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November 26, 2002
News Specialist John Hollenhorst reporting
James Bottarini is a free man, at least for now, after a jury
today found him not guilty on all charges.
It may be the end of a case that started in Zion National
Park more than five years ago when Bottarini's wife fell to
her death.
Formally,
James Bottarini was not on trial for murder. But to make federal
charges stick, prosecutors had to prove he deliberately tossed
his wife off a cliff.
One indication why the jury didn't convict is that there weren't
any witnesses.
At least, there's no one who could say exactly what transpired
between Bottarini and his wife on that hiking trail five years
ago.
The rest of the evidence was inconclusively circumstantial,
and based partly on Bottarini's behavior right after the murder.
Almost from the moment Patricia Bottarini died in a fall from
a cliff in Zion, her husband's emotional state was an issue.
It's what made investigators and family members suspicious.
Witnesses say her husband seemed disconnected, unemotional.
But perhaps that's James Bottarini's natural, everyday condition.
After weeks of trial, even at the moment he learned he would
not spend the rest of his life in prison, he registered no
emotion. Not guilty on all charges: he barely cracked a smile.
And he had few words to spare for reporters.
After all this and so many weeks? Bottarini's response:
"Other than I'm grateful for my law firm and my family
that stood behind me."
He did tell reporters he feels quite a bit of relief today.
His wife's
mother and sisters did not stand behind him. They were reportedly
in tears after the verdict.
"Well, obviously they're convinced that he committed
the crime," says U.S. Attorney Paul Warner.
"We knew we had an uphill battle. Unwitnessed falls,
by definition, create reasonable doubt," Warner says.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich says Bottarini would never have
been charged if the victim's family hadn't pushed for it.
"Nobody wants to lose a family member. But maybe in this
world, this tabloid world, we can realize that accidents do
happen," Yengich says.
Bottarini
says from here he will "continue to raise the boys in
memory of their mother as we always expected we'd raise them."
He's a free man now as far as the federal courts are concerned.
But he's not completely and officially off the hook.
Actual murder charges are still possible in Washington County.
No word yet on whether the prosecutor there will pursue it,
or if today's federal verdict derails that idea.
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