Peace, Love and Murder

20:51Whoever did this crime, if he could do it once, and this might not have been the first time, he could be doing it many more times. There's an excellent chance there is somebody out there still doing this.

21:03Harold Dow:But while Bob and Susie were still wondering who killed Tony six years after her death, Palm Beach County cold case detectives had found new evidence. DNA in the right palm and there's blood under her thumb. And they were closing in. That to me was the killer.

21:38Harold Dow:John Van Houten has spent years tracking deer through the Georgia woods.

21:50But he finds most of his prey in the urban setting of Palm Beach County, Florida, as

21:57Harold Dow:a detective in the Cold Case Squad. The attack was so brutal on the victim Tony Hartsong. 99 % of them are domestic when the violence is so overwhelming. In 2006, six years after Tony Hartsong's unsolved murder, the cold case was reopened and landed on Van Houten's desk. DNA testing in 2000 was not conclusive enough to charge anyone, so Van Houten had all the samples from Tony's body retested, using newer, more precise techniques, and he made two striking discoveries. A trace of Bob's blood was under Tony's left thumbnail, and his DNA was on her right palm. That's what convinced Van Houten's boss, Sergeant Bill Springer, the cold case could now be solved.

22:50Harold Dow:When I reviewed this case and I looked at the physical evidence, and I said, this is a good case. Armed with the new forensic evidence, police brought Bob Hartsong back in for another interview. I don't think it's my blood. I don't know why it matches me, but I did not do it. He denied it and denied bleeding. Was very adamant that he didn't bleed that day. Convinced Bob was lying and convinced they had the DNA evidence to prove it, the Col K squad came to an inescapable conclusion. Detective, who do you think killed Tony Hartzong? Her husband, Robert Hartzong. In September 2006, Bob's quiet new life with Susie got a jolt.

23:38I got out of my car. All of a sudden, a black car comes rocketing into the driveway and says to me, hands up and points a gun at me.

23:51Harold Dow:Bob was arrested for the murder of his wife, Tony, six years earlier. Then he was held without bail for 20 months, as preparations for his trial dragged on. 20 months in jail is not something any one of us want to do. Yes, sir, I sure will. In May 2008, Bob was released, but he was far from free. He was sent home and kept under house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet. The whole concept of killing somebody, of harming somebody else, is just beyond me. Is it even conceivable in your mind that Bob could be guilty of the murder for which he's accused? No. No. If I thought in any way, and I'm talking about in any way, there was any possibility he could be a man that was capable of doing something like that, and with all we've had to face, I would have walked away.

24:52Harold Dow:Finally, in September 2008, nearly eight years to the day after Tony's murder, Bob is headed to court. We're fighting for Bob's life, our family. Tony's cousins arrive at the Palm Beach County Courthouse, hoping for some resolution. I'm sure as the trial unfolds, we're all going to learn things that we wish we could erase but we can't. The evidence presented by the state will show how the defendant orchestrated the events of the day. Prosecutor Barbara Burns will try to convince the jury that Bob is the murderer. Is Bob Hartsong a cold-blooded killer? In my opinion, absolutely. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

25:47Harold Dow:Burns calls to the stand a neighbor of the Heart Songs named Carol Parkman. She testifies she heard Bob and Tony arguing around 1 o 'clock, the time investigators believe the murder occurred. Were you familiar with their voices? Yes. Had you heard them raise their voices at each other in the past? A couple times. Investigators say lunchtime was Bob's window of opportunity. His cell phone records show no calls between 12.30 and 1.41, even though he was on the phone constantly the rest of the day. That's when Burns believes Bob was at home arguing with Tony. He confronted his wife with whatever the confrontation was that turned violent.

26:36Harold Dow:As for the knife used to stab Tony, Burns believes it came from this open kitchen drawer in the crime scene photos. Under questioning, Bob told detectives that was the drawer where he and Tony kept their favorite knife, which they used to cut tofu. Slightly serrated, but it was a very smooth knife. Was it like a paring knife? Yeah, it was a little longer than a paring knife. It was about five or six inches, something we did. And Bob tells investigators that knife is missing. The last time you saw it, was it in the sink or in the drawer? The only time I would ever think, other than when I used it, it would be, it would be an injury.

27:14A stranger is going to go to the knife block if that's what they're looking for. Because they're not gonna have any idea that a knife is kept anywhere else in that kitchen, except on a knife block.

27:25Harold Dow:So you think the murder was committed with that tofu knife? I absolutely do. But Burns' most compelling piece of evidence is that trace of Bob's blood found under Tony's left thumbnail. The jury, welcome back. Everyone may be seated. Tense moments in court as the jury listens to the tape of his interrogation by Springer and Van Houten. We can't get over your blood on her body. I have no explanation for it because I didn't touch her. A plausible reason. I didn't know your blood would be on her body. I have no idea. I have no idea at all. Outrageous, really. Today, Bob admits the blood might be his, but he has an explanation.

28:10There you can have a picture of me taking my finger up there. That was close. It's possible that I cut myself slightly at work. I might have cut myself on anything. Her nail might have gotten into an old cut. I don't know.

28:26Harold Dow:Then there is the other critical piece of evidence. Bob's DNA was found on the palm of Tony's right hand. And that means one thing from all the experience I have. That's the last person that she touched or touched her. Bob admitted touching Tony when he found her body here in the doorway of the Hartsong's home. But did he just touch her or did he bleed on her? It becomes a key question because if Bob's blood is on Tony's palm, it almost certainly got there the day of the murder. She didn't leave the house with blood on her hand. No woman does. If she noticed there was blood on her hand, she has immaculate hands, she would have washed it off.

29:09Harold Dow:A blood expert testifies about the breakdown of DNA on Tony's palm. She says it's a mixture of Bob and Tony's DNA, and some of it is blood. But it still could be a combination of skin cells plus blood, or blood plus blood. I just know blood's there. I don't know what the other component would be. Barry Soren takes this to mean it's Bob's blood, and after eight long years, he thinks his sister's murder has finally been solved. I cannot find a way out for Bob. He had to have done this. I'm sorry to say that. But Bob's defense attorney says the blood evidence isn't conclusive at all, and he's about to plunge some big holes in the prosecution's case.

29:54As I sit here, I am adamantly telling you that this man did not kill his wife of 27 years.

30:06Hi, my name is Lloyd Lockridge, and I'm the host of a new podcast from Odyssey called Family Lore. In this podcast, I'm going to have people on to tell unusual and sometimes far-fetched stories about their families. I've heard my whole life that she invented the margarita. And then we're going to investigate those stories and find out how much of it is true. He gets a patent one month before the Wright brothers. Oh my God. Please follow and listen to Family Lore, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows.

30:58Harold Dow:It was at this mansion, later featured in the movie, Bad Boys II. Do you know Robert Hartzong? Yes. Do you remember Mr. Hartzong being present at the Dalry Beach site? Yes, sir. Do you remember what time you were... Five men who worked with Bob at the job site that day testify, and they all say they saw him at various times throughout the day. Do you know how long he stayed that day at the job site? About 3 o 'clock, 3.30. Do you think they were lying or mistaken? I don't think they were lying. I think they were mistaken. It was a very large construction site. But because they saw him at one point, and then sometime later on, they just kind of assumed that he was there.

31:40So I think it was a mistake.

31:43Harold Dow:Remember, police say the murder happened around 1 p.m. in Jupiter, 43 miles north of Del Rey. Bob's lawyer, Barry Maxwell, says it's a stretch to believe Bob could have pulled it off. Witnesses place him in Del Rey at various times in the morning and the afternoon. So bottom line, in order for him to have left the construction site, headed back home, which is a good 45 minute drive away, commit the murder, clean himself up, drive another 45 minutes back to that Del Rey Beach construction site, Superman couldn't have done that. He would have had to have flown like Superman. And as for Bob's blood under Tony's fingernail, Maxwell cross-examines the blood expert.

32:25And from your analysis, ma 'am, can you tell this jury how long this sample of Mr. Hardsong's blood DNA was existing underneath the left nail of Mrs. Hardsong? No, DNA does not tell you how long it's been there. We're talking a husband and wife married for 27 years. We don't know when that blood was placed under that fingernail. We don't know if it was the morning of, a couple mornings before. or... You know, let's talk about this blood.

32:54Harold Dow:Maxwell tells jurors there could be all kinds of explanations. How do we know Mr. Hartsong didn't cut himself shave a couple days before? Oh, Mrs. Hartsong, oh honey, you got some blood, let me wipe that. How do we know you're dumped? Sure, it's a white one, yeah. And remember prosecution witness Carol Parkman, the neighbor who testified she heard Bob and Tony arguing? Well, it turns out, in previous interviews with investigators and attorneys, she told a different story. Now, do you remember your answer when I asked, could you recognize the voices that you heard? You stated no, didn't you? Right.

33:34Harold Dow:And Maxwell discredits her previous testimony. You also stated that the pitch of the tone of the conversation you heard was not aggravated, but was a normal conversation, correct? That's correct. There's another big problem for the prosecution. Crucial mistakes by the initial investigators after the crime. Mistakes even the prosecutor acknowledges. Nobody asked him to take his shirt off. Nobody inspected him under his clothing for any injuries or fresh injuries. Isn't that standard procedure? Shouldn't that have been done? Yes. The original investigators also failed to request records from cell phone towers that that would have pinpointed Bob's location throughout the day by tracking the signal from his phone.

34:20Harold Dow:Those records are now gone. It would have either given him the airtight alibi that he wanted, or it would have given us the airtight case that we needed. Let's talk about this microchondrial. Maxwell points out to the jury other unexplained pieces of evidence, unidentified hairs found on Tony's body. There were foreign hairs all over this woman's body. Tests showed none were Bob's hairs, and Maxwell tries to create doubt in jurors' minds. So as we sit here today, we don't know whose hair was found on Mrs. Hartong's body. That's crucial for the state's case, and they haven't met that. And there are more forensic questions that investigators never answered.

35:04Harold Dow:That unknown fingerprint on the deadbolt lock, and bloody footprints in the house that the original detective on the case could not identify. Well, to the best of your knowledge, have we ever matched the footprints walking through the home? No. And then there is Ronald Gagnon, a schizophrenic homeless man seen near the Hartsong house around the time of the murder. He left Florida soon afterwards. Investigators tracked Gagnon down in California, where local police interviewed him. Have your voices ever told you they killed somebody? Ganyo mutters incoherently in this police video, talking vaguely about hearing voices and dreaming about murder.

35:48Harold Dow:You think you might have killed somebody? Yeah? California police claim that off-camera Ganyo talked of details that police say might be related to Tony Hartsong's murder. I'm directing your attention. Details they reported to Palm Beach County Detective David Bradford. Mr. Ganyo talked about a blonde woman, correct? That's correct. Mrs. Hartsong was blonde, wasn't she? That's correct. Mr. Ganyo talked about the blonde woman being stabbed, didn't he? Yes, he did. I don't have any other questions, Josh. Thank you. But Ganyo's DNA was not found at the crime scene, and he was dismissed as a suspect.

36:29Harold Dow:Who killed Tony Hartsong? We don't know, and we'll never know. While the lawyers offer different explanations of the evidence and different theories about how Tony was killed here at our home in Jupiter, one big question continues to hang over the entire case. If Bob Hartsong did kill Tony, what was his motive? It's greed to me is what it is. Investigators think Bob's motive was mercenary. They speculate he was planning to divorce Tony and didn't want to pay for it. He's the type of person that it's my business, my house. I've worked hard all these years, and I'm not going to share it because it's mine.

37:13Harold Dow:But Barry Soren believes Bob's motive was years in the making. He's married. What do you mean? Marriage is the motive. People are married. They have a thousand insults, a thousand things that happen in a marriage, a thousand hurts. If you're not careful and you don't have a good core morality after 27 years, people lose it. Good afternoon, members of the jury. Welcome back. Everyone may be seated. But in court, the prosecution has no clear-cut motive to offer. Good afternoon. Raise your right hand. And the jury is about to hear from one last witness who knows more than anyone about Bob and Tony Hartsong's marriage.

37:58Please introduce yourself to the members of the jury. Their son, Jake. Me and my mom, she was like my best friend. Like, better friends with her than my dad at the time. Jake was 16 when Tony was murdered. And if I had any inclination that my dad did this, I would be the first one to tell you that he did this. and trust me, he did not do this. I watched him thoroughly, more than anybody would, because I lived with him before and after this. And I could tell you frankly that he didn't do it frankly.

38:36Harold Dow:As convinced as Jake is of his father's innocence, He paints an existence... Prosecutor Burns tries to convince the jury of his guilt. The evidence is clear that for some reason, whether it was financial, whether it was infidelity, whether it was just a silly argument, he lost it. And after one last plea from Barry Maxwell, the jury will decide Bob's fate. Come back with a verdict which is just with the evidence or lack of evidence before you. Give Mr. Hartzong his freedom back.

39:27I don't believe that any human being in the whole world has a right to harm any other human being in any way.

39:35Harold Dow:Which picture of Bob Hart's song will the jury believe? The peace-loving former hippie who claims he lived in nirvana with his wife? or a man authorities believe exploded in rage and brutally killed her after 27 years of marriage. What would be your reaction if the jury finds you guilty? I have to accept the life that's given to me. I have to continue to walk on my path. And if it happened that way, I'm certainly, I'm going to be very, very sad. Innocent man be going to jail? Yeah, absolutely. It would be a travesty. As the jury deliberates, Tony's family thinks either outcome will be a sad one.

40:22I never came here gunning for Bob. I never did. I mean, it's a family that's been torn to pieces.

40:31Harold Dow:The jurors had deliberated for less than three hours when they asked the judge for clarification on one of the state's most important but confusing pieces of evidence. Was it Bob Hartsong's blood that was found on Tony's right palm? The judge's answer? The evidence is inconclusive. And that answer is all the jury needs to hear. Everyone please rise. Just moments later, the jury reappears to announce its verdict. We the jury finds as follows. We find the defendant not guilty. So say we all this 10th day of October 2008 in the West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida. Jury for person number eight.

41:13Harold Dow:For Bob Hartsong and his loved ones, the verdict brings not only relief, but vindication. All I'm gonna say to you is I'm free, as I should be. I didn't do it, I never could have done that to anybody. It's impossible for the kind of person that I am. You can't imagine what it's like to spend 24 months in jail and finally be free for something that you didn't do, for losing somebody in your life that was more important to you than air. And here I am. I'm going to live. But the jurors say the verdict does not reflect what they truly believe about Bob Hardsong. Out of 12 jurors, 10, 11 of us, if not all of us believed he did it.

42:03We just did not have the evidence to convict him. So even though there wasn't enough evidence, you can't convict somebody based on your feelings.

42:12Harold Dow:You're saying that Bob Hanson got away with murder? Yes, I am. And for Forman Tony Alberto, that inconclusive DNA on the palm was what turned this case around. If it had been his blood, there is no way, no way that I would have entered a not guilty verdict. Thank you for listening to me. The jurors say it's the state's fault that Bob Hartsong isn't going to prison. A lot of things were left unturned or un-uninvestigated. I'm angry. I'm angry at the state. I think they-they were irresponsible in the investigation. The state didn't have enough case against them. That's why we couldn't do our job and convict them.

42:53Harold Dow:For Tony's family, the verdict is a mixed bag. In your heart of hearts, do you think Bob Hartzong killed Tony? You know what? It doesn't matter what's in my heart of hearts. The jury has spoken. Whoever murdered her is going to have something in their heart of hearts for the rest of their life. I'm not completely unhappy with the result. He gets to go back to his kids. I don't know the answer. Listen, what my sister would have wanted for her children is more important than my instinct to a vendetta. It's good to have my dad back. It's good to be back. James, my dad. I go stand by my pond. Back at home, Bob sets foot into his backyard for the first time in two years.

43:48God, I can't believe I'm free. It's fabulous. It's like I can't even imagine it right now. Like all time I kept saying, I know they'll be able to see the truth. I really know they'll be able to see the truth.

44:00Harold Dow:But you've got to know the people out there who still think you killed your wife. But I know what I did and what I didn't do. And I know I didn't kill my wife. So what they think, that's their problem to deal with. Hopefully, somewhere along the line, I can create, there'll be enough truth that'll be brought out in this case that exoneration will be complete.

44:29Harold Dow:Bob Hartsong says he still lives with the stigma of having been accused. And he believes his name won't be completely cleared until the real killer is found. They're going to have to find the people that did this incredible act. I won't rest until that's brought out. I miss her terribly. I'll miss her all the rest of my life. My relationship with Toni will go on. It's just the way it is.

45:36We'll see you next time. for three-month plan equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.