MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: John Bender
When a 44-year-old millionaire ends up shot and killed in his bed in Costa Rica, authorities are quick to put the blame on his wife. But what unravels next is a much bigger web of lies, injustice, and gems…
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Episode Source Material
- 48 Hours: Paradise Lost (season 28, episode 1). Aired September 27, 2014. Accessed August 2, 2024 via YouTube.
- Al Día (San José, Costa Rica): A mysterious death in Perez Zeledon by Rodolfo Martin. Published March 14, 2010. Accessed August 5, 2024 via Google Translate.
- Crazy Jungle Love: Murder, Madness, Money and Monkeys (print edition), by Carol Blair Vaughn. 2019. The Costa Rica Star. Accessed August 7, 2024.
- Costa Rica 1949 (rev. 2020)
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Court acquits woman accused of killing husband by Alejandro Méndez Leiva. Published January 21, 2013. Accessed August 5, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Woman acquitted of murder of husband due to doubt by Alejandro Méndez Leiva. Published January 22, 2013. Accessed August 5, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Woman accused of killing her husband will go to trial again by Carlos Arguedas C. Published September 25, 2013. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Brother defends woman’s innocence in husband’s death by David Delgado C. Published May 20, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Court of Appeals annuls sentence against woman accused of killing her husband in Pérez Zeledón by Hugo Solano C. Published February 19, 2015. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Nacion (San Jose, Argentina): Court frees Ann Maxine Patton after closing case for husband’s murder by Yeryis Salas. Published July 31, 2023. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- La Teja (San José, Costa Rica): Pérez Zeledón court orders arrest of gringa accused of killing millionaire husband by Alejandra Morales. Published January 8, 2020. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- Outside Magazine (Boulder, CO): The Tale of John and Ann Bender and Their Quest for Paradise by Ned Zeman. Published May 7, 2013. Updated November 14, 2021. Accessed August 5, 2024.
- Outside Magazine (Boulder, CO): A Jungle Murder Mystery Heats Up by Jonah Ogles. Published October 3, 2013. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- QCosta Rica (San José, Costa Rica): Guilty! U.S. Expat Convicted of Murdering Her Husband by Rico. Published May 28, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- QCosta Rica (San José, Costa Rica): Perez Zeledon Court Orders Arrest of Gringa Accused of Killing Millionaire Husband by Rico. Published January 9, 2020. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- Tico Times (Costa Rica): Murder trial against U.S. woman underway by L. Arias. Published January 14, 2013. Accessed August 5, 2024.
- The Tico Times (Costa Rica): High-profile murder retrial underway in Costa Rica for US expat Ann Patton. Published May 19, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- The Tico Times (Costa Rica): Guilty of murder: Costa Rica court convicts expat Ann Patton of killing husband in 2010. Published May 27, 2014. Updated May 28, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- The Tico Times (Costa Rica): Costa Rica police rule out foul play in death of Ann Patton’s boyfriend last week. Published November 24, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- The Tico Times (Costa Rica): US expat Ann Patton faces third murder trial in Costa Rica. Published August 10, 2015. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- The Tico Times (Costa Rica): Ann Patton in new legal battle with Costa Rican government over $7 million in seized gems. Published March 30, 2016. Accessed August 6, 2024.
- Tvsur Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica): Prosecutors requested 25 years in prison against woman for aggravated homicide. Published January 18, 2013. Accessed August 5, 2024 via Google Translate.
- Tvsur Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica): Court of Appeals overturns verdict acquitting Anne Maxim Patton. Published September 24, 2013. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- Tvsur Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica): Ann Maxim Patton was found guilty of the murder of her husband John Bender. Published May 27, 2014. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
- Tvsur Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica): Patton released by the Court of Appeals, who will have to go to trial for the third time by Carmen Picado. Published February 19, 2015. Accessed August 6, 2024 via Google Translate.
Suggested Episodes
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Heather Turner Part 2
Nine years after Heather Turner was found dead on her bathroom floor in Dallas, Georgia, the questions surrounding her final night haven’t gone away. They’ve only gotten louder.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Heather Turner Part 1
In the early hours of May 4, 2017, responding deputies arrived at a home in Dallas, GA after receiving a report of a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. While it first appeared to be death by suicide, questions started to swirl when the right people looked in the right places.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Lakesha Thompson
In May 2023, Lakesha Thompson’s entire family was upended by a single bullet that took their mother away from them forever. From the beginning, who pulled the trigger has been the question at the forefront of her family’s mind. Investigators determined pretty quickly that it was a self-inflicted wound. Except there are key pieces of evidence at the scene that just don’t line up. Her family has spent years fighting for a second look at the case…only to be told it’s closed… but that doesn’t mean the mystery is solved.
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