frances's version. bonnie says when she swerved back into her lane, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw bill was riding behind her, between the two suvs. >> i see her coming up behind bill and i'm yelling at the top of my lungs. i see her hit bill and i see bill fly, and then i see the bike fly. >> according to bonnie, she saw frances deliberately hit bill from behind. then, keep chasing her. >> i was shaking and i was in shock. i didn't understand why she hadn't stopped when she hit bill. i couldn't understand it. i still don't understand it. i felt like stopping, but i wasn't sure if she had a gun. my first instinct is to make a quick u-turn. >> she does you turn to. >> yes, right behind me. and she continues to hit me. and we've been passed the scene of where -- bill was cleaning to his life. and even at that she didn't bother to stop hitting me. >> bonnie eventually made her
>> she was attacking me, and i will defend myself. >> one week after the text message feud came the car chase that left bill hall dead. nearly three years after that, frances hall went on trial for murder. prosecutor stephanie pilsen and scott simpson laid out the case for the jury. >> we understand why she was angry, but that's not justification to go attempt to run down your husband's mistress and kill him in the process. >> the star witness for the prosecution, bonnie, bonnie contreras. >> i was getting hit from behind. >> bonnie told the jury as she watched with horror when she believed frances deliberately knocked bill off the road. >> i saw her hit bill with a truck. i saw him fly off the handlebars. >> bonnie said she later discovered frances's daughter nikki hall -- a message that seemed to speak to frances's intent that
>> the star witness for the prosecution, bonnie contreras. >> i start to get hit from behind. >> bonnie told the jury how she watched with horror as she believed frances deliberately knocked bill off the road. >> i see her hit bill with the truck. and i see him fly off the motorcycle. >> bonnie said she later discovered frances'daughter, nikki hall, had left a message on her voice mail during the car chase. a message that seemed to speak to frances'intent that evening. >> told you to watch your back you [bleep] stupid [ bleep ]. >> what does that tell you? that they were out to cause harm to somebody. >> this is not an accident. >> tim lovett was the state's collision reconstruction expert. he said the evidence showed frances chased and hit bonnie. >> that escalade definitely hit that range rover at least two, maybe three times. >> but frances'defense attorneys, leigh cutter and jean brown, said investigators
into me. >> she said frances'story that bonnie kept slamming on her brakes was nonsense. you were accused of brake checking her. >> no, i was trying to get away from that woman. so i started speeding up. and she kept ramming me from behind. and she through me into oncoming traffic. >> bonnie said she was hit so hard her purse fell off the front seat. >> and my stuff flew to the floor. >> and here, another significant difference from frances'version. bonnie says that when she swerved back into her lane, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw bill was now riding behind her between the two suvs. >> and i see her coming up behind bill, and i'm yelling at the top of my lungs. and i see her hit bill, and i see bill fly, then i see the bike fly. >> according to bonnie, she saw frances deliberately hit bill from behind, then keep chasing her. >> i was shaking, and i was in
story that bonnie kept slamming on her brakes was nonsense. you were accused of brake checking her. >> no, i was trying to get away from that woman. so i started speeding up. and she kept ramming me from behind. and she through me into oncoming traffic. >> reporter: bonnie said she was hit so hard her purse fell off the front seat. >> and my stuff flew to the floor. >> reporter: and here, another significant difference from frances' version. bonnie says that when she swerved back into her lane, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw bill was now riding behind her between the two suvs. >> and i see her coming up behind bill, and i'm yelling at the top of my lungs. and i see her hit bill, and i see bill fly, then i see the bike fly. >> reporter: according to bonnie, she saw frances deliberately hit bill from behind, then keep chasing her. >> i was shaking, and i was in shock. i didn't understand why she hadn't stopped when she hit bill.
jury how she watched with horror as she believed frances deliberately knocked bill off the road. >> i see her hit bill with the truck. and i see him fly off the motorcycle. >> reporter: bonnie said she later discovered frances' daughter, nikki hall, had left a message on her voice mail during the car chase. a message that seemed to speak to frances' intent that evening. >> told you to watch your back you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ]. >> what does that tell you? that they were out to cause harm to somebody. >> this is not an accident. >> reporter: tim lovett was the state's collision reconstruction expert. he said the evidence showed frances chased and hit bonnie. >> that escalade definitely hit that range rover at least two, maybe three times. >> reporter: but frances' defense attorneys, leigh cutter and jean brown, said investigators made a big mistake when they bought into the story of bonnie contreras. >> everyone got their information from one person at the scene. and that's bonnie. and bonnie lied her ass off. >> reporter: defense accident
she kept ramming her vehicle into me. >> reporter: she said frances' story that bonnie kept slamming on her brakes was nonsense. you were accused of brake checking her. >> no, i was trying to get away from that woman. so i started speeding up. and she kept ramming me from behind. and she through me into oncoming traffic. >> reporter: bonnie said she was hit so hard her purse fell off the front seat. >> and my stuff flew to the floor. >> reporter: and here, another significant difference from frances' version. bonnie says that when she swerved back into her lane, she looked in her rearview mirror and saw bill was now riding behind her between the two suvs. >> and i see her coming up behind bill, and i'm yelling at the top of my lungs. and i see her hit bill, and i see bill fly, then i see the bike fly. >> reporter: according to bonnie, she saw frances deliberately hit bill from behind, then keep chasing her. >> i was shaking, and i was in
behind. >> reporter: bonnie told the jury how she watched with horror as she believed frances deliberately knocked bill off the road. >> i see her hit bill with the truck. and i see him fly off the motorcycle. >> reporter: bonnie said she later discovered frances' daughter, nikki hall, had left a message on her voice mail during the car chase. a message that seemed to speak to frances' intent that evening. >> told you to watch your back you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ]. >> what does that tell you? that they were out to cause harm to somebody. >> this is not an accident. >> reporter: tim lovett was the state's collision reconstruction expert. he said the evidence showed frances chased and hit bonnie. >> that escalade definitely hit that range rover at least two, maybe three times. >> reporter: but frances' defense attorneys, leigh cutter and jean brown, said investigators made a big mistake when they bought into the story
back of the range rover. >> i kept kremg because she kept hitting me. >> she said france's story that bonnie was slamming on brakesway was non-zbleens you were accused of brake checking. >> brake checking. no i was trying to get away. i started speeding up. she kept ramming me from behind. she threw me into on come traffic. >> she says she was hit so hard myopurse fell off the front seat. >> and my stuff flew to the floor. >> and here another significant difference. when bonnie swerved back in her lain she looked in the rear view mirror appear saw bill was riding between her. >> and i see her coming up behind bill and i'm yell at the top of my lungs and i see her hit bill. and i see bill fly and then i see the bike fly. >> according to bonnie she saw
>> reporter: the star witness for the prosecution, bonnie contreras. >> i start to get hit from behind. >> reporter: bonnie told the jury how she watched with horror as she believed frances deliberately knocked bill off the road. >> i see her hit bill with the truck. and i see him fly off the motorcycle. >> reporter: bonnie said she later discovered frances' daughter, nikki hall, had left a message on her voice mail during the car chase. a message that seemed to speak to frances' intent that evening. >> told you to watch your back you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ]. >> what does that tell you? that they were out to cause harm to somebody. >> this is not an accident. >> reporter: tim lovett was the state's collision reconstruction expert. he said the evidence showed frances chased and hit bonnie. >> that escalade definitely hit that range rover at least two, maybe three times. >> reporter: but frances' defense attorneys, leigh cutter