NEW YORK — CBS’ “48 Hours” this weekend will air parts of a haunting voicemail recorded during the last minutes of a young woman’s life as she was murdered, although the victim’s mother says she wishes the show wouldn’t.

The Saturday-night crime series (10 p.m.) focuses on the 2012 murder of Weight Watchers executive Danielle Thomas by her live-in boyfriend, lawyer Jason Bohn, in New York. During Bohn’s trial, it was revealed that Thomas’ phone recorded a four-minute message that includes her screams and pleas for her life.

At one point she says, “Jason, I love you,” and there are seven seconds of silence – except for a barking dog – possibly the moment she was strangled.

The recording was played during Bohn’s trial this year but because the court proceedings weren’t televised, it hasn’t been heard publicly outside the courtroom. CBS requested a copy through the Freedom of Information Act because its contents were crucial to the jury’s deliberations and were used by both the defense and prosecution, said Susan Zirinsky, senior executive producer of “48 Hours.”

Janie Thomas Bright, Thomas’ mother and a special education teacher in Danville, Kentucky, said she made it a point to leave the courtroom when the recording was being played during the trial. Bright, who was interviewed for the “48 Hours” story, doesn’t want to hear it on television, either.

“My mother and I begged them not to use it,” Bright said. “But once the trial was complete it was in the public record.”

 

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