Going West: True Crime - Robert Limon // 398

Episode Date: April 20, 2024

In August of 2014, a 38-year-old California man was shot at work in what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. But as detectives dug deeper into his personal life, a clear suspect emerged in the form of violent Bible analogies and poisoned pudding. This is the murder of Robert Limon. BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Rob's Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/vvdailypress/name/robert-limon-obituary?id=17435762 2. KGET: https://www.kget.com/news/crime-watch/sabrina-limons-conviction-upheld-in-love-triangle-murder/#:~:text=Limon%2C%2042%2C%20is%20serving%2026,Institution%20for%20Women%20in%20Corona. 3. The Sun: https://www.sbsun.com/2017/11/16/former-redlands-firefighter-who-killed-ex-girlfriends-husband-sentenced-to-25-years/ 4. The Cinemaholic: https://thecinemaholic.com/where-are-robert-and-sabrina-limons-kids-now/5. 20/20: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27256504/?ref_=tt_mv_close 6. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2723810/ 7. People: https://people.com/crime/sabrina-limon-robert-husband-murder-friends-speak-dateline/ 8. ABC 7: https://abc7chicago.com/unholy-matrimony-2020-sabrina-and-robert-limon-murder-love-triangle/13100648/ 9. Desert Dispatch: https://www.newspapers.com/image/749557864/?match=1&terms=%22rob%20limon%22%20 10. Tehachapi News: https://www.tehachapinews.com/news/murder-defendant-sabrina-limon-repeatedly-denies-knowledge-of-husbands-shooting-in-recording-played-tuesday/article_a752798c-a328-11e7-8429-637d846bac1f.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on true crime fans? I'm your host, T and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to going west. Hello everybody. For those wondering, we did take Tuesday off. It was impromptu, but we needed it. So thank you all for those wondering we did take Tuesday off it was impromptu but we needed it so thank you all for understanding that we didn't come out with an episode a couple days ago but the one we have for you today is crazy I mean I remember when the trial happened and I'm sure a lot of you guys do as well because it was just a few years ago and it unraveled a wild and horrific story. Yes it really did so thank you guys so much for tuning into this one it's gonna be an appalling ride so without further ado this is episode

398 of Going West so let's get into it Think about something you're good at. Now think about how you got there. Chances are you had someone to help you get started. If you're thinking about starting to invest, Questrade's award-winning support team is here to help you learn how to become a better investor. From placing your first trade to setting up customized stock alerts,

we're always by your side. Just a few of the reasons why we're Canada's number one rated online broker by MoneySense. Get started today at questrade.com. by Money Sense. Get started today at Questrade.com. Introducing the first ever Mazda CX-70. Our largest two-row SUV, available as a mild hybrid inline-six turbo or as a plug-in hybrid. Crafted to move every part of you. In August of 2014, a 38-year-old California man was shot at work in what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong.

But as detectives dug deeper into his personal life, a clear suspect emerged in the form of violent Bible analogies and poisoned pudding. This is the story ofza Lamone, or Rob, as we're going to call him today, was born on August 11, 1976 in Lake Havasu, Arizona to parents Sharon and Robert Mendoza Sr. He grew up in a large, loving, working-class family and was known at his school for bringing homemade burritos to sell to classmates in order to help out with expenses at home. Like that was the kind of guy he was. And to lean into that a little bit more, according to his family, Rob, quote, spread sunshine everywhere he went and touched the hearts of everyone he met. He was a naturally gifted athlete and played football for River Valley High School

in Mojave Valley, Arizona, which is located about an hour north of where he was born in Lake Havasu. After graduating from high school, Rob stayed close to home and worked a string of odd jobs, just unsure about what kind of career path he wanted to go into, like many people just out of high school. But at the age of 21, Robert met a young woman named Sabrina, who had changed the trajectory of his life forever. Sabrina Sanmilon was born and raised in the desert, growing up in the Barstow area of California,

which is just about two hours northeast of Los Angeles. It's like on the way to Las Vegas. Her older sister, Julie, described Sabrina as warm, loving, and gracious, and claimed that she had the gift of making anyone and everyone feel comfortable around her. She spent over half her childhood in the California desert before her family picked up and moved to Prescott, Arizona

when she was 13 years old. And it was there, five years later, that she met Rob Limon. At 18, Sabrina was a blonde and bubbly gal, and Rob was instantly drawn to her when they had met through mutual friends at a barbecue. After that, Rob excitedly told his family that he knew that he had met the woman that he was gonna marry. And two years later, in 2000, that's exactly what happened. He and Sabrina had their wedding in a large church ceremony, because religion was something that they found together.

Like, they found a church to start attending and were even baptized as adults. But Sabrina seemed more committed to that kind of lifestyle than Rob was, which would prove to kind of be a point of contention between them moving forward as you guys are gonna see. So after their wedding, Rob and Sabrina decided that they wanted to leave Arizona, so they actually settled into an area that Sabrina grew up in, which is the California desert, and more specifically, they relocated to Hellendale, California and found a home in Silver Lakes, which is like this small planned community centered around two man-made lakes.

Now the town is definitely remote, but it attracted many young families and retirees because of its year-round golfing, water sports, and just generally sunny weather. So Rob and Sabrina purchased a house along the water, and were excited to settle into a laid back lifestyle with the locals. With the help of Sabrina's sister Julie's husband, Rob got a job working for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, or BNSF Railway, which his dad had also done by trade. So soon after their move, Sabrina got pregnant and the couple had two children,

Robert the Third or Robbie, and later a daughter named Leanna. And it was great because Rob's position with the railway was stable enough that Sabrina could stay home with their kids and she loved being able to do that. Friends described the couple as amazing and attentive parents and their neighbor Roxanne recalls quote,

Sabrina was always so gracious. My children loved being around her. If I ever left my children with Rob, it was like leaving them with a big tatted out care bear. That was Rob, a sweet, loving man. So while raising their kids, Sabrina was still very connected to her faith, and enjoyed taking the family to church and just getting the kids involved in it as well. But Sabrina and Rob also definitely had a fun side. They were both known for being the outside with their friends remembering Rob and Sabrina being best friends and that they were very affectionate and romantic with each other.

And there was this large group of young parents in Silver Lakes who called themselves the Wolf Pack. Is that like a little ode to the hangover or something? I have no idea and I don't know if other people called them this or they just called it to each other. Like, I don't really understand this, but. Kind of interesting. Yeah, they were a part of this group called the Wolf Pack. And also in the Wolf Pack was a couple named Kelly

and Jason Bernatine who wound up becoming best friends with Rob and Sabrina. Now, Kelly was actually Sabrina's hairstylist which is how they met and Jason was a firefighter and after some time the Lamone's friends including Kelly and Jason started to notice Sabrina's drinking was becoming more and more frequent and although she never let it affect her parenting she seemed to always have a drink in her hand and of course this is something they're noticing because this is, you know, their friend and they care about her.

Yeah, and it's definitely out of the ordinary for Sabrina. Right. So Julie admitted, Julie, remember, is Sabrina's sister, admitted, quote, Sabrina was drinking so much all the time that she was pretty numb. And it was around this time in 2008 that the Lamones reportedly opened up their marriage. A female friend of Sabrina's who was not in the Wolf Pack even remembers being kind of like proposition by Sabrina asking if she and her husband wanted to join, you know, Sabrina and Rob in the bedroom. And regarding this Sabrina later testified quote, we opened our marriage bed and it changed the dynamics of our sacred bond

as soon as we made that choice together. Well after they did it seemed like Sabrina was having some second thoughts about it and she was kind of masking the discomfort and doubt that she was feeling with alcohol. Another friend in their group, the Wolf Pack, recalled that it seemed even to their acquaintances that Rob and Sabrina's connection was suffering because of this open relationship that they were exploring. Rob even reportedly told Sabrina about a physical trait that he liked about one of her friends

more than he liked about her, which was a trait that he wished Sabrina would change, and I don't know what that trait was, but... So it was definitely affecting her. Maybe not the best thing to say to your wife, but you know what I mean? Yeah, so I think after she, of course, was a part of the decision to do this, after they started, she's kind of thinking, -"Well, maybe I don't want this." Which is fair. which is fair So as the children grew up and went off to school

Sabrina who was a stay-at-home mom until 2012 decided that she was ready to re-enter the workforce part-time She got a job working at the local Costco handing out samples And she also began reconnecting with her faith and just felt really drawn back to the church, just wanting to root her family and their spirituality again. Rob, however, seemed less enthused about returning to the church, and he was just kind of happy with their lifestyle and the way it was going. Then, in late 2013, Sabrina met a man named Jonathan Hearn, who was a big ol' part of this story. And he was a similarly motivated Christian man who approached her at Costco for a sample. Sabrina was 33 at the time, so 10 years older than Jonathan was, but she was taken by his

maturity and his devotion to his faith. It's so crazy to look at this part, to think about this later, like at the end of this episode, remember this part that they just met at Costco. So simple. He came up for a sample and if he never did that, none of this would have happened. It's so crazy. It would have changed the trajectory of both of their lives, all three of their lives really. Yeah. So Jonathan grew up in a deeply religious family in Hesperia, California and was described as quote devout and chivalrous. Jonathan was well known and well liked.

He had been a gifted student. He trained as a paramedic and then as a firefighter. But more than anything, he centered his life around God and longed for a traditional lifestyle. You know, just wanting to become a provider, a husband, and a father. So Sabrina was really taken with him because, again, at this point she's, you know, just wanting to become a provider, a husband, and a father. So Sabrina was really taken with him, because again, at this point, she's, you know, trying to dive back into her spirituality, and this was all very attractive to her. She was drawn to his deep connection with God and his other aspirations and traits. So the two got to talking and exchanged numbers, and Jonathan posed the idea of becoming somewhat

of a religious mentor to Sabrina. Which I don't know, that sounds like it's already headed in the wrong direction. Totally. I mean, you would kind of think that she would be more of the mentor here since she's ten years older, but I don't know, whatever. So she agreed, and they began to meet for lunches and coffees, chatting over their Bibles and praying together. And with Jonathan in her life, Sabrina began to move away from her party girl persona to become more like a tidy person, if you

will. Someone that Jonathan would respect and admire. Friends and neighbors of the Lamones recall seeing him stop by her house often. He would cook for her, bring her flowers, and even spend time around her kids. And I gotta say, you know, the fact that he's cooking for her and bringing her flowers, what does that have to do with your faith in God? Well, it doesn't, you know? They were moving into this other direction. Exactly.

But, you know, they always kept it platonic,onic well at least as far as the public was aware Now despite her relationship with Jonathan Rob and Sabrina's friends and family recall that they still loved each other deeply Were devoted partners and just wanted to prioritize their marriage August 17th 2014 started off as any other Sunday Rob and Sabrina and their children, who were 11 and 8 years old at the time, were home enjoying breakfast together. It was less than a week after Rob's 38th birthday and two days before the couple's 14th wedding anniversary.

Rob received a call from a co-worker asking if he could cover a shift that day at the BNSF warehouse in Tehachapi, California, which is about 85 miles or 136 kilometers northwest of Hellendale. So that's definitely a trek to get to work. Yeah, it's like an hour and a half drive from his family home, you know, to and from. So this was definitely, I mean, this was three hours in the car just to go to work. So this shift, it was a little bit later, so he's enjoying breakfast, he has enough time to get there for this shift, and that shift was set to conclude at 7pm. So Rob agreed to do it and headed off, but later that evening, Sabrina called her sister

Julie nervously telling her that she wasn't hearing from Rob and that she was growing increasingly concerned about where he was. Their daughter's first day of school was the next day and she was waiting up for him to say goodnight so his absence was very much noticed. Sabrina continued to call him for hours and was not hearing back. Meanwhile, at the remote BNSF warehouse, the employee who was coming in to start his shift at the end of Rob's came inside to find him collapsed and bleeding out on the ground. So panicked and unsure of how long he'd even been there on the floor, his co-worker decided to call 911 and perform CPR until paramedics arrived. But sadly, 38-year-old Rob was too far gone and he died before help could reach him.

Well get this, it was discovered that he had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the face. He was found on the ground next to a refrigerator which had blood spatters all over it. And in addition to the injuries that Rob sustained, the office of the warehouse which was near where his body was found looked like it had been ransacked. File cabinets had been emptied and binders, papers, and folders were strewn across the floor. Everything was accounted for except for one laptop computer.

So this whole thing at first glance appeared to be a botched robbery. But it's weird because Rob is dead, there's stuff everywhere, but there's only one thing missing. So it's like why would somebody come in and murder somebody just to take a laptop? Yeah, and it's not like this place is anything special. I mean, it's a railroad warehouse, you know what I mean? So it's not like this is like some undercover CIA shit. Like, you know, the fact that just that laptop is missing is so bizarre to me. Yeah, it's a bit of a red flag. Because also, the warehouse is in a super quiet,

secluded pocket of east to Hatchipi with virtually no foot traffic or cars passing through. And again, the motive was hard to justify because Rob's cell phone and his wallet, which by the way was filled with cash, were both still present. Thus, investigators immediately had a hunch that the scene had been staged.

Well, after police notified Sabrina that her husband had been killed, she called her sister Julie, screaming and crying and begging her to come over. Julie then called Rob's sisters one by one and broke the news. Rob had last been spotted at work around 3 p.m. About the same time that Sabrina said that she had last heard from him. But his co-worker came upon his dead body around 7 p.m.

Leaving a four-hour window for foul play to have occurred. The only activity on his phone had been Sabrina calling to check on him around 3pm, so there was no other activity to help with the timeline, but police kept pushing for answers. A few days later, Rob's memorial took place at a church in Hellandale, with hundreds of friends, locals, and family members in attendance. Sabrina looked every bit of the bereaved spouse, graciously greeting and thanking the guests for coming. She later took to Facebook to express her grief, writing, quote, Robert showed his love, compassion, hardworking skills, and genuine kindness to everyone he met. I will never let Rob's love die or fade out.

I will carry it with me wherever I go, and remind our children of it daily as they grow." But no one, including Sabrina, seemed to understand why this loving, happy-go-lucky dad had been killed. Detectives spoke with Sabrina frequently in the week after the murder, and they recall that she definitely played up the part of the grieving spouse, reporting that there had been no issues in their marriage and that she couldn't imagine who would want her beloved husband, the father of her children, dead. So investigators forged ahead with the few flimsy leads that they had. For example, they knew that the co-worker that Rob was filling in for was apparently in a bad bar fight the evening before he asked Rob to cover his shift.

So at first, police entertained the possibility that Rob was not the original target of the attack, but that it was actually supposed to be his co-worker. But detectives managed to track down the guy that he had gotten into a fight with, but he was able to offer a solid alibi and clearly hadn't known Rob at all, nor had anything to do with his murder. Then, a tip came in from the owner of a local gun store that a man had brought in his gun to be looked at, wanting to have the firing pin replaced. Now, this gun was similar to one that they believed could have been used to murder Rob. But what the store owner found odd was that the gun wasn't actually in need of any replacement parts.

So he wondered if maybe the customer was just trying to get rid of the weapon that had been involved in a crime. He didn't think of this originally, but when the owner caught wind of the murderer, he notified police about this encounter because after he heard about it He's thinking wait a second this kind of weird thing happened at work I wonder if this is connected which is awesome that he called in but officers were basically able to track down the customer based on this tip and it just turned out that he had an alibi and the Gun which was taken into ballistics and tested, was not connected to

the murder, and the customer had no affiliation with Rob. Meanwhile, on security camera footage, they captured a man stumbling into the warehouse because there were cameras outside, by the way, and later stumbling out of it. He appeared to be an older man walking with a limp and carrying a large bag with him. This is something very interesting to note. Remember that, you know, this person looks like an older man when we talk about this later. Yeah, it's a really interesting piece. So this obviously raised suspicions immediately as again the warehouse was off the beaten path and saw virtually no foot traffic so who is this person this old man with a limp stumbling in and out

on the same day that Rob was murdered detectives continued to scour the security footage of nearby businesses to see if they could match any more to this old man and in doing so they found a building down the street whose cameras captured a man on a black motorcycle circling the area around the same time as they believed Rob's murder occurred. Though they couldn't be sure of the identity of the driver or the exact make and model of the motorcycle, they knew via DMV records that someone in Rob's circle drove a motorcycle.

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ca-pru- disclaimer When police analyzed the surveillance footage of the nearby business that captured the black motorcycle cruising by at the time of Rob's murder and compared it to Jonathan's motorcycle, they believed that they had found a match. It was a pretty distinctive bike because the black Yamaha motorcycle read forgiven in white letters with a cross on the side. Don't see too many of those. No, you really don't. That is very distinctive. Super. So detectives were also able to pull surveillance footage from a nearby gas station that showed what resembled the same driver and bike pulling in, with the driver clad in a black helmet, with a black tank top, shorts, sunglasses, and shoes, plus a red bandana tied around his neck.

He pulled up to the gas pump shortly after the murder was believed to have taken place, and went inside to buy a drink. This mysterious biker also matched the description of the man seen at the scene of the crime. Then, two weeks after Rob Lamone's murder, lead detective Robert Meyer received a tip from a surprising source. The Lamone's best friends, Kelly and Jason Bernatine. On a night out before Rob's death, the two couples and some other Silver Lakes friends were out at a bar together.

Jonathan had popped in and was introduced by Sabrina as her quote, Bible study partner, but Jason remembers being alarmed at how physically affectionate they were with each other, especially in Rob's presence. And weeks later, Jonathan called Jason, seemingly out of the blue, asking for Rob's phone number. So Jason, who happened to be with Rob at the time, handed the phone over to him instead of passing along his number. And from what Jason could gather from the conversation, Jonathan was basically apologizing for the intimate and inappropriate physical relationship that he had with Sabrina.

Now, Rob had already been suspicious of this based on the nature of their relationship. Because as Sabrina and Jonathan began to grow closer, Rob noticed text messages that he felt crossed the line. But Sabrina assured him that she had not been physical with Jonathan, and that she would never do such a thing. And she even told him that she would end the relationship with Jonathan to salvage their marriage if Rob preferred that she do so. So, Rob told Jason that he was working through it with Sabrina, and that he would be able to forgive her eventually. Now, obviously they had been open before. I kind of want to clear this up because I'm sure a ton of you are wondering, you know,

they saw other people together before this, you know, in the years before this. But what Sabrina was doing was different. She seemed to be sneakily seeing someone else by herself. And it wasn't just physical, you know, they were bringing people into their shared relationship. It wasn't like I'm going to go have a relationship with somebody else. She is having an emotional affair essentially and a physical affair. So it's very different from what they had done before with their marriage, but she seemed apologetic and so he kind of let it go.

But months later, long after Sabrina assured Rob that she was taking space from Jonathan, Kelly Bernatine spotted Sabrina at her job at Costco talking with Jonathan while she was on her work break. When Kelly asked her about it, Sabrina became super defensive and apparently told Kelly, quote,

mind your own business. That's your best friend. I mean, that seems a little over the top to say something like mind your own business. Yeah, I think her getting defensive about it. I think she knows that she's doing something that she shouldn't be, but she doesn't want to not do it. She wants to keep this up with Jonathan because clearly she's very into him. So Jason stepped in on Rob's behalf here, warning Jonathan to stay away from Sabrina. You know, because they're looking out for Rob's

best interests, but just four months later, Rob would be dead. After the murder, Jason, not Rob, obviously, received a strange guilt-ridden voicemail from Jonathan apologizing for the murder, Jason, not Rob, obviously, received a strange guilt-ridden voicemail from Jonathan apologizing for the affair, which Jason later described as unstable and emotional. Shortly after leaving the voicemail, Jonathan also wrote a handwritten letter to the Bernatines where he apologized for being prideful, selfish, and disrespectful, and admitted to sinning. God, this guy is so weird, like... Why are you apologizing to the friends?

It's just so strange. Yeah, you know, it's to the point where everybody's just asking you to leave this couple alone, just stay out of their lives, and just back off, dude. Yeah, it's very weird. Now, although he never explicitly confessed to having any involvement in Rob's murder, Kelly and Jason had seen enough. This, to them, seemed as valid an argument as any that Jonathan had possibly been involved

in the murder of Rob Lamone. So they shared the information with the police. And finding this development pretty incriminating, police subpoenaed both Sabrina's and Jonathan's phone records and found dozens of calls between the two in late 2013 and early 2014. Now obviously this is months before Rob's murder, but it's kind of interesting because these calls stopped abruptly around the time that Rob found out that they were kind of in this relationship.

But then, Jonathan started receiving a bunch of calls from an unknown number, and police believed that this was just Sabrina calling on a burner phone. So investigators wiretapped both of these numbers, obviously, secretly, and quickly became privy to an intense physical and romantic relationship between Jonathan and Sabrina that was in full swing, even after Rob's death. Outside of their possible involvement in the murder of Sabrina's husband, she and Jonathan spoke of themselves as star-crossed lovers. They discussed their belief that God led them to each other and wanted them to be together. They talked about how much they loved each other and their plans for the future,

which included having children of their own while raising Rob and Sabrina's kids together. And though they never addressed or admitted to Rob's murder directly, they spoke vaguely about their devotion to each other. Jonathan was recorded telling Sabrina, quote, Whatever happens, however it goes, I love you, I love you, I love you, to the end of the world, I love you. I love you. I love you to the end of the world. I love you He also compared their relationship to that of Bethsheba and David in the Bible the story of King David sending Bethsheba's husband Uriah into battle after committing adultery with her and getting her pregnant

Jonathan told Sabrina quote David is a lot like you and I Sabrina. He was someone who committed adultery. Actually, that's what Psalms 51 is about. He had an affair, and then he even went on to kill the guy. Like send him into battle and pretty much had him killed off. Jonathan and Sabrina would pray together often on the phone, and when they spoke to God, Jonathan called him and Sabrina dirtbags and selfish and said that they had sinned.

This just makes me like, it always drives me particularly nuts when very religious people murder their spouses but they claim to be these amazing, like holier than now people. You know, he's saying, oh, we're sinning and whatever, but then he's comparing them to this part of the Bible as if cheating and killing is okay because that's pretty much what happened in the Bible. That's pretty much what happened with David and Bathsheba. Like what? And also if you're calling you and your mistress or your girlfriend sinners and dirtbags, then

why the hell are you even doing this in the first place? Yeah, but that's what's annoying is he's saying, oh we're sinners, but we're doing it anyway. Like what is right and wrong here? It almost feels to me like by him saying that they're dirtbags, it's like, well, you know, at least we're like trying to be forgiven for our sins. We know that we're dirtbags and sinners and we're calling ourselves that so it makes the crime like less bad in his eyes. Which makes it so much more annoying and insane. And detectives are hearing and seeing all of this back and forth. So they decided to work against Sabrina and Jonathan in hopes of tripping them up and coercing a confession.

Detective Robert Meyer called Sabrina and relayed that they finally had a break in the case after weeks of no forward momentum. He explained that a tall white male had been seen fleeing the scene on a motorcycle, and that they had recovered DNA from the scene of the crime in the form of a sweat drop that they would potentially be able to trace back to the identity of the killer. And Sabrina actually said in a sprightly tone, oh really? That's great. You know, she's been putting on an act this whole time. Yeah, of course.

But as soon as she hung up the phone, she called Jonathan immediately. Now, although she didn't implicate either of them, she warned him in a very calm tone, unlike the heightened sense of emotion that she had in her call with Detective Robert Myers, that police were potentially inching closer to an arrest. Jonathan responded flatly, quote, I wouldn't be surprised if they were listening right now. To which Sabrina agreed saying, quote, This is just so crazy. I can't believe any of this. Like, I can't believe any of it.

Based on that phone call, along with the months of incriminating conversations as well as the connection of the motorcycle, police finally felt like they had enough information to arrest them. So on November 18th, 2014, three months after the murder of Rob Lamone, Jonathan was arrested at the fire station where he worked and Sabrina was arrested upon arriving home with her children and her neighbors obviously just watched in shock as she was loaded into the back of a police car for a crime that she swore she had not committed. And even though

both parties proclaimed their innocence, Jonathan refused to talk to detectives and he secured an attorney immediately. But Sabrina obliged and was interrogated by police for hours. Hoping to scare a confession out of her, they told her honestly that they believed Jonathan was guilty and that he was going to be in prison for a very long time. But after hours of questioning with no confession, they arrested Sabrina for conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to murder. And for those wondering, Sabrina's sister Julie was asked to care for her children while Sabrina was detained.

Now Sabrina denied knowing anything or being involved in the murder at all, and said that to her knowledge, Jonathan had not been involved. During this time, both of their homes were searched, but no evidence was found that could incriminate either of them, and no murder weapon was recovered either. So, without sufficient evidence, police were forced to release Sabrina from custody, though they were able to maintain the detention of Jonathan, who pleaded innocent on Thursday, November 20th, 2014. But the public's opinion in the small, tight-knit community had already soured against Sabrina, and she was pretty much forced to leave the town.

Sabrina moved herself and her two children two and a half hours west to Camarillo, California, which is in Ventura County, to be closer to her sister Julie. And for two years, Sabrina was able to live her life as any other suburban mom, and even received sympathy when she told new friends and neighbors that her husband had been murdered. While Jonathan remained behind bars, detectives felt that their case was slipping away from them, with Sabrina avoiding any implication due to lack of evidence. So, the district attorney offered Jonathan a plea deal. Testify against Sabrina,

and they would reduce his sentence. Well, Jonathan agreed and finally admitted to shooting Rob Lamone, but he added that Sabrina was a willing participant and in fact she wanted this done. So he rolled over on Sabrina when they were like, hey we'll give you a plea deal. I mean who wouldn't you know? Yeah she's just out there free living her life and he's detained like come on come on. And she, I mean, she, the whole, the whole reason that Rob was killed is because he was the one that was quote unquote in the way. And he was the one that was married to Sabrina.

So this was because of Sabrina. Jonathan's not married to the guy, you know? Yeah, and it probably felt like a massive slap in the face when she just took off two and a half hours away and just left him in the dust. Oh yeah. So by his account, Sabrina saw the murder as her only way out of her marriage to Rob Lamone. A marriage which she told Jonathan had been spiraling out of control for a very long time. By the way, murder is the worst way out of a marriage, but okay.

Get a divorce. Jonathan alleged that Rob had been pressuring Sabrina to engage in their very sexual lifestyle, swinging with other couples and attending sex parties together. Remember this was going on for a few years. But according to Jonathan, she began to feel degraded, demeaned, and used which was why her drinking had become out of control a few years earlier. When Jonathan swept in, this gobbly man who wanted to save her, Sabrina was instantly smitten and wanted her husband out of the picture by any means necessary except of course the normal and legal route of divorce. As their feelings developed and their affair grew physical they hatched a plan to get rid

of Rob. And Jonathan explained that he had advised Sabrina to simply divorce Rob but that she didn't want the legal trouble or the custody battle. And imagine how much easier emotionally, legally, physically, it would be to divorce a kind, non-abusive man and just be divorced than it would to carry out a murder plot and either live with the guilt and fear of getting caught forever, but not actually getting caught, or actually get caught and then go through that legal battle.

Like how is murder ever a considerable option? Yeah, and now your kids don't have a father or their mother because you're in jail you moron How is that worth the risk? Well crazy as it seems to use this as fuel Sabrina told Jonathan that Robb would rather be dead than divorced Maybe Robb should decide, you know, like, and considering he was very willingly a part of an open marriage, I feel like it wouldn't be worse than death to him or anybody, but okay.

Yeah, sounds a little insane. So Jonathan later testified at Sabrina's trial, quote, It was inevitable that Rob needed to die for Sabrina and I to move forward with our relationship How is that working out now? Like are you happily together now that Rob's dead? No, no, absolutely not So Sabrina stood to gain $300,000 from Rob's life insurance policy as well. So that just adds a little bit more fuel Yeah, I mean, I don't think obviously that was not the main reason, but the little incentive, I guess, there. And Jonathan also revealed a very shocking new piece of information during his confession.

That their successful murder plot of shooting Rob at work was actually their second attempt on Rob's life. This next part is so insane it blows my mind. It's ridiculous. So, before is so insane it blows my mind. It's ridiculous. So before the couple planned to shoot Rob while he was at work, they had attempted to poison him. So just before his murder in August of 2014, Sabrina made one of Rob's favorite desserts, banana pudding with vanilla wafer cookies on top. Jonathan claims that he himself stirred the arsenic into the pudding,

which Sabrina then put into a plastic container and packed in his lunch. But at the last minute, she got cold feet and called Rob at work and told him that the bananas had gone bad and that he shouldn't eat it. It's wild to me that she tried this first, but I think also she probably knew that it might be traceable if they found arsenic in his system and might be questioning her anyway. Oh, it would have been so easy for them to figure that out. But then, you know, they went through with plan number two, which was attack him and stage a murder as a robbery gone wrong. And according to Jonathan, Sabrina knew his work schedule and day to day movements intimately.

So she helped Jonathan figure out when to strike and likely even called Jonathan to go after him as soon as she found out that Rob would be willing to fill in for the coworker on that Sunday. So on the afternoon of August 17th, 2014, Jonathan drove his motorcycle to the warehouse with his.45 caliber handgun. Dressed in all black, with a mask covering his face, Jonathan parked some distance away from the warehouse and covered himself to look like a pedestrian, simply just passing through, adding a limp to throw off investigators as they watched the surveillance footage.

Which is so interesting that police watched it and said, oh, that looks like an old man with a limp, and it was a very young man with a fake limp. Exactly, yeah. So after shooting Rob, Jonathan quickly grabbed a laptop from the desk and then thrashed the office. As he did, he could hear Rob gasping for air and realized that he had to finish the job. So, he shot Rob again, then quickly closed the garage behind him and left, stopping at the gas station on his way out of town. Which is what got him caught. Exactly. Now he and Sabrina spoke on the phone shortly after, and both claimed that they were relieved and prepared to move forward together.

That's so messed up to carry it out and feel relief after. Yeah, I mean no remorse whatsoever. So with Jonathan's admission, Sabrina was brought into custody once again, and finally on January 7th, 2017, Sabrina was arrested at her home in Camarillo for her part in Rob's murder. However, there was still no physical evidence tying Sabrina to the crime. She maintained that she was never planning on leaving her husband, regardless of the affair, and that she was blindsided by the news that he had been murdered. But her behavior and the immediate aftermath of her husband's murder said otherwise. Police revealed texts that she had written to Jonathan, including one that read, quote,

Oh, how I love you. I adore you, Jonathan Hearn, you sexy guy. The prosecutors built their case around knowing that the two had never outright confessed to the murder in their wiretapped phone calls. They were very careful to just dance around certain topics. When her highly anticipated trial began, Sabrina was put on the stand to testify on her own behalf, When the dissipated trial began, Sabrina was put on the stand to testify on her own behalf, and claimed that she was manipulated under the guise of spiritual guidance, but that she never wanted to kill or even leave her husband. Bullshit.

She blamed Jonathan for every aspect of the murder, and claimed that she possessed no prior knowledge of the plan. Like, she basically, they basically just rolled on each other. But we know in text messages and from the phone calls that she is saying that she loves Jonathan. So to claim that he is manipulating her because he was her mentor, it's just, I'm just not buying it. Yeah, it feels like a very convenient defense. Like, oh, it was all him. Like, he was, was you know stalking me

He loved me so much that he was willing to kill my husband to be with me No, you were involved. You know you were involved. Well also because after Remember there's so many little things that lead this to make sense on the day that that Rob was killed that morning She called Jonathan of course to tell him the plan was a go today's the day that Rob was killed that morning. She called Jonathan, of course, to tell him the plan was a go. Today's the day. After she got that call from police where the detective said that they think they know who did it. Who did she call right after hanging up?

Jonathan. So obviously she is in constant communication with him because this was a joint plan. And she's just trying to get away with it and pin it all on John, which is just so messed up. So the jury was pretty skeptical of the whole situation, but in the end, Sabrina was found guilty of her husband's murder. And by the way, I just want to quickly clarify that we have zero sympathy for Jonathan either, like, or as well, like they're both pieces of shit. Oh, I'm not. Yeah, I'm not saying like, oh, poor Jonathan. No, no, no. Obviously,

this man literally killed somebody and killed an innocent, wonderful man. We just wanted to point out how manipulative, manipulative it is that she is trying to pin it all on Jonathan. Yeah, they are both guilty here. So on October 5th, 2017, Sabrina was found guilty on four of the six counts that she was accused of, including first degree murder, attempted murder, solicitation of murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.

But she was acquitted of attempting to poison him via the banana pudding because the jury just didn't feel like there was enough evidence to prove that she did, which makes sense. This is, you know, I still think it happened but I understand that they're not able to to prove that months later. So Sabrina proclaimed her innocence to the bitter end and was described as cold and unaffected throughout the duration of the trial, desiring nothing but blamelessness and showed no sorrow for her husband's death nor remorse for her involvement.

Sabrina, who is now 44 years old, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and began serving her sentence at the woman's correctional facility in Corona, California. She cried silently as the verdict was read and her attorney was visibly outraged. In an interview with her sister outside the courthouse, following the guilty verdict, Julie said, quote, she didn't do this. I know that she's an amazing mother, amazing person. She would never do anything like this. Okay. Uh, a little bit biased there. I mean,

I understand why her sister it's probably, this is probably a huge shock, especially because in the beginning of this episode, we, we said so many amazing things about Sabrina. Everybody in her life had nothing but great things to say about her as a mother and as a person. But this was a horrible, horrible thing that never should have happened. And I mean, sometimes people who seem like they're really good and great people do awful things.

Absolutely, but to this day, Julie maintains that the judge and jury made a mistake, saying, quote, that was not the right verdict. Rob's family, however, was thankful for the closure and feels that justice was served. On November 16, 2017, Jonathan accepted the predetermined sentence as outlined in his plea amounting to 25 years and four months, but was convicted of manslaughter instead of first-degree murder, per the terms of his plea deal. At his sentencing, he read a heartfelt letter to Rob's family that read,

"'The mercy that I've been shown is not lost on me. Even isolation and misery is a generous piece of real estate for someone of my offenses. Your honor, I consider the profound impact of my decisions and I realize there are many others whose lives I've affected and I owe a heartfelt apology to. I hope to get the opportunity to repent to each of these in time. I have wept and struggled searching for adequate words to express my repentance. Saying I'm sorry to you all will never be enough.

So speaking on borrowed and undeserved breath, I offer you my brokenhearted and genuine apology, knowing it cannot compare to the grief I caused all of you." Through tears, he concluded, quote, I offer you my brokenhearted and genuine apology. To Robert's friends and family, I am so sorry. He also wrote letters to both of the couple's children, expressing his regret for his actions.

And what a gnarly thing to receive after such a messed up and traumatizing ordeal involving your parents. Yeah, nobody cares about your letters, guy. So in 2022, Sabrina attempted to appeal her conviction. With her new legal counsel, she argued that her attorney should have never let her testify on her own behalf at her trial. However, her attorney claims that she wanted to do so, and in fact, insisted upon it. Because this was such a high-profile case in the area at the time, her team argued not

enough effort was made to protect the public from being exposed to the massive amount of media coverage about the case. She continued to claim that there was no proof that Jonathan had not acted alone, but the prosecution argued, quote, evidence independent from Hearn's testimony conclusively connected Sabrina with Robert's murder. The prosecution established that Appellant was deeply in love with Hearn both before and after he killed her husband. Lamone provided Hearn with critical information that permitted Hearn to confront and shoot Robert when Robert was working alone on an unexpected extra shift on August 17, 2014,

and she repeatedly lied and provided false leads to law enforcement during its investigation following this murder. Based on Hearn's corroborated testimony, overwhelming evidence established Appellant's intent to solicit Robert's murder, her intent to kill, and her intent to conspire with Hearn to commit murder. Sabrina's appeal was eventually denied, and she remains incarcerated to this day. The most affected by the tragedy were Rob and Sabrina's young children, who have been caught in the crossfire since their father was taken away from them.

Julie said woefully, quote, The kids don't have a father, and now they don't have a mother. And I look at them in the face face and they are in so much pain. Sadly Rob's sisters claim that Rob and Sabrina's children have been mostly kept away from Rob's side of the family, moving in with her aunt Julie and not permitted to keep in touch with Rob's sisters. Which is so messed up. I mean especially if Julie thinks that her sister is innocent and that she didn't kill

Rob then she should still have sympathy for Rob and his family. Yeah. So that's just super messed up. I mean, why isolate Rob's kids from his side of the family? It just makes no sense to me. But anyway, Rob's sister Lydia stated, quote, The last I heard, they didn't want to talk to me. Robert's sisters have maintained that Sabrina was the mastermind behind their brother's murder.

Oh wait, that's right, maybe that's why. Yeah. Now that you say that, wait, yeah, I forgot that his family very much thinks that she was involved, so maybe Julie is hurt by that. Yeah, probably. And they also said, or Lydia also said, that they would rather have seen Sabrina take the fall for her actions instead of Jonathan. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

Yes, thank you guys so much for checking out this episode. Again, thank you for being understanding about Tuesday's episode not coming out. Daphne and I needed a little bit of extra time for this case this week, so we took it and hopefully you guys enjoyed it. But we will be back next week with your regular two scheduled episodes. Indeed, and we are, those two will be $3.99 and then $400. Yeah, crazy, crazy. We're almost at 400 regular episodes on Going West.

Crazy. Thank you guys so much for getting us here and staying with us and continuing to listen to the show. It means the world to us. If you love our show, feel free to leave a review on Apple or Spotify. It really helps our show and let us know that you guys still love being here with us. Yeah, and it also brings Daphne and I a very large smile to our faces. It definitely does. So thank you guys so much.

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