Showdown in the Bedroom

0:00It's about what's happening that moment, that day, and that room. There are only two people who know what happened in that room that night, and one of them is deceased. It was November 14th of 2006. That night was probably the hardest night of my life. I believe my dad was shot in cold blood. It was this complex relationship between husband and wife. There was violence from time to time. It was clearly a dysfunctional relationship at best. That night in the bedroom, Danny, was like a lethal weapon getting ready to come at you. I didn't know how to stop him. My mom is the only person with the gun, and you don't call somebody down by pulling

1:02a gun out of a drawer. Take a look at that room, put yourself in that position. Where was she going to go? He's taller than her. He outweighs her. She knows precisely what Danny is capable of. She did not completely count him either, and she knew how to push his buttons. My dad loved that woman. He was going to cut me that night. Charlene wouldn't have made two steps to the door. She never would have made the door, and he had been on her like that. And she'd have been dead, plain and simple. She's beautiful. You want to believe everything she says. She could convince you this guy is purple. I just wanted to stop. I didn't want to kill him. Are we abuse lonely women? No. No. Intelligent instigator? That's money-hungry? Yeah.

2:03I believe so. It was a difficult case. You're here because you fired a gun that killed Danny Hill. A very dramatic ending, and a trough full of surprises. Showdown in the bedroom. Tonight's 48 hours mystery. He was a very calm, loving person, and he was an awesome dad. That was my best friend. It's just really hard. Every day it's a struggle without my dad here. Over the five years after her father, Danny Hill was shot to death, Jamie Hill still has questions for the person who pulled the trigger. Her own mother, Charlene Hill.

3:04None of it means since at all. Why don't you get a divorce? Why don't you just do something besides murder? Murder. I really love that night so many times. Oh, my, we please that night. Do I wish I could change it? Oh, no. That night, a 25-year marriage came to a sudden and violent ending in a showdown in the bedroom. We've built a full-scale replica of that room to try to solve the mystery of how and why Charlene Hill shot her husband, Danny. Everything is what it seemed in this case, not the characters, not their motives. We've been following it since it began. The case went to trial not once, but twice. And nobody could ever have expected how it ended. Before she took his life in that room, they built a life together.

4:05I loved it, Danny. Danny always be a part of me. They raised three children, made millions with their landscaping and storage businesses near Houston, and made plans to retire to their ranch in the Texas Hill Country. We were looking at building our house right here. It's rough knowing that this was our dream and he's gone. But there were two sides to Danny Hill. While Jamie talks about the loving father, Charlene remembers the man who could also suddenly turn violent. We punched me. Punched you? Yeah. Hard? Oh, yeah. Where would he punch you? Well, that time he punched me in the face. And according to Charlene, that wasn't the worst of it. Early in their marriage, she says Danny discovered she was planning to leave him. Later knocking me around, he tied me to a chair and poured gasoline on me.

5:12And stood there with the lighter and told me if I ever tried to leave. He'd kill me. Over the years Charlene's calls to 911 and trips to the emergency room were well documented, but she always refused to press charges. I was afraid of what would happen if I did. But you needed help. What are they going to do? Arrest him? He's out within a couple of hours. Where do I go? Charlene claims she was never more afraid of her husband than on the night of November 14, 2006. That Danny came home in a rage and that she had no choice but to shoot him in self-defense. I knew it couldn't outrun. And what would he have done if he got you? Good to kill. You have no doubt. He would have killed you. You know that? According to Charlene, it was a small thing that set Danny off that night.

6:12They had recently sold their storage business to Danny's brother Craig. And Danny had been told to remove his belongings from one of the storage units. He was angry. He was frustrated. He was going through all types of different emotions. Charlene says Danny was so angry he was threatening to kill not only the new manager of the storage facility, but even members of his own family. She thought she could calm him down by cooking his favorite meal. He loved chicken and duck ones. And you thought that would make a happy? Oh yeah. It would help him relax. And she says that night, it didn't work. When I came back into the bedroom, his man just heard all me. He was angry that I was trying to calm him down. I'd seen the look in his eyes before, yes, but I had never seen it like it did that night. So Charlene says she took her gun out of the nightstand and laid it on the bed.

7:18I thought the gun would keep him at bay. Why could we treat it to just the opposite? At this point, the two were standing at opposite sides of the bed. But Charlene claims Danny started coming at her. I didn't know how to stop. So she picked up the gun and shot her husband three times. After the shooting Charlene called 911, the paramedics were already working on Danny when Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Jose Trevino arrived. How did he look to you? You know, he was in pain. He was, he was moaning. I didn't know if he was going to make it or not at the time. And I'm standing here by his feet, leaned over talking to him. Danny, who shot you? Danny, tell me who shot you. What did he say? He said my wife. With his dying breath, 49-year-old Danny Hill had identified his wife as his killer.

8:18Charlene was arrested that night and charged with murder. It's taken a little bit of all of our souls and our hearts. While Jamie admits her father was sometimes abusive, she claims her mother was often the instigator. I was there. I lived it and my mom was the one that would provoke things. You could only push the dog in a corner so much until it bites back. And that's what she did. But ultimately, it was something Charlene said, shortly after making bail, that her children say, convinced them this was not an open and shut case of self-defense. Jeremy is Charlene's first born. She had said that he wasn't coming at her. He didn't put his hands on her. She said that to you? Yes. Yes. That he was not coming at us. Yes. That he did not put his hands on her. Yes. Do you remember what you said to her? No. But I felt sick to my stomach. After that was said, my brother and I knew for sure that this was murder.

9:21And Jamie believes she knows the real motive. She wants it all. She wants the money. It's like living in a nightmare that's never going to be old. As Charlene Hill got ready for her first trial in September 2009, she faced life in prison for killing her husband. She hired a prominent Houston defense team, attorneys George Parnam and D. McWilliams. They argued this is a clear cut case of self-defense. Imagine how scary that must have been when you're actually physically confronted with a huge violent man who is not in his right mind and is threatening to kill everyone you know, including you. But prosecutors Jill Stotz and Chad Bridges said there was evidence that contradicted

10:25crucial parts of Charlene's story. So why is this not a textbook case of a wife who feared for her life and did the only thing she could do? She wasn't abused woman at times with the blistics, the forensics, the physical evidence. So on that day, it wasn't self-defense. And there was some curious activity the prosecutors wanted to know about involving the couple's money. Lots of it. About a million dollars that Charlene transferred between accounts about a month before she shot Danny. Did you transfer the million dollars from the business account to an account with just your name on it? No, I do not. I transferred the million dollars from our corporate account into a money market account. So if he wanted any of that money, he could have gotten it. 100%. Charlene seemed to have an answer for everything.

11:28But investigators were convinced the crime scene told them the real story. Charlene says she was on this side of the bed and Danny was over there on the other side when she shot him. But this is the door to the living room. It was right by Charlene and prosecutors wonder why she didn't just back out of the room and flee. Because of my physical condition, the injury to my leg, I can't run. Charlene insists she was unable to back out of the room because her leg had been shattered when she and Danny were in a motorcycle accident three years earlier. You had had me in two steps. And that's what this case is all about. Did she have to shoot her husband or was there any other option? If I'm Charlene and I'm over here, the door is just right there. If I've got the gun, why can't I just run away?

12:32Would she make the door? If we're talking about a race to the door, I'm considerably smaller than Danny. Charlene is standing there terrified and frozen. She's not knowing what on earth to do. So I'm here and I'm trying to get out. And there is no chance Charlene making that door, much less negotiating the turn and the steps are getting out. Danny is on her in a split second. Prosecutors believe Charlene had multiple motives for wanting her husband dead. There was the money. The couple was worth several million dollars. But it turns out Danny had suffered a critical brain injury in that motorcycle accident and he was never the same. After the accident, we called him dad number two because he was just, what's this? What's that? And then she felt like she was having to raise another kid because of his brain injury and my dad was a burden to her.

13:34Next what does Jeremy Hill? At trial, Jeremy took the stand against his own mother. He admitted that Danny beat him as well as Charlene but said the violence ended after the motorcycle crash. He became a big pussy cat if you will. Watching her first born testify against her was more than Charlene could bear and it got more difficult. Let's talk about acts of violence. As Charlene's attorney confronted Jeremy with some of the Hill family's dirtiest secrets. It was a time when you were in the fifth grade. When your father came into your bedroom beat you so severely for no reason that he knocked you out. Right? He punched me once and knocked me out yesterday. George Parnam believed Jeremy had a hidden motive for turning against his mother. It's money. Your mother did not have an inkling and I owed up that you had gone through a million dollars

14:40that day. Right? Correct. A million dollars that Charlene had moved from one account to another before the killing was moved again just after she got arrested. Charlene transferred it to Jeremy for safe keeping. He admitted he withdrew all the money and split it with his siblings to pay off debts. Where did that money go to? They went towards paying off my house. A bitch called Charlene Hill. Charlene decided to take a chance few murder defendants ever do. She took the stand in her own defense. Danny was grabbing me by the throw and had me on the ground. She painfully recounted the years of violence. Let's take him out. Then she told the court about the night she shot her husband. What did you do? I pulled the clock out of the dresser and I laid it on the bed and I stood back and I

15:48told Danny, don't come near me. We're not going to go there. Did Danny say anything to you when he sold the gun on the bed? He laughed at me. I said, we're going to shoot out. I'm going to shoot. I'm going to shoot. I'm going to shoot. You better shoot me. And then prosecutor Jill Stotz had Charlene in her sights. It was an unrelenting cross-examination. Is that something that normally would calm Danny down and showing him that you have a gun? It really wasn't to calm him down. It was to show that you had the upper hand. No, it was to tell him to back off. It was to tell him to back off is not the same as calming him down. For two days, why would you set a gun where he can easily reach it? She would not let up. At that point, could you have picked up that weapon? Even if you're pointing it at him and walked out the door.

16:51No, man. Why is that? Because I believe I was in danger. Danger of what? You have the gun. My husband was a lead the weapon without a gun. Charlene claimed that since Danny's brain injury, he was more violent than ever. And while Jeremy may have described him as a pussycat, Charlene insisted that night. Danny Hill was more like a wild animal. He was coming at me. He was going to kill me. And unless you've been in that situation, you have no ideas. I could grizzly bear any money to attack you. All rise. With the testimony over, the drama moved to the jury room, where 12 men and women began possibly the strangest, most emotional deliberations ever in this courthouse.

17:52Through her eyes, I could really of that night. I kind of felt that she was going to die that night. Sylvia LaCe and Charlene Hill had never met, but Sylvia quickly became the most important person in Charlene's life. She was a juror. How's the death of an individual, Danny Hill? Charlene's first murder trial. What was it like in that room? Hostel. Hostel. Bear hostel. The vote was 11 to 1 guilty, with Sylvia the lone holdout. She tried to persuade the others that Charlene could not outrun her husband because of her leg injury. What are you all talking about? How can she retreat? Can't you see Charlene who was doing this here? What did they say to you? I am sick and tired of you.

18:53I am sick and tired of you up in here with all these different scenarios. Bail. Bail, if Mary Charles noticed during a break that Sylvia was clearly feeling the pressure. I could tell that she was holding her stomach and she looked nervous. And she was pacing back and forth. She says, they're not going to make me change my mind. They're not going to make me change my mind. The other jurors believed Charlene could have left the room. And no one on the jury would budge. This whole trial, which had taken so long, was I guess hanging in the balance, teetering on the brink of disaster at that point. So after two days of deliberations, Judge James Shoemaker had no choice. I'm going to grant the motion for mistrial made by the defense. I declared a mistrial because we had nowhere else to go. I was shocked.

19:54I was devastated. I felt they didn't hear the story. Charlene Hill was a free woman, but maybe not for long. A little more than a year later, she's back in Judge Shoemaker's courtroom. The prosecutors have decided to try her for the murder of her husband a second time. I felt like she had a very decent chance of getting a not guilty verdict. Why? She would be more at home on the stand. Second time around. But prosecutors are taking no chances. They want to ensure that the second jury's focus will be on science. Not sentiment. I hope they put it aside their emotions. She doesn't get a buy on murder just because she was abused in the past. So with the help of crime scene investigators and not one but two medical examiners,

20:57they will present a case that is more heavily based on forensics. To them, the science tells the real story. In the end, it's the bullets that mattered. At her first trial, Charlene dramatically described her showdown with Danny. I'm sorry, but I can't see it. But I was, he was coming after me. But investigators Lester Fipps and Jeremy Goodrich noticed all the blood stains were on the opposite side of the room from where Charlene was standing. And then they saw this bullet hole in the wall opposite Charlene and just about one foot off the ground. I mean, I'm no CSI expert, but that would seem to indicate that it was fired from a higher angle. It's downward towards the wall from a higher position.

21:57To the prosecution, this is crucial evidence. Proving that Danny was already seriously wounded and slumped on the floor when Charlene stood over him, re-aimed and fired another round, striking him for the third time. What does that say? That says that he was no longer a threat. He was no longer a threat. He was down. He was on the ground. Yes, sir. Did he fall down before you stopped shooting? I don't think so. That's Mr. Hill's final cord after I removed it. At Charlene's second trial in January 2011, medical examiner Sarah Doyle testifies that not only was Danny down, he was paralyzed. In your opinion, what caused that injury to Danny Hill's final cord? The bullet passing through his spine. Would you be able to stand at that point? No. The walk. No.

22:58The third shot makes it murder. And of course, when Charlene's attorneys examined all the evidence, it told them that Charlene did not mean to kill Danny. If that were the case, why are there still several live rounds in the gun? If she wanted to finish him off, she sure could have. Danny wasn't dead when she called 911. But the defense also has to explain that bullet hole that's so low on the wall. It could be a miss. We just don't know. Dr. Steven Pustilnik is the medical examiner in neighboring Galveston County. He claims the bullet hole in the wall cannot be a miss. He looked at its shape. The bullet hole made in the drywall is oblong. It is not a perfectly round hole. That is a sign of what forensic scientists call a tumbling bullet.

23:59Pustilnik says that bullet hit the wall sideways after first passing through Danny Hill. And Pustilnik set up a demonstration to prove his theory. Now forensic for dummies, I mean a tumbling bullet is just that, right? A bullet goes in, hits stuff in the body and tumbles and over it. Correct. And it does not come out necessarily knows first. Dr. Pustilnik filled a five gallon bucket with internal organs and blood from a pig. This is sort of roughly what's inside a human body. Correct. And he used the same kind of gun. This is a guac model 19. And ammunition as Charlene Hill. Well, it appears you were right. Look at this bullet hole here. That is not a perfectly round hole. So the bullet has passed through all those intestinal contents and during its travel has rotated on its way out and made a asymmetric hole in the drywall. In the context of this case, what is that proved to you?

25:00That shows that that last shot was a shot that was taken while his body was down there under the window, not standing up, not coming at her. But Charlene's attorneys insist that in the end whether or not the bullet tumbled through Danny is not important. What is important is that Charlene believed her life was in jeopardy. You can shoot a person as many times as is necessary to stop the threat. If you had the right to kill somebody, you had the right to kill them. Dead, dead, dead, dead. But the prosecution is just getting started. That's what it's going to be. It's a tough fight for Charlene Hill and her lawyers. It is the first question most people ask. Why would Charlene Hill stay in an abusive relationship for almost 30 years?

26:07There was a good Danny and there was a bad Danny. You got to remember Danny and I worked together side by side. There were good times. But it was a rollercoaster ride for a long time. Even her closest friends, Jennifer Hinch and Susan Watts, searched for answers. Those vows said for better and worse than she meant it and she kept them. I think they were each other's drug that they couldn't live without the other and didn't want to live without the other. And now the most painful details of this baffling and broken relationship are about to be exposed again in court by Charlene's own lawyers. That her life was in jeopardy that she was in danger of serious bodily injury. Not only is she physically punished, she has mentally punished as well. She knows full well that he has absolutely control of her. Witnesses testified about Danny's violent history. He started yelling and screaming and, you know, throwing things around so char and I

27:10hit under a picnic table. I was pointing up the door going, what are these holes in the door? And he said, a shot missed. Another family friend, Jeff Douglas, is clearly uncomfortable as he recounts how Danny bragged to him about raping Charlene. He pushed her down on the bed. What did he tell you? Well, something to the effect that, you know, after a while she enjoyed it. Even Jeremy Hill, please have a seat while testifying against his own mother once again has to admit that Danny was capable of appalling violence. Your father somehow was able to pick your mother up and put her into the passenger seat. Yes, sir. What was he doing?

28:12He's choking her. But prosecutors think the forensics prove that on the night in question, Charlene was the dangerous one in that room. The bullets run the wrong way for this to be what she said. The bullets run the wrong way for him to be coming at her. Medical examiner, Dr. Sarah Doyle. The bullet goes through the muscle of his upper right arm and exits his upper right arm then re-enters into his armpit. It goes through the right lung, the right diaphragm, the liver. But it's not so much where the bullets ended up that's important to prosecutors. It is where they entered Danny's body. And then the side of his right arm. So he would have to be standing facing away from her to get those. 90 degrees away? 90 degrees away, yes. This is a bullet that went that shot is a re-entry from the bullet. Dr. Stephen Pustilnik has studied the autopsy photos.

29:13And he says Danny could not possibly have been coming at Charlene with his arms raised ready to grab her as she testified. If he was coming at her at the time, where would he have been shot? If he's coming at her, it would be on his front surface. So front of his chest, front of his abdomen. Do you remember where he was when you fired each of those three shots? No, he was just coming. He had to be facing this way if she was in that position far and there. And what's that way? Yes, or that is the exit. It's the door to the back patio. But Charlene's attorney say Danny was threatening to go out to his truck to get a gun. And suddenly he changed his mind. I'm Charlene, right? OK, I'm here. He goes like he's going to go to the door. But rather than go to the door, he makes his move towards her. I think the state just doesn't believe that he actually turned to come at her. He's got wounds on his right side.

30:14Those wounds are totally consistent with exactly what we've described here. Do you think that he got shot on his way while he was turning to come at her? Right. Now, everyone is ready for Charlene to take the stand for the second time in this courtroom. I don't know if we're thinking anything other than I'm going to die. And everyone will be surprised by how this case ends. OK, I'm Justin Wolffers, host of the Platypus Economics Podcast. If there's one thing I've learned from a career teaching economics, it's that your life is shaped by economic currents you'll never see. A single price tag can explain things a thousand experts can't. People who understand economics, they make better decisions in their careers, their finances, their relationships, and their communities. And I want that for you. Justin too, and follow Platypus Economics, available now wherever you get your podcasts.

31:23In a case full of gambles, Charlene Hill's attorneys are taking yet another one. They're having the jury take a field trip to Charlene and Danny's bedroom. Why do you want them so badly to see that room? This whole thing came down to, could she have gotten away? It seems to me that the best way for a person to understand that is to actually be in there, see it, see how it's configured. We took one of those jurors, Judith, who does not want her last name used, into our room. When you first came into that room, what was your goal? What did you want to accomplish? Well, I just wanted to kind of get an idea of the size and, you know, where Charlene was. It's a good size room, but considering the conflict that was going on, it wasn't that big. And that's exactly what the defense wants the jury to bear in mind. Pardon? Call you next to us. Charlene Hill, your honor. As Charlene takes the stand.

32:25First, attorney George Parnam again has Charlene recount years of abuse, with little left to the imagination. Did any of you ever hog tie you, Miss Hill? Yes. Describe hog tie for me. It's where I would take my arms and time behind my back and take my legs in time, and then time my arms to my legs. Charlene has to tell her story about that night to 12 new jurors about Danny's rage and what happened when she took out her gun. He laughed at me and said, I'm going to f***ing. Excuse my language. I'm going to kill you bitch. You want to have a shoot out? It was just going off saying all kinds of things. But Charlene says she can't remember the actual shooting. Do you remember how many times you shot? No, I do not. Do you remember where you shot him? Oh, I do not.

33:26What did you do next? I don't know. You don't ever remember having the gun in your hand. In another brutal cross-examination prosecutor Jill Stotz first confronts Charlene with the physical evidence. So if Danny turns and it leaves the door that's going out to the backyard and starts coming at you on the opposite side of the room, can you explain to me how he didn't fall in the middle of the room or anywhere other than at the wall? I have no idea. When you shot him in the arm, was he up against the wall? You ask me when I shot him and I can't tell you that. I don't know that. Over two days. Do you recall pulling the trigger? Do you know where you shot him? Do you know where you were trying to shoot him? The prosecutor pounces on those lapses in Charlene's memory. So if you remembered 18 months ago that you aimed for his arm and shot him in the arm, why don't you remember that now when I asked that question? I don't remember thinking anything other than I'm going to die.

34:28Can you explain to the jury why last time you recalled not only firing the weapon but that you were standing when you did it and this time you don't recall that at all? No, I can't explain why. That is impossible. In her closing argument, the prosecutor accuses Charlene of lying about her memory loss. Her credibility is shot. She forgot everything that may have made her guilty of murder and she only remembered the stuff that would help her out. That's awfully convenient. As the new jury deliberated over new arguments and new witnesses, both sides were worried about a repeat of the old outcome. This time I was really hoping that they would reach a verdict so that we wouldn't have to do this again. For the third time. For the third time. We worried a lot. We were on our hands. We were afraid of a conviction. Show me in your mind what you think Danny was doing when she fired out of her. I think he was heading towards the door and at that point he fell down or she should have

35:29left the room. I thought, oh, here we go again. Baylif Mary Charles was worried the jury might be having a tough time reaching a verdict when they were still deliberating at 10 o'clock that first night. I said, this case is snake bitten. I said, man, I can't believe it. What do you mean snake bitten? I mean, you know, we weren't getting anywhere and I said, we cannot try this case at third time. So the next morning as the jury resumed its deliberation, Judge Shoomake encouraged the attorneys to try to reach a plea deal. The clock was ticking with a verdict or a hung jury possible at any moment. The attorneys kept going back and forth, back and forth. Hours went by. About six o'clock that evening, a development. Both sides came in together and said, we have a deal. Now the tough part, convincing Charlene to go along and end the fight to clear her name,

36:30the deal no prison time, but she would have to admit that she murdered her husband. Obviously it is a gut-wrenching decision for her. If we can reach an agreement, it's guaranteed she walks out of there. And if we don't, it's not. I didn't murder my husband. And to take a plea bargain saying I did, to me it was just very hard. Finally Charlene relented. But right as she was about to sign the papers, there was a knock on the door from inside the jury room. And I got a tap on my shoulder. And they said, judge, we have a verdict. At that point, Judge Shoomag made a split-second decision. He could have read the jury's verdict, whatever it was. But he decided not to, to let both sides, seal the deal.

37:34What's going on in your mind at this point while you're going through all this? I'm wondering if I ever have a case that is normal. To the charge of murder, what is your plea? It was a dramatic moment. At Charlene, shaking her voice barely audible, stood before the judge and pleaded guilty to murder. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty and for no other reason? I was pretty much crying the whole time. My attorneys were holding me up. And you understand that you've waived every ride of appeal that you have. And she did it just in the nick of time. After the plea, the bailiff handed me the verdict sheet. And what did it say? Guilty. All right. Had he gotten the verdict even moments earlier, the judge would have had to sentence Charlene to at least five years in prison. How close did Charlene Hill come to going to the penitentiary?

38:35Probably as close as a space of five seconds. Seriously, five seconds. And I thought, oh my god, someone upstairs is watching over this woman. But the jurors also felt Charlene had suffered enough. We all agreed that she didn't necessarily need to do jail time, but that wasn't our call. So even though her plea made their verdict irrelevant, the jurors were satisfied. We were not unhappy that she made that decision. So in a way, this sort of worked out the way you wanted it to. That's right. Are you satisfied that justice was done? I think justice was done. I do. Now with her legal battle behind her, Charlene is trying to build a new life without Danny. I miss him. I miss the good Danny. And it will be even tougher because her son, Jeremy, wants nothing to do with her. Do you love her at all?

39:36Anymore? There's a love. But forgiveness is hard because you can't forget. But Charlene's daughter, Jamie, had decided to forgive her mother after a bitter assrangement of more than four years. If people hold hate in their heart, it'll just sink their life down further. We're here now and that's all that matters and I'm happy. So happy. And I'm happy that we get a second chance together. I love you. I love you. I love you very much. I love you. I love you. I love you.