Episode 526: The Death of Joan Robinson Hill- Part 2

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Hey weirdos, I'm Alena, I'm Ash, and this is morbid.

It is, and your hair looks really good over there.

Your hair looks really good over there.

Your hair looks really good. You get the swoop without trying and that upsets me because I try really hard for the swoop. Your swoop is a good swoop. Thank you. But it's not effortless.

It's full of effort.

It's full of effort, but you know what, it looks great. You're like, I woke up like this.

No, I actually did my hair this morning.

No, you can tell that you did it. I brushed it, but like, but still, even when you don't do your hair, the swoop is swoop-a-ding, thanks, swoop-a-dee-oop-a-ding.

It's always funny, I don't know why.

It's because it sounds horrible, which is why I said, glazed stick, you have to, you have to be very purposeful.

You can't run those two together.

But it's a huge donut, essentially, which the look doesn't even make it any better. No, it looks terrible. they should name it something else anyways, but it's a big donut full of sugar.

A big donut stick that is glazed.

Ah, you know, so I feel sugar-full, I feel sugar-full, I feel like Sugar ray.

And you know what? Speaking of Sugar Ray, Funny little story Before we start, John got me a cameo of Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray, who he just calls Sugar Ray.

Remember when you saw the guy at the airport, Yes, John was like, That's sugar Ray.

And John said, That's sugar Ray. Oh my God. I thought I didn't know he was still alive, so I was like, he's like a young, He's like not an old guy at all.

And he's like, your age, yeah.

No, I think he's a little older than me, sorry.

You are, aren't you?

Like, obviously, and he sang me fly and he put my name in the song.

I can confirm it was good. Yeah, good, it was a good cameo.

It was very fun.

When will this episode come out? Can you tell them what you got, John, without spoiling it or no?

Okay, I got John, so John loves a 90s r&b moment. I think I've more than once said that.

John is a 90s r&b moment.

John is a 90s r&b moment.

I played genuine at my wedding simply for John.

Like, he's 90s, R&B is his, that's everything to him, and I'm not kidding you multiple times a day. John sings This Is How We Do It by Montel Jordan, and that was one of his first concerts.

And he puts it into, like, different, like he'll sing to the tune of it even.

Like, if one of our girls does something, he's like, don't put the glass there, like he literally, do not put the glass there, like he does it multiple times. So the girls know the song.

That man is a excuse me, I was going to say the snack, that man is the whole day meal.

And he was so sweet in the cameo and I asked him. I was like, you don't have to? But it would be sick if you could just sing a quick line like, I love. This is how we do it.

Effortless.

Phenomenal and John's just going to die and I'm so excited for it. It's like one of those fun gifts that you're just like, I can't wait to show you.

I know you need to send it to his phone, like give him the link so you can video the reaction. Because I want to see it if I'm not here.

Oh yeah, we love it. We love cameos in this house, we love to send each other either genuine cameos that are like, wonderful or hilarious ones.

Yeah, I mean, you can't even say what the hilarious ones are, of course.

But just like ones that you're like, they're like, why would you send me this person?

I will never forget when you got me, a cameo from Lindsay Lohan. My life was complete in that moment.

And she told you.

That I would still look sexy as a or not sexy.

What did she say?

You wouldn't look like a British man if you shaved all my hair off and I was like, Thanks Linds. Yeah, she said so many great things, it's true.

That was a good one. Yeah, so that's cameos. we're not sponsored by Cameos, Cameos and Dunkin Donuts.

I feel like there's this is not an ad for cameos. No, it's really not.

There's somebody for everybody. I don't know why we're doing this.

I don't know how we got here.

Guys, I just got really excited about Montel Jordan. It's like, surreal.

No, the cameo. That was honestly one of the best ones that I've seen.

Truly was.

So, yeah, didn't hurt that. He is a good looking, fine man.

Fine man anyways. So moving on from that, there's no good way to segue.

Truly not. I'm glad you said it because I was trying to figure out how to segue in my head and I couldn't. But let's recap. I do have a confession and it's that I lied to you, I'm sorry.

Just in case you were counting by the minute and you were like, bitch, you lied, yeah, and she knows.

I would never lie to you.

Like, intentionally.

Definitely, unintentionally, a lot, but let's recap a little bit. So in part one, we got to know Joan Joan Robinson Hill, we got to know her dad, Ash, and her mom.

I was going to say, that's the thing. Like, whether or not he was involved in her death, which again, we're not saying he was, because I have no fucking clue.

In part two, it's really I don't think it's going to be cleared up.

It gets even murkier. Yeah, so, and it's like, regardless of that, he was a shitty husband. Yeah, exactly, and honestly, it sounds like he wasn't a very present father as well.

At least not for, like, the first part of Little Boot's life. I think he got to be from the sounds of it, I think he got to be a little more involved, like after Joan passed away.

Well, I hope it was good for boot.

And I think it was so I hope that it was, because Little Boot deserves that.

Little boot, you do deserve that little boot, baby, you deserved it.

But yeah. But as we know, Joan's father, Ash, was like a very big presence in her life. And when she did pass away, he full heartedly believed that John had something to do with it. It was essentially like his life's mission to figure it out now. When I left off in part one, we had just gone through basically Ash trying to get anywhere with the district attorney, a team of doctors to prove this. And when we finally did finish part one, he was going to go before a grand jury.

And it's like, that's like, unfortunately and fortunately, because at the same time you're like, I hope she wasn't murdered, you know? Yeah, like, it's like, but also like, if she was, I want her to get justice, right?

So it's like, I feel weird, like I'm like, it's a strange feeling.

I would like evidence because I want her to get justice if that's the case. But I also am like, I hope you didn't get murdered. Yeah, but also that's an awful way to die regardless, right?

Well, and I would like some evidence. Because even if John is like an asshole in a marriage, he doesn't deserve to be painted a murderer if he wasn't.

That's the thing and like.

It stinks that it never really got resolved, you know?

But also there was, like, some neglect there, because it's like he's a doctor. Yeah, why was he allowing this to get as bad as it got? That's a problem.

There's no question in my mind that there was neglect, I mean, the way that the maid walked in and found.

Yeah, there's no that sick. She should never have been allowed to convalesce like that at home.

Especially with a doctor, with a doctor. But what these medical professionals did do was question. And just like we were saying, yeah. Many of the decisions that John made in the days leading up to Joan's death from the medication. He gave her to his refusal to let anyone to see her, and then to, like, not wanting to take her to a hospital that was even close by.

Yeah.

But despite the compelling hearsay evidence, most people couldn't help but speculate that, rather than being motivated by evidence of wrongdoing. It was Ash Robinson who was really behind the persecution of John Hill. Yeah, because small town people talk, of course. After the grand jury had heard, Excuse me, all the testimony regarding John's negligence leading up to his wife's death. Even Assistant D.a. McMaster was skeptical that their case would go anywhere.

Yeah.

So frustrated by Robinson's continued pressure, McMaster told Ash if he wanted to get a conviction, he would need to present the authorities with evidence of a crime. Yeah.

Hard evidence? I need something.

And it turned out that he was right. Without the physical evidence, the grand jury did not return a verdict finding John responsible for the death. Wow, but never one to back down from a challenge. Ash consulted with McMaster and Frank Briscoe, and together the men came up with a plan to present the jury with evidence of murder by neglect.

Because that seems a little more likely to possibly get.

Yes, like some kind of conviction on, yeah, their point was. Regardless of how she'd become sick, it was John's negligence and inattention of Joan's serious condition that ended up leading to her death. A result that he would have expected, given his medical training, yeah.

And it's like the degradation of her tissues and any viable evidence here now is like, so much higher.

And again, it's like, it's going to just murky the waters even further, and it's interesting what happens here. So, while the court may have ordered the exhumation, it remained that both the exhumation and the third autopsy would be overseen by Dr. Yehemchik. Meaning that he was essentially being asked to reconsider or undermine his own earlier assessment of Joan's cause of death.

Yeah.

Which is pretty unlikely that he's going to undermine his professional opinion.

He's not going to be like, Wow, I fucked up.

Right, so, knowing that none of the physicians who were assigned to the autopsy would be on his side. Ash actually conducted some research of his own to find out who were among the most well-respected doctors in the nation. Like the nation.

He's like, let's go, Ash is not giving up.

No, the list was short, but it included Dr. Milton Halpern, the chief medical examiner of New York at the time, whose credentials and reputation were beyond reproach. So, Ash wasted no time contacting Halpern and bringing the man to Houston, where he was deputized as an acting Harris County medical examiner. So that way he could join the team of doctors performing this autopsy.

Holy shit.

I know that he would be really overbearing, but like the way that he just loved his daughter.

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. Like, if, like, he has the money to do this, yeah, so it's like, if he has the money to do this, then it's like I would do the same thing. That's the thing.

And it's like the dedication and the love for his daughter, and like wanting to see justice served. It's so heartwarming, yeah, but then at the same time, it's so heartbreaking.

Oh, it's heartbreaking.

Because you're just like, Are you ever going to get the answers that you wanted?

And he feels so sure that he knows what happened. And to think, to be so sure in, like your own mind and heart, that your son-in-law murdered your daughter.

Yeah.

And that you're trying to find the evidence of that.

And you're coming up at like.

I can't imagine that journey.

And then just to come up at like, hard stop after hard stop of like, it's not panning out.

And feeling like she's never going to get the justice. That must have been so hard.

Yeah, and just the way he loved her, like I've never heard of a dad loving his daughter this hard.

He really went, he did.

I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. I was like, at my locker and she came up to me and she was like, stuttering, super bad. I'm like, stop around, She's like, I can't.

What the fuck?

When questioned about the mud, the mortician noted that it had been a rainy day when Joan was buried. And he suggested that the mud maybe got inside. When they reopened the coffin at John's request, so that he could get Joan's wedding ring, and he said, maybe that's when the mud ended up there. The explanation seemed plausible, but it did little to clear John of suspicion. Because it's like you wanted to reopen the casket to get her. I understand, like wanting her wedding ring as like a sentimental piece of value, I suppose, but it's like you also didn't like you. I don't.

You were having an illicit affair, yeah, and like, didn't really care about her feelings about the whole thing. That's the thing I'm not saying.

I don't know, and given the details of everything else like stacked against him. Right now, it's just when you just make someone put it up against that. It's weird, yeah.

You know, I'm not saying it makes him a murderer, I'm just saying not at all. It's a strange behavior. Yeah, strange.

And I think it's just within all of this.

That's the thing like it can be understood, yeah, like, we're both saying like, I get it.

It makes you scratch your head a little.

You know, lift your eyebrow a little bit.

Now it turned out that the mud on the inside of the coffin was only the first of many bewildering aspects of this case. Really, because when Joan's remains were removed and prepped for the autopsy, the team was shocked. And I think you'll have a bigger opinion of this than even I did. But it was shocking to me, and the team was shocked to discover that not only was the brain missing, but so was the heart.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know how it works here or in this time period.

Yeah, it's like the 60s.

You should have to have permission to keep body parts, that's what I would think. There's a lot of red tape and a lot of signatures that need to be signatured for you to keep a brain and a heart right.

That's what I would think.

Like, at least when I was working in autopsies, if you were going to keep a body, part of brain specifically, or any other organ.

I'm sure you needed, like, a specific reason.

There were specific forms that needed to be signed by family members, by everybody involved, by the doctors, by everybody, and it needed. And there's like a chain of custody with that organ, you need to know where it is, why it's happening. I mean, a lot of people have to agree to somebody keeping an organ. Because usually when you're studying one, you take a piece, you take your sample, but you put it back.

And I feel like, unless otherwise asked for, right. And I mean, that makes perfect sense to me. That there would be a chain of custody and it would be like a rather intense process. And to me, the fact, and we don't know what the process was.

Because this is a different state, it's a different time period, so I don't know who knows.

You would think that some protocol would be in place. Yeah, and because everybody thought this was so odd, that kind of tells me that there was some protocol that maybe wasn't followed. And the fact that this doctor, this original doctor, Arthur Morse, felt like he needed to kind of potentially defy that, yeah.

I'm like, So, were you not happy with the original examination, you were able to do like?

And I don't think he was.

But like, that's what it sounds like.

Because of the embalming process having already started. So, and I wonder, I'm like, did you think that? Maybe I mean, again, small town? I'm sure people were talking. Did you think to yourself? I need to be prepared if shit goes down and people want answers about the state of this body?

Because that's risky on his part and for him to take a risk like that.

Exactly.

Sounds like he knew he was going to have to speak for something.

That's what it sounds like to me.

Or speak to something, you know what I mean, and that's just very strange.

Yeah.

Like, it's strange to go against what you would assume is a pretty like a.

Routine, rigorous protocol, right, right?

That because I know, I can't imagine there's anywhere in the country that is like, super willy Nilly about just like I can just keep a brain like, it's no, like, you have to put that back.

Strange.

Unless otherwise noted. Obviously, because there's plenty of times where you request to keep an organ because you know you want to do studies on it for a long period of time, right? But again, there's going to be so much permission involved.

And to me, the fact that if there was like a paper trail, that would have had to have been followed. And he wanted to avoid that, I like, why did you want to avoid that? because you were worried about John Hill being a doctor?

Well, and I'm also wondering about the reasons for the brain and heart, specifically, because usually when you do keep a brain, it's because the. There was something pointing like, you saw to the brain, being like a part of whatever was happening here, right?

I mean, her kidneys were the main reason why she died.

So it's like, you didn't keep those.

So it's like kidney failure.

What did you think happened? Yeah, that you had to keep those organs instead.

That's the thing, and there is, and remember, if you do remember from part one, he also took like multiple tissue samples and fluid samples, and.

Yep.

I think he was preparing for the potential of a court case.

Yeah, he was probably like, they whisked her body away so quickly, shirking protocol from the get-go.

Right?

And started embalming it at lightning speed, yeah, so no one could touch it. He, I'm sure that was his first red flag, because it was for all of us, right?

Of that popping out everywhere.

So maybe he was like, I'm going to take the two most important parts because they're going to be affected by whatever is could have happened here. Yeah, I'm going to take these two because I need to, like, keep this.

That's what I think.

To have it for cause. I don't know what's happening here or why she was taken so quickly without an autopsy. That's exactly what I think. So maybe that is like, he just was like, which like, good for him for like, it's a. It's tough cause you need to have permission to do these things. And like, you know, it gets hairy, like, ethically and all that.

Of course.

But like, I'm glad he at least thought he was like, looking and being like, something's a little off here, right, you know, right?

Exactly.

Wow.

So.

Wow.

And that's what my gut just says, that he, he knew something was off and he wanted to.

Be prepared, that's what it seems like.

So it took nearly two months, but in October of 1969, the first two. Excuse me. The first of two autopsy reports were submitted by a team of three pathologists working on the case. And I say the first of two autopsy reports from this third autopsy. I know that's a little confusing. The first report, authored by Dr. Robert Buckland, stated that Joan's cause of death was, and I quote, a result of bacterial meningitis with septicemia blood poisoning.

Okay.

So he's backtracking a little bit.

I was going to say, he seems like he's blurring the lines a little.

Because he was, remember, very steadfast, that it was hepatitis, yeah.

And now he's like, Now, we can't be sure.

I can't determine. And he added quote It is my further opinion that the exact cause and manner of death cannot be established from the exhumed body autopsy alone.

Okay.

Now, given all the inconsistencies, he actually. Dr. Yachimchik recommended that a grand jury investigation be undertaken because he's like,-.

I mean, at least he's good for him for at least not sticking with his original one, just to stick to it. Yeah, he looked at the evidence again and he said, You know what, right now, I can't say that that's what it is.

I thought that was pretty honorable.

Yeah, that seems pretty good to me.

And while the court and Ash's group of investigators waited for Halpern's report, John Hill did his best to carry on. Like everything was normal, despite the fact that his life pretty much seemed to be collapsing all around him. At this point, I'm sure you can imagine his business had taken a serious hit. He's a plastic surgeon, yeah, due to all the rumors and accusations leveled by his former father-in-law and circulated then by the Houston Gossip circuit.

I mean, if people think you're a murderer, I'm not with you with a knife.

No, and less than a year in his marriage to Ann felt like a big mistake.

I don't want to say I told you so.

Wasn't so exciting now that you're not cheating on your wife.

Yeah, that one I'm not sad about.

Yeah, he felt like she was never satisfied with anything he did or said, and he was already thinking about a divorce. Years later, his mother would recall him saying If I didn't marry her, she threatened to call ID McMaster and say I killed June. And if I divorced her. She said she'd commit suicide and leave a note saying I was responsible for her death.

Ann Get it together.

I know.

If that is my goodness.

If that is the case of what, she said.

And either way, it's like, you guys are a wreck.

Yeah, get it together, regardless.

The two of you need to get it together, like my goodness.

That's the thing now. Dr. Halpern took several months longer to complete his report than the other pathologist, which I respect. He was like, No, I'm getting this right, yeah.

I wonder how he was able to say those two statements, though.

Yeah, I do wonder.

I don't know what the cause of death was exactly, but I know that somebody didn't do it. And it's like, right, explain to me how you can. How do you reconcile those two statements together?

Because I need you to have a cause of death, to know that nobody did it.

I'm going to need you to determine the cause of death before you tell me that no one could have caused it. Yes, that's the thing. Like those seem very conflicting to me. I'm like, Yeah, that doesn't jive for me.

I think the reason that he said that he didn't believe that it was.-.

Intentionally caused?

Intentional thank you was because he found no evidence of any injections having been administered. That was a big part of it.

Well, that's not the only way you can kill someone.

Have you ever heard of an oral? He could have given her any kind of medication orally o.r.-.

Yeah, and there's plenty of places where you might not find one under a nail. Yeah, very true.

That's the thing, but in simple terms. Halpern's report confirmed what Dr Yehimchik had already indicated as a result of miscommunication and improper medical practices. Immediately following Joan's death, it was very unlikely that her specific cause of death would ever be known, which is really, incredibly unfortunate.

Yeah, so frustrating.

Now, while it may have dismissed the theory that John had directly caused his wife's death, Halpern's report made it clear that, As both a husband and a doctor, John's behavior in the days leading up to his wife's death was without a doubt negligent.

Of course.

And earlier treatment, he said, absolutely could have prevented Joan's death.

And that's horrifying.

And that's the question at hand here at this point. Not did he do it, but did he ignore symptoms that resulted in her death? So, by May 1970, two grand juries had heard the district attorney's argument and declined to return an indictment against John Hill. With the latest results from the autopsy in hand, McMaster returned to the grand jury for a third time and presented his case again. This time with the opinion of one of the nation's most well-regarded medical examiners. For the most part, the case was represented the same as it had been the other two times that they'd been before the grand jury.

Which is wild, considering he's a doctor.

And so the fact that it was too little, too late, is his fault. Yeah, is what Halpern is saying.

Yeah.

And what they're trying to prove? And after a brief deliberation, the jury returned a decision against John Hill, with 10 of 12 jurors in favor of an indictment for murder by omission. Oh.

Yes, damn.

So, unlike manslaughter, which implies a person's negligence unintentionally led to the death of another, murder by omission, implied that John had willfully, intentionally and culpably, culpably. I feel like I always say that wrong, it's a hard one, and then I say it again and I'm like, No, that was right. Yeah, you said it right. Culpably contributed to Joan's death.

Damn.

At that point, the charge had actually only been used in less than 20 court cases.

I was going to say, I've never heard that used.

Never had it been used in Texas up to this point. Crazy.

Only 20 cases.

20 cases. I got chills saying that.

That's crazy.

It's a lot so. The indictment immediately split the physicians on the autopsy team, with half flatly rejecting Halpern's conclusions and criticizing the jury for their decision. Dr. Paul, I think it's, Radelet told the press. If criminal charges in this type of situation be appropriate, then anyone whose mate expires unexpectedly after a few days of symptoms, whether from pneumonia, heart attack or septic shock, could also be indicted.

And here's the thing I get, where they're coming from that it could seem like a slippery slope. It's hairy of, like, okay, so if I don't know it's that bad and I don't take them in time and they die, that's my fault. If I can't see the symptoms, you know what I mean, yeah.

Right?

She was vomiting so much that she couldn't even get herself into the bathroom, right, and was like the maid found her covered in vomit and feces on the floor. Like it never should have gotten to that point.

She was violently ill.

And also, I'm sure she was wildly dehydrated she was. And I know that a doctor can spot dehydration from fucking counties away, like a doctor can look at you and go dehydrated. I mean, hell, I can look and see if somebody's dehydrated.

This is case specific.

And that's why this has only been used 20 other times, because this is very case specific and this case alone. It's hard for him to reconcile and explain why he didn't get her to a hospital sooner.

Exactly.

I don't get it.

It was multiple days, like at least three days of symptoms like that.

And it's like, after the first day of violent, violent symptoms, if she's not better to the doctor, she goes, that's the thing, like, that's the thing, why not, right?

And you put that hand in hand with not letting anybody in the house to see her.

That's the other thing.

Giving her what somebody said and obviously we'll never know was a tranquilizer. Why are you tranquilizing her when she's in this position? Like, I don't that, I don't understand.

And tranquilizing her seems like a terrible idea if she's vomiting.

Exactly like she's gonna choke on her vomit.

She could die that way, right? And it's like, yeah.

And then people said, she got this sick after something that he gave her, and yeah, and that again, that's hearsay because none of us were there. But there's a lot of factors that go into this specific case.

Exactly, I can see why they used this charge here.

And where? It's silly to say that, like, Oh, like, you know, if he goes down for this, watch out, Husbands of America, it's like, no.

I don't think that's the case.

And look how tough it was to get here in the first place, you know? I think it wasn't like this was like, Stop one.

It's the doctor of it all, really takes it up a notch, right?

Exactly so. Halpern's autopsy report had definitely influenced the jury's decision to return an indictment against John, but so did testimony given by his now ex-wife Ann Kirk. Oh.

Yeah.

But John insisted it needed to happen, and the couple was divorced on March 12th, 1970, one week short of the anniversary of Joan's death.

Man, yeah.

They had barely made it a year.

When I say you got to get it together, I mean, you got to get it together, you got to get it together. Like, what were you doing? truly? what are you doing? Because it's like when they got married right after this. Remember when we were talking about it, we were like, listen, like, I'm not saying anything.

Get a fucking publicist.

You got to think a little bit and just use your goddamn brain, dude, seriously, come on.

It turned out, though, that John's lawyer was right to be worried when she took the witness stand. An obviously angry and bitter Ann performed very dramatically for the jury, telling them quote. John Hill had not only killed his first wife, but had also tried to kill her on three occasions.

Damn man.

Ann insisted that John had managed to fake his polygraph results and made her best attempt to convince the entire courtroom and the assembled press that John Hill was a violent and dangerous man.

Wow.

Now he very well could have been.

Yeah.

But it's like, I feel like, in this case, I don't know should we? It's this is tough.

This is tough. But it's also like, I guess she's mad. She obviously right. Is she so mad that she's going to brand him a murderer?

That's the thing.

I mean, that's pretty mad.

That's pretty mad.

That's pretty bad blood between an ex-couple.

It is.

Like, I really don't like my ex-boyfriend, but I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna paint him as a murderer. Like, I'm not gonna be like, Oh shit. It's my chance to get him behind bars for the rest of his life.

But I'm like, and that's the thing.

Is there some truth to something here that, like, she's saying?

And who knows? And I'm not saying that there isn't for the record.

Like, that's I'm like was.

There could be.

Could he have been violent with her?

But wouldn't you think that, sitting on a jury, you would question that testimony?

Of course.

And that's why I'm like, was that really a smart decision to even put her on the stand?

But that's the, and exactly that's where the problem lies is. If she is telling the truth, then that sucks even more because she wasn't taken seriously.

Exactly.

And it's like, everything about this sucks, exactly because it's like she could absolutely just be unhinged and be up there, angry and decide to ruin this man. Really, fuck this guy's world up and just make up the worst shit you can possibly make up about somebody. People have done that.

Look at the West Memphis three case, the shit that got made up during that case.

Yeah, it's like, to me, it's shocking to think. Somebody would be so angry about the breakup of a marriage that they would want to paint that person as a murderer. But it could absolutely happen.

And again, I'm not saying that that's the case.

But if she's not, if she is telling any of the truth, then that sucks even more. Because she's just being ignored and treated as which. Like, I'm not an Anne fan, as we know. But like, if she was being abused in any way or he was violent with her, she does not deserve that.

But I don't think I ever would have put her on the stand as a prosecutor or as a.

It was not good for anybody. No, to be quite honest.

No, but the accusations and the indictment were all deeply troubling for John, but just as the grand jury investigation was wrapping up.

He started dating a new woman, okay?

This one lasts.

Okay, John, but seriously.

Like the marriage, I should say.

Come on, yeah.

Connie Loseby, who would serve as a source of comfort and support through the upcoming trial, was the new woman John was dating. Under normal circumstances, his romantic life obviously wouldn't be that important. But now, in the context of his legal troubles, it appeared to the outside world that he had a bit of a habit of trading one wife in for another. Pretty rapidly, in fact, it took John's lawyer, Richard Racehorse Haynes, who I'm actually working on another case of his right now.

He's like, Dude, just take a minute.

He's like, I told you not to divorce Anne in the middle of this and look at her on the stand over there, that's not good for you.

And now you're ready to marry again. In the middle of this, like, dude, get it again, use your fucking brain like, what is going on?

Not only are you on trial for murder by omission. Like that, you're in the headlines for that anyway, you would be, regardless. You're a high society man. What the fuck are you doing?

This is just wild.

Play the game idiot.

Yeah, this is just wild.

Jesus Christ. So when the trial did finally begin on February 15th, 1971, John Hill's love life was, of course, put on display for everybody to see.

Yeah, which it didn't need to be.

It didn't need to be, but in this case, it's like honey.

But that's what I'm saying, like, he didn't need this to be part of it.

Like, why did you do this?

Like, just take a beat. yes, take a beat, please be a dad, take a beat and deal with what's going on in your life.

Which we don't know.

Which we don't know. I mean, he was negligent, that is, by 100, 100, nobody can deny that.

Like, I fucked up.

I understand needing comfort, like somebody to like, you're. It's probably lonely and scary, and like, whatever I get that don't date someone right away, be a friend.

Find a friend. Yeah, it's like, wait a little bit.

That's the thing, you know, it's not going to look good.

Don't be seen in the 50 foot radius of a woman that you're not related to. So, in his opening statement for the jury, I..d. McMaster said We expect to prove that. Problems arose in the course of this marriage, which resulted in the filing of a divorce petition on December 3rd, 1968. When John learned that Joan planned to contest the marriage, using his affair with Ann against him, he withdrew his petition. McMaster continued on. Having failed to terminate the marriage legally, the defendant began to formulate a plan to rid himself of an unwanted wife.

Okay.

Yeah, according to Diane, John said Joan had a and this is a quote. Had a very high fever, approximately 106, and he had broken it. He said after he broke the fever, he didn't take her to a hospital because he thought she was getting all right.

John.

106 degree fever as an adult. Are you fucking kidding me? I like, you're bordering brain damage at that point, aren't you?

106 is just wild.

Like, that is bordering brain damage, right?

I think they've found research that suggests that it's not as simple as that. But I, I don't. I honestly do not know what the newest thing is. That was always the thought that I passed, I think it was like 105 or something.

Well, so back then you would have thought?

So back there, I was going to say, so, that was the thought process back there, and it still might be now. I haven't seen the updated stuff. But I know for an adult that is incredibly high because I know they let kids get a little higher, it's a strange thing.

Yeah, and that's only nowadays that they let kids get higher. Back then, even you would have brought your kid or your wife to a hospital.

Well, that's the other thing with that doctor who was like, Oh, watch out, husbands of America, you're all going to get thrown in jail for killing your wives if they die. It's like, but think about it if like you, you did this to like, cause he's acting like, that's so wild and it's like. But if you just watched your child suffer for days and did nothing to bring them to a hospital or help them?

The same thing.

You would be charged with something.

Exactly.

For like, willfully ignoring that your child was sick, so why is your partner any different?

Agreed.

You know, like, it's just like you should. If it's a person in your life that you have especially legally bound yourself to, yeah, you should have to bring them.

You should care for them.

You should give a shit, right? Yeah, this is, I mean, 106 is just to be like, Oh yeah, she had a 106 fever, but I broke it so like.

And it's like, you're sitting there, being like, I broke it, I broke it.

It's like, How'd you break it?

That like, What did you do? yeah.

Like, what the fuck? And it's like, why was it that high in the first place? That would be the shocking thing, right? Sure.

Exactly like, what kind of infection is her body fighting off?

I mean, that's a lot, that's high.

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And she?

It's like, Yeah, we don't need to.

No, I know it's just like....

It just sucks.

That's the mother of his child. Yeah, that's really fucked up.

It's sad now. Over the course of her testimony, Ann claimed that she'd found quote three laboratory dishes containing a reddish substance with white spots in John's apartment. And she heavily implied that he had used tainted pastries to poison Joan.

That's specific.

Very specific.

All of that is pretty specific.

According to Ann, his violent rage was not just reserved for Joan. Like I said earlier, while on the stand, she told the jury that he had also tried to kill her multiple times, once by deliberately crashing their car into a bridge. Abutment or abutment?

Yeah.

And another time, by quote, trying to inject her with a syringe, so it's like,....

These are, like, pretty specific, that's the thing, and again, I know people lie, I know I realize that.

Yeah.

But it's like.

And we're going to get more specific. Because. When asked by McMaster why she thought John was trying to kill her with a syringe, Ann said He just told me how he killed Joan with a needle. He pulled the syringe from his pocket and tried to get it into me.

I mean, that's scary.

And who am I to say that? Well, that's the thing.

It's like, I'm not going to sit here and say, she's lying. Do I like Ann? No, no, do I believe her?

Well, that's exactly the problem.

But it's like, what a shitty way for this to come about. If she is telling the truth, because so many people aren't going to believe it and just think she's angry.

And you wish that there was somebody there during those times, yeah, like you wish that some kind of....

It was some kind of person near her that knew that there was something going on that could be like, Yeah, there was some stuff happening.

Especially after that car crash. It's too bad that potentially, like, she didn't say anything then and they couldn't have figured out, like, was this intentional? Like, you know how they can look into that?

Yeah, this is interesting.

But Ann claimed that John's hand was shaking too hard to inject the syringe into her, and he actually dropped it. But that he had another and again attempted to inject her with something. But abandoned his plan. When the headlights of an approaching car came into view, she said The fuck now? That dramatic revelation was immediately followed by a loud and emphatic objection from Haynes, the defense attorney, who argued that the testimony was prejudicial, inflammatory and privileged. As communication between a husband and a wife.

That's fucked up.

Yeah, and at that point he moved for a mistrial. It's fucked up, but that whole loophole there, people rely on that.

Yeah, that loophole can be so fucking detrimental.

And it doesn't always work. I was watching something recently, I don't even remember if it was fiction or not, or maybe I read something about it recently.

Maybe it was a dream, maybe it was a dream.

No, I remember reading or watching something where like, they were gonna try to use that defense, but then they couldn't.

Yeah, definitely.

It's a hairy.

It's a very specific situation, yeah.

And I'm talking about the privileged testimony. But he was like, Fuck this, we're going for it, and he moved for a mistrial. Judge Fred Hooey overruled Haynes objection and called a recess. But when they returned a short time later, the judge said he reconsidered what had occurred in the courtroom and granted a mistrial.

Are you kidding me?

That's why I was like, why the fuck did you guys want her on the stand? I know it would have been great, but the testimony was so intense and so....

Oh, and it's like, again, if he really did do that shit, then that is so fucked up that her just simply saying that he did that shit.

And if it's the truth?

Made a mistrial. Can you imagine if that's real?

You sit up there and they say, Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? And you're like, Yeah, and you go ahead and do that, hopefully.

This is fucked up.

And if that's the outcome, that's why people don't testify, sometimes, that's why people don't talk about this shit.

Wow, that's really fucked up. Also, judge Hooey, Hooey. I know that's a great name, Hooey.

Oh my God, so. Outside the courtroom, reporters had expected to find John Hill pleased with the outcome, and they were actually surprised by his reaction to the judge's declaration. He told the press I'm disappointed that we didn't get to carry on with this. I would have liked to get it over with.

Oh.

Being like, I really would like my name cleared here.

I would like to be declared innocent. Yes, because a mistrial does carry with it some connotations. Because it's literally like something went awry. And we're not continuing, and we're not continuing. But we still have no idea what's going on. That's the thing.

Now it turned out that John may have been right to be disappointed, though. A poll of the jurors conducted just a few days after the trial indicated that there was an overwhelming majority in favor of an acquittal.

Wow, yeah, so he was right.

So John Hill was not the only one disappointed with the mistrial. Obviously, after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in his pursuit of justice, and just in general, Ash Robinson was outraged by this decision. I..d. McMaster was also in a similar situation. He spent a wild amount of the state's time and resources pursuing this case that many at this point just believed was a lost cause.

That's a little shocking.

It truly is, but over, excuse me. Of course, she knew why he was on trial, and she'd heard about Joan's death in the papers, but she actually didn't know anything about Ash Robinson. Anne's claims that John had tried to murder Joan were also something that Connie didn't really know about. Oops, and she didn't really know about any of the other details that came out in court.

Trying to save, save a gal which what they from what they think is gonna.

You know, I can't be mad at that.

I simply can't.

If this is what he and his truly believed to to warn, this girl is the right thing to do.

In my opinion, and if he, you know, whatever, it's just oof.

If he truly felt this way, yeah, and and I and he did truly feel this way now. John had fully expected McMaster to retry him for murder. But in the meantime, he wasn't gonna let the district attorney or Ash Robinson control the rest of his life.

I'm surprised her parents didn't.

Yeah.

Went a little weary of that.

Very interesting.

Or maybe they were.

I'm sure they were to some degree, but she's a grown woman, so it was his third marriage and her first. By that point, John's income had been seriously impacted by the case, and most of his savings had also been eaten up to pay for his defense.

And they just move on.

And they just move on, exactly so. In late September of 1972, she traveled with John to Las Vegas for a plastic surgery convention. Neither of them was particularly fond of Vegas. But the trip kind of was like a honeymoon for them since they hadn't been able to take one after the wedding. And they were just really happy to be together. Like getting some time away. They returned to Houston on the evening of September 24th and took a cab from the airport back to the house. Both of them were eager to see Robert little boot, little boot, and tell him about the trip.

Well, that's nice.

Yeah, she seems like a good woman. Yeah, I hope, from what I read.

And I hope.

Yeah, so she ran to the door, but when she got to it, she was surprised to find the door locked. So she pressed the doorbell and waited for a minute, but nobody answered. And inside, all she could hear was the television on, like, really like, blaring loud. And she assumed Robert must have just gotten wrapped up in what he was watching and didn't hear the bell.

What the fuck?

And for a split second, she was like, Why would Robert or Myra, John's mom, be wearing a costume like, what? When the door finally did open, Connie saw that it was indeed a hooded figure standing before her, and she still thought it was Robert. So she said, What's this? And for a few seconds, the two just stood at the door, looking at one another and not saying anything.