Xanadu in the Costa Rican Rain Forest

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John and Ann Bender had met and married in a matter of about a year. He was a brilliant financier who had made 100's of millions. They had built and then moved to a beautiful circular mansion, they called Boracayan, a top the highest mountain in the rain forest of Costa Rica. It looked like a bird house set on top of the mountain. They had also bought 5,000-acre and made it into a wildlife preserve. Their dream was to establish this preserve and live there in their private Xanadu. They both had chronic depression issues and they tried to nurse each other. She took medications and John refused to do so. On January, 8, 2010, after living there for about eight years, John died in the bed he shared with Ann. The cause of his death was a single gun shot to the back of the head. She was found with his body stroking his hand and saying "I tried to stop it, but I couldn't." She had been very sick at the time of his death and was less than ninety pounds. Some experts said she couldn't have yielded the gun much less directed and shot it. She says she lunged toward him on the bed, when she saw him with the gun, trying to redirect the gun. He had been in a suicidal state for about two weeks prior to his death. Ann Bender would be tried three times for his death. In Costa Rica there is no trial by jury. There are three officiates that over see the trial. Numerous experts examined the evidence and each with different out comes. The first time she was acquitted, the second found guilty and sentenced to 22 years, and the third the judge found her innocent. Image courtesy of Flickr.com