Accident Reconstructionist
Appearances
20/20
Mountain of Lies
A recreation puts Harold's version of events to the test. Nothing. So let me put a little pressure this way. Nothing.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
Accident reconstruction is sort of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You take the pieces of information and factual information and try to put them together to see if they fit. Where was the vehicle positioned? What's the terrain look like? You look at the gravel surface that this Jeep was parked on.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
We're going to replicate with this exemplar vehicle the layout of all the physical evidence. That includes the lug nuts, the positioning of the bottle jacks, and then hopefully also replicate the vehicle's movement off of the bottle jacks. Yeah, there you go.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
But look at the time interval. From the time he picks up the flat tire, goes roughly 12 feet to the back corner to put the tire in, she moves closer to the vehicle, then drops the lug nuts, allegedly, and then gets down on her stomach and crawls up underneath.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
So, I mean, that timing just doesn't make sense because it would take more time, I believe, for her to do all of those activities than it would for him to come around and put the tire in the back of the Jeep.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
The other inconsistency is both the medical people as well as the coroner's office, when they did the autopsy, there was nothing in her fingernails. There was nothing on her hands indicating that she was struggling.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
You'd probably place it in. Nothing. So let me put a little pressure this way.
20/20
Mountain of Lies
When Laura Thomas got our report and finished her investigation, she changed the official cause of death from accidental to indeterminate on the death certificate and reissued it.