Burning Suspicion on Addison Avenue

[00:02] Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. It starts with our approach. Every Mazda comes standard with proactive safety features. So you're more aware of what's around you, more focused on the road ahead, and ready before problems ever start. [00:19] Mazda. More of what matters most to you. Go to mazdausa.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse or promote any product. [00:30] When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track. [00:37] because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high-quality motors, sensors, belts and hard-to-find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. [00:48] so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com, or just stop by. [00:55] Grainger. For the ones who get it done. [01:00] is everybody out of the house yeah i don't know but it's on fire really but really really strong the fire in the cottage on addison avenue was hungry devouring almost everything in the bedroom all right we'll have fire department on the way to see smoke coming out of the windows it's pouring out of some inside the house within minutes firefighters knocked it down the smoke clearing [01:30] sooty water running in the streets. And then, as the mop-up began, the word flashed out like something electric. The house was occupied. Someone didn't get out. And up through the ashes, a mystery flared, like a stubborn ember, glowed and smoldered, and demanded an answer. The inhabitants of the rented cottage, as investigators soon learned, were two young,

[02:00] on some reality show. Their names were Paul Zumat and Jennifer Skipsy. Jennifer, an ambitious, award-winning real estate agent who lived like a rock star, or so said her buddy Roy Enderman. You know, and she'd be like, I'm knocking them out like Domino's, baby. I just worked out, went to Starbucks, and I'm on my way to a meeting, and it's only $6. [02:21] 33. So Paul seemed to be just the right kind of guy for Jennifer, said Roy. Because he was an entrepreneur, and he seemed like he was a very driven person. And that's definitely a quality that Jennifer was looking for. Jordanian-American Paul Zumont-- sleek, attractive, educated, engaging. Paul owned a local hangout, a cafe, [02:47] where customers could smoke flavored tobacco through water pipes called hookahs. The place, in Paul, were popular. [02:55] Nikisa Gottschop was a fan. He's a good-looking guy. You know, he looks good, he smells good, he presents well, he's witty, he's smart, and he's just, he's affectionate. So, love at first sight? Well, maybe, said their friends. From the minute that he told me about her, he always talked about how wonderful she is and how she's perfect. He definitely was very charismatic, and he liked to joke around. [03:25] And money? There was a lot of it around, apparently, too. And Jennifer and Paul, having worked hard to get it, seemed only too happy to spend it. When Jennifer and Paul first got together,

[03:38] Paul took Jennifer to New York City. And I remember he was like a kid in a candy store, just planning all these elaborate, wonderful things that they were going to do together. They were passionate, these beautiful people. They both had strong personalities, their love. [03:55] burned hot. Jennifer was a very strong, independent woman, and she would not accept anyone disrespecting her or even looking at her inappropriately. [04:09] And she was very strong-willed in that. Me, like I always did, told him, you need to be careful, you know, because girls can be evil. So he said, no, she's different. I love her. You know, I already love her. She's great. And so in September of 2009, Paul and Jennifer moved into that charming little cottage on Addison Avenue here in Palo Alto. Time to play house. Paul started to think about marriage. [04:39] planned a party full of promise. She invited most of his close friends to Dish Dash, one of his favorite restaurants, and I think they had over a dozen people there, almost 20 people or something, and Jennifer created a cute table setting. She created the perfect party for Paul, cake and everything. In fact, people who were there described the party as almost like a wedding reception. It lasted through the evening into the wee hours of the morning.

[05:11] And now here it was just the very next evening, and it was gone in ashes. All of it, the excitement, the glamour, the promising future up in smoke along with the house on Addison. And the person inside. Yeah, we have a party. I need a medic. We have a party, family bar. [05:33] The next day, Jim Skipsy was driving with his parents to a dinner engagement. [05:39] The phone rang. It was an old friend. He picked it up. I said, "Jake, you're gonna tell me something bad, aren't you?" He said, "Jim." Just kept repeating your name? Yeah. He said like three times, I guess. So I said, "Jake, hold on, man. I gotta pull over." I didn't even want to hear it. I didn't want to hear what he had to tell me. So I gave the phone to my dad. [06:06] And he told my dad. My dad opened up the phone. [06:14] He just held out of his arms, me and my mom, just like we were all holding each other. [06:19] And he told us Jenny was gone. [06:23] It was his Jennifer, his daughter, who died in that fire. [06:29] And now, along with almost unbearable grief, something else started to burn inside Jim. [06:37] It was suspicion. You know, accidents will happen. There's a lot of tragic things that happen to a lot of people in this world. But this was no accident. It didn't have to happen. It didn't have to happen.

[06:59] Well, the deadly fire was burning at his home on Addison Avenue. Paul Zumot was at his hookah lounge just minutes away. Someone called, told him about the fire. He rushed over, but could only pace helplessly back and forth as firefighters did their job. Soon after that, he sat down with Palo Alto police to try to help sort out what happened. [07:22] As you can see on the video recording of the meeting, sat is probably not the best description. Paul was full of nervous energy and frantic questions. At this point, nobody had told him that Jennifer was in that fire. I'm worried about my house. Not even worried about her, I'm worried about my girlfriend. What caused the fire? How do you care about this? I want to talk to you about Jennifer right now. I'm not sure that I know any more than you do. My job is just basically to talk to you and find out what exactly you know, [07:52] No, no [07:54] So together, police and Zuma talked about the hours before the fire. Where had she been? What had she and Paul been doing? Yesterday was my birthday. We went out. Everything's fine, you know. [08:08] Me and her and all the friends. Who's her? Jennifer. And that's your girlfriend? Yeah. Paul explained to police that he spent the afternoon at an appointment in San Jose. Got back to Palo Alto just in time for his cafe to open for the evening. [08:24] And I came here and it was traffic and I got to the cafe, 'cause that's when they opened, I had to log in to the computers. And I, as soon as I sat down, I wanna smoke, I have the hookah lounge right here. So I was smoking, my landlord called me, he said the house was on fire. I flew in, I flew in through the red lights and came here. Now I am really frustrated, I'm really confused, I'm really exhausted and I wanna know what happened. I care less about the house, I care less about Jennifer's safety. I just cannot think anything right now, guys.

[08:54] I just can't think anything. Then in the middle of his conversation with detectives, Paul's phone rang. It was Jennifer's mother who told him she hadn't seen or heard from her daughter. You can see what happened. Paul fell to pieces. I know, I know. [09:11] I know, I can't find her. You're not telling me anything. To this point, he told detectives he'd been clinging to the hope that Jennifer might be with her mother anywhere really but at home. [09:24] But she wasn't with her mother. [09:26] wasn't anywhere. And that's when the officer broke this news. [09:56] Okay, give me a breath. [10:01] Get out of here, please.

[10:31] Is this on purpose? Is this an accident? Okay. This is just, unfortunately, this is just the beginning for all of us, okay, to try to answer some questions. Okay. [10:46] But of course, it had to be Jennifer. And it probably wasn't an accident. As that news sank in, Paul began to think about who might have wanted to harm Jennifer. [11:01] Tony Ganma. It already threatened her, said Paul. There'd been a confrontation just weeks earlier. So what happened is he called me, 30 minutes and he killed me. And he spoke in Arabic. And I speak Arabic fluently. And he spoke to her. So he called the police. Paul said that he and Jennifer had filed restraining orders against both brothers. Now she was scared from him. She's literally scared from him. I'm scared from the guy. [11:25] so [11:27] I didn't know those guys like this. Now, yesterday she walked home [11:30] And she said, hey, [11:33] Somebody if I were stalking me. Had the brothers killed her too? Police listened, took some notes. And then, just as a precaution, of course, had Paul give them his clothes for forensic testing. Questioned by police, his home destroyed, his girlfriend dead. Paul Zumat was very nearly in shock, said his friend Nikisa. His mind was that, are they sure Jennifer's gone?

[12:03] back. And as the weeks went by, said Nikisa, Paul was in a kind of daze. The gist of our conversations for the first few weeks were the fact that Jennifer's not coming back. He was completely distraught about the fact that Jennifer was in that fire. Meanwhile, as those same weeks went by, investigators went quietly and steadily about their task, picking through the cinders of [12:33] Literally. [12:39] Insurance is not one size fits all. [12:42] That's why drivers have trusted progressives' "name your price" tool for years. [12:47] Just tell Progressive what you want to pay. [12:50] And they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. [12:53] Visit Progressive.com to find a car insurance rate that works for you. [12:58] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. [13:04] This episode is brought to you by Penn Foster. [13:07] Sometimes things don't go as planned, especially with high school. [13:12] When you start to feel like you're falling behind, [13:15] Having another option can make a real difference. [13:18] Penn Foster High School is an accredited online diploma program [13:23] built for flexibility. [13:25] So whether you're hoping to go back and finish what you started, [13:28] Or you're the parent of a teen who needs a different approach to education. [13:32] There is a way forward.

[13:34] With self-paced courses, you have the freedom to learn on your own schedule. [13:39] That way you can fit school around everything else going on in your life and stop falling behind. [13:45] Don't just get back on track. Start moving forward with Penn Foster. [13:50] Visit penfoster.edu slash dateline to learn more. It's my first day of work and I need to make a big impression. From executive producer Mindy Kaling. This is our sexual harassment training. Hands off your co-workers. Now sign this saying that I trained you or you're fired. Yes, ma'am. Work relationships are too messy. I just met the woman of my dreams. You gotta chill out and not come on too strong. That goes against my entire personality, but I'll try. [14:20] TV on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. [14:33] The morning after the fire on Addison Avenue, the ruins still warm. A yellow lab named Rosie sniffed around what was by then a sealed crime scene. Rosie was trained to identify some of the tools of arson, kerosene, oil, gasoline. Rosie stopped in her tracks. She'd apparently found something. [14:55] Chuck Gillingham was a deputy district attorney in Palo Alto. [14:59] Was gasoline there? No question at all. It's in her hair. You could smell it, and you could smell it when you walked in just with your own nose.

[15:06] And in fact, the remnants of the gas can was found next to her right hip. [15:10] And so there were still enough remnants of the gas can for us actually to identify the type and make and model. [15:15] of the gas can. Wow, that's like somebody leaving the gun beside the body with their fingerprints all over it or something, isn't it? Well, no fingerprints, obviously, and no physical evidence beyond that. But it was so clear that it was an arson. Correct. And the arson was not at issue. No, it was cold-blooded murder that was at issue. Because Jennifer Skipsy did not die in the fire, [15:45] a particularly intimate form of killing, death by strangulation. Strangling someone is a very personal killing. That's a very angry killing. [15:53] It's not like [15:55] shooting someone from a long way away, I don't imagine. I mean, you're absolutely touching the person and feeling their life's blood ebb from them. Who could have been so angry with Jennifer? Paul had told detectives that he and Jennifer had taken out restraining orders against those two brothers, Hisham and Tony Gonma, both part of his social circle, men whom he considered former friends. There's people after us. What's that mean? They're trying to get us. They're trying to harm us. [16:25] That's the guy, okay. The guy that you have the restraining order against? I have the restraining order, civil restraining order against him. He hit me. He has a restraining order against me. And just one night before, after Paul's birthday party celebration, Paul told police some guys in a truck tried to follow Jennifer home. She broke her heel and somebody was just talking to her.

[16:45] And it was fine, it was okay with me, but we had people threatening us in the past. Okay, I don't know what's going on, and I think that's what caused the fire, I believe. [16:55] - I think you said. - Somebody was threatening us. - Oh, threatening. - Okay. - So, was Paul Zumot onto something? Detectives went to talk to the brothers, and of course, checked to see where both men were the day of the fire. And there was no doubt, they were nowhere near the fire. They had alibis. - At the time of the fire, we know exactly where both of them were. One of the gun brothers was in their cafe, [17:20] and he's on videotape, and the other was at Fry's Electronics and Home Depot, about 20 miles away. [17:25] We have those receipts and we have videotape from both of those locations. [17:28] So, once the Ganma brothers were in the clear, the cops did what they always do in cases like this. In fact, it's practically police work 101. They took a closer look at the victim's boyfriend, Paul. [17:42] And there was a curious moment in that police interview the day of the fire when Paul admitted he wasn't always the best sort of boyfriend. [18:12] boys. Suspicious, sure. But as they asked around among the couple's friends, police learned a few things that put Paul's behavior into context. Maybe he wasn't any more to blame than she was. Their relationship was chaotic. There's no disputing that, absolutely. But he was no more violent in the relationship than she was, whether it be physically, verbally, emotionally.

[18:42] about Paul, one of them noticed something a little odd. Paul told a friend, also a policeman by the way, two slightly different stories about his whereabouts the day of the fire. First conversation, day of the fire, reported the cop friend, Paul said he wasn't home all day. Then, second conversation, next day, Paul said he stopped briefly at home. [19:05] en route to his hookah café, [19:08] As we say, "odd." [19:09] But people's memories can be tricky. Was that one little difference enough to add up to suspicion of murder? Police apparently thought so, especially once they added that to the rest of what they'd discovered. Paul was arrested. I will wait for my attorney. What's that? I will wait for my attorney. [19:31] Okay. They charged Paul Zumach with arson and murder, which struck some observers as strange. [19:39] there had been just that one little inconsistency. And though Paul and Jennifer did fight sometimes, they seemed crazy in love, too. Paul had been shopping for a diamond ring, for heaven's sake. There was a part of Paul that was mourning his girlfriend. [19:58] And then there was a part of him that was... He didn't understand why he was in custody. And he didn't understand why he couldn't just cry for his girlfriend. [20:09] 100%. It certainly did. Paul Zumot was taken to jail to await trial on a charge of murder in the first degree. Big mistake, said Paul Zumot. When I first saw him, all he was really still telling me is, you know, me being in custody, all of this is going to blow over with, you know, they're going to realize I'm not the person who did this.

[20:47] In the days after the fire on Addison Avenue, after Paul Zumod was charged with murder and hauled off to jail, events in Palo Alto seemed to freeze somehow, in confusion and denial from Paul's point of view, and unrequited grief among the people who loved Jennifer. It hurt. It hurt a lot. [21:10] Quite it, partly because for some reason, though he'd been arrested, Paul wasn't entering a plea. Which is what this was all about. Candlelight vigils outside Paul's hookah lounge by Jennifer's friends and family. [21:24] We decided to stand in front of his establishment every night until he made his plea. Eventually, no surprise, Paul did plead, not guilty. And prosecutor Chuck Gillingham found himself sifting through the records of a two-year romance, studded with restraining orders, bitter quarrels, scratches, bruises, 911 calls. I mean, these were two people that were make-ups and break-ups, and she gave verbally as good as she got. [21:54] In one of their flare-ups, Paul was ordered to attend anger management classes, went to one the day of the fire, in fact. [22:00] So why did two people who fought so much stay together for so long? There was, it turned out, an audio recording of Jennifer herself. Killingham got hold of it, listened to her explanation. He wins your heart, so the first couple months is amazing, sweeps you off your feet, candles everywhere, flowers. Not money items, but just romantic and sweet talking and parading you around and wanting to introduce you to everybody.

[22:30] It's me loving him and admiring him that he admires me. And then it makes me trust his opinion and what he says about me and thinks about me. So then, as soon as he gets to that point, he flips it and calls me ugly, fat, a gold digger. By the way, the person she's talking to, Hisham Ganma. Remember, he's one of the brothers Paul told police he and Jennifer were afraid of. [23:00] fighting in him. Mind you, it's a phone conversation that was recorded a few months before the fire. But then she was not happy about Paul, not at that point anyway. I have pictures of the damage that he did to all of my furniture and he kicked in my car. Somebody saw him at Starbucks, spit in my face on my way to work. But things clearly changed after that. Remember, they were all lovey-dovey. Paul was even talking marriage. [23:28] The night before the fire, [23:31] And now here he was, not much more than a year later, on trial for her murder, listening to Prosecutor Chuck Gillingham take the jury inside the last days of Paul's relationship with Jennifer. How did Gillingham do that? Jennifer's cell phone. Detectives discovered, and this was rather curious, that most of her text message history had been... [23:54] deleted [23:55] But the messages had not disappeared. [23:58] The Palo Alto cops managed to find a phone expert all the way across the country in New Hampshire, who had a very deep look into that cell phone.

[24:07] and was able to pull up thousands, literally thousands, of deleted text messages between Jennifer and Paul in the last few months of her life. [24:17] Oh boy. [24:20] From Jennifer. You're nothing but a selfish, cold-hearted, ungrateful human being, scam artist, liar. Furious. That one didn't read like just any old quarrel. And the timing. Jennifer sent that text to Paul right at the end of the elaborate birthday party she threw for him. When she had perhaps 12 hours left to live. In fact, she was so upset about something that she refused to go to the hookah lounge after the party. [24:47] all the way home on a broken heel, texting all the way. Jennifer. Good, stay away from me. I just got home. Paul. I'm staying away this time for good. What a way to end my birthday. - For Jennifer to walk home alone at night with a broken heel, [25:06] and upset, [25:07] She had to have been [25:10] I don't even know if I've ever even seen her that mad. [25:13] But that was the night before. Angry messages buzzing back and forth. Then, as the cell phone revealed, the pair made love during the night, before Jennifer's morning text messages again turned red-hot angry. The subject seemed to be a debt she claimed he owed her.

[25:42] and don't come back where she's going to the San Jose Police Department to file charges by 3 o'clock that day. [25:47] and that's the last text message that anyone gets from her. That's the last contact she has. [25:51] ever [25:52] with anyone. That, said Gillingham, just before noon, is when Paul lost his temper and choked Jennifer to death, then drove to a gas station, bought a can of gasoline, later returned home, torched the house. And somewhere along the way, said the prosecutor, he erased all those angry text messages she sent him. Every single one between the defendant and her. [26:16] every single one is gone. Months worth. [26:19] And then said Gillingham Paul used Jennifer's cell phone to send fake texts to her friends, so they believed she was still alive. To support that claim, Gillingham introduced an expert witness who testified that texts from Paul's phone and texts from Jennifer's phone were hitting some of the same cell towers all afternoon. So her phone must have been right there with him in his car. [26:49] got from her didn't make sense. They weren't a sensible response to the message he'd sent her. In fact, he got the same text twice. She didn't show up and her phone was off. And so as soon as I got that repeat text message, I was kind of, [27:05] because she wasn't responding to what I was saying. [27:08] Jennifer was nowhere to be found. [27:10] Jennifer was dead. Now what Prosecutor Gillingham wanted the jury to think about was what happened or didn't happen much later after the fire.

[27:20] Here was the scene, house burning, Paul standing on the street outside watching the fire. At this point he supposedly didn't know if Jennifer was inside or outside, whether she was alive or dead. But... And at the time that he was there he made 38 calls and text messages. [27:38] two of which went to Jennifer. [27:40] and on neither occasion do you leave Jennifer a message. [27:43] He left messages for others. He spoke with others. [27:46] He text messages, for instance, the same friend multiple times. But in that two-hour period, at no time does he leave that location to look for Jennifer, perhaps, to go to the other side of the blocked off street. You know, if he called her and texted her once, surely that's enough. I mean, she'll call him back. Cell phone records actually bear out that he's a person that would call or text her 200 to 300 times a day when he wasn't around her, if he wasn't able to get a hold of her. His silence, especially at the crime scene, was deafening because there's no text message. [28:16] and I did to the jury that he stood at that location [28:19] because he wanted people to see him there. But how could the jury be sure Paul was guilty? Prosecutor Gillingham offered her. [28:28] Remember Rosie, the skillful police dog trained to alert to the faintest whiff of accelerant of the sort used in arson fire? She alerted when she smelled some of Paul Zumot's clothes. Suspicious, yes, though not exactly ironclad evidence, as you'll see. [28:49] profile defense attorney, the man famous for defending Scott Peterson. His name? Mark Garagos. I've had many a client who I have no doubt was capable of the acts that they were accused of. This is just not one of them.

[29:08] Thank you. [29:38] It's my first day of work and I need to make a big impression. From executive producer Mindy Kaling. This is our sexual harassment training. Hands off your co-workers. Now sign this saying that I trained you or you're fired. Yes ma'am. Work relationships are too messy. I just met the woman of my dreams. You gotta chill out and not come out too strong. That goes against my entire personality but... I'll try. Watch Not Suitable for Work now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. [30:08] For moi? Claude, you can talk? I've always had the gift of gab, Nancy. But now you can understand. With Pretty Litter, the odor-neutralizing, long-lasting health-indicating kitty litter, that's simply the most luxurious way to bury my poopies and my peepees. Pretty Litter was developed with veterinarians. It helps me monitor potential health problems just by changing color. Go to prettylitter.com today. Pretty Litter. Not just a pretty litter.

[30:46] Defense attorney Mark Garagos has made a name for himself defending clients in difficult and highly celebrated cases, not the least the Scott Peterson trial. But defending Paul Zumat would present its own set of challenges. Zumat was accused of killing his girlfriend Jennifer Skipsy and then trying to hide that fact by burning the house down. [31:09] but had also been pegged by the prosecution as an abuser, a violent man, an image Garagos set out to change. They both were passionate, romantic at times. [31:23] Hot at times, as you would characterize it. I don't think it was a one-way street by any means. For a start, Garagos tried best he could to weed out possible jury members who might have been unduly swayed by angry text messages or stories about Zumat's temper. What jurors do, or what you want to get a jury to do, is to want to help your client and to kind of walk in the shoes of your client. And then when he presented his case, [31:53] after that infamous party the night before the fire. - The party was at a place and it was for Paul's birthday. [32:01] and it was planned by Jennifer. [32:04] and the [32:06] They had maybe 14 to 18 of their close friends that were there. [32:11] And by all accounts at the party, everything was great. And the argument later, the angry texts? That was just the way Paul and Jennifer always were, said Garagos. His proof? After those angry text message exchanges, here's what happened. As Zumat described in his police interview. We talked, we smoked hookah, things were fine, we did what we did, you know.

[32:38] We slipped in the, I told him he gave me two Xanaxes. [32:41] I think probably she already took one or two before, but she took two more in front of me, and we just went to bed. And I got up at 11. So you guys slept there the same day? Yes, yeah, yeah. Okay, so you guys made up. I made up, yeah. Yeah, I made up, and then we have a video. I mean, we video ourselves. I mean, honestly, but I shouldn't be saying that, but that's proved out. I was in the house. Her phone. Her videos. Video yourself? What do you mean? When we have sex, we video ourselves. So you had sex last night with her video? Yeah. And sure enough, when police looked at Jennifer's cell phone, there was a video. [33:11] having sex after their fight hours before she was murdered. So enthusiastically that anybody who watches this is never going to have the impression or take away from that that this was somebody who was ready to kill her. And as for that cell tower evidence that Prosecutor Gillingham presented, which seemed to show Paul had Jennifer's phone with him and was sending out fake messages in her name, that was nonsense, said Garagos. [33:37] That was one of the pieces of information that was absolutely imploded. We went and got the engineer, the actual engineer, from the carrier [33:46] to come in and say he looked at the evidence, and what this guy said was the phone pinging off the same towers was not. It was just merged data from the cell phone. Why is that important? Because, says Garagos, the prosecution's own timeline should have cleared Paul Zumot. That is, investigators said Jennifer was strangled several hours before the fire started, and it was lit no earlier than about 6.30 p.m.

[34:16] the area, Caragos says, Jennifer was still alive, sending real, not fake, text messages herself from her phone. By all accounts, she was alive at 1.17. Okay. [34:30] And at 117, Paul was not at the house. So, where was Paul? Trying to pick up paperwork at the Palo Alto police station. And then at the hookah lounge, where he appears on security cam footage around 1.37 p.m. And from there, says the defense attorney, he headed to his anger management class about [redacted address], he stopped at the restaurant depot, seen here on camera around 3.30. [35:00] for Paul to go to the cottage, strangle his girlfriend, and douse her body with gasoline. A solid alibi, said Geragos. His client simply couldn't have killed Jennifer, and he couldn't have started the fire. How could he have been in two places at once? And as for Rosie, the yellow lab who alerted to a gasoline smell on Zumat's clothes? Geragos simply pointed out that those very clothes were submitted to a test on state-of-the-art equipment of the Bureau of Alcohol, [35:30] and they showed no evidence of gasoline at all. The ATF chemist has a protocol. And specifically, one of the things the prosecution also didn't tell this jury, which we brought out, was that the ATF also put out a protocol that said you never take a dog alert, a single dog alert, and draw a conclusion. And in fact, if the ATF says negative, then you should not allow in

[35:56] The dog alert. So why would people believe the dog over the ATF? Well, I think once again you get into this idea of people have dogs, they kind of [36:03] ascribe supernatural powers to dogs. I mean, you know, I've got two large dogs. And having been through a couple of cases with dog evidence, [36:15] As much as I love my dogs, I'm certainly not going to want to convict somebody and put their liberty at stake based on dog evidence. Still, as he presented his case, Garagos had a problem, and he knew it. What it came down to was the character assassination block of the case. I mean, the first two blocks of this case revolved around what's so-called scientific evidence, and that was absolutely destroyed. [36:45] The solution? [36:47] Paul Zumot himself appears to have demanded it, the chance to defend himself to the jury by testifying. Some courtroom observers believe the defense had already created a reasonable doubt that testifying was, in fact, risky, especially for Paul, said his friend Nakisa. [37:05] Knowing Paul the way I know Paul and the way that he could be interpreted incorrectly, I was very nervous about Paul taking the stand. Risky or not, Paul was determined to tell the jury his side of the story.

[37:30] Defense attorney Mark Garagos had done what he could to poke holes in the prosecution's murder case against Paul Zumont, arguing that the prosecution had no solid scientific proof or clear evidence Zumont was anywhere near Jennifer when she was strangled and the house was set on fire. [37:52] fight? Why were there no defensive marks or scratches on Paul Zumat's body? Did the prosecution even have a case? Paul Zumat wasn't going to take any chances. In fact, he was determined to tell the jury his side of the story. So Garagos assigned a female colleague to question Paul. Must have been a strategy, whispered courtroom observers. A way to show the jury that Paul could, [38:22] But those observers were mistaken, said Garagos. [38:27] Well, I generally, I don't think direct examination is my strong suit, and I was concentrating on [38:33] cross-examination of the witnesses. So Paul Zumont looked the jurors in the eye and told them, I did not kill Jennifer Skipsy, did not burn the house. And then he told them, emotions building to a fever pitch, how despite their roller coaster relationship, he truly loved Jennifer. His lawyer presented a love letter, in fact, that she'd written to him, and he broke down then, flood of tears.

[39:01] I was so relieved, and I thought, you know, if there was any way this jury thought this man was responsible for this, now they know for sure that he's not. Because it's so obvious to me that he's telling the truth. But listening to all of this with his experienced ear was Prosecutor Gillingham. You must have been rather pleased when you heard he was going to testify. I think that's an understatement. I was very, very pleased. [39:31] was a gift, said Gillingham, an unexpected opportunity. Why? Well, the prosecutor had Paul right where he wanted him for as long as he wanted him. There were hours of questions, tough questions, baiting questions, questions designed to make Paul crack and reveal what Gillingham believed to be a controlling personality and a red-hot temper. My plan was to go through how he acted when he was angry. [39:57] and then asked him questions that he could have no good answers for. [40:01] for instance, why all those text messages are deleted. [40:04] And those were questions he could not answer because he had not considered. [40:07] those questions. After three long days in the hot seat, Paul Zumat's testimony was finally over. Had he persuaded the jurors that he was innocent? Do you feel he got a little bit chippy or arrogant on the stand? I don't think that he got arrogant, but I think clearly he was tired and he was exasperated. [40:26] He wanted to tell his story. He was being cut off. But the jurors, once they got the case, said they were determined to look at the evidence, not just courtroom theater.

[40:37] Everyone was very committed to going over the evidence and discussing each of the witnesses and each of the crucial pieces of evidence. It was really encouraging. And it was crucial they decided to compare very carefully the different timelines claimed by the prosecution and the defense. So we analyzed the timeline for the entire day, from his testimony, where he said he was, and then other pieces of testimony and evidence to either validate or contradict. [41:07] for less than 14 hours and came back with a verdict. [41:11] Guilty. All I remember was I heard that word guilty, man. It was just like this, this just, this relief, this release of tension. I was very shocked by the verdict. I think a lot of people were shocked by the verdict because, I mean, if you sat through the weeks and weeks of trial, it just, it's inconceivable how they could get to the result that they got to. [41:35] But to the jurors, the issues about text messages and whether Paul had Jennifer's phone all afternoon wasn't as important as Zumot on the stand. That's what made the difference. His tears, for example... [41:50] Sometimes I feel like I'm too cynical, but it was universally held opinion, I think. The entire jury believed that it was a manufactured moment. What was the problem with his testimony? There were two things that struck me. [42:04] One was when he broke down on the stand.

[42:08] And to me it didn't seem genuine. [42:11] And the other portion of his testimony was [42:15] when he had the opportunity [42:17] to tell us where he was and what he was doing. He chose to [42:22] basically lie to us three times. [42:24] And we were able to prove that he lied to us by the hard evidence that we had with the phone records and with the video surveillance and those items. And I just, to me, that hurt him very badly. If he hadn't testified... [42:39] Thank you. [42:40] I can't say for sure, but I don't think I could have convicted him. At his sentencing, an angry Paul Zumod again protested his innocence, but he was sent away for 25 to life for murder, plus eight years for arson. Case closed? Well, not exactly. In 2020, a federal judge granted Zumod a new trial, ruling that prosecutors had presented false evidence to the jury, while Zumod's defense team provided ineffective counsel. [43:10] At his retrial in 2025, Paul Zumot had a new defense team and a different strategy. This time around he did not take to witness Dan. But the jury came to the same conclusion as the first one did. He was found guilty again and sentenced to 30 years to life. [43:31] After the fire that set this mystery in motion, the Palo Alto cottage was repaired. New love, perhaps, growing in there? Young people were still coming to the cafe to socialize and smoke hookah. And Paul, gone. Like the romance that burned too bright before it vanished with its victim in a cloud of smoke. And I can still hear her voice.

[43:58] And I don't see her smile. [44:01] I know she's here. [44:11] With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. He wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. [44:28] "'What's in your wallet?' [44:30] Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank. Capital One N.A. Member FDIC.