can all just move on and move in a positive light and have it all just go away. your honor, thank you. >> richard was sentenced to nine months in jail. kristen grindley will likely be dealing with the injury she suffered on november 11th, 2009, for the rest of her life. but she keeps her focus on the good things ahead. >> do you think of yourself as lucky? >> yes. >> because you're here? >> yes. ♪ ♪ ♪ i am very happy that i am okay. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning, thank you for watching. hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is dateline.

>> it was getting dark as the hunter pulled the trigger, the shape someone said looked like a bear wasn't. >> i heard this god awful scream. >> but was this an accident? >> there was absolutely no allegation of evil intent. >> or something else? >> he says i'm worth more to her dead than i am alive. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. to outsiders, every marriage is a mystery. some who knew the couple in our story saw two people in love, others a marriage in trouble. but all agreed this husband and wife had one thing going for them, they both loved hunting. they were also both excellent shots, so good they rarely missed whatever the target. here's keith morrison with "as

darkness fell." >> twilight, the day going that's, now the night eating up the -- wild black fast now, the meadow, wild blackwood. what did she know, now as she studied herself in the truck bed, was it hours ago -- did she know already back at the camp in the morning? or was it later, much later, when they showed her the evidence, and darkness that swallowed them all? they call it the rock, this gorgeous island with its fishing fleets and cove and mile after mile of premieval w oods. a place to fall in love, a place where love can sour, and turn perhaps to murder. except, surely not, not here in newfoundland, canada, with its small sweet towns, hospitable

people, and vast an ancient forest teaming with bear, moose, and caribou. remote, quiet. not -- much close. so the question that arose that awful september night was this, had crime, vicious crime, been important to newfoundland, or was it no crime all? you will have to come here if you hope to find the answer, another bucolic place 1500 miles southwest of the land in rural eastern pennsylvania, where mark harshbarger met the love of his life, mary beth. >> mark said when he saw her, he said oh i want to marry her. and when she saw mark, she said i'm going to marry that man. >> mary beth was floating on air, told her friend madge this is it, he's the one. >> so it was as if they were meant for each other, and they were very much alive, very much in love. >> had mark talked to his sister sharon about mary beth,

over the moon he was. >> he started the conversation with me a couple times, and he said, did you ever just look at somebody, and know that they were the right person for you? >> they were suited to each other, so suited. >> mark was the apple of his father's eye, lee harshbarger, who knew love when he saw it. >> he thought that she was just what he was looking for. >> mark was an expert hunter, learned at his dad's knee, and so was mary beth. not many girls like her. >> she was a very much for the outdoors as well, running, fishing. >> he was crazy about her? >> she was very good with a rifle. she could shoot. >> so she could. here's how mark and mary beth celebrated their marriage, and later they both joined what mostly one of the most exclusive clubs anywhere. >> they shot competitively in an exclusive 1000-yard club, and it is very difficult to shoot at a target of 1000 yards

away. >> no kidding. anyway, as love grew, so did the young couple's collection of precision rifles. >> you have to have a special sort of gun to do that, right? >> yes, you have to have good equipment and you have to be good with that equipment. >> sure. in addition, what does the equipment provide to help people see targets that far away? >> well, they had very good scopes. >> of course, shooting was by no means all they did. they had a couple of babies to add to the daughter mary beth brought into the marriage. and, when mark first became a father -- >> i remember how happy he was with his little girl, and she was so, thrilled and he was as well. he would look at the baby in the bassinet, and he could sit there for hours. >> something else about mark, he was a good provider. his contracting job paid good enough he was able to build a big new home for his family, which by 2006 included a baby boy.

he enjoyed having family around, like older brother barry and his wife linda. >> the first time in his life, he was really happy with things. >> of course, nothing is perfect, mark's other older brother, dean, had issues with mary beth. it might have been mutual. anyway, all things considered, mark was a happy man as he told his sister. >> if i die tomorrow, i have lived a good life. >> then in the summer of 2006, mark and mary beth planned the ideal vacation. ideal for them anyway, a hunting trip, to one of their favorite and frequent destinations, newfoundland. >> you know, the night before they left for newfoundland, he told me, he said you should see mary beth shoot that rifle. he said, you know, these little plastic pill bottles, she can hit one of those at 250 yards

with the rifle. and that is pretty fine shooting. >> it was september 2006, they packed up the truck and camper, took their baby boy and four -year-old daughter with them, also mark's brother barry. they drove up to nova scotia, took the ferry seven hours across the ocean to newfoundland. >> everything was just as fun as it could be. >> they hired a guide, shot a few caribou, mark bagged a black bear. people at the hunting lodge noted how affectionate mark and mary beth were, calling oh i love you every time they separated even briefly. >> it was a beautiful country, beautiful trip, he was more than happy with life. >> then, day six, early evening, they set out on one last hunt. mary beth's turn perhaps to bag a bear. nature opt off very to hunt by himself. >> it was a rainy jury foggy night, the wind was, blowing it was an excellent time for came to come out, move, and feed

with the early darkness. >> mark and the guide parked the truck, got out, and disappeared into the woods. he told me mary beth he would scare off the beer if they saw one. and she packed with the kids into the cabin, climbed in the pickup, positioned herself, -- peered through her light enhancing powerful rifle scope. >> you still could see objects, you still could see to an extent -- >> 15 minutes passed, almost dark now. mary beth saw movement. a bear, she peered through her gun scope, squeezed the trigger. but it wasn't a bear. >> coming up, what did mary beth shoot? >> and i put my scope on him, and i was looking and looking, and i fired. and i heard this god awful scream. it was horrible. >> when dateline continues. ealthy food... -hmm!

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deep in a wild wood in newfoundland, last light fading, mark harshbarger and a guide headed back from the final hunt of the day. as they approach the clearing where his wife waited in the truck with the kids, the guide stopped to relieve himself.

alone now, mark west springs picked his way through the growth, through what is called skidders, sometimes three feet deep over fallen logs, through grass which was at the time was 3 to 5 feet high in front of him. about 200 feet in that direction, his wife mary beth was standing in the back of a pick up truck, did she see him this far away? that is when the guide heard the shot, stepped out into the, woods and saw the body. he called out to mary beth. >> i said what did you shoot at me? she said i shot at a bear. did i get him? i said no, you got mark. >> that was no bear she killed. it was her husband. it was pandemonium then. the kids wailing, mary beth sobbing, trying to go to the body, the guide held her back and put her in the truck. drove off to find a working phone, picked up barry on the way. >> they come screaming, yelling, mary beth was crying, and i didn't know what had happened.

i said i am so sorry, i'm so sorry. there has been an accident. the gudie said we gotta go, mark was involved in an accident, how is he, he is gone. i said no, he can't be gone. >> but mark was gone. left dead back in the clearing, once at the, lodge they called the police, the royal canadian mounted police, the rcmp. >> of course, they closed all the roads, came in and started investigating. >> mary beth was a mess, appear to be in shock. just past 2 am, the mounties recorded her version of events. >> i was scanning at the truck with a loaded weapon, and i saw a black bear come out in the woods. >> saw it first with her naked eye, she said. >> and i put my scope on him, and i was looking, and looking,

and i fired. i heard this god awful scream, it was horrible. >> the bullet hit at mid chest. he was dead in an instant. >> that was my husband. >> but couldn't she tell through the twilight that it wasn't him, wondered the mounties. >> were you able to see clearly across, where a considerable distance? >> i thought it was, for the 50 yards i was looking, at for the bear. i saw a clear bear. >> what you're telling me as you saw a bear? >> with the scope, and with my naked eye. my scope magnified it, and i looked, and it was a bear. >> and then she said, -- for this conclusion. >> i think it was too dark to shoot. i should not have taken the shot. >> you didn't get a clear picture? >> i thought i had a clear picture, but obviously not. >> so, now the question putin to territory all too familiar to cops everywhere. >> mary beth, you and mark, ever had any marital issues or problems?

>> we had the perfect life, the perfect, marriage the perfect family. i loved him so much. he was my everything. i could not wait for him to come home from work. that's what i lived for. we had a great life. we had so much in common. i don't know how to go without him. >> okay, i think we are done the interview. >> investigators left mary beth to grieve, and of course to call the family with the awful news. mary beth's first call was to her friend madge. >> she says, mark is dead. he was shot. i asked her who shot him. she said, i did. she was crying so hard. it was difficult to make out what she was saying. i said have you told anyone? no, i'm calling your first.

>> barry got on the phone as well, not to his father or brother or sisters, he called his wife linda, asked her to deliver the news. >> linda called me and said mark is gone. i said, what do you mean mark is gone? and she said, mary beth shot him. she thought he was a bear and she shot him. >> then sharon had to tell the father lee. >> i will never forget the look on her face when she came in, and right away it was mark. mark is gone. >> just like that? >> yes, and that was the most devastating thing that had ever happened to me in my life. >> mark was his baby, his hunting buddy, the son most like him. back in newfoundland, the mounties asked mary beth if she would mind staying another day or so while they sorted things our, and of course she said yes, though neither she nor barry slept at all that night.

>> i cried all night, and it is a tragic experience to ever have to go through. >> at first light, the mounties headed back to the clearing to collect his body and document what they saw on video. all very sad. in newfoundland, as in many places, hunting accidents are, if not exactly common, an unfortunate reality, chalk up another one. then the cops got back to headquarters and all hell broke loose. >> getting bombarded by the phone calls. >> now this calls for mark's family, mostly demanding that police do something, so many calls. they asked very to tell them to stop. >> they're handed me a satellite phone, they said our office can hardly perform their duties. >> there was of course a reason for all of those calls. everybody would find out about that soon enough. >> back in pennsylvania, mark's family was shocked, but there was something else as well. >> coming up.

>> immediately we had that instinct that this wasn't an accident. >> when dateline continues. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. hi, i'm kevin,

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less than 72 hours after mary beth harshbarger says she mistook her husband for a bear, she left newfoundland for the long, sad drive back to pennsylvania. her children and brother in law, barry, with her.

and mark, his body was shipped back in a casket. >> i don't know how to go without him. >> a few days after that tear stained statement in the interview with the mounties, she pulled up in pennsylvania with some trophies of the truck. a few caribou carcasses probably carved up for steaks and that dead bear, the one mark shot before she shot him. the bear, she had stuffed and mounted, a way to honor her husband, she said, his last kill and all. but mary beth's in laws already demanding the mounties open that investigation now added to the complaints what they saw as appalling bad taste in an uncaring attitude. mark sister, susan. >> if i would have killed someone i would have been -- you would've had to put me under sedation. i cannot even imagine taking a life like that and being able to function. >> was she calm? >> very calm. >> she was an agitated or over the top at all? >> calm. i didn't want to believe she

did that on purpose. i gave her every opportunity to tell me that she was sorry. and it never happened. and there were no tears, there is no i'm sorry, oh, my god, what have i done, nothing. >> of korth's, methods of grief are as varied and personal as there are rivers, not in laws business to judge mary beth's method, perhaps. but as you can see, they seem not to believe mary beth was grieving. and though they were all shocked by mark's killing, they said, they weren't really surprised. >> we all knew that something like that could happen. >> knew that this could happen, how? well, for one thing, the harshbarger knew very well that mary beth was a crack shot, she was equipped in newfoundland with a light enhancing rifle scope. so really, about 200 feet, how

could she have mistaken her own husband for a bear? >> the fact that it was only 16 meters in an open area. immediately, you had that instinct that this wasn't an accident. just didn't make any sense. >> no, the harshbargers suspected the worst sort of foul play, a calculated deliberately killing by eight woman they did not like or trust not one bit, especially dean. his eyes were opened a few years earlier, said dean, when he lived briefly with mark and mary beth. it did not end well. >> i fell in bad favor with mary beth. [laughter] because she couldn't control me, and really intense. she was so dominating in her manners. >> dean claimed he saw disturbing things during his short unhappy stay with a couple. >> mary beth would fly off the handle. i saw her slapping mark, just violently. >> slapping him? >> slapping him until his lips were bleeding. and i asked him why he wasn't

afraid that she'd follow-through sometime. she threatened to kill him. and he said our love for each other is so strong but, that if she did, she'd be losing the best thing that ever happened to her. >> he said he thought his low brother was crazy to stay mary beth with. but mark loved her and defended her even when, according to the family, she acted up or got riled up. >> he would take or for a ride in the jeep and then come back and everything would be fine. >> well, he seemed to be able to control her. >> of course, dean was not alone. after long, early on the family saw the very same signs of trouble. >> she never allowed him to be with any of us alone. >> she was always there? >> controlling. >> it was like he was brainwashed. >> as the news of mark's death came crashing in on the, so did a seven years-long backlog of grievances against mary beth. as they saw, if there had been temper tantrums and wild spending spree, disappearing

acts. they said they put up with it because they loved mark and they wanted to keep the family together. they knew something else, too, they knew mary beth had been diagnosed as bipolar. and when she did not take her medication, like when she was pregnant -- >> everyone was really afraid and uncomfortable to be around her. >> i told him he needed to think of the safety of him and those children, that she needed to get the proper treatment. and he was always concerned about if she was admitted somewhere, she would not be allowed to hunt, and that's what they lived for. he did not want her to leave her gun privileges. >> but eventually's mary beth's move became so severe, said the family, she agreed to let mark take her to a psychiatric hospital just a year before the hunting trip. her family says she signed the papers herself, a way to keep her hunting privileges. but she certainly did not like the place. >> oh no, she said nobody would ever put me in this place again

when she got out of that. >> and, claim the harshbargers, she blamed mark for putting her there. >> but did she ever forgive him for putting her into the asylum? >> i think that's what brought this about, personally. >> we've all thought that. >> so when they heard about the accident, the mines went to that, and also some practical things. mark had always been a good provider. he worked hard to pay for that big new houses it was being built. and just five months earlier, he and mary beth increased his life incidents by 500,000. >> she says i'm worth more to her dad then i am alive. >> it was a joke at the time, says susan. but it certainly in their minds when dean and his family made all those phone calls to the rcmp right after the shooting. >> i want to talk to the commander of the mounted police. and i did. >> but the mounties, said the harshbargers, didn't seem to share their suspicions. >> they had named the comments,

how could we be questioning this? >> i stressed it to the point, and i had one of the sergeants in the rcmp actually says nobody tells me how to run our investigations. >> so it was upsetting, said the harshbargers, but what they do? the mounties apparently ruled out murder, or any crime, when they sent mary beth home with the bear and the cariboo and the kids and barry. the funeral was, to say the least, awkward, tense. >> it was almost as if you drew a line down through the middle of the building. some state over here, some state on that side. >> i don't even know where his ashes were scattered. i don't know that. >> well, they may not have been scattered at all, actually. here is the urn on a shelf in the house that mark built for mary beth. and that might have been the end of it, really. except of course for the deep freeze that now split the family. but it was not the end of it.

because not long after, said dean, a strange thing happened. two of mark's friends came, fort claimed mark once made an unsettling prediction. >> i think she's going to chew me. he said mark hesitated and added and she won't miss. >> and yet another funny thing, they are stacking up now, boy were they ever, this time it was barry. suddenly barry's 20 year marriage ended. and as for what he did next? well, what in the world was happening? >> coming up, perhaps mary beth was not fighting with everyone in her family's husband's family. >> did you ever have a moment where you thought i'm trespassing on my brother's wife? >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief.

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preparing this week to consider articles of impeachment against dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas. they allege that mayorkas refused to comply with the law and breached public trust. the kansas city chiefs will take on the san francisco 49ers in super bowl 58, in their second showdown in five years. the chiefs took down the top seeded ravens, while the nine's mounted a 17-point cut back against the lines in sunday's conference title games. now back to dateline. o dateline welcome back to dateline. i'm andrea canning. mary beth harshbarger and her husband, mark, loved to hunt and shoot. they were both excellent marksman, able to hit targets with precision. well on a hunt for bear one night, mary beth took aim and pulled the trigger. but what she shot was not a bear. it was her husband. was it a tragic accident or murder? back to keith morrison with as darkness fell. >> in those sad dark days after

mark harshbarger's death, his family's suspicion solidified into determined accusation. his wife, mary beth, they were convinced had murdered mark, their son and brother. and they told whoever would listen she knew she wasn't shooting at a bare up in the newfoundland woods. >> his family was terribly upset, of course. and then they started blaming her. they wanted a reason, they wanted a person who would be responsible. well, she was responsible, and she said she was, and she felt horrible. but they wanted more, i guess, you know, more than just saying, yes, i did it, and i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry. >> of all the harshbargers, only barry stood by mary beth. barry, what express discuss at brother dean's accusation that she killed mark out of reverential collected insurance money. dean just hated her, that's all, said barry. >> i feel it was a game. they're playing a game and

persuaded everyone else to feel the same that he could. >> meanwhile, barry did his best to comfort mary beth. >> crying and crying, and days at a time. i mean, nights without sleep. who did she have? i mean, nobody really helped out. they say they offered to and so on, but nobody was here. >> yeah, but you are? here >> as much as possible. >> so much so, that barry's wife of 20 years walked out, and then it would seem the rest of the family, indecent haste, barry moved in with mary beth. >> he swore to me and broke down crying and put on -- a front, and said the only reason he's there is because of those kids. and he swore to me that was the only thing that was going on. >> everyone in town knew they were a couple. >> i still don't want to believe that. i've lost two brothers, not one. >> instantly. i just can't believe that these people think that they have a

right to judge me, well i don't judge them, who they live with her sleep with. >> did you ever have a moment where you thought i'm trespassing on my brother's wife? >> my brother is gone. that's no longer his life. i don't feel that way. trespassing? no, i never looked at it that way. >> by this time, family relationships were very sour. >> yes, they were. >> because what, they knew you suspected her? >> well, they knew that i could not accept the fact that things happened the way they did. it was just an accident, i could not accept that. >> which is why since the mounties did not seem to interested, the harshbargers took their suspicions to a police force closer to home. >> i called the pennsylvania state police, and they intern took it to the -- county district attorney's office. and the detective there, he

relayed it to the mounties in canada. >> it was dean who call the cops in pennsylvania, dean who pestered the mounties right after the shooting, and dean who up in newfoundland, investigators went right out into the spot and the brush were mary beth shot mark and conducted a reenactment. there is also? inconclusive. it was impossible, -- mary beth could have mistaken mark for a bear. though of course, another conclusion was also possible. by this time, with some help from the harshbargers, pennsylvania media had gotten wind of mark's death and local gossip feasted on what was a juicy story. accident, or not. >> it would be pretty hard to mistake a human for a bear. >> and mary beth? he kept her mouth shut, at least in public. though she did fight hard, eventually successfully, to pry the very substantial insurance money from firms who first refused to pay. she started competing again in

local shooting contests. and when it came to the kids, mary beth claimed the harshbargers never asked to see them, but lee harshbargers told us she prevented any contact with those grandchildren of his. >> and you lost two grandchildren? >> yes, it's sad, it's a sad situation. >> then finally on the one year anniversary of mark's death, mary beth call the local nbc station wbbm in our e, to talk about a bench she put on her property. >> what was the purpose of getting this bench here,? i see candles here also. >> it's a memorial to my husband, mark, for my children. >> what you want them to know about you and mark? >> i love my husband very, very, very much. and he loved me. >> what do you think he would say about all -- some of this information that is going and rumors flying around, what do you think he would say? >> he wouldn't be really happy, at all. >> what do you see in your

future? >> it's unclear at this time. i live day to day. >> a unclear as a result of the mounties second shooting recreation was. still, local cops, other quest of the mounties, we're trying to put the case together. and by september 2007, the pennsylvania cops had dug up enough, mostly material from mary beth's past, to lure two mounties down to the u.s.. >> they were surprised that she did have a troubled past. and a lot of things i didn't know about. >> it was, for example, an incident back in 1992. mary beth was convicted of, assaulted a day in jail, a stretch of probation. the mounties excepted a stack of investigative material from the pennsylvania investigators. >> they would take that back and they would determine what would be the proper charge to charger with. >> still, months went by as mary beth awaited her fate. >> it has taken quite a toll on

her to know that his family feels she is totally and completely responsible for mark's death. >> then in 2008, the news, the mounties were filing charges. she fought the expedition for two long years. but may 2010, almost four years after she shot what wasn't a bear, it was decided. mary beth harshbarger would go on trial in newfoundland, or a very curious thing would happen on the way to justice. >> coming up, mary beth's remarkable memory. >> she knew the numbers off the top of her head. >> that seems a little weird, doesn't it? >> it did raise eyebrows. >> when dateline continues. line continues wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet. the summer of 2010 cooled

towards an early autumn here in grand falls, newfoundland. mary beth harshbarger was by now 45 years old. she had been in the local jail awaiting trial for almost five months, while her live boyfriend and brother in law barry, the only harshbarger on her side, supervised the babysitter watching the kids back in pennsylvania. >> it's been almost exactly four years since mary beth harshbarger shot and killed her husband mark -- >> mary beth's had joined up

quite a lot of public opinion, one way or the other. the question that drove the debate seemed mattingly difficult to answer. was it a simple hunting accident or did mary beth, a competition level sharpshooter, put that hole in her husband's chest on purpose? >> this was a case that raised a lot of questions for people. they ask themselves what. if >> sue bailey covered the story and the trial for the canadian press. >> for people who believed mary beth harshbarger, this was a horrible tragic accident. and for people who don't believe her, they would say, well, if this was deliberate, how would you ever prove it? >> and that's just the thing. for all the public chatter, murder was never on the table. the mounties did not allege murder. it was not the charge against mary beth harshbarger. even though, as mary beth's canadian eternal carl inner complained about the meeting -- >> they were reporting on this

as if it were a murder charge, or a manslaughter charge. >> when the actual charge was criminal negligence causing death, big difference, very big difference. yet -- >> you know, it was like there is a disconnect in some way between the charged as being tried in the court and the -- >> there according. >> and public opinion? >> read the room. there's absolutely no allegation of evil intent. >> yes, really, agreed crown attorney karen o'reilly. >> in the criminal negligence charge meant it was a non intentional shooting. >> the shot, in its simplest terms, that mary beth was simply irresponsible when she squeezed the trigger in that gathering dark that early night. but big deal and canadian law, they're severe penalties for that sort of thing, a maximum life sentence, in fact. it was big news too when mary beth's in-laws, the harshbargers, made their presence known with a pilgrimage to the lonely stand

of brush where mary beth's bullock found its mark. then in september 14th, 2010, four weeks to the incident in the brush, mary beth was led into the courthouse for trial. in fact, the public's fascination with the case was so intense that her attorney electively tried to be by a judge alone. >> -- to a jury. >> why do you say? that >> i was just afraid that a jury might think, okay, she's american, maybe she did intend to kill him. >> so in front of a judge, but no cameras, no jury. the hunting guide recalled the fateful moment. >> i said, what did you shoot? that she said, i shot at a bear. did i get him? i said, no, you got mark. >> the mounties told about their inconclusive recreations of the twilight, the brush, the tall grass in which mary beth claimed she saw bear. >> it was very rugged terrain, a lot of tree stumps and fallen trees. very poor footing, as i recall.

>> and as you entered the scene or the grass was really tall, as you went in, it got taller. >> but the star witness was mary beth herself, the audiotape version. that is, the recorded story she told the mounties right after shooting her husband. >> it was low to the ground. it looked to be about this big and black and rounded at the back, and the head of a bear. >> do you know now what it was you fired at? >> i didn't see him with the scope, i didn't see him in my eye. i did not see him at all. but he's dead. >> and then, some evidence that mary beth's in-laws believed to be particularly incriminating. during her recorded chat with the mounties, mary beth was asked if there were life insurance. >> yes, on both of us. he has one through work. i don't know what that's worth. probably a year's pay, $60,000. we have one through new york life that's worth 100,000.

and then we just got some through state farm in may that's worth 500,000, on him. >> a big brand new life insurance policy on mark. and listen to what happens when the policeman asked this apparently horrified and heartbroken woman for details. >> which we able to provide me -- i don't expect you do it now, but comprises phone numbers? >> i can give it to you now, i think. state farm is area code 500 7836 -- >> in new york? >> my representative is a good friend. her number is 500 7836. >> she knew the numbers off the top of her head. >> that seems a little weird, doesn't? it >> i have to look up the number. it did raise eyebrows. >> but as for harshbargers the 's allegation that mary beth was a loose cannon that mark may have feared for his own

safety, those allegations did not make it into the trial because the crown attorney did not allege even for a minute that mary beth intended to kill her husband. so for the prosecution, the harshbargers's accusations were irrelevant, and the case was about criminal carelessness only. >> when you look at the evidence that the prosecution did introduce, the points that were stressed where that mary beth harshbarger is an experienced hunter, she herself describes herself as a good shot, and yet that night she fired on a target that she had not identified. >> and mary beth's defense? for one thing, the owner of the hunting lodge said, maybe mark did look like a bear that night. >> he is dressed in these navy blue coveralls. two, three-day beard, real dark, real dark complexion. >> how many bears you estimate you've seen in the wild? >> maybe a couple hundred. >> describe how they move. >> they'll just stand on their hind legs and sniff and sniff.

and probably walk toward you a bit, they will go from one side to the other. >> he was walking in a rolling motion downhill, watching his step in diminishing light. he unknowingly exhibited the characteristics of a bear. >> the harshbarger family, the trial was not easy. >> i wanted and waited four years. so it came with a lot of mixed emotions in that courtroom. >> and then, the judge adjourned the case for a week to ruminate about his verdict. a criminal negligence conviction would send mary beth to prison here in canada for years, possibly even for life. so, what would it be? >> coming up, the verdict. >> she was visibly shaking waiting for the judge -- >> to trembling? >> traveling, she was just shaking. >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues ahhh, thank you mr. smooth bear. designed with smooth tear edges,

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now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message it would not be accurate to because this is who we are. say the harshbarger family was satisfied with the canadian case against there in law, mary beth. they believed mary beth committed murder when she shot mark harshbarger, and claimed she thought he was a bear. still, criminal negligence causing death, the actual charge against mary beth, could bring a long sentence, even life and present. on october 1st, 2010, four years after the shooting, justice was about to be served.

again, a very nervous mary beth was led into the courtroom in grand falls, watched by su bailey, then with the canadian press news agency. >> she was visibly shaking waiting for the judge -- >> to trembling? >> she was just shaking. >> carl lender, mary beth's attorney, had the jitters to. i was nervous, he kept us all in suspense for the bulk of his decision. >> in suspense because the judge read from a 35-page decision he had written. it went on for quite some time. >> what she shot at was what she hit. >> and finally -- >> i think about halfway through page 30 of the 35-page decision, he showed his hand. >> people cannot always act perfectly. and even when people act reasonably, accidents unfortunately can occur. the charge of criminal negligence against mrs. harshbarger is dismissed. >> and that was that, not guilty of any crime at all, mary beth harshbarger was free

to go. >> she burst into tears and was let out and you could hear her sobbing and she was taken into the back room. >> it was a great relief. i was glad for my client. it's a lot of work, and it turned out, they don't always turn out. >> mary beth left the courthouse with her attorney and departed for pennsylvania the very next day, free to return to the kids and barry and our lovely big house and her porsche and her hummer and what was left of the 600,000 dollar plus insurance settlement and furious relatives. >> she knows what she did. and in my opinion, she killed mark intentionally. she's getting away with murder. >> it was unbelievable that they would let her off with no consequences, no penalty whatsoever. >> are you happy, mary beth? >> and mary beth might have expected a sunny sort of reception on a return home to

her big farmhouse. there is a bit of a shake up back in the homestead. barry had run off with a babysitter. they moved out, got married. i wonder what mary beth thought about it all, the shooting, the in laws, the accusations, the trial, barry. well, of course, we did to. >> we met with mary beth as she went about rebuilding life for the kids after spending all those months in jail awaiting trial. she told us she avoids contact with the harshbargers now, and for that matter, just about everybody in the towns around where the gossip turns as usual. we made a date for an on camera interview so she could tell her side of the story, and then as the date approached, she changed her mind. won't do it, she said, don't care what anybody thinks about me, especially the harshbargers, who are left now with only memories. >> the only thing we have left to remind us of mark is the family pictures, and of course,

those two grandchildren, mark's children. >> lee harshbargers walked the forests he taught his son love and that is sun so loved to hunt. >> he had a favorite saying, well, dad, that was another fine day of field. that was very awarding. >> and mary beth? probably the gift she sent her attorney is as heartfelt a comment as we will get. >> well, she sent me a little token of her appreciation, a bumper sticker that read it is as bad as it gets and they are out to get you. i thought that was pretty fitting. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. thank you for watching hello, i'm andrea canning. and this is dateline. >> a beautiful woman at the