Where was the justice?
That's what this episode asks, in so many words. A woman who shot her lover spent 51 days in jail and was fined $2,000. That's it. Too add insult-to-injury, most of the town doesn't seem to care, except the police.
Once again, we have a jury contradicting hard evidence. Sounds like O.J. Simpson, all over again, except in this case in happened in Virginia and it was a female murdering a male. She claimed it was self-defense, that her Argentine polo player boyfriend tried to attack her with a knife. She grabbed a gun in her kitchen and shot in four times. However, the evidence shows self-inflicted cuts, the knife wiped clean and placed in a weird spot, blood indicating the man had been dead at least a half hour before she called 911 and the man's body appeared to have been sitting down when he was shot.
The jury came back with "voluntary manslaughter" and then gave her 60 days in the county jail. The "her" is Susan Cummings, heiress to a multi-billion dollar arms fortune and "he" was Roberto Villegas, a professional polo player from Argentina.
All of this took place in the very well-to-do rural area of Middleberg in Hunt Country in Virginia, where fox hunting and polo are the two recreations and the area is dotted with beautiful mansions and big farms. It's an Old Money town and people keep a low profile. They do not look for attention, but certainly got it in September of 1997 when Cummings called 911 and began this case.
"Was it act of passion or cold-blooded murder?" asks narrator Paul Winfield. It turns out to be more of a rhetorical question.
That's what this episode asks, in so many words. A woman who shot her lover spent 51 days in jail and was fined $2,000. That's it. Too add insult-to-injury, most of the town doesn't seem to care, except the police.
Once again, we have a jury contradicting hard evidence. Sounds like O.J. Simpson, all over again, except in this case in happened in Virginia and it was a female murdering a male. She claimed it was self-defense, that her Argentine polo player boyfriend tried to attack her with a knife. She grabbed a gun in her kitchen and shot in four times. However, the evidence shows self-inflicted cuts, the knife wiped clean and placed in a weird spot, blood indicating the man had been dead at least a half hour before she called 911 and the man's body appeared to have been sitting down when he was shot.
The jury came back with "voluntary manslaughter" and then gave her 60 days in the county jail. The "her" is Susan Cummings, heiress to a multi-billion dollar arms fortune and "he" was Roberto Villegas, a professional polo player from Argentina.
All of this took place in the very well-to-do rural area of Middleberg in Hunt Country in Virginia, where fox hunting and polo are the two recreations and the area is dotted with beautiful mansions and big farms. It's an Old Money town and people keep a low profile. They do not look for attention, but certainly got it in September of 1997 when Cummings called 911 and began this case.
"Was it act of passion or cold-blooded murder?" asks narrator Paul Winfield. It turns out to be more of a rhetorical question.