A federal judge says prosecutors may introduce evidence in the death of a murder suspect’s first wife during his trial for allegedly shoving his second wife off a cliff to her death in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Harold Henthorn, 58, is .
U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson signed a ruling Thursday that said circumstances surrounding the death of Henthorn’s first wife, Sandra “Lynn,” in May 1995 were sufficiently similar to Toni Henthorn’s death to allow prosecutors to submit evidence about her death at Henthorn’s trial in September.
In Jackson’s order, he also permitted prosecutors to introduce evidence at trial of an incident in May 2011 in which a beam fell on Toni Henthorn while she and her husband were at their vacation home.
However, the judge did not permit prosecutors to introduce testimony about Henthorn’s purchase of a life insurance policy in the name of Grace Rishell, Henthorn’s former sister-in-law.
In each of the three incidents in which Henthorn’s two wives were killed or seriously injured, there were similar circumstances, Jackson ruled.
“Each of them occurred in unusual, if not bizarre, circumstances. The only witnesses in each instance were Mr. Henthorn and his wife. In each incident the wife was either killed or seriously injured. Each time, at least in retrospect, Mr. Henthorn is said to have told inconsistent stories about what happened,” Jackson wrote in his ruling.
He concluded that each of the incidents viewed separately reasonably could be viewed as an unfortunate accident. But the “doctrine of chances” argues against the incidents being accidents, his ruling says.
Lynn Henthorn died when she was crushed by an SUV on a remote section of Colorado 67 in Douglas County near Sedalia.
Harold Henthorn told authorities she was helping him change a tire on a Jeep when the vehicle slipped from jacks as she went under it to retrieve lug nuts. She was insured by .
Henthorn allegedly dropped or tossed a board from the roof of his cabin in 2011, striking Toni Henthorn in the head, seriously injuring her.
On Sept. 29, 2012, Henthorn’s wife, Toni, 50, fell to her death during a hike the couple took to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary, he told investigators.
She was insured by three life policies totaling $4.5 million.
Henthorn is being held without bail and remains in custody.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kirkmitchell
