198. Looks Like Yoga Didn't Do It - The Botched Dana Jones Investigation

Published: June 29, 2021, 4:01 a.m.

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If you look up the March 3, 2014 death of 50 year-old interior designer Dana Jones in the official records of the Long Beach, California Police Department, you\\u2019ll see that the case is considered closed, and Jones\\u2019 death listed as accidental \\u2013 a contention backed up by the coroner.\\xa0\\xa0According to Dana Jones\\u2019 husband, Cain Finn\\xa0\\u201cHuck\\u201d Jones, he took the dog out for a walk on the morning of March 3, and when he returned from the walk he discovered Dana, crumpled on the floor from an injury to the back of the head after slipping during a headstand while practicing yoga.\\xa0 Dana was rushed to the hospital in a coma but never regained consciousness before passing away.\\xa0\\xa0The problem is, Huck\\u2019s story seemed a bit out of whack to Dana\\u2019s friends and family \\u2013 particularly Dana\\u2019s sister, Lisa \\u2013 who has remained Dana\\u2019s champion and advocate for justice ever since.\\xa0\\xa0For one thing, Dana was an experienced yoga practitioner who knew what she was doing.\\xa0 And even a miscue during a headstand should never have caused the severity of the wound to the back of Dana\\u2019s head \\u2013 or any wound in the location it was positioned.\\xa0\\xa0Moreover, Dana\\u2019s husband Huck had filled the house with cameras (for security, he claimed, although there were plenty of Dana\\u2019s friends who believed Huck had them installed to keep an eye on her).\\xa0 And the room where the \\u201caccident\\u201d took place was one of the very few rooms without a camera.\\xa0\\xa0Plus there were inconsistencies with the timeline, the placemen and many questions about trouble within Dana and Huck\\u2019s marriage.\\xa0\\xa0Devotees of the True Crime genre know what happens next:\\xa0 Homicide detectives go first to the people closest to the victim \\u2013 in this case, Huck \\u2013 and hammer down on every single possibility that he may be the primary suspect.\\xa0 Long hours of questioning.\\xa0 A search warrant that focuses on every speck of dust in the house.\\xa0 And never clear the husband until every single lead has been run down.\\xa0\\xa0Except.\\xa0 Well\\u2026\\xa0\\xa0A detective showed up all right.\\xa0 A detective with a drinking problem and an attitude of not wanting to do the necessary work.\\xa0 A detective who decided within a few short hours that Huck was completely innocent simply because the presence of cameras would have prevented him from even trying.\\xa0\\xa0Wait.\\xa0 What?\\xa0\\xa0The subsequent \\u201cinvestigation\\u201d was light on detail and Dana\\u2019s death was ruled accidental in relatively short order.\\xa0\\xa0That\\u2019s when Lisa Jones, Dana\\u2019s sister, took charge.\\xa0\\xa0In the seven years since Dana\\u2019s death, Lisa has taken on one of the most detailed investigations of any murder anyone has ever seen.\\xa0 She has been unrelenting in forcing law enforcement, the press and anyone else who will listen to pay attention.\\xa0 Her 2019 memoir, \\u201cBlunt Force Yoga,\\u201d makes a compelling argument for reopening the investigation into Dana\\u2019s death.\\xa0\\xa0As Melissa points out in this episode, there is no statute of limitations for the crime of murder.\\xa0 And someone, somewhere, likely knows something \\u2013 even a little speck of information \\u2013 that might bring justice and finality to this horribly botched investigation.

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