In the mid 80s a young California woman named Deana Wild met a military man on a night out, and the couple soon fell in love. Given his military commitments he was often forced to go overseas for long stretches, which drove the young couple apart.
Grief stricken, Deana goes to a bar one night to drown her sorrows, and befriends a kind older woman named Virginia. Virginia was a natural shoulder to cry on as she had been thru plenty of heartbreaks, breakups, and divorces over her lifetime. Virginia felt so strongly about Deana, that she suggested they exchange numbers so they could keep in contact. Eventually they became so close that Deana moved in with Virginia and her husband.
Everything was going well until a vacation with Deana, Virginia, and Virginia's husband at Big Sur ended in tragedy. While sightseeing along the cliffs, Deana tragically fell 500 ft to her death. The explanation Virginia and her husband gave for the fall was immediately accepted, and the case was closed.
One day Deana's distraught mother approaches a detective. She tells him that soon after her daughter's death she began having haunting nightmares. In the nightmare, Deana is clinging to the edge of a cliff, as an unidentified man kicks away at her fingers. Deana then plunges. The mother has this dream every night.
The detective initially brushes it off as a mother unable to accept her daughter's tragic demise, but as a precaution decides to conduct a follow up interview with Virginia. He is smitten by the lovely older woman, and is quickly convinced there isnt any foul play involved. As he's about to walk out the door, he asks if Deana had any sort of life insurance policy out on her. Virginia's facial expression morphs from warm to dark as she unconvincingly says she doesnt believe so. As the detective walks out the door, he knows he better follow up on this.
When he investigates further, he finds out that not only did Deana in fact have a life insurance policy out, but it was in Virginia's name to the tune of 30k and it was taken out THE DAY BEFORE DEANA DIED. Obviously alarm bells start ringing.
The detective orders a new autopsy. The first one had been a routine sweep, but this one was detailed and meticulous and performed by an expert examiner . Two discoveries were key: One was that Deana was found to have the drug amitriptyline in her system, which is a powerful anti-depressant that makes one disoriented and drowsy (Deana did not have a prescription for this drug but Virginia did).
Two, on her fingers and hands were bruises consistent with being kicked and stomped by a boot.
The detective ordered a search warrant of Virginia's home. Tucked away, he found a camera:
This is the first picture. Its a bit tough to make out, and seems relatively harmless on the surface, but the two small figures at the base of the triangular shaped mountain are Virginia and her husband. Whats noticeable is that the camera is trained on their backs, and not the beautiful big sur landscape. It is thought that Deana knew something was up and took this picture out of fear. Virginia and her husband look like they're plotting something.
This is the next picture. For the next two pictures Virginia is the cameraperson. Deana looks drowsy, dazed and confused as her facial expression and body language are consistent w/ someone on drugs. With Deana practically incapacitated, it made it much easier to do what happened next:
When the detective saw this he dropped the camera. The smoking gun. Here you see Virginia's husband manhandling Deana right before he pushes her off the cliff. This is right where Virginia and he were talking earlier in the first picture. The positioning of their feet and body indicates a clear struggle; if you look thru the gap of the husband's legs, you can see deana's left leg in a defensive position as she's trying to fight him off and keep from falling.
And yes he was wearing boots.
The detective cried as forensics and actual photographic evidence confirmed what Deana's mom had dreamed about every night. A mother and daughter's bond had solved Deana's own murder. Both Virginia and her husband were arrested and convicted of her murder.