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required. Restrictions apply. Crystal

2:05

Weimer was a young mother doing her best to

2:07

make ends meet. I was

2:10

a single mother raising three girls and

2:12

I had a part-time job. Curtis

2:14

Haeth was a young man trying to make it on

2:17

his own. He worked in the

2:19

factory for a little while, kind of struggled a little

2:21

bit. Their paths crossed

2:23

one night at a party. Everything

2:26

was going good. We were drinking

2:28

a couple beers, socializing. And

2:31

that night of drinking would change both of

2:33

their lives forever. A

2:36

neighbor heard gunshots. Curtis

2:39

Haeth was found lying outside of his

2:42

apartment. He was severely beaten

2:44

and also shot in the face. Within

2:47

hours, the police were at Crystal's door.

2:50

Someone had come to the police and said, well,

2:52

I know I saw these people together. But

2:55

did that mean she had something to do

2:57

with Curtis's death? The investigators found

2:59

Crystal covered in blood. You've got to look at

3:01

her as a suspect. But

3:03

why would Crystal kill someone she barely

3:06

knew? They got a lot

3:08

of conflicting stories. There had to be a reason.

3:10

The search for that reason would haunt

3:12

investigators in this small Pennsylvania town

3:14

for years. They were forced

3:17

to try to figure out who was lying and

3:19

who might actually be culpable in this crime. And

3:22

many fingers were pointing at Crystal

3:24

Weimer. Here's the

3:26

thing about investigations. You look at a

3:28

suspect to exclude them. And when you

3:30

can't exclude them, then you

3:33

know you got them. January

3:51

27, 2001, Connellsville, Pennsylvania. 50

3:55

miles southeast of Pittsburgh, the mountains that surround

3:57

this town of 8,000 once fueled the furnaces.

3:59

that forged America. It

4:02

has a deep history of coal. So it

4:04

has seen a lot of boom and bust over the

4:07

years. But by 2001,

4:09

the mines were mostly a memory

4:11

as the fading town struggled to

4:13

survive. There's some people

4:15

that have been there all their lives that would never

4:17

leave. Some people just want to get out. It

4:19

has its fair share of crime. And

4:22

at 4.50 that Saturday morning, a

4:25

neighbor of 21-year-old Curtis Haife made a

4:27

harrowing call to 911. A

4:31

neighbor heard gunshots, heard Curtis playing

4:33

for his life. And

4:36

when Connellsville police arrived on the

4:38

scene minutes later, they found Curtis lying

4:40

on the sidewalk outside his apartment on

4:43

the city's south side. He

4:45

had been beaten very severely, and there was a

4:47

gunshot wound to his face. Despite

4:50

the efforts of EMTs on the scene,

4:52

Curtis didn't make it. The

4:55

patient was dead at the scene. The

4:58

patient was the victim of some type of external

5:01

trauma and possibly gunshot. As

5:04

paramedics packed up, investigators at the crime

5:06

scene began looking for clues that might

5:08

indicate what had happened in the moments

5:11

before Curtis was beaten and shot. In

5:14

a case like the Haife murder, the

5:16

crime scene obviously is very important. Although

5:19

beyond the fact that Curtis had been

5:21

both beaten and shot, the investigators had

5:23

little else to go on. There

5:25

were witnesses who lived next door who said

5:28

that they had heard some noises, but they

5:30

weren't able to identify anything that had happened.

5:33

Which meant that the only option for

5:35

the investigators was to try and retrace

5:37

Curtis's final steps and interview

5:39

the last few people to see him alive,

5:42

a list that would include

5:44

23-year-old Crystal Weimer. Born

5:51

in 1977, Crystal Weimer grew up in

5:54

a working-class Comlesville family. before

6:00

the mines and mills closed down. My

6:03

father worked on a shipyard growing up,

6:05

and my mom was always at home

6:07

with us, and she always cooked

6:10

and made sure we were off to school and

6:12

things like that. She was there for us. She

6:14

was a sweet little girl. I

6:17

had a lot of friends she played with, she

6:21

was a sweet little girl growing up. Never

6:24

gave me no problems. And

6:26

one of four sisters, Crystal had no

6:28

problem standing out in a crowd. I

6:32

was very outgoing. Whenever I was in

6:34

school, I was involved with softball. I

6:37

played on the cheerleading squad,

6:39

and I also was

6:41

on the swimming team. Whatever sports or

6:43

whatever I could get involved with, I

6:45

was ready. However,

6:47

it wasn't just athletics and cheerleading

6:50

that made Crystal's school years memorable.

6:52

She got pregnant when she was 16. Crystal

6:56

gave birth to a little girl, but

6:58

never finished school. She

7:00

stayed home taking care of her baby

7:02

until she got old enough, and then she

7:05

got a job at Wendy's. And

7:07

over the next couple of years, Crystal and

7:09

her boyfriend had two more children, but

7:11

the relationship eventually ended. We

7:15

wasn't very compatible. Therefore, I

7:18

wasn't ready for marriage and stuff,

7:21

so we just went our separate ways. Crystal

7:24

was left a single mom, and to

7:26

support her family, she traded part-time fast

7:29

food work for a full-time job at

7:31

a local factory. I

7:33

worked at Sony, and I worked online,

7:35

assembling the TVs, but after I was

7:37

there for a while, they ended up

7:40

moving the company and the whole corporation

7:42

got sold out. By

7:45

2001, the 23-year-old was struggling to get by. I

7:50

was a stay-at-home mom taking care

7:52

of my children and

7:54

raising them and working part-time. She

7:57

was barely getting by, just like a lot of

7:59

people in the draw. right up cold country

8:01

area of the United States. Although

8:04

as hard as things were for

8:06

Krystal, her sisters faced even tougher

8:08

obstacles. Her family, she

8:11

has several sisters and a lot of them

8:13

have had trouble with the law. Still

8:16

for all their troubles, Krystal remained close

8:18

to her siblings and on the evening

8:20

of January 26, 2001, they

8:23

got together at her sister's house in

8:25

Uniontown, a small community 20 minutes from

8:27

Connellsville to hang out and catch up.

8:31

We were at a party at my sister's and

8:34

we had a few friends over there that

8:36

night. One of

8:38

those friends was 21-year-old Curtis

8:40

Hayth. Although

8:47

born in Michigan, in his teens,

8:49

Curtis and his family had moved

8:51

to Connellsville, his mother's hometown. I

8:55

was in Detroit, Michigan, really struggling,

8:58

to raise my children. And

9:01

Detroit seemed like such a rough city

9:03

to raise them. And so that's what

9:05

brought me back to Connellsville. The

9:07

family didn't leave their struggles behind

9:09

though. While Curtis' single mother

9:11

worked multiple jobs to support the family,

9:14

young Curtis took over the family meals

9:16

and soon showed a flair for it.

9:19

Me love to cook. I remember him winning

9:22

a big package. It was like steaks, a

9:24

big steak package and things like that. And

9:27

he was just happy about that. And we ate

9:29

steaks like all day. And when

9:31

he graduated high school, his passion for

9:33

food took him to culinary school in

9:35

Pittsburgh. He went to Pittsburgh.

9:38

He wanted to manage some sort of

9:40

restaurant or something. So he went to

9:42

college in Pittsburgh. It was a shock to me

9:44

that he was gonna go away because none of us ever

9:46

really been away from home. But I was so

9:48

happy it was only Pittsburgh. But despite

9:50

his ambition, he wouldn't stay there

9:52

long. We

9:55

couldn't afford it. So then he came back

9:57

to Cotton'sville. Back home.

10:00

Curtis took a job to make ends meet,

10:02

but his dreams of being a chef slipped

10:04

further and further away. He

10:06

worked in the factory for a little while. He kind of

10:09

struggled a little bit. Still,

10:11

he wasn't bitter about the

10:13

disappointment. He was just

10:15

as sweet as could be, you know, kind heart,

10:18

would do anything for you. And

10:20

while he'd only been living in Pennsylvania a

10:23

few years, he'd built a strong support network,

10:26

which included a cousin of Crystal's. Curtis

10:29

had went to a school and grew up

10:31

with my cousin, and that's whenever I first

10:34

met Curtis. That

10:36

was on the evening of January

10:38

26th, when Curtis and Crystal's cousin

10:40

dropped by the party at Crystal's

10:42

sister's house in Union Town. We

10:46

were drinking a couple beers, socializing,

10:48

talking about, you know, our life

10:50

and different things. And we were

10:52

enjoying ourselves. Everything was good. However,

10:55

despite the good time, Curtis was eager

10:57

to get back to Connellsville, where he

11:00

was supposed to meet up with some

11:02

friends for a belated birthday toast. His

11:05

birthday was January 8th, and

11:07

he was having a celebration out and

11:09

about in Connellsville. So

11:12

around 10 o'clock that evening, Crystal's cousin

11:15

drove Curtis Haight the 12 miles back

11:17

home to Connellsville, and

11:19

Crystal tagged along. Curtis

11:23

did eventually arrive at the bar and

11:25

celebrate with his friends, and they would

11:27

end up continuing the party back at

11:29

Curtis's apartment. But

11:32

the mystery of what exactly happened in

11:34

the final hours of that night would

11:36

raise questions for years to come and

11:38

be the central missing piece in

11:41

a murder investigation. Coming

11:47

up, is Curtis's murder a

11:49

drug deal gone bad? Two

11:52

little polyvinyl packets of marijuana.

11:55

Or will a surprising discovery point

11:57

police in a different direction? Officer

12:00

Haggerty told me either you come

12:02

with me for questioning or

12:04

I'm going to the local magistrate to get

12:07

a warrant. ["The New

12:17

York Times"] It

12:20

was around 4.30 on the morning of January 27, 2001,

12:24

when a neighbor of 21-year-old Curtis Haeth made

12:27

a harrowing call to 911. A

12:30

neighbor heard gunshots, heard Curtis playing

12:33

for his life. And

12:35

when Connellsville police reached the scene minutes

12:37

later, they found Curtis lying on the

12:39

sidewalk outside his apartment on the city's

12:42

south side. He had been

12:44

beaten very severely, and there was a gunshot wound

12:46

to his face. And

12:48

by the time the paramedics arrived, the

12:51

extent of Curtis's injuries meant that all

12:53

they could do was pronounce him dead.

12:57

There was what looked like oozing

12:59

out some brain tissue in that

13:01

area, limited the

13:03

chances of resuscitating and saving

13:05

this gentleman. And

13:07

while the paramedics packed up and left,

13:09

the crime scene investigators went to work,

13:11

searching for any clues that might shed

13:14

some light on why Curtis had been

13:16

killed. And almost immediately,

13:18

the investigators found something that might

13:20

be significant. In

13:23

one pocket, he had two little

13:25

polyvinyl packets of a grassy substance,

13:28

suggestive of marijuana. The

13:30

investigators found more incriminating evidence when

13:32

they went inside the apartment. There

13:35

was drug paraphernalia in his home. Was

13:38

Curtis's death the result of a drug

13:40

deal gone bad? There

13:43

had to be a reason for him being

13:45

beaten and shot, possibly a

13:47

drug transaction. Unfortunately

13:50

for the investigators, there were no

13:53

eyewitnesses who had seen what happened.

13:56

Even the neighbor who called 911 admitted

13:58

that paralyzed by a drugstore. terror. She hadn't

14:00

looked out the window or even dialed 911

14:04

until after she heard a car door

14:06

slam and tires squealing as it sped

14:08

off. However, while the

14:10

neighbor couldn't identify the killer or

14:12

the getaway car, she did have

14:14

some additional information for the investigators.

14:17

She told them that Curtis had people over

14:19

prior to his death. The

14:22

reports were that he was at a party and

14:25

then later come home and some of the people came to

14:27

his home. And according to

14:29

the neighbor, the murder occurred only a

14:31

few minutes after the party broke up.

14:34

From witness statements, the last party goers

14:37

from his party left his house for

14:40

4 30. Could one of the party guests be the killer?

14:43

The neighbor said that she hadn't noticed any

14:45

trouble prior to the shooting. Everything

14:47

seemed to be okay. He was having a

14:50

good time. There wasn't any problems. Curtis's

14:53

mother was just as adamant that her

14:55

son wasn't a troublemaker when she

14:57

arrived on the scene later that morning. My

15:01

aunt called me and said, oh my god,

15:03

they just found Curtis dead. And

15:05

so I jumped in the car and went out to where

15:07

he looked at. And while

15:09

they didn't have any leads, the

15:11

investigators did what they could to

15:14

reassure Curtis's mother. When I went

15:16

to Curtis's apartment, the first detective

15:18

told me, promised me, I'm going to

15:20

find out who did this. Although

15:23

at that point, all the investigator could do

15:25

was track down and talk to everyone who

15:27

had been seen with Curtis the night before

15:30

and hope for a lead. They

15:33

really didn't know who might have been involved.

15:36

And the list of people Curtis had come

15:38

into contact with that night included 23 year

15:41

old, Crystal Weimer. Friends

15:43

had told investigators that Crystal

15:46

and Curtis had been seen earlier that

15:48

evening partying. When they

15:50

knocked on Crystal's door that afternoon, all

15:53

the investigators were hoping for was a

15:55

little insight into Curtis's movements in the

15:57

hours prior to his murder. Investigators

16:00

were just simply working through a list of people

16:02

who had been seen with Curtis that evening. This

16:04

interaction with Crystal was just supposed

16:07

to be another routine interview. But

16:09

that all changed as soon as Crystal

16:11

came to the door. It

16:13

appears as though there is blood on her clothing.

16:16

She had dirt on her. She had a black eye

16:18

and she had a broken toe. And

16:20

the blood and dirt immediately

16:22

led the investigators to an

16:24

inescapable conclusion. Even if you've

16:27

never investigated a murder in your life, you

16:29

have to look at Crystal Weimaran. You've got

16:31

to look at her as a suspect, right?

16:35

And based on her appearance, investigators asked

16:37

her to come down to the station.

16:40

Officer Haggerty told me that I was coming

16:42

with him, that there was a crime committed

16:44

last night and a murder. And

16:47

that's whenever I said, well, I'm not going

16:49

anywhere. Crystal's refusal

16:52

to cooperate triggered a stern

16:54

response from the investigators. He

16:57

threatened me either you come with me

16:59

now for questioning or I'm

17:01

going to the local magistrate to get a

17:03

warrant. Facing possible arrest,

17:06

Crystal accompanied the officers to

17:08

the Connellsville police station. And

17:12

once there, Crystal explained to the police

17:14

that, yes, she had seen Curtis the

17:16

night before his murder. He

17:19

was with Crystal's cousin. They were hanging

17:21

out and were drinking and everything. And

17:24

so that's how Crystal came around in the area

17:27

for them to all be together that day. Crystal

17:30

said that she and her cousin had last

17:33

seen Curtis at around 10 o'clock when they

17:35

dropped him off at a bar in Connellsville.

17:38

But if that was the last time

17:40

she saw Curtis, the investigators wanted to

17:42

know how she ended up bloody and

17:45

bruised. According

17:47

to Crystal, the fight that she

17:49

had been in occurred after she had

17:51

dropped off Curtis and she returned to

17:53

Uniontown. Her story is I

17:56

was brutalized by an ex-boyfriend, right?

17:59

She's got a broken. That

34:00

April, at a pretrial hearing,

34:02

the prosecutors put their first

34:04

jailhouse informant on the stand,

34:06

Crystal's ex-boyfriend, Thomas Beale. Thomas

34:09

Beale was the boyfriend that claimed Crystal

34:11

had confessed to killing Curtis. They

34:15

brought him forward, expecting him to implicate

34:17

Crystal in this crime. But

34:19

instead, Thomas made a confession of

34:21

his own. As

34:23

it turned out, he shows up on that day, tries

34:26

to take the Fifth Amendment. The court won't let him,

34:28

and he ultimately recants his entire

34:31

testimony. In

34:33

the process of recanting it, looks down

34:35

at the prosecution's table and says that the detective, the lead

34:37

detective, is the one that told him what to say. And

34:39

in fact, he goes so far as to say, I just

34:42

wrote whatever he told me to put down. Confronted

34:45

with Beale's bombshell allegations, the judge

34:47

had no choice but to drop

34:49

the charges against Crystal. That

34:52

demonstrates the weakness of the prosecution's case.

34:56

But was it only a temporary

34:58

reprieve? While Thomas had

35:00

recanted his story, Joey Stanger

35:02

remained in custody. And

35:04

in September of 2004, when he pleaded

35:07

guilty to conspiracy charges for his

35:10

role in Curtis' murder, he

35:12

not only admitted that he had been present

35:14

when Curtis was killed, Joey confessed

35:16

that he was more involved than he'd

35:19

originally let on. He

35:21

has one hell of a story to tell. He

35:23

says, I shot Curtis. He said

35:26

he didn't mean to hit or

35:28

shoot Hayes. He

35:30

said he saw the beating going so

35:32

bad he tried to stop it, got

35:34

out of his car, fired his weapon

35:36

toward that area. And in

35:39

all the confusion, Joey said

35:41

that he accidentally shot Curtis.

35:44

It looked like his confession was genuine to me.

35:46

If he's not telling the truth, why

35:48

is he willing to go to jail for it? Joey

35:51

Stanger's confession was the break in the

35:53

case that investigators had been waiting for.

35:57

I don't think there was anything really that the state

35:59

could have done. gotten any better than what they

36:01

had. I mean, you had an individual who was

36:03

their stinger, who

36:05

described the beating in detail, the

36:08

gunshot, and the getaway. On

36:10

September 27, three days after

36:12

Joey pled guilty, the investigators were

36:15

back on Crystal's doorstep with a

36:17

new arrest warrant charging her with

36:19

Curtis's murder. I

36:21

was very upset. I was

36:24

above and beyond being upset because of them

36:26

ripping me out of my life. I got

36:28

away from my kids for the second time

36:30

for something I hadn't done. But

36:33

just how confident were the prosecutors in

36:35

their case against Crystal? With

36:37

her trial date looming, they approached Crystal

36:39

with what appeared to be an incredible

36:41

offer, a mere two to

36:43

four year sentence if she

36:46

pleaded guilty and named her

36:48

alleged co-conspirators. She'd

36:50

already spent almost two years in Fayette

36:53

County Prison at that point in time. So in essence,

36:55

she could have been offered to

36:57

be able to walk out that day or soon thereafter. What

37:00

does she do? She refuses the

37:02

deal. No matter

37:04

how much her court appointed attorney tried to

37:06

convince her to take it. The

37:09

public defender just continued to come over to question

37:11

me like every day until I went through the

37:13

trial. Are you sure, Crystal, you don't want this

37:16

due to four? I said, no, I'm going home

37:18

and I'm not taking something I didn't do. She

37:21

absolutely believed in her innocence. It

37:25

was April 3, 2006, more than five years after

37:29

Curtis's murder, when Crystal finally

37:32

stood trial. In

37:34

the prosecutor's opening statement, she argued

37:36

that Crystal had been the mastermind

37:39

who orchestrated Curtis's murder. They

37:41

said that her and Curtis might have fallen

37:43

out and she was upset. That's what

37:46

Joey Stanger claimed when he took the

37:48

stand for the prosecution. He

37:50

indicated Wymer was involved and that

37:52

she wanted revenge because Hayes had

37:55

struck her in an earlier time.

37:57

No one made him say anything that he didn't want to say.

38:01

And then, to build on

38:03

Joey's testimony, prosecutors called Dr.

38:05

Constantine Karazulis, a forensic odontologist

38:07

and bite mark expert, to

38:09

the stand. In

38:11

his testimony, Karazulis stated that the

38:13

bite mark on Curtis's hand was

38:15

definitely crystal. He also found

38:17

that the bite mark must have occurred

38:20

within seven minutes of his death. It

38:23

was powerful testimony. With

38:25

respect to expert testimony and expert witnesses,

38:27

I think that if you're listening as

38:29

a juror and you hear, you know,

38:31

a prominent witness coming in from out

38:33

of state, I think that's compelling. And

38:37

then, after five long years dogged

38:39

by accusations that she was a

38:41

killer, Krystal took the stand to

38:43

tell her side of the story to the jury.

38:46

I told the truth. We

38:49

dropped Curtis Haethoff at the Arch Cafe,

38:52

and that was the last time I'd seen him. I

38:55

was never at Curtis Haethoff's house. Krystal's

38:58

impassioned testimony did little to sway

39:01

Curtis's friends and family. There

39:03

was a lot of people that was

39:06

just shocked that she could

39:08

still be claiming that she was innocent. But

39:12

would her words be enough to sway the

39:14

jury? When the jurors

39:16

retired to consider their verdict on April

39:18

6th, Krystal was confident. It

39:22

took, like, I believe four hours

39:24

into one day and like two and a

39:26

half hours maybe into the next day. And

39:29

I thought maybe that's a good thing. The

39:31

truth has come out, and I'm going to go home. But

39:34

would her hopes be validated? When

39:37

the jury came back, they found Krystal guilty

39:39

of murder. After

39:43

waiting so long for justice, the

39:45

verdict was an emotional moment for

39:47

Curtis's family. I

39:49

was in the court when they found Krystal guilty. I

39:51

was happy. You know, I wanted

39:54

to thank people. I was pretty sure that

39:56

she was going to be convicted, and everything just

39:58

fell into place. on

40:00

the other hand, was surprised by the outcome.

40:03

When the jury come back and they're

40:05

just like guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, I

40:08

was just like, what? I

40:10

just felt empty because I knew

40:12

that she wasn't involved and they

40:14

convicted her. I

40:17

was just devastated. Because

40:20

in the end, there was no way she

40:22

could overcome the evidence that the prosecutors had

40:24

presented to the jury. You

40:27

had an eyewitness, actually not just an

40:29

eyewitness, you had one of the perpetrators

40:32

and he was testifying about what

40:34

role Crystal Weimer had in it

40:37

and then the bite mark evidence. Very

40:39

bluntly, that was very, very strong evidence

40:41

to convict her. After

40:43

the verdict, the judge sentenced Crystal to 15

40:46

to 30 years in prison. I

40:50

was in shock. I couldn't believe it. I

40:52

was more than heart broke. I was like,

40:54

where is the truth? I didn't his place

40:56

like, no, please hear me. What is going

40:58

on? The

41:00

sentence may have been a shock to

41:02

Crystal, but Curtis's family found it far

41:04

too light. At the end

41:06

of his life, he suffered, you know,

41:08

and I just think people should pay for

41:10

that. I couldn't understand

41:12

him because how do you only get 15 to 30 years for

41:16

something that you, you know, plan to do? Crystal

41:19

maintained her innocence. However, I

41:21

was confident I swarmed my heart and I believed

41:24

I was coming back home because I didn't do

41:26

anything. And once in

41:28

prison, she was determined to prove it

41:30

too. I got access to

41:32

law librarian. I know the only way

41:34

you can come home is to fight

41:36

your case and case law and educating

41:39

yourself on it. She begins to

41:41

become her own lawyer, studying her

41:43

case, obsessed with proving her innocence.

41:47

And the result of all that study was

41:49

an 80 page handwritten letter that she sent

41:51

to government officials across the state of Pennsylvania,

41:54

arguing that the Connellsville police department

41:56

had ignored dozens of witnesses and

41:59

scientific evidence. that supported her

42:01

innocence. It was

42:03

clear that she was very desperate to get her

42:05

point across. She was calling it a fundamental miscarriage

42:08

of justice. But her desperate

42:10

calls for help went unanswered. She

42:13

wasn't able to get representation for the appeals that

42:15

she was making, and so she was having to

42:17

do it on her own. As

42:20

a result, Crystal spent nearly a decade

42:22

in prison. Her three daughters

42:24

grew up and started families of their

42:26

own. Then,

42:29

in 2014, her 80-page letter eventually

42:33

found its way to the Pennsylvania

42:35

Innocence Project, whose staffers were surprised

42:37

by what they read. It

42:40

spoke to me that here's a woman who

42:43

is confident in her innocence and

42:45

needs a voice. And then substantively, you started looking

42:47

at the facts of the case and seeing that

42:50

they just simply had the wrong target of their

42:52

investigation since the beginning. And

42:54

when you add all of that up, you see an

42:57

innocent woman that's lost a decade of her life. Determined

43:00

to get justice for Crystal, the

43:02

Innocence Project took her case. That's

43:05

whenever I knew the windows were opening,

43:08

and I knew there was hope. So I knew

43:10

that God was hearing my prayers. And

43:14

in October of 2015, almost 10 years after her conviction, with

43:19

her new attorney at her side, 38-year-old

43:21

Crystal Weimer was back in court,

43:23

hoping to convince a federal judge

43:25

to grant her a new trial.

43:29

We went into that courtroom, and I knew I

43:31

was coming home, and the truth was going to

43:33

set me free. Coming

43:37

up, a witness makes a

43:39

stunning reversal. He told

43:41

me, Jeff, I would have told him whatever they wanted me to say. And

43:44

Crystal's case takes a surprising

43:47

turn. Where does justice lie? Are

43:50

we ever going to find justice in

43:53

this murder? On

44:02

October 1, 2015, 10

44:05

years after her conviction for the murder

44:07

of Curtis Haight, 38-year-old Crystal Weimer was

44:09

back in court preparing to make her

44:11

case for a new trial. Since

44:15

they won, the proper investigation was never

44:17

done. And the

44:19

attorneys from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project agreed

44:21

with her. You asked yourself,

44:23

you know, how is it this possibly could lead

44:26

to a conviction? In

44:28

Crystal's 2006 trial, a forensic

44:30

odontologist had testified that a

44:32

bite mark found on Curtis

44:34

Haight's body matched dental impressions

44:36

made from Crystal's teeth. The

44:40

state's expert on the bite mark, who was

44:42

so sure about it 10 years ago, now

44:44

says, you know what, I

44:46

misinterpreted the data. I was

44:48

wrong. I've never seen an expert

44:51

witness ever recant their testimony at

44:53

a later time. Curtis'

44:56

family was stunned by the reversal.

44:59

I do not understand how a scientist

45:03

can support one thing and say, hey, this

45:05

is what I support, and then change his

45:07

mind. The testimony was enough

45:09

to convince a judge that Crystal's

45:11

case should be retried. But

45:15

would Crystal ever stand trial again? Because

45:18

in 2016, when the prosecutors started

45:20

preparing for the retrial, they ran into

45:23

trouble when they reached out to Joey

45:25

Stanger, the friend who'd claimed he'd ridden

45:27

along with Crystal on the night Curtis

45:30

died. Stanger's attorney said

45:32

his client was going to plead the fifth. And

45:35

the reason was obvious, according to

45:38

Crystal's attorney. He made the

45:40

whole thing up. He told me,

45:42

Jeff, I would have told him whatever they wanted me

45:44

to say. I was looking for a deal and it

45:46

didn't matter. I know it's wrong, but the reality is

45:48

I was willing to say whatever they wanted me to

45:50

say to help myself. And

45:53

with that, the entire case

45:55

against Crystal collapsed. The

45:57

district attorney said we're just going to dismiss

45:59

the charges. we don't have this efficient

46:01

evidence to proceed. After

46:03

11 years behind bars,

46:06

Crystal could finally go home.

46:09

I was just so overwhelmed and happy that

46:11

God had finally set me free. I

46:14

was just so more than overwhelmed

46:17

and so thankful. But

46:19

the victory was bittersweet. Not

46:22

only had Crystal lost a decade of her life,

46:25

Curtis' murder remains

46:27

unsolved. If

46:29

Crystal Weimer didn't kill Curtis,

46:32

his killer is still walking this

46:34

planet free from this

46:37

crime. Which means that

46:39

for now, all Curtis' family

46:41

can do is cherish his memory.

46:43

And I think he would have did really good things with

46:46

his life as

46:48

a winner of the most. And

46:51

continued to hold out hope that

46:53

justice will eventually come. I

46:56

know this isn't over. I

46:58

believe in my heart that one day

47:00

that the truth will be out. It

47:03

is finally over for Crystal, though.

47:06

Almost 40 and finally out of prison,

47:08

she's making a fresh start.

47:11

I'm grateful and happy that the truth set

47:14

me free. And then I'm home. I

47:17

have each moment to be grateful and thankful

47:19

for. Crystal

47:22

Weimer has been fully exonerated for

47:24

the murder of Curtis Haight. Crystal

47:27

lives in Connellsville with her three

47:29

daughters and three grandchildren. Curtis Haight's

47:32

murder remains a cold case. It's

47:36

time to recycle those old documents.

47:38

Remove the clutter and support the

47:40

environment by dropping off old confidential

47:42

documents at a free Middlesex County

47:45

paper shred event. Visit MiddlesexCountyNJ.gov slash

47:47

recycling events to find a location

47:49

near you.