Josh Mankiewicz

For defense attorney Richard Terry, the case was about a confessed killer who was willing to lie about his mistress in order to avoid life without parole.

In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jury the circumstantial case they were about to hear would leave no doubt about Sabrina Lamone's involvement in her husband's murder.

According to Prosecutor Smith, the plot to kill Rob Lamone was about more than romantic bliss. It was also about money.

As with most murder trials, the prosecutor began his case with a series of foundational witnesses. Detectives and first responders described the crime scene and the evidence recovered. Other witnesses, such as Sabrina Lamone's former friends, Jason and Kelly Bernatine, told the jury what they knew about Sabrina's love affair with Jonathan Hearn.

All of that, of course, was just the opening act. The main attraction, the reason why thousands were watching a live feed of the trial, was Jonathan Hearn, the confessed killer.

For a few moments, there was silence in the courtroom as Jonathan Hearn stared intently at a spot on the floor about six feet in front of him. Sitting a few feet away, Sabrina Limon's long blonde hair hid her face and as she seemed to be studying the back of her hand.

27 years old.

The jury was about to hear a story, the prosecutor implied, about a young man in the clutches of an older woman. In the prosecution's telling, Jonathan Hearn had been inexperienced in the ways of the world until he met Sabrina Limon.

According to Hearn, he and Sabrina met for trysts anywhere and anytime they could be together. And that wasn't all.

And so it went, month after month, the increasingly slippery slope of infidelity. When Rob Lamone discovered the affair in the spring of 2013, Hearn said they broke it off. That resolve did not last.

For Christmas 2013, Sabrina gave Jonathan an engraved snow globe. It captured an idyllic scene, much like the future they had imagined together. In the first few months of 2014, Jonathan said they had talked about Sabrina possibly divorcing Rob, but she did not like that option.

According to Hearn, talk about Rob Lamone's death had started in jest. As in, wouldn't our lives be simpler if Rob wasn't around? Then, by early 2014, he says, those late-night musings about Rob Lamone's demise had progressed from mere wishful thinking to a serious plan of action.

Poisoning. Hearn testified he and Sabrina had first planned to kill Rob with arsenic-laced banana pudding in April 2014. Jonathan said that attempt was called off when Sabrina began to fear their affair might be revealed.

So he said they decided together it was better to wait and put some time between Rob's murder and all that activity on their phones. Hearn said he bought Sabrina a burner phone and kept it loaded with prepaid minutes. It was while waiting for his next opportunity that Hearn said he had second thoughts about the idea of poisoning Rob.

Few things are more direct than a .45 caliber slug at point-blank range. That became Jonathan Hearn's plan. He says he spent the next few months prepping for murder. He cased the railroad shop where Rob worked in Tehachapi. He took photos and noted where the security cameras were located. He bought clothes and a mask to disguise himself, and adhesive flashing to disguise his motorcycle.

When Sabrina told him her husband would be working in Tehachapi on that Sunday in August 2014, Jonathan says he told her he was ready.

On the day of the murder, Hearn said, he arrived in Tehachapi around mid-afternoon. After parking his motorcycle in a secluded spot, Hearn said he donned an old man mask and set out on foot, walking with a limp. He was looking for the unmarked shop where Rob Lamone worked.

Unable to determine exactly which building Rob Lamone worked in, Jonathan said he was about to call it off and go home. Then he said he saw Rob Lamone pull up to one of those buildings in his service truck and open the garage door.

Hearn said his mind was filled with conflicting thoughts at that moment. One of those thoughts, he said, was, Thou shalt not kill. And another, God's purpose. All that stuff he and Sabrina had been saying about God wanting them to be together.

And so, just before he stepped into that shop to murder his romantic rival, Jonathan Hearn said he paused to pray.