Beverly Hills 911 42:00
When Beverly Hills Police Detective Mark Schwartz obtained the decision about an unattended loss of life on the residence of 67-year-old widow Violet Yacobi, he did not know what he would discover.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Any unattended loss of life like this, we are going to get known as out to … Some are clearly extra suspicious … than others. … This one step by step obtained an increasing number of suspicious.
What occurred to Violet Yacobi?
It was Oct. 10, 2017. Violet’s son, Daniel, and daughter, Dina, had informed police they discovered their mom on the marble entryway beneath the staircase round 7:30 p.m. Responding officers initially suspected it may be a suicide.
Det. Mark Schwartz: The data that we obtained very early on about probably being depressed and probably falling over the railing … these are the issues that we confirmed up with. … Her canine had simply died. She had canceled her … cleansing girl …
Violet had simply marked the one-year anniversary of her husband’s loss of life. However when Detective George Elwell, now retired, arrived on the residence, he did not assume she might have gone over the railing. In a criminal offense scene photograph, “48 Hours” rendered the physique as a graphic to point out the place.
On this crime scene photograph,
Erin Moriarty (exhibiting detectives the rendered picture seen above): Is {that a} fairly good description?
Det. George Elwell: Sure … that is precisely …
Erin Moriarty: And so, what am I seeing there?
Det. George Elwell: …the place the physique was laying … on the time I obtained there. …
Elwell says that when he regarded down from the highest of the railing, he was shocked that he could not see Violet’s toes, which had been beneath the staircase.
Det. George Elwell: I am not an professional in physics, however … something that is gonna go over that that has any form of weight to it, momentum’s gonna take it away from the staircase somewhat bit.
Elwell, an old-school investigator with a background in burglaries, additionally had a watch for extra tactile proof, just like the mud that also lined a lot of the staircase railing.
Responding officers had initially suspected Violet Yacobi might need fallen from the second story. However Det. George Elwell stated he seen that the staircase was lined in mud – with no disturbance to point Violet fell over the railing. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
Det. George Elwell: Up and down your complete railing there’s mud patterns … However for an individual of her stature, there’s completely no disturbance on that railing that may’ve indicated something had gone over.
Det. Mark Schwartz: When he obtained to the station, he pulled me apart. … And he stated, we gotta write a search warrant. … I am not comfy with what I am seeing.
Round midnight, the 2 detectives went to the scene collectively, they usually requested Daniel and Dina to return for a walk-through. There have been no indicators of a housebreaking.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Her pockets was there … her checkbook, cellphone, iPad. … something that may’ve been stolen was nonetheless there.
And so they quickly turned extra satisfied that Violet had not gone over the railing.
Det. Mark Schwartz: We had Dina stand subsequent to the railing. I requested her how tall the mom was, she informed me, she stated, she’s shorter than me.
Violet Yacobi, 67, lived alone in her Beverly Hills mansion. Her husband had died a 12 months earlier. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
Violet was about 5 toes tall, and the railing was simply over 3 toes, greater than half her peak.
Erin Moriarty: The railing would come up too excessive.
Det. Mark Schwartz: If she wished to climb over, the mud would’ve been utterly broken … For her to by accident fall over was simply not affordable.
Elevating extra questions had been the accidents on Violet’s face and neck.
Det. George Elwell: There was some kind of … mark beneath her chin … there’s unnatural marks on her neck.
It additionally appeared Violet had vomited.
Erin Moriarty: What does that say to you, guys? …
Det. George Elwell: To me … there was a few totally different prospects. Did she choke? … Was she strangled?
Throughout an preliminary interview with two different detectives, Daniel had additionally questioned if his mom had been strangled.
DANIEL YACOBI: Let me ask you one thing although. I imply … I do not know, I — I simply cannot get my head round it. Like, I noticed bruising in all places. Proper?
DETECTIVE: Mm-hmm.
DANIEL YACOBI: And I noticed a bruise proper right here. So, to me it appears like she was strangled.
Det. Mark Schwartz: I, at that time, had not dominated out this concept that she had hung herself.
But there have been no apparent indicators like a rope or a belt close to Violet’s physique. And Violet’s members of the family rejected the concept that she would take her life. Daniel had described seeing her simply two days earlier at a household dinner.
DANIEL YACOBI (to detectives): And we had been sitting proper subsequent to one another, and all the pieces was, you realize, nice …
When Schwartz discovered that Violet was a part of a close-knit Russian Jewish neighborhood, the place suicide is taboo, it occurred to him that her kids may be protecting it up.
Det. Mark Schwartz: I am somewhat extra in tune with the Jewish neighborhood so I used to be pondering … how would it not be checked out …
Erin Moriarty: You thought … the youngsters may disguise …
Det. Mark Schwartz: Proper, proper … Might it’s an insurance coverage factor? Might it’s a disgrace factor?
Later that day, they talked about oddities they each had noticed in Daniel’s conduct. For Elwell, it was in the course of the walkthrough.
Det. George Elwell: Daniel’s within the … lobby the place the physique was discovered … simply shifting backward and forward, he is trying down, he is crouching, he is touching the tile … and it simply did not sit effectively with me.
Erin Moriarty: You did not assume it might simply be a grieving son —
Det. George Elwell: N — no, it was —
Erin Moriarty: — making an attempt to determine why his mom ended up on the ground?
Det. George Elwell: No, it was … so animated … it was identical to watching an episode of “Columbo” when he would search for proof.
For Schwartz, it was Daniel’s demeanor once they met.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Daniel was very keen to assist …
Erin Moriarty: And what’s fallacious with that?
Det. Mark Schwartz: Nothing … However … it was like a nervous power that he had …
Erin Moriarty: However, I imply, all alongside Daniel Yacobi is being cooperative?
Det. Mark Schwartz: Completely. …
Det. George Elwell: Sure.
Erin Moriarty: Your concern, perhaps too cooperative.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Sure.
They’d questions concerning the preliminary story that Daniel informed to different detectives of how he and his sister had come to satisfy at their mom’s home when he discovered that nobody had heard from Violet.
Det. George Elwell: Apparently, they went there as a result of nobody had been capable of come up with her … in the course of the day. …
DANIEL YACOBI (to detectives): I known as my sister instantly a number of occasions …
Det. Mark Schwartz: Daniel calls his sister … And there is some kind of convoluted story concerning the keys.
DANIEL YACOBI (to detectives): “Hey sis, I can not discover my keys anyplace. Are you aware the place — do you may have your keys to the home?” …
Det. Mark Schwartz: So, Daniel’s telling Dina, meet me on the home …
DANIEL YACOBI (to detectives):… so we meet – meet precisely on the identical time …
Det. Mark Schwartz: Did not sit proper.
And there have been conflicting tales about who had carried out CPR. On the 911 name, Daniel informed the operator his sister was performing CPR. However when speaking to detectives, he stated he additionally had finished compressions.
DANIEL YACOBI (to detectives): My sister and I, uh, she did extra of the mouth-to-mouth. I did the … compressions …
DETECTIVE: Did your brother assist with the CPR?
DINA YACOBI: No …
When Detective Schwartz known as Dina, she confirmed that Daniel had not finished CPR.
Det. Mark Schwartz: George and I stated, there’s just one individual that … does not appear to be forthcoming and does not appear real.
They determined they wanted to interview Daniel themselves, particularly as soon as they discovered that Violet had died the night time of Monday, Oct. 9 — almost 24 hours earlier than she was discovered.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Based mostly off of missed telephone calls, contents in her abdomen … we’re fairly assured proper now that it is the night time of the ninth that she dies.
And detectives need to know, the place was Daniel?
Extra questions for Daniel Yacobi
Galina Blackman: Initially it is like, uh … unbelievable explosion of a horrible information.
The information of Violet Yacobi’s loss of life shocked and saddened her massive circle of buddies in Beverly Hills, together with Galina Blackman.
Galina Blackman: Who would ever, uh, kill Violet?
Violet and her husband had lengthy been pillars of their neighborhood.
Galina Blackman: Excellent couple … He was a really, very strong physician … They had been very well-known. …
Erin Moriarty: What was vital to Violet?
Galina Blackman: … household, her brothers, her husband … her kids. … She had a mission of constructing all people pleased, I believe.
Her son Daniel was a dentist, and her daughter Dina labored in bodily remedy.
Det. Mark Schwartz: They’re the American dream … immigrant household … and had been capable of create a wonderful life in Beverly Hills … from the skin, it’s … a tight-knit, profitable … household … and that is what we noticed initially.
However detectives started to take a better look. On Friday, Oct. 13 — almost three days after Violet’s physique was discovered — the deputy medical expert accomplished the post-mortem. The official reason behind loss of life was asphyxia by neck compression.
Erin Moriarty: Strangulation.
Det. George Elwell: Sure.
Violet Yacobi’s loss of life was dominated a murder. The official reason behind loss of life was asphyxia by neck compression. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
Her loss of life was being dominated a murder. This was now a homicide investigation, and detectives requested Daniel to return again for an additional interview.
DET. MARK SCHWARTZ (to Daniel Yacobi): … any interview at this level ahead is voluntary. Um, you are not beneath arrest. …
Det. Mark Schwartz: So, we all know that he’s saying he had not seen his mom since Sunday. First time he sees his mom is Tuesday when he discovers the physique. So, we now have that full timeframe that we’re .
They first requested Daniel to undergo the occasions of Tuesday, Oct. 10, and the night time he and his sister had arrived at Violet’s home.
DANIEL YACOBI (interview with detectives): We each get there on the identical time.
He informed them he was in a panic when he walked in and noticed her on the ground.
DANIEL YACOBI (interview with detectives): And I am going over there in, like, in utter shock. And, you realize, prefer it’s my mother. So, I am like, hysterical. …
He stated he hugged his mom’s physique earlier than beginning CPR.
DANIEL YACOBI (interview with detectives): I seize her somewhat bit and simply, you realize, heat hug. After which I begin doing chest compressions.
However when detectives shared with Daniel the outcomes of the post-mortem, he did not appear shocked to study her loss of life had been dominated a murder.
DET. ELWELL: And I can let you know that she has ligature marks on her neck.
DET. SCHWARTZ:… at this level, she was strangled.
DANIEL YACOBI: Oh my god, I knew it. … I had a way of that. …
They informed him based mostly on the lividity patterns — the best way the blood settles within the physique after loss of life — that they suspected Violet’s physique had been moved shortly after she died.
DET. ELWELL (to Daniel Yacobi): She wasn’t mendacity on her again like that for hours at a time and died. She was moved. …
In addition they informed him they believed he was hiding one thing.
Detective Mark Schwartz, prime left, confronts Daniel Yacobi, prime proper, throughout questioning. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
DET. SCHWARTZ (to Daniel Yacobi): … However you are not giving us the reality … Your story of the physique just isn’t lining up, Daniel. …
Daniel continued speaking, even when he was requested if he was liable for his mom’s loss of life.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Was there any animosity between you and your mother?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. …
DET. SCHWARTZ: Did you ever take into consideration killing her?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. …
DET. SCHWARTZ: Did you kill her?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. … God that is terrible. I am a suspect now.
Detectives determined they wanted to lock Daniel into his story about the place he was the night time Violet died.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Effectively, what’d you do Monday night time?
DANIEL YACOBI: Driving residence, um, I went from – from Inglewood …
He had constantly informed them that on that Monday he labored at his dental workplace in Inglewood – about 12 miles from Beverly Hills – after which drove straight residence, which was one other 6 miles from Violet’s home.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Did you cease on the home?
DANIEL YACOBI: No.
DET. SCHWARTZ: On Monday?
DANIEL YACOBI: No.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Constructive?
DANIEL YACOBI: Yeah.
However every time he was requested to explain his drive residence, he appeared stymied by the main points.
DET. SCHWARTZ: What route do you’re taking to go up?
DANIEL YACOBI: ‘Trigger I used to be – I take, uh – I take – typically I am going by way of Beverly Hills. So, I did undergo Beverly Hills.
DET. SCHWARTZ: When?
DANIEL YACOBI: On, uh – however I did not undergo that avenue.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Once we began getting his timeframe of Monday … That is the place he obtained uncomfortable. …
DANIEL YACOBI: … I do know I took the 405.
Det. Mark Schwartz: … At this level, we do not know he wasn’t at Inglewood, however his description of how he obtained residence … it was so labored for such a easy query. … And he couldn’t give a transparent reply. …
However Daniel was adamant when requested if he was at or close to his mom’s home Monday night time or any level Tuesday earlier than he reported discovering the physique.
DET. SCHWARTZ: The following day, do you ever come into Beverly Hills the subsequent day?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. …
DET. SCHWARTZ: So, we’re not gonna discover your automotive otherwise you … anytime Tuesday?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. …
DET. SCHWARTZ: Or Monday night time?
DANIEL YACOBI: Monday night time? No.
DET. SCHWARTZ: And also you’re positive about this?
DANIEL YACOBI: Sure.
Det. Mark Schwartz: We could not name him out on the lie, however we knew he was mendacity. … And I knew he was mendacity throughout a timeframe that was very vital on this case. … no matter he was holding in, it was for a cause.
Detective Elwell informed Daniel they suspected he had been alone inside his mom’s residence earlier than going over along with his sister on Tuesday night time.
DET. ELWELL (to Daniel Yacobi) : I see proper by way of you. I can learn you. It is proper in there bugging the crap out of you.
However Daniel pushed again and stated the detectives had all of it fallacious.
DANIEL YACOBI: I am telling you all the pieces I do know. … you assume that is straightforward for me? My mother simply died. … there’s no person nearer on this world than my mother. No one.
And there was one thing else. He had informed detectives he had a “nice” relationship along with his mother, saying they talked and texted frequently.
DANIEL YACOBI: I textual content her child footage on a regular basis. And “How are you?” Blah, blah, blah.
However when Schwartz checked out Daniel’s telephone, the final photograph he had despatched his mother was a month earlier, and it wasn’t an image of his child however his checking account.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Have been you having monetary issues?
DANIEL YACOBI: No. … We’re simply at all times – like we’re very open about all the pieces …
Det. Mark Schwartz: At this level, I discovered that to be vital.
Det. Mark Schwartz: By that Friday, he is our suspect … no — little doubt about it.
A homicide, a possible motive, and a suspect
Erin Moriarty: I believe lots of people … once they hear the title Beverly Hills, they consider film stars …
Galina Blackman: No … that is not Beverly Hills. … Beverly Hills could be very, very reachable … you may drive and … you see the houses … Film stars reside in areas the place they can’t be reached.
That wasn’t the case with Violet Yacobi, says Galina Blackman.
Galina Blackman: She preferred to impress.
Blackman, a Beverly Hills realtor for greater than 36 years, focuses on luxurious properties like Violet’s. Galina was requested to appraise the house whereas Violet’s husband was nonetheless alive.
Violet Yacobi’s Beverly Hills mansion. / Credit score: CBS Information
Galina Blackman: At the moment … I stated, “I believe it is an $8 million home.”
When interviewing Violet’s son Daniel simply days following her loss of life on Friday, Oct. 13, Detective Schwartz questioned if cash was a motive.
DET. SCHWARTZ: Who will get the home?
DANIEL YACOBI: I do. …
DET. SCHWARTZ: How a lot is that home price?
DANIEL YACOBI: So much.
Daniel stood to inherit half of the household fortune.
DET. SCHWARTZ: There any dialogue concerning the will or the cash or the place the home goes? Something like that?
DANIEL YACOBI: It is all to me.
DET. SCHWARTZ: It is all to you.
DANIEL YACOBI: And to my sister …
Detectives now had a homicide, a possible motive, and a suspect … however after greater than two hours of questioning, they let Daniel go.
Det. Mark Schwartz: We won’t arrest him.
Erin Moriarty: Why not?
Det. Mark Schwartz: We do not have the proof.
Dina was dominated out as a suspect. However they wanted to shore up their case and dig deeper into Daniel’s funds and his relationship along with his mom.
Det. Mark Schwartz: This isn’t like a enterprise deal gone dangerous. … there is a complexity to that that we needed to perceive.
Daniel, who had grown up in Beverly Hills, was now residing close to tony Bel Air. His spouse was additionally a medical skilled, and their child was 5 months previous.
Dean Summers: All the pieces in his life was great.
Daniel Yacobi / Credit score: Daniel Yacobi Fb
Dean Summers obtained to know Daniel casually. Dean’s brother was Daniel’s neighbor.
Dean Summers: Daniel lived proper subsequent door … He was marketed because the dentist to the celebrities.
Erin Moriarty: The primary time you met Daniel, what had been your impressions?
Dean Summers: Good man …
Erin Moriarty: Somebody you wished to be buddies with?
Dean Summers: Any individual that I might probably be buddies with … only a good regular man that had his act collectively.
However it could have been simply an act, say investigators.
Det. Mark Schwartz: I believe resentment was one of many issues that we began to study fairly fast. That he had lots of resentment in direction of … his mother and father … that he needed to reside a sure life and be a sure approach.
Dean Summers says Daniel had later confided in him about these emotions. It was the final time Dean noticed him – someday within the 12 months earlier than Violet’s loss of life.
Dean Summers: He was not talkative … He simply regarded very sad. … And I stated, “Daniel, what’s fallacious?” …
That is when, he says, Daniel unloaded a laundry checklist of complaints.
Dean Summers: “I hate my life. I hate being married. I hate what I am doing for a residing. I hate my mom. I hate my father.” These had been his phrases. And I used to be simply bowled over.
He says Daniel complained about how each his mother and father, his mom particularly, had managed each side of his life — even pushed him into dentistry and marriage.
Dean Summers: I requested him … “Why do not you simply break freed from it … and reside your personal life?” … He goes, “I can not. … I am not making any cash … they mainly … assist assist me.” … he felt he was caught … as a result of he is financially depending on them.
Though Daniel had at one level owned his personal follow, he now labored for different dentists.
Erin Moriarty: Although he stated he hated his mother and father, did you get any sense that he may harm his mom?
Dean Summers: By no means, by no means.
However in line with investigators, after his father died, Daniel’s relationship along with his mom and entry to the household fortune turned extra sophisticated.
They’d obtained a tip early on from Dr. Elena Spektor, who was Violet’s sister-in-law on the time.
Det. Mark Schwartz: She tells me that Daniel has had an obsession … with cash … and … management of … the property … for a while, that Violet would speak in confidence to her.
Detectives went again and reviewed the video of their interview with Daniel on Oct. 13. Throughout a interval when he was left alone, he had contacted his sister.
Det. Mark Schwartz: We go away the interview room, nevertheless it’s nonetheless recording.
He says Daniel did not understand that his sister was with different detectives in one other room.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Daniel begins sending texts … to the sister about, “Hey, simply keep in mind, I used to be doing CPR too.” …
Daniel wrote, “I keep in mind we each doing chest compressions … Separately … However each of us … Simply to maintain the story straight”
Det. Mark Schwartz: … The sister … tells the detectives, You understand what he is sending me some bizarre texts … So, she calls him. …
Det. Mark Schwartz: And once more, these are being recorded individually, however you may hear all of it.
DINA YACOBI (on telephone with Daniel throughout questioning): What is that this about chest compressions?
When Dina known as Daniel, she informed him that she had finished the compressions.
Cameras recorded Daniel Yacobi’s telephone dialog along with his sister. Investigators say he was unaware Dina Yacobi was in one other room with detectives on the time. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
DINA YACOBI (on telephone with Daniel Yacobi): No, no, no, Danik. I did the chest compressions, and also you known as 911.
DANIEL YACOBI (in Russian): No, however I keep in mind, I did too.
DINA YACOBI: No, no, you did not.
DANIEL YACOBI (in Russian): Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure …
Daniel, talking Russian, insisted he had, as effectively.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Daniel is making an attempt to place himself on the physique …
Erin Moriarty: ‘Trigger he is involved there’s DNA on the physique.
Det. Mark Schwartz: ‘Trigger he is involved there’s DNA, that is precisely it …
Detectives had been satisfied Daniel was possible mendacity about the place he was on Monday, Oct. 9, the night time Violet died. However they could not show it till they obtained his cellphone data the next week.
Det. George Elwell: The cellphone data … blew his story … out the water. He wasn’t in Inglewood in any respect —
Det. Mark Schwartz: No.
Det. George Elwell: — on that day.
The telephone data positioned Daniel in Beverly Hills and never simply driving by way of. And never solely that — police had obtained footage from Nest safety cameras inside Daniel’s home that confirmed him arriving residence round 8 p.m. that night time. Later, they noticed a person typing at a pc. They had been shocked to study who it was.
Det. George Elwell: We did not know Daniel was bald.
Daniel Yacobi is seen on Nest digital camera pictures inside his residence with and with out his toupee. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
And he’s seen along with his hairpiece on the identical pc 40 minutes after he got here residence.
Det. Mark Schwartz: You do not know what he is typing till we get the outcomes from the pc search from our forensic crew. … And he does a search of latent fingerprints on human pores and skin. … and that is once I knew … it is time. … we gotta go arrest him …
Det. Mark Schwartz: He killed his mom … and he did it for the cash.
A battle of consultants
Det. George Elwell: I used to be on the point of retire … I wished to be the … one to stroll up and put {the handcuffs} on him.
On Feb. 12, 2018, 4 months after launching the investigation into Violet Yacobi’s loss of life, Beverly Hills Detectives George Elwell and Mark Schwartz arrested Daniel Yacobi at residence for his mom’s homicide.
Erin Moriarty: What was his response?
Det. Mark Schwartz: Not shock. …
Det. George Elwell: Like he simply sunk into himself.
Det. Schwartz: And the very first thing he requested me, he says, “Can I get my toupee?”
On Feb. 12, 2018, Daniel Yacobi was arrested and charged along with his mom’s homicide. / Credit score: Beverly Hills Police Division
Daniel Yacobi was denied bail and would spend greater than seven years in jail, because of court docket delays, earlier than lastly happening trial for homicide in July 2025. Los Angeles County Deputy District Legal professional Shane Michael says the proof exhibits that Yacobi strangled his mom for monetary achieve.
Shane Michael: It is a very private kind of crime. … It’s important to bodily squeeze the life out of somebody … that is what strangulation is.
In line with the post-mortem report, Violet had petechiae round her eyes and face — the rupturing of small blood vessels — a traditional signal of strangulation.
Shane Michael (shifting his finger throughout his jawline and neck): There was additionally very vital abrasion on her jawline … There was a separate abrasion slightly below that on her neck.
Erin Moriarty (shifting her finger throughout her neck): … we’re speaking a couple of line round right here.
Shane Michael: Yeah …
However at trial, the protection offered a really totally different principle.
Dr. Lary Simms: The reality is … that she wasn’t killed, interval, full cease, finish of story.
Dr. Lary Simms is a forensic pathologist and a former medical expert in Las Vegas, Nevada, who says he has carried out about 10,000 autopsies.
Erin Moriarty: You do not consider that Violet Yacobi was murdered?
Dr. Lary Simms: No.
Erin Moriarty: However her son went on trial for her homicide.
Dr. Lary Simms: That’s right … And I testified at that trial.
Simms rejected Violet’s official reason behind loss of life.
Dr. Lary Simms: There … was no proof that she was strangled, interval.
Erin Moriarty: None?
Dr. Lary Simms: None.
Simms says the petechiae had been simply sunspots. And the marks throughout Violet’s neck? Pores and skin folds. What’s extra, he says, the deputy medical expert missed accidents that pointed away from strangulation and towards a fall from the second story touchdown.
Violet had a fracture in her backbone that was not talked about anyplace within the post-mortem report.
Erin Moriarty: Are you in any respect involved that the post-mortem that you just had been counting on for this
prosecution had … errors in it … That is a fairly large mistake, is not it?
Shane Michael: Yeah, effectively after we discuss, you realize, errors, I believe that was an omission.
That wasn’t the one omission. The identical medical expert additionally didn’t be aware of rib fractures, together with a number of on her again. He did not testify at trial, and the prosecution tried to handle the issue, declaring that the accidents had been photographed and that none of them contributed to Violet’s loss of life. The medical expert’s workplace declined to remark for this story.
Julie Rendelman: I’ve dealt with many murder instances. I’ve by no means seen … an post-mortem with so many errors … and that was a deeply troubling … half … for the prosecution to have to clarify.
Julie Rendelman, a prison protection lawyer and former murder prosecutor, is a “48 Hours” advisor who reviewed the case.
Julie Rendelman: It left … in a way, open … for an professional on the protection facet to kinda bounce in and say, these errors are so overwhelming we now have to begin to query all the pieces about this case.
Daniel Yacobi’s trial turned a battle of consultants with 5 medical doctors testifying about how and why Violet died — together with a brand new deputy medical expert introduced in by prosecutors, who agreed with the discovering of asphyxia because of neck compression. However Simms informed the jury that he believed Violet’s loss of life was as an alternative brought on by a uncommon mass of blood vessels in her mind stem known as an arteriovenous malformation or AVM.
Dr. Lary Simms (pointing at mind scan): This can be a arteriovenous malformation right here. … That is within the fourth ventricle. …
Erin Moriarty: That is what you assume contributed to Violet’s loss of life.
Dr. Lary Simms: Sure.
He says he noticed the issue on this microscopic slide of Violet’s mind stem. In line with Dr. Simms, the AVM had hemorrhaged inflicting Violet to change into disoriented.
Dr. Lary Simms: She’s stumbling round and he or she … slammed into the railing earlier than she went over the railing.
The protection offered a photograph superimposing the abrasion in opposition to a star-shaped design on the railing. Simms says it is a match.
Did Violet Yacobi fall into the railing earlier than falling over? The protection offered a photograph superimposing the abrasion (inset) in opposition to a star-shaped design on the staircase railing. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
Dr. Lary Simms: This can be a very uncommon, patterned harm … and it matches it completely.
Erin Moriarty: Is that this in any respect attainable that Violet might have died due to a medical occasion and fallen down?
Det. George Elwell: For me, no … I went up and down each inch of that railing and there is completely no bodily proof to point out that … something went over that railing.
Dr. Lary Simms: I take a look at the physique … these are issues which are laborious proof that speaks to me.
Prosecutor Shane Michael argued that Dr. Simms merely cherry-picked the proof and disputes his principle about the reason for that odd abrasion.
Shane Michael: He did not know the size of the star. … in the event you had been to fall and smack your chin on a bit of steel, you wouldn’t count on an abrasion. … you’d count on to see bruising. You may … see a minimize … bleeding. …
And, he says Violet had osteopenia, a weakening of the bones.
Shane Michael: [A] 67-year-old lady … would have needed to have been on the ground along with her again arched like in a … yoga class, cobra pose … to get her chin flush with that. …
Erin Moriarty: What do you assume, then, precipitated that V-mark on her chin?
Shane Michael: Her son strangling her.
The prosecution’s radiologist additionally testified that if Violet had fallen from the railing, he would count on to see extra catastrophic accidents.
Shane Michael: There was no cranium fracture. There have been no fractures in her arms. There have been no fractures in her legs. There was no pelvic fracture. There was nothing on the ground that may be in step with … falling from roughly 13 toes onto a marble flooring.
The opposite medical doctors testified there was no mind hemorrhage, nor did they are saying they noticed an AVM, together with the neuropathologist who created the very slides Dr. Simms used to kind his opinion.
Erin Moriarty: The truth that you may have dueling medical consultants who cannot agree on how Violet Yacobi died, does not that add up … to affordable doubt?
Julie Rendelman: It may possibly … In the event you can persuade the jury to consider that she died of pure causes then Daniel Yacobi’s not responsible of a criminal offense.
A DNA match and a damning digital path
Prosecutor Shane Michael used the path of proof left by Daniel Yacobi to point out that his relationship along with his mom had reached a breaking level in October 2017 and that greed for the household fortune – price an estimated $13 million – had fueled his plot to kill Violet.
Erin Moriarty: Do you consider … that he killed his mom as a result of he wished his inheritance early?
Shane Michael: Sure …
The protection disputes that. Daniel Yacobi was within the course of of shopping for a brand new dental follow and had not too long ago secured a million-dollar mortgage. Nonetheless, his now-ex-wife admitted in court docket that they had lived past their means. And Shane Michael pointed to Yacobi’s personal statements.
Shane Michael: He was usually speaking about his want for cash and want to make more cash.
A household pal testified that Yacobi had requested him about inheritance tax a few weeks earlier than Violet’s loss of life.
Det. Mark Schwartz: The ideation and considered killing his mother had been constructing. …
The prosecutor additionally offered a timeline of Daniel Yacobi’s on-line searches going again to August of 2017 that he stated revealed Yacobi’s plan to homicide his mom and stage the scene.
Investigators on the residence of Violet Yacobi. At trial, the prosecutor offered a timeline of Daniel Yacobi’s on-line searches going again to August 2017 that he stated revealed Daniel’s plan to homicide his mom and stage the scene. / Credit score: Los Angeles Superior Court docket
Shane Michael: He was looking out … unexplained deaths … loss of life statistics … issues like … choke holds, bruises brought on by choke holds … falling down stairs … he was making an attempt to determine a option to deflect any suspicion that may be … pointing towards him.
Of specific curiosity to the prosecution was a YouTube video demonstrating what’s often known as a “rear bare choke maintain.” They performed it at trial.
Shane Michael: It is actually the form of choke maintain … that might trigger … abrasions just like those that we noticed … within the images of … Mrs. Yacobi …
The prosecution theorized that Yacobi precipitated the spinal and rib fractures whereas choking Violet from behind.
Shane Michael: If he is choking her from behind, you assume he is making use of as a lot strain as he can. … if he is lifting her off the bottom … if he is obtained his hip in her again, there are any variety of ways in which you can apply power to her again.
Erin Moriarty: Do you consider that’s how Violet Yacobi died … that her son really used his personal arm to kill his mom?
Det. Mark Schwartz: I do.
Det. George Elwell: Sure.
And Detectives Elwell and Schwartz say Yacobi’s DNA beneath Violet’s fingernails proves it.
Erin Moriarty: Did you discover any form of scratches on him?
Det. Schwartz: They did not – We weren’t trying … the DNA’s beneath … her fingernails for a cause. He is asking about DNA for a cause. … He did the analysis … It was calculated.
Detective Schwartz had finished some calculations of his personal utilizing knowledge from Daniel’s iPhone Fb account and he says it locations Daniel at his mom’s home on the time he believes she was killed.
Shane Michael: One of many issues that got here again within the Fb data had been latitude, longitude coordinates.
Schwartz used these coordinates to drag video from the town’s closed-circuit cameras and safety cameras from Violet’s neighbors.
Det. Mark Schwartz: We had been capable of monitor his motion by way of the entire day, into the subsequent day.
Daniel Yacobi’s white Jaguar could be seen in Beverly Hills site visitors on Oct. 9, earlier than the prosecutor describes him “stalking” his mom’s home.
Shane Michael: He was driving up and down the road … at the very least two or 3 times.
Daniel Yacobi’s white Jaguar (circled in pink, prime middle) is captured on a neighbor’s safety digital camera on Oct. 9, round 4 p.m. Det. Mark Schwartz describes Daniel circling his mom’s property
Round 4 p.m., Daniel Yacobi’s automotive appeared on the next-door neighbor’s safety footage. A couple of minutes later it popped up once more on one other residence safety digital camera within the alley behind Violet’s home.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Nearly like a shark. He is … circling the block and he is happening the alley.
Det. Mark Schwartz: He pulls up proper round right here, simply behind the residence. And for no matter cause he stops. After which he slowly backs up.
Shane Michael: He by no means will get out. And … he isn’t shifting the rubbish cans again there. … He’s within the automotive, presumably trying into the again of his mom’s property.
Then, he drives away, however Fb coordinates place him at his mom’s home from 6:39 p.m. till 7:48 that night time.
Shane Michael: How he entered the home, do not know. Do not know if he rang the doorbell. … Do not know if he snuck across the facet.
What the info establishes, in line with the prosecution, is that Violet was alive when Daniel arrived. And by the point he left, she was lifeless. Afterwards, Yacobi drove straight residence.
Det. Mark Schwartz: Now we now have his Nest digital camera … and nearly to the second you are seeing … him stroll by way of the door.
Lower than 45 minutes after strolling in, he was typing that seek for “latent fingerprints on human pores and skin.”
Shane Michael: Twenty-two-plus hours earlier than his mom’s physique was situated … He was already interested by what proof might need been left behind on the scene.
It is proof of consciousness of guilt, says Shane Michael, and Yacobi would do it once more the next morning when he went again to the scene for lower than 4 minutes after which drove again residence. At round 1 o’clock, he contacted a monetary investor through Skype: “If I get a mil id need you to handle it…”
Shane Michael: One million {dollars} … six hours earlier than his mom’s physique is discovered … his perception was that he was coming into cash.
In late August 2025, after three weeks of testimony and almost eight years after Violet’s loss of life, the jury obtained the case.
Shane Michael: If they arrive again not responsible, on some degree … this man has gotten away with homicide.
After deliberating for almost five-and-a-half hours over two days. the jury was unanimous: responsible of first-degree homicide for monetary achieve.
It is a judgment that carries a compulsory life sentence with out the potential of parole.
Det. Mark Schwartz: This broke that household aside.
Det. George Elwell: Very unhappy … that it ended that approach …
Galina Blackman: I really feel for Violet and I really feel for Daniel.
Erin Moriarty: You are feeling for Daniel, too?
Galina Blackman: I really feel for him, yeah. What on the earth made him try this? …
Produced by Gayane Keshishyan Mendez. Peter Shaw is the sector producer. Michelle Fanucci is the event producer. Rebecca Laflam is the affiliate producer. Wini Dini, Chris Crater, Ken Blum and Joan Adelman are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the chief story editor. Judy Tygard is the chief producer.