WEBVTT - 7: A Second Chance 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.240 On May twenty seventh, twenty fourteen, Anne Bender was in 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:13.240 court awaiting a verdict for the second time. She'd been 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:17.079 re tried for murder, which is allowable under Costa Rican law. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:23.960 The trial had lasted seven days. Anne was shaking. The judge, 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:26.400 Adolpho Calderon began. 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:33.760 An absol He told the court that John Bender could 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:36.279 not have shot himself because he had a wound at 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:37.080 the back of the head. 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.839 The judge said other evidence that the crime scene also 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.280 made suicide impossible. The blood, the bullets, the position of 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.800 the body. It all pointed to only one conclusion. Anne 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.839 had argued during the court case that John suffered from 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.560 bipolar disorder and that he'd attempted to take his own 0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:02.880 life before the judges weren't convinced by her defense. Finally, 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:08.160 Judge Calderon announced the verdict without a doubt. He said, 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:12.399 the court agrees that the death of John Felix Bender 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:21.240 was homicide. Ann had murdered him. She was guilty. The 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:35.240 sentence was twenty two years in prison. From Exactly Right 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:40.280 Media and iHeart podcasts produced by Blanchard House, This is 0:01:40.440 --> 0:02:06.360 Helen Heaven, I'm Becky Milligan. Chapter seven, A second chance 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:20.000 and was led away by gods. In total shock, she fainted. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:21.920 Do you remember her reaction? 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:23.840 Stunned? 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:27.240 Author Carol Vaughan witnessed the verdict. 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.400 I think she and her legal team neither one thought 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:32.560 that that was going to happen. I think her legal 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.639 team had done a very good job of defending her. 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.639 And do you remember her walking out or what happened. 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.680 I remember they tried to get her out as quickly 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.120 as possible through a side door, which you're not supposed 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.280 to use, things like a fire door, but she could 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.359 barely walk. She was overcome. It was awful, and we 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.359 were all looking at each other just in total disbelief. 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.520 She was immediately remanded to a psychiatric hospital, where she 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.959 was held under guard and put on suicide watch. When 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.640 she was over the shop and considered well enough, she 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:07.840 was moved to the prison. 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:11.280 And I didn't know how awful it was where they 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.200 were sending her and what they were doing to her, 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:18.320 and how you'll equipped she was for it. Had I known, 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:23.040 I would have been flopping out also, because it's just 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:27.320 being in jail as a woman in Central America is 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.959 just no day at the beach. 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.640 The verdict horrified Anne's family and everyone who'd supported and 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.280 believed in her. What worried the most was that Anne 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.720 might not survive being in prison. The stress of the 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:45.760 trial and the verdict had weakened her. She was frail 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:50.120 and very thin. Ken Anne's brother, was her spokesman throughout 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.640 the trial and outside the court. Speaking in perfect Spanish, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:55.520 he told reporters. 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:56.400 Nois. 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.840 My sister is not a killer. The second trial was 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:06.480 a fallacy, a dark day for Poisseladon very ugly. Friends 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.360 and family had to move fast and make a lot 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:13.120 of noise about what they believed was an appalling miscarriage 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.719 of justice. They created a gofund me page and started 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:21.880 a petition Free and Bender on the popular change dot 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:26.520 org platform to mobilize supporters. An actor reads what one 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.440 of her friends wrote on their page. 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.040 We family and close friends are doing everything in our 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:36.080 power to end this nightmare. An innocent woman is dying, 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.400 and we can make this write we can. 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:45.520 Her lawyers also sprang into action, preparing an appeal. Anne 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.360 had one other person fighting her corner, a man named 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:56.240 Greg Fischer. Anne met Greg in San Jose, where she'd 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.600 been living around the time of her first trial. Originally 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.120 from New New York. Greg had lived in Florida, Arizona, 0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:07.120 and then Costa Rica. Just like John had been, Greg 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:11.000 was into bodybuilding and fitness and liked to ride motorbikes. 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:16.159 He was handsome and, according to friends, kind and compassionate. 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.279 It was a second chance for Anne. They lived together 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.440 in an apartment in a smart suburb of San Jose 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:29.039 and even got a puppy. But then came the second trial, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.920 and just over a year after they'd started their relationship, 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.400 Anne was found guilty and started her twenty two year 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.960 prison sentence. All hopes of that new life were taken away. 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:46.800 Greg now dedicated all his time to fight for her 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:50.719 release and visit her in prison. An actor reads his 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.320 Twitter bio at the time. 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.600 Working every day to help save Ann Bender from the 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.760 terrible injustice doneder her by the people she trusted the most. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.800 He and s Amavan's friends and family contributed as much 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:06.560 as they could to her campaign. Greg was always thinking 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.320 of new ways to raise money to help Han's calls. 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.400 They also took to social media and tweeted everyone from 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.960 The New York Times to Fox News, hoping a journalist 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.440 or campaigners or politicians would pick up her story, and 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.160 someone did pick up the story. But closer to home. 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.400 I'm at a cabin on the outskirts of pere Zeladon, 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.120 in the shadow of those beautiful mountains. It's owned by 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:42.600 Carol Vaughan. She lives here with her dog, Garbo. You'll 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.160 have heard from Carol throughout the series. She's dressed in 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:51.040 her Hallmark Loud Hawaiian shirt and red lipstick. In her 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.160 younger days, back in America, she was a tap dancer. 0:06:54.880 --> 0:07:00.000 I was an avid tap dancer. I don't tap any 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:04.080 anymore because of my age, but had a tap dance studio, 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:08.400 taught it, continued to perform it in nightclubs both in 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.800 New York and in Washington, DC. And I feel like 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.040 in my heart I'll always be a tap dancer. 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.800 Carol even danced with Mickey Rooney, a Hollywood star in 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:23.120 the forties and fifties. She gave up the love of 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.480 her life, I e tap and moved to Costa Rica 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.280 in twenty twelve, where she could have retired relaxing on 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.840 her rocking chair on the verandah, taking it nice and easy, 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.400 but she isn't a type to do that. Instead, she 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.320 dived right into a new career as an investigative reporter 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.560 for a local newspaper, The Tico Times. Before we can 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:47.680 sit down to chat, we're off for a walk with 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.320 her dog, Garbo, and she starts to tell me how 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:58.040 one story took over her entire life and still dominates it. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:03.160 It's so embarrassing. I became possessed and obsessed with the 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.200 story of the Benders. It's raining you, guys. We're going 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.600 to cross and go down just a bit, and he 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:10.960 should poop. 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:16.400 Okay, and shallah, we'll wait for the poop. Back in 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.800 the cabin, we start from the beginning how she became 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.040 possessed and obsessed with the Benders. One day, her editor 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.120 gave her a new assignment covering an Bender's murder trials, 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.440 starting with the second, the one in which she was convicted. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.240 Carol had no idea what she was about to get into. 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.760 My Spanish was pretty good, but I wasn't great. And 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:41.760 in court you have to be quick, and you have 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:46.199 to pay attention, and you have to understand legal things 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.240 that I didn't understand. So when he first said this 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.840 is your assignment, that I want you to go do this, 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.360 it's like, well, you know, I'll try it. But I 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:56.680 can't promise that it's going to be great. First day trial, 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:00.200 I thought, oh, I'm going to do this because this 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.080 is to the reaction of the people in the courtroom 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:07.280 and the looks on people's faces. And there are three 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.040 judges in all court cases here, criminal court cases, and 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.480 they would fight with each other and say nasty things 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.640 to each other and things that would never happen in 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:21.199 American court. So the drama was so intense. I realized 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.000 that it wasn't just a writing assignment. It was also 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:28.520 my telenovela, my soap opera of the day. 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.000 Did you know about the case already? I mean, did 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.920 people talk about it? Was it just a big thing here? 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.199 Everyone talked about it. It was in all the local papers, 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.239 on all the local radio and TV. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.600 And was now in the only all women's gennel in 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:47.880 Costa Rica. Originally a convent, it was now a fortress with. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:52.560 Gun turrets, guys walking around with guns. She was in 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.160 an ambito with twenty women. 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:56.880 That's a prison dorrmitory. 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.280 There weren't enough mattresses for everyone, so they would share 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.920 mattresses or some people would just have to sleep directly 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.040 on the floor. You have to wear your own clothes, 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.360 but you're not allowed to replace your clothes. So people 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:16.839 are in like Robinson Crusoe, torn outfits. Their women there 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.880 who are pregnant. They're women there who have their own 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:21.319 children with them. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.160 Let's just stop here for a moment. Imagine what it 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.240 must have been like for this privileged woman, an American 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.480 used to the comfort of Buracaeyanne in the middle of 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:36.680 the jungle, protected by armed guards, surrounded by staff, beautiful jewels, 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.600 tiffany lamps, watching the sunset every evening over their own 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:45.559 private jungle. Now she was in jail, convicted of murder. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.240 The contrast couldn't have been more extreme. 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.880 The food is inedible. I mean, they'd be maggots crawling 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.920 out of the of the rice. I don't know how 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:57.200 she survived. I really don't. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.600 And you went to visit her in prison. Can you 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.959 recall the conversation you had. 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.760 While she was in this dormitory with twenty people. I 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.720 think they let me go with her outside. I was 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.200 not allowed to tape, but I was allowed to take notes. 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.079 She in general always wore black, and she wore skirts 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.079 all the way down to the floor usually, and then 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:23.800 long sleeves because there's no climate control. 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.160 In jail, right, Well did she tell you? 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:26.679 Well? 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.560 I was very concerned with how she was if she 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.920 was being treated well as well. 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:35.040 As a journalist, Carol was working as a volunteer for 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:38.080 the American embassy. In fact, her father had been a 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:39.720 diplomat in Latin America. 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.640 I said, you know, we'll get your soap, We'll get 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.200 you toilet paper, because there's no toilet paper in jail. 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.079 Let us know what you want, we will get it 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.840 to you. So that was the most of the conversation 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.520 was are you taking care of your health? She had 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.320 a heartport and she couldn't keep it clean because she 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.120 was only allowed to bathe once a week. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:11:59.440 What is a hart court. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.520 It was something that would allow them to inject medicine 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.320 right into her heart because her heart was not strong. 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:07.640 Gosh. 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:12.320 So she was really seriously, oh yeah, off, that sounds 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.000 quite frightening for her if she can't actually, you know, 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:16.760 keep it clean. 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:21.120 So all of that stuff about just human human How 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:22.080 are you holding up? 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.760 It's a question lots of people were asking how was 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:29.760 she surviving day in day out, especially as she was 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:34.560 so frail. The answer Carol got to her question surprised her. 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:39.199 She confessed to me that she was actually well accompanied, 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.920 that she felt very comfortable with the women that she 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:45.800 was living with, and that they were taking very good 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:48.560 care of her, and she felt kind of good about that. 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.720 It's amazing, isn't it? To go from a sort of 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:53.920 house she was living in on top of a hill, 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:56.720 a mansion, yes. 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.960 With just one other person, and now she's thrown into 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:04.520 a dirt bin with twenty and she's okay, how does 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:05.160 that happen? 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.040 Luckily, Anne had won the sympathy of the other inmates. 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:10.760 They seemed to pity her. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:17.520 The women rallied around her, recognizing she was a wounded birdie. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.880 They saw her as a wounded bird. 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:25.160 They brought her clothing to wear, Their families brought her 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:29.319 food from home. And Anne suffered a lot from the cold, 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:34.000 so they would heat water forward to pour in her 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.720 pail so that she could get a little comfort there, 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.040 and then they would take her out to the back 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.959 so she could sit in the sun and try to regroup. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:44.719 They were very sweet to her. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.559 What was it about her do you think that made 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:49.000 people sympathize? 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:56.199 I think she reads as a wounded, wounded person. She 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.800 was very sympathetic always to wounded animals where they lived, 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.400 and I think it was because she was one. She 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.240 just got bury with the broken wing. 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.680 It was hard for anyone to survive in there, let 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:13.719 alone an American who was used to a certain lifestyle. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:18.080 But those women rallied around her, cared for her, helped 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.680 her survive, and there was. 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:24.920 Greg Ann's boyfriend would bring her food and then enough 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:26.840 food to share among the other prisoners so that they 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:28.240 would take better care of her. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:30.360 Carol also helped her. 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.080 After the health issues of how are you, what can 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.800 we do for you? The embassies looking after you. We 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.320 will visit you. Here's a number to call if you 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.040 get in trouble. Telephoning in jail as a huge problem 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:45.000 because there's only one phone and you're allowed two minutes 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:46.280 on one kind of thing. 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.120 Carol felt like she and Anne were connected. Their fate 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:52.880 had brought them together. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.840 Because here I am. I'm a single American woman here 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.720 in Costrica with not very much knowledge to the country 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.560 or the language or anything. And I felt that a 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:06.040 kindred spirit. She was a female. She was wrongly accused, 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:10.880 I thought, and it wasn't one hundred percent sure she 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:12.160 was getting good legal help. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.080 Carol was also fascinated by Anne's story, and she had 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.200 an article to write, one which would eventually become a 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.760 book titled Crazy Jungle Love. So she had to ask 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.880 the harder, more probing questions. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:32.240 I said, well, Anne, you you know what happened. I 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.440 didn't want to say did you kill him? Just you 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.560 know what happened? And she told me what she's told everyone, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.720 that she was awakened by his voice, and that John 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.880 always came to bed with a gun. And she roused 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.760 herself after she heard him say something she thinks it was, 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.360 You'll now know what it's like to wake up next 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.120 to your dead husband. And she saw that he had 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.800 a gun pointed at his head, and she tried to 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.000 grow and the gun went off and he died instantly. 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.359 He was shot in the back of the right occipital 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:07.880 and it never came out. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.560 The occipital is a particular part at the back of 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.720 the head. What do you do make of that explanation? 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:19.520 I think that's what she thinks happened. 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.000 Though it was twenty fourteen, four years after John's death 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.720 and with prison time ahead, AND's story didn't change, but 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:47.040 what had changed was public opinion. During the first trial, 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.800 she'd won over many Costa Ricans. They were sympathetic. After 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.680 she was convicted, that changed. What did people think about 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:56.640 her in Costa Rica? 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.880 I think I've never asked someone that. Who has told me, 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.760 especially a man who has told me Anne's innocent. I've 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:10.920 never ever heard anyone say Anne was innocent. They say 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:14.840 she was a black widow. She was just gunning for 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.040 him until he dies so she could have all those 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:21.919 jewels and property to herself. They were both crooked, but 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.119 she took him out. She wasn't a well liked person. 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.320 I mean, neither of them were well liked, frankly, but 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.720 here the blame went to her. There people convinced she 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.719 kills them. I mean, that's not even a question. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.479 The story became bigger than Anna and Joan. It had 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.000 a knock on effect on all Americans who had come 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:45.000 to Costa Rica to settle. All expats were now on trial. 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:49.119 Americans are so self entitled. They think they own the world. 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.320 They think everything revolves around them. They think they can 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.360 come into this developing country and just do whatever they 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.320 want and no one's gonna put a stop to them. 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.760 And you watch, We're going to put a stop to them. 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:04.720 Someone else who was on the trial each day was 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:09.520 Kevin Serrano, a cameraman for a Costa Rican TV news station. 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.760 He was more used to recording sports events, but now 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.320 he'd been put on the trial of the century. 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:21.800 It's the la mauria bonando being only externo. 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.000 When a foreigner from any country comes to live in 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.000 Pusto Rica, people would normally think this is good because 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.560 they might bring investment or aid and development to the 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:34.760 communities or whatever. So at first the opinion was these 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.200 are good and nice people who came to support the community. 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.240 But when all this starts to come out, people thought, hmm, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:42.800 maybe none of this was what they made it out 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:43.000 to be. 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.760 And unlike any other trial in Costa Rican history, the 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.560 public could read and watch every twist and turn of 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.399 the story. It became a soap opera and everyone was 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:55.320 talking about it. 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.600 In most trials, it's requested not to be pressed or 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:02.280 media present. Understand, Anne's defense did not want the media 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.320 in the courtroom, but since this was a case of 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.000 public interest, all media could be at the trial. 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.919 The speculation could be as fantastic as it was cruel. 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.359 There was miles and miles of newsprint discussing every theory 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:19.560 under the sun, including one which suggested Anne may not 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:23.119 have pulled the trigger but paid for the hit on John. 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.720 So this was all swirling around while Anne's lawyers fought 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:33.800 her conviction. Then, unbelievably, another tragedy was to strike Anne. 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:38.560 Six months into her sentence, she got some news. Greg, 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:43.320 her partner who'd been dedicated to the campaign for her release, died. 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:49.000 It was November sixteenth, twenty fourteen. It's easy and tempting 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:52.560 to assume Greg's death must be connected to everything else, 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.000 but Greg died from an asthma attack. It was totally 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:03.919 random and awful. Nevertheless, speculation and conspiracy theories once again flourished. 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:09.320 Anne was devastated, grieving again, this time for her boyfriend Greg, 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:14.760 wondering if she would ever get out of prison. But 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.639 then there was a major development. It was nine months 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.840 into her sentence. Anne was in her cell. It was 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.720 a regular day inside as far as she was concerned, 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:29.960 until a guard appeared out of the blue. He told 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.960 her that her case had been thrown out, there was 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.919 going to be a third trial, and she was to 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:40.440 be released immediately. She was free to go. Her lawyers 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.440 had been working round the clock to secure a retrial, 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.919 and they had succeeded. A judge had reviewed the case 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.600 and made the decision. She said this to reporters. An 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:52.440 actor is speaking Anne's words. 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:55.359 They just told me to get my stuff together and 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:59.200 I left the prison. I'm really grateful that the appellate 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:00.000 court made the right to time. 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.600 Even though the prospect of a further trial must have 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:07.679 been terrible. It was another chance to prove her innocence 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.439 and get out of the country. Carol again had a 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:12.600 ringside seat. 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:16.679 Then there was a third trial, which was longer than 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:21.360 the first two and better attended than the first two. 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:24.840 It was war to war people, I mean, you couldn't 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:25.879 get into the courtroom. 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.959 Anne was now not only fighting for her freedom, but 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:33.040 her life. She knew what prison was like and probably 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:35.880 knew that if she went back she might not survive 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:47.520 the terrible conditions. Shortly before the trial, the defense team, 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:52.160 including Anne's family, moved to a local hotel in Perizelodon 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:55.160 Hotel zimmer. 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:02.440 My name is Santiago. I'm from Costa Rica. We live 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:03.320 in Sanny Sidro. 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:07.800 That's Santiago, the laid back manager of Hotel Zimma. And 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:11.400 next to him is his wife Anna. We're sitting outside 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:14.080 in the shade of a large tree. We have to 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:17.199 stop our interview at times because the parrots are so loud. 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:21.480 This is where Anne and her entourage stayed. It's tucked 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.040 away in the back streets of the town, but also 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:27.679 within walking distance of the court. I asked them to 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:31.440 describe the moment that Anne Bender arrived at their hotel. 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:35.520 Everybody wants to meet her or see her, you know, 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.920 the first time, and we were waiting for her, that 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.520 she was coming and she was dying. She said, hello, 0:22:42.600 --> 0:22:45.159 how are you? She says the whole thing, but she 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:46.080 was kind of tired. 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:49.520 Along with Anne came her own personal protection. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:57.120 She got two guys, armed guys in the main entrance. Yeah, 0:22:57.240 --> 0:23:00.880 well you don't see their arms like undercover, but they 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:02.280 have big guns. 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:05.760 And was supported by her family. 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:07.720 Her father, mother. 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:12.680 And her brother Kevin. Even doctor Lozano, her psychiatrist, who 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:15.840 we heard in an earlier chapter, stayed at the hotel 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:20.399 preparing to give evidence. It was quite a spectacle for 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:25.960 this quiet town taken over by the international media. Santiago 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.040 took me to the streets to show me where it 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.520 all happened. At the time. Roads were closed in order 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:34.439 to cope with the huge level of interest in the trial. 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:41.399 This is the courthouse. Reporters were from that corner to here. 0:23:41.720 --> 0:23:44.480 Reporters all the way along and in. 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:49.160 That in that I walked too, from there to there 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:54.800 all the still like yes, just sitting there wait waiting 0:23:54.840 --> 0:23:58.399 for and there were cameras. That one over there was 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:00.680 closed because it was a lot of people, so it. 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:03.040 Was it was like a really big moment for the 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:03.760 whole town. 0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:09.360 And there were guards all over the court over there. Yeah, 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:12.679 the Howard patrol were there stopping the cars to go 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:14.640 this way and the other way too. 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:17.960 That must have been. That's quite a spectacle, isn't it. 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:19.879 And how long did that go on for? 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:25.880 That was maybe maybe one week. Every day were they 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:29.560 were waiting and waiting waiting for results from from the tork. 0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:33.960 It's crazy, isn't it. The couple really felt for their guest. 0:24:34.680 --> 0:24:40.639 She looks devastated every day, you know, she was so sad. 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:45.200 She was every day dressed in black. She was using the. 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:49.680 Crashes, using crutches to walk because she was physically weak. 0:24:51.080 --> 0:24:54.480 Santiago and Anna told us that Anne would come back 0:24:54.480 --> 0:24:57.720 from the trial to the hotel and cry. There was 0:24:57.760 --> 0:25:02.120