Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20150104 : vimarsana.com

KNTV Dateline NBC January 4, 2015

Calm. The trial had everything. Exploding emotions, a secret affair. Did you have an affair . Yes, and my husband is well aware of it. Even an identical twin. Five years of suspicion comes down to one moment. We the jury i dont think that anyone could imagine what its like to love someone so much and then be charged with their murder. Its unfathomable. Keith morrison reports on a cliffhanger of a case. In an instant. Thanks for joining us. Im lester holt. The papers called it the spray tan murder trial. But could a spray tan really be to blame for a Young Mothers puzzling death . The questions in this case started early one morning with a dramatic call for help and ended five years later with an equally dramatic verdict in court. Heres keith morrison. The story when it hit the news sounded almost crazy. Killed by a spray tan. Claiming his wife died after an allergic reaction to a spray tan. A husband tried to blame her death on a spray tan and thus a myth was born. The case of the spray tan defense, what a headline. It was a strange tale. It was true that a spray tan did briefly play a role at the heart of what sounded like murder. But the real story, headlines dont always tell it, do they . The true story of what happened here in miami was far more troubling, tragic, and bizarre than any headline. And it all happened so fast. Business was good. Beautiful house, great friends, and then it changed in an instant. Like that. Like that. To begin with, there was aventura. A brand new town, an upscale suburb with green lawns and trophy boats that skirts the northern fringe of miami. Among the founding families in this clean new place was the kaufman clan. Migrants a generation ago, Jerry Kaufman came first. Were four brothers, lots of children and grandchildren. The familys been very close for generations. And pretty soon aventura was a magnet for a bigger kaufman family. Including these two, the twins, adam and seth kaufman. Identical. Like two halves of one person. Seth tried to explain it the day adam cut his finger. We were both screaming. My mom said seth why are you crying . I said because it hurts. And it was adams finger. I truly do believe we feel each others pain. They were teachers first. Big teachers. For little kids. We started teaching prek because there were no jobs available. Trying to imagine you with little kids. Like kindergarten cop. But it was a lot of fun and also rewarding. But teaching didnt pay the bills. So they joined the family business, real estate development. Though frankly they looked more like wrestlers or bar bouncers, big athletic men. And it turned out, suckers for love. She was my soul mate. We had an instant connection. Adam fell first for a remarkable young woman named eleonara though everybody called her lina. Shed been everywhere. Russian roots, grew up in israel met adam at work and quickly decided he was the twin for her. And he i knew right away that this was the girl i wanted to spend the rest of my life with. What did she do for you . She is absolutely spectacularly beautiful, shes a head turner. Shes got class. And you have this poor schlub from new york. You meet a woman like this you got to jump on that opportunity. I did my best and something worked. What would people think when they saw you and lina walking down the street . Happy. Happiest time in my life. I had everything i ever wanted in a woman. Caring, loving, giving. She was my best friend. They got married in march 2000. Before long they had a girl and a boy, a nice house in a gated community, a big extended family they saw all the time. And as adams mother elaine saw it, a remarkably happy and untroubled relationship. There was just so much harmony in that marriage. He absolutely adored her and she adored him. She would tell me all the time. You know, hes so cute, mom. If i said lina, the guys want to go out tonight and grab a drink or go get a steak. No problem. Go. I mean, there was never an argument about me spending time with my friends. Theres really nothing i would have changed about our relationship. Nothing. Then it was seths turn. Here comes this brazilian girl who is loud. That was raquel. Seth was smitten. Adam too. The four of them became inseparable. We traveled together. On the weekends we were together. Restaurants, everything. Family events. It was the four of us. Its like you had a sister too then. Yes. Yeah. Really did. I mean, we truly talked about and enjoyed everything together. Everything. And it had to be that way. Because adam and seth, theyre so close. So you get the picture. It was a sweet spot in life, too sweet, too perfect to last. It was november 6, 2007. Seth and raquel were getting married in ten days. Lina was to be a bridesmaid so she got her first spray tan to look her best in the dress. Hours after that is when it came crashing down in an instant and this Big Happy Family suddenly plunged into a very dark place. It was a little after 6 00 the next morning, said adam kaufman, when he woke up and realized lina wasnt next to him in bed. He walked into the bathroom, he said. And there she was. And i go to run to her and its just in slow motion as im going to her. And i touch her and shes cold. Im screaming lina, lina, wake up. Thats when he made that frantic call to 911. Please, please, my wife is in the bathroom dying. I dont know whats going on. He was hysterical. Sir, i need you to calm down. I cant understand what youre saying. My wife is in the bathroom. Shes on the floor dying. I dont know whats going on. Okay. Shes not breathing . No. A million things are going through my mind. All im focused on is getting her help. Please, please. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. The 911 operator tried to instruct him in cpr. But it wasnt working. 23 minutes went by that way. You know how many times in your life seconds feel like minutes . This felt like hours. Then the medics finally arrived, shoed adam out of the way, started working on lina. Adam called his brother seth. Adam was on the line frantically screaming my name. Get over here quick. Linas not breathing. Seth and fiance raquel raced to the house as the emts pushed and prodded and did everything they could to coax life back into her body. Adam was pacing back and forth saying oh my god my kids. He says to me please go to my kids. Raquel got the baby from the crib and went into the 4yearolds room. She was on the floor playing with her toys and she said did mommy ask you to babysit me because she wasnt feeling well . I said yes, baby. Lina was being rushed out of the house and to the hospital but they could not save her. And adam was a mess. Destroyed. What on earth had happened to lina . And the big question, did someone close make it happen . When we come back, you know where this is going. A husband now under suspicion. The whole scene together for fire rescue was like, this is not adding up. When in an instant continues. You immediately feel that youve lost half of you. Your soul. Your heart. I couldnt believe that that was true. Adam kaufman insisted he had no idea what killed lina. She was so active, seemed so healthy. How could a 33yearold go to the bathroom at night and just drop dead . Didnt make sense to the emts either. Something didnt look right. Which is why detective Anthony Angulo was called in to look at this murder mystery. Hed never investigated a homicide before but could this perhaps be his first . Even a rookie knows a husband is always a potential suspect when a wife drops dead and certain things about adams story that morning seemed off. I mean, the whole scene together for fire rescue was like, this is not adding up. And it wouldnt to chief attorney Kathleen Hoge either. For starters adam said hed been asleep in bed just before finding lina. But some of the First Responders said they saw adam fully dressed when they arrived. Nobody sleeps fully dressed. Even down to the fact at the hospital itself one of the officers recognized he had his kol cologne on and a watch. Like hed been out all night or something. Or at least up. And they noticed the car felt warm to the touch like hed just been driving it. Being warm lends it to being driven. And when the detective looked in the bedroom, did his eyes deceive him . Or was one side of the bed undisturbed as if it hadnt been slept in . So what was adams story about how he found his wife in the bathroom again . Turns out, it was a little unclear. He told the first captain that he went into the bathroom and saw her slumped over the toilet. After that he made a statement where he said that she was slumped over the magazine rack. The other way . Yes. Strange. Isnt that what guilty people do . Change their stories . More than anything it was something on linas body that just might tell what happened to her. Some nasty looking bruises on her neck. Those and other signs of trauma suggested that her death wasnt of natural causes. It looked like shed been strangled. Something has happened which has cut off the air supply and created the pressure such that you get these, you know marks in your eyes. When somebody has caused their airway to be closed. Uhhuh. In other words, doesnt happen just by itself . Not usually. So the picture coming together was not an unexplained mysterious death. But the story perhaps of a husband who came home after a night out and suddenly snapped. The panic on the 911 call could be the sound of a man realizing hes just done the unthinkable. Could also be that this man ended up strangling his wife freaked out over what he did. Didnt necessarily mean to do it, but it happened because hes twice her size and a whole lot stronger than she is. And whatever set him off, set him off. But did they arrest him . No. That, if it happened at all, would have to wait for an autopsy report. Hard evidence. And so ten days after linas death when seth and raquel went ahead with their wedding, police were paying attention. In judaism in particular, we celebrate life before death. Adam was there. Made a speech, even cracked a few jokes about his brother. And he just wanted for his brother, his twin brother, to have somewhat a good time at his wedding. But looked at another way, it seemed to the police somehow suspicious. As it did when a couple months after linas death, adam seemed to be dating again. So they kept an eye on him, and waited for the medical examiner to issue his autopsy report. Waited for months, a year, longer. This was not like some slick miami tv show. Bureaucracies dont move so fast in real life. But then it was april 2009. Quite suddenly, decision day. Coming up, was lina kaufman murdered . They pointed out the suspicious markings on her neck. Or is there another explanation . Something to do with that spray tan . Received complaints of seizures by people who have a remarkable thing has happened. Over a million californians have gotten something thats been out of reach for far too long. Health insurance. How . They enrolled through covered california. Its the Health Insurance marketplace where youll find a range of plans from leading Health Insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates and benefits. You can compare plans side by side choose the one that best fits your needs and enroll online. Coveredca. Com is also the place to find Certified Experts in your area who can answer your questions for free, and help you enroll. And, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. Its based on income, and 4 out of 5 people who have enrolled qualified. If you dont have a health plan, or you do, but you want to make sure its the best plan for you, nows the time to visit coveredca. Com. But to get covered youve got to get going. Open enrollment ends february 15th. Visit coveredca. Com today. 17 months after that desperate november morning that adam kaufman claimed he was still in the dark, no clue he said, as to how his lina died. He said dozens of calls to the medical Examiners Office went unanswered. So finally he called the state board of examiners to complain. Very nice guy. He said mr. Kaufman, i will look into it, take care of it, get back to you as soon as possible. And the next day there was a ruling on the cause of linas death. But no one told adam. Not yet. It was a week later a sultry tuesday evening. Adam was working at a new ice cream shop he and his brother opened during those boom to bust Real Estate Days for developers. In walked police. And that was not uncommon. Police always frequent our shop. And i looked back down. And i see red dots on my shirt. All over my shirt. I look back up and then i see about 15 Police Officers, s. W. A. T. Officers, in the store. There he is, and theyre pointing me. Im like, me . They jump over the counter, throw me to the ground. Im like whats going on . In walks a gentleman, plain clothes. Comes up to me and said, leans down while im on the floor and says, remember me . It was detective Anthony Angulo asking the question. The investigator who poked around the house the morning lina died. Among the first to be suspicious of adams story. He says i dont want you to say a word. Real nasty. He says youre under arrest for the murder of your wife. Again, time froze. And i said are you kid total shock and disbelief and awe. I mean, this is not happening. This is a joke. This is a nightmare. Am i having a nightmare . The medical examiner had ruled the cause of linas death was mechanical asphyxiation. That shed been choked to death. Wi a person by a person. And now adam was being charged with murder. He was taken to the dade county police. Locked away. I thought this couldnt be happening. But it was happening. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months. Reality sank in. Adam was accused of murder. What was your level of confidence or the lack of it as you sat in jail waiting . I was sitting there saying when will they realize what happened . Theyre going to find the cause of death and thats going to release me. I was waiting for that. It didnt come. For the past year and a half, the children had no mother, now they had no father. Finally after adam had been in jail three months, his attorneys arranged a bond hearing. And as so often happens in florida, it turned into a mini trial. The state finally presenting its evidence against adam. Had this big strong man, the only other adult in the house when lina died strangled her to death and lied to cover it up . The state played that 911 call in a courtroom packed with adams family. Many of whom were hearing it for the first time. Please, please. My wife is in the bathroom dying. I dont know whats going on. As the tape continued to play, one Family Member couldnt take it and passed out. Theres a nurse attending, so i think you should proceed. Oh, my god this was raw stuff. Seldom seen in miami courtrooms. The first witness was detective angulo who revealed hed been investigating adam ever since that very first morning. I examined the body. Present were a couple of other officers. They pointed out suspicious markings on her neck. And there was Something Else. I did observe what i believed to be petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes. In the actual eye lids. And what does the presence of pet eek iowa in the eyes suggest to you . Asphyxiation. Asphyxiation, death by suffocation. Detective angulo said he was sure he had gotten his man. Had been suspicious since he talked to adam at the hospital. He seemed angry. I saw his jaw muscles clench. Obviously disturbed, but it was strange going from being upset to angry. And where had adam kaufman been earlier that night . Not sleeping, investigators thought. Remember, his side of the bed looked to them undisturbed. But on linas side, there were unusual smudges. The staining appears to be on the pillow itself and just below the pillow where the body would lie. They were stains from the spray tan lina got the previous evening when she wanted to look her best for seath kaufmans wedding ten days later. Police seized on that evidence. And perhaps without tending to, made their case famous overnight. They called in a an expert a former chief medical examiner in Miamidade County. In your investigation, had there been complaints of seizures by people who had undergone spray tans . Yes. Do you believe that the spray tan material should have been investigated for potentially causing an allergic reaction . Oh, sure. I mean, we dont know exactly what happened to mrs. Kaufman. We know that she collapsed. We know she asphyxiated. But we dont know why any of that happened. And certainly theres a real possibility that that could have been caused by this exposure to the tanner. Shes got it all over her hands. It certainly raises the possibility of an allergic reaction caused by that. She gets her first spray tan the night before she passes away . Why not investigate it . Stranger things have happened. It would be negligent on our part not to do that. It was certainly negligent on their part not to test it. It became known far and wide as the spray tan defense. The idea that linas death might have been caused by an allergic reaction, one more ridiculed than serious consideration. It was almost comical. But they had a point. I mean, it was never tested, right . To see whether or not there was some possibility that that could have caused it. There was testing done for the heck of it after that. Even the doctor they put on the stand couldnt ascribe to that theory. I mean, i guess it sounded sexy, but it wasnt feasible. The judge was not persuaded either. Adam would stay in jail. No bond. His family was devastated. Twin brother seth left in tears. But shortly after that hearing in one of those rare moments, the judge had a change of heart. It was just after fathers day. The judge said he used the term i had a catharsis. He said im going to let this boy go home to his kids. It was a great day. Except adam would have to wear an electronic ankle monitor. A stark reminder he was not a free man. That the real trial was yet to come. When we come back, evidence about marks on lina kaufmans neck and torso. Marks her best friend said she didnt see the night before when she showed off her new tan. She took off her jacket. Yes. Was she nude . Yes, she was. Did you notice any marks on her body at all . No. When in an instant continues. Four and a half years after he buried his wife lina came the day of reckoning for adam kaufman. Here he was charged with Second Degree murder, accused of killing her in the bathroom of their aventura, florida, home. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have been selected and sworn as the jury to try the state of florida versus adam kaufman. As he had been since linas death, adam was surrounded by his protective family including his identical twin seth. The family was terrified. Adam was facing up to life in prison if convicted. I was really worried. Because bottom line is that the fate of my twin brother rests in the hands of 12 people i dont know. Dade c

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