In 2012, Toni Henthorn’s trip to Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park with her husband, Harold, was meant to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary. Instead, it ended in a devastating tragedy when Toni fell to her death off a remote cliff. The ensuing investigation revealed a web of lies and deception spun by Harold over several decades, including the suspicious circumstances of his first wife’s death.
The couple, who met online and lived near Denver, appeared to have a stable life. Toni was an ophthalmologist, while Harold presented himself as a successful fundraiser. However, a closer look into their lives unveiled a much darker reality, as explored in a new “20/20” episode titled “Mountain of Lies,” which aired on February 28, 2025, on ABC and streamed the next day on Hulu.
In her first interview since her mother’s death, Haley Bertolet, Toni’s daughter, spoke fondly of her. “She was amazing,” Haley told Eva Pilgrim, co-anchor of GMA3 and ABC News, during the exclusive “20/20” interview. “She was so intelligent, and so wise and eloquent.”
Harold initially told authorities that Toni had accidentally slipped and fallen off a 160-foot cliff, placing the investigation under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Photos from Toni’s camera and Harold’s phone were crucial in reconstructing her final hours, according to Beth Shott, a now-retired special agent with the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch (ISB).
Shott noted photos showed Harold at the cliff edge. “Our theory was that he was trying to lure her to stand where he is,” Shott said. “That he’s saying, ‘Look honey, this is safe. You can stand here.'”
Investigators discovered inconsistencies in his story and looked deeper into Harold’s relationship with Toni. A nanny revealed that Harold and Toni slept in separate rooms and that Harold took frequent, unexplained “business trips.”
“He would go on these trips, but he wouldn’t have luggage, and then he would just kind of show up the next day,” Shott said. “And the nanny was wondering if Harold was having an affair. He seemed to have a secret life. ”
Additionally, evidence of his fundraising work was scarce. His business cards listed him as a “CFR” (certified fundraiser), but the agency that issued such certifications had no record of him. “Oh my gosh, he doesn’t even have a business,” Shott said.
Harold’s tax returns showed virtually no income for two decades. “He had posed for almost 20 years as somebody he’s not, and worked really hard at it,” Shott said.
Local authorities and journalists also received anonymous letters about the suspicious death of Harold’s first wife, Lynn Henthorn, in 1995. Harold claimed she was crushed under their car while he was changing a tire. Initially ruled an accident, the parallels between the two deaths raised suspicions among family, friends, and investigators.
“Remote locations. Odd places. Why were they there in the first place?” Shott questioned. “Harold was not injured in any way in either of these incidents, but his spouse was killed.”
After Lynn’s death, Harold stayed in touch with her sister-in-law, Grace Rishell, and her daughters. This continued even after he married Toni. Rishell stated that Harold was particularly helpful after her divorce in 2010.
“Harold really began to step it up, he’s giving me all this mentoring budget advice,” Rishell said. “And he says ‘Toni and I really, we just want to help you.'”
Harold gave Rishell a life insurance policy, which was supposed to list her daughters as beneficiaries.
“At first, the insurance policy seemed like a gracious gift that I could accept,” she said. “Because it was for my girls.”
She said that Harold became angry when she decided to move to Texas. She decided to cancel the policy.
Investigators later determined that Harold never canceled the policy, and named himself as the primary beneficiary for $400,000.
Investigators also found that Harold had taken out multiple insurance policies on Toni. After Lynn’s death, he received $600,000. During his marriage to Toni, he took out three $1.5 million policies.
After Toni’s death, Haley said Harold attempted to control her reaction. “He sat me down and he told me that she had ‘lost consciousness forever,’ is how he put it to me. And I just remember that moment was horrible,” Haley told “20/20.” “And right after, he didn’t want me to cry about it. He told me not to cry. He told me that people would be watching.”
Haley recounted additional controlling behaviors at home, including needing Harold’s permission for snacks or playtime.
“I couldn’t leave my room, and he had a baby monitor in my room watching me,” she said. “And so, he would know if I woke up and he would know if I came downstairs to get anything before he said it was allowable.”
Two years after Toni’s death, Harold was arrested. Investigators were concerned about his potential actions towards Haley.
“Our primary concern, when we arrested Harold, was that he might create some sort of hostage or dangerous situation with Haley if he knew his freedom was at risk,” said Jonny Grusing, a former FBI agent on the case.
In 2015, Harold was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Haley was adopted by her mother’s brother, Barry, and his wife, Paula, after her mother’s murder. “When Haley came to us, she was almost afraid to do anything without permission,” Paula Bertolet said.
Haley has forgiven her father, not for his sake, but for her own. “So that I know that I’m freed from him, from his control, that I’m my own person and that I’m grounded to do whatever I want to do outside of his control,” she stated.
Haley hopes her story inspires others who have experienced trauma that there is always a way forward, and that regardless of their past, there is hope and the ability to move past those challenges and find freedom. She wants people who are living in darkness to know that there is always “a way out.”
