Tag Archive for: Jennifer Cave

Laura Hall Takes Risk and Loses

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Video from Laura Hall’s Sentencing Trial

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Colton Pitonyak was convicted of murdering Jennifer Cave in 2007, and he is now serving 55 years in prison. Laura Hall was convicted in 2007 for her part in the mutilation of Jennifer’s body, and helping Pitonyak hinder apprehension. Laura Hall was sentenced to five years in prison.

After finding out that evidence was withheld from Laura’s attorney, attorney Joe James Sawyer, decided to try for an appeal of her 2007 conviction. Her case went to the appeals court in 2009, but the appeals court upheld the conviction, however, it threw out the sentence. This forced Laura to go back to court to be sentenced again, in a sentencing hearing, which left Laura vulnerable for a jury to give her more time than the original year sentence.

Laura’s decision to appeal backfired Friday, when a Travis County Jury sentenced her to the maximum 10 years in prison, following a tension filled hearing. The hearing included gruesome crime scene pictures, new witnesses, and 19 recorded phone calls that Laura Hall made while in prison.

Laura’s angry phone calls were threatening. In one, Laura threatened to take down Sharon Sedwick, Jennifer Cave’s mother. Laura belittled Sharon as well as, her own parents. In yet another phone call, Laura told her own mother, “I will kill you.” (See video above).

Loren Hall, Laura’s father, said that Laura is bipolar and that she was more pleasant, when she was properly medicated. He believes his daughter is innocent and had no part in the mutilation of Jennifer Cave.

Travis County Assistant District Attorney, Allison Wetzel, said Laura showed pure hatred when she mutilated Jennifer Cave’s body. Wetzel says Laura doesn’t think the rules apply to her, and she said Laura’s bipolar wouldn’t cause her behavior.

A handful of witnesses came forward: Nora Sullivan, a neighbor of Colton Pitonyak’s, said Laura told her that she had to motivate Colton to deal with Jennifer’s body. Olena Grayson, a former cellmate of Laura’s said Laura told her that “the eeriest part was hearing the saw cut through the bone.” Christie Freeman, convicted of burglary, said that Laura, during a group therapy session, made the statement that Jennifer Cave was a whore and just a dancer, and she deserved to die.

The mother and stepfather of Jennifer Cave, Jim and Sharon Sedwick, told of the shock and pain they had endured. Jim spoke of the horror of finding Jennifer’s mutilated body. Jennifer’s mother said, “This was someone that’s evil.”

The defense tried to convince the jury not to believe the witnesses who came forward, and he said that Laura was not a menace to society. He pointed out, that out of 41 items taken from the crime scene, Laura’s DNA was only on seven of them. Defense Attorney Amber Elliot stressed that Laura’s DNA could be excluded from the hacksaw, the machete, and the buck knife used in the mutilation. Defense Attorney Joe James Sawyer, said, “If disliking someone is enough to sentence them with a maximum number of years, then you will do so.”

The Prosecution said Laura was a menace to society. They pointed out that Laura could not be excluded as a contributor to DNA found on a gun, used to kill Jennifer, a towel, and a pair of flip flops found in the bathroom, linking Laura to the bathroom crime scene.

Laura had already served two years, and she was eligible for probation. She took a risk when she decided to try to have her conviction thrown out in appeals court. Her conviction wasn’t overturned, and the new trial which offered the allure of a potentially lighter sentence backfired. The new jury instead gave Laura Hall the maximum sentence of 10 years.

Do you think she should have been given the two years probation or the 10 years maximum sentence?

I think her risk went terribly wrong and backfired on her!

(Posted by Karon, a contributor to Eyes for Lies blog)

Click here to see a time line of events for the Jennifer Cave murder and trials.

New Evidence At the Laura Hall Sentencing Trial

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A new court document of more than 60 pages is being presented in the Laura Hall sentencing trial by an attorney for Colton Pitonyak. The document accuses Laura Hall of bragging about the 2005 murder of Jennifer Cave, 21.

Colton’s attorney, Joseph Turner, brought the document forward in an attempt to clear his client of the murder of Jennifer Cave. Included in the document is a 2005 statement that Laura made to her cousin and his roommate in which Laura said that she was “going to get away with murder.” Then in 2009, Laura told a neighbor that she “capped the (expletive) whore.” Also included in this evidence, is Laura’s alleged murder confession to two jail inmates.

Travis County District Attorney Bryan Cave said, “We stand by our position and conviction of Colton Pitonyak.” D.A. Cave made no comment on the Laura Hall sentencing hearing.

Additional new evidence will be introduced in Laura’s sentencing hearing. This will include DNA evidence, from an unknown female, which was taken from the mouth and underneath the fingernails of Jennifer Cave. Also included is a picture taken by investigators of a possible bite mark on Laura Hall’s hand.

Turner said Laura Hall was the only one who showed enough anger and hatred toward Jennifer to have done such a savage crime. Jennifer had been stabbed 29 times–showing the killer had extreme rage against the victim.

Laura says she is completely innocent, and she will never admit to a crime she didn’t commit.

This story promises to be one of many bizarre twists and turns, almost as bizarre as the people, who are involved in the case.

In Too Deep-Laura Hall Takes a Risk

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On March 22, Eyes for Lies covered a 48 Hours segment about a young woman’s grisly murder and mutilation. In 2005, Jennifer Cave, 21, was found murdered and dismembered in the apartment of Colton Pitonyak. Within days of the murder, Colton, ran off to Mexico with sometime girlfriend, Laura Hall, a university student.

Upon capture, Laura tells authorities that she was a victim of Colton’s, too. She claims that she was afraid of Colton, and she says that she is innocent of any involvement in the crime.

In 2007, Laura Hall was convicted and sentenced by an Austin, Texas jury for hindering Colton’s apprehension, and tampering with evidence, specifically, the mutilation of Jennifer Cave’s body. However, Laura was released from prison for more than a year while her case was appealed, but in February by order of a judge, she was sent back to jail to wait for the hearing.

Colton was found guilty of murdering Jennifer in 2007, and he is now serving a 55-year sentence in prison.

Yesterday was the beginning of a new and risky episode to this already bizarre story. Laura decided to risk a new sentencing trial, which began Tuesday. One would wonder why she would risk having the possibility of more time added to her sentence, since she has already served 22 months of her five year sentence. She is now eligible for parole, if she accepted her original sentence.

Laura has not been silent during her time of freedom, and she has, unwisely, talked openly about her case. She has reportedly boasted to at least one individual about her part in the mutilation of Jennifer Cave. In addition, she has not shown any remorse for her part in this horrendous crime. The prosecutors are expected to introduce new witnesses and recorded conversations of Laura’s while she was locked up in prison.

This was a very emotionally charged case, and the outcome may result in more time being added to Laura’s sentence. Why would she run that risk?