Ann Patton on her new trial: 'It is my opportunity to finally, hopefully, get true justice'
Nearly nine months after a panel of Costa Rican judges found Ann Patton guilty of killing her wealthy U.S. husband in 2010 and sentenced her to 22 years in prison, she suddenly found herself a free woman on Thursday.
An appellate court judge in Cartago threw out the sentence against Patton and ordered her immediate release as the courts prepare for a third trial on the shooting death of her 44-year-old financier husband, John Felix Bender. Patton had been serving a nine-month preventive detention order in Costa Rica’s women’s prison, Buen Pastor, as the appeals court reviewed her case.
Paradise Lost
Love and Madness in the Jungle
A brilliant American financier and his exotic wife build a lavish mansion in the jungles of Costa Rica, set up a wildlife preserve, and appear to slowly, steadily lose their minds. A spiral of handguns, angry locals, armed guards, uncut diamonds, abduction plots, and a bedroom blazing with 550 Tiffany lamps ends with a body and a compelling mystery: Did John Felix Bender die by his own hand? Or did Ann Bender kill him to escape their crumbling dream?
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Saturday nite, September 27, 2014, CBS (from the United States) premiered their 48 Hours investigation series, with an expose on the death of John Bender
"48 Hours" launches an independent forensic examination that raises major questions about the shooting death of a Wall Street millionaire at his Costa Rican jungle mansion.
Other Sources
In addition to being unfairly convicted of murder, she has also been defrauded and manipulated by a trustee who's very duty as a fiduciary was to protect her interests. Instead, he took advantage of his position of trust and the tragedy of John's suicide to steal millions of dollars, all the while not abiding by the trust decree in which Ann is a beneficiary.