Dangerous Liaisons

Because Cindy George had waived her right to a jury of her peers, Patricia Cosgrove had to act as both judge and sole juror in the case... After hearing all of the evidence, she alone would decide Cindy’s fate. It was a rare experience that left her with a new perspective.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: Those heavy burdens we put on our citizens in terms of juries. I’ve found a new found respect for their responsibilities.

A judge is trained to look only at the law, but she says, there is a human element in this case she could not ignore.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: Knowing that you hold somebody’s life and future in your hands.

Corderi: So even knowing the law, there’s struggle involved?

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: You’re dealing with a person’s life and you want to give them every, every doubt that you can.  And I struggled to do that.

It was Thanksgiving weekend, 2005. But, for Judge Cosgrove, there was little time for turkey and stuffing.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: I came in Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for four days.  And I went over every piece of evidence.  I reviewed all of my notes and deliberated essentially for four days before arriving at my verdict.

It was a circumstantial case pieced together with phone and financial records, tape recordings and letters—all of the scandalous details, the affairs, the child born out of wedlock, the secrets that fascinated the public, were irrelevant, she says.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: As judges, we’re used to dealing with facts and the law and legal definitions and those kinds of things don’t come into our decisions or concerns.

Judge Cosgrove says parts of the prosecution’s argument were unconvincing, particularly the evidence that Cindy George tried to lure Jeff Zack to a park so Zaffino could shoot him.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: The only thing the State proved in reference to that particular date was that there was phone calls. Beyond that, there were no financial records, there were no statements.  That sort of stood out there in and of itself.

And there was no way to know what was said on all those hours of cell phone calls. And what about Zaffino’s calls that were tape recorded? Although they certainly sounded incriminating, at no time did John Zaffino say that Cindy George put him up to it. There was no direct statement implicating her in the murder, but the judge says that’s not uncommon.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: I have yet to see a murder committed on tape, videotape, audiotape.  It just doesn’t happen.  So you have to retrace every step, every movement of individuals.  And that’s how you arrive at evidence. 

Evidence was built around the theory that Cindy George manipulated John Zaffino into killing Jeff Zack and then tried to cover up her role in it.

While Judge Patricia Cosgrove spent four days deliberating over the holiday weekend, there were many anxious people awaiting her verdict, including the prosecutors.

Corderi: Were you feeling pretty confident?  Or were you wavering?

Gessner: As confident as you can be.  The minute you finish your closing arguments and you sit down, you immediately start to say, “What didn’t we do?  What could we have done better?”

Sherri Bevan Walsh: If we said it differently, should this have—yeah, should we have changed this around?

Meanwhile, Cindy had been free on $200,000 bail. She was trying to celebrate what could be the Georges’ last Thanksgiving together as a family.

George daughter: She tried to make it seem like this was a normal family dinner. Like, we had nothing to worry about. And every holiday—she would do a brunch, you know, on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it didn’t stop her from doing it. She still did it.

Corderi: You had to be aware that this verdict was hanging over your head.

George daughter: Yeah. It was still there and we said a prayer at the table if she might go. I know I was very confused but I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was just kind of nerve-racking. You didn’t really know what to do.

Corderi: Because this decision wasn’t just about her life, it was about your life.

George daughter: Right. We had to change as a family. It was too soon, we thought.

Finally, Monday morning came. The judge had reached a verdict. Cindy’s husband Ed and several of their children came to court to support her. The courtroom was packed and emotions ran high.

Trexler, reporter: The stakes for Cindy George couldn’t have been any higher—not only losing her freedom, but also losing her husband and her children.  Yeah, for Cindy, this was her life was on the line.

The murder victim’s mother, Elayne Zack also was there. She’d waited four and a half years for this moment and says she was disgusted by the way Cindy acted in the courtroom.

Elayne Zack, Jeff Zack's mother: Cindy was like having a party.  She went and she greeted everybody.  There were a lot of people there for her. I couldn’t believe it. 

The judge could have chosen to announce the verdicts on the two counts right away. Instead she read aloud from a lengthy decision explaining her conclusions.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove: Giving them a glimpse into the Court’s reasoning just from an integrity point of view, I think it’s the right thing to do.

But the time it took to read the document only intensified the anxiety in the room. At the moment she revealed the verdict on the first count, the alleged botched hit in the park, there was dead silence in the court.

JUDGE: The Court finds the Defendant Not Guilty of Count One and the accompanying firearm specification.

Det. Felber: When she reads the first count, I’m like, “Oh, don’t—please don’t do this.” And you hear the—the cheering, and everything.

But Judge Cosgrove made it clear she wasn’t finished.

JUDGE: Alright. Now the court’s going to turn to count two, the complicity to commit aggravated murder...

As she read through the verdict for the second count, the mood in the courtroom shifted.

JUDGE: Based on the totality of the evidence produced at trial, the court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Cynthia Rohr George is Guilty of Complicity to Commit Aggravated Murder in Count Two for the Death of Jeff Zack...

Cindy sobbed in disbelief. Then the judge called her to the bench and asked if she had anything to say before sentencing. After remaining silent for so long, Akron finally would hear the first words from Cindy George.

Cindy George:      First of all, I just want to tell you that I didn’t. And I know it points that way but I didn’t...

As Cindy’s daughters cried out, the judge handed down her sentence.

JUDGE: Pursuant to the revised code, the court hereby imposes a life sentence.

There was bedlam in the courtroom as Cindy turned to her family.

Walsh: You can’t help but feel bad for the children.

Gessner: Regardless of whatever she did, she’s still their mother. But you also have to look at what mother would inflict that pain upon their children?

Cindy George went to prison with the hope of parole at least 23 years away. She’s never told her version of the story... until now. After more than a year behind bars, she’s about to break her silence.

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