CRISTI LYNNE CARLTON HALL
Born on November 30, 1960 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
She died on June 7, 2007.
Her husband Chris Hall was convicted of her drowing in 2011.
Her parents were Phyllis and William Carlton.
After graduating from Pacific High School in San Bernardino, she fell in love and married Blair Christopher Hall at the age of 17.
Together they raised three daughters in Calimesa, California.
Cristi worked as a radiologic technologist and worked for Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
She was well known in the community and by her co-workers for being a hardworking, outgoing, and a very family oriented individual.
Described by her father as the "sparkplug" and by her sister as the "core" of the family.
Initial autopsy report concluded Cristi Hall died by drowning.
The prosecutorsin the case said that some findings were inconsistent with a drowning.
She had hemorrhages on her face and chest that are indicators of a forced drowning.
Chris Hall was found with two fresh scratches, and his DNA was
under his wife’s fingernails.
The autopsy also revealed Cristi Lynne had rib fractures, chest abrasions and lacerations on the top and back of the head.
Chris Hall left the San Bernardino police force in 1994 after saying he was accidentally shot in the leg during an undercover operation.
He worked for two police departments in Idaho, and in 2000 was convicted of embezzling $19,000 from one of them.
His first ended in a hung jury.
On the morning of the alleged murder, Chris and Cristi Lynne were washing in the back patio hot tub of their home.
While in the water, Chris allegedly slammed Christi's head into the concrete patio floor and then shoved her under water drowning her.
Cristi Lynne had an $800,000 life insurance policy at the time.
Cristi also had an afair in the past and was recently in contact with that person.
A witness in the first trial, Lindsay Kay Patterson, was visiting her mother's home on the day of the alleged attack.
Hall's and Patterson's mother's properties are separated by a 5-foot block wall.
Patterson testified she heard a piercing scream from the Hall house and went over to look through a hole in the wall to see what was happening.
The witness said she saw Hall holding his wife's head under water.
She said looked over the fence into the Hall’s yard and saw Chris Hall as he held down a woman’s head.
Then, Chris Hall was sitting alone in the murky water and she couldn’t see a woman.
Patterson later peered through the decorative block and saw Chris Hall get out and dry off.
Then he went in to get his daughter.
She also saw his angry face.
She called 911.
Chris said that Cristi slipped and struck her head on the patio slab, then drowned.
He said he had gone into the house to use the bathroom and awaken their teenage daughter, returning to the spa to find his wife unconscious in the water.
He said he tried to perform CPR, but she was unresponsive.
She was pronounced dead at a Banning hospital.
The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced 25 years to life.
“This is wrong. This is not justice,” one of the daughters shouted from the back of the Riverside courtroom after the verdict.
Throughout the case, the Halls’ three daughters maintained their father’s innocence.
What do you think?
Was it an accident or murder?
25 comments:
I really wonder how the daughters dismissed the bruises, scratches and the rest of the physical evidence of the injuries their mother sustained, as well as the neighbors testimony?
I always have a hard time understanding how someone can kill someone, much less a family member, but I think the evidence is too overwhelming in this case,
I think she was in denial. It's usually a family member because people get angry and make an oopsie.
Thanks for publishing this information. I just saw the Dateline story again and it leaves some doubts. But the information that she had fractured ribs seems to clinch the story. If she fell and hit her head hard enough to leave a gash I don't think the same fall could also fracture her ribs.
One more thought, the story said the daughters collected $1 million in insurance. Could he have collected on that policy if he wasn't arrested? That would be motive.
The bruised ribs could've resulted from the chest compressions as both the daughter and paramedics administered cpr for well over 20 mins. The injuries to her head are certainly suspicious but what I can't get past is that giant clump of hair. How would something like that get there if it were an accident. I can see that happening as a result of the force during a struggle. Unfortunately in a lot of these cases the children are incredibly naive to the fact that their father could've killed their mother and the argument that kids know their parents best is horseshit. You can never know what happens when they're alone behind closed doors. Sadly these 3 daughters will probably never accept the fact that their father is guilty unless he himself admits to them what really happened.
Exactly Unknown
There is no doubt he did it. The evidence speaks volumes. Unfortunately the daughters are unable to accept that the dad they knew could be so selfish & take their mother from them.
So true Karen.
The daughters probably cling to the fact that the neighboring medical examiner believed it was an accident and not a murder. I don’t understand how children stand by their fathers after their mother has been murdered. I guess that’s the only way they can move forward because they can’t fathom their fathers being able to commit murder at all. Obviously he did it as the evidence and neighbor eye witness are overwhelming. Husbands kill their wives every day and there will always be their kids who won’t ever accept reality.
Yup. A lot of people probably think, "Well he loved her, there for he couldn't have killed her." If he did kill her, it doesn't seem premeditated. It sounds weird, but a lot of murder is from passion. If he didn't love her, unless it was solely for monetary reasons, he wouldn't have killed her. If he did kill her, he probably misses her, whether it was an intentional murder or not.
I actually went to high school with the youngest daughter and I just saw the Dateline episode. I’m so sad for this family, but I feel the evidence is overwhelmingly against their father. I don’t believe you can ever know your parents 100%. And for them to be as happy and in love as the daughters claim seems like BS when he was in jail for embezzlement (how could that not cause a fight or some unhappiness) and their mother had an affair? Obviously they don’t know everything about their parents and unfortunately, what they don’t know most likely killed their mother. I hope they have peace in their lives and their bond as sisters remains strong. They lost both parents in this tragedy.
I agree Anonymous. It is sad and i too hope the sisters stick together. They just look at their parents through rose colored glasses.
The woman who witnessed the incident was an ideal witness. A professional. A naval officer I believe, visiting her parents, with no axe to grind. She drew no conclusions and admitted she wasn't sure what she saw. But a woman screamed, followed by what looked like a man holding a woman face down in the hot tub was suspicious. Enough to cause her to go back twice more to make sure of what she saw and to call 911. His dna under her fingernails and the clump of her hair at the bottom of the hot tub pointed to homicide too. I would feel compelled to support my parent as did the daughters. The one crack in the defense claim of no motive, was the hairdresser testimony that the victim was thinking of divorcing her husband. I wasn't present for the trial. But Dateline does a consistent job of looking at all side in their programming. Looks guilty to me, beyond a reasonable doubt. Very sad end for the victim and devastating impact on the family.
DA promised to oppose parole even if it required coming back from the dead. I am sure Cristi's family and others will present a formidable argument against his parole. I hope he lives a long life behind prison walls, with each day filled with torment and fear. Other than that, I wish him well!!!!!
I agree Stan.
He said she went in and got more coffee and then he passed her going out as he went in. Was the coffee cup at the scene? If she slipped getting in wouldn't the cup go flying? But for me the eye witness is so compelling. She just states what she saw. If no woman had turned up dead I am sure she would have figured it was a sex act. But to see all that and low and behold a woman is dead, no brainer.
Unknown i didn't even think of that. Good observation.
The women killed her and called to cover it up. 100 percent. They had a disagreement she went over killed her. Ran back called with the crazy story.
Why didn't he call the 911 but yet go get his daughter?
I have her been an emergency room nurse for years whenever CPR is performed it usually fractures ribs esp in an older person like thus women
No doubt the ex police officer got some preferential treatment in them setting bond and it is a shock to me the life insurance company handed over the proceeds for a pending homicide which was used to bail dad out. Given the daughters were given control of the money in the end, I think $800,000 less attorney fees may likely be a reason for the daughters' to ignore their mother sustained a deep laceration on the TOP of her head and a deep laceration to the BACK of the head. I am unaware of how lacerations from two directions were sustained in one fall. I hope the neighboring county got a new medical examiner or I would love to see how he explained that away. They just bought a $400,000 home and Chris was looking for a way to pay for it. Oddly, we were not told Courtney's first version of events as they were driven separately and I'm sure questioned separately. The trip in for the supposed coffee was to insure Courtney was still in the bed and not going to witness what was about to happen. Money makes people forgive and forget so much.
The other part that gets me is that they went out to bath in the hot tub? I may be wrong but I'm assuming there was more then just the master bathroom in that house that could have been used to "clean up" that morning? As a woman I can't imagine it being the wife's idea to use the hot tub instead of another bathroom to clean up that morning..?
I was thinking the same about the coffee cup and I have certainly had to "wash up" without a shower or tub
I agree.
I thought the very same thing.
Post a Comment