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Hi park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia d', Ambra, and the case I'm going to share with you today takes place in the Uncompagre National Forest in western Colorado. This area is almost 1 million acres in size and features a diverse array of wildlife and scenic views. There are canyons, mountains, and dozens and dozens of miles of trails and routes that snake across the landscape. These paths provide access to some of the most rugged terrain in the forest, according to the website. Visit grandjunction.com uncompagre, as well as Gunnison and Grand Mesa National Forests, sit on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies mountain range. Combined, these three forests make up more than 3.1 million acres of public land. I've personally ventured to a few of these during my vacations in Colorado, and when I tell you that the views you can catch in this part of the American west are spectacular, I mean it. It's also a landscape that's used by a lot of hunters. I remember seeing signs about how popular hunting was in this region when I was last out there, specifically in the more remote areas where game exists in higher volume. In the fall of 1995, a hunter in one of these spots wound up finding himself in the crosshairs of a rifle, and the law enforcement investigation that unfolded revealed a surprising identity behind the person who who pulled the trigger. This is Park Predators. Around seven o' clock in the morning on Sunday, October 15, 1995, a hunter named Doug Kyle and his friend Michael were asleep at their campsite in a remote section of Uncompagre National Forest when suddenly Doug awoke to the sound of a gunshot. The loud bang was slightly concerning because it didn't sound like it had come from way off in the distance. It's described in an episode of Snapped and coverage by the Daily Sentinel as having come from close by. Shortly after hearing it, Doug overheard the sound of someone yelling. Things then quieted down. But then another. Two shots rang out, and because of how close everything seemed to be happening, Doug decided to stay put in his tent to avoid being accidentally struck. After things settled down again, Doug got out of his tent and decided to start cleaning a deer he'd killed earlier in his hunting trip. As he was doing that, he noticed a woman wearing blue coveralls and an orange vest walking into a campsite about 100 yards away from him. A few minutes later he saw her again, but this time she was wearing blue jeans, an orange vest, and an orange baseball cap. She came closer and complimented Doug on his most recent harvest, and they talked for about 15 minutes. The woman then introduced herself as Janice Dodson and she explained that her husband Bruce was out hunting in the woods somewhere. She said he'd been gone for a while that morning, so she decided to stroll through the forest to locate him. About 10 minutes after their interaction, Doug heard a woman's scream ripple through the woods from about 50ft away. And when he went to investigate, he saw the woman who'd previously introduced herself to him as Janice hovering over a man's body. The guy was face down on the ground and appeared to be dead. His hands were next to his sides and there was a hunting rifle on the ground next to him. There were also two or three spent shell casings, depending on the source material you read by his head, as well as what appeared to be a bullet wound in his back near one of his shoulder blades. Janese was extremely distraught, waving around an orange hunting vest in her hand while yelling at the guy on the ground, quote, why didn't you have your vest on? End quote. According to coverage in an episode of Forensic Files, Janese informed Doug that the unresponsive man was her husband, Bruce. The Daily Sentinel reported that at one point, Janiece even picked up the rifle that was next to her husband and threw it on the ground, seemingly in frustration or shock. Now, Doug was an off duty sheriff's deputy from Texas, and because of his background in law enforcement, he realized pretty quickly after trying to find a pulse and not getting one, that Bruce was already deceased. The victim had an obvious gunshot wound to his chest and to Doug at least, it appeared there was zero chance of reviving him. So instead of attempting any life saving measures, Doug drove out of the area and up a nearby road. He eventually found a man talking on a cell phone and asked that guy to dial 911. Articles by the Daily Sentinel state that where Bruce was found was near the Cold Springs Ranger Station in the National Forest. So I don't know if it was rangers from that location who were first on scene or what, but either way it took about an hour for members of the Mesa County Sheriff's Office to arrive. When a responding deputy from that agency met Doug, they walked together to the scene in the National Forest. What was super weird though was that according to the coverage in the Daily Sentinel as well as what Doug told snapped when he and the deputy got on scene, they found 48 year old Bruce laying face up and covered with a blanket and vest, which was a completely different position than Doug had seen him in initially. Still, despite this, signs seem to possibly point to the situation being a terrible hunting accident. I mean, for example, according to that episode of Forensic Files I mentioned earlier and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, so far that hunting season, there had been three hunting related deaths in that area, including Bruce's. The other two incidents involved a possibly intoxicated man accidentally running over one of his companions while camping and a guy accidentally shooting himself while loading a firearm. Bruce's case, though, was a bit more complicated because there were just a few things about his death scene that seemed unusual or at least out of character for an accidental shooting scenario. For one thing, Bruce had been donning his orange hunting vest when he'd been shot, and the area of the national forest he'd been discovered in was full of grass that someone should have been able to clearly see him in. The grass was nowhere near tall enough to obscure him from view. So authorities were having a hard time understanding the mechanics of how his death had even occurred. To get some answers, they began taking inventory of the physical evidence at the scene. They collected the shell casings next to his head, feathers from a down vest he'd been wearing, his hat, Janese's purse and hunting gear, as well as some of her muddy clothing and her Winchester rifle. They also discovered a bolt action rifle that belonged to Bruce sitting near his body. In addition to that, they collected a bullet riddled piece of wooden fence post that they suspected might be related to what happened. Interestingly, though, the orange hunting vest Bruce had with him didn't have blood on it, but there were some holes in the back of it that indicated at least one bullet, possibly two, had pierced it. Authorities noted there was at least one visible bullet hole to his body which had damaged his clothing. However, that hole didn't align with any of the holes that were in the hunting vest. To try and get a firmer grip of what shots had come from, where investigators used pieces of string to conduct a trajectory analysis of the gunshots. According to an article by Zach Barnett for the Daily Sentinel, they determined that one of the rounds had struck the nearby fence post and per snap's episode had changed course, Seemingly missing Bruce, but the other two shots had hit him. The results of the gunshot analysis made investigators suspect that Bruce had most likely been wearing his hunting vest when the first shot was fired in his direction. This round pierced the vest material after hitting the fence post, but didn't actually enter his body. Then investigators suspected Bruce had likely taken off the vest and waved it in the air, trying to signal to whoever had shot him that he wasn't an animal, but it didn't work. The trajectory analysis also revealed where the shooter had been positioned when the shots were fired. Starting at the bullet hole in the fence post, investigators backtracked to its suspected point of origin. And it seemed that the shooter had to have been standing in a patch of oak brush about 75 to 90 yards away. That area overlooked a nearby valley and had a clear line of sight of where Bruce was walking. A spent casing for a.308 rifle was found there, as well as a partial shoe impression. So with all that in mind, authorities began to suspect that what happened that morning was starting to look more and more like something intentional versus an accident. So they turned their attention to the one person who they thought might be able to provide them with more information. Janiece. While investigators were assessing Bruce's death scene, they spoke with Janiece to learn more about her and her husband's relationship as well as the events leading up to his death. In her statements to detective, she explained that she and Bruce had arrived at the National Forest two days earlier on Friday, October 13, and camped for two nights. On the morning of the shooting, she said she'd woken up around 5am Made coffee, built a fire and discussed plans with Bruce about him climbing a nearby ridge to hunt. They decided it would be best to split up so that she could chase potential game out of a brushy area in Bruce's direction so that he could have a better shot at killing something. She claimed that when she left their camp, he was still in bed. The plan was for them to meet back at their campsite around 9:30am but at some point while they were separated, Janie said she'd returned early to change her clothes. According to her, she'd walked through a bog and gotten her boots and overalls very muddy, so she wanted to change. She also mentioned to investigators that at some point during that time frame she'd crossed paths with a hunter along a nearby ridge who was decked out in camouflage, which was a claim investigators thought was kind of odd because most hunters during hunting season wore orange or some kind of colorful material that would prevent them from being accidentally shot. Janese said when Bruce didn't return to their camp by 9:30, she became concerned and went to look for him. Shortly after that is when she found his body on the ground. But it was at this point in Janese's interview that she began having a physical reaction, seemingly from the trauma of everything that had happened that morning. In response to what was happening to her, authorities brought in a medical kit and transported her to a local hospital via helicopter. They were not able to finish questioning her, but while she was receiving care, Bruce's body was taken directly to the coroner's office for an autopsy. That exam was performed by Dr. Thomas Canfield, who was a friend and co worker of Bruce's. He concluded that Bruce had been shot three times from a distance, but only two of the shots had actually hit him. The first shot was superficial and had gone through his hunting vest and barely grazed him. The second shot hit him in the chest, just under his right arm and punctured just below his lungs. A third round had entered his back at an upward angle, seemingly as he was crawling on the ground trying to get away from whoever had shot him. That bullet had severed his spine and lodged in his lung. Because of the unusual angle of the final shot, Dr. Canfield ultimately concluded that Bruce's manner of death was a homicide. The only problem was authorities had a potentially huge pool of suspects to look at. They of course, wanted to interview anyone nearby who could have possibly heard or seen anything related to the shooting. So they started with Doug Kyle and his hunting companion Michael, who were the two closest campers to Denise and Bruce. Michael had mostly been absent during the whole ordeal and only returned to the campsite he was sharing with Doug during the investigation. Eventually, authorities determined that none of the bullets associated with Bruce's murder had come from his or Doug's firearms. The men stayed on investigators radar simply because of their close proximity to the crime. But they were not the sole focus of the investigation. Instead, detectives began exploring the possibility that Bruce's killer was someone much closer to home. According to coverage by the Daily Sentinel, Bruce, whose full name was actually John Bruce Dodson, was from Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating high school, he'd served four years in the Navy before eventually attending the University of Maryland, where he earned his bachelor's degree in medical technology. He later got an associate's degree in behavioral science. By the early 90s, he settled down in Cedar Edge, Colorado. At the time of his death, he was employed as a medical technologist at Delta County Memorial Hospital. It was around that same time he'd met Janiece, who was working as a nurse at the same hospital. She was divorced and had two kids from a previous relationship. After dating for about two years, the pair tied the knot in mid July 1995. From what I read about Bruce, he was known for having a caring, compassionate and comforting demeanor and an insatiable love for the outdoors. He was into everything from horseback riding, fishing, photography, hiking and biking. He also loved animals, especially dogs. According to Benjamin Smith's reporting for Oxygen, Janese was a few years younger than Bruce and had grown up in Houston, Texas. She came from a hunting family who also spent a lot of time in the outdoors. But things weren't always rosy at home, so as a teenager, she abruptly left Houston for a new life. Regarding this change, Janiece's friend Catherine Matthews told Oxygen quote, she had some issues and left to escape her home life. She had to get out. End quote Shortly after moving, Janiece began dating a teenage boy named JC Lee who worked as a ranch hand. They eventually married, had two kids and settled down in western Colorado. By 1990, though, Janese and Jaycee's 23 years or so of marriage had crumbled after he'd had an affair with a younger woman who was friends with his daughter. The couple divorced that year and Janiece ended up taking a job at a different hospital in Montrose, Colorado. On the heels of her divorce, she started dating Bruce. When they got together, he was said to be a big support for her during the fallout from her divorce. According to reporting by Rebecca Reisner, the couple's mutual love for all things outdoors was echoed during their wedding ceremony when Janiece wore a headdress shaped like a hunting hat that was covered in lace and tulle. Janese had previously told authorities that her and Bruce's hunting trip to the national forest in mid October was actually his first hunting trip in the area. The outing was nothing new to her though, because she said her and her ex husband JC had camped there many times. She even told detectives she'd hoped she and Bruce might run into her former in laws in the area because I guess her relationship with them was still pretty good. She'd also revealed in her statements to authorities that JC Himself had frequently camped near where she and Bruce had been camping. That detail piqued investigators interest, but unfortunately they weren't able to locate J.C. right away. So instead they interviewed his brother, who told them Jaycee had indeed been camping in Uncompagre National Forest that weekend, about three quarters of a mile away from Bruce and Janiece. But according to his brother, Jaycee had already left his campsite. Even more interesting, as investigators conducted more interviews, they learned that Janiece and Jaycee's relationship was a bit more complicated than those of your typical divorcees. Turns out a few months prior to the crime, Janiece had traveled to Texas to visit Jaycee, even though she was newly married to Bruce and he had a new girlfriend, according to what Janiece's friend Catherine Matthews told Oxygen. Though Janiece had never really stopped loving Jaycee, despite his betrayal and infidelity. So naturally, investigators were eager to find J.C. and speak with him. And on October 18, three days after the crime, they finally got the chance. They located him in Layton, Utah, and he agreed to an interview. Jaycee said that he had no idea his ex wife and her new husband were going to be hunting in the same area of the national forest that he was the weekend of October 15th. He straight up denied killing Bruce and claimed he had an alibi for the timeframe of the crime. He said that he was with his family and other hunters when the shooting happened, and detectives were eventually able to confirm that account with his friends and family. Still, investigators remain suspicious of JC Mesa County Deputy Sheriff John Hags told producers for Snapped, quote, being an ex husband a jealousy factor. It's always suspicious. They all camped at the same place and then Bruce ends up being killed. End quote. But despite authorities thinking Jaycee could have been involved, he cooperated fully with the investigation. He maintained his innocence and even provided authorities with copies of his fingerprints. He confirmed that Janese had taken a trip to Texas a few months before Bruce's murder, attempting to reconcile with him. But he rebuffed her because he had a new girlfriend and was not interested in getting back together. While interviewing Jaycee, investigators noticed a list of items sitting on his table and asked him what that was all about. He said the list contained a number of things that had gone missing from his campsite on October 14, the day before Bruce was killed. What stood out to detectives about this list was that one of the items it was a.308 caliber Remington rifle, which just so happened to be the same caliber firearm that some of the bullet casings found at the crime scene had come from. Jaycee told investigators that he'd reported the gun missing on October 15 when he realized it was unaccounted for. Jaycee also clarified for detectives that in addition to his rifle being missing, some of his.308ammunition had been stolen. And of course, that was the same brand that investigators had found at the crime scene. This detail did not feel like a coincidence to investigators, and they began to suspect that Jaycee's missing gun might be the possible murder weapon. When they asked him if his ex wife could have been involved in the shooting, he responded that he wasn't sure. However, authorities were about to learn some concerning Information about Janiece that caused them to take pause. Information that Bruce's loved ones had also picked up on and did not feel good about. On October 21, six days after Bruce's murder, loved ones held his memorial service at a Catholic church in Delta, Colorado. His body was cremated and his ashes were given to Janiece. But within a month or so of his death, some of Bruce's family members began to notice strange things happening. His brother told producers for Snapt that Janiece got rid of all of Bruce's things and took his name off their mailbox. The Daily Sentinel also reported that she cashed in his retirement and checking accounts, sold his home worth nearly $100,000, sold his beloved horse, and even euthanized his dog. If those things weren't alarming enough, what Janese did with Bruce's ashes after his death made his family's eyebrows really go up. Prior to his death, Bruce had made it clear that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in Leadville, Colorado. So after he was killed, his family fully expected Janese to organize some kind of gathering to have everyone come together to respectfully spread his ashes per his wishes. But instead, Janese reportedly drove to Leadville, stopped on the side of the road and just dumped Bruce's ashes on the ground. After learning about that, his brother couldn't help but wonder if maybe something was amiss. He told producers for Forensic Files that prior to the weekend hunting trip, Bruce had confided in him that he didn't even want to go hunting in the national Forest. But he'd agreed to the trip to appease his new wife. After discovering this information, authorities became aware of something even more noteworthy. Janiece had taken out three life insurance policies for Bruce prior to his death, all of which she was the sole beneficiary of. In total, she stood to receive more than $280,000 in insurance payouts if something were to happen to Bruce. And that's based on what the dollar was worth back in the mid-90s. When you take into account inflation, that amount of money would equate to a lot more in today's currency. Apparently, though, finances had been a point of contention between the couple because when Janiece entered their marriage, she didn't have a lot of money. Bruce, on the other hand, did have a better income and solid financial foundation. He was said to be rather frugal and prioritized saving money versus spending it. This reportedly did not make Janiece very happy, and after they were married, she quickly wanted Bruce to get life insurance policies on himself in case he died. Also, in the wake of the murder, Janiece had been spending time in a casino. According to a Forensic Files now article she'd told investigators after the crime that she was going to go to Texas to visit and mourn with relatives. But when they checked up on her, they discovered she was gambling at a casino in Louisiana. Now, one could assume that her gambling might have just been a welcome distraction after the trauma of losing her husband. But regardless of her reason, lying to investigators about where she was and what she was doing was. Was not a good look. So between the life insurance policies and her lies about going to Texas to grieve with family, authorities felt compelled to bring her in for questioning once again. On January 17, 1996, more than three months after the crime, they asked her to take a polygraph and she agreed. Despite denying any involvement in Bruce's murder, the test results indicated that Janiece had shown signs of deception on at least two of the questions. Unfortunately, though, because polygraph test results don't amount to probable cause and detectives didn't have any physical evidence connecting her to the crime, they had to let Janese go. After that, the case came to a standstill. In October 1996, a lieutenant at the Mesa County Sheriff's Office explained to the press that reams of evidence that had been gathered at the crime scene were still being analyzed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The Sheriff's office hoped that hunters who'd been in the National Forest in October 1995 and would be returning for the 1996 hunting season would keep their eyes and ears open. Flyers with information about Bruce's case were hung in area stores with the intention of catching the eye of a potential witness. But nothing substantial came from that. In the meantime, Janiece, Bruce's widow, carried on with her Life. In late November 1996, 13 months after the murder, she got married again, this time in Las Vegas to a guy named Bartlett Hall. After their wedding, the couple moved back to Texas but investigators kept an eye on them. In April 1997, detectives interviewed Janiece's new husband hoping to see if maybe she'd told him anything about Bruce's case. But he didn't have much to offer other than the fact that shortly after marrying Janiece, she'd asked him to take out a life insurance policy on himself worth $100,000. I imagine that information was concerning to investigators, but it wasn't like they could do anything at the moment because they had nothing On Janese that amounted to evidence of wrongdoing. Over the next couple of years, a few promising leads came in here and there, but nothing ever panned out. At some point in 1997, the Mesa County District Attorney's office took over the case from the sheriff's office. And it seems that's when things really began to shift. On June 23, 1998, more than two and a half years after Bruce was shot, officials decided to return to Uncompagre National Forest to try and find additional clues and potentially the murder weapon. Accompanying investigators on this trip was a volunteer from Necrosearch International, which according to their website, is a, quote, multidisciplinary team of specialists dedicated to assisting law enforcement in the location of clandestine graves and the documentation and recovery of evidence, including human remains. End quote. During this effort, the Necro Certs representative and law enforcement officers waded through the same bog that Janese had told them in her initial interview she'd walked through before Bruce was shot. You know the area where she said she'd gotten her boots and overalls all muddy? Well, the team took samples from that area as well as from around an artificial pond that was near J.C. lee's campsite. The Necrosearch volunteer had pointed out the pond and described it as unique because they said it was one of the only areas in the forest that was lined with bentonite clay, which is a volcanic ash derived clay known for its absorbent properties and ability to draw out impurities or toxins. It's often used as a sealant for artificial ponds. A forensic scientist with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation compared the mud found on Janese's clothing from the day of the shooting to the soil samples. And what she found was surprising to say the least. The mud from Janese's clothing contained traces of bentonite clay, the same bentonite clay that only existed along the artificial pond next to her ex husband's campsite. Which meant she'd passed through that body of water on the morning of the crime, not the bog she'd said she'd walked through that was closer to the crime scene. This revelation meant that Janiece had lied about where she was on the morning of the murder. And it proved she'd physically gone close to Jaycee's campsite. The question authorities needed to answer though was why? A theory they came up with that could explain the evidence and her movements involved that missing.308 rifle from Jaycee's campsite. They thought that perhaps Janiece had snuck into her ex husband's camp in the early morning hours of October 15, stolen his rifle, and then used it to kill Bruce. If the weapon was ever traced, it would essentially frame Jaycee, not Janiece. And given their bad breakup, one could assume she'd had a motive to want JC to feel some pain for refusing to get back together with her. Now, it's unclear from the source material if it was during the trip that necrosearch helped investigators to find this bentonite clay sample or another time. But after the shooting, authorities had managed to find a.308 caliber bullet buried underneath some brush near the crime scene that they strongly suspected was connected to the killing. There was still just one thing holding detectives up though. The bullet that had been retrieved from Bruce's body. Investigators believed it had come from a.243 caliber firearm. And they weren't sure where that round could have come from, since JC's missing gun only shot.308 caliber rounds. It remained a puzzling detail until one day, an investigator at the District Attorney's office named Bill Booth stumbled upon an explanation. Kind of by accident. He happened to see an advertisement for 308 caliber bullets that were manufactured by the brand Nosler. Those specific bullets had an outer jacket made of copper, but inner lead core that looked identical to a.243 bullet. Bill Booth began to wonder if maybe a Nosler brand.308 bullet had been used in the crime, but its original copper jacket had just somehow been stripped off before or while going through Bruce's body, leaving behind what authorities had falsely assumed was just a.200 and.43 caliber round. So detectives decided to have the bullet fragment from Bruce's chest cavity compared to the.308 caliber round that had been discovered near the crime scene after the murder. According to the coverage in this case, lead bullets typically have identifiable trace elements because most of them are made using recycled car batteries. A forensic metallurgist with the FBI was able to match the lead core of the supposed.243 caliber bullet with the other.308 caliber rounds, which proved they'd come from the same batch of ammunition. Investigators couldn't confirm those rounds were fired from Jaycee's missing rifle because that weapon was still nowhere to be found. But they had their suspicions. So much so that on October 23, 1998, they were able to get an arrest warrant for Denise and charged her with first degree murder. that point in time, she was living with her new husband in Nacogdoches, Texas. According to snap's coverage Janiece was reportedly hiding behind her bed holding a shotgun when police came to take her into custody. Following her arrest, she was held without bond at the Nacogdoches County Jail before being extradited back to Colorado. There, a judge held her on a $500,000 bond. In January 1999, an eight hour preliminary hearing was held to determine whether there was enough probable cause to try Janiece for first degree murder. During that proceeding, Doug Kyle testified about what he'd seen and heard on the morning of the crime. And he noted that shortly before hearing Denise scream, he'd seen her put a gun into her and Bruce's vehicle. The DA investigator Bill Booth, also testified and went through the physical evidence that had been collected as well as all the soil sample testing that had been done. He revealed that not only was the bentonite clay evidence substantial traces of soil from the shoes Janis had worn on the day of the crime and matched soil from her ex husband's campsite as well as the dirt near where Bruce's shooter had stood. Her defense attorney, of course, though, emphasized that the state's entire case was circumstantial because none of the soil sample evidence they presented could be proven 100%. But the judge ruled to move ahead to trial anyway. In April, a few months after the preliminary hearing, Janiece entered a plea of not guilty and the case was scheduled on the trial docket for October of that year. According to Shannon Joyce's reporting for the Daily Sentinel, two months before things were expected to get underway, the judge in the case made some interesting rulings as to what evidence would be allowed in court. He ruled that prosecutors would not be allowed to discuss any other insurance claims Janiece had made besides the life insurance policies on Bruce. Turns out she'd reportedly tried to collect more than $100,000 in insurance money for an unrelated arson and unrelated car theft. But prosecutors would not be able to tell jurors about those incidents. Despite that, though, the judge was going to allow the DA to tell jurors about an incident where Janiece filed an insurance claim for several stolen guns. But later the firearms were found at a friend's home, so she had to return the money to the insurance company and was charged with false reporting. Interestingly, the judge planned to allow the defense to introduce new claims that Janese had told investigators she had a disassociative identity disorder and couldn't remember all of her actions or recollections very clearly, which I think was her way of implying that she may not be fully responsible for shooting her husband. Eventually, after several more months, Janese's trial finally opened on February 24, 2000. If convicted, she faced life in prison. The prosecution's theory of the crime was fairly simple. The state claimed that Janiece had likely started planning her husband's murder shortly after they wed. Their theory was that she'd timed her hunting trip around the same weekend. She knew JC Lee and his group of friends would be in the area and because she'd camped with her ex husband before in the national forest, she knew exactly where he'd be. Then the prosecutor explained that Janese had covertly crossed the muddy artificial pond near JC's campsite, stolen his Remington.308 caliber rifle and ammunition and used that gun to kill Bruce. After gunning her husband down, she picked up all but one of the shell casings from where she'd originally fired at Bruce, discarded the murder weapon somewhere no one could find, and then returned to her campsite to change her clothing before pretending to find his body. And then she placed some of the casings on the ground there. Even with the strict guidelines surrounding what was going to be admissible as evidence, the prosecution was still able to call 71 witnesses, which included ballistics experts, backcountry trackers and Janiece's ex husband, J.C. lee. The state also introduced several models of the crime scene, an aerial image and diagrams of where the shooting had occurred. According to Zach Barnett's reporting for the Daily Sentinel, Jaycee testified that although he didn't personally believe Janese could have fired the shots that killed Bruce, he did state she was a somewhat skilled markswoman. In his coverage, Zach Barnett explained that Janese had been hunting since she was 7 or 8 years old and was known to be an excellent shot. As far as physical evidence, the prosecutor submitted 190 items as evidence. And of course, he also brought up the key points about the soil samples in bullet casings. The defense's response to the State's case was essentially to call it flimsy. Janese's defense attorney argued, quote, when you don't have a case, you start slinging mud. That's what they've done since day one, end quote. But that argument did not convince the jury because on March 20, 2000, after three and a half days of deliberation, they found Janiece guilty of first degree murder and sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She appealed her conviction in 2002, but her request was denied. As of this recording, she's still incarcerated at a women's prison in Colorado, where she will likely remain for the rest of her life. In the years after her trial, she continued to maintain her innocence and told primetime interviewer Chris Cuomo, quote, I still do love Bruce Dodson. The only way I can live with this is that I have the peace of knowing I didn't do it and the prayer in my heart that someday the truth will win out. End quote. As far as what happened with Bruce's life insurance proceeds, his brother and sister ended up collecting the funds Janiece was hoping to get. That plus her conviction for Bruce's murder are forms of justice served. But to those closest to the victim in this case, peace was a difficult thing to grasp. Loved Ones stated as much to producers for Snapped Personally, I'm convinced that the best outcome would have been for Bruce to come home. For him to have simply hunted instead of being hunted. Park Predators is an Audio Check production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website parkpredators.com and you can also follow park predators on Instagram arcpredators. I think Chuck would approve.