Deadly Mirage - Ep. 5: Busted

Summary

Dateline Originals: Deadly Mirage - Episode 5: Busted

Introduction

In the gripping fifth episode of Deadly Mirage, titled "Busted," Dateline Originals delves into the intricate case surrounding the murders of Rob Limone and the subsequent arrests of Sabrina Limone and Jonathan Hearn. Hosted by Josh Mankiewicz, this true crime narrative unravels the complexities of relationships, motives, and the quest for justice within a tight-knit community in California's high desert regions.

---

The Arrests of Sabrina Limone and Jonathan Hearn

On the morning of November 17, 2014, at approximately 11 AM, Sabrina Limone was unexpectedly taken into custody at her children's school. This arrest occurred three months to the day after her husband, Rob Limone, was tragically murdered. Earlier that day, Jonathan Hearn had also been arrested, marking a significant escalation in the case. Both suspects were transported to the Boron substation of the Kern County Sheriff's Department, setting the stage for a prolonged legal battle.

• "It was around 11 on the morning of November 17, 2014, three months to the day after her husband's murder, that Sabrina Limone was taken into custody at her children's school." [00:56]

---

Relationship Dynamics: Sabrina and Jonathan

Sabrina Limone's relationship with Jonathan Hearn was at the heart of the investigation. An open marriage was the norm for the Limones, a relationship arrangement that Rob Limone had advocated for fervently.

• "We have had open relationships, parties, and just kind of like that kind of a lifestyle." [10:21]

Despite the open nature of their marriage, Sabrina and Jonathan's affair went beyond casual interactions, deepening to a point where it intertwined disastrously with the motives for murder.

---

Investigation and Evidence Collection

Upon their arrests, investigators meticulously searched the Limones' residences, uncovering a plethora of documents and personal items. This included financial records, love letters, text messages, and even physical evidence like a motorcycle and helmets from Jonathan's house.

• "From Sabrina's residence, we were able to obtain lots of documents regarding financial stuff from life insurance companies, from BNSF railroad, letters from Jonathan to Sabrina." [02:12]
• "From Jonathan's residence, we were able to seize the motorcycle that was ridden. We seized two styles of helmets." [02:42]

However, crucial evidence was initially overlooked, which would later play a pivotal role in the unfolding of the case.

---

Interrogations and Interviews

Sabrina Limone's interrogation provided profound insights into her mindset and the dynamics of her relationship with Jonathan. Initially, she appeared shaken and in disbelief over the arrests.

• "I just couldn't, couldn't believe it." [01:46]

During her initial questioning, Sabrina was hesitant, revealing only vague details about her affair without connecting it directly to the motive for murder.

• "I can give you the amounts of text messages and phone calls that were made prior to, during and after Robert was killed." [05:35]

Despite prolonged hours, Sabrina refrained from admitting any involvement, maintaining her innocence and focusing on her grief over her husband's death.

• "There is a financial benefit to Robert Limone dying. $300,000 in insurance and potentially $2 million settlement with the railroad." [03:11]

Her reluctance to divulge more led investigators to question the depth of her knowledge and involvement in the crime.

---

Legal Proceedings and Defense Strategy

Jonathan Hearn was formally charged with first-degree murder on November 20, shortly after Sabrina's interrogation. However, the case against Sabrina was deemed weak due to a lack of incriminating evidence, leading to her release from custody after a few days.

Defense attorney Clayton Campbell took on Jonathan Hearn's case with a strategic approach. Initially believing in Jonathan's innocence, Campbell uncovered significant weaknesses in the prosecution's evidence, such as blurry security footage and unverifiable links between Jonathan's motorcycle and the crime.

• "They tested all of Jonathan's firearms. Not one of them matched the bullets that were used to kill Robert." [29:50]

Faced with these gaps, Campbell navigated a moral dilemma when Jonathan expressed a desire to confess, aligning with his personal beliefs against maintaining a not guilty plea dishonestly. After two years of imprisonment, Jonathan reached a plea deal with the prosecution. In exchange for his full cooperation in implicating Sabrina Limone, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, receiving a sentence of 25 years and four months—significantly less than a life sentence without parole.

• "That was a deal that he cut." [40:57]

---

Impact on the Community and Families

The aftermath of the arrests and legal battles had a profound impact on both families involved and the broader community. Sabrina's home life was upended as she faced hostility from neighbors and the community, leading her to homeschool her children and eventually relocate to Camarillo to escape the stigma.

Rob Limone's family, grappling with his loss, found additional pain in Sabrina's arrest and the suspicion surrounding her involvement. Lydia Marrero and Chris Wilson, Rob's sisters, expressed devastation and frustration over the lack of closure and justice.

• "She died of a broken heart, losing her son." [26:04]
• "Her silence, her absence from everybody, you know, all that just tells me she's very much involved." [25:32]

The betrayal felt by Rob's family underscored the deep emotional scars left by the crime and the ensuing investigations.

---

Conclusion: Current Status and Ongoing Tensions

As the episode concludes, Sabrina Limone remains a figure of suspicion, having moved away to start anew while still under the cloud of the unresolved murder case. The silence from both Sabrina and Jonathan during critical moments leaves lingering questions about the full extent of their involvement and the true motives behind Rob Limone's death.

The community continues to grapple with the aftermath, reflecting on themes of trust, betrayal, and the quest for truth within the shadows of a deadly mirage.

---

Notable Quotes

• "I can give you the amounts of text messages and phone calls that were made prior to, during and after Robert was killed." — Sabrina Limone [05:35]
• "We have had open relationships, parties, and just kind of like that kind of a lifestyle." — Sabrina Limone [10:21]
• "There is a financial benefit to Robert Limone dying. $300,000 in insurance and potentially $2 million settlement with the railroad." — Sabrina Limone [03:11]
• "They tested all of Jonathan's firearms. Not one of them matched the bullets that were used to kill Robert." — Josh Mankiewicz [29:50]
• "She died of a broken heart, losing her son." — Sabrina Limone [26:04]

---

Final Thoughts

Deadly Mirage – Episode 5: Busted masterfully intertwines personal relationships with criminal investigation, painting a vivid picture of the complexities that arise when love, money, and betrayal collide. This episode serves as a poignant reminder of the fragility of trust and the far-reaching consequences of deceit within familial and community bonds.

Transcript

[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

It was around 11 on the morning of November 17, 2014, three months to the day after her husband's murder, that Sabrina Limone was taken into custody at her children's school. Like Jonathan Hearn, who had been arrested earlier, Sabrina was placed in the back of a patrol car and driven to the desert town of Boron, which was the closest Kern County Sheriff's Department substation. It was there that the couple's long journey through the American justice system would begin. Jonathan Hearn's family had already been notified of his arrest. Sabrina's sister Julie had been told by investigators that somebody needed to make arrangements to take care of her kids because she had been detained.

[Sabrina Limone]

I was at work and I got the call on my cell phone. They said that they had arrested Sabrina and Jonathan Hearn. I needed to pick up the kids from school. We weren't able to talk to Breena. I just couldn't, couldn't believe it.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

While Jonathan and Sabrina were being transported to Boron, teams of investigators fanned out to begin searches of their homes.

[Sabrina Limone]

From Sabrina's residence, we were able to obtain lots of documents regarding financial stuff from life insurance companies, from BNSF railroad, letters from Jonathan to Sabrina.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Every love letter, every racy photo, every text message and every sales receipt were no longer just proof of a steamy, illicit affair. They were now called evidence.

[Sabrina Limone]

From Jonathan's residence, we were able to seize the motorcycle that was ridden. We seized two styles of helmets.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

In this episode, you will hear how some critical evidence was missed during those searches.

[Sabrina Limone]

There were things at Jonathan's house that I was aware of that they didn't have.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

You'll hear about a motive for murder far more tangible than vague notions of God's purpose.

[Sabrina Limone]

There is a financial benefit to Robert Limone dying. $300,000 in insurance and potentially $2 million settlement with the railroad.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And you'll hear how one of those suspects was seemingly able to walk away free and clear to start life anew.

[Sabrina Limone]

She didn't know anything about it and I believe in her innocence. They said they're just simply wasn't enough evidence.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

I'm Josh Mankiewicz and this is Deadly Mirage, a podcast from Dateline. Episode five Busted. The arrests of Jonathan Hearn and Sabrina Limone on murder charges were a huge story in the high desert Communities of California.

[Sabrina Limone]

24 year old Jonathan Hearn, a firefighter paramedic, is charged with first degree murder. Sheriff's officials say Sabrina Limone, seen here.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

With her husband Robert, planned his death with Hearn.

[Sabrina Limone]

And they say that Hearn and Sabrina Limone exchanged thousands of text messages.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The Kern County Sheriff's deputies who'd conducted the months long investigation into Rob Limone's death were justifiably proud of their work.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes, it was a great feeling. Thousands of hours were put into the investigation listening to phone calls and surveillance. And so it did feel good.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And you finally got your man and your woman.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

In the hours after his arrest, Jonathan said little to investigators beyond asking for a lawyer. Sabrina, on the other hand, seemed willing to talk, Perhaps because her interrogators told her she was not under arrest.

[Sabrina Limone]

You are detained, but you're not under arrest. Make that perfectly clear to you. Okay.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That may have been a distinction without a difference, but Sabrina was game. She readily admitted to having an on and off affair with Jonathan Hearn.

[Sabrina Limone]

I had had a relationship with him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

She was vague about when the affair began, when it resumed, and how often she'd spoken with Jonathan in the months, weeks and hours before her husband's murder. Of course, the investigators already knew the answers to all of that.

[Sabrina Limone]

I can give you the amounts of.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Text messages and phone calls that were.

[Sabrina Limone]

Made prior to, during and after Robert was killed.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

I do this for a living.

[Sabrina Limone]

I'm not playing games with you.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

For 30 minutes, they went round and round, Sabrina talking about her dead husband, her kids and God's purpose.

[Sabrina Limone]

You keep saying it's God's plan. What? I've tried to figure that out. I have no idea how could he be gone. So I have to. I put my faith in God.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's when the cops got straight to the point.

[Sabrina Limone]

We have evidence that will prove Jonathan Hearn murdered Robert Lamont. Are you serious? He is going to prison for the rest of his life. Okay, If I wasn't clear to you in the beginning, this is your one chance not to join him. Do you understand that? This is your one chance. I understand that. I can't. I can't wrap my brain. We don't believe you. We know everything. It is your turn to tell the truth.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

If Sabrina's interviewers were waiting for some kind of confession, an admission that she knew her lover had murdered her husband, they were disappointed.

[Sabrina Limone]

I mean, there's no way that Jonathan's the one that murdered Robert. I mean, there's just. There's no way.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The interview ended when Sabrina asked for a lawyer. At that point, she was arrested, and deputies drove her to Bakersfield for formal booking and fingerprinting. It was in Bakersfield that she asked to speak with Detective Randall Meyer. The next afternoon, Sybrina was led to the same interrogation room where she'd met Detective Meyer a week earlier.

[Sabrina Limone]

Sorry for not being honest with you, Detective Randall. That's okay. Give me a second here.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

She was still wearing the tight fitting gray jeans and white jacket she'd worn the day before when deputies had picked her up at her children's school.

[Sabrina Limone]

I need to basically put it on the record that I didn't force you to come here, that you came here because you decided you wanted to talk to me, right? Yes. And I need to read your rights again.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective was his same old congenial self. He said he understood why Sabrina had lied to him.

[Sabrina Limone]

You were probably upset and scared and you didn't know what to say. So I know tons of stuff about all this that's gone on, and I want you to tell me the truth.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective wanted Sybrina to tell her story again, starting with that first meeting in Costco and the critical moment when Jonathan Hearn asked for her phone number.

[Sabrina Limone]

Our friends. Friends were having a party, and they were fire department people. And I said, are you going to that party? Kind of thing. And then he's like, well, maybe I'll see you there. Like, what's your number? And I had never given out my number to, like, a stranger before. And I did. I instantly, like, felt guilty. Like, oh, my gosh.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

An innocent mistake. She told the detective she thought Jonathan knew she was married, even though she never wore her wedding ring while she was working.

[Sabrina Limone]

But then he called and messaged me, and I was just like, oh, my gosh. Like, I got myself into. So I didn't answer it or respond. And he apologized. He was like, are you married? I'm so sorry. And Then I put. Yeah, I thought that you knew, that.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

She could have ended it right there, but she didn't do that. And Jonathan, he did not back away either. So together they tiptoed into that treacherous swamp colloquially called friends with benefits. It was a gradual thing, to be sure. A romantic attraction that only became noticeable when it was absent. It was pleasant to meet, pleasant to talk, pleasant to anticipate the next meeting, fun to exchange gifts and trinkets.

[Sabrina Limone]

Did you feel guilty about that? You know the funny thing? After I told him I was murdered, he was sincerely sorry. I didn't feel that bad because I'm social. I talk to a lot of people. And Rob and I were open, like Rob was. He was pretty casual with me.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

As casual as swinging on Grandma's porch. Oh, yes, the swinging. Sabrina told the detective about that, too.

[Sabrina Limone]

And we have had open relationships, parties, and just kind of like that kind of a lifestyle. More. More like now. The kids weren't exposed to that firsthand. Right. I know we've talked about your open relationship before, and you told me you didn't have one. I was dreading. I didn't want any of this to come out, you know? Did you think this would ever come out? I've been dripping, you know, I've been. It's. It's shameful.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

There's an old saying that for some men, marriage is just a word, while to others, it's a sentence, the kind you serve. To the late Rob Lamone, marriage wasn't a word or a sentence. It was more like a theme park. And he wanted to climb onto every ride. Well, that's if you believe Mrs. Rob Lamone. According to Sabrina, the whole open marriage thing was all Rob's idea. And it began six years earlier when she and Rob started spouse swapping with another couple.

[Sabrina Limone]

That's where the door opened. I hate to talk about him, Ellie, you know, because I don't want to dishonor him. But he was a man. Yeah. So he was. He was all about it, you know, to the end of the, like, whatever we had to do. And this went on.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sabrina was fuzzy on dates. She couldn't remember exactly when she met Jonathan. 2013, maybe. She also didn't remember when they started sleeping together six months later. Eight months. She did, however, remember quite well the night her husband discovered a large batch of love texts from Jonathan on her phone.

[Sabrina Limone]

Robert had found my phone. Tell me about that. He's like, who's. Who's this dude? And he'd seen him out once before, so he was just like, you know, what's up? How did this. How did this go down? And I just kind of told him, like, I don't know, it just happened. So did you think it would be okay, I mean, with Rob, if. If you were seeing Jonathan? Because, you know, you guys kind of had that open relationship. I guess that's how I justified it.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective, of course, already knew a lot of this. He'd heard it from a couple of members of the Wolf pack. Robin, Sabrina's Silver Lakes friends, Jason and Kelly Bernatine. According to the Bernatines, Rob was not okay with his wife having an affair with Jonathan Hearn, an outsider who was not a Wolf pack member. Rob had demanded it stop.

[Sabrina Limone]

Jonathan apologized to Robert, talked to him, he apologized to him, and we felt bad. And Rob and I just kind of kept going and Jonathan and I stopped talking.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Then after a few months, Sabrina said she and Jonathan resumed their affair.

[Sabrina Limone]

I just. Wow. You know, I mean, we. We got deep. We got deep, you and Jonathan. So Rob's going to work, and then he's working overtime shifts and stuff. And Jonathan would be at your house sometimes late at night when the kids were sleeping or whatever? Not always or.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Yeah, if they were gone after taking a short break. So a crime lab tech could come in and take a DNA sample, fingerprints and photographs.

[Sabrina Limone]

Take an ID photo real quick.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective pressed Sabrina on how much she'd known about her lover's plan to murder her husband.

[Sabrina Limone]

How did Jonathan know that Rob was going to be working attached to you? Well, he wasn't supposed to be working with Joshua, but I. I did tell him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sabrina told the detective she typically kept Jonathan posted whenever Rob was working one of those 12 hour shifts into hatchapy, because that was time she and Jonathan could possibly spend between the sheets.

[Sabrina Limone]

We were possibly going to get together, but he was doing other stuff. He told them where the shop was at off the freeway right there. I'll say. Yes, I have. I think I've explained just like times we went up there and the building, how the building was, you know. Did you give him the address or anything? No, I don't know the address. Okay. I just kind of explained how it is.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective knew firsthand the railroad shop in Tehachapi was hard to find. The building wasn't marked.

[Sabrina Limone]

It's your husband's place of business. Why would you specifically tell him that it's a business rather than freeway in Hachapi. That's where he works at. I don't. I don't know why it was in Conversation? I don't know. You know what I think? If you would have never told him that, he would have never been able to find it. Because it's not on the map. You can't Google it and find it. I tried.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sabrina had no answer for that. For 30 seconds, she said nothing. Then she hung her head and whispered.

[Sabrina Limone]

Why did I tell him?

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Why did I tell him?

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes or no. Did you ever suspect him of doing it? Yes. After seeing the video and conversations. Could have been me, but it could have been planted. We could keep going over all these things. They could say this. We could do this, you know, kind of thing. We went over a lot of that kind of stuff. Like, a lot.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sabrina insisted it had been the affair that she and Jonathan Hearn had wanted to hide all along, not murder. She said she'd never wanted to believe that Jonathan was a killer.

[Sabrina Limone]

It wasn't about the affair. This is about him concealing the fact that he murdered your husband and he didn't want people to find out about it. And he thought he was doing God's work because you are living a life of sin, and he wanted to save you from that. What do I do now? What do you do now? You tell me everything you know. Cause I'll be honest with you. What I get out of this interview is gonna make a huge decision on if you ever touch and see your kids again. Ever. In your entire life. Yeah. No, I. I feel like I've been just completely, like, out of my mind.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

If Sabrina Lamone knew anything more about her husband's murder, she didn't say it. Even when the detective told her that Jonathan Hearn had asked to speak to him.

[Sabrina Limone]

What do you think he's gonna say?

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That was not true, of course. It was just more bait. A last ditch effort to chum the waters enough so that Sabrina might flip on her lover, close the case, maybe even salvage a plea deal for herself. Sabrina did not bite.

[Sabrina Limone]

Jonathan's going to tell me that you started all this and you talked him into it. Well, that wouldn't be true. He's going to tell me exactly what happened. Well, good.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

After four hours of watching Sabrina's interview from the next room, department brass decided they'd seen enough. Another investigator stepped into the room and brought it all to an end. If you don't have anything for us, I think we need to get you to jail.

[Sabrina Limone]

Okay.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

What I need you to do is I need you to stand up, turn around. And with that, Sabrina Limone, mom, widow, wolf pack member in good standing, was handcuffed and taken back to jail.

[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

On November 20, the day after Sabrina's long post arrest interview with Detective Meyer, the Kern County District Attorney charged Jonathan Hearn with first degree murder. That done, the DA felt the case against Sabrina Limone was weak.

[Sabrina Limone]

The supervisors felt at that point in time that we needed some follow up investigative work done with Sabrina.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Just not enough against her at that point, Correct? The problem was this. Out of hours and hours of wiretaps, Sabrina had said nothing incriminating.

[Sabrina Limone]

No smoking gun is what we would call it. She didn't admit to being involved or committing the murder of Rob Lemong.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

So a few days after being picked up by Kern county deputies, Sabrina was released from custody.

[Sabrina Limone]

I actually had met with the district attorney that was assigned the case at the time and she had given me what we call a wish list. It's a list of items that they would wish or want us to get.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Done before they can charge her?

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

What were those items?

[Sabrina Limone]

Obviously they wanted the admission, which we weren't going to get. They requested we speak to the friends again and find out if anybody had any idea that this was occurring. Speak with Jonathan's friends to assist with the investigation.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sabrina Limone may have been out of jail, but she was not free from suspicion, not from the law, and certainly not from former friends like Jason and Kelly Bernatine. And so now she's back in your town living her life. Does she know you guys cooperated?

[Sabrina Limone]

Yeah.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Do you ever talk to her?

[Sabrina Limone]

No.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Are you afraid of her?

[Sabrina Limone]

No.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Are you telling me the truth?

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes. I am not afraid of her. I'm afraid of somebody else that she might talk something, somebody into, not her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The American writer Thomas Wolfe famously said, you can't go home again a lot of the time. That's certainly true. And it didn't take Sabrina Limone long to learn her hometown had turned on her.

[Sabrina Limone]

The people out in Silver Lakes were so cruel, they would try to ram her car.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Sabrina's sister, Julie.

[Sabrina Limone]

There was one time and I went to the little market and one of the friends said, oh, yeah, that golfer that was out in the front yard at their house, it's gone. And I should have taken that. People were like vultures and wanted things of Robert's and theirs, and it was just. It was nuts. It was just crazy.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It wasn't just hard for Sabrina to show her face in town. Julie says the kids were taunted and teased. It got so bad, Sabrina decided to home school them. And eventually she decided to leave town.

[Sabrina Limone]

In fact, when we put the house up for sale, we didn't even put a sign outside because she was scared of the way that everyone was being so cruel to her and turned on her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Once the house sold, Sabrina packed up the kids and moved 145 miles away to Camarillo, a small town north of Los Angeles. There she rented a three bedroom condo and tried to start a new life amid neighbors who knew nothing of her old one. Of course, leaving one's past behind is not that easy. Sabrina still had Rob's family to contend with. The kids had a grandmother who wanted to see them, aunts and uncles and cousins who wanted to know what happened. What about them?

[Sabrina Limone]

She hasn't called or made any attempt to make contact with me.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Lydia Marrero, one of Rob Lemone's sisters. If she did call, what would you say to her? What do you want to know?

[Sabrina Limone]

What's the truth.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

What's happened, Sabrina?

[Sabrina Limone]

What led to this? Sabrina has more answers to the questions, and she just doesn't want to admit to it. Well, when we didn't hear from her, we wondered, well, she must be guilty.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And that's Chris Wilson, another of Rob's sisters.

[Sabrina Limone]

If you're arrested for a crime that you didn't commit, that you didn't commit, wouldn't you reach out to your husband's family and say, I did not do this. I had no part of this, and.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

I'm living in this nightmare.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes, here I am, and they're accusing me and I had no part of this.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

You didn't get that call?

[Sabrina Limone]

Never got that call. Never. My mom never got that call.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

You have any contact with her after that?

[Sabrina Limone]

No. I have sent the kids cards for Christmas, their birthdays. We had to find her because she moved from Helendale, so we had to find her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Lydia says the silence from Sabrina after her release spoke volumes.

[Sabrina Limone]

Her silence, her absence from everybody, you know, all that just tells me she's very much involved. And she might feel that not talking to anybody's gonna prevent any implication on her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Chris Wilson says her mom was devastated by Rob's sudden death and the loss of contact with her grandchildren. Chris says her mother's health suffered a steep decline. And In June of 2016, she died. She was only 68.

[Sabrina Limone]

She died of a broken heart, losing her son. As a parent, I would never want to lose my child. And mom lost her only son. She just declined.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

His death killed her.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes. Yes. And she to know how that it was his wife, that it was involved, that was even harder for mom.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's the thing about betrayal. Sometimes the person we should fear most is the one we trust most. That was a lesson Sabrina Limone was about to learn the hard way.

[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Sabrina Limone]

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

Subscribe and save now. Before they'd even met, defense attorney Clayton Campbell had a feeling he was going to like Jonathan Hearn. He liked Jonathan's parents when they came in to discuss the case. They believed strongly in their son's innocence, and they seemed like his kind of people. That's because they were devout Christians, just like Clayton. They told him Jonathan had been homeschooled, just like Clayton.

[Sabrina Limone]

I'm a bit older than Jonathan, probably 13 years or so older than him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Clayton Campbell, Jonathan Hearn's defense attorney.

[Sabrina Limone]

I figured we had something in common, and I could relate to him in that respect. I also kind of knew, you know, how to relate to his family a little bit.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The things Jonathan was accused of were nothing short of terrible. Murdering the husband of a woman he was having an affair with.

[Sabrina Limone]

Awful.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Well, the more Clayton Campbell dug into the case and examined the evidence, the better he liked his chances at trial.

[Sabrina Limone]

I thought, hey, we have an actual shot at developing a defense. And of course, we ended up with a much better shot than I than I thought once we started digging into the reports.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

After all, what did the prosecution have? An affair. Security camera video, a motorcycle and some guns. Well, Campbell thought the security video was too blurry to identify anybody. And the motorcycle? Well, there must be hundreds of motorcycles in Southern California like the one Jonathan owned. As for the two handguns that were registered to Jonathan, the prosecutor couldn't prove either of them was the murder weapon.

[Sabrina Limone]

They tested all of Jonathan's firearms. Not one of them matched the bullets that that were used to kill Robert.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That was encouraging. However, There was one big problem. Clayton Campbell's client wanted to confess his sins right from the jump, just like King David did in that Bible story involving Bathsheba.

[Sabrina Limone]

His reason for that is that he actually has a conscience. He knows what he did was wrong, and he felt that maintaining a not guilty plea was dishonest and that what he should do is he shouldn't make the fact that he killed someone worse by lying about it and maintaining a lie.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

For a lot of defense attorneys, that might have been an easy call. Let the client cop the murder, collect the fee, and call it a day. Next. Well, not Clayton Campbell. To him, this posed a moral dilemma.

[Sabrina Limone]

I have the same religious moral viewpoint that he has, but I have these professional obligations as his attorney. I'm supposed to protect him. It's very difficult to find some kind of a way out where we satisfy both his conscience, where he admits wrongdoing, and at the same time protect him from life without the possibility of parole.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The lawyer prayed with his client. He pleaded with Jonathan to not confess his guilt to anyone, not even his family. So for two years, Jonathan Hearn sat in a jail cell, presumably speaking only to God about his guilty conscience. And perhaps his prayers were answered because he did receive forgiveness from an unlikely quarter. That was Rob Lamone's family.

[Sabrina Limone]

I have forgiven him for what he has done.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Rob's sister, Chris Wilson. How can you do that?

[Sabrina Limone]

Because my faith. With my faith, I forgive him. Because God forgave me. I truly forgive him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Well, God forgave you. You didn't kill anybody.

[Sabrina Limone]

Right? Right. But that's. That's where I am.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

As the days and weeks ticked down to Jonathan's trial date, Clayton Campbell poured over the lists of evidence that prosecutors intended to produce for a jury. It was then that he noticed a lot of evidence he expected to see there was missing.

[Sabrina Limone]

There were things at Jonathan's house that I was aware of that they didn't have.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Jonathan had not only told his lawyer details of the affair with Sabrina and details about the murder of her husband, he'd also told where he'd hidden key evidence. For instance, shortly after the shooting, Jonathan told the lawyer how he had replaced the barrel on the murder weapon with a new one. The actual barrel that fired the fatal shots, Jonathan told his lawyer, was hidden in a chicken coop behind his house, along with a homemade silencer he'd fashioned out of a flashlight. Clayton Campbell saw the makings of a deal.

[Sabrina Limone]

My hope was, okay, we'll give them all that information. Then if they. Then they couldn't find it, never use it against him. If they decide to pull a rug out from under us and back out on the deal, we actually were prepared to go to trial on Jonathan starting January 2017.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's lead detective Randall Meyer, Jonathan's attorney.

[Sabrina Limone]

Approached the district attorney and spoke with him and said that Jonathan could provide information that would lead to the possible prosecution of Sabrina Limon.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

After years of professing his undying love for Sabrina and praying for God's help in keeping their secret, Jonathan Hearn prepared to turn on her. God's purpose, it seemed, had just become Jonathan's proffer. On 3 January 2017, talks between the defense and the prosecution team began at the Sheriff's Department. For Jonathan Hearn, those meetings must have seemed heaven sent because finally he had an opportunity to confess his sins, which included at least two of the seven deadliest.

[Sabrina Limone]

Well, that first meeting I got the feeling that Jonathan felt that this was more of his chance to basically get it off his chest and confess. And so it did scare me a little bit that he was more focused on his own guilt at that meeting than on sharing all the information they needed about her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Jonathan told prosecutors and investigators he and Sabrina spent months plotting to to kill Rob Limone. In fact, he said they had once conspired to poison him.

[Sabrina Limone]

I did plan the poisoning of Robert with some necessary assistance from Sabrina.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's the voice of Jonathan Hearn.

[Sabrina Limone]

I needed to know what kind of food he would be sure to eat. She provided me a couple suggestions. We discussed the location where this should take place. We agreed upon Tehachapi to send him some food laced with poison.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

According to Jonathan, they settled on putting a fatal dose of arsenic in some banana pudding, Rob's favorite. Jonathan told investigators he had ordered the arsenic online, calculated the fatal dosage by weight and then tested it on a dog.

[Sabrina Limone]

I experimented with that on a neighbor dog who had caused me considerable issues in the past and put the arsenic on some meat and gave it to the dog to see what would happen.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Jonathan said he did not see the dog again after that. So a few days later he made a family sized batch of banana pudding with Nilla wafers for Sabrina's family. Then in a smaller Tupperware bowl, he said he put a single portion and he put the arsenic in that. Jonathan said he delivered the two pudding containers to Sabrina's house one day when Rob was at work.

[Sabrina Limone]

She told me that she. She put the smaller portion for Robert, put it in his lunch the next day, whatever his next shift was out.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

To Hatchby, you guys didn't know anything about the poisoning until Jonathan gave that to you? That's correct, Detective Randall Meyer. They actually ended up giving it to Rob.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And then at the last minute, Sabrina got cold feet and told Rob not to eat it.

[Sabrina Limone]

Yes. He said they had conversations and were worried about law enforcement looking at their phone records. And so he had talked to Sabrina and they felt that they would ditch the plan for. For now.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

To back up his story, Jonathan told investigators that he stashed the leftover arsenic in the garage attached to his house, hidden in an empty paint can.

[Sabrina Limone]

I made sure we included everything that we were aware of that could possibly be discovered and harmful to Jonathan.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That was a key condition of the plea deal, says Clayton Campbell. Any evidence Jonathan helped investigators find could not be used against him.

[Sabrina Limone]

All the stuff that was hidden, we wanted to make sure they got all that stuff so that it couldn't be used against Jonathan, even if a deal wasn't reached.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That night, Clayton Campbell went home and prayed that investigators would find everything Jonathan had told them when was hidden in and around his home. After all, a couple of years had passed since Jonathan lived there.

[Sabrina Limone]

I don't know whether the paint buckets were. Are still there. Were they thrown away? Who knows? And I'd seen that garage. There were.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It's.

[Sabrina Limone]

It's like, you know, a lot of garages. There's a lot of stuff in there. And sure enough, late at night, it must have been 10 or 11 in the evening, I. I hear back from Detective Meyer that they found it.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

With the blessing of Rob Lamone's family, the Kern County Prosecutor's office told Clayton Campbell they would make a deal with Jonathan Hearn. In exchange for Jonathan's full cooperation in the case against Sabrina Limone, the district attorney would let Jonathan plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Instead of a possible life without parole for murder, Jonathan would receive a predetermined sentence of 25 years and four months in prison. Clayton Campbell felt good about that. Jonathan would be a free man around the time he turned 50. Considering what he'd been facing, that was good. Now Campbell had to tell Jonathan's parents their son had just confessed to murder.

[Sabrina Limone]

That was probably the hardest conversation I've ever had with a client's family. You know, is to tell these people who were very hopeful that Jonathan was innocent and that he would be vindicated, that he, in fact, was guilty and that he was admitting that and making a deal with the prosecutor. That was, you know, as you can imagine, difficult. For them to hear.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

While Clayton Campbell was meeting with the Hearn family, Detective Randall Meyer and a team of investigators were just turning onto Ventura Boulevard in Camarillo. They were on their way to arrest Sabrina Limone again. Coming up next on Deadly Mirage.

[Sabrina Limone]

My wife and I and Robin Sabrina would engage in sexual activities, but it was not wife swapping.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Good morning, sir.

[Sabrina Limone]

Can you tell us your name and spell your first and last name for the record? Yes, sir. My name is Jonathan Hearn. Last name spelled H E A R N. She was nowhere involved in the murder of her husband.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It was a deal that he cut.

[Sabrina Limone]

To get himself out from underneath, being.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Convicted in life without the possibility of parole. Deadly Mirage is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Tim Beacham is the producer, Brian Drew, Kelly Lawdean and Marshall Housefeld are audio editors. Carson Cummins is associate producer, Adam Gorfayne is co executive producer, Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer. From NBC News. Audio Sound mixing by Katie Lau. Bryson Barnes is head of audio production. The Road is Calling Embrace the thrill of the drive with the all new fully electric Audi Q6E Tron. Featuring effortless power and advanced Audi tech. The next chapter of Audi starts now.