Marie Osmond comes from a very, very strongly religious Mormon family. I remember hearing about how excited she was to be married in the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake to her first husband (for eternity). Eternity turned out to be about, what, five years? He cheated, they divorced, she remarried. There are no guarantees and we all fail occasionally, but often times due to our OWN choices.
Marie Osmond's first husband was gay. I believe that was the reason for the divorce. Marie wanted children.
Prof. Erik Luna/ University of Utah College of Law: "It's very difficult. I can think of very few cases in which an individual has been convicted when the victim has not been found."
Law professor Erik Luna says if the search remains fruitless prosecutors may face a tough choice.
Suppose they have the elements of a strong murder case.
Forensic evidence: blood and hair, perhaps even Lori's DNA on a knife.
Circumstantial evidence: a suspect acting suspiciously.
Even if there were eyewitnesses to key events that might establish motive and hypothetically a signed confession from a suspect, jurors may have reasonable doubt.
Luna: "Number one, is this in fact a homicide? Is the person still alive and just hasn't been found? We have a little bit of experience with that in the recent past. The Elizabeth Smart case demonstrated to all of us that improbability is not the same as impossibility."
So, as the search continues, one worry hangs over it -- if a jury has reasonable doubt, a suspect could be acquitted and never tried again.
Professor Luna says no one at the law school can remember a Utah murder prosecution in which the victim's body was never found.
(excerpted from: http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=109158)