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Did he do it? Verdict reached in Henthorn murder

Posted at 2:57 PM, Sep 21, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-21 16:57:21-04

Jurors have reached a verdict in the murder trial of Harold Henthorn, who is accused of killing his wife by pushing her off a cliff. The case was given to the jury Friday afternoon, meaning they deliberated for only about one day in total. 

Henthorn's wife, Toni, fell to her death in Rocky Mountain National Park three years ago this month.

Friday morning, a federal prosecutor spent nearly an hour summarizing the evidence against Henthorn and arguing that he shoved Toni off the cliff to cash in on $4.7 million worth of insurance policies.

Henthorn, 58, was allegedly paying for some of those life insurance policies without his wife's knowledge.

MORE | Prosecutor says Harold Henthorn gave contradictory accounts about his wife's deadly plunge

Prosecutors also asserted that Henthorn scouted the park nine times before the day he allegedly shoved his wife off the cliff. He had marked a map with an "X" on the location where she fell, prosecutors said.

When questioned about the "X," an affidavit stated Henthorn "appeared at a loss for words" and "could not explain why there was an 'X' on the map.'"

The Highlands Ranch man is not only charged with first-degree murder in the death of his first wife, Sandra Lynn Henthorn, who was crushed when the couple's Jeep Cherokee slipped off a jack and crushed her as the pair were changing a tire. Harold Henthorn said it was an accident and he never faced criminal charges, but that case is now reopened.