48 Hours: Jenny Eisenman

Last night, 48 Hours profiled the case of Jenny Eisenman. Jenny was a wife, a mother, a second grade teacher, and a woman who admitted to shooting her husband dead. Jenny, however, claims she acted in self-defense and that her husband abused her.

Is Jenny being honest when she claims she acted in self-defense, or is she being deceptive?

A jury decided that Jenny Eisenman was not acting in self-defense, and sentenced her to 23 years in prison. Yet 48 Hours brought back some of the jurors and discussed case facts that were withheld from them during trial.

Read more In trial, photos of bruises on Jenny’s legs taken after the murder were withheld from jury as was testimony from a friend of Drew who said Drew admitted to him that he got “physical” (at one point) with Jenny.

Juror Ann Robey says if she had known then what she knows now, it could have changed everything because she could not have voted to convict. “What I now know? I don’t think so. It probably would’ve been hung,” she says.

It could have been a hung jury. “I would have really held my ground,” Robey says.

Clearly, this is a case where people fall on both sides of the pendulum. Some believe Jenny, others don’t.

When I watched the 48 Hours interview, I saw a mountain of clues that led me to doubt Jenny’s story, over and over again. Do I think she and Drew fought at times? Yes. Do I think things got physical between them at times? I do, but I don’t believe Drew was the monster Jenny wants us to believe he was. And I don’t believe the night that Drew was murdered that he came at her like she tells us he did.

Jenny told police that on the night of murder in the interrogation video “He came at me, then he just kinda he fell back, then he kinda got up like to come at me again.” She says this as she talks of shooting him.

This sentence was a huge red flag for me.

First, when someone is threatening me and violating me, they don’t “kinda” do anything. They are coming at me, attacking me, scaring me…not kinda getting up to come at me again! They either did or they didn’t. They didn’t kinda do it.

People who are deceptive, I have noticed, try to make strong sentences, but inadvertently, most likely subconsciously, use the word “kinda” ( or kind of) in the mix. They want to make a strong statement but kinda weaken it a bit which makes no logical sense.

Another person who used the word kinda is Matthew Gretz. He is facing trial for murdering his spouse. He was trying to play the part of a distressed husband, kinda. You are either distressed or you aren’t. You aren’t kinda distressed.

Think back to something in your life where you felt threatened or violated. Describe the incident. Say it aloud. Did the perpetrator “kinda” scare you, or did he scare you, come at you, threaten you? Or did he kinda threaten you, kinda scare you, kinda come at you? It’s illogical when you look at it for what it is.

Furthermore, Jenny recounted her life much like an actor would who was creating a scene. She would play the parts as she discussed them. She said something to the affect that she and Drew were pretending to live the perfect life, and when she said that, she put on a “pretend” posture as if she were pretending to be happy for that second when she recalled it. Honest people when recalling a story don’t re-enact the facts as they tell them (i.e I was happy at that time so look at me smile now). They usually tell the scenario again with deep emotions, showing their pain, and feelings in the aftermath.

Instead, Jenny seems to have no pain in the aftermath, whatsoever. Rather, she genuinely laughs at points during her interview which is hair raising. Most people after a serious traumatic event, such as murder in self-defense, typically don’t feel like laughing for a while afterwards. This is another red flag.

Look at Jenny on the interrogation video, she is matter-of-fact. She is without emotions as if she is telling someone about a spat between two children, not the self-defense murder of her husband. This was a traumatic event, but she shows not signs of trauma. If your life is threatened, you are traumatized. Period. Why isn’t she?

When the interrogator asks Jenny if Drew was panicked, Jenny says, “I think he was tryin to stay calm.” This is not how someone who experienced this situation would respond. They would give the facts by stating yes or no. The would not speculate what Drew was attempting to do with his emotions. After all, if she wants us to believe her life was on the line, how did she have time to speculate about Drew’s emotions? It’s nonsense and rubbish.

The investigator asks if she had her “eyes open when she was firin?” Jenny says “The first time?… When I shot the wall, I did.” Here she pauses after the asking the question “The first time?”, and thinks about it. Then she answers. This appears to be thinking-on-her-feet speech. She doesn’t seem to be recollecting a memory, or be confused, or have no memory from the trauma.

Jenny’s tone of voice is another red flag for me. I don’t know why, but it is.

Jenny tried to dispose of her husband’s body, bought all the things she needed to conceal the crime, and shows absolutely no real genuine emotions of sorrow or fear when she talks to police. She is quite content to read People magazine, have a soda and a snack. Is this a woman who feared for her life? A woman who is traumatized by a cruel husband?

Her body language shows no signs of stress outside of the fact she is chewing her finger nails which could also be a sign of nerves, fear or even boredom.

Jenny could have experienced shock from a trauma like this, but in the police interrogation I would expect to see signs of that such as confusion or denial, but I don’t. I see none of it.

Justice, in this case, if you want my opinion was served as deserved.