[Music]
come on tell us
who it's got to be
loic speaking can
only my name is Jane
dtic I spent 20 years in prison for a
crime I did not
commit I thought truth and Justice was
at the front of
everything and it certainly has not been
in my
case I wish I just knew what really
happened I wish there was some way to
piece it together somebody to come
forward with the truth
on February 13 2000 Jane and Bob dork
are living together in North San
Diego he said he was going out for a jog
that was it that was the last I talked
to him she reports her husband missing
there was a search for him as a missing
person the next day he was found in a
location 2 or 3 miles away from their
home and I stop about right here I could
see the body and and I said this is Mr
dorti he was found to have blunt force
trauma to his head he was found to have
injuries consistent with
strangulation it was obvious to me that
it was a homicide they found Bob's blood
in his bedroom the detectives decided
because they saw some blood that they
were in the crime scene and that Jane
was the only one with access to that
bedroom and to Bob there was only one
person that could have done this to Mr
dorak and that was his wife Jane dorak
he said you're under arrest I was like
what I would never hurt my husband
police say circumstantial and blood
evidence links Jane dtic to her
husband's murder the bedroom was not a
crime scene I don't doubt that this
occurred at the home and I don't doubt
that she's involved there was blood on
the comforter there was blood on the
pillow sham there was blood on the
headboard when you have a home that's a
working Ranch you're going to find blood
around it's just problem on top of
problem on top of problem I would
declare this crime scene very
contaminated they focused on one person
and turn a blind eye to anything else
Jane dtic chose murder over divorce it
felt like a nightmare and I kept saying
when am I going to wake up do you
believe that Jane dork got a fair trial
no I don't I'm in no position to say who
did what I don't have a crystal ball to
tell you what happened to that man what
do you believe happened to Bob
I believe Bob somehow fell into some
kind of situation I don't
know I lost my husband and then I lost
my freedom
Jane how would you describe what the
last 22 years have been like for you
it's
been torturous in many ways I suppose
many moments when I thought how do I
keep
going I always used to say this is the
most peaceful place on the face of the
Earth nothing feels peaceful
anymore when we first met Jane dork in
2000 the stress of all of it on everyone
has been
incredible um the life she had once
found so Serene in the Foothills outside
of San Diego a life she had shared with
her husband Bob had taken an
unimaginable turn how can this be how
can this happen surely I'll wake up and
it's a dream Jane had become the prime
suspect in Bob's murder authorities
believe that she viciously attacked him
in their home I certainly didn't do this
I loved my husband
Jane 53 years old at the time and Bob 55
Shar more than half their lives together
I was 23 when we were married Bob was a
wonderful loving creative person and
welcome everyone here those that who
been here before and those who haven't
Bob spent most of his career as an
engineer Jane worked as a nurse and
later as an executive in the healthc
care industry the couple raised three
children
Alex Claire and Nick the family is has
always been incredibly
important to both of us also important
to Jane were their horses you while
Jane's passion was breeding and riding
I'm having a good old Bob was an avid
jogger and that says Jane is the last
image she has of her husband Bob was
sitting actually in this chair facing
the TV he had Jame was Under Suspicion
she allowed us into her home he said he
was going out for a jog and he was
actually had his jogging suit on was
tying his shoes that was the last I
talked to him it was around 100 p.m. on
February 13th 2000 when Jane says Bob
left to go for that run as hours passed
without any word from him Jane says she
grew concerned it was beginning to get
dark I decided to go out and look
this is the route Jane says she took to
search for Bob driving up and down the
hill where he sometimes ran by 7:45 p.m.
Jane's concern turned to fear I said
enough this is enough something is wrong
and that's when I made the call to the
Sheriff's
Department my first thought that night
was maybe this man had a heart attack
and fell down the embankment along Lake
Wolford Road as Deputy James Blackman
and others from the San Diego County
Sheriff's Department search for Bob
concerned friends and family gathered at
the door house the minute I saw my mom's
face I knew right away something
terrible had happened the DK's daughter
Claire 24 at the time had spent the
weekend visiting her aunt and returned
home to a distraught Jane she was
freaked
out she was scared she was nervous she
was crying it was a horrifying feeling
that got more and more horrifying when
he wasn't
found and then in the preon hours of
February 14th Deputy Blackman turned
into this driveway several miles from
the door Tock home and noticed a body
off the road to this point I could see
the shirt the pants and he was uh laying
on his back from Jane's description he
immediately knew it was Bob
dor I got there a little after 700 in
the morning San Diego County Sheriff's
detective Rick emson was called to the
scene there was no evidence of any type
of vehicle accident the evidence Epson
did find suggested something else I
could see that he had uh blood on his
face there was blood near the back of
his head and I could see that there was
a rope around his neck Bob D IC had been
bludgeoned and strangled the onetime
missing person case had turned into a
homicide
investigation is there anybody you could
think who would want to see your husband
dead nobody
nobody as law enforcement asked Jane
questions about Bob she let them into
her home come in search look for
anything detective emson noticed a piece
of rope hanging from the porch that
caught it his attention thinking he had
just seen something similar on Bob dtic
it appeared to be the exact same type of
rope that was found around his neck uh
the sliding glass door going into the
master bedroom and when investigators
got to Bob and Jane's bedroom they found
something more troubling they believe
they were looking at blood
spatter there was no question or M that
this uh assault occurred in the master
bedroom
they documented their findings in this
diagram taking photos along the way of
what they believed to be blood on
various items in the bedroom and of what
appeared to be a large blood stain on
the underside of the mattress I do know
when Bob had a nose bleed he made a
comment about getting some blood on the
mattress I Jane says there was a logical
explanation for some of the other blood
too they had dogs who were injured and
had blood this little dog had an abscess
on her cheek that was openly draining at
the time and little drops of blood we'd
find as she sat on the
couch the carpet pieces are what the
detectives removed feeling that there
was blood on the carpet the spots of
blood investigators said they found all
over the bedroom surprised Jane do you
have any other explanation of how that
blood spatter could have gotten there on
the ceiling on the window on the wall
no adding to Authority's suspicions was
this bloody syringe found in the
bathroom garbage Jane told us she used
it to medicate her horses I know that I
give the horses shots all the time if
you go look in my fridge right now
you'll find horse
syringes investigators theorize that
Jane hit her husband with an object in
the bedroom and strangled him she then
dressed him in his jogging suit put him
in their truck and dumped him along the
side of the road where his body was
found why do they believe you killed
your husband you
know I guess I've been through that one
a billion times I don't know but
investigators thought they knew
believing the motive was money and
escaping a troubled marriage Jame was
the main bread winner and they learned
the couple had split up for a year in
1997 I make any apologies for the fact
that we had rough times but that doesn't
change the fact that we loved each
other and that love says Jane is why
they reconciled they have been back
living together as a couple for a year
and a half before Bob was killed I
really think the
separation caused us to really regroup
and think about what was important they
were getting along better than they ever
had in the past I was living there I can
tell tell you that but law enforcement
was unmoved and 3 days after Bob DK's
body was found Jane was arrested and
charged with first-degree murder I know
I didn't do this I know there's a killer
out there but how am I going to clear
myself she's baffled cuz I don't think
she knows what happened released on bail
Jane started preparing her defense
hiring attorney Carrie stiger Walt she
know that she's placed as the Killer and
she's not the Killer and at trial Jane's
attorney would present a surprised
suspect who he felt was responsible for
Bob DK's
murder come
on I know that I'm innocent but I don't
have any more faith in the legal system
I believe I could be convicted for
something that I didn't do and that's
very
scary while Jane worried about her
outcome at trial Claire dork was much
more confident about her mother's
chances my mom could not have done this
crime she didn't have the motive and she
didn't have the
opportunity but when the case went to
trial in 2001 a year after the murder
prosecutor Bond hny Howard Regan
described the DK's marriage as seriously
troubled and told jurors that Jane
didn't want to pay Bob alimony in a
divorce Bob dork never went jogging and
he never left that residence
alive according to the state Bob had
actually been killed Saturday night
nearly a day before Jane reported a
missing the autopsy performed by Dr
Christopher swell showed undigested Ed
food consistent with what Jane said they
had for dinner that night are you able
to give us an estimate of how long after
Mr dork ate how long after that he he
was killed yes it was very shortly after
he ate I would say it probably within a
couple of hours and he wasn't killed on
the side of the road the prosecutor said
there wasn't enough blood there instead
she said by B's blood was all over the
bedroom lead detective Rick empson
testified he had asked Jane to explain
that she had indicated initially that
she had a dog that um had been bleeding
and then indicated that approximately a
week prior Bob had a bloody nose over in
the corner by the stove and that Bob had
cleaned it up there was evidence someone
cleaned the bedroom the carpet next to
the pop belly stove and tile floor was
wet and have blood stains
underneath did any of the blood from his
nose bleed go on the carpet
mhm do you know where mhm right next to
the tile cuz I'm the one that helped him
clean it authorities dismissed Jane's
explanations their theory was that Jane
hit bob in the head in their bedroom
with an object while he was lying in bed
although they never identified or found
any weapon Charles Meritt a criminalist
and bloodstain pattern analyst for the
San Diego County Sheriff's crime lab
recounted 20 locations where he saw
blood stains on one of the pillows on a
lamp this particular nightstand on the
pot belly stove was on the ceiling
itself been on the underside of the
mattress the jury was also shown this
evidence of tire tracks found near Bob's
body the states expert Anthony Di Maria
said he matched the three different
types of tires on door deex truck are
you saying the measurements taken at the
scene were equal to the measurements
taken off the actual vehicle yes the
most telling evidence connecting Jane to
the murder according to the prosecutor
was that syringe found in the bathroom
it had traces of a horse tranquilizer
inside and even though there was no
evidence that Bob had been injected with
anything it had Bob's blood and a bloody
fingerprint on it the evidence will show
that the fingerprint on this
syringe was Jane dtic can you explain
that I can't really explain it other
than um I know that I helped Bob clean
up a nose bleed and if that's the same
time when I took the syringes and threw
them in the trash and there was some
blood on my hand that could have made
that happen but perhaps the most
powerful Witnesses were the doric's two
sons Nick and Alex they both testified
against their
mother did you say anything specifically
about the syringe well I asked her um
how it got there and what it was doing
there and what was your mother's
response she said that uh her biggest
fear in all of this was that the that us
family members would start questioning
her your mother always settled things
logically tried to no you wouldn't agree
with that statement nope it would be my
mom basically saying this is what you
have to accept and then my dad would
either accept it
or there would be threats of divorce or
something that's what I remember from
growing
up Jane's attorneys Carrie stiger Walt
and Cole Casey admitted it was a big
blow would you say that's been the most
damaging testimony yeah it's not what
what they said is the fact that they
were there testifying for the
prosecution when it came time for the
defense to present its case stiger Wald
actually agreed with the prosecution on
a major point that the murder took place
in the bedroom but he had a jawdropping
alternative suspect Claire
dtic ladies and gentlemen Claire hated
her father he claimed Claire an avid
horsewoman hated her father because he
threatened to sell the animals she loved
and suggested that she was capable of
murder that's what Claire is a
hot-tempered
explosive individual it was a risky
strategy that Jane reluctantly agreed to
all I can do is trust what Carrie says
is the best way to go are you at all
concerned that the jury will wonder
about a woman who would allow herself to
be defend by pointing the finger at her
daughter could that work against the two
of you it may I don't know I think it is
the most viable defense and I think it's
supported by the best evidence stiger
Wald insisted Jame wasn't physically
able to commit the murder but Claire was
she runs marathons and she's a personal
trainer she is as fit a woman as you
will see at the age of 24
but remember Claire and her aunt said
they were together 2 hours away they
call the aunt that's the extent of the
investigation on The Alibi of CLA dork
did Miss CLA dork please step forward
that alibi is nonsense uh you are going
to assert your CRI Amendment rights
correct the jurors never heard from
Claire or Jane who chose not to
testify but they did hear from a woman
who said she thought she saw Bob the day
he disappeared sitting between two men
in a black pickup truck not far from
where his body was found who killed
Robert
dork was it Claire
dork or ladies and gentlemen was it
someone else in his closing argument
stiger Wald accused investigators of
dismissing Witnesses like that woman and
focusing only on Jane the prosecution
had focused on one person and that's not
the way to conduct an investigation it's
not the way to run a case Jane dork and
Bob dork were the only two people in
that home that weekend Bonnie Howard
Regan says there's no need to
investigate further when you have
sufficient evidence they searched that
bedroom and they saw all the blood and
they knew that was the crime scene what
more investigation do they need to
do it took the jury 4 days to return a
verdict we the jury in the above tile
cause find the defendant Jane Margaret
dork guilty of the crime of Murder in
the First Degree in violation of P code
section when did Jane dork get a fair
trial
no no because fairness means that you're
presenting things accurately and it it
appears like it was not done accurately
juror number eight yes juror number nine
yes juror number 10
yes go behind the scenes with the 48
Hours postmortem
podcast it almost didn't register for a
minute it's like no this can't be I was
so certain that I was walking out I
thought they would see the truth Jane d
never imagined she'd be found guilty
it's hard to keep going at the time of
her conviction for the murder of her
husband she was 54 years old and
sentenced to 25 years to life I mean I
just I can't see my way clear to a life
in prison I just can't see it determined
to prove the jury got it wrong Jane
became her own Advocate working on her
case for many years we spoke with Jane
again two decades later about her
efforts all through the prison my prison
journey I continued to write all
innocence projects I could think of
asking for help at the same time
realized that I had to fight for myself
Jane filed motions from prison citing
such issues as insufficient evidence and
ineffective assistance of councel I
would describe my defense as limited and
inadequate
in her filings Jane indicated that she
wanted to testify at her trial but had
left that decision up to her attorney
and that had she testified she could
have explained Bob's stomach contents
stating that he sometimes ate leftovers
from the previous night she also
described her attorney's alternate
suspect Theory pointing to her daughter
Claire as a killer as
absurd do you believe that your daughter
Claire had anything to do with the death
of absolutely unequivocally not and my
defense attorney everybody knew she was
away for that
weekend okay in regard to that defense
strategy Claire later wrote in a book
how could I be angry at my mother when
all I did was worry about her Jane's
lawyer whom we interviewed at the time
of her trial did not speak with us
again that was the worst strategy of my
life ever I said to my attorney if
anything happens to Claire I'm going to
stand up and say I did it in her filings
Jane also questioned why her defense
attorney accepted the bad forensics
pointing to the bedroom as the murder
scene rather than presenting other
scenarios as to where and how Bob dork
could have been
murdered did the defense too easily
accept the bedroom as a crime I'm seeing
that is a very
legitimate argument CBS News consultant
Matthew troano a former prosecutor and
current defense attorney was not
involved in the DOR case but he reviewed
some of the court documents at our
request the defense made a strategic
decision are we going to dispute that a
crime happened in this location or are
we essentially going to concede that it
happened there and then come up with a
different narrative of how it happened
there and they chose the ladder and that
decision troano says likely led the
defense to point the finger at Claire
for the
murder they had to blame somebody else
for something that happened in a
specific location and they at least as
it relates to the daughter you know went
back to her having some disagreement
with her father about something and it
was it was a risk have you ever seen
that kind of Defense you you don't you
don't say it I mean you could happen
when there are clear facts and evidence
to support it but when there are none
that's you know that's a
showstopper and in fact Claire was never
charged with any wrongdoing in
connection to her father's murder the
defense accepting the bedroom as the
murder scene is especially puzzling to
troyano as there were reports from
several eyewitnesses who said they saw a
man jogging that day
accounts consistent with Jane's
depiction of events not the
prosecutions that's critical critical
evidence and all of that was really not
pursued and I didn't know of all of the
witnesses had there been a thorough
investigation initially all of that
would have come
out through the years in filings Jane
raised problems with the entire case
against her arguing that authorities
focused on her her from the very
beginning of the investigation and
failed to follow other investigative
leads but motion after motion was denied
and regarding Jane's ineffective Council
Claims the judge rejected them all
ruling that her attorney's performance
was not deficient and that his actions
had not affected the outcome of the
case there were many moments where I
doubted when is this ever were going to
turn around many many moments still jane
didn't give up she continued looking for
new evidence to clear her especially as
DNA testing became more advanced in 2012
she filed a petition for DNA testing of
that rope found around Bob's neck and
other items like Bob's fingernail
clippings which had been saved but never
tested and in
2015 the motion was granted
is that unusual that she finally even
got testing based on her filing motions
on her own yes it's it's very atypical
it was at this time that Jan finally got
the attention of a wrongful conviction
group lyola law school's project for the
innocent I get this wonderful letter
from Lola saying you've contacted us and
we're interested in your case and after
that lyola took over
got the testing done and what that
testing revealed as well as a fresh
examination of other evidence would
change the course of the case that's
really what flips the script to say that
there's more here this is more than just
an inadequate
investigation there is a different
narrative that's running through these
test results there is physical evidence
that another person could be involved
when you talk about the evidence in this
case the subsequent testing reveals that
you might have a different explanation
for things that really shed light on
what may have happened here Jane dork
spent years behind bars asking for a new
examination of the evidence used to
convict her of her husband Bob's murder
now working with a team from lyola
project for the innocent the court
allowed them to have new DNA testing on
items such as the Rope found around Bob
DK's neck his fingernails and clothing
appeal filing state that foreign male
DNA was found on several items the
results of that none of my DNA
anywhere there is physical evidence from
fingernail clippings from a rope from
his clothing that is foreign to
Jane the team from lyola project for the
innocent declined to be interviewed we
asked Nathan lent a professor of biology
and forensic science at John J College
of Criminal Justice who was not involved
in the case to review court documents
about new evidence such as the DNA on
the robe while they didn't get a profile
that would be good enough to search a
database or even match to a suspect they
did get enough DNA uh that is not
attributable to Bob or to Jane but while
Jane and her team beli the results
pointed to her innocence the state came
to a different conclusion stating in
filines the DNA obtained was too low
level to make any reliable
interpretation L agrees the DNA levels
were low but he believes it was enough
to exclude Janes
and that the absence of Jane's DNA on
the Rope as well as under Bob's
fingernails or on his clothing is
significant with the theory of crime
that they presented you would expect a
lot of Jane's DNA on Bob and if if she
had moved his body you know there's a
lot of DNA transfer that might have
taken place there that wasn't found the
appell team also reviewed the bedroom
blood evidence the prosecutor told the
jury was fully tested and was bobbed
now the evidence will show that all this
blood has been described to you the
observations made in this bedroom that
it was all sent out through DNA analysis
and it all came back to Bob doric's
blood but according to the appeal not
every single spot in the bedroom
believed to be blood was tested instead
representative samples were
tested there were cases where just
simply one swab with a control was taken
and it was rep representative of a
variety of spots that's not good
practice it just invites
misinterpretations when you're talking
about blood spatter and you're trying to
analyze how it got there you need to do
a fairly comprehensive test to be able
to draw the conclusion that you're
drawing but I think the prosecution
could argue you can't afford to test can
you every single drop that looks like
blood right but when you say we did
everything and that's not accurate
that's where the problem
lies in fact the appell team says that
several blood-like stains on items
including a pillow sham the nightstand a
lampshade turned out not to be blood and
there were those stains on the bed
spread which criminalist Charles Merritt
pointed to at trial and described as
Bob's blood two of the actual stains um
circled by a little red dots Jane's
lawyers learned those particular spots
were never tested at all and due to
improper storage the beds sprad could
not be tested again so we don't know
that it was blood at all the handling of
the evidence over the course of the
entire investigation was also raised on
appeal this one is hard to even look at
um you have an investigator who
definitely should know better um you
know handling murder evidence with his
bare hands in addition to obviously
depositing his own DNA all around this
crime scene he's also risking
transferring evidence from among the
various spots that he's collecting and
there's that syringe with Bob's blood
and Jane's fingerprint found in the
bathroom garbage something the appell
team and lent thought could be explained
and if you throw that syringe in the
garbage can Bob throws a bloody Kleenex
in that garbage can they could transfer
transfer of DNA from one object to
another in a trash can is not unexpected
lent feels the fact that the syringe was
even found in the garbage points fingers
away from Jane if you're cleaning up
after a murder you won't leave the
bloody syringe in the waist back
basket but the state stood by its
original investigation maintaining the
bedroom was the murder scene stating
that the evidence still points to Jane
dork as the Killer and that the defense
arguments are largely derived from
speculation and misstatements of fact
Jane's appella team though maintains the
bedroom did not even look like a crime
scene something lent also believes there
is not a consistent pattern to the
evidence that indicates a violent
bludgeoning that took place in that
bedroom if Bob were alive today and
investigators had walked in his room no
one would say oh this looks like someone
was murdered here if you just look at
all of the pieces of evidence that lyola
was able to absolutely take apart and
yet we know what was told to the jury in
the original conviction so um how can
that happen as her attorneys reviewed
evidence Jane dork in 2020 was
temporarily and conditionally LED out of
prison due to covid health concerns the
question now became was the New Evidence
her lawyers were finding enough to make
her release
permanent what do you think about the
new DNA test results chat now with Erin
morti on
X in the summer of 2020 Jane dork and
her team hoped a court would overturn
the jury's verdict turning her temporary
release from prison into lasting
Freedom what were their major points the
testing that was done initially was
insufficient the way that that testing
was presented to the jury was inaccurate
there were a number of different
arguments that they made a hearing was
scheduled but then suddenly the state
requested an unplanned virtual hearing
the people are willing to concede
petitioner new evidence
claim the prosecution admitted what
Jane's lawyers had argued all along the
DNA evidence as it exists now in 2020 is
much different in quality and quantity
than presented at trial in 2001 that the
new DNA test results as well as issues
with how the sheriff's crime lab handled
evidence cast doubt on the verdict but
what came next was even more unexpected
the state requested that Jane's murder
conviction be
overturned and the judge agreed I'm
going to Grant the motion for the ri
thank do your honor I always believ that
at some point the truth would come out
the Jane's ordeal wasn't over 3 months
later in another shocking move the DA's
office decided to retry her I don't
think any of us thought that San Diego
County would attt to retry me but they
did the state believes that she did this
and they want to pursue it but in order
to retry the prosecution first had to
demonstrate to the judge that there was
still enough evidence to prove Jane kill
Bob despite the new DNA results and the
questions about the initial testing we
are back on the record all party then
you have this battle in court if you're
conceding that there were problems how
are you going to do it again essentially
with the same evidence it was astounding
to sit in that courtroom and see what
they try and put forward as actual
evidence and then also thrilling to see
my team take it apart the you only state
that the Jane's attorneys questioned The
credibility of several of the state's
experts including Charles Merritt of the
sheriff's crime lab the judge ultimately
ruled that the new trial could go ahead
but that some key evidence presented in
her original trial would not be
admissible including those tire tracks
near where Bob's body was found that
were linked to Jane's truck you have a
number of different trucks that could be
consistent with those tire tracks it's
in essence kind of junk sciency in May
2022 just as jury selection was about to
begin the prosecution surprise everyone
yet again remain seated and come to
order this courtroom is now in session
we go into court as the jury is
assembled and ready to come into the
courtroom Monday morning and
Everything's
changed we no longer feel that the
evidence is sufficient to show proof
Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and convince
12 members of the jury so we are
requesting the court dismiss the charges
at this time thank
you Store check you are free to go and
good luck to
you is overwhelming to realize that now
I can determine my own future something
I've prayed for and hoped for after the
hearing Jane's attorneys spoke about her
decades long fight Jane's dignity in
standing up and stoically fighting for
her innocence against every risk and
every threat that's why this case got
dismissed today and as far as we're
concerned we're moving on the District
Attorney's office and Sheriff's
Department declined to speak with 48
Hours the case against Jane dork was
dismissed without prejudice which means
if new evidence surfaces charges could
be brought again someday but then
doesn't that leave still a shadow over
Jane dork oh sure it does I mean there's
no question about it from a practical
persp perspective do I think it's over
yeah I think it's over but from a legal
perspective
no Jane dork is working to rebuild her
life after spending nearly two decades
in prison my entire family has been
blown apart by this hurricane of events
it's been heartbreaking on so many
levels Claire Doric did not respond to
our request for comment but Jane says
they are still close her son son Nick
died in
2023 Alex dork did not provide a comment
of 48 hours but according to filings by
the state he remains convinced his
mother killed his father do you have
hope that your family will come together
at some point of course I do of course I
have
hope Jane also has hoped that she could
make a difference in other people's
lives as she works with advocacy groups
that help incarcerated women to me it's
not just about my story and yes we can
all sit here and say this is so
horrendous and how did this happen to
this woman but unless we look
systemically how many others are we
going to find and to me that's
critically
important having a good old here many
unanswered questions about this case
remain including perhaps
the most important
one what happened here we don't know
what happened to Bob
dor where's Justice for Bob where's
Justice for Robert
dorek need more time with 48 Hours go
deep behind every True Crime episode
with firsthand accounts from 48 Hours
investigations were you at all prepared
for what happened in this case shock is
the word that comes to mind get inside
the twists and turns and get in on the
case listen to postmortem from 48 hours
now available wherever you get your
podcasts hello hello everyone I'm anarie
green welcome to postmortem this week we
are delving into the murder of Bob dwark
and the wrongful conviction of his wife
Jane she spent nearly two decades in
prison trying to prove her innocence
it's really an emotional roller coaster
watching this hour joining me to discuss
this incredible story our 48 Hours
correspondent Aon Mor arti and producer
Ruth chenet thanks for joining us glad
to be here I love this case because I
think it's a great cautionary t and
every defense attorney should be paying
attention to this case so true so listen
before we get into it Ruth I want you to
give our listeners a bit of a recap of
this case so Jane and Bob dork were
married they had three grown children
and they lived in at the time probably
considered a rural area outside of San
Diego and they had a ranch and horses
and Bob was a big Runner so Jane says
the last time she saw Bob was around 100
p.m. on February 13th 2000 and she says
Bob left the house to go for a run and
she grew concerned when hours passed and
he still hadn't returned so later that
evening at 7:45 p.m. she decides I'm
really worried and makes a call to the
Sheriff's Department to report that he
was missing and they start looking and
the next morning they found Bob's body
on the side of a road just a few miles
from his home and they realized pretty
quickly this wasn't a car accident this
wasn't that he died of natural causes
because he had blunt force trauma to his
head and a rope around his neck the
sheriff's department talked to Jane and
in looking around at the bedroom they
feel that they're seeing lots of blood
scattered throughout the bedroom and
spots around the bedroom so three days
after his body is found they arrest
Bob's wife Jane dorek and charge her
with first-degree murder when I was
watching the first part of this episode
I couldn't help but to think you know
there seems to be some convincing
evidence against Jane like what seemed
to be blood spatter found in the bedroom
Ain over two decades that youve been
reporting this case now did you ever
doubt Jean's innocence well pretty much
I always thought she was innocent
there's no question um I got on the
story because actually I was working
with a producer who had met her first
and said Aaron you got to do this this
when you meet her she acts the way we
would act if we had been accused of a
crime we didn't do um she answers every
question um and if she doesn't know it
she's honest and says I don't know this
doesn't make sense and this was a time
when with 48 hours we basically moved in
with people I mean we were there for
weeks and um she would let us in the
house she would always sit down and talk
with me there was one time she wasn't as
open with me during an interview and
that made me a little worried but I
don't think I ever really changed in
thinking there's just no way this woman
did this I think that's such an
interesting Tibet that you gave us
because as I was watching the hour I
thought to myself I bet you Jane likes
Eric I thought that you know I thought
she liked you as a person and that's
part of the reason she was being so open
I liked her too you know I really but
now remember just put yourself back
where I was here's this woman who says
her husband went for run and then we're
hearing from the police and and there's
an arrayment that says there's blood in
the bedroom which is an absolute
contradiction of then of her story
you're you're also thinking what to
believe also one of the things is If
This Were happening today an attorney
would have been sitting next to
Jane throughout the entire thing I think
people are more suspect today of the
media and more suspicious you know it's
up to the individual person whether they
want to let us in and how much time they
want to spend and who be there but it's
just different these days yeah um so
let's get back to the blood stains in
the dorex bedroom and in their home that
was a big reason why authorities zeroed
in on Jane we learned that investigators
identified 20 locations of different
blood stains even if their home was a
working Ranch that that seems like a lot
right well yes and but now with benefit
of hindsight I realize that I shouldn't
have accepted did that quite so quickly
we did hear that there was blood spatter
on the ceiling but but what had hit me
was I saw a picture of a blood stain on
a mattress and what also struck me and
worried me you know in my heart was the
fact that the mattress had been turned
over so that was that seemed
incriminating and Jane had an
explanation for some of the blood not
all of it she said in terms of the
mattress that Bob had had a nose bleed
and and you know if you think about it
are you going to want to lay on the side
that's bloody or might you turn it over
and they had a dog who
had two dogs yeah uh I think one had one
issue one one bled from the snout one
had a I want to say like a hangnail but
whatever you call that in a dog so she
had explanations for some of it but she
also said to Aaron I can't explain all
of it but then why wouldn't they have at
least say tested to see if there's dog
DNA there we have to go back remember
this is 2000 all right we can't look at
it through the lens of today where we
know that testing is is so much better
but again I didn't know as a reporter to
ask what kind of tests have you done and
and what they ended up doing and some of
it was it was Bob's blood but if they
saw like six little dots in one spot
they might have tested three of those
you you test represent
samples but then you can't say or
shouldn't say everything was tested and
it all came back to Bob uh let's talk
about another bit of evidence there was
a syringe in the bathroom trash with
traces of horse tranquilizer inside
which was normal yeah because it's a
ranch right but was there any horse
tranquilizer found in Bob's system no no
and so that was one of those pieces of
evidence that on the face of it looks
like it's relevant you know but it's
really not um let's listen to a clip
from the broadcast of Jane I can't
really explain it other than um I know
that I helped Bob clean up a nose bed
and if that's the same time when I took
the syringes and threw them in the trash
and there was some blood on my hand that
could have made that happen the
importance I guess of that the syringe
it looked bad because there was uh Blood
on the syringe uh Bob's blood and you
have a fingerprint on the syringe and it
was Jane's fingerprint so it really
wasn't relevant it just looked bad and
one thing where you think well that's
weird that there's this
bloody syringe in a garbage pal when we
spoke to another expert Nathan lent
actually said in his mind that pointed
fingers away from Jane because if you're
going to be cleaning up a crime scene we
we all know criminals can do stupid
things but would you leave a bloody
syringe in the trash right and then so
here's kind of the other aspect of what
the prosecution believed that Jane
attacked her husband in the bedroom and
then transported him in a truck to dump
his body I mean there's a reason why
there's a phrase sort of dead weight I
mean people are heavy people are much
heavier than they look um so I did think
geez that would be really hard I
remember and this was an issue for us
when the reason why I believed her you
know she was probably my size um you
know my height and she had a bad back
and the idea like you talk about dead
weight of not only getting her husband
out of the bedroom but getting him onto
that truck seemed inconceivable and the
prosecution didn't seem to be troubled
by that but was there any evidence of
blood found in the truck when they
tested initially they found a very small
stain um in the wheel well of the truck
that had Bob's DNA um but it's Bob's
truck it's a working Ranch it wasn't
that there were puddles and pools of
blood yeah so was that significant hard
to know authorities arrest Jane though I
mean three days three days after the
murder that seems really quick cuz we've
talked about some 48 Hours episodes
where you know the the suspect is
walking around for months until they
collect enough evidence 3 days well it's
too quick for really two reasons one big
one is they didn't even have all their
test results back so they're making
basically this assumption and and making
it public and you know saying this woman
is accused of killing her husband and
then for the other reason why it was too
early is you can't go back on it then
you know they haven't investigated the
reports of seeing a man out there
jogging but how do you back track after
you've already said we have evidence
strong evidence to indicate this woman
killed her husband when you don't even
have your test results yeah so then it's
a year later in 2001 a year after Bob's
murder and the case finally goes to
trial for me what made this trial you
know particularly shocking was of course
Jane's sons who testify against their
mother at trial this is her son Alex on
the stand being questioned by the
defense your mother always settled
things like logically tried to no you
wouldn't agree with that statement nope
it would be my mom basically saying this
is what you have to accept and then my
dad would either accept it
up okay so he's describing you know
which is something that's not the
happiest marriage but anyone who's
married knows that sometimes things EB
and flow but I mean this must have
broken Jane's heart
and it did it did the idea that not one
but both sons testified against their
mother at a murder trial is very very
damaging and and was very difficult for
her and and I think in terms of the
prosecution one of the things they're
trying to explain to the jury is you
know the motive and the motive was that
the marriage was on the rocks and they
didn't get along as great as people
thought so the sons provided in their
mind I'm sure like eyewitnesses to that
fact yeah the prosecution told the
jurors that this was a broken marriage
she was the primary bread winner and she
didn't want to pay alimony and that was
that was what the jury was told so you
have the sons testifying against her and
then on the other hand you have Jane's
daughter Claire she remained convinced
that her mother could not have committed
this murder Claire didn't testify a
trial but she gets pulled into the the
defense's argument in a really
surprising way Jane's attorney claims
that Claire is the one that killed her
father how did Claire feel about this
defense it's risky Amry I have to tell
you that decision on the part of the
defense attorneys to try to save a
mother by pointing to the daughter was
shocking to me then and is shocking to
me now and had to be devastating for
Jane realized there was absolutely no no
physical evidence to tie Claire to this
murder and there was that alibi that
Claire was at her aunt's house at the
time Bob was murdered but it was a an
attempt to raise Reasonable Doubt in the
mind of the the jurors like well maybe
it wasn't the mother maybe it was the
daughter it it was shocking Claire later
wrote in a book that she was so worried
about her mother that she felt she
didn't have a choice but to go along
with it that she was more worried then
angry and Jane subsequently told Aaron
that you think your defense lawyers know
the best strategy so she reluctantly
went along with it but Claire was never
charged with any wrongdoing in regard to
her father's murder Claire never talked
to us about this um as much as I would
have loved to have heard but in her book
that uh Ruth had mentioned she did
describe how it was just kind of you
know put in her plate she didn't have a
say in it no one went to her and said
how about you know we point the finger
it it was a done deal and she had to
accept it I I can't even imagine being
in the position of Jane trying to save
yourself by pointing at your daughter
number one or being the daughter knowing
that your mother's life is on the line
and you're going to be the other suspect
I I can't imagine this it's like Shak
experience I was just you read my mind I
was actually thinking it's some sort
it's like a drama in mythology it's just
it's all bad choices oh and it didn't
save her the worst part it didn't save
Jane so here's the thing yeah you're
right it doesn't save her um uh the jury
is not convinced on June 12th 2001 Jane
was found guilty of first-degree murder
and then she sentenced to 25 years to
life Erin were you able to speak to Jane
after the verdict it must have felt like
it like unreal to her uh and to me as
well I have to tell you um I I will
never forget that cuz I was not allowed
to bring my producer in with me or a
crew and uh I remember leaving the car
going into the jail because she was
still in a jail at that point and Jane
was Jane Jane was still talking the way
I'd always heard Jane and I was like I
think this woman is innocent and she's
GNA spend the rest of her life in prison
and it it was very disturbing all right
so when we come back Jan's
22-year fight for Justice from behind
bars and the miraculous breakthrough in
her
case welcome back everyone so after Jane
is sentenced to 25 years to life in
prison she becomes her own Advocate
meticulously working on her case year
after year it is a daunting task how did
she do this you know she she filed
document after document um motion after
motion and everything would be turned
down and she'd just keep she would keep
going and from the beginning she also
tried to get the attention of Innocence
groups but that didn't immediately come
so she was like okay I have to do this
on my own but I want to remind people
cuz I don't think people are aware when
you say she had to do it on her own
you're not entitled to an attorney after
your very first postconviction appeal
that's it and so everyone usually unless
they're wealthy um they have to do it on
their own some people just give up Jane
did not she never gave up so in prison
as you mentioned she files motions some
of them claiming that she had
ineffective assistance of counsel she
says that she originally wanted to
testify a trial and that she disagreed
with the defense's Strat stry to point
the finger at her daughter Claire in
your experience covering wrongful
conviction cases how successful are
ineffective Council Claims really really
tough very rarely and in in fact in this
case too um Jane did not win that right
and the judge said well we don't really
think it would have made much of a
difference um if you had a different
kind of attorney or a different argument
um Jane also argued that authorities
pegged her from the very start and they
really failed to follow up up on other
leads and personally I was really
curious as to why authorities chose not
to look into some witness reports that
say they saw a man around the same time
out there possibly jogging why didn't
they follow up on any of that stuff well
according to Matt trano who is the legal
consultant that we talked to I me he
felt after looking at many of the
documents that this was a matter of
tunnel vision I mean you can kind of
understand in the sense that if you
truly believe as investigators that
there's blood in the bedroom and that he
was killed in the bedroom then you're
wasting time chasing down Witnesses who
say they saw a jogger since you don't
believe he was out jogging but they
should have and also some of the
descriptions didn't exactly match Bob
the wrong age the wrong weight so yes a
jogger in the area in around the correct
time from the investigator standpoint
well the other thing seems like a more
viable explanation of what happened
because these people didn't quite
describe Bob to a
te I mean you would think considering
the area how rural it is there aren't a
ton of people out jogging and we do know
that eyewitnesses sometimes could be not
great with the details you know there a
good possibility it was him and it could
raise Reasonable Doubt even if the
person didn't
match yeah so in 2015 though Jane had a
breakthrough in her case when a judge
granted her motion to get DNA testing
done on several items that had not been
tested back in 2000 including the Rope
around Bob's neck his fingernail
clippings his clothes how rare is it for
a judge to approve this kind of DNA
testing according to Matthew troano it's
really rare it's hard I think it's going
to get more and more common as tests
become more valuable I think but uh it
it is very difficult uh it's expensive
and uh so it was very very lucky for
Jane in this case and it and it really
was what turned this case around and
when the court did Grant that that was
right before an innocence group got
involved so even more unusual that it
was based on Jane's filing at that point
Jane that did it whenever anybody asked
really how did Jane get get out I'm
always say
Jane yes Jane was helped by um an
Innocence Project but she was the one
who really got the ball rolling she was
the one who got the permission to do the
testing and it made a huge difference in
this case so this testing changes the
course of the the case because when they
look at the rope and they look under the
fingernails they find foreign male DNA
but just as important as what they don't
find which is Jane's DNA is not there so
Jane's appell team also raises the issue
of how the sheriff's department
originally handled the evidence I want
to play a clip from the broadcast of uh
Nathan lent a professor at John J
College of Criminal Justice reviewing a
photo of investigators at the original
crime scene this one is hard to even
look at um you have an investigator who
depositing own DNA all around this crime
scene he's also risking transferring
evidence from among the various spots
that he's
collecting I gasped when I saw that
picture when this case was first
investigated was that normal for
authorities to handle evidence like that
I'm kicking myself I've got to be honest
I saw those pictures back then and
didn't realize that at the very least it
reflects kind of a laxness in standards
in the sense that you know you're
touching evidence with your bare fingers
and if anybody should know it would be a
criminalist you look at it now and it's
shocking it is other investigators had
gloves on they did some did some didn't
look investigators are human and maybe
he wasn't the one actually swabbing but
you know who knows what was going
through well all it takes is that one
photo to make you question the ENT
entire way the uh crime scene was
handled so in 2020 Jane's appell team
presented its findings and the state
requested that Jane's murder conviction
be overturned the state asked it yes yes
well I said this was an emotional roller
coaster to watch CU you're like oh
that's great and then only three months
later the da decided to retry her a
judge ruled that a new trial could go
ahead but that certain evidence
presented in her original trial would
not be admissible at this time I'm
wondering what Jane was feeling cuz she
talks in the hour about essentially just
losing her faith in the justice system I
I don't think anybody can actually say
what she was feeling but you can't
imagine this was a woman who had fought
so hard to get to that point she is out
in 2020 she had been out because of
covid you know so she has a taste of
Freedom um she's finally seeing like an
end after fighting so long think about
it it's like you know nearly 20 years
and then they decide they're going to
retry her and to go through a trial
again I mean I don't think anybody can
imagine what had to be going through
that woman's head and
heart back on the emotional roller
coaster the prosecution ultimately
decided that there was not sufficient
evidence for them to show proof Beyond A
Reasonable Doubt in a new trial and
requested the court dismiss the charges
Jane's case was dismissed without
prejudice but what exactly does that
mean okay so when you hear without
prejudice that sounds good and it is it
means that um all the charges against
her are dropped but without prejudice
means that if somehow new evidence came
up very strong evidence obviously that
she was involved they could refile it's
not likely to ever happen but she has no
charges against her she's as if she had
never been charged with murder um did
Jane ever talk about the loss of her
husband I know this hour was about her
fight for Freedom um but I kept on also
thinking boy did she even get a chance
to grieve I remember her talking about
that that she never did because think
how quickly she was charged she never
did and um you know all of a sudden then
she's in a fight for her life so you
know the there are so many reasons um to
avoid void a wrongful conviction or a
questionable conviction and that's one
of them yeah what's next for Jane she
works with trying to help women in
prison that's sort of become her focus
is working with wrongful conviction
groups as well as groups just helping
women in prison and then women when they
get out of prison I mean she had always
been in the healthare field that's what
she was in before she was charged and
convicted and so it fits with that um
but I you know I can't help but be
overwhelmed with sadness over this of
what everyone in that family lost you
know with the loss of Bob and then this
prosecution you know a family was
destroyed and I remain so cuz we can see
in the hour that she's not um close with
her sons she is close with her daughter
one son has since passed away and the
other son um has not not spoken publicly
but uh has indicated through filings
that he believes that she she was
involved in his father's death and so
yes this is a family divided and it's
heartbreaking biggest takeaways from
this case and Ruth I'll start with you
as Erin had said it's a cautionary tale
and it's always easier looking back but
you almost have to approach cases
thinking okay when people look back at
this what should we be careful about you
know it's a lesson for defense attorneys
for prosecutors crime scene
investigators for everybody on all sides
and reporters question question question
I think to question more H um well it's
an amazing hour and uh I was absolutely
riveted because there are so many twists
and turns and it I mean still there's an
unsolved murder out there you know um
Aaron Ruth thank you so much for joining
me again thanks amarie thank you
you can join us next Tuesday for another
postmortem and watch 48 Hours of course
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