>> everything that i didn't want for her has happened. and so speaking to her, i guess the only thing that i could say, is that i'm sorry. but i am always here for her. >> we are sorry but you say that you also did the right thing. >> i did do the right thing. if this was me? and i died fighting for justice for my daughter, i would hope that everybody would just tell the truth. >> but the truth, sometimes as murky and hard to see, as the desert with night closing in. what with all of those secrets, and old bones scattered about. unchanging. >> and this is dateline. >> it almost made me sick. i was on the floor. and then i kind of got myself together and i said, we have to go over

there. i have to go over there. >> she was a commander who cared. >> i was like, when are you doing. and she says, i'm writing birthday cards to all my soldiers. >> her husband was a charming sergeant and devoted that. >> he was just as loving and doting as lyndon was. >> no one could believe it when this decorated officer was found dead in her own home. >> an army commander being murdered was unheard of. >> the first suspect, as usual, the husband. but this one had a rock solid alibi. >> it would have been very difficult for him to have committed this murder. >> this soldier have enemies off the battlefield? her brother in law had a grudge. >> rodney was going around calling her names, vulgar names. >> her husband had a girlfriend. >> roger was sitting with a young lady, and they were cut cuddled up. >> we found out that she was

pregnant. >> who killed the commander? in a place where loyalty is prized above all, one clue. >> that palm print was a key part of the case. >> would reveal a breathtaking betrayal. >> i don't even have the words. what a monster. >> hello and welcome to dateline, members of the military risk their lives every day. but, a high ranking army officer was dead in her own home, and not killed by the enemy of the u.s., but by someone she knew and trusted. here is andrea canning with deadly devotion. >> in the hot and dangerous middle east, she held her own in the company of men. a captain and a commander, whose

devotion never wavered. >> she inspired people, and maybe that's why she made such a great commander. she inspired her troops. she inspired those that worked for her to do want to do well. >> she was captain lyn armstrong wrister. army veteran debbie moore, was one of her best friends. >> lynn was very intelligent, she knew how to bring out the best in people. she inspired people. >> she had a big role in the military. >> very big role, yeah. >> she was in charge of the air defense artillery in saudi arabia. >> when i worked in the saudi, and they had the patriot missiles, she was the one that would make that decision on what was coming, in if it needed to be taken out of the sky. >> she earned medals and promotions and a loyalty of the men and women under her command. that loyalty cut both ways, according to her assistant errors. >> did she take good care of our soldiers? >> absolutely, she did welfare checks where she would visit with families. she'd meet with the different wives, and things like that.

>> was she the perfect candidate for the army? >> she was, in my opinion. she didn't let stress get her too much. i think she was probably one of the best commanders i ever worked under. >> lynn grew up with a brother and two younger sisters in the military town of pensacola, florida. while she was away at school, she sent her sister some advice on tape for her 16th birthday. >> don't argue, avoid arguments just be happy. don't let anybody spoil that for you, and you will find it in your heart. anyway, i hope that helps. >> she graduated, with an officers commission from norwich university in vermont, one of the oldest military colleges in the country, and then began the globe-trotting life of a soldier. >> i met lin over in germany. debbie and lynn were both stationed over there, they met at a birthday party through mutual friends. >> i snapped a picture of the four them sitting at the table. >> young women, serving their country, savoring alive overseas. and being surrounded by guys in uniform, sometimes love entered the picture. it

certainly did for lynn. >> how did lin and roger meet? >> they met over in germany in the cake club. >> is that an army club? >> it is. we'd go there on saturday night's, because that country music. >> sergeant roger reister and lynn, hit it off at once, and their romance blossomed. >> she was a wonderful person, she had a wonderful smile there just little the room. >> as a military wife, when i heard that roger was enlisted and linda was an officer, that's a no no in the military. >> yeah, that wasn't as critical to become a couple of years later. he was a charming, and she fell in love. >> and, they got married. >> dave like the fact that he wasn't elvis fanned. >> i was like, amazed, i was like your intel vest pressley to? i was kind of surprised by that, so yeah. he was a lot of

fun. >> roger admired lands devotion to her country, and her strength. >> we have to be mentally strong. the military, especially with women in the military, you have to be mentally strong, to be able to go toe to toe with some of the men. >> ellen and roger had chosen a soldier's life, and that meant a marriage full of separations. roger even miss the birth of his son tristan. >> it was unbelievable, as soon as i came back i stepped off the bus and she held him and said, this is your son. >> it was really a great moment, it really was. i just held her and held him at the same time. >> they see a good? that >> he was. he would bring him up to visit and, you know, they would play, and he seemed very happy being a dad. >> when triston was for, the family was stationed at fort bliss in el paso, texas, and it was lin who got called away. >> lynn found out she had to deploy to saudi arabia. >> you are going with her? >> yes, ma'am.

>> was she okay with that? i mean, she had to leave triston behind. this was her first plane without him, correct? >> to the best my, knowledge yes, i remember her telling us that it was hard, that she was having a hard time with it. she was sad, and that she just kept telling him that he should come home. it won't be that long. >> and it was how long? >> it was about six months. >> and then, she did get home. but, her old life is about to change. about four months after she got back, roger convinced lynn to let his 24-year-old brother rodney come live with them. rodney had gotten into some trouble while his brother was serving his country. maybe roger in plain could set him straight. >> he was on probation in florida, and for him to be able to leave the state, she had to write this letter, you know, saying how she would take on that responsibility, roger asked her to do, that so she did.

>> right about the same time, lynn found out she was pregnant again. the tug of motherhood was getting stronger, so this globe-trotting army captain made a decision. she put in for a transfer to teach rotc in minnesota. good for her career, good for her family, and no travel. >> was she doing it all to be with triston more? was that part of it? >> yeah, that would be part of it. yes, she wanted it to be more relaxing. >> she was going to be a teacher, it was something that she was really looking forward to. >> just days before moving time, lynn was saying goodbye to fort bliss. >> lynn was having a going away party? >> anytime a commander resigns of command, the unit will put together and by her a going away gift. usually a plaque, or something to commemorate the accomplishments of the unit. >> meghan didn't go, but her husband did. >> my husband came home, and i asked how it went. you know, to see like gift? and he said, you know, she never showed. and

that was very odd. >> something else was odd. roger had been calling lynn at home throughout the day. no answer. late that afternoon, he came home from work with tristan, and it was all too clear why lynn hadn't answered the phone. >> 9-1-1. >> oh, i just got home. my wife is dead. >> lynn armstrong reister, mother, soldier, beloved commander, was in her bedroom, lying dead in a pool of blood. >> coming up, where will investigators start? >> it could be a neighboring, it could be --, could be anybody. >> we have a killer on the loose. >> yes, he's out there. >> yes, he's out there. >> when dateline continues.s. and it could wake at any time.

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boy triston, had just come home and dinnertime to something no child should ever have to see. >> i'm the one that found her, i walked into -- i had tristan with, me and when i walked in it was tough, it was tossing that. >> lynn, six months pregnant had been stabbed to death, her throat slashed. >> my first instinct was to grab tristan and run out of the house. and then i knew i was screaming and yelling, i probably looked like a mad man

out there. but it was -- i didn't know what to think. >> you immediately call 9-1-1, and brought tristan out. triston, in a statement said, my daddy took me out fast, and you know those kind of things. >> -- what's the lead detective. >> did you think about this poor woman's last days in this house? >> i did, looking at the, scene trying to imagine her may be fighting for her life, or pleading for her life, or how scared she might have been. >> any signs of robbery, or things taken? >> no, we actually did a skin, and we could see valuables. there was no sign that this was a burglary or a robbery. but, once we did the walk through, and looked at it, and without the help of roger. he was

explaining what he'd seen when he went in. >> with police and neighbors converging on the scene, the news got out quickly. linda's friend debbie moore, couldn't believe it. >> my husband and i were watching tv, and he was flipping through the channels on the remote control, and the channel flip by, and it was her house, and i yelled and said, wait, wait. and so you flip it back, and about that time it came up that a woman had been found murdered in her home. >> did you know right away? >> i knew it was lynn. yeah, because i knew the house. then they said it was military. and i remember it almost made me sick. i was on the floor. and then i kind of got myself together, said we have to go over there, i have to go over >> there. roger was already talking to detectives,, and

clearly shaken. police were sympathetic, but they knew he had to be carefully scrutinized. what's your first impression of roger? >> he was grasping his son, he would not let go of, him and i thought that maybe i saw some fear, he was scared about what had occurred it seemed to me at the time. >> are you looking for anything and rodgers eyes, or his mannerisms, or what he is saying? are you immediately sizing him up? >> absolutely. >> my mind is all over the place, and i wrapped and said go ahead, give him this, get it knocked out of the way. then i can actually get on with the investigation. >> detectives wanted to know where he was all day? >> he had a solid alibi. his

son was with him all the time. he had left his house very early, and stopped at a convenience store where he saw -- and when he got to work, obviously has coworkers, his supervisors saw him. >> also backing up his alibi, it was his brother rodney. he told detectives he helped him jump-start his truck earlier that morning, and watched him and tristan leave. the text of steve -- >> he said they were able to crank up the, chalk as they got going he says he did see roger pull off from the driveway. >> later rodney visited roger at the base, he told police his older brother looked worried when he called limb and got no answer. >> i, you there? hey, this is roger, i'm going to call again. >> then he leaves, work and so when -- that would have been very difficult for him to have committed the smarter. >> so who did it, as the investigation got underway, detective -- thought the possibilities were endless. >> it could be anybody, it could be a neighbor, it could be a lover. she was a captain,

she was a supervisor, she thought about her troops and subordinates, somebody she might have disciplined, or sex offenders in the area. >> you had a wide net you needed to throw out? >> it was a wide investigation at the time, yes. >> and the numbers were very scared. they thought, who did this? >> in those first few hours, the leads would poor in. police had to move fast. len had inspired loyalty in her life, now in death the detectives could not let her down. >> on base, a giant military family is hit hard by murder, but in lynn's own family, -- had there been signs of trouble? >> coming up. >> an army commander being

murdered was unheard of. >> a lot of names going around, calling her names, vulgar names. >> you have a little bit of animosity towards lynn. >> when dateline, continues. >> when dateline, continues.

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spread through el paso, and it was devastating to those who served with at the army base. did this crime sent shockwaves through? >> it certainly did. it was heartbreaking. it was harrowing when it first happened, we had

no idea, it was scary. >> the community packed the memorial service to say goodbye to the captain and the baby she was carrying, who never got a chance. tell us about the funeral. >> the wake was extremely difficult. she was buried in her army dress uniform, and they, in order to do the open casket, they had to cover the throat, so they used her air defense artillery ascot to connect on the back, so they would be able to do the open casket. >> once a mother asked me to buy a baby blanket, it was a little, boy and i bought the blanket, so for the memorial when they laid limb out in her uniform, the point was there. that just one person had died in this attack, but two had died.

>> four year old tristan was there with his family and mother's friends, barely comprehending the tragic rupture in his life. >> do you member how you felt towards him? >> i do. i just felt sorrow. i wanted so bad to fix it for him, and i understood that this four and a half year old boy will never know how great his mom was, how much she loved him. >> did your heart go out to this little boy? >> yes, it still does. >> but the detectives have to put emotions aside, and drill down to the fact. roger was not home at the time of the murder, and neighbors weren't reporting any suspicious activity. so detectives wanted to know, if anyone held a grudge against lynn, they quickly learned at least one person may have, roger's brother rodney. >> things started to go south with rodney pretty quickly after -- >> there was times where he

would lay around all day long. >> rodney idolized his big brother, but he was something of a disappointment to roger and lynn. >> well, he wasn't working, he was basically living off us, stuff like that. >> she would go to get milk out of the refrigerator for tristan, the milk would be gone because rodney chunk it all and in on whether to replace it. yeah, it was becoming not a very good relationship. i think lynn was ready to have her house back. it's really difficult when you have another adult living in the home. -- len and i came to that decision together, it was just one of those things that had to be done. he yelled that against her. the relationship continued, on but i could tell he had animosity towards limb even after that.

>> a closer look at rodney showed a man with a dodgy past, he had done crimes in florida for petty theft, forgery, grand theft, auto nothing violent but still he was no fan of lynn. >> then i remember lynn telling me that roger had told her that rodney was going around calling her names, calling her wagner names. she is the reason he got kicked, out she is the reason all of these things happened. >> did you see that as a motive? >> i never thought that in itself would be a motive to kill, her or he would be that angry just because of that. >> so why in the world would rodney -- >> i don't think rodney wanted linda. he was a person that was willing to help the investigation, he was really cooperative throughout.

>> the search for suspect continues, lynn had no enemies there. >> you can imagine that it could've happened? it seemed unreal. an army commander being murdered was unheard of. >> but then, one name cropped up, rodney mentioned it to police. >> we asked him who else would want to do this to lynn? did she have any enemies. ronny tells us there is this one girl, her name is april, and the girl has a crush on my brother. he mentions her, that is important. >> coming up, crush? this was way more than that. >> i was playing detective for her. >> a bold confrontation with the other woman. >> we knock on the, door she opens, it and my understanding -- -- >> when dateline, continues.t r.

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layton with a look at some of

the stories we are following here on msnbc. a vatican tribunal has convicted one of the church's most powerful officials of embezzlement. cardinal angelo -- was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. he's the first cardinal ever prosecuted by the vatican criminal court. and in sports, nba legend kareem abdul-jabbar is in the hospital after breaking his hip. surgery was scheduled for saturday. his business partner says the former basketball center was attending a concert in late friday night when he accidentally fell. and now he accident -- back to dateline. >> it was a lead which would take the limb reister murder investigation in a new direction. roger reister's brother had mentioned a young woman who had a crush on roger, they quickly learned that this crash was an open secret around town. >> they went to the village, in

and i walked in the door, and there was roger. >> it was about nine months before the murder. lynn's assistant, megan, had just gotten back from saudi arabia, lynn was still there with a week and a half to go. >> roger was sitting in a booth with several other people, that i didn't know any of them. as well as a young lady. and they were cuddled up, and roger had a look of sheer terror on his face, when he saw me walk in, and realized why was. because, we knew each other. he stopped and he came in a hug, instead i didn't know you are back. >> a, a lamb. >> the young woman's name was april, she was 19 years old. >> what exactly was going on and with between roger and this young lady? they look like a couple? >> they did. meghan decided it wasn't her place to tell in. over in saudi arabia, lynn knew something was up. roger never seem to answer the phone.

>> he, roger it's limb again. i don't know where you're at, i've been trying to get a hold of you for over 24 hours. >> word had traveled halfway around the world that roger had been having parties at their home. drinking with people as young as 18, acting like a teenager himself. lynn left him this voice mail before she got her flight home to texas. >> hey roger, it's ellen. i need to be sure that i have a ride when i get home. our marriage cannot withstand another deployment like this, period. you're not single anymore, roger, you need to stop hanging out with those guys. i never let you down on to play man, roger. i've always been there. >> lynn rarely gave up on people she loved. when she got home from saudi arabia, she wanted to patch things up with roger. >> you are talking about

somebody who is in a marriage that she wanted to keep together. and she fought hard to keep it together. >> one night, linda decided to surprise him at his favorite country bar. but, the surprise was on her. roger was there, surrounded by his new gang of young friends. >> she came over to me and started talking to me and asking me questions about roger, if i saw him over there, and if i've seen him before. and i had told her, that yeah, i had seen him there one other time. >> and april is in the bar that night? >> how is he acting around april? >> there weren't i was dancing on the floor, doing flips and turns and yeah, things that he never danced with lynn. >> but he's doing this in front of lynn. >> oh, yes. she was so angry. and when it made it worse was he was so disrespectful. i mean, she was trying to talk to him, and every time she start walking towards, i'm here to walk away. >> sounds like lynn was trying to be the grown-up, and roger had reverted a little bit, back to the good old days. >> oh yeah. >> detectives learned that -- night at the country bar and it badly. a messy, drunken argument broke out between

roger and lane, and roger moved into the barracks. after that, lynn asked debbie for some help. >> i was kind of play injected for her, so i went up there and i was remember sitting and watching outside the barracks. in april ended up coming up there and hanging out at the barracks. >> this wasn't just a crush. this was a full on affair. and then, it got worse. lynn heard a rumor that april was pregnant with rodgers baby. >> and so, i told her, you know, i know where april lives. i said, lynn, why don't we go over there? i said, why don't we just go talk with april. >> that's gutsy. >> yeah, well, we were older. -- and you know, i knew lynn would be -- lane wasn't going to lose it. she was commander. >> so, what's it like when you knock on the door? >> well, we knock on the door, she opens it. she's a little bit surprised. and lynn, was very nice. we sat down we started talking to her about her relationship, and she tried to say that, yes, that she had,

but it was over now. elaine was back. and i finally said, but my understanding is your pregnant. >> april denied she was pregnant, insisting the affair was over. >> so, you both left april's not really knowing for sure if she was or wasn't pregnant? >> yeah, but then, of course, later we found out that she was actually pregnant. >> and telling people the father was roger. a lot of women would have cashed in the marriage at this point, but not lynn. she let rage roger come home. >> does lynn still want to make things work with roger despite this bombshell? >> she does. >> why? >> i think, probably because of triston. i think that it was important to lynn that her family stay together, and that triston be raised with a mother and father, and that she would work it out. >> and they were working on things. >> she was, yes.

>> marriage counseling? >> they did try marriage, counseling yes. >> then move back in together? >> yes. >> police heard that after roger reconciled with lynn, her car was vandalized. april was never charged, but at the time linen roger told police that they thought she did it. so this is very complex. >> very. >> police had to put this woman scorned on the list of possible suspects. >> roger had pushed april aside, to a point where he was telling everybody, oh, denying that that was his bexar baby that april is carrying. >> you want to get a woman angry -- >> yeah. >> that's a pretty good way to do. it >> absolutely. >> but as detectives were sorting through this tangled love triangle, we got news of a break in the case. the forensic lab came back with something. a trace of the killer on lynn reister's arm. >> coming up. >> this is the smoking gun. >> it is. >> a telltale palm print, whose could it be? who is behind this killing?

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here we go. because advil targets pain at the socan we land?ammation. you're old enough to do it in the sky now. but it's gross. there is no way we're landing. are you sure no one is watching? gwen mallard! do it now, or we leave without you. ok. troubled marriage, a doomed affair, a pregnant mistress. detectives did the math, and suddenly april and roger were each looking like possible suspects. but then, results came in on a clue found at the crime scene. a bloody palm

print on reister >> reporter:'s arm. >> -- >> he was not a match. >> that april give her palm print? >> was she? match >> she was not a match. >> then they checked the prince of someone, else someone that reister had tried to help, his brother-in-law rodney. >> and he's a match. they belong to him. >> this is a smoking gun. >> it is. >> he was brought back to headquarters by detective steve munoz. >> he comported himself like nothing face them, when everyone for me, you want to talk to me i'll give you whatever you need. >> when rodney sat down with detective chavarilla, he was confronted with the print evidence, and he denied everything. -- both down those denials, he became very emotional. rodney cried a bunch of times during the interview, and he revealed that he had in fact killed her.

>> case closed? >> not even close. we had to answer the question of why did ronny rodney kill her, why did he get involved in something so heinous and so horrible? so violent.. >> i detectives continue to press, they never thought the spat between rodney and lynn was a good motive for murder. that to be something else. rodney finally broke down, he admitted there was. >> he did it because roger asked him to do it. he said big brother roger was behind it all. >> does everyone's jaws drop at this statement? >> absolutely. >> roger was arrested and charged with murder. >> there was such a big shock with his friends and their mutual friends, because they thought -- oh no, because they look like this perfect husband, perfect father. >> according to rodney, roger

suggested then begged, then bullied him into killing lynn. he offered money, he did pay off rodney's bills, and then some. but mostly, he offered love. >> roger is feeding all these things into his head about, she wants to move, she wants to take me away from my friends, my friendship with you. i love, view she wants to separate us. >> rodney told police that his brother had no shortage of reason for one a lim dead. prosecutor john gibson. >> roger wanted the life insurance policy, you wanted custody of his young son, he knew that his affair with april became apparent, that he faced consequence in the military, including prosecution and military jail. he didn't want to move to follow it linen her career to minnesota. he wanted to stay, and party back here in el paso. >> and rodney said roger didn't

just talk about why he wanted his wife killed, he said roger talked about how and when. >> he describes roger preparing the weapon, preparing extra close for, rodney to change. >> ronny said the plan was for roger to call him that morning, to say that his battery was dead. >> is that the signal? >> that was the signal. and that's what's ronnie tells us. when i went to the house, i knew that was the day he was going to kill in. >> the prosecutor threw the book at both brothers. >> our decision was made to go ahead and sue capital murder charges against both roger and rodney reister,. >> and that could mean the death penalty? >> it could. >> as the daily of the trial got closer, rodney's misguided loyalty got the better of him. he refused to testify against his older brother. >> i think rodney had a degree of loyalty and love for his older brother, such that he couldn't get up on the stand to testify against him. so if a jury would not hear from the young, brother or c's

confession, the prosecution was forced to charge drop the murder charge against roger. but, that was not the end of the case. remember that pack of young people roger was running with. many of them are high school kids in that area. many of the people or junior in rank, other soldiers at the base. so, i just ran himself with people he knew would look up to him. >> but they turned on him after than was killed. one by 16 members of roger circle told police they knew roger wanted his wife dead. because we have talked to them about it. to them even told police that roger had tried to hire them for the murders. >> roger basically told anybody who would listen that he wanted his wife dead. >> the prosecutor charge roger one solicitation for murder and put him on trial for that. one

of rodgers minions, a young soldier named patrick mueller, was a key witness. >> he was granted immunity and gave a statement explaining that he too had in fact been solicited by roger to kill and. >> then you ask me if i could kill captain wrister map. >> did you tell? >> yes i would. >> response distemper? >> he mentioned something in the throes she would not scream. >> mueller said he went to the house one night but chicken that when he spotted a neighbor. and at the young my testified how potter had tried to hire him. >> he told me he wanted his wife, pretty much, killed. and, x amount of dollars. and i said, i don't know. >> rogers former mistress april, now could've any suspicion, testify that roger talk to her about tampering with winds breaks. >> let's friendly, doesn't understand why one of these young people they don't plug the whistle before lynn was killed. >> i was so angry because i

thought why didn't one of the mentioned to me? why wouldn't that comment not be told to me. because i think, if one of them had told me that, and i would've been packed with that right away. >> with all those witnesses the prosecution thought they had a strong case. but roger had plenty to say about those witnesses. and about his brother rodney. >> did you ask your brother rodney to kill lynn? i >> coming, up i love my wife we are trying to build the future together. >> roger tells a story. well the jury believe it? when dateline continues. welcome

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goli, taste your goals. prime of her life. her brother in law admitted to killing her but was he the only one who wanted and dead? or was her husband also plotting to kill her. here is andrea canning with the conclusion of deadly. devotion >> to take your wife, mother of your child, and the fact that she was carrying his unborn child. i don't even have words of how sick. what a monster. >> bonjour easter didn't look like a monster when he went on trial for criminal solicitation. but lots of witnesses said he talked about killing his wife to anyone who would listen. well now 12, jurors were listening. and it took them all of three hours to find him guilty. >> when you are guilty -- >> likely not from under eight. me my lawyers had my arms.

>> arduous and it's a life in prison, he spoke to us from behind glass at a texas state prison. >> the prosecutor said, and is closing statements, who is a crying for? referring to you. he said, he was crying for himself. >> no, i was crying for my wife in man born child. it had nothing to do with me. >> why should we believe you? >> because i didn't do it. because i love my wife. >> he told us he might military has been but he never wanted landed. was life easier without her? >> no that's all we got back together. we separated and i moved back into the barracks. that's why we got back

together. because life doesn't easier without her. that was better with her. it always has. >> but remember, the prosecution said there was a long list of motives. all right let's run to the motives of why the prosecution said that you want to your wife did. first was that you want to the 20 50,000 dollar life insurance policy. >> no. doesn't make much sense. lynn was making more money than i was. so $25, 000, also does have the same amount of them. >> you want to so causative tristan? >> no, listen i would've definitely had joined custody. it's one that we talked about whenever we briefly separated. >> you didn't go to a military prison for committing adultery? >> no. it's been a very long time since anybody was convicted of a felony for adultery. in the military. >> he says he still doesn't understand why all his old

friends turned on him. but he doesn't have a good explanation for why they all would have lied. >> you had a lot of people saying that he wanted to have your wife killed? >> you've got with a really good reason for it, all those people, and i haven't. obviously, maybe some at the individual motive. >> but six people. >> i know. >> that's a lot of people, all lying and gang up on you. >> i don't know with the reasons are but you'd be surprised if people say. >> a year after rodgers trial his brother broadly was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. roger still says rodney acted alone. >> one of the things that is hard to represent around is that rodney had this love for you. he looked up to you. and

for rodney to turn on you and say that my brother asked me to kill his wife. and i did it out of love for him. why in the world would he make that up? >> maybe to save his own life. i heard there trying to give him the death penalty and the only thing that he could've done to even save his life was to say something like that. and maybe a little bit sympathies for why. >> this is a man who loved you. >> if you love me would've killed my wife. >> you do seem like you're playing the part of picks them a little bit by saying this person made this up. this person made this up. poor me.

all these people are like. >> i'm innocent man sitting in jail, so yeah, i do kind of feel like a victim, yes. >> he says that he's the victim in this. that all these people lied and now he's behind bars because of the lies. >> all these people lied? i don't even know to say that. >> that assessment profoundly ultimate been her undoing and that landed want other people to learn from that. >> sometimes you don't keep fighting to keep that marriage together. that maybe, there is a time, that it is better to say. it is over. and walk away. >> even up, this case could bring detective every tutors. >> can you explain it?? why you have this emotion? can you put into words? >> it is hard and, she was pregnant. of course you have tristan. and tristan lots everything. he >> but it to the heart of? >> she was trying to keep our family together. and i don't think she knew will kind of man she was married to. >> do you think about your wife's last moments and you're unborn child's last moments? how horrific there w>> no. i that it'll. it's not>> agreed to centrist into >> i know is that a good home. that's probably one of the good things that i did before i got locked up was make sure that he went to that family. in particular. >> he does know anything about me. >> we spoke to tristan when it was 19 years old. he said he had a good group of friends but it had been a difficult road. >> very clearly doesn't know anything of gone through. and ufc doesn't that as or stand

that most of would've gone through is because of his decision. >> he keeps saying that you had this great upbringing and that gives him peace, essentially but life is not so easy. >> it wasn't. it was a very difficult place to grow up in. just, general, the very fact that i lost my parents is one thing that has traumatized me. political live with my aunt, who is in effect a stranger to me, as a kid, is it was a lot. >> still, his difficult life has pointed him in an

interesting direction. you want to be a crime scene investigator? >> yes, i do. >> as this 100% from your own experience? or something else? >> labor not i've always been really interested in anatomy and how things work. but i also want to have a bunch of questions answered about my own life. about the situation with my parents, mainly. and that curiosity kind of blood over to other situations. >> minimum. >> tristan treasures baby book his mother bag for him. and he loves listening to the audiotape she made for her sisters, 16th birthday. >> it's cool hearing her. i sometimes wonder if she would be happy with how my life is going. and my decisions. or should be proud of me, or whatnot. >> you've overcome the odds.

you are in college. you're making something of your life. >> it's not over yet, i got a long way to go. >> how could she not be part of that? >> i'm sure she is. just wish i knew for sure. >> i miss you so much, i'm a solid, and i hope you guys stay good. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie morales, thank you for tuning in. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and this is dateline. >> he was coming towards me with his arms raised. i started pushing back. he grabbed me.