Snapped: Women Who Murder - Jessica Riggins

Episode Date: April 4, 2021

A look at the case of Jessica Riggins, who snapped in 2007 when she shot her husband before trying to flee the country. What drove her to murder?Season 8, Episode 19Original air date: January 15, 2012Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WsLCJWqmIebSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. It was a textbook-troubled relationship. She had him arrested many times for abuse. She was the product of a broken home.

We ended up placed in foster care. He was a violent alcoholic. He was in and out of a job, in and out of his mother's house. And in August of 2007, their turbulent marriage would come to a bloody end. There was one shot into the body. Was it self-defense? He was currently on probation or messed by its offenses.

Or was it something else? She didn't want Rusty anymore, but she wanted that money. The jury's decision would depend on what mattered more, the abuse before the shooting, or what she had done after. What is the need? Why do they? Why go that far? . . Flagstaff, Arizona, August 7, 2007.

It wasn't quite eight o'clock on Tuesday morning when someone knocked on Judy Riggins' door. It was her son Rusty's business partner. His partner came to my door and they said, we can't get a hold of Rusty anywhere. We called and called and he's not answering his phone and he's not answering his door. And I said, come on, let's go over there. Together, they drove over to Rusty's house.

Once again, there was no answer. But there were signs that Rusty was inside. We looked through the window, and we could see Rusty's sunglasses, and Rusty never went anywhere without a sunglasses. Concerned for her son, Judy Riggins called 911. I called the cops,

told him that I needed someone to come out, that something was wrong. Once on the scene, the officers went inside to check on Rusty. There was a window that. Once on the scene, the officers went inside to check on Rusty. There was a window that was opened on the second floor, so he obtained a ladder, went up to the second floor, and entered through the window.

The officer found Rusty Riggins inside the house. He had been dead for some time. There was visible a single gunshot wound, basically, to the backside of his body. A few feet away, police found a single 22 caliber shell casing. There were no signs of a break-in, there were no signs of a struggle. In terms of a crime scene, it was relatively clean. We had no real solid picture of how the crime had actually gone down.

Rusty's mother did have a suggestion, however. Work wasn't all Rusty had missed in the last 24 hours. He'd also missed a divorce hearing. It's a divorce hearing that had been scheduled for that Monday. According to his mother, Rusty's estranged wife Jessica Riggins was in town for the hearing. Judy Riggins, his mother, we mentioned to the police department, at the time that Jessica Riggins should have been around or might have had contact with Rusty. But Jessica had missed the hearing as well.

So where was she now? That Tuesday morning, finding Jessica Riggins became a priority for the Flagstaff police. She might have been the last person to have contact, might have knowledge, or might be another victim. Jessica Mason, her head met Rusty Riggins six years earlier in a Flagstaff bar. There was eight or ten of us kind of casually involved in the group. Typically Friday afternoon, pay us kind of casually involved in the group. Typically Friday afternoon, payday kind of a situation. We were all kind of hanging out together and just having beers and stuff.

Originally from California, Jessica had spent much of her childhood bouncing between a series of foster homes. Our biological family, we ended up being removed from their care and placed in foster care. There was one foster family that wanted to adopt her that she really got along with and learned a lot from. But she could never let that final act of adoption occur because she was always searching for her parents and for her mother. In her early teens, Jessica had reunited with her birth mother, but the arrangement didn't work out, and she had ended up back in foster care. The picture that comes out is someone who was constantly searching for affection, constantly rejected. In 1985 at the age of 18, she married for the first time.

She really liked them. Yeah, I am. It was like a high school romance, but the romance had soon faded, lost amid allegations of abuse. There are numerous reports, police reports, and or convictions of domestic violence. Our relationship was always shaky. It wasn't ever really a solid relationship on again, off again. I was, it was a lot of turmoil. I went to jail four times. After 10 years and two children,

Jessica's first marriage had ended in divorce. But there were plenty of men willing to take her ex-husband's place. She was really beautiful. So it was the perfect little Southern California blonde. Right, eyes. She was always somebody that was really easy to look at and fun to talk to. None of Jessica's relationships had lasted, however. the California blonde. Right eyes. She was always somebody that was really easy to look at

and fun to talk to. None of Jessica's relationships had lasted, however, and most had been marred by allegations of abuse. You see it a lot in domestic violence cases where they're attracted to a certain type of person, while that person turns out to be an abuser. By the time she met Rusty and a Flagstaff bar in 2001, Jessica was a 34-year-old single mother.

She had two teenage sons back in California and three little girls at home. I did the math one time, and, you know, there's several different fathers. The string of failed relationships had left its mark on Jessica. She developed coping mechanisms, and her coping mechanisms was to be a forceful, independent type of person. She's a go-getter. She doesn't give up.

But an independent streak didn't mean Jessica had given up her search for affection. Jess really just wants a man to be a part of her life, to be a part of her daughter's lives. We didn't have one when we were younger, so family meant a lot. That was where Rusty came in, like Jessica, the 35-year-old had been searching for something since childhood.

Rusty never got to know his real father, because we had divorced, and he said that he always had a hole in his heart because he never got to know his real father. And for Rusty, Jessica and her children seemed like a way to make up for his own childhood. He loved children even as a teenager. he loved little kids. So, to me, that is what attracted him to Jessica, was the children. His way of thinking they needed a father. But Rusty also fit the pattern

of Jessica's past relationships. He was violent. He was a violent drinker. There were drugs. There was excessive alcohol. He worked off and on, loading trucks for a local moving company and living with family or friends. He was in and out of a job, in and out of his mother's house, was living on somebody else's couch. A relationship with Jessica appeared to offer this stability

Rusty desperately needed. He said to me, you know, mom, he said, for the first time in my life, I feel that the hole in my heart has been filled. After three years of dating, the couple married in 2004. At first, they enjoyed being together. They were together a lot all the time.

They like to watch NASCAR races, go to the creek, go hiking. But it wasn't long before Rusty was right back where his relationship with Jessica had started in a bar. What ruined Jessica and Rusty's relationship was the alcohol. There was a bar in town that opened at 6 a.m. And he was there at 605. But as his wife, Jessica seemed less tolerant

when Rusty's drinking got out of hand. She would just kick him out and Rusty would call and say, Mom, can you come pick me up? I'm standing at such and such a place. And I need a place to stay. I need some place to sleep. Other times, Jessica would have Rusty hauled out in handcuffs. She had him arrested many times for abuse.

They had a really rough relationship, but my daughter said that there was abuse towards their mother from Rusty. At least one of Rusty's arrests resulted in a domestic violence conviction. But released on parole, he ended up right back with Jessica. They would just go back and forth. There were times when they called the honeymoon period,

and times when things were good. And there were times when there was violence, and she would leave for a while. But it just continued on that roller coaster. However, by September of 2006, just two years into their marriage, Jessica and Rusty's roller coaster. However, by September of 2006, just two years into their marriage, Jessica and Rusty's roller coaster ride appeared to be coming to an end. That month, she didn't just throw a mount.

She went to court. She had a restraining order put against him. She had, uh, changed the locks on the house. Three months later, Jessica found for divorce. And we're not going to be getting back together. She didn't feel that rusty was going to change. So in January of 2007, Jessica and the girls packed up and moved to Lake Tahoe.

She got two different jobs with different casinos, because she'd always worked, and she was a good worker. And so she was working to support the kids. Jessica wasn't the only one making a fresh start, however. Contrary to her expectations, Rusty did change. And he started up moving business, and he was so proud, and he stopped the drugs, he stopped the alcohol.

He was doing just wonderful. Within a few months, Rusty even had a new home. One of his first customers, he had a beautiful home that he was trying to sell. And he heard that Rusty was living in a motel. And so he decided to rent Rusty out his home. Whether part of it was her and the girls being there was making it harder for him.

I don't know. But Rusty had been by all accounts doing much better since she moved away. But eight months later, Jessica Riggins would be back in Flagstaff and back in Rusty's life. What little was left of it? At the end of July 2007, Jessica and her daughters left Tahoe and took a road trip. They visited Jessica's birth mother in Missouri and her sister in Kansas.

Then leaving the girls behind, Jessica drove back to Flagstaff alone. Her final divorce hearing was scheduled for August 6. Two weeks she would be gone at the very most, you know, get to Flagstaff, get to divorce, and then make her drive back to Kansas. But was the hearing the only reason Jessica was going back to Flagstaff? Or was there a chance of reuniting with Rusty? She decided to try to work it out one more time. And so she left the girls there visiting with her family. According to his mother, Rusty appeared up feet when he dropped by her house on August 5th to borrow her car.

He had come to pick the car up about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. And he said he'd have my car back by Monday evening. And then Monday afternoon, he was to be in court. But neither Rusty nor Jessica would make it to court that Monday. I was standing at the window and he waved at me and blew me a kiss. That was the last I saw of Rusty. Coming up, the police find Rusty. He'd been there for probably a day.

But will they find Jessica? It was determined that the vehicle had crossed over into Mexico. . . . Flagstaff, Arizona, August 7, 2007. It was around 8.30 in the morning when Rusty Riggins' mother, Judy, reported him missing. Rusty's co-workers and family members

had become worried that they hadn't heard from him, couldn't get in contact with them. Rusty and his wife, Jessica, had failed to show up for the final hearing in their divorce. And Rusty hadn't shown up at work, either. He hadn't been to work for the past two days. He wasn't answering his cell phone. He always answers when his mom calls him.

And when Judy and Rusty's partner in the moving business had dropped by the house earlier that morning, Rusty hadn't answered the door. The house was totally closed up, totally tight. Everything was blocked. With no way in, Judy looked through the windows and noticed Rusty's sunglasses sitting on a table. Rusty never went anywhere without his glasses. Stranger still.

Judy's Toyota, the car Rusty had borrowed two days earlier, was missing. We looked in the garage, the car wasn't in the garage. And I said, something's not right. At around 830, Judy dialed 911 and requested that the police come out and check on her son. The officers tried the doors, found that everything was locked up tight and noticed an upstairs window that was open.

Climbing through the window, the officers found Rusty inside, lying dead in the hallway office bedroom. Rusty Riggins was found dead inside his home from one gunshot wound. He was laying on his side with one arm tucked underneath him. His shirt was off, and the bullet hole wound, and the stippling in his back was quite obvious. He'd been there for probably a day.

Other than Judy's car, no valuables appeared to be missing. There was no evidence of forced entry, and there were no signs of a struggle. There was the single gun shell casing. It's the beginning of that hallway, and one shot into the body, and that's kind of all we had. A search of the bedroom produced few additional clues.

There was a tiny bit of blood produced few additional clues. There was a tiny bit of blood on some pillowcases. Nothing indicating any sort of serious physical altercation. Out in the yard, Judy informed the police of her son's pending divorce and the fact that his estranged wife, Jessica, had been in town. I knew she was in town the final time. She had come into town for the last court hearing on their divorce. Despite the divorce proceedings, Judy said Jessica and her son

had also been making an attempt at reconciliation. My son was under the belief that she wanted to get back with him. A quick phone call to Rusty's probation officer confirmed that Jessica had been in contact with Rusty over the last few days. One of the probation officers had actually been to the home, I believe, on August 4th, and Sa Jessica there.

But where was Jessica now? The police couldn't rule out the possibility that she was also a victim. We didn't know at that time what we were dealing with if there was some shooting and a possible kidnapping. However, there was another scenario that could potentially explain both Rusty's death and Jessica's disappearance. After all, it was far from the first time that Flagstaff police had dealt with the couple. We'd been prosecuting Rusty Regans for assaulting Jessica Regans since 2001.

He was currently on probation for domestic violence offenses committed against Jessica. Had the couple's reconciliation taken a violent turn, one that resulted in Rusty's death, whether she was potentially a victim or the perpetrator, finding Jessica Riggins was top priority for the Flying Staff police. Judas Riggins had identified Jessica as somebody

who was potentially involved. So she was somebody we were definitely looking for. And they had one solid lead to go on. Judy Riggins' car. She had lent her car a a Toyota, to Rusty, to drive, and specifically so he could go to his divorce hearing. It was missing. So they began looking for the car.

Entering the information on Judy's stolen Toyota into the law enforcement database, quickly produced a new lead. Later that day, while we were in the process, still a processing the scene, that it was determined that the vehicle with that license plate, or at least that license plate, had crossed over into Mexico. The car had entered Mexico the day Rusty's body was found.

500 miles from Flagstaff at the San Ysidro crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. The border crossing at San Ysidro has a license plate scanner. And that license plate scanner observed and recorded the passing of the license plate registered to Judith Reagan going in to Mexico. The border patrol's records couldn't say whether Jessica was behind the wheel.

So that afternoon, the Flagstaff investigators started contacting her friends and acquaintances. The job of finding Jessica involved, checking out her previous contacts and calling those people to see if they knew where she was. Several people had seen Jessica with Rusty over the weekend. Saturday they were together and're on video purchasing groceries. But no one had seen her since Sunday.

The last day Rusty had been seen alive. And the investigators found out why when they contacted Jessica's first husband in California. They asked if I had heard from her. Yeah, absolutely. I heard from my son yesterday. According to her ex on Monday morning, Jessica had met him in a park in San Bernardino,

a six-hour drive from Flagstown. She looked horrible. It looked like she'd been up all night. And I asked her, so what's going on? You know, what did you do? She admitted that she shot Rusty. I said, did you kill Rusty? And then she kind of nodded, yes.

Jessica's ex said he wasn't all that surprised by the news. He knew all about the couple's trouble three-year marriage. And according to what he told the police, Jessica and Rusty's contentious relationship had led directly to the shooting. He said that Jessica told him her attempt to reconcile with Rusty had ended abruptly on Sunday night. We tried to make up.

There was another argument. And based on what Jessica had allegedly told her ex-husband, the argument had quickly turned into a fight. She didn't really elaborate too much. She said he started pushing her. In the past, Jessica had responded to Rusty's violence by calling the police and having him arrested.

But that night had apparently been different. He went to go back-hander, and as he did, she said she pulled a gun from her person's shadow. Then, according to her ex-husband, Jessica said that she had fled in a panic. Her first instinct was to get out of there before he came after. The way her ex told it, Jessica said she had driven straight to California, ditching the gun somewhere along the way.

She didn't say where she got rid of her house, she got rid of it, but she had got rid of it. Jessica's ex-husband said he urged her to turn herself in. In fact, he said that appeared to be Jessica's plan all along. The whole reason for her to come and see me was to give me paperwork, some sign paperwork she had so that I would be able to take care of all the kids when she got arrested. So, and I just tried to convince her to turn herself in and she said that she would. That's why he'd reframed from calling the police, her ex claimed.

But would she turn herself in? Her ex said that's what he had expected her to do when Jessica drove off that Monday. In a car, he didn't recognize. I knew she'd had a deep Cherokee, big old truck sort of, and she was driving a smaller import car. I believe it was a Toyota.

The description matched Judy Riggins missing car, and that meant her ex-husband had assumed wrong. Jessica apparently had no intention of turning herself in. She fled the state, went to Mexico. But if she had shot Rusty in self-defense, why would she run? If you're involved in a altercation where you're simply defending yourself,

that's not necessarily how you would react. For the time being, the investigators put the question assigned and concentrated on finding Jessica. We did get some assistance from the Yosatrini's office to get a warrant that would allow us if she was found in Mexico to bring her back to the United States. That Tuesday evening,

Flagstaff police also found Jessica's Jeep, abandoned at a hotel near Rusty's house. One of the sharp-eyed officers of the Tucson Police Department found it in the days in parking lot. Inside the Jeep, police found a sales receipt for a 22-caliber pistol. The same type of gun used to kill Rusty. There was a 22-caliber casing, apparently ejected from a semi-automatic pistol, found at the other end of the hallway towards Rusty's feet.

According to what Jessica had allegedly told her ex-husband, she had shot Rusty in self-defense. But when the police compared the estimated time of Rusty's death with the receipt for the gun, they suddenly had doubts about that scenario. The timing of the purchase was significant. That it had been purchased from a local gun shop just two days earlier. Coming up, the investigators find a potential motive. She was going to make Rusty pay her. And the border patrol finds Jessica.

She rolled her eyes out and it got out of the car. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready and buckle up. We've got the one and only Conan O'Brien, making a legendary appearance on Smartless. Picture this, the iconic Conan O'Brien, Puffy Red Hair and all, joining forces with me and Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes. It is just, it's a recipe for podcast perfection, exclusively on One Re plus. We're taking you on an unforgettable journey behind the curtain.

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from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. You're not gonna want to miss this conversation with Conan. You can listen to these episodes exclusively and add free with W-3-plus, find 1-3-plus in the 1-3-App or on Apple Podcasts. The case is a case. The case. The

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that she was armed and dangerous, that she was wanted on murder warrant for the death of her husband. The couple had a long history of domestic troubles. Jessica had been seen with Rusty in the days leading up to his disappearance. And according to what her first husband had told police, Jessica had even confessed to shooting Rusty,

claiming she had done it in self-defense. I just tried to convince her to turn herself in, and when she finally drove off, she said that she was going to turn herself in. But Jessica hadn't turned herself in. Instead, she had fled to Mexico, crossing the border in a car she had stolen from Rusty. The police began watching for the car and asking the Mexican authorities to do the same.

As for why she had fled, the authorities figured they knew the answer, thanks to a sales receipt they had recovered from Jessica's abandoned Jeep. She purchased a gun in Flagstaff a few days before the murder. The date of the purchase wasn't the only thing that investigators thought pointed to premeditation. After they found the receipt, Flagstaff police went to the gun shop and spoke with the clerk who had sold Jessica the pistol and a box of 50 bullets.

The salesperson mentioned that she asked if she had to buy that many. According to the autopsy, she had to buy that many. According to the autopsy, she had only used one. And a shot had traveled through the lung and through his heart. But why would Jessica, a mother with three young children to support, kill her husband just hours before their final divorce hearing? Questioning Jessica's friends and family over the next few days, the investigators may have found an answer.

Money. Once they determined Jessica was missing, Flagstaff police had contacted her sister and her birth mother. I had a phone call from Flagstaff Police Department. They wanted to know where she was. Karina, who lived in Kansas, said she had last seen Jessica at the end of July. For three minor girls were taken by her two relatives in Kansas and Missouri and left there.

As for where Jessica might be and what had become of her, her sister assumed the worst. I told them that they need to find Rusty immediately because he probably did something to her. And when she learned why the police were looking for Jessica, her sister figured there had to be some sort of explanation. It's not in her character, you know, and something very bad had to have happened.

You know, if she had to take someone's life. But when the investigators contacted Jessica's birth mother, to have happened. You know, if she had to take someone's life. But when the investigators contacted Jessica's birth mother, she told them a rather different story. She said that Jessica hadn't just gone back to Flagstaff to finalize her divorce. She was going to go back to Flagstaff because there was supposed to be a port hearing on her divorce,

and she was going to make Rusty pay her. She told people that Rusty had $30,000 that she was going to get. According to her birth mother, Jessica claimed the money was a line of credit related to Rusty's new moving business. I tried to push her for more information and she would beat around the bush and say she had

to go out there because Rusty was going to pay her 30 or $33,000. We don't know where she came up with the figure. It's possible that Rusty said something to her about I've got a line of credit. I've got an available $30,000,

and I'm gonna make this business work. Her mother said Jessica was determined to get her hands on the $30,000. But was it enough to become a motive for murder? We're talking about a fairly minimal amount of money. But Jessica's relatives also told police that she had spent the week leading up to the shooting, trying to get Rusty's parole revoked by reporting that he was breaking the law.

There was concerted effort to try and get Rusty in trouble, to be able to attend the divorce hearing with Rusty and Jail to somehow obtain that money through the divorce proceeding. She wanted to make sure that he got put in jail and that she got what was rightfully hers. Following up on the interview, the investigators contacted Rusty's parole officer. He told them that Jessica had tried to get Rusty's parole

revoked, even as she was supposedly talking to him about a reconciliation. She began calling the probation department trying to get them to violate his probation because he was an operating a business out of his home. And she wanted them to know that that was a violation of the city ordinance. When they said, we're just happy that he's working.

And the calls to Rusty's parole officer weren't the only attempt that the investigators uncovered. She had also reached out to the local TV station. She also called our station a couple of times complaining about her husband. She was telling us that her husband Rusty was operating a business without a license, and that he needed to be arrested. And when that didn't work, she went to the police department and tried the same thing.

She was held vent. She was determined to put him in jail and it showed. It showed very much. But was Jessica convinced Rusty was committing a crime? Or was she trying to ensure that his money would be hers? Because she knew she had one day left to carry the rigging's name.

And she was going to get rid of him first, so everything that was left would have to go to her as his wife. By August 12, less than a week after her husband had been found dead, the Coconino County Attorney's Office felt they had a firm case of premeditated murder against Jessica. We had her purchase of the firearm. We had her statements that she had shot rusty. And they also had the fact that Jessica had spent the last six days as a

fugitive. And obviously fleeing to Mexico was a huge red flag. All Arizona prosecutors needed was Jessica. So far, Mexican authorities have been unable to track her down. But on the evening of August 12, border patrol agents at San Yacidro once again spotted Judy Riggand Stullan, Toyota. She tried to enter the United States from Mexico. Obviously, all the information had been out there. Her pictures everywhere, the license plate, the car, so she didn't get very far.

The border agent asked her to step out of the car and informed her that she was being arrested. After almost a week on the run, Jessica surrendered quietly to the border patrol agent. She rolled her eyes at him as if this is a waste of my time but got out of the car. the run, Jessica surrendered quietly to the Border Patrol agent. She rolled her eyes at him as if this is a waste of my time, but got out of the car. Kind of makes you think that she's wanting to get caught. She's done.

She's given up. She didn't make any statements. No attempts to justify her actions. She immediately asked for a lawyer and no no questions were asked, and she didn't volunteer any information. However, a search of the car revealed evidence that appeared to support her mother's story about Rusty and the $30,000 line of credit. In Jessica Regan's purse, we're found Rusty Regan's identification.

His debit card and his debit card for expert movers, a company that he had recently started. On August 15, Jessica was extradited back to Arizona and booked on murder charges. Jessica was charged with first degree premeditated murder, auto theft, and two counts of theft of a credit card. With her bail set at $1 million, Jessica remained in jail. But her friends and family figured

it was only a matter of time before she was out. My first impulse was, this is totally self-defense. This will be cut and dried. She'll be out of there. She may be spiteful sometimes, yeah. But she's a good person. It's not going to go around killing somebody. Coming up, the case goes to trial.

The whole question was Jessica justifying it. And the investigators uncover a shocking secret from her past. She was the one who called 911 when Jesse Phillips was found dead. On January 13, 2009, more than a year and a half after she missed her divorce hearing, Jessica Riggins appeared at the Coconino County Courthouse in Flagstaff, Arizona. But the 41-year-old wasn't there to end her marriage with Rusty Riggins. She was on trial for his murder. It wasn't a who-done-it.

The question was whether it was self-defense. After the shooting, Jessica had allegedly told her ex-husband she had killed Rusty. But she had also told him she'd had no choice. The whole question was Jessica justified in believing that she had no choice, or were there other circumstances that caused her to have the gun, not intending to use it, and then be forced to shoot.

To some, self-defense appeared to be a possibility. Jessica and Rusty's relationship had been marred by years of domestic abuse. There had certainly been many instances where the police had been called. We prosecuted Rusty twice. He was on intensive probation. Rusty had a history of abusing Jessica,

but apparently her past included the shooting death of another lover. During their investigation, Flagstaff detectives came across a case from 1997. Four years before she met Rusty, Jessica's then-fiancé Jesse Phillips had also met a violent end. She was the one who called 911. When Jesse Phillips was found dead with a 22 caliber bullet wound to his head. And she said that he had shot himself right in front of her.

Back in 1997, flank staff police had ruled the death as suicide. But now that Jessica had been charged with Rusty's murder, the prosecutors wanted to make sure the fiance's death was in fact self-inflicted. We had the police department look into it and try and find out if perhaps it was misclassified, and it should have been investigated as a murder.

After looking over the case file, the detectives decided the answer was no. They closed it again and wrote it as a suicide. There was nothing they could find that would cause them to reopen it as a murder case. Still, there were always, and always will be questions. Now the only question before the jury was whether or not Jessica had murdered Rostey. In their opening statement, the prosecution argued that Jessica hadn't killed him

in self-defense. According to the prosecutors, she'd done it for money. The real issue here wasn't anything to do with the domestic violence. It was to do with greed. She believed he had $30,000, and was demanding at least a portion of that. She was so consumed about that money. She didn't want Rusty anymore, but she wanted that money. Well, that's why she murdered Rusty. For the moment, the defense didn't counter

the prosecution's argument. Instead, they deferred their opening statement until after the prosecution had finished presenting its case. You kind of have the benefit of seeing everything the state's done. To use in your opening statement, to craft it a little bit better, to fit the facts that have already been presented. And the facts weren't necessarily what they seemed, according to the prosecutors. When they started laying out their case that afternoon, they tackled their biggest liability head on.

There was no way that we were going to get around the fact that Rusty was convicted of assaulting Jessica Regans. But we could explain it. They explained it by calling Jessica's ex-husband to the stand. In his testimony, he claimed that Jessica was a master at manipulating the system. If I didn't agree with something that she had to say,

she would call the police and tell them that I'd hit her. And I'd be arrested, and that would kind of, that'd be like my punishment. And that's how she gained control of the situation. She had taken control and even threatened and possibly framed some of her previous partners. On cross, Jessica's attorney was quick to point out that her ex-husband might not be the most impartial witness.

And he first was interviewed by the detectives. One of the things he told them right away is, I hate Jessica, she's ruined my life. Next, the prosecutors turned to the evidence that would be more difficult to discredit, for forensics, using the angle of the bullet and the dimensions of the hallway where the shooting occurred as a starting point. The prosecution presented a scenario that didn't sound anything like self-defense.

But the only way the bullet could have entered Rusty's back is if he was ducking and turning away. Rusty was actually running away when he was shot. When the defense started presenting its case on February 4, they began by attacking the presumed motive. The money issue is a red herring. There was no money. Nobody ever said there was any money, and she wasn't going to get money from him.

And the fact that she was arrested with Rusty's credit cards didn't prove anything, according to the defense. She never once attempted to use them. There's no record by the bank of any attempt whatsoever. To counter the state's theory of how the shooting occurred, the defense turned to the only person who witnessed it. She's the only one who knows what happens.

On February 9th, Jessica Riggins took the stand in her own defense. We had never had an opportunity to hear from her. So when Jessica took the stand in her own defense. We had never had an opportunity to hear from her. So when Jessica took the stand, we were all very anxious to hear what she had to say. At the start, Jessica's testimony was pretty much what the prosecutors expected. She talked for hours about the relationship with Rusty and how abusive he was. But she also testified that she had loved him. She saw something good in him. For whatever reason, they were always attached.

And they would just go back and forth. With the divorce looming, Jessica said she had decided to give Rusty one last chance. But she also claimed that over the course of their weekend together, it was obvious that nothing had changed. She testified to recognizing the symptoms of his anger and being very fearful of what might happen next. According to Jessica, the showdown came on Sunday night, starting with an argument in the bedroom. During that argument, he backhanded her and

split her lip. Jessica testified that the shooting occurred moments later. She said she had grabbed her purse and started to leave, but Rusty had cornered her in the darkened hallway. Now he's ordering her around and shutting off the light, then she sensed him close to her and thought that he was going to backhand her or even punch her with his right hand and her gun went off. Then, Jessica claimed she had simply panicked.

Her first instinct that she explained was just to drive, just to get out of there. Her testimony that after she shot him, she was still afraid that he was alive. And so, she ran out of the house. However, fear wasn't the emotion Jessica displayed during cross-examination. She became defensive, flushed red in the face,

and almost angry that anyone would dare question her version of events. She ended up yelling at the prosecutor. On February 19, the case went to the jury. During deliberations, jurors had to choose between two different versions of events and two very different Jessica's. Was she the long-suffering victim of abuse that her attorneys described? Or the combative woman they'd seen on the stand. Coming up, the jury makes its decision.

She has to pay the consequences for what she did. Or will the prosecutors pay for downplaying the abuse? To say that she was the one that caused it, to me, that is a cop out. Flagstaff, Arizona, February 24, 2009. Five days after closing arguments, the jury in Jessica Riggins' murder trial had just reached a verdict. She was accused of shooting her estranged husband Rusty in August of 2007, stealing his mother's car and fleeing the scene.

It's a brutal crime in a small town. According to prosecutors over money, it's between a husband and wife and a quiet neighborhood that usually doesn't see crime. Jessica didn't deny killing Rusty, but Jessica also claimed she had acted in self-defense, an assertion that Rusty's criminal record appeared to support. Our office had prosecuted Rusty Regans for acts of domestic violence.

Arguing that Jessica had killed Rusty over money, the prosecution's case had downplayed the abuse. They had even suggested that some of the incidents were staged. Something Jessica's attorney found highly objectionable. To say that she was the one that caused it, and she manipulated them in order to make her look bad and make it easier to prosecute her or get a conviction for his death, to me, that's just not right. Would the jury agree?

The courtroom was silent when the court clerk read the verdict. She was found guilty on all counts. Not only the premeditated murder, but theft of the car and the credit crimes. Jessica appeared devastated by the verdict. She was just shocked. She thought that by explaining what had happened, she would be found not guilty. I think that Jessica Regan's own testimony is what really convinced the jury that she was guilty of murder. She was sentenced to life in prison.

Oh, she is where she has to be now. She has to pay the consequences for what she did. But is Jessica paying for shooting Rusty? Or for what she did. But is Jessica paying for shooting Rusty, or for what she did afterwards? And who knows how someone reacts to that type of situation, especially considering her entire past? Jessica Riggins will be eligible for parole in 2032. Jessica's ex-husband received custody of her three daughters. Abuse is never okay.

If you or someone you love is in an abusive relationship, there is help available, called the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE. That's 1-800-799-7233. I'm sorry.