WEBVTT - S1: E29 – The Mountain Man Murders, Part 2 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.120 I never could quite make a decision as to whether 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:07.840 he was a dangerous man or whether something snapped. 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.600 A quite Alaska man known for his ability to live 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:15.120 off the grid, was accused of murdering his neighbors. 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.280 They found him in the creek, and they found her 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.480 about a week later. She'd been shot in the head 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.759 and there was evidence of sex, and they thought it 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:25.040 was postmortem. 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:28.480 As the investigation heated up, the suspect took off. 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.680 He went on the run pretty quickly when it became 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.040 obvious that he was the focus of their investigation. 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.920 A month later, the suspect was in custody and faced 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:38.360 the fight of his life. 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.680 They just couldn't believe he did it. They fundamentally couldn't. 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:43.559 The guy they knew wouldn't do something like that. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.640 By the end of his trial, the tables would be 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:51.280 turned and the defense lawyers would be the ones defending themselves. 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.640 He said, you have convicted an innocent man. 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:59.600 Today we're in Choultna, Alaska, for the conclusion of the 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:03.200 Mountain in Man Murders. I'm slung Glass and this is 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.800 American homicide. Just to note that this episode contains some 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.320 graphic content. Please take care while. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:17.360 Listening murders in cities and towns, you know that happen 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.120 all the time, but a double murder in the middle 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.640 of the wilderness is unique. It's different. 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.319 Maybe you've seen those videos where women of all ages 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.560 are asked the same question, if. 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:34.360 You were stranded in the woods, would you rather be 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:39.280 stranded with a random man or random bear? 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.760 The answers were overwhelmingly one sided. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:49.560 And ninety percent of females are choosing to be stranded 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.800 with the random bear over a random man. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.680 I don't think there's anything scarier in the wilderness than 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.760 a human out to kill someone. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.520 Robin Bearfield authored Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.400 a book about true crime in Alaska. Her book covers 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.080 the murders of husband and wife Rick Berry and Debbie 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:19.120 reehor over Memorial Day weekend in nineteen ninety seven. The 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.240 couple was murdered near their cabin in the remote woods 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:24.000 of Chulitna, Alaska. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:27.880 Chu Litina is not a town, but it's a designated 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:31.320 wilderness area. Most people who live in the wilderness are 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.839 prepared to run into bears or angry moose or other 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.160 animals that you need to watch out for, and you 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.680 don't expect to run into a murderer in the Alaska wilderness. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.200 So I think that's one of the reasons that made 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:45.520 this story such a big deal. 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.320 Located miles from the nearest road and an hour from 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:53.359 the closest town, Chulitna is as off the grid as 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:54.400 you can get. 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.520 People who live in the wilderness they do so because 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.040 they want to be independent, They want to live on 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.799 their own. They enjoy that freedom. So you're on your 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:09.240 own much more up here, and it's frightening when you realize. 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:13.240 That at the time, there were only a dozen or 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.880 so cabins in the area where Rick and Debbie lived. 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:20.200 In Alaska, neighbors are important, you know. It's you want 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:22.840 people to live close enough to you so that you 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.079 can help each other if you have a problem. 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.520 Rick and Debbie's nearest neighbor lived about a mile away. 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.080 His name was Paul Stavignord. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.640 Paul was a year round resident that was his home 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.600 while Rick and Debbie came and went. 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.240 At the time, Paul Stavignort was forty six years old. 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.880 He had long hair, a thick, bushy beard, and wore 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:49.440 around wire rimmed glasses. Years earlier, Paul hurt his back 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.960 working for the railroad. That injury forced him to quit 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.800 his job. That's when he started making artwork, playing the 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:01.880 flute and living and off the grid mountain man lifestyle. 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:07.000 And sometimes people living in a wilderness setting. Look at 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.400 the people who come and go like that as outsiders, 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.920 you know, they don't appreciate him, They resent them, And 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.200 I think that probably was part of the problem with 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:20.120 his relationship with Brick and Debbie. They suspected he stole 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.000 things from their cabin and he seemed to have a 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.080 real problem with them. Rick and Debbie's family knew this. 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:27.960 Rick Anddebbie talked about it quite a bit. 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.080 Paul was the lead suspect in Rick and Debbie's murder. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:35.359 Upon searching his property, they found a journal that detailed 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.760 an affair Paul was having with Debbie. So what was it? 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.160 Were they enemies or lovers? 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.080 His family and friends described him as a kind man 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:51.359 who was spiritual and was nonviolent. They did not believe 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:53.600 he could have killed two people. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.960 Not only that, but Paul had an alibi for the 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:58.839 weekend Rick and Debbie were murdered. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.400 He said he'd gone to Fairbanks for the weekend, and 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:06.320 he even gave them the names of restaurants where he stopped, 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:08.919 places where he stopped to get gased or stopped to 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:12.120 get snacks, but he did not have any receipts. 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.279 Paul explained that he didn't have any receipts because his 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.560 off the grid lifestyle meant he didn't have credit cards 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.840 or checking account He only paid in cash. 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:26.760 And when the troopers followed up, nobody remembered seeing him 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:29.480 at any of the places where he said he'd gone, 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.080 so his alibi did not hold up. 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:35.600 After the police asked for a sample of his DNA, 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.880 Paul Stavinyard went on the run and vanished into the wilderness. 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.479 The man hunt was a big deal and the troopers 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.400 threw a lot of resources at it. I know a 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:48.880 woman who had a cabin in Chulitn at the time, 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.760 and she said it was crazy up there after all 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.240 of this happened, because there were choppers flying overhead all 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.039 the time. She felt like she was in a war zone. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.000 It was just crazy for a few weeks until they 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.680 finally found him. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:08.320 After four weeks on the run, Paul Stavignord turned himself in, 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.680 but he wasn't alone. He had hired a lawyer and 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.520 explained to the police that something in his past caused 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.320 him to run unrelated to the murders of his neighbors. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:26.760 He had had unfortunate experience with law enforcement prior to 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:27.480 this event. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.080 That's Paul's friend Keith Beja. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:36.000 Crusting policemen was probably not his first reaction, so. 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.720 Let's talk about why. Growing up, Paul struggled with drug 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.080 addiction and was expelled from high school. Over the course 0:06:43.120 --> 0:06:46.880 of two years, he was arrested five times for breaking 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:52.159 into cabins, stealing a car, and other crimes. Author Robin 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:54.000 Bearfield explains. 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.000 Paul's biggest run in with the police was when he 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.599 was released from prison for a liquor store robbery. He 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.800 and his two friends decided to rob the First National 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.440 Bank of Anchorage and Seward. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:10.480 In nineteen seventy one, Paul and two others pulled off 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:14.560 one of the biggest bank robberies in Alaska's history. 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:18.320 They stole one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But they 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:21.160 weren't very good criminals. They hadn't really planned their getaway 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.440 very well, and they picked one of the worst places 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.240 in Alaska to try to escape from because it's not remote, 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.920 but there's only one road that goes into it. So 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.280 the police chief easily arrested him and sent him back 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:34.840 to prison. 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.400 Four years in prison was enough for Paul Stavignork to 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:39.360 make some changes. 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.120 He decided he wanted to turn his life around, and 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.960 he took a job with the Alaska Railroad inspecting the tracks. 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:53.720 Married a waitress for the railroad, and they had two children, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:56.600 built a cabin in chew Litna. He loved the chew 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:01.480 Litna area, and Paul became very interesting respective He became 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:05.560 very spiritual, and he started to do art work. 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.840 That's when Paul adopted his sort of hippie lifestyle and 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:11.440 threw himself into the arts. 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.440 He carved flutes and he also became fairly skilled at 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:19.000 playing the flute, and he ended up recording three albums 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:19.880 of flute music. 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.480 But playing the flute didn't pay the bills. His wife 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.360 divorced him in the early nineteen nineties and told the 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:31.320 court Paul didn't support her emotionally or financially. She got 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.880 custody of their children and moved away. Paul remained in 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:35.480 chou Lenna. 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.280 There wasn't two sides to Paul Stabnard, the peaceful, calm 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.320 person that most people considered him now and then this 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.640 guy who couldn't stay out of trouble when he was younger. 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.480 Two sides of Paul Stavignyard. That's what lawyers would have 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:54.880 to argue over when he went on trial for the 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.760 murders of Rick Berry and Debbie Reehort. 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:02.240 Suddenly the trial wasn't about us proving that it was him. 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.560 It was he had a story to tell, and that 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.120 changes the complexion entirely. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.400 In nineteen ninety eight, Paul Stavignord went on trial. He 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.520 was accused of killing his neighbors Rick Berry and Debbie 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.760 reehor Over the course of eight weeks, the jury heard 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:30.720 conflicting testimony from dozens of witnesses from both sides. Even 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:35.199 Gavin Saha, the man who camped near rick Berry's dead body, testified. 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.199 All of it left the jurors looking puzzled and confused 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.080 and wondering who the real Paul Stavinord was. 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:45.920 He went on the run pretty quickly when it became 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.080 obvious that he was the focus of their investigation, and 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:50.600 he was able to stay on the run for quite 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:51.000 a while. 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.400 Judge Eric Smith presided over the trial that had divided 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:57.400 the small Alaskan town. 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.880 It hit the community pretty hard. I think the circumstances 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.480 of it, the manner in which they were killed was 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:09.640 also pretty shocking, and I know that mister Stavangerd's supporters 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.800 were very affected by the whole story. They just couldn't 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.559 believe he did it. You always wonder what's come of 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:18.720 our community when something like this happens. 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.800 Prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:27.800 the soft spoken defendant was capable of murdering his neighbors, 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.559 but they were limited in what they could say. 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.120 We kept his criminal history out of the case, so 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.080 the jury didn't know about his criminal history. 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:40.640 The time Paul stole a car inadmissible, the time Paul 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.760 robbed a liquor store inadmissible, and the time Paul robbed 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.120 a bank also inadmissible. 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:52.840 I found that mister Stavangerord's criminal history, especially the armed 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.720 robbery and the escape, would tend to make the jury 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.280 think he was a criminal and therefore make him more 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.160 likely to have done what the state alleged he had done. 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.600 So prosecutors had to rely on DNA evidence found on 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:11.040 Debi rehor that pointed back to Paul Stavignort. 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:15.880 The autopsy on this Reheor's body revealed there was evidence 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:20.719 of sex. They found semen on her body, and they 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.720 did a DNA test. The DNA did match with what 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:25.920 was found on this rehor. 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:31.280 In their opening statement, the defense team surprised everyone when 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:36.559 they admitted Paul did shoot Rick Beery, but they said 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.560 he did not shoot Debbie Rehor, and they claimed the 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.400 sex between Debbie and Paul was consensual. 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:48.839 All of this caused the courtroom to stir mister Stavangeord. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.239 He and his attorneys didn't say much of anything publicly 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.720 until opening statements in the trial, so it was pretty dramatic. 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.920 The defense also called a half dozen witnesses who spoke 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:05.319 Paul Stavinords peaceful and spiritual demeanor. But first they spent 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.680 a lot of time attacking the character of one of 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:09.520 the victims, Rick Berry. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:15.439 They painted a picture of mister Berry as a very difficult, arrogant, 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:16.199 angry man. 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.320 A handful of neighbors testified that Rick and Paul did 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.640 not like one another and that they often clashed. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.800 One of the run ins had to do with mister 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.280 Berry believing that mister Stavangerd had taken some equipment from 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.280 their cabin and confronted Stavangerd about it. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:35.880 The defense also called a half dozen witnesses who spoke 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:39.720 to Paul stavinorts peaceful and spiritual demeanor. 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.200 They did say that he had become this very mellow 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:48.679 mountain man, that he lived a simple life, and that 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.480 he was an artisan. He made this jewelry, and he 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.360 was a flute player and kind of a very new 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:56.320 agey kind of guy. 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:59.760 And then the defense pointed out that troopers found a 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:04.079 lot in Rick and Debbie's cabin, one they believe was 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.160 a gift from Paul. 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:10.000 They painted a picture of mister Stavangerd having very antagonistic 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:14.240 relationships with mister Berry, but a very good relationship with 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.000 miss Reehorr, And so they tried to persuade the jury 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.920 that it would be a natural thing under those circumstances 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.880 for miss Rehorn and mister Stavinger had to have this 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:25.080 sexual relationship. 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.440 On the stand, Paul Stavignor took several deep breaths and 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.520 spoke very slowly as he discussed how he cared for Debbie. 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.440 He's an articulate, intelligent man, and he was pretty calm 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:38.600 and collected on the stand. 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.280 He said that on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.840 in nineteen ninety seven, he was out on a walk 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:48.280 and bumped into Debbie. 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.680 Mister Stavanger had claimed that he met miss Reehorr on 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.480 kind of a grassy knoll above the creek and they 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:00.280 had sex together, So the DNA match came from the 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:02.880 consensual sex that he claimed he had with miss Rehear. 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.320 But afterwards everything changed. 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.400 And I think he was playing his flute for her 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.800 when mister Berry showed up on his four wheeler and 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.760 got very upset and started shooting. 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:19.080 According to Paul Savignyorn's testimony, Rick Beery yelled, I'm going 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.280 to blow your head off, pulled out his gun and 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.840 fired at Paul. But Rick missed and struck and killed 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:27.840 his wife, Debbie. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.280 He accidentally shot his wife in the head, and mister 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.960 stavangerd returned fire and shot mister Berry in the head. 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.400 He was shooting at me, and. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:41.080 I believe that I was going to be killed. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.800 That was the voice of Paul Savignorn on the witness 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:46.840 stand describing what happened. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:51.480 It seems like an awful coincidence that she would actually 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:53.880 have been hit by a stray. 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.600 Bullet District Attorney Bill A. 0:14:55.640 --> 0:15:01.040 Stell His scenario was that they were having can sensual sex. 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.800 That when they heard the approach of a four wheeler, 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.000 he stood up to see who it was, which one 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.200 wonders why would one stand up where somebody can see you, 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:16.440 And that Rick Barry saw him and shot at him 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:23.520 and accidentally killed Deborah, And that he shot Rick Berry 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:28.680 in self defense at some number of yards with a 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:36.960 cheap little twenty two pistol, standing there naked it was implausible. 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.840 During cross examination, Paul Stavignort said his story was so 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.160 outrageous that he didn't think anyone would believe him. 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:50.520 The details about his relationship were totally at odds with 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:55.520 everybody in Deborah's acquaintance, her family, her coworkers, her friends. 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.600 None of what he described was believable to them, that 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.320 she was behaved in that way. 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:09.280 Paul Stavignord testified that afterwards he felt sadness, terror, hopelessness, shame, guilt, 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:14.560 and remorse, so he panicked and said he got rid 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.360 of the evidence. He picked up bullet casings and burned 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:22.120 his clothes. Even with his bad back, he said he 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.960 managed to drag Debbie's body under some tree limbs. He 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.040 said Rick's bonnie had floated away to a deep hole 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.720 in a creek and that's where he left it. 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.800 His story was inconsistent with what he said. 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:41.840 First, Paul agreed and admitted he lied to troopers and 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:46.240 even to his friends. Here's more from Judge Eric Smith, 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:47.800 who presided over the trial. 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:54.160 Mister Stavanger lied a lot. The prosecution relied quite heavily, 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:55.480 and the fact that he. 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:59.760 Lied, Paul Stavanord said, one lie led to another, and 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.040 that's when he realized he was in too deep, and 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.720 in order to keep his story straight, he wrote down 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:07.480 what happened. 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.320 He had a journal, and in the part of the 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.840 journal he had written out notes, and it appeared it 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.600 was like he was writing down the story he was 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.159 going to tell the troopers about where he was and 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:29.080 what he did. 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.760 Durors had to decide who was the real Paul Stavignord, 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.240 a loner who snapped and killed his neighbors, Rick Bery 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:42.960 and Debbie Reehor or a peaceful flute plane mountain man 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.000 who killed Rick Bury in self defense. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.760 It was a hotly contested case and there was a 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:52.439 lot of emotion running through it. 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.280 Judge Eric Smith presided over the case. 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:58.640 So the whole notion of mister Stavanger being this peaceful 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.200 guy and mister Barry this angry guy, was very essential 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:02.840 to their case. 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.520 Paul Stavinord testified that Rick Bery caught him having an 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:09.879 affair with his wife and then took out his gun 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.600 and fired at him, but the bullet hit Debbie by mistake. 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.360 Paul said he returned fire and killed Rick in self defense. 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.800 They played into this sort of mellow guy in the wilderness, 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.399 and the flute was a key piece of the picture 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:25.960 they painted. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.960 According to Paul, he played his flute for Debbie just 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.360 before the two of them had sex, and that's when 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:37.520 things in the courtroom got even more weird. Paul's lawyer 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.960 asked the judge to allow Paul to play this song 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.040 he performed for Debbie. 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.280 So the flute playing would play into the effort they 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.160 were trying to make of him as a peaceful man, 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:52.719 and they were certainly allowed to make that argument, just 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:54.720 as the defense was allowed, up to a point to 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.920 make the argument that mister Berry was a violent man 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:00.840 because it was a defense case. 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.359 Ultimately, none of the jurors got to hear Paul play 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.040 his flute, although he did have his courtroom performance. 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:13.439 I decided that that was of utterly no relevance to 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.919 the jury, but the attorney insisted that he played the 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:20.679 flute for the record. So at the end of the 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.160 trial day one day, I excuse the jury sent them 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.080 home and then had him play the flute. And I 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.320 will tell you he's a very He was really good. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:30.240 He was really good. 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.520 Relatives of Rick and Debbie were furious that Paul was 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:40.359 allowed to play the flute. It probably felt really inconsequential 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.800 and performative, so they got up and walked out of 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:48.080 the courtroom. Meanwhile, Paul supporters sat and listened. 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:57.359 The environment was pence and the tension was palpable. 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:00.240 Assistant District Attorney Billi stee out. 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:05.560 The families of Rick Berry and Wi Rehorr were there 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:12.159 throughout and they were living through the nightmare. And on 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:16.360 the other side were the people that were there to 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:19.960 support stave in Geord because they believed in him. 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:24.760 During closing arguments, prosecutors admitted they didn't know the exact 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:29.040 reason why Paul Stavinord killed Debi rehor and Rick Berry, 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:31.399 but they were certain he did it. 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.760 He just decided that he was going to take things, 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.560 not just from Rick Berry's cabin, but take his wife, 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.160 take his life, and take everything he had. 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:47.000 After two long months, it was up to the jurists 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.399 to decide who the real Paul Stavinord was. 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:55.359 Well, you're always nervous because you have to prove a 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:57.000 case beyond a reasonable doubt. 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.800 And keep in mind, the jury never heard about Paul 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:05.639 Stavignort's previous crimes, including his nineteen seventy one bank heist. 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:09.800 They weren't familiar with the fact that he was a 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.600 bank robber, that he had had the violent passed. 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.959 Three days passed before the jury handed Judge Eric Smith 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:18.880 their verdict. 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.320 Mister Stavangord was convicted of murdering the first degree for 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.359 killing mister Berry, and murder in the first degree for 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:27.520 killing this reehorror. 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:33.000 The jury found Paul Stavinord guilty on the two biggest charges, 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:37.920 but acquitted him of sexual assault. One of the jurors 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.119 told a local reporter that he found Paul Stavignord to 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:47.320 be evasive and unbelievable on the stand. On his sentencing day, 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:50.800 Paul Stavignord had the opportunity to address the court. 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.560 It was called the Right of elocution, and I was 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.239 very curious what his allocution was going to be. So 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:00.000 when I asked him if he wanted to say anything, 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:02.480 he said, and I believe this is all. He said, 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:08.199 You have convicted an innocent man. I kind of expected, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.080 given the nature of the tragedy, that he would have 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:16.080 shown some remorse or some sorrow or some recognition about 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:19.199 what an awful thing that had happened. And he didn't. 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:22.760 And I sentenced him to ninety nine years on each count. 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:25.560 And then I made those sentences consecutive. 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.359 The judge wanted to make sure Paul Savignard would never 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:34.640 experience freedom again. Even ninety nine years concurrently would make 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:38.160 that true. But Judge Smith wanted to make a point. 0:22:39.240 --> 0:22:41.639 I don't think there was any other appropriate. 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:44.240 Sentence, Assistant Da Billistell. 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:48.240 I think there was a foregone conclusion that you would 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.159 get the maximum sentence on each count because it was 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:57.760 it was just malice, a forethought. I believe Judge Smith 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.080 in his remarks, made him very clear that they all 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.800 suffered and that the sentence should reflect that. 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:09.320 But this case didn't end there. 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.480 In my opinion, this is a travesty. 0:23:13.000 --> 0:23:15.760 Of justice that suppost friend Keith Beja. 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:20.439 I read somewhere that the initial vote the jury was 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:24.080 nine to three, so there were some of the jurors 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:29.480 who weren't convinced that first degree murderer was the appropriate charge. 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:34.000 A local newspaper report backed up that story, but ultimately 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:38.960 the jury voted unanimously to convict Paul. However, the case 0:23:39.000 --> 0:23:42.440 had a new development about the murder weapon, which could 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:43.679 change everything. 0:23:45.680 --> 0:23:49.720 Well after the trial and the conviction, Paul went to 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:54.800 the judge with the allegation that he had used a rifle, 0:23:54.880 --> 0:24:00.800 not a pistol, to return fire. The prosecution focused on 0:24:00.840 --> 0:24:05.400 this Jennings pistol, which incidentally is a low quality pistol, 0:24:06.960 --> 0:24:10.640 as the murder weapon. Paul had told him he had 0:24:10.640 --> 0:24:15.679