The Widow on Solway Road | Full Episode

foreign [Applause] State and show that on March 13 2003. David Lee was killed by a single gunshot wound to his forehead the report on the 911 call was that he'd shot himself gentleman's laying in a bed guns laying beside him it looked like I wasn't right here here's another hole he's fired more than once look like we're above his head there there's also a shot into the bed which is a little suspicious in itself there was more than one shot and while that's not unheard of well it didn't look like a suicide scene in the statements show that the person who delivered that fatal blow who's the defendant reynella Lee who shot almost in the middle of his forehead but right above his his left eye there were no signs of forced entry there were no signs of a struggle and there was no one else at the residence but the defendant can you connect raynella to that weapon fingerprints anyone see her pick up the gun no to any of the bullets that were used in that gun no that's a problem isn't it in this case foreign [Music] was twisted everything good about this woman was turned around to be evil there's not any real evidence to suggest a homicide and if I were my work pull the trigger I could strike myself the left eyebrow am I right yes you could there was only one person who wanted harm David and at that point it was David he was acting suicidal and he makes his decision and he takes aim he's a great lawyer he's super prepared fantastic lawyer fantastic he's a bad actor [Music] I just tried to focus on the evidence and where that was leading me it was hard for me to determine you'll tell me if that's approximately one foot where we were going with certain things and trying to piece those things together inside each line is an individual stain but you're not making a decision just by yourself you're making the decision as a group this is the decision never to be taken lightly and I assure you that this court takes this responsibility very seriously [Music] as a senior judge most every case that I try is somewhat controversial now in this case it's it's kind of simple if it was a homicide did the evidence show that reynella Leith committed to homicide ladies and gentlemen of the jury I really could not believe what he was saying as he said it you're not quite sure if this is really where this is going personally have studied every shred of evidence or testimony just like you have oh I gotta breathe no matter where we think we're going here that can't be How This Ends [Music] [Music] 48 Hours the Widow on Solway Road whatever foreign [Music] s are in the Box and uh all parties are are present a real life drama is taking place that Rivals any Southern Gothic novel I'm Josh Hedrick we haven't met yet before have we no we haven't it's pleasure this is not a story that would happen in a sleepy New England town it's too Southern he would bring her a rose once a week and they would go out to dinner there is the gentility with your permission I'll remove my coat because I had some difficulty with it previously and underneath that very respectable surface it seems like everything's rotting to the core unless you really know what's inside somebody's mind if I were to then place it here you don't really know why they do what they do do you best-selling author Diane Fanning has written about this case and the players this is something that a fiction writer would write about give us your name please ma'am reynella leaf reynella Leith a 68 year old grandmother is at the center of this extraordinary tale have you decided whether or not you wish to testify in your trial I do not wish to testify very well you've got an unbelievable character there were people she knew in college who said well she was great she was a lot of fun as long as she didn't cross her [Music] ever since 2003 the former nurse has been the prime suspect in the death of her second husband David Leith help me help me it was raynella's 9-1-1 call on the morning of March 13 2003 that sent police rushing to the Leith home let's just detective mortgage for the Sheriff's Department we're out on a uh possible suicide gunshot wound these are audio and video recordings made by police at the scene we'll signs of knows anything lying around anywhere listen to investigators as they begin wondering about that death called in as a suicide the guns laying next to his left hand which is curled Underneath Him we got three fired rounds I want to have a problem with is one is for the round side and the way he's laying I'm not saying it it stinks I'm just saying it strong detectives wanted to establish where raynella had been all morning and she agreed to talk the only time she spoken on the record she remembers watching television with her husband David that morning before leaving his breakfast on the nightstand excuse me Angry Birds if I'm not here when you get back I'll be at the Y and I said okay it was close to 9 30 she says when she headed to the hospital to visit her mother-in-law okay when she arrived home shortly after 11 she found her husband Lane in a bloody bed with a gunshot to his head I don't know where that gun is from I've never seen that gun in my whole life the gum was believed to have belonged to David's parents [Music] David's sudden death left reynella a grieving Widow for the second time her first husband Ed Dawson had died 11 years earlier raynella and Ed met at East Tennessee State University where she was on the rifle team and studying to be a nurse he planned to go to law school what Drew those two together raynella was such a Confident Woman she had presence and I think that Ed was really drawn to that they married and moved to Ed's 165-acre Family Farm in the tight-knit community of Solway just outside Knoxville where they raised cattle and three children Maggie Eddie Jr and Katie reynella was extremely protective of her children they became the power couple in town when ebb was elected Knox County District Attorney General raynella was director of nursing at Park West Hospital but their lives took a tragic turn when at the age of 43 Ed was diagnosed with terminal cancer nine months later he died not from his illness but in a freak farming accident but raynella wasn't a widow for long six months later she shocked friends and family when she remarried David Leith was a local barber and Ed does its best friend and neighbor she fix these food and started his car in the morning and she just treated him like a King David's daughter Cindy Wilkerson and his cousin Beth Roberts say the Whirlwind romance was all the talk and saw way what do you think he saw in raynella she's Charming I said to my mother I thought he'd hit the jackpot with this girl because she was so pretty and so interesting I just thought this is going to be a great fit but raynella's Newfound happiness was short-lived less than two years after she remarried her 11 year old son was killed in a car crash she was very sad and very very heartbroken Cindy says she began seeing changes in reynella and her father's relationship that didn't seem as happy as they were when they first got married five years later more heartbreak David was hospitalized he began seeing a neurologist for signs of dementia and depression in early 2003 reynella says David's Behavior became more erratic concerned she began making notes in a private journal on January 19th she wrote Dave hateful today I cried and cried three days later things hadn't improved Dave hateful controlling his way or no way I cried seven weeks after writing those words David was dead what did you think it happened to your dad somebody had shot him but I knew that he didn't do it [Music] foreign every day every haircut every styling in the middle chair at this Knoxville Barber Shop reminds Cindy Wilkerson of her father David Leith it's the same chair he used for 39 years my dad was fun loving caring and it's a joy to use the same chair he did [Music] he inherited the chair in 2000 when her father suddenly retired at the age of 54. what he kept secret were all those visits to the neurologist if he was suicidal over dementia Cindy never saw it when reynella said your dad committed suicide did you initially think well well maybe he did but it's just hard to believe no I never did think that my dad was scared to death of guns and I knew that he couldn't have done that and Cindy questioned why her right-handed father would have used his left hand to shoot himself above his left eye he was totally blonde but uh as her delt soared so did her suspicions about her Stepmother's role and she wasn't alone within 24 hours Dr darinka malusnik the Knox County Medical Examiner discounted reynella's claim of suicide and ruled David Lee's death a homicide reynella became the focus of attention it was clear to David's family what should happen next investigation indictment trial but it doesn't no not even close remember reynella was the Widow of a district attorney general crime Rider in 48 hours consultant Diane Fanning says that was the problem almost everybody working in that office either worked with Ed knew Ed or new renello there was a conflict of interest finding an outside prosecutor to take the leaf case dragged on making things more difficult no one could figure out the motive murder doesn't always make sense Cindy was becoming more and more frustrated she wanted something to be done about her father's murder with the criminal case stalled in March 2006 Cindy filed a civil suit against raynella to stop her from inheriting David's estate prosecutors took notice three and a half years after David Lee's death reynella was charged with his murder and that's when old suspicion surfaced about the death of her first husband Ed dossett had been found in a field in July 1992 surrounded by his cattle he had apparently been trampled to death did anyone anyone wonder about how Ed dossett died yes the reports were an agricultural accident but some folks in the community had a problem with that scenario Ed grew up on a farm for him to have been trampled by his own cattle that just didn't make sense what's more folks wondered how Ed week with cancer and heavily medicated even managed to get all the way from his house to the cattle he died in a way that almost sounded like something you'd hear on a soap opera Diane Fanning says there have been a theory going around Solway that Dawson's death was actually about insurance raynella and the kids would get a bigger payout if it was an accident instead of cancer it might have even been Ed Dawson's idea himself couldn't that have been it could have been Ed dossett's idea and that's what stopped some of the other people from wanting to pursue it because if Ed knew he was about to die but he wanted his family to be more secure financially he might have said take me out there let the cows tromp on me nearly a year after reynella was charged with David Lee's murder the same medical examiner who ruled that death a homicide reviewed a dosset's file Dr malusinik determined it wasn't cattle that killed him it was a morphine overdose it was a huge story The Widow of a district attorney general was now charged with murdering two husbands reynello was now being described as a black widow even though she had never gone to trial on any death no it was just suspicions were gathering around her which is why Diane Fanning called her book her deadly web is it possible that reynello Leith is just a very unlucky woman yeah but coincidence makes me itchy prosecutors decide to try her for David Lee's murder first in 2009 six years after his death reynella finally went on trial but it turns out that was only the beginning the jury deadlocked 11-1 11-1 to convict the judge was forced to declare a mistrial it was here in Knox County so it it wasn't shocking to me a year later reynella was back in court for trial number two the case was the same but this time jurors were unanimous reynella was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison I felt like justice had been served and I was happy so were prosecutors with raynella Behind Bars they dropped the murder charges for the death of her first husband Ed Dawson never expecting what came next I would describe her as lucky very lucky after she served six years raynella's conviction was tossed out the reason the trial judge had been seriously impaired with a drug addiction and was kicked off the bench what was your reaction when you heard the verdict had been overturned I was devastated couldn't believe it 14 years after the death of David Leith called the jury in place it's now trial number three state and showed it on March and prosecutor Steve crump's turn to try reynella Leith is there a way to describe this case from snake bit Yeah because what can't go wrong will go wrong foreign [Music] it's May 2017. everyone is ready the trial one of the last of senior judge Paul Summer's career set to begin first to present District Attorney General Steve Crump in what all sides hope will be the last trial in this case the person who delivered that fatal blow was the defendant reynella Leaf he argues reynella's murderous plan unraveled the moment she fired that first shot and missed once she missed it changed the whole dynamic she ended his life with that second shot and then an attempt to cover up she fired that third shot to get gunshot residue on him you're describing a pretty cold-blooded killer yes that's what I think she is we'll show you what's been marked previously as exhibit 36 and ask if you can identify that for the prosecution the gun occult 38 police special revolver reveals some of the most important Clues may I step down Don Carmen is a former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent I say it's a very old simple Farm however very effective this picture of the cylinder was taken at the scene the three fired rounds have small indentations or Hammer strikes in the center of the casing the unfired rounds do not for each particular shot it goes to the next chamber as you look at it right now it's going clockwise yes your honor prosecutors say that clockwise rotation of the cylinder tells the order of the shots the first cartridge fired would be this one the second would be this one and the third would be this one the first two cartridges are from Silver Remington bullets fragments of those were found in the wall and David Lee's head but the third is different it's a gold Winchester found shot through the mattress if that gold bullet was fired last as the prosecution believes that means it came after David Leith was already shot in the head severing his brain stem Knox County Medical Examiner Dr darinka malusnik was David Lee in any way capable of any sort of voluntary movement after that bullet transected his brain none whatsoever next prosecutors turned to the blood spatter these round drops of Blood on the wall tell investigators that David's head had to be raised nearly a foot above the mattress when the bullet was fired the only way that all of this works together is that if standing at the side of the bed and she misses with that first shot and we know that the first shot was the one that went into the headboard he raises up the second shot occurs and he falls straight back down to where he was found on the wall blood doesn't turn corners but the defense insists that the same evidence points to David Leith as the shooter multiple shock suicides are not impossible they have [Music] Ray Noah's team consists of Knoxville criminal attorney Josh Hedrick along with Rebecca Legrand a Washington D.C based lawyer with a background in science she was taking care of a sick husband who she loved and for that to get twisted into what it did is it was upsetting she's got hope that the justice system isn't so broken that it won't eventually realize the truth which is that she's an innocent woman with no clear motive presented by the state the defense starts with those three shots each and every one of these shots could have been accomplished by David Lee himself and then raises doubts to Don Carmen about the order of those three shots you don't know for certain whether the gun was opened or the cartridges manipulated prior to that photo being taken I do not and as a result you're unable to say with any degree of scientific certainty what order the shots were fired in that's correct because in my discipline they would be not testable but even if the prosecutions order of shots is correct Kentucky State medical examiner and defense consultant Dr Greg Davis says David Leith still could have been the shooter I'll give it to you it's unusual but to say because of that it has to be a homicide I just can't go that far there is a phenomenon called catevaric spasm where a person can actually their hands can squeeze immediately upon death what would you have ruled this I would have ruled this undetermined which is what he believes Dr malusnik should have done in this case remember within 24 hours of David Lee's death Dr malusnik called it a homicide she had not yet seen records from his neurologist or received a complete medical history didn't have toxicology didn't have ballistics didn't have medical records it went from can we figure out what happened to can we prove this was a homicide in a previous trial Dr malusic testified that medications found in David's system would have rendered him and I quote incapacitated in other words he would have been unable to kill himself but in trial number three Dr malusnik did not repeat that claim I'm glad that she reassessed and didn't try to make the same claims about toxicology at the third trial but it six years too late for my client Dr malusnik declined 48 Hours request for an interview but in reynella's third trial she stands firm that David Lee's death was a homicide I was very confident and 14 years later I'm even more so confident yes Dr Davis can you say unequivocally that she didn't kill her husband no I cannot but there's not enough evidence to say she did right as a forensic pathologist at least on the evidence that I've been privy to there's no way on Earth I think she's guilty but there is information Dr Davis was not privy to if anybody has any doubts as to whether David was murdered by Renault maybe they need to talk to Steve Walker well I see a killer because she tried to kill me [Music] thank you [Music] in a final and dramatic attempt to convince a jury of suicide the defense brings the blood-stained bed to the courtroom still preserved if the record could reflect on pointing to the hole in the middle of the headboard defense forensic expert Celia Hartnett I've marked the portion shows jurors how David Leith could have fired all three shots if I were to lie in bed and I were to aim at my head and pull the trigger and miss high and create this yes and then frustrated that I've missed sat up and pull the trigger I went into my head here yes and then if I fell and my hand squeezed again it would be consistent with this direction not just with the direction but also with the distance we're not saying we know exactly what happened we're just saying we know there are multiple ways that all of this makes sense that don't have anything to do with a homicide there was only one person who wanted to harm David and at that point it was David he was acting with his Physicians suicidal he's becoming useless [Music] and a proud man doesn't want to be useless but for the prosecution the most incriminating evidence isn't at the crime scene it's at the barber shop where raynella called Cindy Wilkerson on the morning of the shooting raynella had already left David at home she made the call from Park West Hospital where she was visiting David's mother she asked me if I had seen my dad and that he had went to work out on an empty stomach was that normal no she never called me at work that was the first indication on March 13 2003 that anything was unusual about David Lee Russian says the call was part of raynella's elaborate Alibi to prove she wasn't at home with David but they say she miscalculated remember raynella told police she put breakfast by the bed and left the house around 9 30. she made the call to Cindy just 20 minutes later there would have been no reason to say have you seen him there would have been no reason to ask if it worked out and there certainly would have been no reason to say he didn't eat his breakfast because there's no way she could have known that unless she had been there and unless the only reason she knew he hadn't eaten breakfast was because he was dead have you seen your father today that's the question the prosecution once burned into jurors Minds as both sides make their final case it's the only explanation reynella Lee is guilty of the first degree premeditated homicide undatedly we can't say that the facts exclude the theory that David Leith shot himself as I demonstrated for you be as diligent as you have been since we started and to return a verdict of not guilty murder David Lee as all eyes turn to the jury there are things about raynella Leith they'll never hear they don't know about Ed Dawson and they don't know about Steve Walker I'm a crouton on a real big salad here and this is a big salad in this town Steve Walker's ex-wife was Ed dossett's secretary their relationship as it turns out was more than just professional in 1995 three years after Ed's Death Steve found out during divorce proceedings that the son he raised was actually Ed Dawson's biological child it came as a terrible shock to Steve and raynella I mean in some ways you felt that you were on her side uh right now Alex yes I thought we was on the same team he could not have been more wrong according to a police report filed by raynella on the morning of May 26 of that year she found Steve quote acting psychotic near Ed's grave on the farm she told police she began firing warning shots into the ground to chase him away and that Steve then took the weapon and fled on foot but when Steve filed his own report he told a very different story he says that same morning reynella picked him up at the auto shop where he works and drove him to the farm to talk about the affair till I seen the gun we was as friendly as me and you right now when they got to reynella's Barn Steve says she suddenly pulled out a revolver in a police interview Steve told investigators reynella then said I'll kill you you son of a [ __ ] then I'll raise the sun she had a towel around her hands and she comes up with it and starts shooting but the former Marksman missed Steve started running but tripped and fell I'm defenseless she said I used to be a better shot there but I can get you from here and she aimed that gun and I closed my eyes she pulled the trigger I knew I was gone but the gun click was out of bullets there was no doubt in my mind if she hadn't run out of bullets I'd be dead [Music] the police believed Steve Walker's story and raynella was arrested and charged with attempted murder but she took a deal and pled guilty to a lesser charge of assault after six years her record was cleared why would she plead guilty it's the same thing I would have told her is this is a plea that will get expunged there is no jail time take this deal and walk away raynell Elite did walk away and I thank you for your time and attention and Ms Lee thanks you for your time and attention 22 years later she's hoping to walk away again but as the jurors are ready to have their voices heard as jurors you are the ones that will decide the case something happens that no one sees coming if you can picture like a cartoon you know of someone's jaw hitting the floor like I really really tried to pay attention and and took notes so I was really looking forward to deliberating with her daughter by her side reynella Leith arrives at court for the final time electric record reflected all parties are present in the courtroom including the defendant before the jurors can decide her fate there's just one more piece of business if it plays the court it's a defense motion called a rule 29. pursuant to rule 29. a routine request made in nearly every trial to throw out the case for lack of evidence in most cases the judge simply denies the motion and gives the jurors the case only two words are required either motion granted or motion deny but then like so many times in the story of raynello Leith something completely unexpected happens in short the state has failed to meet their burden the defendant's motion for Judgment of acquittal is granted the defendant Ray Nella Leith is not guilty the case against reynella Leith is dismissed not guilty the judge on his own acquits reynello Leath of murder after 14 years of Suspicion six years behind bars and three hard-fought trials just like that it's all over as the defense celebrates she's free she's done the end David Lee's daughter Cindy sits stunned the prosecution does too I don't understand it I don't have an explanation and under Tennessee law there's no appeal either because the judge made his extremely rare decision before the jury began deliberations put your money these jurors initially shocked become angry we were just used I mean they just use this as set pieces pretty much if judge Summers was so convinced that he was right about the evidence why not let us deliberate it and how do you explain that you can't only judge Summers can so we asked judge Summers now retired to make his case to 48 hours and he agreed strictly based on the evidence that I heard on both sides but particularly on the state side if I'd have been the district attorney general I would not have brought the case of trial did you choose to do this to end this case to finally end this case yes you did I did when I realized evidence was legally insufficient I decided to end this case by doing my job and granting the motion for Judgment of acquittal judge Summers believed that there was enough evidence for the jury to decide a homicide may have occurred but he was convinced the prosecution didn't meet its burden to prove that raynell Elite had the time or the opportunity to commit it there was no gunshot residue found on her clothes or around her she had an alibi that the state could not prove the time of death the evidence was clearly insufficient to show that she was the perpetrator of the crime and finally the the there was no evidence to show that she was even the last person ever to see David Leith alive if you were so sure that there wasn't enough evidence for the jury to convict or Beyond A Reasonable Doubt wouldn't the jury have come to the same conclusion I was simply doing my job not trying to pass the book to the jury judges sometimes make these extraordinary decisions when they fear jurors might be swayed by emotion and not evidence and that may have been a factor in this case while we will never know for sure what the whole jury would have done we have a clue if you had gotten to vote how would you have voted guilty how would you have voted guilty how would you have voted guilty do you feel right now Elise got away with murder I absolutely feel she got away with murder for William McMichael Jesse Capps and Michael persicano it was the gun that pointed to raynella as the killer there's no way David Lee fired that third shot and you don't believe the defense witness who said well you can have this spasm after death that pulled the trigger the third time that's fantasy what most convinced you Jesse that this wasn't just a murder but that reynella leaf was the one who killed her husband when Joshua Hedrick was sitting on that bed and he was twirling that cylinder on that gun turns a burden to my family it was just so corny a proud man fake he was trying so hard after that I was like all right it's just they're trying so hard that it's so obvious now it wasn't just these three they say shortly after the judge's decision a majority of jurors gathered near the courthouse and came to the same conclusion admittedly they did not deliberate but they would have found her guilty um does that make it worse yeah I guess so in some ways but in another sense it tells me I did the right thing and more importantly our work as trial attorneys was spot on for David Lee's family it's little consolation he stole that verdict from the family from the prosecution from the jury it was a theft some in this town will always call her a black widow but for raynella Leith none of that matters because as she leaves courtroom number two how are you doing reynella you guys weren't worried about her before so leave her alone now she walks away a free woman please leave my mom alone did it cross your mind you might be letting a killer go free you know there's a difference between being not guilty and being innocent if the state does not prove its case they are found not guilty it doesn't say that they're innocent so you're not saying that raynell Elite is innocent you're saying not guilty there are two entities of which I'm aware that know the answer to that question one is the good Lord above and the other one is the defendant right Nella Lee [Music] thank you

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 1,651,315

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, raynella leath, the widow on solway road, dead husbands, knoxville tennessee, david leath, ed dossett, black widow, married to death podcast, my life of crime erin moriarty, erin moriarty, true crime

Id: y_x4W-UUL30

Length: 42min 4sec (2524 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023