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Detective: Harold Henthorn Told 'Different Variations Of Events'

DENVER (CBS4) - Harold Henthorn, the Highlands Ranch man charged with killing his second wife and now suspected in the death of his first wife, told inconsistent stories about the deaths of both of his wives, according to testimony in federal court Monday.

A federal judge will hear two days worth of evidence and decide if a jury should ultimately hear about the bizarre death of Harold Henthorn's first wife, Lynn in 1995, which was ruled an accident.

Harold Henthorn has been charged with murder in the death of his second wife, Toni, who fell to her death in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2012 while hiking with her husband.

Harold Henthorn is scheduled to go on trial in September, and in court this week prosecutors are trying to convince the judge that the jury in that trial should also hear about similarities between Toni Henthorn's untimely death and the death of his first wife, Lynn Henthorn, in 1995. A prosecutor said in court the two deaths were "eerily similar" with both occurring in remote locations, with Harold Henthorn the only witness, and with both women engaged in activities outside of their comfort zones.

VIDEO: Watch the CBS4 special "Inside The Investigation: Harold Henthorn

The September 2012 death of Toni Henthorn prompted the Douglas County Sheriff's Office to reopen the case of Lynn Henthorn, which they closed in six days in 1995 and labeled an accident. Detective David Weaver, the lead detective on the newly reopened case, testified about the accident that cost Lynn Henthorn her life.

henthorn case
Harold Henthorn with his first wife, Lynn (left) and his second wife Toni (credit: CBS)

The couple was on a late night drive in the foothills west of Sedalia in May, 1995 when Harold Henthorn said his right front tire felt mushy so he stopped to change it. Investigators testified that the late night tire change occurred in an area that is extremely remote and dark.

Weaver said before the tire change a witness drove by and stopped to help. He said the witness saw Lynn Henthorn in the couple's Jeep and she appeared "scared or frightened." Weaver said Henthorn declined assistance from the passerby and was "rude" to the man who offered to help or at least shine his car lights on the area to assist in the tire change.

Shortly after, Henthorn says his wife crawled under the Jeep to retrieve a lug nut she had dropped during the tire change when Henthorn said the jack failed and the Jeep fell on his wife. She was pronounced dead the next morning.

Weaver said after the accident Henthorn told "different people different things" about that night. Weaver said that Henthorn told "five different variations of the events that evening."

Prosecutors guided Weaver through discrepancies like when Henthorn said one of the jacks in his car wasn't working properly so he sprayed lubricant on it. But an inventory of the Jeep yielded no lubricant. Henthorn told one deputy the couple was on their way to dinner when they stopped for the tire change but told another deputy they had just finished dinner.

Henthorn told one person that after the car fell on his wife he carried on a brief conversation with her. Weaver said it was "highly unlikely" Lynn Henthorn was able to speak with a Jeep on top of her. The detective also said that as part of the reopened investigation, investigators had done three "replications" of what happened that night with a similar Jeep to see if Harold Henthorn's story about what happened was plausible.

Sandra Lynn Henthorn
Sandra Lynn Henthorn (credit: CBS)

Weaver said in one of the replications a female deputy with a similar build as Lynn Henthorn was able to retrieve a lug nut from under the Jeep without actually crawling under the vehicle.

In a second test, Weaver said deputies raised the Jeep on a jack and re-enacted what Henthorn said happened to see if the Jeep would slip off the jack. The detective said the Jeep "never teetered off the jack" and only fell off the jack when the detective forcibly pushed the car with his hands.

He said in a third test investigators stood next to the vehicle and dropped lug nuts to see if any would roll under the Jeep. He said none of the lug nuts would roll under the Jeep in the way Henthorn described.

Weaver recounted how the day after the accident a woman who had stopped to help contacted the Douglas County sheriff and said, "You know he killed her." Weaver conceded that despite Harold Henthorn's shifting accounts of the circumstances surrounding Lynn Henthorn's death, Harold Henthorn was never confronted by investigators about the apparent contradictions.

Douglas County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Mcmahan, a supervisor on the 1995 case, admitted the investigation was lacking.

"Witnesses could have been further examined," offered Mcmahan.

He admitted he failed to press Henthorn about discrepancies and failed to follow up on crucial questions. McMahan's testimony marked the first time the Douglas County Sheriffs Department publicly conceded making mistakes and oversights in the death of Lynn Henthorn.

Watching and listening intently in the courtroom Monday were the sister and two brothers of Lynn Rishell along with Harold Henthorn's brother. The hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.

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