>> david: tonight, a wife and mother dead. was the husband leading a secret double life? >> deborah: add a money pit of a mansion. all part of a mystery i discovered in orlando. an all-new "20/20" begins right now. >> hi, family. >> did you have any idea where this case was going to take you? >> none at all. >> lots of twists and turns. >> i said, this is like a

"20/20" episode. >> and i said, what is happening? and he said, "someone's deceased." >> i saw crime tape and police tape. i saw police cars. >> deborah: this is outside your house? >> i was just thinking, i hope my mom's okay. >> they said, "jeff, your daughter's been found. she's dead." >> deborah: did they tell you how she was found? did you have any idea how she had died? >> they said the bathtub, something about the bathtub. >> the detectives knew that shanty had been attacked and that it was a brutal, vicious attack. >> obviously there was something horrible going on inside that house. >> that's the root, okay? there is no insulation in this whole house. there's no house on the inside of this house.

>> it's bizarre, some of the things that were happening. you don't even want to know the details. >> shanty called her one day crying and said, "i'm so scared, i just need to get out." hello? >> hey, my wife -- i just found my wife. she's not breathing. i tried to do cpr. i can't get her to breathe. >> okay, listen to me. okay, who is it that's not breathing? >> my wife -- my wife, shanti. >> take a deep breath. listen to me. i'm going to get the paramedics so we can try and get her some help, okay? don't hang up. >> it's late afternoon, april 24th, 2018. david tronnes, the owner of this orlando home, has just called 911. he sounds distraught as he describes how he just found his wife shanti unconscious in the shower. >> okay, what happened? >> i found her in the shower. >> he was hysterical, almost

unintelligible. i mean, you couldn't understand what he's saying. >> okay, is she awake right now? >> no. >> is she breathing? >> no, i can't wake her up. >> is she breathing? >> no, i tried to do cpr. i can't get her to breathe. >> i responded to the scene that afternoon. when i first saw david tronnes, he was just beyond grief-stricken, screaming and crying and sobbing. and on the floor next to the bed, a female laying on her back, obviously deceased. she had obvious blunt force trauma, and it was very evident that this was not an accidental death. this wasn't a natural death. this was a murder. >> deborah: take me back to april 24th, 2018.

you both are on duty? >> i was called to my corporal's desk. at the same time, detective sharp was coming in. she had heard it on the radio when they were asking for the homicide unit to come to delaney park. >> deborah: now, when you hear that it's delaney park, what's your reaction? are you expecting something bad? >> never. >> delaney park is a beautiful historic neighborhood in downtown orlando. >> when people think of orlando, florida, they think of all of the theme parks. but we're about 30 minutes away from disney and all the hoopla that goes on there. >> good evening, i'm greg warmoth. >> and i'm martha sugalski. >> i'm the main anchor for the abc affiliate in orlando. i've been covering news in orlando for 20 years. murders don't happen in delaney park. this is a picturesque, perfect, quaint community.

brick streets, beautiful oak-lined sidewalks, beautiful expensive homes. >> every house looks different, has a different feel. it makes for a great mayberry-type atmosphere. and i think people make an effort to know their neighbors. >> when i first moved here, i noticed we had a wisteria avenue. and i thought, "wow, how apropos. this is so much like wisteria lane on 'desperate housewives.'" >> i hope i'm not interrupting. welcome to wisteria lane. >> with all the manicured lawns and the beautiful streets and everybody knows everybody. everybody knows what's going on. >> what were your first thoughts when you pulled up to this house? >> it was a beautiful home when we first got here. obviously it's not maintained now, but it was very well maintained. >> deborah: so you make your way back there and begin to check out what turns out to be a crime scene?

>> what turned out to be a crime scene. i noticed the gargoyles right away, because i just remember looking up and thinking, "this is crazy." the first thing i see when i come to this residence for a homicide are these gargoyles staring at us from the roof. it was ominous. >> deborah: david's wife's body has been found in the upstairs garage apartment, separate from the main house. >> they had moved out of the main portion of this house so that it could be renovated, and they were living in the garage suite. >> deborah: living in that home are 39-year-old shanti cooper-tronnes and her 49- year-old husband david. >> this was a second marriage for both david and shanti, and they were living in this house with shanti's son from a prior marriage, 8 years old at the time, jackson. >> merry christmas! oh, it's way too close. oh, but a beautiful face though. >> shanti was a successful working mother. >> she had a finance consulting business, and it was her own business.

she was a hard worker. she was diligent. she was smart. >> a very confident, strong presence. she walked in the room, you noticed her, and she knew it. >> hi, mommy. >> beautiful young lady, full of life, very strong, type "a" personality. >> hi, baby. hi, baby. want some dinner? >> she was also a wonderful mother. and that was her biggest thing. when she had jackson, she doted so much on him. that was her life. >> she was a great mom, and she was a very good person. >> deborah: what kinds of things did you like doing together? >> we went to a lot of theme parks. there's an aquarium downtown. that was really fun. we went to the movies a lot. just normal day-to-day basis talking with her, just having a good time. >> deborah: what made her happy?

>> a lot of little stuff would make her happy. i mean, me, i'm not trying to be -- sound like -- but i would make her happy. >> deborah: i would imagine that's true. >> so jackson spent some time with shanti and dave and the rest of the time with his biological father, jim cooper. >> it was shortly after 4:00 p.m. when i arrived on the scene. school was out for a good hour at that point. there's an 8-year-old who hasn't been picked up yet. so i radioed to headquarters and said, "we need to get ahold of the school." >> there is a student by the name of jackson cooper. he's in second grade, 8 years old. can you see if his father would be able to pick him up? normally, the mom here would pick him up. but it's not going to be possible. >> okay, the school is going to call him to come pick up his son. >> deborah: so you get a call? >> so i get a call around 4:00 from the school saying no one's picked him up. and i knew something was wrong.

>> deborah: would it be unlike her not to pick jackson up? >> it would be very unlike her. yeah, she would never. >> deborah: so your radar went up? >> yeah, yeah, immediately. i went and picked him up. and then i made the biggest mistake of my life and i drove to their house with jackson. >> we pulled up to the house. i saw crime tape and police tape. i saw police cars. i saw a bunch of officers standing outside. >> deborah: what are you thinking? this is outside your house. >> i was just thinking, "i hope my mom's okay." i talked to her the night before. everything seemed fine. she told me good night. i told her i love her. she told me she loved me. >> i told jackson to stay in the truck and don't get out. then they came and asked me who i was, and i told them i was her ex-husband. i said, "what is happening?" and he said, "someone's deceased." >> deborah: meanwhile, shanti's

current husband david tronnes has been taken to police headquarters, waiting to talk to investigators. >> just have a seat there. as soon as they get here, they'll be in to talk to you, okay? >> i have to start with him, because he found her. they live together. they're married. but that doesn't mean that he's responsible for her death. >> deborah: did you have any idea where this case was going to take you when you started off? >> none at all. >> deborah: lots of twists and turns. >> lots of twists and turns, and i think i said to detective sprague -- i said, "teresa, this is like a '20/20' episode." it was just crazy. i'm a parking gate. and i'm all out of whack. automated voice: please insert your parking ticket. it's going to take a lot more than a little ticket to get out of here. and if you have cut rate car insurance,

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♪ all right, i'll have you come in here for right now. just have a seat. i don't know how long they will be, okay? >> deborah: david tronnes is waiting at the orlando police department where detectives want to speak with him about the unexpected death of his wife shanti. >> so the detectives asked dave

if he would be willing to come to the police station and give a statement, as standard in any homicide investigation. >> as the husband who makes the 911 call, there's obviously things that are going to be investigated about that person. >> i'm detective teresa sprague, and this is detective barb mcclelland. >> deborah: he's down at the station, he's cooperative? >> yeah, he was very cooperative. >> he turned over his clothes. he provided all the physical evidence and submitted himself for photographs. >> deborah: you brought david tronnes here? >> this is interview room six. this is where we interviewed mr. tronnes. >> deborah: okay. so now he is a man who has just lost his wife. clearly upset about it. you let him know that you feel badly for what has happened, right? >> first of all, on behalf of the orlando police department, we want to say how sorry we are for your loss, david, and also for everything that you're going through.

i know this is very traumatic for you. >> deborah: what did david tell you about the morning and that day and how things played out? >> he said when he gets up just after 7:00, that shanti came downstairs to have a cigarette. he said that she had some work calls to attend to. >> she went back up, and then she came back down again about 9:15 or 9:20. and he says that's the last time he saw her. >> she usually comes down if she wants to eat or smoke or take a break. >> he said after that, he walked the dogs. he went to a park nearby for about two hours. then he came back, did some yard work. he cleaned the pool. >> deborah: how does he say that he finds shanti, then? because the day is ticking along. it's getting to the afternoon. >> so he gets home, and he didn't say anything to her until around 3:45. >> i was just going to check if she wanted me to go get jackson. >> they have to pick up jackson.

>> right, he said when he entered the loft apartment, the first thing that he noticed or observed was he said hello, and he didn't get a response. and then he heard the sound of trickling water, slowly trickling water. he proceeds to the bathroom, where he says he finds his wife facedown in a tub full of rose-colored water. >> the water's, like, half full. she's submerged partially. and it's just extremely awful, and it doesn't look natural. obviously she fell or something happened. >> deborah: you don't know anything much about this couple? >> we know nothing about them. >> so initially, i want to start at the beginning. "how did you two meet? how long have you known each other?" he said that she was divorced from her husband. he was recently divorced from his wife, and that they had met

on match.com. he was living in minnesota at the time. and they started kind of an email affair. >> i remember her telling the friend group that she had met this guy on match, and he was really nice. >> deborah: in emails, are, shanti describes a pretty nasty divorce. >> my relationship with my ex-husband became toxic." >> deborah: she seems excited about her new connection with david. >> i am looking for it all. i want to be in love so deeply, so pure, and something that is lasting and a growing, living thing. >> she would just brag about how awesome he is and how great it is. >> i have had a pep in my step since we started this little email affair. >> david described his relationship with shanti as a second shot at love, that they had a very deep, soulful-like connection. >> they started to visit one another. she would go to minnesota. he would come here.

>> we just started, every other weekend, flying back and forth. >> flying back and forth? okay. >> david had worked as an engineer at 3m in minneapolis, was apparently successful, as he was able to retire early from that job with a sizable amount of income. >> he was able to essentially retire in his 50s. >> in a matter of months, dave and shanti went from meeting on match.com to david moving from minnesota, uprooting his life, coming to florida. it happened very fast. >> deborah: did he talk about the romance? were they deeply in love? did he share anything about that? >> he did. he said -- >> he did. >> -- that they were deeply in love. >> she gushed about him. she was just like, "he treats me so great. he dotes on me." and he would be very affectionate. >> shanti and dave were overly affectionate to the point where it was almost, like, gross. it was a little nauseating at times.

>> dave and shanti ultimately were married in 2017 at a courthouse wedding in orlando. >> shanti says, "hey, i got some news to tell you." and then she flashed this rock. i mean, this was a rock. and she says, "hey, dave and i just got married." >> she made a facebook post showing off the ring. >> this was a custom ring, and she just glowed about it and always wore it and just loved to show it. >> they had been together five years and married just over one when shanti is found dead. what did he tell you about what the state of their relationship and their situation was at the moment? >> he did say that things had been a little bit stressed lately due to her having an illness earlier in the year. >> she had had appendicitis, a pretty severe case, she had surgery on a few months previous. and she had been sort of weak and ill from that. >> and she's been in a lot of

pain and, um, she didn't want to tell jackson or any of her clients. >> he said that her recovery had been slow, and she was just now starting to find foods that she could keep down. >> deborah: detectives sprague and sharpe continue talking to david tronnes. meanwhile, as the investigation ramps up, shanti's friends and family are stunned by news of her death. >> it just was so unreal. i remember all of us just breaking down with the news. >> they said, "jeff, your daughter's been found. she's dead." i passed out. the chair i was sitting in -- i passed out, hit the floor. >> you just had so many questions going in your head going, what in the world? what happened?

>> deborah: it's the question police are trying to answer. who could have possibly killed shanti? >> we're running an investigation on mr. tronnes. we're running an investigation on any other possible suspect. >> she had been married before. she and her ex-husband had had a pretty contentious divorce. >> they did. >> deborah: was that factoring into your mind that she could have had some disagreement with somebody outside of the household? >> yeah, absolutely. >> especially after we interviewed him. >> yes, absolutely. >> is he a suspect? yes. you betcha. he's a suspect.

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for all that is you. kaiser permanente. the economy is simply not working for millions of hard working families. they're working harder than ever and they still can't make enough to get by to afford food and medicine to even keep a roof over their heads. we need to build more housing that's truly affordable. we need to address this terrible epidemic of homelessness. we need to invest in good paying jobs, union jobs and investments in our future. this, this is why i'm running for the us senate. i'm adam schiff and i approve this message. ♪ >> deborah: at the orlando police department, shanti cooper-tronnes' current husband david is being questioned. >> i've never been more in love with her. we were so happy. >> and detectives are also talking to her ex, jim cooper. >> jim cooper was previously married to shanti, and their divorce was a contentious one.

so police had to look into jim. >> he came to the station, and in speaking with him about his marriage to shanti, it was good in the beginning, and it wasn't good at the end. so is he a suspect? yes. you betcha. he's a suspect. >> tell me about meeting shanti. >> i went out with some friends of mine, and this beautiful woman just walked up and started talking to me. and we were together for the next 16 hours, and that's how it started. >> deborah: so you just hit it off? >> just like that. >> i, shanti vitani, take you, james cooper, to be my lawful wedded husband. >> i now pronounce you husband and wife.

>> deborah: were you blissfully happy? >> yeah, absolutely. yeah. i just thought she was the cat's meow. >> hi, mommy. merry christmas, jim. merry christmas. >> and then in early 2009, we got the news, and we were so happy. >> deborah: she was pregnant? >> yep. >> deborah: and jackson was born? >> yes. >> say hello, jackson. 11 months old, almost going to walk. >> deborah: and then things took a turn. how did the marriage begin to have problems? >> i guess, uh, she got a little detached from us. >> the circumstances of the divorce were that she had been unfaithful to him because she was unhappy with him.

>> deborah: so there was infidelity? >> yes. i didn't want it to end, but she did. so we started the divorce. >> deborah: was it a tough divorce? was it contentious? >> yes, it was. i was very difficult, and i made it difficult on her. >> it didn't end well. there was an affair. i remember walking out of the interview and looking at detective sharpe and said, "he's not cleared. he's not cleared until he's cleared." >> yeah. >> "we have to clear him right away." >> deborah: connects are asking all kinds of questions. it must've made you feel like a suspect. >> it did. i was worried that they might waste precious time on me instead of where it should be focused on. so, yeah, that was a big concern to me. i knew i wasn't involved. i had nothing to do with this. >> did they tell you how she was

found? did you have any idea how she had died? >> they said the bathtub, something about the bathtub. but other than that, i was just trying to figure out, how do i tell our son. >> deborah: how do you tell an 8-year-old boy that his mom's gone? >> unfortunately m -- >> deborah: that's got to be a hard thing to do. >> yeah, the worst. >> i could tell it was really hard for my dad to say this. but he told me that my mom was gone. at first, i didn't really understand what he meant. but as it sunk in, it didn't really feel real. i didn't want to believe it. i didn't believe it. i thought that he was wrong and he made a mistake. i was making so many excuses in

my head just to say she's fine and she's alive. >> deborah: but the days go on and the weeks go on, and you realize that -- >> she's not coming back, and what he said was true and that she did pass away. >> they were able to get an alibi pretty quickly for jim cooper. >> he had just started a new job, and he was off at a job site some distance away. and so he had alibi witnesses that cleared him. >> he had given of his day. >> his alibi completely vetted his story. >> deborah: so shanti's first husband, jim cooper, is cleared. back at the crime scene, police notice something odd. shanti's engagement ring, the one she never took off, is nowhere to be found. >> and that was something that really stood out because shanti was really proud of the engagement ring. >> detectives looked into that. they're looking at, "what are

the other options here? what could have happened? was this a break-in?" >> we need to know, is there anyone in this neighborhood, anyone that might've been at the home for construction purposes or for delivery purposes, or a transient that's walking through? >> that neighborhood, being close to downtown, close to a hospital, from time to time, they do have transients who pass through there. >> but when they searched the apartment that day, it became clear that there was a lot of property that would easily be taken of high value that just simply wasn't taken. her earrings, her diamond earrings were present, one in her ear, one on her nightstand. >> why wasn't the diamond earring stolen if it was a robbery? why wasn't the cash that was in plain view stolen? why wasn't her imac computer, her son's game box, the television -- >> her watch. >> her phone. >> her wallet, her credit cards. >> deborah: none of those things taken? >> everything's in plain view. >> there doesn't appear to be a

break-in. there doesn't appear to be a robbery. >> deborah: so if this isn't a robbery gone wrong, what could have happened? investigators are exploring every possibility, including the massive renovation at the tronnes home. could that be connected to shanti's murder? >> you don't really know what's going on inside two people's lives. >> nobody ever does what they did. >> it was shocking. you were like, "what happened in here?" there it is... that feeling you get when you can... du more with less asthma. it starts with dupixent. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids.

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>> deborah: the tronnes home is now a crime scene. and what is striking to police is that the main house, under renovation, is uninhabitable. >> david bought the house for a little over $600,000 in cash in 2015. >> it was a lovely historic home. it was about a hundred years old.

one of the most appealing and beautiful homes on our street. >> as a realtor, i was selling the house. it had wood floors. it had a tile roof. it had a gorgeous pool. it was totally a dream home. when shanti came and saw the house, she loved it. >> they started renovating the house pretty soon after they moved in. at first it seemed to be typical, move something here, move something there. >> two to three years since you've been doing the renovation? >> right. >> okay. >> right. >> she left david in charge of that renovation. and it got worse and worse and worse. >> david hired and fired construction crews regularly. >> it seemed like, "okay, dave's got this contractor. good. now we're moving forward." a week or two later, "oh, well, we let this guy go." >> she would tell me, "well, we tore this out and we did this, but now we got to get new blueprints because this is going on."

and you're just like, "oh, my gosh." >> it's just an open area. there's no floors. there's no walls. there's no -- nothing separating. it's just a big, open room. my mom wouldn't let me walk in there because there was nails everywhere. the floor was literally taken off. you needed to walk on planks to get around. >> it had been ravaged inside by david. everything was stripped. it was beyond gutted. >> to take out the whole interior is just -- i can't even explain. it's crazy. >> what does he share about what's happening with the renovation? >> he mentioned the tv show "zombie house flipping." >> wiping out these blights on our city, block by block, one zombie at a time. this is "zombie house flipping." >> the "zombie house flipping" show is a show where they profile the worst of the worst homes. they're trying to renovate nightmare scenarios. >> our builder, keith. >> this is scraping. this is going down to studs. >> keith does a tv show.

he asked us to be on the show. >> when i met with dave, i walked right through those doors there. and that's when sort of the enormity of the project hit me. i mean, it's this -- holy cow, there's no house on the inside of this house. this level of demo is unprecedented. nobody ever does what they did. it wasn't structurally safe. i was trying to figure out what was holding the house up, quite frankly. it was absolutely alarming. in home renovation, there's a few movies that are kind of touchstones in our industry, and the movie "the money pit" is certainly one of them. >> it's going to be fun fixing it up. you'll see. >> this house would be a prototypical "money pit." >> deborah: with the house unlivable, shanti, david, and

jackson stay in the adjacent apartment above the garage. where would you cook meals? >> in the garage. we had a stove and a microwave and stuff, and we used to cook stuff down there. >> deborah: did it feel strange? >> it felt strange at first, but we were there. we were doing that routine, living upstairs, cooking downstairs for so long, i started to get used to it. >> okay, are you guys ready? there we go. >> about a week before the murder, david took a cell phone video just to sort of document the state of the house at that time. david just essentially walks around the property. he showed briefly sort of the main interior of the home where the work was done. >> here is the house with the center supports and the first set of trusses up. >> he walked up and sort of showed the layout of the bedroom. >> it's about 800 square feet at the top of the stairs. and there's a full bath as well back in the corner.

>> you could just sort of see the layout of the house. you were able to see the state of the construction. this project was very important to him, and that came across in the video. >> so where would you sleep? >> i sleep downstairs. >> shanti was living upstairs with jackson while david was living downstairs in the garage. >> he said that he slept in the garage often, even with jackson not there. he would sleep in the garage with the dogs on a couch. >> deborah: did that strike you as peculiar? >> yes. yes. he said, you know, that she enforce, and so he doesn't like to sleep up there. >> i mean, it's not a way that people normally live for an extended period of time. anytime you see something like that, that's going to add pressure and stress to a relationship. >> from a woman's standpoint, detective sharpe and i could not imagine what shanti must've been thinking, the frustration that she was having. we kept asking him from our perspective, "that must've been very stressful on your marriage."

>> deborah: your woman's intuition was kicking in. >> now we've got the added stress of the renovation. >> we love what we were doing to the house, the vision we had for the house. >> deborah: could it be that stress from a home renovation was motive for murder? so far there's no physical evidence connecting david to shanti's injuries. >> the detectives knew that shanti had been attacked and that it was a brutal, vicious attack. >> would you mind showing me your chest and back? >> sure. >> i don't need to see anything else, just your chest, back, and arms. >> sure. >> david was willing and showed the detectives his body. that didn't show scratch marks, claw marks, something that would be consistent with a person attacking or defending themselves. >> deborah: still, detectives are not buying david's story. their time playing good cop is winding down. >> you're not a good liar. you're terrible at it. terrible. and your story is b.s. i'm getting vaccinated with

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♪ >> deborah: for hours, david tronnes has been at the orlando police station. and back at his home, now a crime scene, investigators are gathering evidence. and what they're finding doesn't seem to match up with david's story of what could have happened to his wife. >> he claimed that he had found her in the tub and he pulled her out of the tub.

>> she slipped or she fell, or something caused her to collapse. >> so we expected not only for her to be soaking wet -- the floor should be soaking wet. the carpet should be wet. so if he had just taken her out, why isn't it wet? >> deborah: there was no sign of a bath or a shower? >> no. >> deborah: investigators at the scene notice some severe injuries on shanti, injuries that don't seem to be consistent with a slip and fall in the shower. >> she's got swollen eyes, and she's got a puncture wound to her face. she's got a gash on her ear. she's got a lot of injuries. >> the detectives have seen somebody who has been battered, beaten, has hemorrhaging, who isn't sopping wet. there's no water trail. david's telling them a story that is absolutely inconsistent. >> shanti did not fall and get those injuries, without question. okay? they're much more significant

than that, and i need you to be significantly more honest. >> i have told you everything. >> we call the medical examiner out to look at her eyes. i wanted him to open her eyelids if he could, to show us if she had a petechiae. >> when you look at those little petechiae hemorrhages, which is blood vessels bursting, and the marks on the one side of her neck, the detectives knew that shanti was also likely the victim of strangling. >> deborah: and that's not all. they say when the first responders got to the scene, shanti's body was already in rigor mortis, that natural stiffening that happens to a body hours after death. >> it can happen in 8 to 12 hours. it could happen 24 to 36 hours. that's a really wide time span. we needed to approximate the time of the attack. we know that the last contact that shanti had was with jackson at about 8:30 on the night of

april 23rd. >> deborah: do you remember what you last talked to her about? >> i think it was just saying good night, and i love her, and i'll see her tomorrow. but i'm just glad that i was the last person she talked to that night. >> we know that shanti's cell phone had not moved from 11:28 p.m. on the 23rd of april until the crime scene technicians collected her phone. >> deborah: david says he last saw his wife the morning of her murder around 7:00 a.m., and then again around 9:00 just before he went to go walk his dogs. >> so she had received a text related to work at 6:58 a.m. that morning that she never responded to. actually, the record shows was never read. so, that's unusual. everybody that we talked to said she was a workaholic and very responsive to work texts. >> so the immediate question

became, was shanti cooper alive on tuesday morning? because if she's alive that morning, then why is she in rigor? >> i think that whatever happened to her happened before you went to the park. okay? do you know how long it takes someone to get stiff? >> i don't. >> okay, i do. >> he tells us he doesn't know what we want to hear. he doesn't understand. he's been completely truthful, and he doesn't understand why we don't believe him. >> deborah: so he's not credible, in your mind, right now? >> not at all. >> deborah: david tronnes is sticking to his story, and there's a question about why he'd want to kill his wife in the first place. so detective sprague and sharpe decide it's time for a break. >> i'm going to direct you to the restroom and we'll bring you back. >> it was at that point in time that detectives started to take a different tactic.

>> hi. you doing okay? >> deborah: your tone shifts with him a little bit. >> yes. >> deborah: you've gone from being cordial now to hitting him with some hard questions. >> now it's an interrogation. >> how do you explain this woman's head being swollen, lacerations on her face, clumps of hair missing from the back of her head? >> missing? i don't have any explanations. this is what i found. >> you're not a good liar. you're terrible at it. terrible. the evidence and her body speak for itself, and your story is b.s. >> it was a psychological fight between the detectives and david. i mean, it was really -- it was psychological warfare. >> deborah: and you hit him hard.

you accuse him of fake crying. and you went after him as well. >> you've fake cried for about seven or eight hours today. not one tear came out of your eyes. not one. >> when he called 911, he was hysterical. i mean, you couldn't understand what he was saying in parts. >> okay. is she awake right now? >> no. >> is she breathing? >> no, i can't wake her up. i can't wake her up. >> okay, listen. listen. >> but then he would be asked specific questions like, "how do you get into the house?" and he was oddly able to sort of modulate and calm himself down quickly, say something clearly, and then go back to just sort of what we believe was a show of hysterical crying. >> oh, god. oh, god. there's a blue dumpster, big blue dumpster in the driveway. they have to turn in. and if they can get past it, they have to drive past it. >> the exasperation or the crying or the feigned crying, he shuts it off. and he is completely normal at that point. >> you screwed up.

you made a mistake, whatever it is. i'm starting to believe it wasn't a mistake. >> deborah: the two detectives are becoming deeply suspicious of david. but they could never have predicted what they're about to discover. >> this case just taught us to expect the unexpected. >> shanti wanted the perfect life. and she was private about what was happening to her. >> deborah: so he's leading a double life? >> absolutely leading a double life. >> do you really know what's going on with your neighbor next door? do you? maybe not. ♪ ♪ every road, that's wrong ♪ ♪ seems like the road i'm on ♪ ♪ every sign ♪ ♪ just seems unclear ♪ ♪ ♪ and i, ♪ ♪ i wish i was here ♪

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♪ listen to shanti treason necessary. she is telling you what happened. >> deborah: you discover journal entries, almost her talking to you from the grave? >> from the grave. and she said, "he knows i know too much." and, "he won't let me go." >> why did she say she needs to get out?

why did she say she's scared? something happened. >> you don't want to know the details. it's more twisted than you want it to be. >> public dave and private dave are absolute opposites. >> deborah: so he's leading a double life? >> absolutely. you just saw that behind the scenes, he wasn't the person he claimed to be. >> how did he behave? >> he'd get extremely mad. threaten me, scream at me. >> deborah: threaten to do what? >> hurt me, break my stuff. >> you know, you fake cried for about seven or hours. not one tear came out of your eyes, not one. >> deborah: you're beginning to wonder whether he had poisoned his current wife and ex-wife? >> well, you can't not wonder. >> you're not a good liar. you're terrible at it. and your story is b.s. the body of

shanti cooper-tronnes was found in her delaney park home in april. >> her husband, who we're told found her, remains inside this home -- >> hello? >> hey, my wife -- i just found my wife. she's not breathing. i tried to do cpr. >> he's saying that she slipped and fell in the bathtub. but she's clothed, and the bathtub is dry, and she looks dry. we're looking at her injuries, and she looks like she's been murdered. >> she has bruising on her face. her skull is cracked. >> it was a violent attack of several -- blow after blow after blow. >> the evidence and her body speak for itself, and your story is b.s. >> i don't have any -- i don't have any explanation for her, the severity of her injuries. >> it was a brutal beating and a brutal strangulation. if he's innocent, then he should be adamant that he did not do this.

>> deborah: outraged? >> outraged at the accusation that i would kill my wife. >> deborah: they've only been married a year. why would this man kill his wife? >> detective sharp asked him, "are you having an affair? do you think shanti was having an affair? is the marriage ending?" >> did you guys get into an argument? >> no. >> was she pissed about the house? >> no. >> every single thing that we suggested could be a motive, he denied. >> deborah: after being at the police station for 14 hours, they let tronnes go home. knowing that he's now the prime suspect, david hires an attorney and a private eye to begin his own investigation into who killed his wife. >> we had left a lot of business cards with the neighbors. and they called us and they said, "we've got a private investigator coming to the home asking us about a transient that looks like woody harrelson." and they had all said, "we don't know what they're talking about."

so our 20-year veteran officers who have worked this area for a long time -- i call officer wilson. >> and i said, "i know exactly who you're talking about." i said, "i've seen this guy in the neighborhood in that general area for years." >> late into the evening, at 2:00 in the morning, they found him. i went out and interviewed him. and i asked him if he knew shanti cooper. i showed him pictures. >> have you ever seen her before? >> no. >> she was actually killed in her house. were you aware of that? >> no, i wasn't aware. no. >> did you kill her? >> no. >> deborah: and you believed him? >> absolutely. we had nothing to suggest this was a break-in or a robbery. >> deborah: so detectives shift their focus back to david tronnes, who's painted a happy picture of him and his wife. but was that the reality? investigators take a closer look at that video david shot inside the house about a week before the murder. >> hi, family.

>> i didn't know my dad has a new job and he has to go earlier. >> come on. the a.c. is on. >> love you. >> the interaction between david and shanti in that video seemed a little bit icy. >> i guarantee you that we will talk to everybody that we need to talk to. we'll do whatever we can do, okay? >> we'll support it 100%. >> like we always do. >> absolutely. >> you know, maybe it's just a normal couple's being irritated with each other. but there was something off there. she seemed to be not pleased with him. >> my thought was that it was just a level of stress, living in that garage apartment, and just being totally frustrated with the entire situation of the renovation. >> deborah: in the weeks before the murder, as the home renovations continue, so does the costs. and detectives find out that was a concern for shanti. >> david had paid cash for this house. but shanti was the one earning all the money. david wasn't working. so she was paying for these renovations. >> i remember hanging out with her and her saying, "i'm paying for everything. if all of a sudden something

happens, he owns this house and i have nothing to it." >> shanti thought that her name was going to be put on the deed. it came up several times. it never happened. >> at the time of her death, shanti spent well over $200,000 towards the renovation and construction of the house. >> she wanted him to go work. i remember her saying, "i work, so i would like him to go do something. because now this house is more than what we anticipated." >> between swimming and yoga, taking care of the plants or whatever, i guess his full-time job would've been the renovating of the house. >> deborah: shanti's friends and family felt something was off in the way the couple handled their finances. >> the story that we were told by shanti -- when she first met dave, he was a millionaire. the question always came up. if dave has all this money, why doesn't dave help out buying anything?

i mean, you go to buy a tv, "oh, shanti, you got this." >> he was a cheap guy, and we couldn't figure out why. >> deborah: and shanti's friends had even deeper concerns about the relationship. >> one of her friends told us that shanti called her one day, crying, and said, "i'm so scared. i just need to get out." >> that was chilling to me to hear. she was crying and she said, "he knows i know too much, and he won't let me go." that's when it hit me really hard, like there's something more than i'm even privy to that's going on here. a few hours later she called and she's like, "oh, we're good. i'm just going to stay." it's as if he was hovering over her, making sure that she didn't say so much. >> why would she say, "i need to get out"? why did she say she was scared? something happened. she saw a side of him perhaps that scared her. >> deborah: did you see anything that worried you about the way they got along?

>> they would get into really, really bad arguments, like, screaming. i could be upstairs, and they could be in the backyard, and i could hear them screaming at each other. >> deborah: about what? >> just -- anything could start an argument. anything. >> deborah: jackson spoke to the officers with the department of children and family services. what kinds of things did he share? >> the truth. there was domestic violence going on in the house, physical, mental, verbal. i was not aware of any of that, and he never told me any of that. >> deborah: but he had witnessed this? >> he witnessed it, that's how i found out. >> when my mom wasn't around, he wouldn't act like a parental figure. >> deborah: how did he behave? >> he'd get extremely mad. he'd threaten me, scream at me. >> deborah: threatened to do what? >> hurt me. break my stuff. >> deborah: that's pretty cruel. did you ever tell your mom? >> he threatened me not to, or else he'd break my stuff or hurt me.

>> deborah: the department of children and family services never interviewed david tronnes about these allegations. >> what we started to see was public dave and private dave are just absolute opposites. >> deborah: the more detectives dig, the more they're finding. and they're about to unearth a secret that has them wondering if they may have stumbled upon a motive for murder. >> david had been dozens and dozens and dozens of times. >> that was a big whoa. >> you don't even want to know the details. >> deborah: so he's leading a double life? >> absolutely leading a double life. >> behind the scenes, he wasn't the person who he claimed to be.

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my name is ron gordy. i lived down the street from dave and shanti. my partner tom and i live here. this neighborhood feels like an extended family to me. i was out for a jog one morning, and i encountered dave.

he was without a shirt, very, very skimpy, skimpy running shorts. and he was in amazing shape. there was not a shred of body fat on him. and i felt the need to say, "dave, you look amazing. and oh, are those new glasses? well, they look great on you." and i'll never forget it, he lowered them, took one look at me and he said, "yes, well now that i have my new glasses, you are much more attractive to me now that i can see." and i thought that was an odd thing to say to me. made me feel uncomfortable and awkward. i thought he was flirting with me. >> deborah: according to authorities, david and shanti are keeping up appearances. but detectives are learning that their marriage was far from idyllic.

they'd just gotten a tip about a secret which might explain what happened to shanti cooper-tronnes. as you're looking into david's life, you discover a place called club orlando? >> yes. >> club orlando is a local gym for gay men. david tronnes had a membership at club orlando. >> deborah: why would he have a membership at a gay gym? >> at a gay gym? yeah. so, that was our question. so, we traveled over to club orlando. we started asking questions about mr. tronnes. and he had been a member for 18 months. but he had frequented the club as recently as the week before her murder. we had a witness that worked in the club who had seen his activities in the club with men. derchlt what was the extent of it? associations? just friendships with men? >> no, it was sexual activity in the club with men. >> this case just taught us to expect the unexpected. detective sprague talked to this employee.

>> do you have any knowledge whether or not david has hooked up or had sex in the club with any man? >> yes. i saw david -- he was giving oral sex to this guy. >> so my -- my understanding was that you walked in the locker room and caught them? is that not accurate? >> well, twice. i mean, yeah. in the locker room and then behind the building. yes. >> two different men? >> i imagine, yes. >> david had been dozens and dozens and dozens of times. >> this stack of receipts shows that he attended that spa. >> it was 78 receipts over about a two-year period. he was still going there during their marriage. >> in fact, he went there, records show, the day after they got married. you just saw that behind the scenes, he wasn't the person who he claimed to be. >> we found out that david was frequenting club orlando from a friend. neither shanti nor dave, nobody ever said anything.

>> we were pretty shocked, because he had been married 14 years before to another woman. he was married to shanti. >> deborah: by the time detectives learn about club orlando, david has lawyered up and he's no longer talking. >> we asked a lot of questions of her friends and family. and everyone pretty much said the same thing. she wouldn't tolerate it. and we guarantee you she doesn't know. >> if she knew that was happening, she would've blown a gasket. she would not have continued that relationship. >> but did she know? is that maybe a personal thing that she's not sharing with other people? that she doesn't want other people to know that she's aware of? >> shanti wanted the perfect life. i think maybe things that were happening that didn't coincide with that were reasons why she was private about what was happening to her. i think a lot of people who had met dave thought that maybe he was homosexual. that was just kind of the vibe he had. >> deborah: so he's leading a double life?

>> absolutely leading a double life. >> deborah: what does that tell you in this investigation? >> that maybe that she had just found out. maybe that that was -- possibility, that that was what prompted her death. >> we didn't know if she knew. and we didn't know if that was the catalyst for the argument. something had to have happened that caused them to argue, and for it to escalate to the point where he physically harms her in a brutal fashion. >> deborah: detectives are trying to build their case and they put david under surveillance. >> while dave was putting on this public persona of the grieving husband, he was doing things behind the scenes to only serve his interests. within several weeks, david's trying to claim life insurance money. he's transferring money out of their joint bank accounts. >> he was the sole beneficiary of her life insurance, which was over $350,000. he stood to gain close to a million dollars if he was not charged with her murder. >> david was definitely planning

his exit strategy to leave this entire situation with shanti's money and no worries behind. and when we learned of that, i made the ultimate decision that we needed to make the arrest. >> deborah: four months after shanti cooper-tronnes is found dead, a grand jury indicts her husband david for first-degree murder. he's arrested at his mom's house. does he put up a fight? >> no. >> deborah: what's his reaction? >> he was sitting out on his screen porch, and i think they just went up there, and -- >> he willingly came down. and they said to turn around and put your hands behind your back. he said nothing. we have a picture of that, when they're arresting him. to me, it was a moment of defeat. >> this is one day that i'll never forget -- "we got him, jeff."

and i said, "hallelujah. we got him." >> we are continuing to learn new details about the investigation into the murder of a delaney park woman. now her husband, david tronnes, is charged with her murder. >> deborah: david pleads not guilty. meanwhile, detectives have gotten a search warrant to comb through his mother's house. >> and i'll never forget this. i was driving home from the courthouse, and i get a call from detective sprague. >> deborah: and they find something surprising. the one thing they've been looking for.

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♪ >> deborah: after david tronnes' arrest, investigators are combing through his past. he's been married before and divorced. and detectives want to know what his first wife has to say about him. at some point, you speak to david's ex-wife, carol. >> she'd been married to him for 14 years. she was very much in disbelief that shanti had been murdered and that david tronnes was responsible for that. >> he was not a violent person. >> do you think -- think dave murdered his wife? >> no.

it's not characteristic with the person i know. >> once we started interviewing people that knew both of them, carole and david, they said that carole had suddenly became ill within a year of being married to david tronnes. >> she was so sick. it was so dramatic of a change for such a lively, fun, close friend of ours. >> physical stomach pain and other ailments that had been unexplained, and that she'd been to several specialists. >> so, at that point in time, i started thinking, was he poisoning carole? 'cause we always kind of suspected it. >> deborah: wait a minute. she has a stomach ailment, and shanti had had a stomach ailment. >> and the exact same symptoms. >> deborah: but you're beginning to wonder whether he had

poisoned his current wife and ex-wife? >> well -- can't not wonder. i mean, and she was sick for an -- a very long time, very sick. >> deborah: detective sprague asks carole tronnes about her mysterious ailment. but once again, she shoots down those suspicions. >> has it ever come into your frame of thought that david tronnes' cooking or making you drinks was making you sick? >> no. >> have you ever thought that any of your issues related to your health problems was him poisoning you? >> no. >> deborah: detectives are never able to find any evidence that tronnes harmed his ex-wife, but they're about to hear from someone who says he's recently gotten to know tronnes in, of all places, jail. >> david had a cellmate, and that cellmate came forward, a jailhouse informant, to say that david said he killed his wife. >> now, how is it that you

started to talk to david tronnes? >> he was in the bunk next to mine, but he recognized me. >> where did he recognize you from? >> he said that he'd recognized me from club orlando, which, when he said that, i kind of freaked, because i was going in there for quite some time. >> at some point, as often happens when you're in a cell with someone, you find out what they're in jail for, and what mr. tronnes ended up telling him, allegedly, was that he and shanti had fought, they had argued, and that he blacked out, and when he awoke, shanti was on the floor, and she was deceased. >> he told me that he wears his wedding ring still because he still loves his wife and felt bad. it was an accident, is what he told me. he felt sorry for what he did, that he blacked out. >> he also offered to us that david had told him that he had learned of a certain type of tree frog that had a certain type of sap that would allow you to poison someone and kill them. >> he said the beauty of it is that it can't be tested for.

>> i had kind of always thought, did he try and kill his first wife, and did he try and kill his second wife in a way that wasn't violent? i remember contacting the hospital and asking them if they still had shanti's appendix, and if they did, is it possible we could test it for any sort of substance that might be poisonous? and they said they had the appendix, but it was in a solution that would not allow for any testing. >> deborah: we reached out to david tronnes' defense attorney about the allegations of poisoning and the details from that jailhouse informant and were told that both theories were summarily dismissed by the state's attorney's office. detectives couldn't verify the information given to them by the jailhouse informant, but they were about to find something else, something they'd been looking for since the day shanti was murdered. >> we had always had reason to believe that dave was hiding evidence at his mom's house, because that's where he was living, and there were several

things that were missing from the house still. and i'll never forget this. i was driving home late at night, and i get a call from detective sprague. i pick up the call, she goes, "we found it." >> deborah: you found her engagement ring? >> yes, which he had said she was wearing. he had clearly taken it off of her cold dead body. >> he has that missing wedding ring in his possession. there was no break-in, no one came in and stole that and didn't take anything else in the apartment. >> why tell the police that you have no idea what happened to it, but it'll ultimately be discovered on you? it was such a crucial piece of evidence. >> deborah: tronnes' team would later say that the ring was never actually missing, that investigators overlooked it when they searched the house. now detectives are about to get another crucial piece of evidence from a very unlikely source. >> i'd been a prosecutor

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♪ >> deborah: nearly a year after shanti cooper-tronnes was murdered, authorities are still building their case against her husband david, preparing to take him to trial. he's in jail. he's awaiting trial. and then you get a call from his lawyer? >> i was in the state attorney's office meeting with the state attorney on this case, and his lawyer happened to call. >> the defense attorney calls my cell phone. he says, "i've been up all night. i can't sleep. i have evidence that we need to turn over." and my jaw dropped. >> and he said perhaps detectives failed to collect some things from the scene that were there, and they just missed it. >> deborah: when they arrive on the scene that first day, there was something that stood out to detectives, something that just didn't seem right. >> detective sprague had always

thought that there was something missing from the scene and the bed looked strange. it looked sort of hastily made. >> it was a brutal beating and a brutal strangulation. we were looking for these bloody sheets that we thought should have existed and never were found. and i said, "ask him if he's got the bloody sheets. i think he's got the bloody sheets." his attorney carefully said, "we had a private investigator collect some sheets, and we're preserving them as evidence." >> i'd handled thousands of cases, handled homicide cases for years, never had this happen. >> deborah: tronnes' defense attorney goes on to say that there was blood on the sheets but there was an innocent explanation for it, one that david had even alluded to when he was first questioned by police. >> dave's explanation was that over the prior weekend, that him and shanti had sex, but she was menstruating. >> it did get on the bedspread, and it did get on the side of the bed.

>> these sheets were balled up and put into some shelves with other sheets and bedding and towels. in the weeks after the murder, the orlando police department conducted three searches. when you look at each photo from the individual searches, the closet in search one, the sheets are there. the closet in search two, the sheets are there. in search three, there's now a missing hole on one of the shelves identified by the private investigator as where he took the sheets from. candidly, law enforcement missed the sheets. >> the defense attorneys held that evidence for 11 months. 11 months. >> if you remove bloody sheets from the house, mr. tronnes had to tell you there were bloody sheets in the house. and if you remove them, he had to tell you where they were, which is proof of your client's guilt. >> deborah: but the defense team has an explanation. when authorities interview one of the private investigators on

tronnes' team, he lays it all out. >> he asked you to collect some sheets? >> he says, "we want to take the sheets to have the sheets tested, because menstrual blood produces different proteins than regular blood does." that was the rope he wanted the sheets collected. >> he said they had the sheets in the bottom of a bank building in a locker in lakeland, florida, and never conducted any tests on those sheets. >> deborah: eventually, investigators do test the sheets and discovered both shanti and david's blood on them. but they say they were never able to determine exactly where the blood came from. authorities are outraged, even looking into charging the private investigators with tampering with evidence. but after an investigation by the florida department of law enforcement, the state attorney's office recommends that no charges be filed.

>> hello, this is a prepaid call from -- >> david. >> an inmate at the orange county corrections. >> after dave was arrested, it's customary with homicide defendants -- we monitor their jail calls. and initially, dave only had two family members that would contact him, an uncle and his mother. she was in her 80s, clearly had some level of dementia. >> i don't remember anymore. >> i didn't think that you would be in jail and i would have to be doing your paperwork. >> well, i didn't think i would either. >> to me, you shouldn't have been there. >> i didn't do anything. it's not my fault. >> dave was so cold and callous. >> okay. what do you want to know now? i got a bunch of paperwork. >> i just want to talk. every time i call, i explain to you that's how much money is left on your account.

it's $2 to have a call with me. is that too much? >> no, it isn't. >> is $2 too much? >> if it's just $2, but if it's more -- >> but i just told you it's $2. >> you can tell who a person is by how they treat their parents. >> deborah: and authorities find powerful evidence, from shanti herself, implying she felt tronnes had been treating her badly. you discovered journal entries also from her, almost her talking to you from the grave? >> from the grave. >> why do you treat the dogs better than me? is it because they don't question you? >> deborah: and in that home renovation video david shot, you hear him speaking to his dog. >> that's a girl. that's my girl. that a girl, sweetheart. >> do you love me anymore? people who love each other do not act this way. maybe it is time for a change. >> deborah: she felt the relationship was broken, that it was beyond repair?

>> irreparable, right. and that gave us an insight into her mindset. did she say the night before, "i'm done. i'm not bankrolling this renovation. our marriage is over"? did she tell him she was going to leave him? >> deborah: that is the theory prosecutors are about to put before a jury. >> jurors want to know why. why could somebody do something this bad? >> when you've heard all the evidence in this case, you will conclude that the only reasonable explanation for shanti's death is sitting right there. arden, sauce is the soul. that's why we make it from scratch every single day. because doing a little more is what takes chicken & shrimp carbonara to the next level. what turns a table for two... into a tour of italy. and what makes sharing a first course that never ends... a night you want to go on and on.

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right now in orange county, trial is under way in the case of david tronnes. he's accused of murdering his wife shanti cooper-tronnes more than five years ago. >> what's interesting is that, when you see the pictures of david prior to his arrest, clean cut, in shape. as the months go by in this

court case, his hair becomes shaggy and unkempt. >> state, do you recognize the presence of the jury? >> yes, your honor. >> you may proceed. >> the only reasonable explanation for shanti's death is sitting right there. david tronnes killed shanti cooper. he intended to do it. he did it, and he's guilty of first-degree murder. >> deborah: there's now a new prosecution team. ryan vescio has moved on from the state attorney's office and now represents both jackson and his mother's estate. >> the crux of the state's case is the forensics. >> if she was there as he describes, left side submerged, how does her right arm get into rigor straight up in the air? >> deborah: in the courtroom every day, 13-year-old jackson cooper, determined to get justice for his mom. >> and who is it that's not breathing? >> my wife, my wife, shanti. >> the strength that jackson had to sit there and say, "i'm going

to be here for my mom," it was the most awe-inspiring thing i've ever seen in the practice of law. >> deborah: how hard was that for you? >> i was just thinking, that wasn't my mom. the stuff that they described, the pictures -- the pictures that i saw, that wasn't her. >> deborah: so you were able to distance yourself? >> yeah. >> we knew that something drove the attacker, that we know as dave, to such levels of violence. so, jurors want to know why could somebody do something this bad? the state focused on the home renovations and what sort of stress that that caused. >> deborah: to make their point, prosecutors call keith ori to the stand. >> the house was in a state where it could potentially collapse at any given moment. the structural engineers i employed at the time had some serious concerns. >> deborah: the tv host

testifies about a meeting with the tronnes seven days before shanti's murder. >> it was difficult to get them both together. she was tense, even intense. appeared to be, you know, mildly upset, annoyed, frustrated at something. >> can you just describe the relationship that you observed? >> yeah. it was -- it was very rocky. and i felt like a lot of the times i was kind of a mediator when i would go hang out with them. >> it felt really good to be a voice for her. >> the person we've been talking about is dave tronnes. is he in the courtroom? >> yes, he is. >> and if you could just point him out. >> he looked like a wet kitten that was shivering in the cold. >> did dave ever reach out to you and tell you about her death? >> no, never. and i was her best friend and his friend. >> what grieving husband doesn't call the best friend?

>> deborah: one thing prosecutors don't tell jurors about is that alleged secret double life that david tronnes appeared to be leading. >> to me it was like, why aren't we including this? >> we have no evidence whatsoever whether shanti knew about it, found out about it. so, it just wasn't relevant. >> deborah: tronnes now has a new defense team. his previous lawyers quit after failing to turn over those bloody bedsheets. >> you don't get to fit a square peg in a round hole because it's convenient, and that's what happened here with the rush to judgment. >> deborah: his new lawyers are arguing that detectives, excluded other possible explanations for what could have happened to shanti. >> they sold hard an unhappy marriage and frustration and tension due to this construction project. they bickered like a married couple was the testimony, but quickly made up. there was no tension about the house. >> at the end of the day, we don't know exactly why david tronnes did this.

>> deborah: what did you think the motive was? >> money. >> deborah: insurance money? >> insurance money, money she had invested, money she had gotten from her father to invest. >> between the life insurance and the bank accounts, dave stood to gain over a million dollars of financial control if shanti were to die. >> that's the motive for this murder? to get rid of her so he can have the house alone? this was their dream home. this was their forever home. they wanted this. this wasn't all about fleecing a woman to slay her, to take her cash. >> deborah: though we may not know the exact motive, at trial, detective sprague testifies how, based on the evidence, she believes the murder happened. >> you noticed a single earring on the nightstand? >> yes. >> and what was the significance of that? >> looks like she removed it before bed and didn't get a chance to remove the other one.

>> the evidence shows that the first event that occurs, that she is on the edge of that bed. the moment that she turned her head to remove her left earring, that's when we think the blow to the left side of her head occurred. >> deborah: and it turns out there was blood found on the side of the bed. blood that never made sense if shanti had actually fallen in the tub. authorities believe it was further evidence that she was actually attacked on the bed. >> she never saw what was coming. had no defensive wounds. >> he chose to finish her off by strangling her. >> watching her suffer for however long. >> many, many, many minutes, probably. >> yes. >> deborah: the defense chooses not to call a single witness, saying prosecutors hadn't even proven that shanti was in fact murdered. >> the government has the burden. proving beyond the exclusion of

every reasonable doubt that david tronnes committed this murder. if you believe it's a murder, if you believe that they proved that it's a murder. because when you go to the point of the things that they missed, it still leaves the possibility that this was a fall. >> the attack by the side of the bed is no hunch. she's the source of blood. he killed shanti tronnes. listen to shanti tronnes. she is telling you what happened. thank you. >> deborah: so, the jury gets the case? >> almost five years ago, my mom was murdered, and now finally we're here. it just felt surreal. >> it's my understanding that you've reached a verdict? will you hand the verdict form to the court deputy, please. >> i was terrified that he would get away with it. >> you're just going, please, tell me that you guys are going to see what we see.

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i want to remind everyone in the gallery that it's incredibly important for decorum after a verdict. >> deborah: you hear there's a verdict? >> yeah, i started shaking. almost five years ago, my mom was murdered, and now finally we're here. it just felt surreal. >> jackson, are you going to talk? look what mama's doing. >> sitting there waiting for it -- >> and we can bring the jury out. >> -- was gut-wrenching, really. and it just felt like forever. >> will you hand the verdict form to the court deputy, please? >> they handed the slip, and the judge looked at it. we're sitting here on pins and needles. >> verdict, david treason necessary. >> and she says, "we the jury --" >> we, the jury, find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder at orange county, florida on the 18th day of october 2023, signed by the foreperson. >> i mean, i was erupting inside, as was everybody there.

>> david tronnes was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of shanti cooper-tronnes. >> it was really, really hard to sit there and contain your composure. i mean, it was -- it was hard. >> oh, relief. thank god. it's hard. we were so happy, though. at least we have justice for her, and we know that he's where he belongs. >> deborah: what was that moment like? >> it was an absolute relief to hear it. because i knew anything other than guilty would hinder us moving forward with our lives. >> are you each making a statement? will you both raise your right hand to be sworn, please? >> your honor, my mom was the best person i ever knew. >> deborah: you decided you wanted to speak out in court? >> yes. i knew i was going to get emotional, and i knew that it was going to be hard for me, so i tried to keep it short. >> she was taken from me and my family. it's like a hole in my heart

that i can't fill or fix. she did not deserve anything that happened to her that night. >> don't cry, sweet pie, don't cry. >> i miss her so much. i was just speaking from my heart. and i just wanted people to know how good of a person my mom was. >> big one, big one! >> and how she deserved the world, and she was the best person that i knew. >> deborah: what's your reaction? >> tears. he did a fantastic job. his mother would've been very proud of him. >> she was a good lady. she's in her own home, and she's with a man who is supposed to protect her, who's supposed to care for her, who's supposed to love her. she certainly didn't deserve the brutality that she suffered. >> this coin was given to me by detective sprague a few weeks

after it happened, and she promised me that she would get justice for me and my family and i. and that day, she gave me this coin. >> justice has a role in helping families navigate grief. but navigating grief is love with no place to go. it's that hole in his heart that not even what we did for them will ever be able to fix. >> hey hi, mommy. >> our first ride at disney. >> give mommy thumbs-up. cool, dude. >> cool, dude! >> deborah: you say you want to play sports? >> she was a fantastic mother. he's the way he is because of her. >> deborah: strong young man. >> yeah. he got it from her. >> she's a very great person, and i love her. >> deborah: i like the way you speak about her in the present tense.

>> of course. >> deborah: some ways you feel she's still here with you? >> of course. she's right here. always will be. >> deborah: what a remarkable young man, david. jackson is just really pretty extraordinary. i mean, to endure this loss and to sit through the trial, he's really strong and wise beyond his years. >> david: you could really see that while you were talking with him. just an extraordinary young man. we should point out tonight that david tronnes has been sentenced to life in prison. he's appealing his conviction. that's our program for tonight. i'm david muir. >> deborah: and i'm deborah roberts. from all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

it's going to be a colorful weekend in the bay area with a celebration of some of the cultures that make this region one of the most diverse places around. there's the chinese new year parade, billed as the biggest outside asia, and the black joy parade that will have people dancing in the streets. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. the black joy parade is on sunday, but first up is the chinese new year parade in san francisco. up to a million people are expected to attend tomorrow night. >> abc seven news reporter tim johns has a look at the last minute preparations, as well as a special event tonight in chinatown down at san francisco's pier 54. >> last minute preparations are underway for the past several weeks, stephanie a