By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-22 14:43:21 | Updated at 2024-12-22 20:06:54
5 hours ago
To the outside world Sabrina Limon's life appeared almost perfect.
She had two beautiful children with her husband Rob, the couple had good jobs and the family enjoyed active social lives where they lived in the quaint community of Silver Lakes in Mojave Valley, California.
Then on August 17, 2014, Rob was found murdered. He had been shot multiple times, with his body dumped at the railyard where he worked in Tehachapi.
At first Sabrina, then 35, acted like a distraught wife. But within weeks, friends said she was giggling over a love note from her new firefighter friend Jonathan Hearn, who was ten years younger.
Police quickly determined that the crime scene had been staged to look like a botched robbery, and the truth began to unravel.
Eventually it emerged that Rob had been the victim of a twisted murder plot that involved a sordid affair, wiretapping and allegations of desserts laced with poison.
His wife Sabrina and her lover Jonathan were subsequently arrested.
Now a bombshell new six-part Dateline podcast, Deadly Mirage, about the horrific love triangle murder has uncovered a police interview with Sabrina, where her eerie responses when grilled about her affair can be heard for the first time.
Sabrina Limon pictured with her husband Rob before his August 2014 murder
Sabrina, 32 and much younger lover, Jonathan Hearn, 22, pictured before the murder
During the podcast, host Josh Mackewnicz exposed sordid details about the married couple's tight-knit group of friends who called themselves the 'Wolf Pack'.
The 'pack' shared an interest in swinging and swapping spouses.
Friends claimed Rob and Sabrina were known for throwing boozy parties and going on adult vacations as they explored the idea of open marriage.
Sabrina later confessed that she no longer wanted to be a part of this lifestyle and had tried to convince her husband to return to church.
During this period, she met Jonathan while working a part-time job at Costco.
She later admitted she had not been wearing her wedding band at the time, and when he asked for her number she gave it to him despite feeling guilty about it.
Jonathan later discovered she was married but continued to pursue her regardless.
They are said to have bonded over their love of God and shared Christian faith, and as they grew closer their texts became more intimate and they shared racy photos.
When Sabrina's husband discovered the texts, he told his wife to end it. But after a few months of not speaking they reunited and continued their affair.
During their time together, Sabrina and Jonathan allegedly plotted to kill Rob by lacing cookies or his favorite banana pudding with poison.
Then, in August 2014, their murder plan was carried out. Jonathan admitted to shooting Rob while he was alone at his workplace, attempting to make it look like a robbery and fleeing on a motorcycle.
Police had received a tip-off from a friend of the Limons who claimed Jonathan had left him a strange voicemail seeming apologetic.
After uncovering the affair, cops later wiretapped his and Sabrina's phones and recorded many conversations where the couple discussed God and the bible.
And after police planted fake details about the investigation to see how Sabrina would react, she immediately called Jonathan on a burner phone and the pair were arrested.
Jonathan refused to speak to police and requested his lawyer.
But Sabrina, who had not been charged at the time, agreed to talk to investigators about the open relationship with her husband and affair.
Authorities released surveillance video showing the railway yard where Rob Limon was killed
Jonathan Hearn called his job as a firefighter paramedic a dream job
Dateline launched a new six-part podcast earlier this month called Deadly Mirage
Sabrina Limon's booking photo - she is serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder of her husband
She described to the police how she and Jonathan first met and described him as smart, kind, knowledgeable and devoted to her.
When Kern County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Marcus Moncur told her they had evidence pointing to her lover as her husband's killer, she was in disbelief.
'I understand but can't wrap my brain. I mean there is no way Jonathan is the one that murdered Robert - I mean there’s just no way,' she said.
'I can't figure it out... how can he be gone?'
'I put my faith in God,' she added.
When the interview ended Sabrina was taken to the Bakersfield Sheriff's Department for formal booking and fingerprinting.
While there she spoke to lead investigator Detective Randall Meyer.
She apologized to the detective for not being honest when they first met.
The detective said: 'You were probably scared and upset and didn't know what to say. I know tons of stuff that went on and want you to tell me the truth.'
He asked her to retell her story again starting with the first meeting in Costco and when Jonathan asked her for her phone number.
She explained: 'Our friends were having a party and there were fire department people and I said [to Jonathan] are you going to that party kind of thing? And, he’s like maybe I will see you there? Like, what’s your number?’
‘I had never given out my number to like a stranger before I instantly felt guilty like, oh my gosh,' she added.
The pair continued to speak and their relationship developed.
She said: 'The funny thing after I told him I was married he was sincerely sorry. I didn’t feel that bad. It was open. Socially we talk to other people. Like Rob was, he was pretty casual with me.'
Sabrina told the detective about her open relationship with her late husband and claimed he initiated their spouse swapping lifestyle.
'We had open relationships and parties and that kind of lifestyle. The kids weren't exposed to that first hand,' she said.
Meyer responded: 'I know we talked about your open relationship before and you told me you didn't have one'.
'I didn't want any of this to come out. It is shameful,' she explained.
Sabrina was vague about when she and her lover began sleeping together but said she remembered the moment her husband found her phone with all of the texts and confronted her.
She explained he had asked her 'what's up? how did this go down?' - to which she replied that she didn't know, 'it just kind of happened'.
The detective said: 'Did you think it would be okay with Rob if you were seeing Jonathan because you guys kind of had that open relationship.'
'I guess that is how I justified it,' she responded.
She said: 'Jonathan apologized to Robert and we felt bad and Rob and I kept going and Jonathan and I kept talking.'
She claimed her special connection with Jonathan went 'deep' and admitted she kept him posted on when her husband would be working late.
She also confessed that she had told her lover the location of the railroad shop in Tapachei where her husband worked.
'I think if you would have never told him that he would have never been able to find it because it is not on the map,' the detective said.
'You can't Google it and find it. I tried.'
Sabrina could then be heard whispering to herself: 'Why did I tell him?'
The detective responded: 'Yes or no, did you ever suspect him of doing it?'
Sabrina said yes but insisted that they were trying to hide the affair not a murder and claimed she never wanted believe her lover was a killer.
The detective went on to push Sabrina to tell him everything she knows.
'I will be honest with you, when I get out of this interview it will make a huge decision if you will ever see or touch your children again ever in your entire life,' he warned.
'I feel like I have been completely out of my mind,' Sabrina said.
Eventually the detective tried to suggest Jonathan was already talking.
'Jonathan is going to tell me that you started all of this and you talked him into it,' he said - to which she replied: 'That wouldn't be true.'
After the nearly four-hour interrogation she was handcuffed and taken to jail.
She was let go within a few days due to a lack of evidence but Jonathan was charged with murder and held in jail.
He eventually turned on her and struck a deal whereby he would testify against her in return for a 25-year sentence.
Rob and Sabrina pictured during happier times
The married couple had a close group of friends called the 'Wolf Pack' that involved spouse swapping
Jonathan Hearn eventually turned on his lover and struck a deal whereby he would testify against her in return for a 25-year sentence
Jonathan Hearn stands trial. He agreed to plead no contest to counts including voluntary manslaughter in exchange for helping the prosecution of his former lover
Sabrina Limon confers with her attorney Richard Terry during her murder trial in Bakersfield, California in September 2017
On the stand, he admitted he fired the fatal shot.
In exchange for his testimony against Sabrina, prosecutors reduced the murder charge against him to voluntary manslaughter.
In October 2017, three years after the shooting death of her husband, a Kern County jury found Limon guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to murder in the shooting death of her husband.
She was acquitted of the poisoning attempt and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
In January 2023, the California Supreme Court denied her appeal for a new trial.
