Exclusive Interview/Background Info
Murder Trial Begins
July 17, 2000
The girlfriend of accused killer John Pinder is sticking to her story.
She says she was with Pinder the night two ranch hands were killed at his Duchesne County ranch.
News Specialist Jed Boal has the details.
Barbara Dehart has already served a jail sentence for obstruction of justice in the ranchland murders of Rex Tanner and June Flood.
But, John Pinder's girlfriend still says she had nothing to do with the murders.
Dehart says she did not kill the ranch hands, and did not help clean up their dismembered bodies on Pinder's ranch.
She told the jury Pinder is innocent, and was with her the night of the murders.
That's the same story the couple told Eyewitness News one week after the murders, when they showed up at the studios and said they wanted to tell their side of the story.
Jurors saw this tape in the courtroom.
John Pinder/November 1998: I DIDN'T KILL THEM NO.
Dehart says they went to Eyewtiness News because they were afraid of what was going on, and wanted their side on tape.
As the couple left the Triad Center that night, fugitives from police, Dehart offered an alibi for Pinder.
Barbara Dehart/November 1998: HE WAS WITH ME ALL NIGHT. THE NIGHT OF... Interviewer: TELL ME THAT AGAIN. Barbara Dehart: HE WAS WITH ME ALL NIGHT.
Dehart says Pinder never left the house the night of the murders.
She says they were both afraid of Filomeno Ruiz, the other ranchhand accused of the murders.
But Ruiz made a plea with prosecutors and last week pointed the finger at Pinder.
The defense accuses Ruiz of the crime.
Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: ONE OF THE NEXT WITNESSES SLATED TO TESTIFY IS BARBARA DEHART'S DAUGHTER. IF SHE TELLS THE SAME STORY SHE TOLD AT HER MOTHER'S TRIAL, SHE SAY BARBARA DEHART KNEW ABOUT THE MURDERS ALL ALONG. IN HEBER CITY, JED BOAL, EYEWITNESS NEWS.
Dehart was convicted of obstruction of justice in the case last August.
The jury in that case did not believe her story.
