The Nature Sanctuary Murder

In Kenya's Borana nature reserve, drastic new measures are being taken to protect vulnerable rhinos from poachers who kill the animals for.
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But whatever Juan Alvarez did or did not do, he did not shoot John Bender and prosecutors see Ann's lawsuit as an attempt to distract them from their firm belief that she did. The forensic evidence is so vital in this case, "48 Hours" brought in outside experts to Boracayan and asked them to take a look at it. In the rarified world of forensic science, Selma and Richard Eikelenboom are internationally recognized experts. From the start, they say, some Costa Rican authorities had a preconceived idea that this was murder.

This is a homicide and let's prove it's a homicide,'" said Selma Eikelenboom. Everyone knows it's here or it's here or it's here," Spencer said, pointing to her mouth, under her chin and her temple. The Eikelenbooms cite other monumental mistakes: The Eikelenbooms told "48 Hours" the trajectory -- the path the bullet followed -- was critical to understanding where the gun was when it was fired and if Ann or John fired it.

In January , Ann Bender went on trial for murder before a three-judge panel. Costa Rica has no jury system. Prosecutors argued that the evidence from the body, the bullet casing, the entry wound, bloodstains and pillowcase all made it impossible that this was anything but murder. And you see the bullet hole in the back of his head. It's hard not to at least stop and think wait Defense experts were just as insistent on their suicide theory. After a week-long trial, the judges decided they could not rule out suicide. Ann Bender was acquitted of murder After her acquittal on murder charges, Ann Bender hoped for a new start.

She got an apartment in the capital, San Jose and began dating her now-boyfriend Greg Fischer. When the trust stopped paying her bills, friends and family helped. Ann said not once did she even consider leaving Costa Rica. Perhaps it should have been the first, because the prosecution decided to charge Ann Bender with John Bender's murder a second time.

Never not done what this government has asked her to do," Fischer told "48 Hours. I'm telling the truth. I have all the confidence in the world that things will turn out the way they're supposed to be," Ann told "48 Hours.

EXAMINING THE FORENSICS

It may seem odd to Americans, but in Costa Rica there's no double jeopardy rule. So if a prosecutor doesn't like a verdict, he can appeal. And if he wins, can try the defendant all over again with the same charges with the same evidence and the same witnesses. And in a risky move, Oconitrillo decided there's nobody better able to make that point than Ann Bender herself.


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Costa Rican law allows her to speak whenever she wants -- for as long as she wants -- without facing any questions. Ann stayed on the stand all day. She described the dream she and John shared, the jobs the preserve would create This was destined to be," Spencer said. Security guard Oswaldo Aguilar described the scene, but he also raises questions about one of the prosecutor's key assumptions.

The bullet wound is behind the right side of his head. You're lying in bed.

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How does a suicidal man possibly end up shooting himself like this," said Ned Zeman. Aguilar told the court Bender may have been a lefty, but he always carried his gun on the right side. For Zeman, the possibility that John was ambidexterous is an eye opener. But testifying for the prosecution, Forensic Pathologist Gretchen Flores doesn't care if John Bender was right or left-handed.

She insists suicide is inconceivable. She said another person would have to fire the weapon. Her conclusion from the blood evidence and the position of the body: John Bender never saw the shot coming. At Boracayan, independent forensics experts Richard and Selma Eikelenboom tested that idea -- that John's body never moved. In their view, it had to have moved for the blood to have pooled as it did on both sides of his body.

Back in court, Ann tearfully testified: I fell towards the center of the bed But in an interview with "48 Hours," Selma Eikelenboom said, "The hypothesis that he was shot in the position he was found is not supported by this evidence. Also unlikely, the Eikelenbooms say, is the prosecutor's theory that Ann shot her husband from behind the bed.

Hallett Nature Sanctuary

And they showed "48 Hours" why they think the odd location of the spent cartridge -- such damning proof according to the prosecution -- really proves nothing at all. You cannot relate it to the crime. Even John Bender's own parents told "48 Hours" they think there was no crime. They weren't at the trial, but Ann's supporters and her brother, Ken Patton, make the point for them in court.

Perhaps concerned the judges also might find reasonable doubt, Prosecutor Edgar Ramirez played his trump card: The defense hired him for the first trial, but he never testified. Ann's lawyer furiously objects now that this witness is tainted. Because of who paid his original fee, then-Bender trustee Juan de Dios Alvarez -- the same man Ann claims could profit if she were convicted. In his closing, Prosecutor Ramirez insists this case is straightforward -- Ann Bender shot her husband.

I know I did not bring that gun to bed. I did not shoot my husband," Ann Bender told "48 Hours. After four years and two trials, there's perhaps no way Ann can prepare herself for the verdict: Her friends and family sit stunned. Ann was sentenced immediately to 22 years in prison and led away. In fact, no sooner than she is behind closed doors, Ann reportedly faints. She was rushed to the hospital where she spends 10 days on suicide watch. Juan de Dios Alvarez, the man Ann considers her archenemy, has an entirely different view.

Though he insisted he has no ax to grind and no financial interest, he thinks this time the court got it right. Alvarez continues to insist that when he was trustee he always acted in Ann's best interest.

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The Eikelenboom's forensic review did turn up disquieting questions about Ann's story. For someone lying next to a person who shot himself as she claimed, she had very little blood on her. And the tear on that pillowcase looked a lot like the one Richard Eikelenboom made in his experiment firing a gun across a pillow from close range. But overall, the Eikelenbooms told "48 Hours," their experiments support Ann's story far more than they do the prosecution's version, especially when they recreated those few deadly seconds at Boracayan.

They showed "48 Hours" how a struggle could have happened, how Ann's efforts to get the gun could make it fire and how John's body then might have moved. This won't be what pushes me over the edge," she told Spencer. And I'm behind her every step of the way.

Three in court over Kirriemuir nature reserve death

Ann appealed the verdict. Her lawyer is working pro bono. She said the Bender fortune is in limbo -- the second trustee didn't pay her bills or release any money for the nature preserve. A few devoted staff are working without pay to keep the jungle from engulfing Boracayan. Once the site of dreams, the home is now a silent witness to whatever really happened the night John Bender died. Last February, nine months after Ann Bender was convicted of murdering her husband, an appeals court overturned that decision.

Ann was released from prison. She told "48 Hours" she barely survived her time behind bars. But her ordeal is not over yet. The court ordered a third trial. Sadly, her boyfriend who had fought so hard to bring attention to her case died of natural causes while she in was in prison. Ann Bender must remain in Costa Rica pending her next trial, which is scheduled to start in August. Watch episodes from past seasons of 48 Hours. A wealthy labor lawyer shoots his high-profile wife from the backseat of their SUV -- he says it was an accident -- prosecutors say otherwise.

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    It was updated on July 25,