[Music]
thank you everyone please have a
seat if you are satisfied Beyond a
reasonable doubt that the defendant
caused the death of Lynn hearnen with
the intent to kill you should find the
defendant guilty of first-degree
intentional
homicide if you are not So Satisfied you
must find the defendant not
guilty Lyn hern's not here to tell you
what went on we were dispatched to a
suicide a female had located her friend
deceased in a
residence it was immediately obvious
that the decedent was there in a
recliner she has multiple medication
bottles that are within Arms Reach she
has multiple medications that are kind
of scattered on her carpet and this
appears to be an unknown powdery
substance left behind on a plate I
received a witness statement from Jesse
from when I knew Jesse was the caretaker
of the individual Jesse kfy took care of
Lynn during the last year of Lynn's Life
Jesse was like an adopted daughter to
Lynn so Jesse and Lynn were very close
Lynn was really sick and depressed Lynn
started suffering from health issues
that were unexplained she was going in
and out of the hospital but doctors
couldn't figure out what it was that was
ailing Lynn she was going to like doctor
after doctor and then she'd call me and
say they can't find anything wrong with
me the defense argued that Lynn wanted
to die by suicide because she was sick
of being sick I remember hearing it from
Jesse on the phone looks like Lynn you
know committed suicide
when you heard your auntie Lenny died by
Suicide did you believe that I wasn't
really sure at the time what to believe
cuz you know I just couldn't see her you
know ending her own
life she wants to die she doesn't like
life the
speculation at the time on law
enforcement's behalf was that this was
clearly a suicide you received
information from the medical examiner
did that cause the Sheriff's Office to
change their investigation yes there was
a substance that was
unusual the medical examiner found
tetrah hydrosaline in linnon
system it's the active ingredient in eye
drops that when ingested can be fatal my
opinion is that Lyn hernon died of
tetrah hydrosaline poisoning what about
the manner of death in this case it's
homicide i k there's the eye drops are
you serious do you guys think I murdered
her did you I swear to God I in June of
2021 Jesse kvki was charged with
first-degree intentional
homicide the state argued that Linn
hernon was worth more dead than alive to
Jesse kesy you're going to see that the
access Miss kesi had to Lin hearnen
allowed her to steal every dollar almost
that Linn hernon was worth in life Lynn
gave Jesse money all the time because
she wanted to she wanted Jesse to have
it this is not a suicide this was
intentional homicide Lynn love Jesse if
Lyn Hern was here today she would say
are you crazy prosecution Jesse's
innocent
this case must be decided by you the
jurors based on the evidence presented
in the
courtroom you jurors are the judges of
The credibility of the
Witnesses and the weight of the
evidence in October of 2023 in the
courtroom of Judge Jennifer Doro
39-year-old Jesse keski went on trial
for the intentional homicide of
62-year-old Lyn hearnen along with two
counts of felony theft for stealing from
Lynn someone who'd always thought of
Jesse as a beloved friend
5 years earlier Jesse called police and
told them she found Lynn dead sitting in
her recliner in the living room of her
pukei Wisconsin condo Jesse had been
taken care of Lynn who had serious
medical
problems the lawyers will now make their
opening
statements good afternoon everyone the
prosecutors for wakaa County our Deputy
district attorney Abby Nikolai and
assistant District Attorneys JJ Crawford
and Randy sitser so this is Wisconsin
versus Jesse keski said otherwise this
is a case of murder greed and lies
you're going to see that in or about
October 3rd
2018 Lyn hearnen became worth more dead
than alive to Jesse
keski prosecutors told the jury that
this case was about someone who wanted
money Stephanie Rodriguez covered the
trial for the CBS affiliate in Milwaukee
and prosecutors said that that's why she
was caring for her not because she
genuinely cared but that Jesse wanted
the money in her bank account between
January of 16 and October 3rd of 2018
Miss keski was able to steal
$144,000 plus from Lyn hernon while she
was still alive and then she wanted Lyn
dead to get the money from her estate
Lyn hearnen was dead at only 62 years
old from a Tetra hydraline poisoning
after the defendant gave her a bottle
laced with vising eye drops to
drink but the defense presented Jesse as
a close friend who took care of Lynn who
they claimed was depressed about her
declining Health this case is extremely
important to
Jesse presumed innocent and don't ever
let that thought leave your mind that
she's Presumed Innocent at trial Jesse
was represented by defense attorneys
Pablo galles and Donna cougler here's a
picture of Lynn and Jesse a graduation
party that Lynn threw for Jesse High
School At The Mention Of Her close
relationship with Lynn this is my
daughter she's so proud Jesse
immediately teared up that's who Jesse
is to her daughter Jesse had known Lynn
since childhood through her mother
Jennifer flower Jennifer is like her
best best friend and Jesse became her
best best friend Lynn who worked most of
her life as a hairdresser never married
and lived alone then in the 2 years
before her death her health rapidly
declined there were times where Lynn
would fall in her home and Jesse would
have to go and help her get up Lynn also
had lung disease high blood pressure and
severe gastrointestinal issues which
doctors were never able to fully
diagnose she had been in and out of the
hospital several times and the year
before she died Jesse was always with
Lynn because she became her full-time
caraker essentially Jesse would do the
grocery shopping for Lynn Jesse paid
Lynn's bills Jesse was the only person
she trusted the defense told the jury
that as Lynn's Health further
deteriorated she became despondent and
you saw the way she was done up with the
hair and nails and
jewelry she didn't look like that
anymore she didn't want any more
visitors cuz she didn't look in her mind
the same the defense argued that on
October 3rd of 2018 Lynn was tired of
being sick and decided to take her own
life when they arrived on the scene this
is what they follow at the scene they
found a lot of empty prescription
bottles and they can't see that as a
suicide she's
innocent find her not guilty
one of the first orders of business for
prosecutors the state would next call
Taba cukus was to establish the cause of
death former wakesha County Deputy
medical examiner Tabitha cukus talked to
jurors about those pictures she took
when she arrived at Lynn's condo this is
a closeup of the medication bottles that
were directly to her left there's
additional medications that are present
some without their caps on kcus had
photographed multiple medications
shattered on the carpet as well as a
white powder on a plate and on hearn's
chest defense attorney kler suggests the
powder was spilled by Lynn herself Jesse
told you it was common for Lynn to crush
medications because of her problem
swallowing that's what she told me
jurors heard from chief medical examiner
Dr Linda bitki who testified about those
photos taken in Lynn's living room she
said the pills and and powder scattered
at the scene did point to a potential
suicide there was a thought that maybe
there was an ingestion was a possibility
for the cause of death but before
pronouncing the cause of death Dr
britzky waited to see the results from
the toxicology
tests when she received them weeks later
she was in for surprise there was a
substance that I was um unusual an
unusual finding that I hadn't seen in a
report from their uh facility before it
was uh called tetrah hydrosaline Dr
britzky began her own research on tetrah
hydraline a drug found in some
over-the-counter ey drops this is a
substance that I haven't seen in a
toxicology report before it's not
supposed to be in the blood but how did
it get there
Dr bisy were you
involved in the cause of death and
manner determination for ly hernon yes
medical examiner Dr Linda britzky told
the jury it was in late September 2019
almost a year after Lynn hearn's death
that she published her official
conclusion about how Lynn died the cause
of death I determined was tetrah
hydrosaline poisoning and Dr bitki ruled
that Lynn did not deliberately drink a
fatal dose of ey drops how this injury
occurred is that she was given tetrah
hydrosaline by another which is why I
called it a homicide the belief that
Linn hernon was given tetrah hydrosaline
by another shows that she was given this
unsuspectingly she didn't know that she
was inges tetrah hydrosaline when she
did it the defense challenged the
medical examiner's findings these are
all the drugs that were found in Miss
hernon Right correct toxicology reports
showed that Lynn had at least eight
prescription drugs in her system some of
which Lynn was not supposed to be taking
at the time because those medications
had been discontinued by Lynn's doctors
and these were all in her blood which
means they've already been ingested and
made it into the bloodstream true
Dr bitki said that in her determination
those medications along with some of
Lynn's medical conditions contributed to
but did not cause Lynn's death the
medications found in Lynn's body were
all at therapeutic levels your
conclusion was that she died from the
Tetra
hydroline right that yes but the defense
asked how could the medical examiner be
so certain Lynn did not ingest the ey
drops on her own you don't know as you
sit there today whether
she voluntarily adjusted
that it was my opinion she didn't but
knowledge of her action no well you
weren't there I wasn't
there on redirect Deputy da Nikolai
asked about the powder found on and near
ly's body what do you think
happened I think that they may have been
deposited there the medical examiner
believed that Lyn hearn's body was
staged to look like an overdose because
toxicology reports showed that none of
the crushed up medication that was found
on Lyn hearnen and next to her was
actually in her
system the following day state may call
your next witness the jury heard from
some of Lynn's
friends did you know Lyn herin yes head
Jim kellerer met Lynn at a music
festival in 1983 when she was 27 what
was your first impression that lady that
looked that good wouldn't go out with
me but Lynn said yes and their romantic
relationship lasted 10 years even after
it ended they remained close friends
Lynn was a beautiful lady inside now she
was beautiful Jim says he never met
Jesse until right after Lynn died I get
a phone call from Jesse and she says I
have some bad
news Lynn committed
suicide and by the way uh we're going to
have a dinner for her on the 13th at the
Open Flame Restaurant she said in one
sentence correct your dear friend died
by Suicide right the next sentence she
tells you there's going to be a dinner
in her memory right what did you make of
that well I kind of didn't believe her
right off the bat she wasn't crying on
the stand Jim said he didn't believe
believe Lynn would have taken her own
life did you ever hear Lynn say anything
to you about thinking of killing herself
no I did not she never never gave me the
indication of suicidal never he said
that despite her growing frustration
with her health problems Lynn would
still visit him and his girlfriend at
their home she'd bring treats and stuff
she would say she does stomach aches or
whatever and she would always leave but
the defense questioned whether Jim
really knew much about about Lynn's
Health struggles in the last year of
Lynn's life she'd been in and out of the
hospital discharged the final time just
5 days before her death did you offer to
go over there and take care of our cat
when she was in the hospital no I did
not you didn't go visit her no I did
not prosecutors also called Ken posa we
were best friends for about 35 plus
years and Ken's son Anthony who says he
always had a special bond with with Lynn
since childhood what did you call Lynn
uh Auntie Lenny Anthony says he stayed
close to Lynn regularly dropping by her
condo while he attended College nearby
I'd love doing stuff with her you know
thrift store shopping and that was a
date we would go on as go thrift store
shopping do you recall when the last
conversation you had with Lynn was the
last time I saw Lynn was a month before
she passed away Anthony testified that
despite her medical troubles Lynn
appeared to be improving in fact she
said she was starting to feel better and
she's like I'm fin you I'm glad I'm
getting out again and you know we need
to do this more often prosecutors asked
wakashaw County Sheriff's Detective
Chris Cole about his investigation into
Lynn's death did you speak with Miss
keski in regard to this death
investigation yes she contacted our
office looking for an
update prosecutors introduced video of
that meeting with Detective Cole he
testified that 5 months after Lynn died
before the medical examiner had ruled on
the cause of death Jesse came to the
Sheriff's Department with her mother
Jennifer flower asking questions you
know when I talked to the medical
examiner last um well I talked him
numerous times and they said I had a
contact two guys they kind of like
weren't sure we didn't know if it was a
suicide or if it was something medical
so at this point I mean they're waiting
for their their secondary the come
confirming test during that interview
detective Cole found out more about
Jesse's relationship with Lynn so she
was like an aunt a second mom to me she
didn't have kids she your whole life and
that's kind and that's why you helping
her out Jesse said she was just about
the only person still in Lynn's life
before she died she pretty much blew
everybody off hospital at the end so you
know I don't want to see any
according to Jesse and her mother Lynn
was so withdrawn she did not want to
talk to her friend Jim when he called
and she said do not tell him I don't
want him here I don't want to see him
she didn't like the way she looks she
want people around but that's not how
Jim remembers what happened when he and
his girlfriend called Lynn's number well
this girl answered the phone and she was
kind of mouthing off to us don't use his
phone don't call his number ever again
don't worry about Lynn and you're
thinking what I'm going to find out from
Lynn what's going
on a few days later Jim says Lynn called
him from the hospital and they agreed to
make plans to get together when she went
home and that's the last time that I
heard Lyn's
voice as they tried to make sense of her
death Lynn's friends say they recalled
Lynn talking about something else that
was TR troubling her something that had
nothing to do with her health you know
she would talk about her money it's
disappearing she just said I don't know
what's happening to my
money how do you think Lyn hearnen died
chat now with the 48 Hours team on
Facebook and
X did Miss keski tell you who would be
in charge of handling Lind estate yeah
she said she was appointed power of
attorney okay as the prosecution turned
to the charges that Jesse stole money
from Lynn they asked Anthony posa about
his Communications with Jesse and the
months after Lynn's death I would just
check up with Jesse every once in a
while via text and ask her if she needed
any help Lynn left a will she had drawn
up in 2016 which named Jesse as personal
representative Wisconsin's equivalent of
an executive Jesse and Anthony were co-
beneficiaries when Jesse sent Anthony
some paperwork of account she was
settling I just remember getting a final
account with just a bunch of credit card
bills he was surprised at the amount of
money Lynn appeared to owe and it was
just weird how she had all these deaths
that just didn't make any sense to me
Lynn's friends remembered her as living
paycheck to paycheck
until
2014 when she inherited
$250,000 after her mother died now after
Lynn's death Jesse reported to Anthony
that most of Lynn's assets had been
eaten Away by debt I just felt like
something was up and I wanted it looked
at more closely the jury next heard from
someone who was looking more closely you
went through all these Financial
accounts sort of line by line is that
correct yes
Detective Nathan plenis testified about
the investigation into Lynn's finances
prosecutors alleged Jesse stole more
than
$200,000 from Lynn before and after she
died and in the course of their
investigation detectives discovered a
bombshell Jesse keski had a criminal
record back in 2011 Jesse was convicted
on charges of identity theft and for
forgery and sentenced to 8 years Jesse
had been released from prison early in
2016 on extended supervision which
coincided with the time Lynn's Health
began to decline can you just scroll
down to page uh three plenis told jurors
what he learned about Lyn hearn's bank
accounts he testified that Lynn's money
market account which had around
$250,000 in 2016 was down to only
$87 just after she died a fraction of
the total was spent by Lynn on a Jeep
and some
jewelry almost everything else including
a total of 20 checks
9,135 62 went to Jesse keski two checks
March 13th
$733
9,416 Jesse was accused of stealing from
Lynn because she was getting 20 checks
out of Lyn hernan's account with
carrying things in the memo notes like
IRS payment car payment Stephanie
Rodriguez covered the trial for the CBS
affiliate in Milwaukee but none of the
money was going to the places where Lynn
supposedly intended for them to go
plenis described to the jury how he
matched each of those checks to deposits
in Jesse's accounts and then tracked
where Jesse spent that money there was a
big spike in spending while Lynn was in
the hospital two weeks before she died
during her last hospital State money was
being transferred from Lynn's account
into Jesse's account and then Jesse was
withdrawing that money from ATMs at a
local
casino plen is also testified that on
the day that Lynn died a JC Penney
credit card was opened in Lynn's name
just Days Later a $3,000 purchase of
furniture made on another credit card in
Lynn's name was delivered to the home
Jesse shared with Scott Craig Mr Craig
how is it you know Miss keski we were
boyfriend and girlfriend for 3 and A2
years what was it that happened in the
summer of 2019 that caused that end to
the relationship um when walk sha
Sheriff's apartment came to my house and
took her away Jesse was arrested for
potentially violating the terms of her
supervised release on those identity
theft and fraud charges this is the
initial interview that was conducted
with Miss keski uh once the warrants
were conducted on July 9th detective
Aaron Hoppy the lead investigator in the
case and Detective Chris Cole
interviewed Jesse hoppy watched portions
of that interview along with the jurors
typically would you go there the morning
or the night or I didn't have a set it
just depended how she was doing the day
before following up on their suspicions
that Jesse had been stealing from ly
Detective Chris Cole gave her a chance
to explain she claimed Lynn had been
paying her for helping at
home an official Arrangement that $20 an
hour no there was nothing no nothing
like that I mean there was no you know
one day oh here's the check one day
here's my card go get this one day I
mean it was no no
setal no I mean she told all she told my
mom all this month I'm going to pay rent
or I'm going to pay your car jurors
watched as detective Cole for the first
time shared Lynn's autopsy results with
Jesse there's an anomaly in her
toxicology there a Dr in her system
that's not supposed to be there what
would that be um it's called tetres what
is that a Comm know eye drops she uses
eye drops all the time what does she use
them for she use them for her eyes she
put in her eyes all the time a k her is
the eye drops are you
serious in the interview detective Cole
told Jesse that the medical examiner
thought someone gave the eye drops to
Lynn orally in an attempt to kill her do
you guys think I murdered her did you I
swear to God I
didn't one have the most to gain on this
I have no reason to murder her I didn't
give her anything I didn't give her this
eye drop or whatever it's
called but detectives say Jesse knew all
about tetrah hydraline she told her
boyfriend Scott in text messages someone
had put it in her drink when she was at
a bar about 3 months after Lynn's death
detective hoppy read the texts in court
Jesse to Scott Scott I don't feel good
Scott told detectives that Jesse said
she went to the hospital they said my
blood pressure is really bad I have
traces of tetrah hydroline in my blood
the doctor said that's the main
ingredient in ey drops he said that
people put it in people's drinks all the
time he said there's no taste to it and
people don't notice Jesse also tells
Scott in those text messages that people
can die from tetrah hydrosaline
poisoning detective happy I think you
testified you spoke again with Miss
keski that's right on day nine of the
trial the jury watched video of another
interview between Jesse and detectives
this one took place the day after she
was arrested on that parole hold she had
asked to speak to detectives again I was
up all night long trying to think of
everything I I was thinking of the vines
after spending her first night in jail
Jesse's clothing had changed and so had
her story right after her arrest Jesse
had told detectives that Lynn used eye
drops for dry eyes now Jesse told
detective hoppy that Lynn had another
use for it she was drinking vodka and
Visine during the second day of
interviews with detectives the jury
heard Jesse tell them that Lynn did
drink Visine how do you know she mixed
Visine with with her V because that's
what she
did she's done it about three times why
didn't you tell us that yesterday
because I didn't want tell you guys
because you guys are making it sound
like it Happ the day up and that's not
when she was doing that but Jesse says
she never gave Lyn hernon any Visine
put so she put Visine in her V then
Jesse went further Jesse goes into
detail about how Lynn wanted to die by
Suicide that Lynn was using the ey drops
to help her die by Suicide she was
looking for her way out Jesse vehemently
denied helping
bought it I never mixed it I swear to
God I bought it for her and I knew she
was mixing it she put it in her water
once in a while and in her while the
following day Jesse asked to speak with
the detectives yet again the third time
in 3 days the jury watched as Jesse had
a new revelation for the investigators
Jesse tells detectives that Lynn would
get a buzz off of drinking Visine said
she lost like feeling every her body and
be feel good and honestly she was doing
it for so long that I didn't think she
was going to die from it it really
didn't I thought okay she's getting some
sleep from it that's it she was doing
for two months at least what the Visine
and Jesse now said that Lynn actually
did drink Visine the day she died Jesse
claimed that when she visited Lynn that
morning Jesse knew that Lynn had poured
six bottles of Visine into her own water
bottle that bottle of water right there
had in in six six I didn't put it in
there I gave her the bottle of water
which is the one you know has six
bottles of ice in it cuz she told
you and you give it to her well we
argued about it Jesse said she spent 10
minutes trying to stop L she said no I
want that Bott of water it'll put me to
sleep and then you gave in yeah it's her
choice and what she want and then you
left Y hours later detectives alleged
Jesse opened that JC Penny card in
Lynn's name and went grocery shopping I
didn't do it to her though I didn't
Jesse it would be 23 months later that
Jesse keski was charged with Lynn's
death does the state have any other
witnesses to call no the state
rest when it was the defense's turn
Jesse's attorneys focused almost solely
on their claim that Lynn died by Suicide
by drinking Visine we would call giri
verden verden a friend of Jesse's mother
call her Jenny or Jennifer Car Jenny
said he'd been in Lynn's condo twice the
second time about a year before her
death yet his memory of the visit was
clear I saw him always sitting in this
uh chair with a table next door her she
had um white slurpie cup uh straw coming
out of it she had a bottle of vodka next
to it she had a ashtray her cigarettes
and a bottle of Visine you sure it's
Vine yes verden testified that on
another occasion he heard Lynn on
speaker phone when he visited Jesse's
mother Jennifer well ly just started
rambling off and she was either sleepy
or tired or whatever but and she was uh
rattling off about
the will then she started talking about
how she wanted to kill
herself defense calls on Sarah CH Sarah
Trump is a nurse practitioner who began
treating Lynn for back pain in
2017 despite prescribing several pain
medications for her Trump said Lynn did
not improve in 2018 January she
continues to complain about her back
pain yes the pain being worsening
correct yes forensic pathologist Dr
Lindsay Thomas was hired by the defense
I would say her past medical history was
very significant she had a very long
list of medical conditions and uh also
had quite a few psychiatric disorders
depression anxiety agoraphobia which is
fear of public places chronic
insomnia those were the the ones that
were listed in her medical records Dr
Thomas testified she agreed with the
state's conclusion that Lynn's medical
problems contributed to her death she
did not agree with the state's finding
that Lynn died from tetrah hydraline
poisoning the forensic pathologist that
the defense brought up said that Lynn's
cause of death was undetermined but she
believed it was mixed drug toxicity and
so that means she thought that it was a
combination of all of the drugs found in
Lin
system would you say that there is
strong evidence here that ly hernan's
death was a suicide uh I would say
there's strong evidence that certainly
could have been a suicide
yes as the defense concluded Judge
Jennifer Doro asked Jesse if she'd be
taking the stand what is that decision
it was very hard for me to decide but
ultimately I will not be
testified Madam reporter you're her
closing argument Miss K's intent is
clear it was to kill Deputy district
attorney Abby Nikolai said Jesse had
just one motive money and the motive is
our own personal benefit this is someone
who has profited over
$144,000 before death and over 80,000
after in her closing the state has not
proven a first-degree intentional
homicide defense attorney donna kler
maintained that Lynn took her own life
Jesse knew that Lynn would take fine and
drink it but she doesn't know how she
died that day looked like a suicide with
pills from a person who was unhappy as
for the allegations that Jesse stole
from Lynn Lynn gave Jesse money all the
time because she wanted to the defense
contended that Lynn gave Jesse the money
because Lynn knew she was going to end
her own life she wanted Jesse to have it
she knows she's going out and Lynn made
a decision she made a decision that she
was going to
exit and she did that on October 3rd
once Jesse had left the home attorney
Nikolai when you're ready in its
rebuttal the prosecution pushed back to
believe that this was a
suicide you would have to believe that
by the most Cosmic intervention in the
entire world World it happened at the
exact point in time when Miss keski
maximized the amount of
money that she made on this whole
ordeal the jury deliberated for 7 hours
the first day but did not reach a
verdict verdict watch for this case was
tense when the jury began to deliberate
into a second day there was some Wonder
that's when I got worried I was
wondering what you know I'm like you
know what's the the hold
up go behind the scenes with the 48
Hours postmortem
podcast Madam forers has the jury
reached their verdicts yes your honor on
November 14th of
2023 after 10 and 1 half hours of
deliberation Jesse cret steadied herself
as Judge Jennifer Doro read the jury's
verdicts we the jury find the defendant
Jesse R
KFI guilty of first-degree intentional
homicide the case from anyone Jessie
broke down as the judge continued Jesse
was crying
uncontrollably keski was also convicted
on the two counts of felony theft for
stealing money from Lynn before and
after she
died I was just overcome with emotion it
also makes you reflect on The Last 5
Years and with the lies and the deceit
but before sentencing the case took a
bizarre turn when an envelope containing
37 pages of these handwritten letters
and documents was received by a friend
of Jesse's who then turned it over to
the Sheriff's Department the letter
requests a friend of Jesse to fake
evidence create a voice record rep in
pretending to be Lyn hearnen to send all
of this to the judge in this case to
local media even to the governor to try
to prove Jesse's innocence prosecutors
said the documents were written by keski
on the back of her trial notes giving
directions to her friend on how to
impersonate Lynn and fabricate materials
and submit them to the court keski
allegedly asked her friend to quote make
a voice tape pretending to be Lyn
writing she has an older raspy female
voice keski allegedly directed her
friend to say quote I cannot go on
anymore I chose to drink Visine and end
My Life Jesse denied writing the
documents and the sheriff's department
began an investigation into their
origin and the results of that
investigation were revealed on April 5th
2024 when keski was Back back in judge
D's court for sentencing all right
prosecutors played video recorded in K's
bunk room at the wakashaw county jail a
few days before those documents were
turned over to authorities so what I'm
playing is jail video from Miss KES pod
they said it showed keski putting papers
into an envelope leaving it on the bed
of another inmate who later takes it to
a mail drop off
the prosecution said this proved keski
wrote those documents miss keski this is
your opportunity to address the court
what if anything would you like to say
keski again denied she was the author of
those documents she spent almost two
hours without a break proclaiming her
innocence insisting the only thing she
was guilty of was being a loyal friend
let's be very clear here there wasn't no
murder I did not commit murder I did not
poison Lynn give her pills or anything
else it is a lot to be accused and
convicted of murder when I didn't do it
you're holding me responsible for what
she did Judge Doro said she believed
Lynn's death was premeditated Tetra
hydraline was not something we expected
to find and I do believe it was
something you miss KFI banked on no one
testing for I have to ask out
loud it's in a rhetorical question but
were you poisoning Lyn hearnen all along
following your release from
prison no I'm not asking for an answer
this is my time so do not interrupt me
keski was sentenced to life in prison on
the intentional homicide charge and 10
years for the two theft
charges the soonest she could be paroled
would be after 40 years when she would
be nearly 80 years
old Jesse poisoned Lynn like she was
eroded Lyn hearn's friend Jim kellerer
had a few final words for Lynn's killer
the devil awaits you I hope you rotten
hell Lyn Hearn is an angel in heaven may
you rest in peace Lynn you're dearly
missed and always will be I'm so very
sorry God
bless a beautiful heart a gentle gentle
spirit a woman found dying from a
gunshot wound crime scene evidence that
doesn't add up there's definitely
Mysteries involved in this case then
prosecutors take a creative approach a
psychological autopsy 48 hours Saturday
on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
hello everyone and welcome back to
another episode of postmortem I'm your
host an marie green and today we are
talking about the homicide of Lyn
hearnen who was poisoned with a really
unusual substance one that the medical
examiner said she had never seen pop up
in a toxicology report before so joining
me today are a CBS News correspondent
Jerica Duncan and 48 Hours producers
Susan Mali and Lauren Clark who reported
and produced this episode welcome
everyone so good to be here thanks for
having us hi am Mar um so listen if you
haven't listened to the hour yet or you
need a refresher why don't you head on
over to the podcast feed to check out
the showcast and then come back here
because we're going to take a deep dive
one of the most interesting parts of
this case was how prosecutors say Lynn
was killed they believe that Jesse keski
poisoned Lynn hearnen with ey drops dka
I had never heard of this before have
you heard of this before so
interestingly enough I do remember
seeing a piece um that Peter VanZant did
on a gentleman named Steve Clayton and
essentially he was poisoned by tetrah
hydrosaline which is a substance that's
found in ey drops commonly and it's very
bizarre I think I have heard it in the
context of people worried about it being
used it as like a date rpe drug you know
this idea when you go to a bar you don't
leave your glass or or anything
unattended and come back to it but I
hadn't heard it in this way um and
because it's a slow progression in terms
of some of the symptoms or how one would
feel you may not even know what's
happening and that's also what's so
weird and scary about how all of this
unfolded typically this is something
that you would never even think would be
ingested obviously in the directions it
would say for for topical use only in
your eyes and there are poison warnings
on most over-the-counter eye drops which
is C
what was used here and to D's point it
it generally depresses the central
nervous system it can it can make one
less aware and kind of out of it but
when used in large quantities it can be
lethal now kfy claims that Lynn wanted
to kill herself because of her
deteriorating Health Susan and Lauren
when you first started reporting this
case how believable did you find kev's
story that Lynn intentionally poisoned
herself by drink
Visine suicide is a is a difficult topic
for any of us to to discuss but the fact
of the matter is we have to come in with
an open mind and we have to look at both
sides the prosecution and the defense uh
I cannot come in and think oh well if
she was accused of something she must
have done it plenty of people do think
that but it is our job to not do that
when I first came on to the story The
Trial was still in progress the trial
had kicked off in October of 23 uh the
first thing I said well how sick was she
and then you kind of go into the medical
history and then you try to develop a
character study of was she depressed
could she have been at the point where
she wanted to die by Suicide that is
what the First Responders thought which
is an important fact here when they
arrived at the death scene that was
their first impression and so I have to
give weight to that as well because that
scene definitely played out as something
that maybe someone was depressed or OD
or you know took too many pills the pill
bottles were there there were they were
crushed up powder so you you look at it
initially you know that this woman
didn't have a lot of people in her life
she was the only child her parents had
died um again their job at that moment
is just kind of looking at what the
evidence that is there to try to discern
what may have happened but it's in the
toxicology that really is allowing us to
take more of a microscopic look and then
when you look at those levels and you
realize they're not normal it definitely
raises more questions then you look at
Financial records and there's more
questions yeah and so another question
that I had was Jesse kesy did she start
helping Lynn out because she cared for
her or was this a hustle from the very
beginning I think that's a great
question and it was one of the questions
that I had was this always a grift and
unfortunately there is no way for us to
know the answer for sure we know that uh
kfi's mother was very good friends with
Lynn from back in the 80s uh Jesse grew
up from the time she was a little girl
knowing her as Aunt Linny and they had a
tight friendship uh as you also know
from watching the show uh keski had a
record for identity theft and forgery
she was got out of prison in
2016 which coincided with the time that
ly's Health already having problems
began to sharply decline Jesse kvy was
never charged with poisoning Lyn at any
point before October 3rd 2018 she was
charged with homicide for that day for
Linn hernan's death so as we discuss
about potentially her health issues and
her steady decline we do so because at
the sentencing the judge gave a gave a
very lengthy statement in which she the
Judge Jennifer Doro said I cannot help
but wonder if you had been poisoning her
all along and this was the judge saying
that on the record after having listened
to all the testimony of several weeks of
trial so do we know whether or not she
had been ingesting this stuff all along
we really don't know I mean it's you
know Lynn had had other health issues uh
especially in the last few years of the
of her life she had a lot of back pain
she had a lot of gastrointestinal issues
and it was something she would go to to
the hospital for they would run some
tests she didn't always want certain
tests to be run um so they could never
really fully figure out what the source
of those gastrointestinal issues were
tetrah hydraline is not something that's
usually tested for in a hospital setting
you know when you get your regular blood
panel that's usually not on there
because most people don't ingest it uh
so we really don't know how long she had
possibly been ingesting it for there was
absolutely no way to go back in time and
and in any way try to to find out if
that is the case but it is something the
judge said on the record so that's why
we're discussing it what was
particularly heartbreaking about this
case and about ky's behavior and that
she targeted Lynn is that she seemed so
close to her um Lynn trusted her she
treated her like a daughter um and even
though you know daica you said she
didn't have a lot of people around her
it seemed like the people that she did
have around her really really cared for
her and so why kill
her we don't really know to this day I
mean I feel like only Jesse keski really
truly understands the depths of whatever
she was thinking and you know even right
now she will tell you she didn't do it
she still believes that the prosecutors
got it wrong police got it wrong um but
never really offered up
explanation about why certain things
that were found didn't add up you know
the friends of Lynn were her family and
I think because she was so isolated from
the world if you will this wasn't
someone that was a member of this group
and that group and worked here and you
know she kind of kept a very close tight
Circle which does in some ways as you
point it out make you a Target When
You're vulnerable um and you know you
live alone and you you want people need
people right so this 48 Hours was put
together a little differently because it
started with the with the trial and
normally it doesn't
why did you all choose to tell the story
in this way uh so for lack of a better
word this was a good trial and anybody
who follows true crime or follows
hopefully 48 Hours loyally not all
trials are as exciting as you would hope
they would be sometimes they really are
like watching paint try so we wanted to
give the viewer the opportunity to be
the 13th juror to sit there and listen
to the the testimony and view the
evidence in the order that the jury did
we're going to start at the beginning
and we're going to take you through this
now obviously we have time constraints
this trial lasted for weeks uh so we
have to condense it and make some tough
choices about what to include and what
to leave out but to the credit of my
wonderful staff and our my my my
correspondent to my right we picked the
best of the best and we we tried to give
a fair shake to both sides and it was
because the trial was just so
fascinating first of all you had a true
uh quandry as as to whether this was
homicide or suicide going in secondly
you had people on both sides of the
aisle with valid things to say about ly
hernan's health and mental status and
thirdly you had kvki herself who did not
testify at her own trial but you had
these hours and hours of interrogations
where the jury got to hear her talk and
basically represent herself and her side
of the story to the jury without
intending it to do it you know one of
the red flags always is if you're a for
48 hours fan red flag is when a suspect
goes through multiple interrogations and
they change their story and that is
definitely something that we saw with
kvki she talked to detective several
times she seemed very open to talking
but then she started changing her story
what did the defense say about that how
do they explain that they honestly never
really addressed that directly in the
trial I love that you brought that up
because there was a preponderance of
recordings of those interrogations which
which happened over several days of
keski and there's two things to point
out one is that she never asked for an
attorney and two she kept asking to go
back and speak to the detectives again
and again day after day and I will tell
you having worked at the show for over
two decades you never see that usually
when someone's brought in they sit there
with hunch shoulders you can barely
understand what they're saying they
respond in one-word answers and usually
they ask for an attorney and that's the
end of it this was so striking to me
because kfy came in and she was
downright buoyant she was pey and joking
with the guys and and and very seemingly
forthcoming and really just was was her
attitude was one I guess we were
supposed to assume of innocence and then
is the days when on as you said her
story began to change and she would
augment what she was saying clearly by
what she thought they wanted to hear and
she would give out a little more
information and a little more
information but it was always
disinformation it was always a redirect
and you can just see her thinking on her
feet like what what am I going to say
next and how okay I've said this thing
but now I have to alter it a little bit
to get over here and it is it's just an
incredible study in in how her mind
worked
welcome back so we see a lot of footage
from these police interrogations during
the hour but what we didn't see was some
of the other evidence of KK's Financial
crimes presented at trial like a
recorded phone call that she made to a a
banking institution basically
impersonating Lynn let's listen to some
of the audio of that call that was not
included in the episode my name is how
can I help you
today yes I'm calling I usually use my
mobile online app um and I'm trying to
go under the regular online app and I am
not sure what I had originally set my
three security questions up under um I
know one of them for sure I can't
remember the other two and I'm trying to
log on I'm having an issue with this oh
I'm sorry to hear about this let me just
check what I can best do do here for you
and don't you worry we'll definitely fix
this problem before we end this call so
could you could you please verify your
complete name exactly as it appears on
your preferred Master
Card I'm
sorry Lynn a hearnen thank you Miss
hearnen do you have your card
handy I do Lauren I want to hear the
rest of that phone call I want to find
out if she was successful at all um I
mean do you know did did her voice sound
particularly different than how she
normally talks it does sound like she's
talking a little slower um what's
interesting is uh you know this call was
made while Lynn was still alive there
were a couple calls from that day where
allegedly Jesse is calling this
financial institution saying you know I
can't remember my past word I'm having
trouble with the online account or I
usually use this way and this way it's
just not working um and it go it goes on
there like I said several recordings on
two separate occasions while she was
trying to gain access to these
accounts and the other thing we knew
from talking to her friends is that Lynn
just was not someone that would go
online you know to use the app she
didn't have a smartphone she was old
school so this idea that she's asking
questions about something that would
force her to use a smartphone or be on a
computer didn't quite make sense
according to her friends this was
someone that would physically go to the
financial institution to handle business
well what I kept on wondering is keski
has access to these bank accounts she's
got a regular stream of money coming in
why would you end this gravy train it
seemed like she was doing fine with Lyn
alive I think what what prosecutors
alleged was that the the gravy train was
running out Lynn's money was kind of
used up her credit was damaged there
wasn't much more to take from Lynn in
life but ly did have some assets she
owned her condo and our wonderful
broadcast associate Mariah Johnson found
a Facebook post where Jesse had posted
in just weeks after Lynn's death trying
to clear out her condo for sale and you
know it's down to the pots and pans
writing make me an offer Lynn's friends
alleged that she was trying to just sell
anything that she could make money on
well according to a court filing keski
tried to pawn some of her more valuable
items it was a gold um bracelet again it
speaks to this level of greed maybe is
the right word um to get what she could
early on and again we don't know how
we'll deal with different things and
situations until we're actually in them
but it's hard to really wrap your head
around especially when you wouldn't do
something like that right um so I want
to bring up some of these other things
that didn't make it into the hour
because they're fascinating what's this
business about exonerating evidence so
so yeah we couldn't really have time to
get into this fully in the hour because
it takes a lot of explanation but
basically you know while Jesse was in
custody during the investigation she
claimed that there existed exonerating
evidence out there that that proved that
Lynn had um wanted to take her own life
for a while and had left notes and that
she had even left a voice recording and
she told every the investigators that
these were buried in a public park and
if they would just let her go that she
could take them there and she would show
them where it was all buried now the
Sheriff's Office did not let her go to
go to the park what they did is they set
up basically a video call where they had
deputies out in this park searching
around with Jesse in the uh interview
room kind of guiding them you know
they're out there with shovels they're
going through like brush and she's you
know just kind of like ah this looks
different I don't know no that Bush was
that bush really there that looks so
overgrown and it goes on for a while and
I'm sure you're going to be shocked to
hear they did not find anything wow um
so on November 14th 2023 the jury found
kvy guilty of first-degree intentional
homicide and two counts of felony theft
but then before she sentenced there's
this huge twist cuz it's 48 Hours of
course there's a Twist a friend of kesy
turns in an envelope containing 37
handwritten letter and documents and
they direct the friend to create various
pieces of evidence including a voice
recording pretending to be Lynn it
almost felt to me like if you wanted to
fake a suicide but you forgot the
suicide note and you were trying to
backtrack but what did you guys think
when we found out we we were all ready
to cover the sentencing hearing we had
travel boat for someone to be there we
had Cruise ready we were going to do
interview after because people could
finally talk to us and then a week
before that sentencing date was on the
calendar we started to see these unusual
filings put in the court record um and
the 48 Hours team was kind of like
what's what are these and then we got
through these documents and we were all
individually reading them at the same
time and texting and messaging each
other being like what what is this it
was surprising to see pop up and we kind
of had to unravel what they meant but I
just can't overstate how bizarre it was
to see the these pop up after conviction
had already gone through and then on top
of it in the letter she basically throws
her lawyers under the bus right a
prosecutors alleged that keski said that
it was one of her own attorneys that
they gave her the idea it was their idea
to write those uh those directions to
her friend now her attorney then has to
file a motion to be removed from the
case as citing ethical concerns and
prosecutors don't believe that her
attorneys actually had anything to do
with this but obviously it complicates
things this leads to a delay in the
sentencing and now she needs to find new
attorneys but finally the sentencing
takes place and the judge uh sentences
kvki to life in prison what was the
reaction like in the
courtroom I think people became fatigued
because the first thing that we need to
talk about in the sentencing is that it
went on for six and a half hours and I
had mentioned earlier I've I've been at
48 for a long time 24 years to be exact
I've sat in and watched online a lot of
sentencings this sentencing began on
April 5th 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time
so 10 a.m. here in New York where I was
watching it online and I thought I'm
going to be done by lunch I was not done
by lunch there were a few brief Victim
Impact statements from some of the folks
that you've met on our own show there
were a few statements on behalf of keski
and then the judge gave the floor to
kreski herself and what I could not have
known is that she had in front of her on
the defense table a pile of
papers which she had written out long
hand and she spoke for 2 hours straight
without a break took a sip of water
every now and then of course she claimed
innocence of course she claimed that
that Lynn had died by Suicide she went
into great detail about her friendship
with with Lynn she gave vignettes from
her
childhood it went on for so long that
the judge then had a break for a
90-minute lunch break because everybody
just needed to kind of compose
themselves and get it together and of
course the judge was then going to come
back and pronounce sentence but before
she did she gave a statement and we've
talked about this earlier that she
wondered if in fact Miss kvky had been
poisoning Lynn all along but the judge
gave great detail as to why she gave
such a lengthy sentence uh keski is
going to be nearly 80 years old by the
the time that she's even eligible for
parole and the judge she actually had a
target age that she iterated from the
bench that I want you to be in there
till your 80s she got 10 years for the
two Financial charges and she was
sentenced to life with the possibility
of parole after 30 for the for the um
homicide I'm sure she's going to try to
appeal and do whatever she can to to
make sure she gets out before she's 80
years old um but there are people that
we've all I feel like covered who will
say to The Bitter End I did didn't do it
I didn't do it and you you're wrong it
must have been infuriating for some of
Lynn's friends to listen to kvi on the
stand having having given up her
opportunity to testify during the trial
to then speak on behalf of their friend
their dead friend who they loved I mean
I did you get a chance to talk to any of
the friends about that
2hour sentencing
statement our uh field producer in the
field Charlotte Fuller was there at the
sing hearing and she talked to several
of lind's other friends afterwards there
was a brief press conference that they
also gave um they didn't really want to
react to Jesse kvy statement they they
want to focus on Lynn they want to focus
on who their friend Lyn hearnen was they
say they have gone through a lot of
drama over the last five years and
hearing a lot of different stories
that you know evolved over time and
they've had to keep up with a lot and
they are
done they they want to remember Lynn as
they knew her as they loved her they
want to find ways to honor her and they
don't want to focus on Jesse
kvki you know if I took away anything
personal from this story I was kind of
struck by the fact that Lynn is an only
child and both of her parents had passed
away because I'm an only child and both
my parents are alive but my father's
also an only child and I have an only
child and I've seen relatives become
very sick and their Circle becomes
smaller and smaller I thought to myself
you know if there's one thing to
remember that the people who love you
they want to surround you they want to
support you and when you make your
circle that small you can also make
yourself very
vulnerable to someone who could take
advantage very well said I mean we do
these stories obviously because there's
an element of of interest and wow and oh
my goodness but when you can see
yourself and some of these very people
that we do stories on I think it it
really hits home J Susan Lauren this has
been great talking to you in a great 48
Hours as usual thank you so much yes the
pleasure is all mine thanks for having
us yes thank you all right everyone join
us next Tuesday for another postmortem
and watch 48 Hours on Saturdays 109
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