Tonight on 20/20 ` Love, lies and videotape. # How sweet the sound... # A handsome young lawyer murdered. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! And down he went to the floor. Shot six times with his own gun by his on-again, off-again girlfriend. She said, 'Yeah, he wanted a nose job, so I gave him one.' I gave him the nose job he wanted. But was it self-defence... He liked guns. ...or cold-blooded jealousy after romance turned sour? There was no sign of remorse. Copyright Able 2015 Kia ora. I'm Sonya Wilson. Ryan Poston had it all ` success, friends, career, a well-connected family and a string of beautiful girlfriends. But that all ended in 2012 when the 29-year-old American lawyer was shot dead by one of those women, Shayna Hubers. Tonight, 20/20 gets an inside look at the series of unfortunate events that led to the shooting that shocked a small Kentucky town and reveals compelling video of Shayna Hubers' bizarre behaviour in the interrogation room. The story begins here at a bar called the Milford Inn. 24-year-old Audrey Bolte is waiting. Any minute now, a man is supposed to arrive. Were you excited to meet him? Yes, of course. I was very much looking forward to it. I mean... Audrey isn't just your average beautiful blonde on a blind date. ANNOUNCER: Audrey Bolte, you are Miss Ohio! She's Miss Ohio 2012,... ANNOUNCER: Three women remain... ...one of the final three at the Miss USA pageant. But tonight, Miss Ohio is hoping to meet Mr Right. They had met on Facebook through mutual friends. They talked about possibly meeting at Ryan's condo but decided to rendezvous at the bar. One small change in the plans changes the course of the entire night. Who wouldn't be looking forward to meet a lawyer from Cincinnati who's attractive, funny and witty? 29-year-old Ryan was the whole package. He had the brains to match his good looks, plus a loving and highly successful family. You know, our families have been friends for 20, 25 years. I get to know... Tom Awadalla and Matt Herren were two long-time buddies. Uh, he was a magnetic person to be around. You would go and hang out in bars just like this. Yeah. We would go out a lot every weekend, probably. He could literally talk about anything and everything. He was passionate about so many things. Philosophy, politics; they say Ryan had strong feelings on many subjects. Among them, guns. He liked guns. He believed in the ideology of gun ownership, and he believed guns can make society safer. But meanwhile, the usually reliable Ryan has left Miss Ohio, Audrey Bolte, sitting alone, waiting for him at the Milford Inn. You must have been thinking, 'This can't be happening to me right now.' Yeah. He was very, you know, responsive to text messages. I just talked to him. He said, 'OK, no problem. See you there.' But he didn't show up, so I went home. The reason Ryan never showed up? Because he's lying in a pool of his own blood in his Highland Heights condo, where Audrey almost met him. Ryan has been shot, and help won't make it in time. SIREN WAILS It was a very normal Friday night, but you get a really unusual call. You're hearing about a shooting. Dave Fornash is an 18-year veteran of the Highland Heights police force. You know, this is Highland Heights. It doesn't happen in Highland Heights. This 911 call just received, and it's a woman's voice. I turned on my lights and took off. You were about a mile away. Correct. So you were pretty close. Correct. He pulls into this condo complex. There's about 20 units lining both sides of Meadow Lane. So, you park the car, and you're just walking. Yeah. Right. Here it is right here ` building number 12. Building number 12. He enters building 12 and heads up the stairs. We're listening for stuff as we go up the steps. Another officer now with him as he approaches number 10, the condo belonging to that young lawyer, 29-year-old Ryan Poston. The shooter is still on the phone. So that door opens up. A young woman emerges. Early 20s, slim, about 5'8'', long brown hair. Told her to be quiet, get on the ground. I had my gun pointed at her. His partner cuffs the woman and takes her away while Fornash goes inside. These crime scene pictures shows what it was like ` a cluttered two-bedroom apartment; clearly a bachelor pad. Couches, chairs, a bookcase and a large TV. A second bedroom dedicated to just his neckties, and for that gun lover, an artillery vest. There's no one inside besides Ryan Poston. So the body is, like, right in this area. The head is here. He checks for a pulse. There is none. Fornash calls for the coroner, and heads back to the station, where the woman is waiting in this interview room. It's the first time he learns her name ` Shayna Hubers. My name's Dave Fornash. I'm a Sergeant, OK? At the moment, he knows nothing about her or how she and Ryan were connected at all. That story begins about 90 miles down the highway at the University of Kentucky. HORN MUSIC Shayna was among the graduates of the class of 2012, a hometown Lexington girl. People considered her driven to succeed, a standout student in high school, dean's list in college, now pursuing her Master's in school counselling. Ryan's cousin had known Shayna, uh, from college, and` and she had arranged the introduction. Ryan's lifelong friend Brian Stewart had moved to New York, but remembers Ryan telling him about meeting Shayna. Ryan was, uh, certainly attracted to her, and` and I'm sure that, uh, the feeling was mutual. Clearly. She loved posting pictures of herself on Instagram, but now she was only too eager to include Ryan. But as time went on, it wasn't clear if Ryan and Shayna actually were dating. I don't know if he would tell you they were in a relationship. Ryan's friends say he lost interest rather quickly and tried to end things with Shayna, but she refused. How can he allow her to decide whether they were gonna break up or not? He just wasn't able to. He was too nice, didn't wanna hurt her feelings. He did feel duty-bound to let her down easy. So easy the relationship continued on and off for more than a year, with Ryan and Shayna chronicling it all to friends on social media, Ryan being asked in one exchange... And Shayna, confiding to a friend... But they're still together in October 2012. APPLAUSE, CHEERS It's night of the vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Ryan was going to watch with his whole well-to-do family here in their stately brick home. What do you know about that night? They were happy just to have Ryan come to dinner, even if` if Shayna was there as well. If Shayna had any thoughts that getting this invitation meant a turn for the better,... GLASSES CLINK ...she as about to learn Ryan was ready to stick a fork in the relationship once and for all, and he's got a new girl already lined up. Remember Miss Ohio, Audrey Bolte? That blind date is the very next night. I have no doubt that, uh` that this is what set her off, and she knew that she was losing him, and` and that would be final. 24 hours later, Ryan is dead. A Highland Heights woman allegedly shot and killed her boyfriend. Shayna Hubers allegedly fired those fatal shots. This is somebody who wanted him head. It was like I was out` it was an out-of-body experience. And Shayna is in the interrogation room, utterly ignoring her right to remain silent. I gave him the nose job he wanted. # How the sound... # We'll be right back. Welcome back. It's Friday night in the small Kentucky town of Highland Heights, and 21-year-old Shayna Hubers is in custody after police found her in her boyfriend's apartment with his dead body. She's asked for a lawyer, which means police can't question her, but they can ask her the victim's name. What was his name? The man that I killed? (CHUCKLES) Ryan Carter Poston. 'The man that I killed,' She says. I was kinda stunned, and then at that point, you know, she just started talking. She talked and talked and talked. 'I killed him,' she says, but with an explanation ` it was self-defence. I honestly, like,... shot the man in self-defence. OK. He was... throwing me around the room. DISTRESSED: Soon as it happened, it was for real. It was like I was out` It was an out-of-body experience. Like, that was not me. That was not me. OK. Sergeant Fornash leaves the room to process what he just heard. Meanwhile, Shayna becomes increasingly anxious. Look at her here, fidgeting, pacing and drinking copious amounts of water. Eventually, another officer comes to keep her company. Once again, without being asked, Shayna starts spouting. That's when he started screaming all the nasty things over the year; you <BLEEP>head hillbilly; everyone know you're <BLEEP>ing crazy. Shayna says Ryan sat at this dining room table glaring and screaming at her, all while playing with his Sig Sauer semi-automatic handgun and ammo. He pulled it out, whipped it, and then, like, 'what would you`' he said, 'what would you do if I shot you right now? What would you do?' I was afraid. Remember, Ryan was a gun enthusiast. His messy apartment full of paraphernalia, an artillery vest hanging next to his ties, bullets sharing a cabinet with board games. But then she goes on to paint Ryan as a pill-popping zealot, habitually abusing prescription drugs like Adderall, Xanax and Ambien. Sure enough, there are vials of medication everywhere in the crime scene photos, right next to his bullets on the table. He's been whacked on drugs for a long time. He's capable of anything. Shayna starts to act it all out, saying Ryan got up. He wasn't completely standing up. He was like this. But before he could strike, she said she grabbed his gun from the table and began shooting. He fell onto the ground. He was, like, laying like this. His glasses were still on. He was twitching some more. I shot him a couple more times, just to make sure he was dead, cos I... (VOICE BREAKS) didn't wanna watch him die. Six slugs. A mercy killing, she claims, to put her bleeding boyfriend out of his misery. But then, an extraordinary remark ` He's very vain. One of our last conversations we had that was good was that he wants to get a nose job. Just that kind of person, and I shot him right here. I gave him the nose job he wanted. Yeah, you heard that right. But police chief Bill Birkenhauer couldn't believe his ears. When you heard her say, 'I gave him that nose job he always wanted.' My jaw dropped, you know. I was like, 'Did she just really say that?' But that was only the beginning of Shayna's bizarre behaviour. Listen as she laughs, questioning her own sanity,... Am I crazy? I don't think you're crazy. (LAUGHS) ...asking a series of strange questions about life behind bars,... If you go to jail, are you allowed to keep your phone? Do you shower there, or do you just get really dirty? I have to shower in front of people? Oh <BLEEP>. (LAUGHS) Oh my God. ...musing out loud about love. I don't know... if anyone will ever wanna marry me if they know that I killed my boyfriend. (LAUGHS) Not funny, but... But it's when she is alone in that room that she is the most revealing. Listen as she paces back and forth, muttering. (POPS MOUTH) I did it. Yep, I did it. WHISPERS: I can't believe I did that. At one point, she breaks out ballet moves... (SINGS OPERA TUNE) ...and even starts singing Amazing Grace. # How sweet the sound... # What do you make of this? It's a very bizarre thing. Her actions in that room didn't come off as somebody who had just killed somebody. A lot of the things she did in there were staged. That was enough for Sergeant Fornash. He comes back into the room... Here's what's gonna happen right now, Shayna. OK. OK. We've got everything we have. Um, we're gonna` I'm gonna` I'm gonna have to charge you with murder. What degree? Murder. There's no degree. ...and places her under arrest for the murder of Ryan Poston. The shooting immediately made big headlines. She shot her boyfriend in self-defence. A grand jury has indicted a northern Kentucky woman. A young Kentucky woman accused of brutally killing her boyfriend, shooting him six times and then boasting that she, 'gave him the nose job he always wanted.' When we come back, Shayna moves from the interrogation room... TENSE DRUMBEAT ...to the courtroom,... I'm Shayna Hubers. ...where her self-defence claim... Bang! Bang! Bang! ...might actually get traction with the jury. Stay with us. Welcome back. Two years after she was first accused of murdering her boyfriend, 21-year-old Shayna Hubers from Kentucky is up in court, taking the unusual step of representing herself at her bail hearing. I'm Shayna Hubers. Could you recall your emotional state? I was horribly traumatised, upset, in shock. And what did you believe would happen if you hadn't grabbed that gun first? I believed that I would have been hurt, that I would have been shot. You would say anything to this court to get yourself out of jail! Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass pounces, calling her a flight risk. You talked about changing your hair, burning off your fingerprints; Phone calls that you have made to your mother, where you said, 'If I see a door open in here, I'm running.' It's been almost two years. I don't remember every phone call I've had with my mother. I think she is at risk of flying. Bail denied. All rise. We are on the record of the Commonwealth vs Shayna Hubers. Today, Shayna is before that judge again, on trial for murder. That's the murderer sitting at the table. Would a jury buy her claim of self-defence? What do you think was the pivotal, sort of, testimony in that courtroom? Probably the most important thing was that two-and-a-half hour video. I think that speaks volumes ` not just her words, but her actions. She lets the juror's hear Shayna's own version of the shooting, especially that callous comment about the nose job. ...and wanted to get a nose job. Just that kind of person, and I shot him right here. I gave him his nose job. It was the phrase that made the case notorious. Just google Shayna Hubers, and up pops the nose job murder. I didn't say those words. < She did. 'I finally gave him his nose job.' What did you think about that? I think that one statement summed up her attitude. There was no sign of remorse. To prove how heartless the former honours student seemed, the prosecution brings up three women ` cellmates who spent time with Shayna in jail and say Shayna laughed about the murder and admitted Ryan Poston never hurt her. She was trying to make people believe that he was abusive to her. She would throw furniture around to make it seem like there was a fight. And what did she say had really happened? That she was the aggressor in their fight. But now it's Shayna's turn,... She acted in self-protection. ...asserting self-defence, the same story as when Shayna first called 911. Her words, repeatedly and over, 'He could have grabbed me. He could have hurt me.' Defence attorney David Mejia says the couple was arguing and that Shayna shot Ryan after they both grabbed at that gun that was laying on the table. 'If he would have gotten the gun, it would have been me and not him.' All right, you may call your first witness. I was, uh, frightened for Shayna. Shayna's mother, Sharon, testifies about a frantic call from Shayna in the wee hours of the morning before the shooting. She was in pain. There was fear in her voice. She says Shayna was distraught, calling from Ryan's condo, So Sharon Hubers drives to the condo to get her daughter. I tried to get to her to leave with me and come home. But Shayna won't go with her. She insists she wants to stay and work things out with Ryan. The next night, Shayna is back at Ryan's again when her mother gets and even more disturbing call. She was... hysterical, terrified. This time, Shayna tells her she's just shot Ryan. She was a mess. It's Sharon that tells her daughter to call 911, and so she does. Is a person who shoots somebody intentionally, without justification, going to call the police with this kind of speed? The defence suggests Shayna's story is believable. Remember those drugs found at the crime scene? The defence argues they could have sent him into a rage. Majia says there's plenty of reasonable doubt. Emptying a clip into somebody, against who has threatened violence against you, was going to grab a gun to shoot you, in your belief, is absolutely justified by under the law. Her lawyer knows he only has to convince one juror. Was she under extreme emotional distress, or was it just something that she did? After nine intense days of gruelling testimony, The bullet entered... Your client didn't know. I can't answer that... The fate of now 24-year-old Shayna Hubers, accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend Ryan Poston is now in the hands of seven men and five women. All rise. Mr foreman, has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honour. After just five hours of deliberations, a midnight verdict is in. We, the jury, find the defendant, Shayna Hubers, guilty of murder under instruction number three. Shayna Hubers guilty of murder; the courtroom overcome with emotion. SOBBING Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to excuse you for the evening. As for Shayna, the former honours student once seen dancing in that interrogation room, now sitting motionless in stunned silence. Laura Kirkwood was on that jury and says convicting Shayna was a no-brainer. At no point did I buy the battered, um, girlfriend defence. But guilt is only step one. What's left is sentencing. In Kentucky, the jury also recommends the punishment. She faces up to life in prison. So the next morning, they are back at it again. Shayna's attorney, David Majia, makes a final push for the jury to give her the statutory minimum of 20 years. Shayna Hubers called the police. Shayna Hubers co-operated with law enforcement. He cites her so-called honesty during that infamous police video, lack of criminal history ` not even a parking ticket ` and her young age. There must be a belief in the potential for maturity, potential for reformation. I think everybody agreed that Ryan Poston was alive for each of the six shots. I bet there was suffering. I bet there was pain. And I bet there was torture. As Snodgrass wraps her closing argument, she asks for life. I think the life sentence is appropriate. And Shayna Hubers, maybe for the first time, looks concerned. After deliberating for only an hour... All rise. ..the jury is back in the courtroom, ready to recommend their sentence. We, the jury, fix the defendant, Shayna Hubers', punishment for the offence of murder at 40 years confinement in the penitentiary. CHATTER BIRDS TWITTER So 40 years in jail for the now 24-year-old. But Shayna Hubers could be eligible for parole in just six years if a judge rules she was in fact a victim of domestic violence. That decision's due any day now. So, next week, on 20/20, mystery in the mansion. A family murdered; a manhunt across America. We'll go inside the police investigation as it unfolds.