A long journey to justice begins, and ex-lovers are reunited in a courtroom. This episode originally published on December 19, 2024.
Chapter 1: Why was Sabrina Limon arrested?
It was Friday, January 6th, 2017, when Sabrina Limon heard the knock at her door. When she answered, she saw a group of men standing there. One had a familiar face. It was homicide detective Randall Meyer. Strong hands pulled Sabrina's arms behind her back, and handcuffs were snapped onto her wrists.
As soon as Sabrina's sister Julie saw Detective Meyer, she dialed Sabrina's attorney, Richard Terry, in Bakersfield. He had assured Sabrina she had nothing to worry about. Now, the cops were at the door.
Richard, her attorney, would tell her, live your life, Brina. There's nothing. They don't have anything. You didn't do this.
Just as Sabrina was being placed in a patrol car, Julie says she heard the lawyer on the phone say, don't say anything. Within hours, secrets from Sabrina's past life were once again leading local newscasts.
It is no coincidence that Sabrina Limon was arrested just days before her former lover was scheduled to go on trial for her husband's murder.
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Chapter 2: What led to Jonathan Hearn's plea deal?
That's right. Sabrina's lover had turned on her. The plea deal was announced in open court a few days later.
The defendant, Jonathan Hearn, will enter a plea of guilty in return for his bold and truthful testimony in court proceedings involving Sabrina Limon.
In this episode, we'll take you inside the California courtroom where two ex-lovers were brought together again for the first time in nearly three years. You'll hear what Sabrina and Jonathan had to say about each other and about the murder of Rob Lamone.
I did express that I had done it and that everything was about to change.
I never wanted to believe that Jonathan was the one that did this. Ever.
Which one was telling the truth?
When you evaluate the witnesses' statements, you are allowed to take into account if they lied about one thing, they might be lying about another thing.
Who manipulated who?
People thought she seduced him and used sex to make him kill her husband.
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Chapter 3: What were the courtroom dynamics during the trial?
I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Deadly Mirage, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 6, He Said, She Said. On September 11th, 2017, the trial of Sabrina Limon opened in the packed Bakersfield courtroom of Judge John R. Brownlee.
She was facing first-degree murder, conspiracy, solicitation, the poisoning charge, attempted murder, and accessory after the fact.
That's the voice of Olivia LaVoice. She covered the trial for NBC affiliate KGET in Bakersfield, which also live-streamed the trial online.
People could not get enough. As soon as we started live streaming opening statements, I mean, we were blown away by literally thousands of people during the day, all day, were just glued to it. I mean, they wanted to see every single second of this. People who were typically watching soap operas now were watching this trial.
Everyone, it seemed, wanted to see the two lovers face off in court to hear two versions of a story that had resulted in murder. For prosecutor Eric Smith, the case was about a conniving woman who conspired with her young lover to have her husband murdered in cold blood.
Evidence will show that Robert Lamone was killed to replace him as the father to Leanna and Robin. This was their plan. This was their purpose.
For defense attorney Richard Terry, the case was about a confessed killer who was willing to lie about his mistress in order to avoid life without parole.
Everything implicated him. All of his statement implicated him. The only thing that made it now at Sabrina is, well, this was our plan.
In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jury the circumstantial case they were about to hear would leave no doubt about Sabrina Lamone's involvement in her husband's murder.
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Chapter 4: What was the prosecution's case against Sabrina Limon?
Why? So she could get in excess of $300,000 in life insurance money. And also that she could get lifelong benefits from the railroad because Robert was killed while working at the railroad in Tehachapi.
As with most murder trials, the prosecutor began his case with a series of foundational witnesses. Detectives and first responders described the crime scene and the evidence recovered. Other witnesses, such as Sabrina Lamone's former friends, Jason and Kelly Bernatine, told the jury what they knew about Sabrina's love affair with Jonathan Hearn.
I told him to never contact the Lamones, stay away from Sabrina.
And yeah, I said a lot of things. Why did you speak with Detective Meyer?
Because someone killed my friend. They needed to pay for it.
All of that, of course, was just the opening act. The main attraction, the reason why thousands were watching a live feed of the trial, was Jonathan Hearn, the confessed killer.
Good morning, sir. Can you tell us your name and spell your first and last name for the record?
For a few moments, there was silence in the courtroom as Jonathan Hearn stared intently at a spot on the floor about six feet in front of him. Sitting a few feet away, Sabrina Limon's long blonde hair hid her face and as she seemed to be studying the back of her hand.
How old are you?
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Chapter 5: How did Jonathan Hearn describe the murder plan?
So he said they decided together it was better to wait and put some time between Rob's murder and all that activity on their phones. Hearn said he bought Sabrina a burner phone and kept it loaded with prepaid minutes. It was while waiting for his next opportunity that Hearn said he had second thoughts about the idea of poisoning Rob.
He thought that it might be better to just approach him directly for the killing.
Few things are more direct than a .45 caliber slug at point-blank range. That became Jonathan Hearn's plan. He says he spent the next few months prepping for murder. He cased the railroad shop where Rob worked in Tehachapi. He took photos and noted where the security cameras were located. He bought clothes and a mask to disguise himself, and adhesive flashing to disguise his motorcycle.
When Sabrina told him her husband would be working in Tehachapi on that Sunday in August 2014, Jonathan says he told her he was ready.
She asked me if I could be detected, and so I explained that I didn't think I would be recognized. She asked me about the motorcycle, if that would be noticeable, because it did have custom lettering on it, and I explained that I was taking measures to disguise the motorcycle as well.
On the day of the murder, Hearn said, he arrived in Tehachapi around mid-afternoon. After parking his motorcycle in a secluded spot, Hearn said he donned an old man mask and set out on foot, walking with a limp. He was looking for the unmarked shop where Rob Lamone worked.
And when you got off your bike, what items did you have with you? A backpack with a firearm.
Unable to determine exactly which building Rob Lamone worked in, Jonathan said he was about to call it off and go home. Then he said he saw Rob Lamone pull up to one of those buildings in his service truck and open the garage door.
I began walking back down towards where I had seen Robert Park and where the garage door was still open.
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Chapter 6: How did the defense portray Sabrina Limon?
I believe I cared about him more than she did.
When cross-examining Jonathan Hearn, Richard Terry questioned his religious sincerity.
You previously testified that you didn't really believe or you really weren't a true Christian. Is that right? Yes, sir. In other words, you mouthed the words.
Is that right? That would be a good characterization.
Was all that religiosity intended to fool Sabrina into thinking of him as more virtuous than her husband?
With regards to your faith, were you using that to deceive Ms. Lamone also?
Ms. Lamone had the distinction of knowing that I was involved in an extramarital affair, so perhaps she was less deceived.
Well, the whole time during the course of your relationship, you were constantly making references, biblical references, were you not?
Sir, in the time that we've had these wiretaps was a pretty narrow time. perspective of our relationship, which went all the way back to 2012. I think back in 2012 and 13, you would have heard less references to God.
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Chapter 7: What were the implications of the open marriage?
After calling several of her family members to vouch for Sabrina's good character, Richard Terry then made a bold but risky move. The defense attorney's gamble was that given the chance to compare Sabrina's story with Jonathan's, at least one juror might find Sabrina's version more credible. more sympathetic, so he called his client to the stand.
Richard Terry started by leading Sabrina through a brief review of her life with Rob Limone. Did you have a group of friends that you regularly partied with?
Yes.
Were these groups of friends that you went on adult-only vacations with?
Yes.
Were Jason and Kelly Bernatine one of these couples?
Yes. As the years passed, Sabrina said she felt less special to the man she'd married.
Rob kind of got hooked on watching porn on the computer? Yes. Did you feel like At that point in your marriage with Rob, did he become kind of overly fixated with sex, in your opinion?
Yes.
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