but she's in heaven and the man went to president. >> tell them the tragic story of a man and woman who sank in the undertow of what once was >> we got an outcome that nancy deserves, but it's not also a winning hand for everybody and brad lost his life as well. there's many things that were lost, lives that i'll craig -- i've been forever changed. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin, and i'm and this is dateline. >> it was a small new year's

eve party. we took off and then short later after -- my gut was telling my feet to run back to that house. this can't be happening. >> when the party ended, the mystery began. >> it was just crazy, i didn't understand what was happening and why. >> his wife, the hostess, had seemed fine the whole night. then -- >> my wife just shot herself in the head. please! help me! please help me! >> her death was ruled a suicide. but not everyone agreed. >> i was always afraid he was going to hurt her. always. always. >> did a fight that night lead to something much worse? >> i knew that ashley wouldn't take her own life. >> a troubled woman or a troubled marriage? >> that wound on the back of her head isn't one she could do it herself, tom.

it is not. >> oh [bleep] [ bleep ]. >> suicide or murder? >> i didn't do this. >> i just knew that my whole world is never going to be the same again, ever. >> hello and welcome to dateline. it was december 31st, and by all appearances, ashley fallis was in the mood to celebrate. a vibrant mother of three, she gathered her friends and family to ring in the new year. but as her guest began the countdown to midnight, who could've known they were also marking the last hour of ashley 's young life? here's keith morrison with after the party. >> what is so optimistic as a party on new years eve? what night is hopeful, full of anticipation as the clean slate midnight brings.

>> it was a small new years eve party. >> just family and friends. >> disappointment is inevitable, of course. clean slates no matter how ardently desired are messy all too soon. >> we noticed that there was a lot of alcohol out. >> still, we celebrate possibilities and drown pass sorrows and watch the clock that ticks towards our new beginnings. and our ends. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> on december 31st 2011, an hour north of denver in west evans -- colorado, ashley and tom fallis, surrounded by friends and family dent to the music that brought them together, their wedding song. >> they decided to get up and dance in the middle of their living room. >> everybody watching? >> with everyone watching. >> they were romantic. >> well, i think i said, oh, this is sweet. >> it was their party, ashley's

and tom's -- she invited her coworkers like andrea. >> it was casual but she verbally told everyone at work that you should come. >> they work to get that a rehabilitation hospital where ashley was a respiratory therapist. >> well, she was crazy, nice. >> crazy? >> just spunky. >> yeah. just full of energy. she was a happy person. she left a lot and joked. >> their friendship was new, anthea didn't know a lot about ashley but listened to her chatter about jobs and marriages and their three kids. the youngest of whom was born with the dangerous condition called hydrocephalus which causes life-threatening fluid to buildup in the brain. >> she talked about it a lot. >> yeah, did she? >> yeah, but i didn't get the impression that she felt burdened by it. i just felt like it was the car she was dealt. >> well, in fact, she embraced the challenge said ashley's mom, jenna. became a public advocate. >> she went to washington d. c. -- >> wow. >> to speak with congressman

for funding for hydrocephalus. so, she had a full play. >> so did tom for that matter. >> i liked tom. he was a pretty good guy. very intelligent. >> jeff rodriguez was tom's boss at the county jail, they were corrections officers. >> he was a good employee. he had a son that was sick. so, he did miss more work than what most fellows officers liked. >> stressful draining, caring for a sick child. so, maybe their new years eve party was a way to hope for better times and take a break too. >> ashley's adoptive dad joel was at the party. >> there was dancing going on. people were having a good time. >> ashley seemed to be having a fine time, said andrea. >> she and tom seems to be getting along fine. >> they seem to be getting along fine. >> that's when anthea an andrea went on into the kitchen to have a little party of their own. >> what were you drinking? >> jungle juice and jell-o shots. >> oh my.

>> yeah, i was having a good time, i intended to have a good time. >> there was one unusual thing those said andrea. ashley had just gone through something kind of awful. >> she found out that she had a miscarriage that day. and i said, oh, i'm sorry, are you okay? >> no, yeah, it's fine. >> did it strike you as odd? >> no, i didn't think that it was odd. >> was she unhappy about the miscarriage? >> my impression of it was that she already has her beautiful family, it seemed like her life was already complete. so, i don't think that she was devastated that she had found out that she had a miscarriage. >> no tears, andrea said. just a quick cudgel mention and then the conversation moved on. >> we want don to talk about other things? went >> on to talk about other. things probably went on to go get another -- >> jell-o shot? >> jell-o shot. >> midnight arrived. there were, as they're always, our kisses and smiles and toast. by 12:30, the party was over.

>> i give a hug, told her by, we talked about future plans. >> how did she seem? >> happy. >> but oh how quickly the new year's clean slate darkened. as an uncle prepared to leave, actually asked him for a bit of his marijuana to smoke later, she said. tom, the sheriff's department in plea was furious and reminded ashley's family that her employer required regular drug test. was it the alcohol that amped up the family screaming match? whatever. ashley's parents have their own recollections. >> he walks by me and he says that he hated us all and wished we would all bleeping die. anyone into the benjamins on the door. >> ashley came out of the door bathroom and was just going like, what's going on, or else we're going to leave. >> and then she's like, hey, i'm having a superbowl party in a couple of weeks, you know. don't forget about that. >> but, ashley's parents were

rattled. they drove away then pulled off to the side of the road to talk. ashley's mom sent a text to tom. >> and i'm, like you know, there's kids in the house, calm down. >> what arrived was their young granddaughter was involved in quite another destruction, with 9-1-1. >> can you go open the door and let the officers in? [screaming] >> it's open, it's open. >> the new year was less than an hour old and off to a very bad start. >> coming up -- >> chaos, it was shocking. >> a frantic race to save a life. what happened in that house? >> i just knew that my whole world is never going to be the same again, ever. >> when dateline continues. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh!

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keith morrison: 2012 is not even an hour old. new year's celebrants had only just poured themselves old. new years celebrants, had only just poured themselves into their cars to head home. and in a little house in west evans, colorado, it was already the worst year ever. >> 9-1-1, what's the address of your emergency? >> my wife just shot herself in the head. please, please help me! please help me! >> the man on the phone was tom fallis, begging for help and willing his wife to live. >> no, you're staying here. you're staying here!

>> tom told the dispatcher, she shot herself and he put the phone down. he was holding his hand to her head trying in vain to stop the bleeding. so we had this nine year old daughter pick up the phone. >> honey, are you there? >> yes. >> okay, can you go open the door and let the officers and? >> yes. >> okay. >> mommy got shot. >> okay. okay we're going to help or, you just need to open the door. >> brian spencer was a well county sherrif deputy back. then he discovered admitted that the local police discovered that the evidence police have beaten him there. >> we believe that there was through their head of me and then there was more sirens nights that you could hear coming. >> that's a pretty fast response. >> very fast. >> and, this bit of news was going around fast too. >> this was a sheriffs employee, a jail employee. >> not the subject matter. the -- was save ashley fallis's life.

this was recorded by a police body camera shows the paramedics arriving. chaotic? >> the scene, very frantic, the officers located ashley fallis somewhere in the home. >>the local police took charge. they asked brian spencer to watch the front of the property. and that's when his post on the front porch, he saw, tom. that's him in the background in the white t-shirt. >> he was pacing around in the front yard and front sidewalk area, frantic, screaming. >> screaming what, do you remember? >> i heard him say, she is dead. a lot of mumbled stuff. he would put his hands up over his face and screaming and crying. >> by this time, ashley's parents had pulled off the road home to talk and worry about the fight that ended the party. when they heard the sirens, saw the lights flash by, headed that way -- >> something automatically felt bad. and i whipped a u-turn. >> he didn't have the car stop and i was out running to the house. were >> you able to go and see ashley? >> no, i could hear what was going on. i had all three kids. and they were just crying and crying and screaming.

and i'm crying. >> it was just crazy. it was like a nightmare. i could see blood splatter on the wall, the master bedroom wall. >> what was it like? >> chaos. it was shocking. >> you understand it was your daughter? >> yes. i do recall just being hysterically upset and crying. and thinking that this can't be happening to my daughter. this can be happening to us. but yet it was. >> inside the master bedroom, ashley was alive. but the wounds to her head were catastrophic. the police body cam of footage shows officers kneeling on the floor, trying to stabilize her condition. >> paramedics went in. and they made a decision to do

what we call a load and go. which means they're not gonna spend any time doing life support stuff. >> ashley's mom, gianna, huddled with her grandchildren in a neighboring bedroom. listening to it all through a closed door. >> was there any way to describe what it's like for mother to be in that situation? >> no. your brain does funny things. i just knew that my whole world is never going to be the same again, ever. >> outside, brian spencer watched tom pacing back and forth, crying and talking to himself. >> i noticed he's wearing a white t-shirt. and he's covered, i believe it was on this left side in large amounts of blood. >> it was odd, brian thought, that the evidence police officers didn't take tom's clothes or bag his hands for gunshot residue. >> he still had evidence on him. and he needed to be preserved. he needed to be controlled. >> he needed to be processed. >> and, clothing removed, everything. >> that's not what happened. not at all. and soon after ashley was rushed off to the e. r., tom got in the back of a squad car and was driven away.

but surprisingly, not to the hospital. >> coming up -- tom tells his story. >> i heard her gun cocked, and i looked up and i said, what are you doing? >> but police don't seem to believe him. >> the wound on the back of her head isn't what she could do it herself, tom. it is not. >> bull [ bleep ]. >> when dateline continues. - great people. different people, that's for sure, and all of them had different reasons for getting a reverse mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same about two things: they all loved their home, and they all wanted to stay in that home. and they all wanted to stay in that home. - [announcer] if you're 62 or older and own your home, you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan eliminates your monthly mortgage payments and puts tax-free cash in your pocket.

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keith morrison: in the first cold dark hours of 2012,

hours of 2012, ashley fallis's parents followed an ambulance to the hospital, and followed and caught up to her to the icu. >> we walked in to her bleeding out of everywhere. >> there wasn't really any hope. they could see that. she was going to die. >> i just sat down and held her hand. >> but tom wasn't there to hold her hand. tom fallis was at the evidence police station answering questions. >> i don't know what's going on, i had no idea at that time asking for the statements. >> it was two a. m., and tom was still wearing blood stained clothes, the ones the sheriff deputy thought should have already been bagged as evidence. >> i just thought, how is your relationship with your wife? >> really good. >> but, said tom, ashley was

devastated when she miscarried the very day of her new years eve party. >> it was hard for ashley. it was hard for me. but i didn't think that it was getting to this point. >> still, at the party itself, tom said she seemed all right. they got on fine. until the argument about the marijuana. >> tom admitted he was furious at ashley's family, said that he was trying to protect her and they weren't. >> i had told ashley, i was like you don't need to get high. and i was like, whatever happened today about the miscarriage, it happened. you know what [bleep] your mom [bleep] everybody. >> so, there was no love lost between tom and ashley's parents, that was clear. and tom admitted that he and ashley kept arguing as they got ready for bed. and then, he turned around and

went to the closet, he said, and it was all over. >> so, while i was in the closet, i heard her gun cock, and i looked over and i was like what are you doing? i didn't even have the chance to finish my sentence or close to door. there was smoke. i heard it -- i heard it in there was just smoke. i just ran over to her and i just grabbed her head. >> tom told detectives that, sadly, he had been worried about this sort of thing for more than a year. because at she had threatened suicide before. >> what was she saying that she wanted to do so? >> well, just saying that she wanted to and. did you and the kids would be better off with that. >> and, so she had just said those words but you never acted on anything?

>> no. >> and so how long -- >> never once. never once has she ever grabbed her gun, has she ever loaded it, has she ever made this type of gesture whatsoever. >> by this time, while the doctors tried to save ashley, tom had been answering questions for hours. >> i have to ask these questions. that i have to understand -- >> i know, but the problem is that i've been here since forking, what, 2:00 and now it's already 5:00. and i don't know what's going on with my wife. >> but then, the detective noticed something else about tom. >> this scratch mark that's on your chest, what is that? >> where? >> you have like a long red -- >> oh, probably because i've been doing this all night. >> this one just goes straight across here. >> well, i don't know it's just me it's not -- >> okay, and i just had to ask. >> the detective left the room and spoke with ashley's parents, who had arrived at the purpose of telling officers just one thing. their daughter did not shoot

herself. >> we had just seen her seven minutes before this. she was completely fine. you know, she wouldn't do anything like this. >> she was in good spirits when they left, she said. she was already planning her next party. but tom? he'd always had an awful temper, they said. >> i was always afraid he was going to hurt her. always. always. >> why? what about him? >> his temper. >> you can't go from zero to 100 and think clearly. >> i think that he was just in a fit of rage. and he shot her. >> armed with the new information, the detective went back to talk to tom. and zeroed in on those scratches. officers had given him something clean to wear so they could collect his bloody clothing. >> and you have scratches on your body. >> okay. >> do you see this, this is a shaved chest. do you know how bad this hurts and it just. so when i'm sitting there, i do this off work and day. this is actually her blood, it comes off.

see? oh my gosh, it's coming off. it's her blood. >> that's actually a scratch, okay? that's a scratch. >> still, the detective pressed him. he had motive and opportunity, she said. >> so when you went upstairs, you are arguing with her. and you know you are arguing with her. >> she was also reluctant to believe that shooting happened so quickly, no threats or warnings or hesitation. >> she went from saying i'm going to do what i want to just pulling -- >> yeah! yeah, she did! i'm not lying to you. >> and, when the detective gave a description about the gunshot wound, the description that turned out to be inaccurate, that really set tom off. >> you know that would, that wound on the back of her head isn't what she could do it herself, tom. it is not. >> oh [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [ bleep ]. >> and then, quite suddenly, in

the middle of it all, completely out of nowhere, the detective made an abrupt declaration. >> now, i have to let you know your wife did not make it. your wife did not make it. [crying] she was breathing when i was holding her. she was breathing. they told me she was breathing when she left the house. >> ashley died while tom was in police custody. >> i didn't shoot my wife. i didn't shoot the mother of my kids. i didn't shoot the person who i wanted to have another one with. >> what would the police believe? tom's story that the shooting was a suicide or ashley's parents story that he shot their daughter in a fit of rage? coming up -- >> ashley's family is outraged by the investigation's final report. >> it was incomplete. it was inconsistent. no follow-up, it was

unbelievable. >> when dateline continues.

francis river with our top stories. california will begin this year implementing a new law banning the carry of firearms and most public places. federal appeals court decided they allowed the law to take effect, even while it faces numerous legal challenges. and 2024 is the most across the world this morning, despite lingering security concerns over the last week, thousands or on hand in times square just hours ago to watch the iconic ball drop. now, back to dateline. drop welcome back to datelin. i'm craig melvin. though, covered in blood and suspicious scratches, tom fallis insisted that he did not harm his wife, that she was the one who pulled the trigger. ashley's parents weren't buying it. but would the police? here again is keith morrison with after the party.

>> ashley fallis, 28 years old, wife and mother of three was dead. the gunshot wound in her head unsurvivable. it was suicide, said her husband tom. >> i didn't shoot my wife. i didn't -- i didn't do this. >> it was murder, said her parents. >> i had three grandkids that i dearly, dearly loved that i knew in my heart that tom had just killed their mother. >> the news of ashley's death spread quickly in the morning after the party. >> i didn't understand what was happening and why. because everything was fine that night. >> as much confusing as anything. >> very confusing. >> she was happy, she didn't seem suicidal. >> andrea, new friend and coworker, drinking buddy at the party couldn't shake the feeling. >> i don't feel like she would've taken her life, tom was the only other person that was there.

>> so, if it wasn't her it had to be him. >> right. >> but for all their middle of the night questions, the police did not arrest tom, nor charge with anything. >> what were they telling you along the way? >> oh, that they were investigating it. >> at ashley's funeral, tom was one of the speakers. >> ashley didn't have much patience. >> and what he said wasn't the sort of thing people expected to hear. >> and she goes, i don't care when you knew do it, where you do it, i want it now. >> it wasn't unusual and, frankly, very emotional human eulogy for reasons only tommy understand. but her parents were furious. >> when he had that opportunity to speak and share about the woman he so-called loved and called his eternal wife -- all he did was degrade her. >> what was it like to hear that? >> it was shocking. it was unbelievable.

>> as the days turned into weeks, tom remained free. ashley's parent became convinced that something about the investigation was not right. >> joel and i sat down and said look, if for some crazy reason she walked in the house and shot herself and they can show that, we will accept it and support tom. we didn't feel like that was, you know, the case. >> they weren't alone, remember on the night it happened former deputy brian spencer saw tom rolling around freely with blood and other potential evidence all over him. >> police 101 -- very basic thing. any scene that you respond to, you want to treated us the highest level of what it could possibly be. >> sure. so he would be a suspect? >> and he needed to be preserved. he needed to be controlled. >> but, none of that was done at the scene. >> pretty soon, ashley's parents began to suspect it was a cover-up to protect home. perhaps the so-called blue wall

of silence, looking out for a fellow law enforcement officer. >> there's a hell of an accusation to make the. >> it is. it is strong. but that is how we feel. >> mind you, the evidence police department strongly disagreed. both the coroner and the crime scene investigator issued reports concluding as the death was indeed suicide. and remember, tom told the police she'd expressed suicidal thoughts before. and she had to close relatives who had taken their own lives. and, investigators found prescription psychotropic drugs in ashley's purse and night stand, which tom told them she quit cold turkey without medical supervision when she learned she was pregnant. and so, two months after ashley's death, her parents got the news that they feared. police ruled her death a suicide. case closed. >> it made me angry. it made me angry. because i knew, i knew that he shot her. i knew that actually wouldn't

take her own life. >> once the case closed and we got the police report, we realized that they didn't do anything. >> so tell me more about the police report and what you didn't like about it? >> it was incomplete. it was inconsistent. it could've been written by a high school student. no follow-up. it was unbelievable. >> the evidence police department declined to speak with dateline on camera -- what they got on camera but said this about the allegations against them. >> the investigation we conducted was thorough and complete. a conclusion of suicide was determined after an exhaustive review and analysis of all evidence, physical, forensic and testimonial by all of the five agencies involved. ask for ashley's parents, well, there was nothing more either of them could do apparently. and two years went by. during which tom moved to indiana with the kids and enrolled in a local university. >> and i said to him, tom,

murderers always move away. >> it was important to ashley's parents to remain close to those three kids so they fought for grandparents rights and tried, they said, to be civil with tom. but they also told anybody who listened that they believe their daughter had been murdered. like a local reporter. >> he said, do you mind if i start looking into this? angela and i said, no, go ahead start looking into it. and it didn't take him much. >> the reporter asked around, talked to neighbors. and asked the evans police department to comment on what he heard. and before you know it, the chief announced ashley's case would be reopened. >> i extend my sincere sympathy to the family of ashley fallis four their loss, and the revisited grieve that can accompany the grief of a difficult case such as this one. >> and i start crying. because it's the catalyst for opening everything up. i finally have someone who's taking it seriously. >> denver's fox 31 aired the startling discovery that

prompted -- the investigation. in particular, a neighbor who was only 15 at the time said that he heard tom admit to shooting ashley. >> it's pretty hard to forget hearing someone confessed their murder and then getting away with it. >> to prevent any suggestion of taint or cover-up, the case was turned over to the nearby fort collins police department. for the next seven months, officers talked to witnesses both old and new and hired experts to re-examine forensic evidence. and when their work was done, well county d. a., michael roark, decided to assemble a grand jury. >> what i wanted to do is i wanted to put all of that information, as much as we can gather and almost susie does a test run. >> and they said? -- >> and they indicted him. >> got the phone call that they indicted him. and i just started crying. >> tom fallis was arrested in indiana, charged with second degree murder and brought back to colorado to stay a trial.

ashley's parents were finally optimistic. >> i believe that they will find him guilty of murdering our daughter. i believe that that's going to happen. >> did you decide to believe it or do you really believe it? >> i really believe it. >> coming up -- >> a powerful one two punch from the prosecution. >> i heard him saying, oh my, god what have i done. >> she said, i can hear her screaming, get off me, get off me. >> when dateline continues.

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keith morrison: four years after ashley fallis' death fallis's death, her husband tom is on trial for murder. dan grossman of nbc denver's affiliate k usa was in the courtroom for opening statements. >> the rooms are packed, you have ashley's parents, there are a lot of family members and uncles. even just people from the public were interested in this case. >> the prosecution's allegation was perfectly clear, tom fallis argued with his wife, and in a fit of rage, shot and killed her. >> and in conclusion of this case, after we've received all of the evidence, you will be convinced from the honoree is no doubt that it is him who pulled the trigger. >> prosecution witnesses said that ashley was high-spirited

at her new years eve party. not at all suicidal. >> she was happy the whole night, laughing, smiling -- >> she was dancing with her children, interacting with all the guests. >> tom though? >> ashley's uncle john testified about tom's sudden blow up when he discovered ashley asked him for joint. >> and then i was sort of taken back up by it because everything was fun that night and all of the sudden, boom, so it's like whoa! >> the neighbors had actually told her how tom got physical with her. >> she told me how she had been pushed around before. he had never hitter. but he was physical and pushing her. >> dea roark wanted the jury to hear that tom had a hot temper, that he was volatile. >> anger would've been the most obvious motive. >> simply lost his anger? >> anger. >> -- >> to prove it, the witness. ear witness you could say. nick glover, the neighbor whose story was reported on television and helped reopen the case. >> i heard him saying to a cop, oh my god, what have i done,

what have i done. >> nick was 15 at the time. he, said he remembered crouching down inside of his house under an open window, listening to tom speak to people in his driveway. >> you could hear one of them, i do not know who it was say what? what do you mean? and he proceeded to say, i shot my wife. >> nick said he knew it was tom. he could see him out the window. >> how certain are you that the voice you're hearing is tom fallis's voice? >> i am 100%. >> there was more. nick's mom, kathy glover testified that night, that she got a call from a teenage neighbor around 1 am. >> she said, please help me call the police. >> and i said no, i didn't. and she said why? because your neighbor just shot his wife. and i said, what? and she said, i could hear her screaming get off, me get off me. >> powerful evidence. and then that neighbor

testified. but, uh oh. >> do you remember telling kathy glover the phone conversation about saying, early morning, i heard her screaming, get off me, get off me. >> i do not. >> she was 16 and drinking that night, she says. so, that might explain her faulty memory. >> do you recall telling officer grossman that you heard a female yelling, get off of me, get off of me. >> i do not. >> did you expect that from her? >> yeah. it didn't surprise me. >> it hurt you the. >> it hurt. but, i thought when you had a police officer interviews are within an hour, an hour and half of the shooting. as she was clear as day saying that these are the things i heard from my back window, whether she had been drinking that night or not. to me, that is the most believable version of events. >> so, a hiccup perhaps. but, then there was the crime scene. remember, the corner and the csi officer said at the, time the scene screamed suicide.

but this prosecution witness -- >> my name is jonathan w. priest. priest is a former homicide detective and forensic consultant who used a miniature model of the fallis bedroom to show her position. >> so, she has to be here and then bent down so that she will fit this trajectory area. >> he was convinced that if ashley shot herself, there would be more blood on the floor and surrounding surfaces. not just this one carpet stain. >> so, we have indications of bleeding. but the type of injury that we are talking about is going to bleed a lot. and that is not the kind of stain i would expect to see if that's what was occurring. something is keeping that blood from reaching that area. >> and he believed that something was tom fallis. remember, his clothing was drenched with blood. priest concluded that tom and ashley must have been in close contact with the gun went off. you think the prosecutor, he

suggested that there was a struggle when the shot was fired. >> i can keep blood staining from getting on to the wall, but -- or on to the cabinet and i can lower her continuing to bleed onto my shirt to where i get her in this position. >> the prosecution rested its case. and what possible defense could there be? well, for a start, this -- >> i have so much pain on the inside, i can no longer take it. >> a letter. and what a letter it was. >> coming up -- >> a troubled marriage or a troubled young woman? >> what kind of mental health issues did you observe ashley fallis to be going through? >> mood swings. impulsive behaviors. >> and, the verdict. when dateline continues. l ife. in 1984, a patient named stacy arrived,

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keith morrison: it can't be an easy thing for a juror imagining a moment he or she didn't see-- juror, imagining the moment he or she didn't see -- >> -- >> and deciding what must have happened. did tom fallis kill his wife ashley in a fit of violent temper or what? >> tom fallis did not kill his wife and mother of their three children. ashley fallis committed suicide. remember how the prosecution

talked of ashley's happy frame of mind? that friend was a kind of lies, said the defense. >> ashley fallis was a beautiful woman but she had a terrible pain inside. she was mentally ill. >> the defense put one of ashley's close friends on the stand. >> what did you know of ashley having a mental illness? >> i knew that she was on medications. we spoke pretty in-depth about that. >> but even with the medications, the friend testified, ashley had trouble controlling her emotions. >> what kind of mental health issues did you observe ashley fallis to be going through? >> depression, mood swings, impulsive behaviors. >> in fact, the defense argued

ashley was so depressed the summer before she died she wrote this letter to tom. >> i have so much pain on the inside i can no longer take it. i am sorry to do this to you and the kids but i find myself not even liking my children. >> every day is a chore with them and you. i have to pretend to be happy. i have to pretend to be someone i am not. please make sure you raise the kids to continue to go to the school we have chosen. i do love them. i just can't take this life any longer. please make sure you let them know every day that i do love them and this is not their fault. suicide expert, doctor michael allen studied the letter as well as ashley's medical records and testified about his review. >> do you have an opinion in this case about whether or not ashley fallis is a high risk to commit suicide on january 1st 2012? >> yes.

my opinion, is that she had many, many risk factors and warning signs. >> remember, detectives had learned years before that actually had a family history of suicide. both her maternal uncle and her grandmother took their own lives. that, said doctor allen, put ashley at a higher risk for doing the same thing. >> two close family members who had died by suicide would suggest a genetic propensity for suicide. >> the defense argued that on new year's eve 2011, it was the miscarriage that broke her will to go on. that she spent the night masking her pain with alcohol. that she planned to dull it further marijuana after the party. and that is why tom was upset. >> she was vulnerable. he was concerned about her. he didn't want her to add marijuana to this toxic system that was developing inside of ashley fallis. >> the defense conceded ashley and tom quarreled that night, but insisted it never got

physical. those scratches on tom's chest, the ones the prosecutors believed were proof of a struggle, dna tests never found any evidence to support it. >> you did not find any of ashley fallis's dna, cellular material on those swabs from tom's chest, correct? >> that is correct. >> the defense reminded them that tom told the police why he had those scratches. that he had done a little man scaping to spice up his marriage. he had texted some photos to prove it. >> there is tom fallis when he has found his chest, all the way to the left. and on december 17th, 2011 he texted ashley, there you have it, you get your way so here it is. i thought you might like it. >> so, the scratches, said the defense was because it was itchy. that's all. >> as for the so-called

witnesses of defense, totally unreliable. the one changed her story on the stand. and the other? just months after the shooting, young nick glover, when capping with tom. the very man he said he heard confessed to shooting ashley fallis. >> i had no time during the camping trip with tom fallis did you ever tell anybody that you are uncomfortable being there with tom fallis? >> i do not recall. >> who had to believe? for example, wasn't one but two prosecution crime scene analysts. this one, you've already heard believed it was murder. but this one? >> most people that should somebody and in an act of rage, they don't stop with one shot. >> dan galen was the crime scene expert from the first investigation of ashley's death. using a defense attorney, about the same height ashley, he demonstrated how difficult it would've been for someone as tall as tom who could've shot ashley at an angle that match

the bullet trajectory. >> first of all, is that an unnatural position? for another person to be holding the gun in that manner? >> it is, for me. >> and, mr. fallis is six feet tall, how tall are you? >> i'm six feet as well. >> and the gun was ashley's -- >> the shooting happened in arms reach of where it was usually stored said the defense. after examining all the ballistic blood splatter evidence, gillis -- just didn't believe the shooting was murder. >> i believe that the story that mr. fallis gave is consistent with the evidence found at the scene. >> in other words, he thought it was suicide. so, what happened in that moment after midnight? how would a jury decide? >> upon reaching a verdict, you will form the bailiff who will in turn notify me. >> the usa -- settled in for a bit of a weight. >> this was almost a three-week trial. there's a lot of evidence. >> you thought that they were

looking at coming back the next day to hear the verdict. >> but, no. less than four hours later, a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant thomas fallis not guilty in right of the second degree and all lesser defenses signed by the jury foreperson. >> not guilty. not murder. after four long years of living under a cloud of suspicion, tom fallis was acquitted of all charges. >> he stayed straight faced to his defense attorney. he was very emotional. but ashley's parents, they left the courtroom fairly quickly. >> ashley's parents declined to talk with dateline -- after the verdict but their legal battles were far from over. they filed a civil lawsuit against several law enforcement officers of the evans police department, who, they believed falsified and alter and admitted key evidence to make ashley's death look like a suicide.

despite the verdict, they continued to pursue the case. but, in 2017, a u.s. district court issued a final judgment dismissing their claims. >> what about ashley's family, can they just accept this and go on? >> i don't think they will ever accepted. to say that they were distraught would be an understatement. they, i, think truly believe that tom fallis killed their daughter and they are never going to let that go. >> an idea once so deeply engraved, sure enough will not go away. and tom fallis and his children make a life as best they can. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching.