Jarka case: Case of Murrieta man convicted of murder is focus of 20-20 segment
"It's a very intriguing story," said Jeffrey Diamond, lead producer for the segment, in a telephone interview Wednesday.
By Jose Arballo Jr., SWRNN
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 be the first to comment!Kelle Lee Jarka
Kelle Lee Jarka has already been convicted of murdering his wife, Isabelle, but the Murrieta man will make his case to a national audience as part of a 20-20 segment scheduled to air Friday.
The ABC news program will air at 10 p.m.
“It’s a very intriguing story,” said Jeffrey Diamond, lead producer for the segment, in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Diamond said 20-20 officials had been following the case for more than a year and decided that the circumstances warranted a closer look, given that there was no physical evidence linking Jarka to the killing, although there were “mounds and mounds” of circumstantial evidence.
“It was one of those rare instances where someone was convicted of this type of crime and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and the case was almost inclusively circumstantial evidence,” he said.
On a preview video posted on the show’s Web site, Jarka can be seen on a video with his wife, both smiling as they celebrate a special occasion shortly after they were married nearly 20 years ago. There are also photos of the couple together in better times. There is an interview with Jarka, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, as he describes the day of the killing, how he arrived to find his wife’s battered and bloody body.
Jarka describes Isabelle as a kind and considerate person.
Diamond said part of the intrigue was Jarka’s personality. He said the Murrieta resident comes across as likable and sincere.
“He could be your next-door neighbor,” Diamond said. “He doesn’t come across as a killer.”
The show also spoke to the jury foreman, Diamond said, and he described what jurors were thinking when they took about two hours to decide Jarka was guilty of first-degree murder. One key piece of evidence, Diamond said, was the video of the interviews police investigators had with Jarka. Diamond suggested jurors did not believe anything Jarka said in the video.
As he has throughout the case, Jarka professes his innocence during the program, Diamond said. His supporters contend there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, such as bloody clothing or an eye witness. Investigators never found the weapon they believe Jarka used to strike his wife various times on the head and could not establish the time of death.
Jarka’s brother-in-law, Bill Schafer, criticized Jarka’s conviction during the sentencing hearing and predicted that he will one day be freed.
But even as Jarka proclaimed his innocence during sentencing last month, the Murrieta resident was called “evil” and described as “trash” by Isabelle’s family and the judge who sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“I hope you feel like the piece of trash that you are,” Laura McGraw, Isabelle Jarka’s sister, told the court during Jarka’s sentencing. “You deserve to be along with your kind.”
Jarka’s attorney has previously said she will appeal the conviction and supporters have created a Web site to help raise money for his defense. They point to what they believe was the wrongful conviction of a man who loved his wife and criticized the police investigation, which they believed focused immediately on Jarka.
The emotional case started in April 2008 when Isabelle Jarka’s bloody body was found inside the family’s Murrieta home. Jarka has continued to proclaim his innocence, suggesting his wife of nearly 20 years was killed by an intruder and he was away on errands when she was attacked.
Prosecutors successfully argued Jarka, who was having financial problems, wanted to collect $1.3 million in life insurance on a policy he had taken out on his wife. The break-in, police said, was a set up and an attempt by Jarka to cover up his brutal attack on his wide. The prosecutor described Jarka as a man so enamored with his upper-middle-class lifestyle and position within his congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that he was willing to sacrifice the life of his loving wife to maintain it.
One medical expert testified that Isabelle Jarka suffered almost a dozen blows to her head with a blunt object resulting in a fracture to her skull and injuries to her brain.
The nature of the crime and some of the circumstances surrounding the family drew national interest.
Through it all, Jarka maintained that he did not murder his wife, even as Judge Timothy Freer prepared to send him to prison for the rest of his life.
“We were married for 20 beautiful years,” Jarka told the judge, his voice breaking. “Isabelle and I dreamed of growing old together. That dream was taken from us.”
Jarka said he could not have committed the “heinous” crime against the woman he loved and that he prays that one day he will be exonerated. Jarka said his life will never be the same without his wife.
“I long for her smile, her touch, her smell, her love,” he said.
Diamond said the segment is not meant to change anyone’s mind, but rather get the audience thinking about the judicial system and how it works.
“We try and present the facts and let the audience decide for itself,” he said.
Tags: ABC news, Isabelle Jarka, kelle lee jarka, Murrieta, SWRNN
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