Teen blogger murder trial

Rachelle Waterman faced up to 99 years in prison if convicted in her mother's murder. 

After a two week trial, Rachelle's fate would be determined by the jury's answer to the question: was she a calculating killer who orchestrated her own mother's death... or a naive teen who never wanted her mother to die -- but was manipulated by her older lover.

Mike Schwab, juror: Too many pieces fit together like, you know, a jigsaw puzzle here and there.  You can start to see what the picture looks like even though there's a piece missin' here, a piece missin' there, a piece missin' there.

So jurors picked apart each piece, each tale that was told, beginning with who they thought was most responsible for the murder -- Rachelle or her one-time boyfriends Jason Arrant and Brian Radel. On this, they seemed to agree.

Kelly Demars, juror: Jason.

Dan Reierson, juror: Jason.

Andrea Jones, juror: Jason.

Larson: Jason? Almost everybody?

Schwab: All equally. They didn't just pick Lauri Waterman out of the phonebook. I mean, come on.

Larson: And Jason's motive was?

Kelly Demars, juror: Rachelle. Get mom out of the way so he could be with Rachelle.

And when it came to Jason, who testified that Rachelle sought his protection from an allegedly abusive mother, jurors agreed on one thing: the confessed killer would say anything to get Rachelle's mother out of the way.

Larson: Did you wind up thinking he's the great manipulator here?

Demars: Yes.

Larson: He's the liar.

Demars: Oh, yeah.

Larson: And he's pulling strings both ways, both with Brian and with Rachelle.

Demars: Yes.

A for Brian, who says he went along with Jason's plan without even asking Rachelle if - in fact - she wanted her mother murdered...

Larson: So Brian, you believe, really was just being played. He's like the biggest sucker of all time.

Demars: Totally.

And what about those stories, Rachelle's dramatic descriptions of abuse?

Larson: Did you guys believe at all that Lauri Waterman was hitting her with baseball bats and--

Mike Schwab: No.

Larson: Attempting to kill her and maybe sell her into prostitution?

Kelly Demars: No.

Mike Schwab: Absolutely not.

Larson: So are we to believe that Rachelle is like, some sort of compulsive liar?

Kelly Demars: Oh yeah. I would believe that.

The jurors struggled over the significance of the interrogation video, sorting through all those conflicting stories Rachelle told. Some felt it was the strongest piece of evidence against her.

Curtis Blackwell, juror: Well, it was the most damning evidence they had. Up until then, I was like, “Man, where are we going with this?” “Cuz I wasn't seeing anything until then.”

Larson: Guys in the back? What'd you think about the confession?

Schwab: Clinched it for me. (Laughter) What can I say? She admitted it.

But several jurors bought the defense argument that Rachelle's confession was coerced, that she was broken down by seasoned officers.

Demars: They didn't give her any room to talk.

Jones: For a 15-year-old who's scared out of her mind, they're professionals. They know how to get people to talk.  And I mean if she said, “Yes, I did it.” I don't even know if I would put a lot of weight on it just because through the whole thing she stuck with "no."

The jury all agreed Rachelle had been involved, but to what degree? They would struggle with that very question for five days. And then, they would hand the judge a message no one wanted to hear.

The jury had deadlocked -- 10 votes in favor of acquittal, two in favor of a guilty verdict.

Larson: So you guys were the two guys holding out on guilty.

Mark Kasberg, juror: Yeah. I think there's people saying "guilty," but they had the reasonable doubt in their minds.

Larson: Yeah.

Kasberg: I think a lot of people were there. The word “innocent” didn't come up very often.

Schwab: No.

Most of the jury was convinced Rachelle's tales of abuse had triggered the killing, and that she even knew her two friends were plotting murder, but weren't sure there was anything more to it than that. The foreman voted not guilty. And yet...

Dan Reierson: I felt she was definitely involved.

Larson: Involved how?

Reierson: Involved in the fact that she probably at one point did say, “I want my mom dead.” But you know, “I’ve heard my own sister say, “I want my mom dead.”

Some of the jurors cried as the deadlock was announced, frustrated they weren't able to reach a verdict.

Jones: I still feel that she did not intend for her mother to die. And I didn't feel complete. I didn't feel like we finished it.

Larson: Hadn't finished your job.

Jones: Yeah.

Demars: I felt a little bit like I let Rachelle down. We let Rachelle down.

Blackwell: You know, I felt defeated. I don't think any of us would have felt good about totally letting her go.

It would likely mean there would be a re-trial. In the meantime, Rachelle was sent back to prison— but not for long.

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