal justice reform. And

1:05:04

sentencing reform. What? Type

1:05:06

of people deserve another chance

1:05:09

in society. This.

1:05:11

Is a man who has killed

1:05:13

two women who rejected him and

1:05:15

he already had a second chance

1:05:17

when he got away with killing

1:05:20

Dolly Hern. Back in June

1:05:22

of Nineteen Ninety. And with

1:05:24

that second chance. He. Abused

1:05:26

and Killed that Jennifer Corbyn

1:05:28

fourteen years later, So. What

1:05:30

we're really asking with Bark

1:05:32

Corbyn is: does he deserve

1:05:34

a third chance? And

1:05:37

that's something the Georgia Parole Board will have

1:05:39

to decide, but I think we need to

1:05:41

decide where our line is. I

1:05:43

usually like to leave people to think about

1:05:45

these things without inserting so much of my

1:05:47

own opinion. But. I have to

1:05:50

say that I see compassionate release

1:05:52

as he ages a possibility. However,

1:05:55

until then I think Park Corbyn is

1:05:57

just too dangerous to let out. Here.

1:06:00

Already killed The twice. And

1:06:02

he showed so little care that he left

1:06:04

his young children to find their mother's body.

1:06:06

I. Don't even know how you go

1:06:09

about rehabilitating someone like that. Know.

1:06:11

In the Book too late to say

1:06:14

goodbye and Rule brings up to other

1:06:16

cases with. Some. Connection to

1:06:18

Barack Corbyn. Well. Kind of

1:06:20

asking the question for Dolly Hern

1:06:22

and Jennifer Corbyn his only victims.

1:06:25

Now. In my opinion, that connection in

1:06:28

both of these other cases is very

1:06:30

sad. And I wouldn't even

1:06:32

include them in this episode under

1:06:34

the title of Bar Corbyn. Except

1:06:37

that are both unsolved. So.

1:06:39

Consider the rest of this episode

1:06:41

in a dead Dumb. In.

1:06:43

Order to signal boost unsolved

1:06:46

cases. Now. The first one

1:06:48

is that of Harriet Gray. Hair.

1:06:50

It had moved from Tuscaloosa,

1:06:52

Alabama to Tucker. Georgia outside

1:06:54

of Atlanta so that she could

1:06:57

be closer to her adult children

1:06:59

and her young grandchildren. She.

1:07:01

Was renting a room from an elderly woman

1:07:03

while she waited for her pando back in

1:07:05

Tuscaloosa to sell so that she could buy

1:07:08

something new. Harry. It

1:07:10

was a dental hygienist and she worked

1:07:12

in the same dental practice that Bar

1:07:14

Corbyn was working at at the time.

1:07:16

And the to did know each

1:07:18

other from work. On.

1:07:21

Sunday, September eighth, Nineteen Ninety Six Harriet

1:07:23

had plans to go out on a

1:07:26

date, but told a friend that she

1:07:28

might cancel and just go grocery shopping

1:07:30

instead. The. Next day she

1:07:32

was supposed to start a new job that

1:07:34

she was looking forward to so an early

1:07:36

night wouldn't be the worst idea. The.

1:07:39

Next morning at the owner of

1:07:41

the house that Harry it was

1:07:43

living in a came home and

1:07:45

saw a bag of groceries sitting

1:07:47

there in the entryway and a

1:07:49

nother bag had been dumped with

1:07:51

a jar of pasta sauce just

1:07:53

smashed. Harriet. And her car

1:07:56

were gone and this scene was alarming And

1:07:58

off of that she called the police. The

1:08:01

investigators were able to determine that hurry

1:08:03

it had gone to the local public

1:08:05

said evening. And. Was last seen

1:08:08

at nine thirty checking out with

1:08:10

the same groceries. Found drops at

1:08:12

the house. In. Early theory

1:08:14

in the case was that Harry at was

1:08:16

at the front door bringing in the groceries.

1:08:19

When. She was forced from the

1:08:21

house into her car and

1:08:23

abducted. But. They had

1:08:25

very few leads. Harriet in her

1:08:28

car had seemingly banished. Fifteen.

1:08:31

Months later fire department diverse

1:08:33

and Tuscaloosa were doing a

1:08:35

training died. When. He saw

1:08:37

a submerged vehicle near the main

1:08:40

boat dock. Due. To algae growth

1:08:42

on the windows they could not see

1:08:44

and but they did alert the police

1:08:46

to the car. The. Car was

1:08:48

then pulled from the water and it

1:08:50

was Harry. It's. Her. Body was

1:08:52

in the driver's seat and our

1:08:54

hands were taped to the steering

1:08:56

wheel. The. Police considered

1:08:59

the possibility that Hurry It's

1:09:01

death was a suicide, which I

1:09:03

think is unlikely. Given. The

1:09:05

totality of the circumstances. But.

1:09:08

They told her it's daughter that they sounded

1:09:10

journal. That may have been hurry it. And

1:09:12

the last entry was from

1:09:15

six months after she disappeared.

1:09:17

This. Would mean that she went grocery

1:09:20

shopping. dumped her groceries at

1:09:22

the front door, And then

1:09:24

went to start life over elsewhere with

1:09:26

nothing but our car in the clothes

1:09:28

on her back. No. Money: No

1:09:30

use of a credit card, No job

1:09:33

that required for social security number. Nothing

1:09:35

for. At least six months.

1:09:38

The. Police as far as I can tell, have

1:09:40

not given any indication of what Harry it

1:09:43

may have been doing for those six months.

1:09:45

Or. If they can actually confirm it

1:09:47

really was her journal and that she

1:09:49

was alive during that time. Periods.

1:09:52

Daughter who spoke with the media

1:09:54

seem to lean towards Harriet not

1:09:56

having been alive for six months

1:09:58

after she disappeared. And. She noted

1:10:01

that Harry It's body was found

1:10:03

to rest for a D Stripes

1:10:05

blouse, skirt and high heels not

1:10:07

something she would generally where to

1:10:09

go grocery shopping. So. Maybe

1:10:11

Harriet did go on a date the

1:10:13

night she disappeared. Then went to

1:10:15

the store and then. Something.

1:10:18

Happened. Being.

1:10:20

That harry it was found in

1:10:22

Tuscaloosa which is a three hours

1:10:24

from Tucker. But it is

1:10:26

where she previously lived. I

1:10:29

think I would if I were investigating

1:10:31

this. Look. Closer at people

1:10:33

see new from there and

1:10:35

less at people like Bart

1:10:37

Corbyn. While. The

1:10:39

To did know each other. There was

1:10:42

no evidence they ever spoke more than

1:10:44

just in passing, And given that Harriet

1:10:46

was twenty years older, Than borrowed. It

1:10:49

just seemed unlikely he would have been the

1:10:51

person she had a date with that day.

1:10:54

I cannot tell at this point. Who

1:10:57

is investigating areas death. I

1:11:00

mean, I guess no one is actually investigating

1:11:02

at, but I'm not sure who's stores the

1:11:04

file. So. If you do

1:11:06

know anything, I'll leave the phone numbers

1:11:08

for the Tuscaloosa Police and the Tucker

1:11:11

Police in the shown else. So.

1:11:13

The second case I gets linked

1:11:15

to Bark Corbyn is the disappearance.

1:11:17

Of Marion lands. Though.

1:11:19

I can't find any podcast that cover

1:11:21

Harriet Grace case. There are a few

1:11:24

episodes out there on Mary's case. If

1:11:26

you do want more details. Just.

1:11:28

Search for marry lands and your podcast app

1:11:30

and they'll pop right up. The.

1:11:32

Connection to Bark Corbyn is

1:11:34

that marry and her husband.

1:11:37

Were actually good for. The Corbyn.

1:11:40

When. Bar engine had gone on that

1:11:42

trip to Italy shortly before they got

1:11:44

married. The Lambs went with them. After

1:11:47

marry divorce that husband see moved

1:11:49

from Georgia to miss again. And

1:11:52

she met another man named Christopher

1:11:54

Rats. In two thousand

1:11:56

and four, they were engaged and

1:11:58

living together. On March

1:12:00

twelve, two thousand and Four marry

1:12:03

and Chris got into an argument

1:12:05

and according to Chris, Mary.

1:12:07

Last between ten and ten thirty

1:12:09

that night. To go out

1:12:11

on foot? Maybe take. A walk to

1:12:13

cool off. All. Of

1:12:15

her belongings except for a white

1:12:18

person were left behind. So.

1:12:20

She didn't bring her keys, her new

1:12:22

vehicle with earth, or her cell phone.

1:12:25

Sent. Dogs were used in the search

1:12:27

for marry and they lead to a

1:12:29

nearby motel, but there was no other

1:12:31

indication she had gone. Their. Part.

1:12:33

Corbyn is obviously not a suspect in

1:12:35

that case. It happened to miss

1:12:37

again at a time when he was in

1:12:39

Georgia. Other than Jen being

1:12:42

very upset learning that her friend

1:12:44

was nothing, there really is no

1:12:46

connection between the cases. I'm

1:12:48

sure it's obvious that Mary's fiance

1:12:51

is a person of interest in

1:12:53

the case, and he has a

1:12:55

record for intimate partner violence from

1:12:57

before he met marry and even

1:12:59

after her disappearance, he spent six

1:13:02

years in prison for what he

1:13:04

did to one girlfriend. He

1:13:06

and he was paroled in Twenty

1:13:08

Thirteen before being arrested and twenty

1:13:11

nineteen. For. A sexual assault

1:13:13

that he was then later acquitted

1:13:15

of. Just. Like with

1:13:17

Harry, it's case if you have any

1:13:19

information I will leave the phone number

1:13:21

to the Marshall Police Department and the

1:13:23

show notes and all tips can go

1:13:25

to them. Thank

1:13:31

you for listening if you want more

1:13:33

content sick of my other so Kremlin's

1:13:36

the Consequences where we get your cell

1:13:38

saw for both every whistling at Peter's.

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