because of it. >> those who love jessie say her zest for life changed them for the better and still lives on through her music and her spirit. >> we started thinking differently because of her, we started acting differently because of her. >> have the tables turned? you were always the one proud of her, and now do you feel that she is the one proud of you? >> i feel like she is the one lifting me up and encouraging me through life, where it used to be the other way around. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that is all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie melvin, thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin and this is

dateline. >> this is the entrance to the park where richard was killed. the gunman laid in wait in the secluded dark place at night. >> one way or another, that's an execution. >> absolutely. >> they were a busy married couple, meeting up for a romantic valentine's night rendezvous. but that night, someone had other plans. >> he's been what? >> he's been shot! >> before she even arrived, her husband was dead. >> i could see him laying on the ground. >> i couldn't think of a soul who would want to harm this man. >> then, someone let a secret slip. soon, people were questioning a suspect with a motive who had suddenly changed his look. >> and in fact, when he showed up that morning, he was beardless. >> there was only one problem, he had a rock solid alibi. >> where did that leave you? >> worried about my case. >> that is when the phone rang, a tip, a tire track, and a case

one detective would never forget. >> there was a shot in the dark, but i took it. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. it was valentine's day, and a married couple near atlanta planned to celebrate with a secret rendezvous at a secluded spot, a way to relive their dating days. but when that spot became a crime scene, police would soon discover their rendezvous wasn't the only secret in this couple's lives. here is keith morrison with a perfect spot. >> a winter's night in a southern forest. the ink black darkness parted briefly to their headlights, then closed around them like a

shroud as they made their way in separate cars in the foggy overcast. but then, there it was, the ragged clearing, the muddy patch of sand and dirt away from the whole world, what a place for their valentines tryst. as if they could see without the artificial light so much as a -- or the faith marking that day in the dark. waiting, lurking. but, what a way to begin a love story. better, probably, the hot air balloons the man so loved. and the motorcyclists on which together, in daylight, they discovered their own special place in the remote forest clearing in the place called belton bridge park. though park is much too grand word for them to pull out beside the chatahoochee river in north atlanta, georgia. >> i knew them both very well. >> they were richard and stacey schoeck. and it was another.

their love of scouting. >> how did you meet him? >> both our sons were cub scouts. >> with kids, boys especially, they were naturals. >> stacey was a ball of energy, full of ideas, would literally dragged us to do things. >> the go getter? >> the go getter. and we also jokingly called her mama spreadsheet. because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet. >> what a planner, huh? >> she was. >> scouting is how bill fanning got to them, too. >> richard was a good motivator. and i saw how much fun he was having. and, so i kind of asked if i could tag along and got involved with scouts myself. >> stacey was a leader for the cub scouts. >> was she good with kids too? >> she was pretty good with the kids too, yeah, she was. she and richard, they worked well together. >> as they did with her three sons. greg was surprised, she, said, when they told her that

biologically the kids were stacey's. >> i just naively thought that they were his children. >> because it looked like that? >> it looked like that. >> in the way that he treated them and they treated him. >> yeah. >> so when richard officially adopted the younger of the 3 boys, cousin connie was thrilled. >> my heart melted. i was just, like that is the best thing. >> he wanted to adopt those kids because he loved those children. and those children loved them. >> richard himself marched to the beat of his own drum. >> my brother was always a big kid. >> as said his sister, was certainly not a suit and tie person, could not sit down behind a desk. >> he had to be out and about. he was a very good athlete. >> kind of like a pied piper to his niece. >> he would roller skate with us or throw a ball with us or color with us. he was our cool uncle. >> no wonder. how many uncles take their

five-year-old niece and seven-year-old nephew for a ride in a hot air balloon? >> i could barely see over the edge. so it was just cool seeing skies, clouds all around you. >> pam martin was one of his balloon buddies. >> people were fighting over him and saying, can i have richard today? he was just the crew best person. we just liked being around him because he was very eccentric and very funny. >> and stacey? >> i liked her, she was friendly, she was nice. >> a happily blended family. as far anybody could see. stacy was primary breadwinner. she administered a sizeable medical practice. richard was a maintenance manager but remained the main caregiver for the kids. and, together, the two of them were -- people noticed. >> they always gave each other kisses, hugs. so, they seemed wonderful together. >> all of which may explain why on valentine's night, 2010, richard and stacey decided to meet, maybe even make out a

little, at the special place here in the woods. to say what happened next was shocking was of course an understatement. >> hall county 9-1-1, what's the address of your emergency? >> oh, my god! please! i need help right now! >> the voice on the 9-1-1 call was stacey's. >> the victim of whatever happened here was her husband, richard. he had arrived at their rendezvous first. and when she got there later, he was lying on his back on the ground beside his truck. >> i'm at this little park on belton bridge road. my name is stacey schoeck and when i pulled in, he's been shot. >> he's been what? >> he's been shot. he's dead. >> ben franklin of the hall county sheriff's department got the call. so, there he was valentines night all but groping as he drove in a dark road by the muddy clearing by the river.

>> it's in the middle of nowhere, and so that creates a special kind of dark that you just can't appreciate and tell you in the middle of it. >> detective franklin is an experienced man. but this? >> this is one of the very few cases where the more i dug, the less sense that it made. >> no. nothing made sense about this. >> coming up, a murder so sudden and so brutal. was it a robbery gone bad? tire tracks in the mud that belong to neither richard nor stacey. >> you could see richard's impressions pass over those, and then you could see those pass back over richards. that let's us know that that vehicle was here before they got here and likely left after a little bit. >> had to be the killer. when dateline continues. n 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...

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if there is such a thing as a perfect spot for murder, then this just might be it. >> wow, this is remote. >> yeah, it's pretty secluded. >> if you didn't know what to look for, you'd miss that sign on your right. >> there was just a void on the side of the road. it's just a dark void. >> it was going on 11 pm. february 14th, 2010 when detective franklin found the place. >> and so, this is the entrance to the park where richard was killed. >> that night, the cops lit up the crime scene, surrounded by

a clearing of bare soil, sand, and muddy dirt. >> we got this place lit up like it's christmas time. but, if these lights weren't on -- >> you can't see your hand in front of your face. >> it was like that that night? >> yes, sir, it was. >> we'll spare you the gruesome images of richard schoeck, like that beside his truck. suffice to say he'd been shot five times. three times through his body, twice through his face. laid on his back, with the open door of his truck. >> sounds like a pretty ugly crime scene, right? >> yes. >> it was particular gruesome. >> what happened to him? >> yes, it was particularly gruesome. >> -- >> that is overkill, especially with the placement and amount of shots. >> also, it was pretty clear from the get-go that this was not a robbery. >> the fact that richard had his jewelry, he had his wedding ring on, he had a fairly expensive watch that he still had on, there was cash, in the console of the truck that was undisturbed. the truck itself was still here. it was ripe for the taking, it

was ready, the door was open. >> something else the detective confirmed from the track of the bullets that went to richard's body, he must've gotten out of the truck and approached who ever shot him. >> when stacey found richard, his truck was running, the driver's door was open, the headlights were on. so, it appears that he just simply pulled up, got out of his truck to approach the person that shot him which was a compelling thing from us. it was something that really got our attention. >> who was it? who did richard approach? whoever it was was long gone by the time stacey arrived. so, not much to go on. except, when a police technician trained his lights on the clearing from the side, just so, a whole new picture certainly emerged. the story, tire tracks, including a set of tracks that didn't apply to richard's truck nor stacey's suv. >> you could see richard's impressions pass over those, and then you can see those passed back over richards. and so -- >> okay.

>> that let's us know that that vehicle was here before richard got here, and likely left after he was dead. >> it had to be the killer. but how could common tire tracks help them find whoever did this? having seenwhat he could, detective franklin headed back to the sheriff's station to meet stacey and record her statement. it was after midnight by then. >> it feels so unreal. >> stacey explained it was her weekend to care for her grandparents, and richard planned to come by on sunday, valentine's day, to cook dinner. he arrived around 5:30. >> and i had my valentines stuff for him sitting on the desk. when he walked in the back door, he was like, oh, mine are out in the truck but i thought we would do that in the park. >> because they had already planned a brief romantic rendezvous at belton bridge park on the way home to see their kids. >> he was like, come meet me at the park. it was all secluded. you know, it's where we could exchange our valentines.

and when he gave me a kiss, he said maybe we could even make out a little bit. >> -- they both near the way. intimately. >> we'd driven by that park a gazillion -- i don't know, a lot, a lot of times. >> so, after dinner, richard went to the park first, she said. and she followed a bit later when a night nurse arrived to look after the grandparents. >> i think i probably pulled out of the driveway at about 9:20 or so. i called richard, and it went to voice mail. and i didn't know why. and i didn't leave a message. and i left -- >> and when she got there -- >> i knew something was wrong. i could see -- i saw his truck immediately because the lights were on. and, so i pulled down, i headed right towards his truck. but as soon as i could see him. i could see him laying on the ground. >> --

life is a complicated business, as everybody knows. even lovers aren't always straight with each other. these, however, were investigators stacey was talking to. they knew they would ferret out secret sooner or later. right away, she came clean. >> i mean, i had been having an affair for several -- you know six or seven months. >> an affair. his name was juan reyes, he worked in stacey's office at a job that she had gotten from. >> you know, i'm in deep with juan. i know that. i am telling you. >> oh, yes, she certainly was. stacey and richard on the house that reyes lived in with the family. she met juan for sex at an apartment stacey rented for that purpose. she paid for the truck he drove, his cell phone bill, and she admitted that she had just taken him to vegas and disguised it as a work trip. >> did juan know that you are

supposed to meet richard at the park? >> yes, he did. >> how did he know that? >> i had told him. probably, tuesday night -- it was either tuesday or thursday. >> was stacy saying juan may have been the killer? >> no, i just can't imagine -- i mean, because i've seen enough tv to know that strange things -- you know, things happen. but i can't imagine him doing that. >> but the detectives certainly could. >> and so, we start getting some direction. and we have this unknown set of impressions. so we have a third party at the scene. so, now we have to ask ourselves if it's juan, because it was looking pretty good at that point. >> time to go have a little chat with mr. juan reyes, even if it was 4:00 in the morning. >> coming up-- >> we knocked for a while. we knocked on windows, we walked around the house.

we could never get anybody to the door. >> where would somebody be at 4 am if not in bed? when dateline continues.

>> richard schoeck, 46 years old had been escorted suddenly from this life as he waited for his wife in a secluded georgia park on valentine's day. there was an outside chance, of course, that it would turn out to be a simple case of murder by mistaken identity. maybe richard showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

maybe he witnessed something he wasn't supposed to see. but when stacy told the story of her affair with this guy, named juan reyes, the cops knew they were listening to a motive as old as time. jealous boyfriend gets rid of competition. the cops showed up at juan's house that very night. >> we knocked for a while. we knocked on windows, walked around the house, never anybody came to the door. >> when you say you went to the door, do you mean politely? >> no, law enforcement banging on the door and banging on the side of the house, that kind of thing. >> had he fled? run away? later that morning, the detectives went to his workplace to see if he would show there. he did, all right. but -- >> his appearance had changed from the information that we had gathered from different sources that showed that he had a beard. >> woodrow tribb was chief detective at the time and

worked the case with frank. >> and, in fact, when he showed up at work that morning he was beardless. >> or, at least, he had removed his formerly full beard and shrunk it to an appearance altering goatee. now, juan found him self at the sheriff station. he agreed to talk without a lawyer. he sat in the interrogation room for more than four hours, with several detectives having a go at him, including franklin and tripp. >> so, it's my understanding that you and stacey are romantically involved, right? >> yeah. >> he spilled all of that. the affair, the love nest, the extra goodies stacey showered on him. then, they caught him on something. stacey had already told the detectives that she informed juan on tuesday or possibly thursday about the plans to meet richard that sunday night of valentine's day. >> when did she tell you that? >> she told me friday, friday after work. >> would you find it odd if i told you that she's made a statement that she told you

earlier than friday? >> no, i mean i remember the conversation on friday. if she mentioned it before that, i wasn't thinking about it or i did not pay attention to. well, listen, -- i'm forgetful sometimes. >> was he forgetful? or was he hiding something? >> well, look, let me ask you this. did you have anything to do with what's happened to richard? >> no, no, not at all. >> do you know who did? >> no. >> and so, they asked him, where was he before and after dinner on valentine's day? >> me and my son went up to blockbuster. we ate dinner about, i would say, around 7:30. around 10:30, i was in bed. i don't sleep much so, 3, 4 hours later, i'm up tossing a turning.

>> wait a minute, if he was up tossing and turning, how did he not hear the cops banging on his door? >> i don't know what to tell you. i was in my bed. >> we were there. we were ringing the doorbell, -- we knocked for about 15 minutes. >> i don't know. i didn't even realize. i guess i so tired. i was sleeping at 8 pm, just as i stated to you. >> you also said that you're a light sleeper, you tossed and turned last night. and maybe got three, four hours, that's it. >> right, i was up around 4:00, tossing and turning. i looked at the clock again at five. >> we were there. >> i didn't hear you. i don't know what to tell you. >> juan reyes was like a brick wall about the murder. didn't do it, didn't know who did. the polygraph and former chief detective tripp told a different story. >> the polygraph results indicated that he was not telling the truth or he was not being truthful to those relevant questions posed to him about the homicide. >> question such as, did you shoot richard schoeck?

do you know for sure of anyone who shot richard schoeck? were you present when richard schoeck was shot? >> you know, he knows where richard is going to be. he's in an affair with stacey. he is not at home at three, four in the morning the night of the murder. he shows up the next morning, altered his appearance. so when you put all of that together, yeah, there's a lot of ringing bells there. >> juan reyes insists he was home with this family when richard schoeck was murdered. but, will juan's wife backup his alibi when she finds out that he was cheating on her? coming up -- >> if she wanted to throw him on the the bus, that was the time. >> she had a great opportunity. >> when dateline continues. thout treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. #1-prescribed ingrezza is the only td treatment for adults that's always one pill, once daily. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on most mental health meds.

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a look at the hour's top story. president biden will host ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy the white house on tuesday. it comes as the biden administration is expected to ramp up efforts with congress to secure new funding for aid

to ukraine. and at least six people, including a two year old boy, have died after tornadoes ripped through tennessee over the weekend. more than 35,000 residents are still without power this morning. and now, back to dateline. welcome back to dateline, i'm craig melvin. a husband was shot to death, the wife admitted to an affair and the boyfriend tells his story about the night of the murder. could it be that simple, that cliché? it would take a police detective willing to plow through all of the clues to find the truth. here is keith morrison with more of a perfect spot. >> there can be few things in life as shocking as disorienting as the sudden death of a loved one. especially one so affectionate, so endearing, so apparently happy. and when the dreadful news came

with the word murder attached -- >> i could not think of a soul who would want to hurt the man, could not think of anyone. >> richard and his scouting buddy bill fanning spent the evening together the night before richard was killed. and so, bill heard him get the phone call from stacey about their plans for valentine's day. >> he said we are making plans to get together near her grandma's. >> because she was staying out there for the weekend or something? >> that's correct, she was looking after her grandmother. >> so, was he happy about that? >> he thought that was great. >> a week later, he was at richard's memorial. stacey asked bill to give the eulogy. >> it was one of the most difficult things i've ever done, was to get up and talk about him. i remember looking down at the honorary pall bearers, and they were all scouts. there was not a dry eye there. >> at the end of the service, everybody wrote messages to richard on balloons and released them into the air, all

fond memories, said his nephew, brian. >> everybody had their own personal story. richard helped me tie my first not in my tent. richard helped me build my first fire. you could tell the cub scouts he was working with that he touched their lives like he had me and my sister's. >> meanwhile, the hall county sheriff's department was working on their only lead. >> we were focusing pretty hard on juan in the beginning. >> juan reyes, the boyfriend. >> though we thought he was the shooter, at the same time, he deserved for us to verify his story. >> remember, here is where juan said he was late in the day february 14th. >> me and my son went up to blockbuster, we ate dinner at, i want to say around 7:30. and by 10:30, i was in bed. >> there are ways to check of course, they talked to juan

reyes wife, ex-wife, actually. she was living with him in an effort to reconcile. >> the first thing i told her was that juan was having an affair with stacey for quite some time, she was not happy with that. >> no, she was not. but listen to this. the woman scorned still confirmed his alibi. >> he had gone to blockbuster while i was cooking, so between six and seven. when he came home, went in the room, i lay down, we went to bed. >> what time is that? >> we are watching the 10:30 news. i believe it was 10:00. last i looked at the time, it was 10:37. >> if you want to throw him under the bus, that was the time to do it. >> had a great opportunity, she didn't take it. it >> maybe want to stop a guy after all? all >> correct. >> even though he failed to answer the door, even though the polygraph result was not in his favor, juan reyes was innocent. he did not do it.

where did that leave you? >> worried about my case. >> a case that had become personal for detective franklin. he felt like he had known richard, like he was mourning him somehow. >> i would sit at the scene, stand at the scene, reflect, just kind of stand there and just go over things in my head and try to figure out what direction to take. >> what could he do? all franklin had to go on was this picture of tire tracks left in the soft soil at the clearing. could he use this to find his killer? not so easy. did not even know the make of the tire. >> we looked on the internet, but we were coming up empty. we went to car dealerships, we went to retail tire establishments, we would pull up next to cars at traffic lights and look at the kinds of tires they had on. anybody we talked to, we looked at their tires, just to be sure. >> then one day at yet another tire store, a colleague called into a stock area out back.

>> point to this tire and immediately i said that's it. >> said okay, it was in goodyear integrity. >> that will get down. billions of cars with goodyear integrity tires. just at the time franklin was contemplating that little problem. >> got a phone call from an i. technician at the dekalb medical center. >> just out of the blue? >> that is where the office was that stacey managed. the guy's job there was clearing the junk from employee email accounts. >> he noticed that stacey's inbox for friday, saturday, sunday had been completely cleaned out. >> curious, that was the very weekend of the murder. >> so he thought enough to give us a call. >> was stacey, mama spreadsheet, the cub scout den leader hiding something? or just hit delete too many times? of course, all of those deleted files had been backed up. so they got a warrant,

collected all of stacey's emails, not just from that weekend, 4000 emails in all. >> it was quite a task. >> and a lot of it was spam. except two emails seemed, well, they stood out. request from stacey to her bank to transfer money from something called real estate account. >> a few weeks before the murder was the first transfer. $8902. second transfer was the friday before the murder, february 12th 2010, that was for $1100. >> both times the money went into the account of somebody named -- ross. it turned out to be stacey's friend, her tenant who was renting a house from stacey. they want to have a talk with

lynitra. >> how did she react? >> very calm, very cool. >> didn't seem to be hiding anything? >> she seemed very collected. i asked her about the money transfer. >> made an audio recording of the interview. >> how much money did you get overall? >> it's been about, it was 89 at first hundred. >> why did stacey give her $8900? >> she transferred some money to me for some repairs and stuff. >> said she had redone the roof, the interior of the house, carpet, that kind of thing. >> and the other 1100 dollars? >> still rim or repairs. >> we got another leak, main water valve leak. >> story made sense. >> it made sense. she was always cooperative. >> a simple business transaction. detective franklin was right back where he started. >> it's get to to a point where you are still looking for ways to move forward. >> it was march by then, close to a month since the murder. they seemed to be going nowhere. what to do now? how about grasp at straws. >> it's called a tower dump.

>> it was a shot in the dark, but i took it. >> coming up, a killer with a gun and a cell phone about to make a big mistake. >> my way of thinking was, if he is sitting there waiting in this secluded dark place at night, is he going to twiddle his thumbs, make a phone call? had no idea. >> when dateline continues. ontinues and you know i didn't. it makes my running shoe look like new! it's amazing. it's so good. it makes it look like i have magical powers. magic eraser and sheets make cleaning look easy. one month into his

investigation in the murder of richard schoeck, detective

franklin was stuck in the weeds. >> i would sit down with my supervisors and say that i'm worried about this case. he would say, hang on, it takes only a small piece of information to break this case. >> and sure enough, what do you know? the detective got a phone call. >> during the crime, when it happened, the car was missing. >> the caller was stacey's cousin, connie. she had been troubled by something, she told the detective. >> it took me a good three weeks contemplating, you know, should i call? should i not? >> after all, stacey was like a big sister, said connie. but there was just something wrong. like the strange business about her grandparent's 2009 impala. >> stacey was supposed to sell it for them because they were having problems and they needed money for medical bills. >> but, after stacey took the car -- >> a couple of weeks later, it would be back at their house. and then, a couple of weeks later, it wasn't. then, it got to the point where she said that she sold it for 16,000 --

>> and yet, stavey never produced the money. >> the family was persistent about the car. and so, finally, we're like, it's likely it was years but we don't know-- >> they round the vin number, found the car, stacey had sold it by then. >> and lo and behold, it's get goodyear integritys on it. so, at that point, i was confident that i found the car that richard was killed for. >> which is great. except, who was in? no idea. the tech to franklin was still stuck. so, he took a long shot. he asked for something called a tower dump. an information dump that is from the cell tower on the form near the crime scene. >> i subpoenaed all calls that generated from the tower that services in belton bridge park from the night of the murder, from about 7:30 pm to 9:30.. >> till 9:30, because that is when stacey arrived and found richard. why start looking at 7 pm? >> it was apparent to me that the gunman lay in wait for richard.

and so, my way of thinking was if is he sitting there waiting in the secluded dark place at night, is he gonna sit there and twiddle his thumbs? or maybe he'll make a phone call? i had no idea. >> if the caller called anybody, it should show up in the tower record of outgoing cell calls. four major carriers on the tower, thousands of calls. but, what number should look for? why not try hunch he had all along. >> stacey's involved somehow. you have this third vehicle at the scene, you have overkill with the way richard died. so, based on all of those things, a murder for hire starts crossing your mind. mine >> franklin's idea was to compare the numbers on the tower dump to the phone numbers on stacy's personal contactless. >> the best source of information, i felt i, had was stacey's contactlist. it was 250 contacts, i think. >> so, if you can find any phone call coming from the crime scene that happened to be on her contactless, that would give you a big --

>> yes, that would give me some direction. >> a lot of numbers to compare. but then he got lucky, really lucky. maybe 150 numbers into his search, there it was. a match. >> it said reggie. >> the call was placed at 8:20 pm. >> and it was a 20 second call. so, richard left the grandparents house at about 8:15. that's about a 50-minute drive from the grandparents house to the park. he would've got there around 8:30. we got 30, 30 he was killed as soon as he stepped out of his truck. so, you're looking at him dying sometime right around 8:30 to 8:45. so here's a call from reggie in stacey's contact list at 8:40 pm on the night of the murder. >> but, who was reggie? >> under reggie's company's name, it said mister results. >> so, franklin's next step, naturally -- >> and i simply googled, mr. results. and the first week was mr. results personal training. >> his name was richard coleman, former semi professional boxer. and he held workout sessions at

stacey's office. and, detective franklin looked at the number reggie called. >> and i should've already recognized it, because i already had in my notes, because it was lynitra ross. >> the lynitra ross, the woman who claimed that she received $10,000 from stacey for house repairs within three weeks of the murder. now, the trail was warm, very warm. he pulled phone records for all three, reggie, lynitra and stacey. combed through hundreds of calls and texts until -- >> a very interesting sequence of calls actually emerged from that. >> a sequence on february 14th. it went like this, at 6:42 pm reggie called lynitra. at 6:45, lynitra called stacey. at 6:48, lynitra called reggie back. >> in my mind, reggie called lynitra and said are we still doing this? and then lynitra called stacey

and confirming yes, he's here, i don't have the money. and then lynitra calling back and saying yes, go back there. >> and after that, no more calls, until 8:40 pm, when reggie's call to lynitra captured by the tower near the crime scene. >> the call at 8:40 pm to lynitra ross was reggie coleman saying, yes it's done. >> and then this, at 9 pm, lynitra sent stacey a text, happy valentine's day, it said. >> was that a code? >> it was. >> code for it's done, he's dead. almost there now. all he needed was the money trail to prove murder for hire. so, bank records this time. >> it was the same tedious work as the cell phone records. >> guess what? that $10,000 that stacey transferred to lynitra supposedly from a real estate account for home repairs -- only 1800 went into that. the rest went to lynitra for cash, lynitra wrote reggie a check for $700. >> --

that's the whole thing that come together that. point reggie was a -- under lynitra ross. >> and the mastermind, stacey. three months after the valentine's day murder of richard schoeck, lynitra ross, reggie coleman, and stacey schoeck were arrested and charged with murder. but then -- >> i told stacey, we can fight this-- >> the surprise was coming -- surprises, more than one. stacey had a story to tell. >> coming up -- is there ever an excuse for murder? >> having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. >> when dateline continues. caplyta is prove n to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes,

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he's the best. - make every wash count! - little help please. travel. there is nothing like it dancing is my passion. but with my moderate-to-severe eczema, it hasn't been easy. now, i'm staying ahead of it. dupixent helps heal your skin from within. so, you can clearer skin and noticeably less itch serious allergic reactions can occur, that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pains, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent three months after stacey

schoeck found her husband's bullet perforated body in belton bridge park, she and her alleged confederates were under arrest for murder. it was just crazy, did not make sense. a mother of three, cub scout leader. surely she would come up with a defense when she met with her attorney, max hersch. but no, that is not what happened. far from it. >> she laid it all, she did not hesitate, she didn't minimize, she told me exactly what the plan was. >> the plan for murder. >> her lawyer, no surprise, had his own plan.

>> i told stacey i already know how we would defend this case. she looked me straight in the eye, without hesitation, and said no. the gig is up. i did this, what i did was wrong, no more lies. >> stacey wanted to confess, it took a while to a range, but seven months after the murder, with the recorder running, confessed, she did. >> i am not going to keep lying. i'm done, i'm done. >> it all started over lunch with let nature said stacey when she told her friend that she wished her husband was dead. and she offered the services of her sometimes boyfriend, reggie. >> i was like reggie, she was like, yeah that's what he does, that's how he supplements his income, he does jobs. >> so said stacey, lynitra arranged for the three of them to meet, and reggie agreed to kill richard.

>> then i was like how much cash, he was like i'm thinking around $10,000. i said, okay. >> that was the $10,000 stacey transferred to lynitra. she gave money to reggie. stacey also agreed to give him her grandparen'ts 2009 impala. yes, that impala. and a house that lynitra was renting from her. a week later, all three went to scout the crime scene. >> so he's like, yeah, this is the perfect place. and even made a comment that he might have to use this place more often. >> but the night of the murder, said stacey, reggie botched the plan. >> it was supposed to be a robbery, that's what he said, was supposed to be one shot to the head. i said i don't want him to suffer, i don't want him to see anything. >> but why would she possibly want to have richard killed? for that question, stacey offered the story.

>> things started clicking in my brain with what was happening to my kids and family. and i was convinced that my kids were being harmed. >> stacey said she believed richard was molesting her sons. that they were acting out and there was something one of them told her. >> you don't know what he does to me when you are not here. that kind of stuff stuck in my brain, for sure. >> to her, there was just one solution. i did not want police, i did not want to divorce, i just wanted him dead. >> and so here it was, her reason for murder. stacey said that she had been molested as a child repeatedly, and she knew what it was like. >> having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. >> did you ask the boys? >> not directly enough. not then.

i have since. >> it was after her arrest, her sons asked her why, what would make you want to hurt him? and she explained. >> people touched me in a bad way when i was a kid, and i reacted in certain ways. and sometimes your behaviors made me worried that you were getting touched on a bad way. >> and the son that made that earlier statement to his mother responded devastated. >> he said no, i'm sorry, i exaggerated. and i'm sorry i said those things, i blew things out of proportion, mom. >> stacey was wrong, there was no abuse. >> now that's a hard thing to deal with to, because now he has guilt. >> but was the motive that she admitted real, or was venal truth still withheld? there would be an answer, just not quite yet. >> we asked for an interview with stacey, but prison rules will not allow it, so her attorney spoke on her behalf. >> she understands completely

what she did. she understands it was her fault richard schoeck is dead. she does not have excuses. >> stacy schoeck pleaded guilty to murder and reggie coleman did the same. lynitra ross stood trial and was found guilty, and all were sentenced to life in prison without parole. the case solved. three convictions for the detective who poured through reams of phone numbers and sniffed out a murder for hire case. >> when your gut tells you something, you should go with it. and if it makes sense, then that is probably what it is. >> pretty obvious if i ask you where this fits in your catalog of cases. >> never will be another one like it, i hope not. >> and now finally, the last admission. a few days after stacey was sent away, richard's sister carol went to see her, glared at stacey through the glass

partition. she did not buy stacey's story about a reason for killing richard. >> i said okay, stacey, this is it. i want to know, and i said no bull, no lies, i want to know why you had richard killed. >> there was a long pause, and then, out it came. >> she said, because of my actions back then and because of the way i was living my life, i knew that i could not divorce richard. because of i divorced richard, he would have enough of a chance to get custody of my kids, which he had adopted legally. and i could not let that happen. and i looked at her, and i said thank you, and i hung up the

phone. >> but if the answer satisfied some need to know, the pain was and is no different. richard schoeck is dead, his quirkiness, adventurous spirit, devotion to those boy scouts, all gone. >> we had a thing, it was called a richard fire. if it wasn't stoked up and burning bright and the flames licking the treetops, it wasn't a good fire. so if you want a richard fire that's the fire you've got to have. and when we are at scouting events, we have the big fire ♪♪ this sunday, revenge politics. former president t s