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tv   Dateline  MSNBC  February 10, 2024 10:00pm-12:00am PST

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don't wait, call and switch today! samira full of energy, a very attractive girl. she had that model look. she did not do anything low key. all of the strange twists this story took. >> summer was full of energy, very attractive girl. she had that model look. she did not do anything low key. all of the strange twists this story took, now you know someone who's been murdered. it was like nothing i'd expect to happen. >> inside a gated community, a harrowing discovery. >> it's a lady laying in the
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pole. >> she's completely gone? >> yes. >> the scene of the crime scene , we were looking for anything that stood out. >> her sandal. >> tucked right underneath the hose on the edge. >> it was obvious this was staged. >> was there someone who wanted samira out of the way? >> there was a black female standing outside. mr. frechette had multiple female acquaintances. >> they all had a common career , they were exotic dancers. >> two clues. one chilling -- >> we had an unknown dna on a rope that came off the victim. i literally looked at it and thought, seriously? >> that was absolutely stunning. >> behind the curtain was a very dark story. ♪ ♪ ♪
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>> it was a cold morning in february, cold for a northern florida, that is. crisp, but sunny when the call came in. >> can i get an officer out here in golden eagle? it's a lady laying in the pool -- in her backyard, in her pool. >> it made no sense, really. too cold for a swim. but the lady was not swimming. wasn't even floating. down at the bottom of the pool. >> she's dead. >> she was lying, face up, her palms too. as if in supplication. her leopard print robe drifting in the water around her. >> she'd been in there -- i don't know how long. she, she completely gone. >> the house with the backyard pool was located in an exclusive gated community in tallahassee, florida called golden eagle. first responders went there and pretty soon, sheriffs detective
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tony got the call. >> they said they'd found a body in a pool. and we were scrambling our investigative unit. >> was that as much as you knew when you got the first call? >> it was. >> you would discover the emts that were there by then. tried cpr, just in case. given that the water was so cold. >> i don't think they knew how long she had been in the pool. so, the thought process was maybe that they could revive her. >> because a person's metabolism slows down sometimes, it looks like they are dead, but maybe they're not dead. was there a serious thought that she might have survived? >> it was not the case. >> no, at the hospital, the doctors tried to check her body temperature to determine how long she had been dead. but she was too cold for the thermometer. no way to calculate how long she had been in the pool. of course, by then, they had figured out who she was. samira frasch, unusual name.
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they looked her up online and, wow. >> she was gorgeous. and she was really a volume. >> some mirage was amazing, look at, her stunning, most certainly. and glamorous. and very french. >> it's everything or nothing. i'm french, i know. >> once upon a time she turned heads in paris, runway model, sultry model, a singer, or so the stories went. such a shame what happened to her. and such a mystery. >> when you think of all the strange twists of that the story took. >> joel silver was a friend, by the time it all ended. >> the story is very sad, how it all ended up. but it is still a wild story. >> the story, her story, was not at all wild to begin with. she was born far away in french speaking madagascar.
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she was poor, dirt poor, like the dirt floors in her family's little house. and her story, frankly, would've ended their, anonymously, we'd have nothing to tell. where not for something in her. some drive, some desire. >> she was full of energy and determination, and she always wanted to be doing something. >> over here, we call it the american dream. there, it was paris. it was her own hard work that won her a spot in the paris college. it was her talents and her remarkable look that got her a place on paris fashion runways, and still, there'd be no story for us were it not for a night in 2006 in a trendy paris nightclub when she met him. adam frasch. jackie watson, a french national herself, was samara's friend. >> he was showered her with gift, love, and flowers.
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>> it was that ultimate intoxicant, love at first sight. she was brilliant, tall, and incredibly beautiful. and he was a prominent and successful florida doctor, a podiatrist, surgeon, and attractive, said samara's friend, jackie. >> very handsome man, tall, bright blue eyes, very good- looking. they made the perfect couple. >> and he was smitten. she showed him us paris he had not seen before, but never like you saw it with samara. >> beautiful way, beautiful spirit. huge smile. >> adam's friend saw it too, like the reverend larry johnson. >> they were obviously in love with each other. >> the romance with adam was right out of a book. >> she said actually was like a fairytale. >> so that's how it began, and back and forth they went, he
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would fly to paris, she to tallahassee, florida, where he lived, just so they could see each other. adam could not stop talking about her, couldn't believe his luck. >> he said i'm in love with her, i'm going to marry her. >> he was a catch too, right? oh yes. he had flown through college in three years, was the youngest graduate in his med school class. a workaholic in school and out. >> when he was in college, he had three part-time jobs for a while. and he never buy pop because that cost too much. he drank water. >> but his medical practice, said his dad, was amazing. >> he was very successful. i'd go in the office in the waiting room would be full when i got there, and 5:00 it would still be full. >> and by the time adam met samara, he was both a respected podiatrist and welcome, and with two practices in georgia, just over the florida border in tallahassee. >> i was impressed with his professionalism. he was not in a hurry to do it fast and get out, get on to the
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next patient. he had a big heart. >> before they got married, they had to wait, adam and samara. he was in the midst of a divorce. and when it was final, they did not hesitate. they married in vegas. and they made their home in tallahassee. not many french nationals here. >> tallahassee? >> yeah. talk about a cultural shift. >> no kidding. you don't say. >> annabelle diaz became some mirages soulmate? culture shock is an easy phrase to say but for french women like annabelle and samara, getting used to tallahassee was not so easy. >> all have to do is open your mouth? >> exactly. >> and you're different. >> yes. >> annabelle, who emigrated years earlier, had to give samara a tutorial on the english language, when it came to words with that began with the letter h. >> remember, in french, people
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to not say their h's. so imagine speaking english one h silent -- >> it's not like you speak from ex variant? >> i do. >> so hate comes out as eight, -- >> do not use h words, they won't understand you. >> can hear she had friends like jackie and annabelle. and annabelle's mother who kind of adopted samara. a good life. >> we were just trying to be a bunch of french girls drinking red wine and eating cheese. >> and fortunately for adam and samara, there were babies. first came little barbara, a baby who would have the childhood samara could only dream of. >> i think she was trying to provide this will for this baby that she thought the baby deserved it. >> hire a and then skater. samara pick the names.
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>> her entire world were those two kids. every night she would just be with her babies. >> say hey. hi! >> i don't think there's anything that she wanted to do or be except for being their mother. her whole world revolved around them. >> and then, it was that february morning in 2014, about 11 am, it was the handyman who called 9-1-1. and here the story seemed to end the adventures of samara dead, at just 38. though really, in a way, the story had just begun. coming up. >> it's a lady laying in the pool -- in her backyard, in her pool. >> what happened to samara? the tale told by -- >> tucked underneath the hose by the edge. >> had she tripped, chasing the family dog?
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would be the first. time >> i one saw her come close trying to catch. and >> when dateline continues. and >> when dateline continues. ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. with the majority of my patients with sensitivity
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when handyman gerald gardner called 9-1-1 that chilly ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: when handyman gerald gardener called 9-1-1 that chilly morning in february 2014 -- >> there is a lady in the pool, in her backyard, and her pool. >> reporter: he told the operator he knew samira frasch and her children, two little girls that he couldn't find them. >> where are her kids? he said -- >> i don't know, ma'am. i can get in the house. i can get nothing. i just saw her in the back of the pool. >> reporter: investigator jason illumine searched for clues at that place samira frasch's all too short lived came to a sudden end. >> i was, like does anything stand out? >> reporter: and right away, what stood out was evidence of one of those bizarre group goldberg tripping accidents people tend to fall prey to. this is police video.
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the poll deck was kind of a mess. and look at this -- one of samoura's sandals was caught under a garden hose that run across the deck and into the pool. >> tucked right underneath the hose on the edge, and then the other one was just down in the bottom of the pool. >> reporter: and detective tony jerauld discovered that samira 's indoor dog bella had escaped to the pool deck. so -- >> they had a small dog that is apparently running around if it gets out. >> well, i figured she fell, that stupid dog they had got out, ran around the pool. >> reporter: when he heard about samira's death, her father in law alvin frosch said the same thing nearly happened to him during a visit. >> i couldn't get around the pool. i've stumbled on that hose trying to catch him. so, it seemed obvious. >> reporter: samira must have been chasing her little dog, tripped on the hose, maybe hit her head, and wound up in the pool. and tragically, the one thing
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samira could not do was swim. and one look at the web told detectives this was otherwise a very versatile woman. >> you can definitely google, search her, youtube -- >> reporter: and there she was. about a half dozen music videos under the name samira diaz. many named in her native madagascar, and it did not go viral. but when she became a mother, samira's ambition shifted. >> yeah -- >> translator: >> reporter: now, she wanted her daughter, eventually daughters, to be the center of attention. >> i said, but she is so young, she so beautiful. she said let us be serious here. let's take care of the kids. >> reporter: the kids had a big idea, and that's when she first met joel silver. he's a producer. in 2012, she called him out of the blue, and set up a meeting.
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>> my baby is beautiful, it should be on tv, on commercials, on this. but samira acted on this. >> reporter: because, said silver, samira instinctively seem to understand the power of social media. >> by that time, we were starting to see those kinds of things on youtube and facebook. >> through? >> famous people, famous dogs on facebook that had thousands of millions of followers. >> why not a famous baby? >> why not a famous baby was her idea. it was, let's go and see how it works. >> you were in? >> i was in! >> reporter: the idea was to create and market a children's clothing line based on the outfit she designed for her daughter. she would sell them to website called samira. com. the u2 videos would push potential customers toward site. if the kardashians can do it -- why not her? >> she said, i want to make videos of my baby, and i want to travel and make sure everybody can see how beautiful my baby is. >> reporter: it seems to be a perfect formula, that's using the online clothing business based on little higher, so she could be close to her baby. and adam can see the country and have fun. in the vehicle.
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>> when i saw her and her husband and that vehicle, i looked at them and said, this is what i want one day. >> reporter: they took their road show all over the country. vegas, disney world, hollywood, the kentucky derby -- >> look at that. >> reporter: washington, d. c., new york's times square, and everybody admired the baby. >> on, very cute. >> reporter: even another tv celebrity, the great -- >> you are so gorgeous, samira. >> reporter: i don't know if she just thought, this is how you do it in america. >> there's some evidence to suggest it is, or something like that. >> yes. right, when you come to the u.s., this is what she thought, i guess, was the best way to showcase hyra. >> reporter: in the background, adam, always a bit off camera, quietly covered, proud, but worried a little, protective.
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of course, he financed the productions, paid for her music videos, too. >> out on the road, were you ever approached by people who thought this was off? >> we never really got any kind of backlash from anybody about saying this is terrible, what are you doing, what are you doing? and it might be, because hyra was just always the perfect tv star. she was always in a great mood, always waving, smiling. anytime you see any of these videos, this baby was always happy. >> reporter: and samira, over the top or not, she was somehow genuine, said silver. and he rolled the camera, as she, no fuss, no furs, no makeup, doted on her baby girl. this, thought joel silver, was true love. and then, there was the party. hyra's first birthday party, and samira biggest promotional social media.
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she pulled out all the stock that tallahassee had never seen anything like this. >> with how much samira love this baby, she was determined to make it the party of all parties. this was like an l. a., you know, hollywood birthday of a celebrity baby. >> reporter: samira played host and narrator. >> okay, two days is hyra one's your birthday. watch. >> reporter: then, dressed as egyptian guards, a sword wielding belly dancer, and samira dripping gold, and wearing a gown fit for a queen of the nile. what adam frasch, her husband, went for something a little more elvis. and there at the center of it all, their daughter, hyra back in white feathers and four. as they sang happy birthday, samira and adam were beaming. as they hint on the world, a little more than a year, she'd be gone. her baby is just two years old
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and ten months, without a mother. detectives had watched the videos in something like an amazement, and then, they heard from the coroner. and remember that group, goldberg chirping thing -- maybe not an accident after all. coming up -- what the medical examiner had to say? >> the physical filing was -- >> reporter: and questions about the handyman who refused to pour her from the water. >> he's like, i wasn't gonna touch her. >> reporter: -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren, the joy of movement. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... in real time. (jen) so we partner with verizon. their solution for us? a private 5g network.
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there was one little thing here in the pool ♪ wh♪ ♪ >> reporter: there was one little thing near the pool where samira frasch met her end. it was something about the sandal there in the water. the one trapped under a garden hose. it bothered investigator jason
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newlin. >> the sandals that had a strap on the heel, a lot of the females in the office would say that that doesn't just fall off your foot like that. >> reporter: that sandal looked it -- almost looked like somebody had created a little stage setting, like it was too perfect, too obvious to be true. and then, detective tony jerauld got a call from the medical examiner. oh, my! what did the m. e. discover? >> the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, coupled with drowning. >> in such a way that it could have happened accidentally, or did it seem homicide? >> with the m.e.s physical findings, there was foul play. we were looking for somebody that cause of death. >> reporter: as for the medical examiner, here's what they said. one side of samira the's skull was fractured, which certainly could have meant she hit her head on the way to the pool. but the other side of her head
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was damaged, too. as simple slip and fall couldn't happen from that. but remember, the m e saw evidence of both blood force trauma and drowning, which meant she was still alive when she had the water. so, was it murder? it looked like -- yes. they detectives went to work. >> we collected as much physical evidence as we could, and we interviewed everybody that was, who saw samira last, or was close to her. >> reporter: like the man who found her in the pool, the handyman, gerald gardener. >> he was a somebody we were willing to talk to, and rule out as a suspect. >> reporter: police thought there was something odd about mr. gardner, at least what he said when he called 9-1-1. the operator asked him to get into the pool, and pull samira out. >> anyway you can jump in and get her? >> i probably can't, but i prefer the officer to be here before i touch her, because i don't know how long she's been
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in there. >> nobody wants to jump in and try to get her out? >> well, ma'am, she's been in there, i don't know how long. she's completely gone. and i want y'all to come take pictures of it before i take her out. >> reporter: gerald gardener new samira, and had worked for her for years. so, why did he refuse the operator's request? >> we talk to him later, and he was, like i was not gonna touch her. i did not want my dna on her. i knew i'm gonna be the first suspect. i found her. and he's like, i do not want to be involved in this. >> reporter: he was right. police would look at him and his story closely. as well as someone else who was there with him that day, his 14- year-old son, gerald junior. at police headquarters, the boy was questioned, what his mother's had for the detectives -- >> we opened that back gate, and we went to the pool area. and we noticed her two sandals was in the pool. and we've seen her laying on the bottom of the pool, just laying there. who saw her first? >> my daddy. >> during a break in the interview, the boy started to cry. his mother, telling him to calm
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down, police got to do their job. >> what you crying for, little gerald? >> i'm being scared. >> well, ain't nothing you can do about anything. you are one of the ones that was there. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: as for his father, when gerald gardener, some people were saying he did more than just work for samira. >> we interviewed a couple of people about a relationship with him, and some people suspected that general was up and down, he was absolutely not, never. >> are they friends? >> they were friends. he do anything she needed. >> reporter: her father and son telling him everything? maybe they found out from the security tapes. but the frasch's place was in a gated community, so there was an arrival and departure video. that's how the detectives confirm when that handyman and his son arrived at 10:51 a. m., ten minutes before phoning 9-1- 1. so, could the gardeners have done something terrible in so short a time, and then sounded the way gardeners senior did on that 9-1-1 call?
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>> he made some statements on the 9-1-1 call that i believed sounded very credible and genuine. and he's very adamant that he's worried about the welfare of children, as well. >> reporter: gerald gardener and son, they decided, did not kill samira. so -- who did? that one person they wanted to ask, of course, was adam frasch. except they couldn't find him. adam and the two little girls were apparently away somewhere. there was a friend who might know where dak, the friend, the detective discovered, did not like the former french model lying cold and that in the more, not one tiny bit. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- if this friend didn't care, who knew, including the police. >> i said, if you hit me, i'll knock you through that window. that is just my exact words. >> reporter: -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ stay ahead of your moderate—to—severe eczema,
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hi there, i am just scully in with a look at the top stories happening for you right now. health officials say that a president in the rural part of oregon has been diagnosed with the plague. it is the state's first human case in more than 8 years. we are told that person was likely infected by their pet cat, who we are told had evolved symptoms, according to county health officials there. and to hungary now, where the conservative president -- amid a public outcry about a pardon she granted to a convicted conflicts in a convicted child sex abuse. she made that an announcement in a televised misses on saturday. let's get you back to dateline. saturday. let's get you back to dateline. yellow crime scene tape was draped. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: around the big frasch house, and across this long driveway, yellow crime scene tape was draped. an amber alert went out for their two small children, hyrah
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and skynaah. and it was during that chaotic day that one of adam's closest friends in tallahassee, and then named kendle lindsey got a phone call. >> a friend of mine called me and told me that his exact words, was samira is on the other side. >> was samira on the other side of what? >> i was like, what do you mean? if she did? >> he said, yeah i, found her at the bottom of the pool. and i said, no, you gotta be kidding me. >> reporter: kendall confirmed through a friend on the police force, and then he steeled himself, for the call he knew he had to make. kendle always called adam, doc. >> i really called him doc, and he picked up. and i told him what i heard. and i told him, yeah, she was found dead in the pool. and he took it quiet, and i
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imagine he was crying because his daughter said, that why, are you crying? >> in the backyard you -- >> he must have thrown his arm somewhere -- >> reporter: adam told kendle he was at their beach house in panama city, nearly three hours away. he told he took the kids for the weekend so samira address. >> and i told him, just bring the kids here. to spring them here, i will find out what's going on. and he said he is on his way. >> reporter: soon after he shared the news with adam about his wife, kendle got another phone call. his police contact, he needed some help. >> the police would ask me where he was? and i said, yeah, and they said where is he? and i said he's at the beach house in panama city, and he's on his way. >> reporter: when adam headed back to tallahassee, the officer asked kendle for another favor. >> he said, i want to ask you some questions. are you home? i said, yeah, i'm home, come here. within ten minutes, i had a detective at my door asking me questions. >> reporter: he told the detectives his relationship with adam boarded on brotherhood. kendle is a car dealer, and adam had a thing for collecting
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cars. >> ferrari's, some very nice mustangs car, convertibles, you name it. >> reporter: in fact, adam owned 80 cars, at least maybe 100. so, at first, it was a business relationship, but soon they were fast friends. they went to games together, shot pool, traveled to miami, orlando, vegas, especially liked vegas. >> we go to casinos and stuff like that, just travel. >> reporter: at the casinos, adam played in texas holdem poker tournaments, and kendall accompanied him because adam liked carrying big watches of cash and flooded his expensive watches and jewelry. >> so did you find yourself kind of becoming his protector, his watch out for him? >> like we would go to a casino. he'd have a jury on, flashing like a superstar. you know, he got all types of guys looking at this stuff. i talked to him all the time. it did not matter. he was just naive to it. >> reporter: then, the detectives asked, how did kendle feel about samira? >> he said -- i did not like
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her at all. >> you don't make any secret of it? >> i told him that. >> reporter: samira did not like her husband spending so much time with kendle, traveling with him, going to casinos. kendle told adam don't let your wife dictate your friendships. >> we continue our friendship, yeah, under the radar. and she realized that i was the one that's encouraging him to stand up for -- >> but he wouldn't say to her, look, he's my friend, i want to see him whether you like it or not. >> no way, no way. >> reporter: kendle said he tried to tell the detective all that, but then it dawned on him. he, kendle, was a suspect. >> when he started asking me, one was that, last night, and that's what i was like, do i need any lawyer here? >> reporter: police asked him for his phone, and whether if he'd go to the sheriff's office to take questions. questions continued there for hours. >> so, obviously, you know why
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you're here. >> reporter: hardly a surprise -- >> i don't think that, and probably a suspect as well. i understand that. about the nature of that -- because how i feel about samira, i didn't do it. >> reporter: he told the detective about the time he stepped between adam and samira during an argument, mostly to protect adam. samira wasn't happy. >> i said, if you hit me, i'll knock you through that window, that where mike zach would store. i will knock you through that window. >> reporter: and then, there was kendle's last conversation with samira, the night before she was found murdered. kendle said it started over a misunderstanding, and then escalated when samira decided he's still loaned some clothes that have been left and one of adam's cars. >> she lit into me, you don't even know -- you better bring my clothes back. >> and that kind of -- [bleep] so, i burned them, and i hung up, just like that. >> and then, kendle said something, said something he
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maybe shouldn't have said. >> i joked about it this morning, and i said, if it was me, they wouldn't have to be looking for her because my hands would still be wrapped around her neck, like that's there. >> reporter: did he just say that about his best friends wife found it in a pool? now, that got the detective's attention. time, they decided, to take a hard look at this guy's alibi. did he have one? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- >> a lot of marble, gold, a lot of exotic animals that were stuffed. >> inside the jaw-dropping world of adam and samira frasch -- >> approximately four houses, a multitude of cars, and 200 high- end vehicles, mercedes, bmw's, hummers, corvettes, even a ferrari. >> reporter: did all that wealth provide a motive for murder? when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪
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adam frasch's good friend, kendall lyndsey, had just made an astonishing statement ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: adam frasch's good friend kendle lindsey has just made an astonishing statement to investigators investigating the death of adam's wife, samira. kendall wasn't fond of samira. in fact, the two have argued vehemently the night before she died. >> i joked about it this morning, and i said, if it was me, they wouldn't have to be looking for her, because my hands would be still wrapped around her neck like that's right there. and that's the truth. >> reporter: what a thing to say, even if it was a joke. so, the next question, what, asked the detectives, was candle up to the night before, and the morning samira was found? >> i went hunting, about 5:30 and i came home, still in my hunting gear, i took both my sons -- >> are right, so the next morning, you are at the house?
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>> right. >> you don't go anywhere. >> nowhere. >> reporter: after breakfast, said kendall, his wife drove him to work. that was at 11:20. samira was found at 11. so, kendall had an alibi. detectives regrouped, and went back to the frasch house, let it talk to them, and talk did. >> wow! it was different, different for most people's taste. >> detective tony guaraldi -- >> a lot of marble, a lot of gold, a lot of exotic animals that were stuffed. >> oh, wow! >> which was kind of new to us executing a search warrant. >> reporter: but it wasn't just the over the top house. everything that detectives learned about the frasch's has practically screamed money, watches, jewelry, clothes, guns, motorcycles, a flea of cars. >> approximately, four houses, a multitude of cars, anywhere from 80 to 100, high-end
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vehicles, mercedes, bmw's, hummers, corvettes, even a ferrari. >> boats? >> he did have a boat that we discovered. >> reporter: the investigators asked kendall lindsey, and he told them, as he did us, that adam frasch would often buy a car when the two of them were on the road. and then, he leaves behind. >> so, you would go almost anywhere, and there would be a car there that he owned? >> that's right. he's all about collecting. i'm like a hoarder in a way. >> a hoarder? >> i know it's a strong word, but anyway, from i witnessed, the doc can get never enough of buying things, not just cars, but a lot of nice things. >> reporter: or maybe buying things meant some sort of psychological lead. >> we get into my office and look for a car, for a couple of hours on the internet. it could be 11:00, 1:00 in the morning. and he sees it as, you know
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mind in florida, or nevada, we're in a plane, and we are going that night to be there. >> to buy it? >> to bite. and then, as soon as he buys that car, that rush is over. it's like, okay, find me another car. >> reporter: the doctor liked to pay for these things. in fact, most things, in cash. like the time he took samira and jackie out to dinner. >> i noticed he had money because when he paid the bill, he had that big stack of $100. i was like -- you know? >> reporter: and investigators quickly realized that samira seemed to share adams penchant for buying things, expensive things. >> she ordered 1500 pacifiers for the children, the chandelier's, the statues. i don't know if there's anything they wouldn't buy. >> reporter: so, they figured, maybe money was the clue in the frasch marriage, and sometimes,
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during rough patches, the peace offering. >> in text messages, he would send a picture of 100 dollar bills laid out on a bit, in the shape of i love you. >> and that was the effective way, i guess? >> it worked. >> reporter: dr. frasch, it seemed, was only too happy to spend lavishly, so that poor girl from madagascar can have her american dream. apparently, who could afford it. >> he was doing very well. >> how well was he doing? >> maybe one of the highest paid podiatrist in a state, or arguably the, country. >> reporter: it was true. at the time, doctor frasch was one of the leading practitioners of a cutting edge skin procedure for diabetics called derma graft. people poured into his clinics in southern georgia, many of them on medicare. so, in 2012, for example, a couple of years before samira died, the doctor received more than 1 million dollars in medicare payments. >> adam, when he worked, he worked. he started 9:00, and worked
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until whenever he got done. a lot of times, it was 7:00 before he got done. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but adam's father said his son may have come by those tax bills another way, too, at the gaming table. >> he got started in texas holden poker, and when he got it all of a sudden, like that, he wanted to go until he was best. >> reporter: he did not hoard his money, though. the investigators also discovered the doctor was generous, shared his good fortune with friends and family, and patients, too. reverend larry johnson was a doctor's patient first friend. >> it came through the door. he was going to treat you regardless of money, or no money. >> if you needed $1, 000, and you can show i needed it, you got it, even if you are stranger. >> could you just say, give me $1,000? >> no, he wasn't an idiot. it just his heart was like big. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: so, the detectives had questions for the doctor.
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and then, many questions. but first, they had to find him. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- the doctor surfaces, but his behavior only raises more questions. >> there was a lot of factors that made you look at him and go -- what happened here? >> reporter: -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor. see an expert. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com feeling ughh from a backed up gut? miralax works naturally with the water in your body to help you go... ...free your gut. and your mood will follow. for 8 grams of fiber, try new mirafiber gummies.
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(vo) welcome to lobsterfest. is your party ready? ready to attack this new lobster & shrimp stack? for 8 grams of fiber, ready to get your mitts on lobster, shrimp and grits? they're two of ten lobster creations, only at lobsterfest. red lobster. is your party ready? [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's healing formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ ) emergen-c crystals. i'm kareem abdul-jabbar. i was diagnosed with afib. when i first noticed symptoms, which kept coming and going, i should have gone to the doctor. instead, i tried to let it pass.
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if you experience irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, you should talk to your doctor. afib increases the risk of stroke about 5 times. when it comes to your health, this is no time to wait. i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s. great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre--
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i like watching the puddles gather rain. -hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is. hours after samira's body was discovered, investigators tracked down adam frasch at his beach house ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: hours after samira's body was discovered, investigators track down adam frasch at his beach house in panama city beach. kendall had already told adam the devastating news about samira. and then, the cops arrived. >> it sounded like he was going out of the vehicle, he did have the kids in the car. >> reporter: heading for home, he told the officers. instead, he was going to the local sheriff's office. the detectives drove from tallahassee to meet him there, and recorded their conversation
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on audiotape. the doctor was a mess. [crying] >> it. >> reporter: but the cops were all business. what they asked adam frasch did in the day before? aaron's, mostly he told them, with samira and the babies. they were all together. then, a pleasant lunch, and then and even better evening. >> actually, we made love in the living room, on the chair in the living room. >> when you say made love, you had sex? >> yes. i don't like to get into that personal kind of -- because it was one of the better times we had in a while. >> reporter: that time i'm told him samira asking for a favor. >> she just said she was really tired, exhausted. tomorrow, i want a break. and just take the babies because, you guys go somewhere. i want to sleep in. >> reporter: so, come morning, said adam, he took the girls to the beach house. >> what time was it you left? >> it was approximately 8:00 or
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so. >> and where was sam? >> she was in bed. >> reporter: the surveillance camera backed up adams story. there is his car, leaving golden eagle. but what struck the cops, not in the interview, with how the doctors emotions seemed, disconnected from his tear ducts. investigator jason newlin wasn't in the room that night, but his colleagues were. >> i remember going to the sheriff's office, telling adam, you've sat here telling me how sorry you are, how bad you feel about your wife, and you have yet to shed a single tier. >> is that a true tale about whether somebody is pretty stricken or not? >> no, there was not, there was a lot of other factors that made you look at adam and go -- what happened here? >> reporter: other factors, well, there was, as investigators discovered a whole different story about the frasch's, very different, very tumultuous. in fact they were in the middle of a divorce, which would be
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divorced number three for adam. so, yes, they were skeptical about adam's story, and he told him so. >> we know the history. >> right, i understand. >> and we know how things have taken place between the two of you. >> reporter: and the history, it was complicated all right. but the one thing the doctor, had a roving i. >> infidelities, like what? >> he had, we could say multiple affairs, multiple girlfriends. >> while he was with samira? >> yes. >> and said, jackie watson, samira could not bear her husbands cheating. >> i think he was, there was one time he cheated on her. it's so much a human being can take. >> reporter: so, the marriage turned along in turmoil. sometimes, an angry wife would take it out on her husband, as investigators discovered what they found, this video on
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samira's phone, she just locked him out of the car. >> sam, i'm sorry. sam. >> what did you find out about that marriage and those two people? >> it was a marriage that lacked trust. it was verbal abuse. there was physical abuse. >> reporter: and then, six months before samira died, a particularly nasty fight, a call to the police, and samira was arrested for domestic battery. >> what samira was a volatile person, and would attack adam. we know there was a domestic history between the two and she was charged. >> was she? >> she was, she was charged and arrested for domestic violence. and >> reporter: that is how samira met annabelle dias. her attorney. when >> we got her out of jail, we got served with an injunction. >> reporter: adams attorney told the judge he had enough, and the judge granted the injunction. annabelle diaz on, the way to becoming a samira's friend now, thought that was awful. >> she could not go back home.
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she cannot see her kids. >> this is what the injunction said? >> yes. it >> translator: did not stay that way, mind you. after samira filed for divorce, she managed to regain custody of the two little girls, and she had adam started living apart. >> was that breakup particularly painful for him? >> oh, man he, did everything he can to keep coming back. >> translator: as friend kendall watched, the doctor tried to put the marriage back together again. >> he still bought her -- he's still tried to buy her thousands of dresses. she would still -- >> hold him at bay. >> yeah. when >> reporter: so, was there a motive and all that? a tumultuous marriage ending in violence, it has been scones still deeply in love with his volatile wife. maybe he finally snapped, struck back, and that's what the investigators wondered, as they sat in the interview room late that night. >> the best person in the world has a limit, okay? and when they reach that limit,
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they do things that they don't wouldn't ordinarily do, law or couldn't even think of doing. and i think you reach that limit. >> no, it's not true. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: the doctor insisted he wasn't there, and did not know what happened. but he thought it was most likely an accident. >> i'm worried that she may have tripped on the water hoses out there, you know, trying to chase bella around the pool. and fell in. >> reporter: maybe, and maybe not. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- a bombshell from a neighbor, hotel's police what he saw just minutes before samira was found dead. >> he was there with a black female, standing outside of the frasch's residence. >> reporter: was it samira, or possibly the color? -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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i don't think you can clear this. i got this. it's yours now. covid-19? i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild-to-moderate covid-19 and a high-risk factor for it becoming severe. it does not prevent covid-19. my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid must be taken within the first five days of symptoms, and helps stop the virus from multiplying in your body. taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead to serious or life-threatening side effects or affect how it or other medicines work, including hormonal birth control. it's critical to tell your doctor about all the medicines you take because certain tests or changes in their dosage may be needed. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, hiv-1, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeed. don't take paxlovid if you're allergic to nirmatrelvir,
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ritonavir, or any of its ingredients. serious side effects can include allergic reactions, some severe like anaphylaxis, and liver problems. these are not all the possible side effects so talk to your doctor. if it's covid, paxlovid. ask your doctor today. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley. nothing brings us together like eggland's best eggs. always so fresh and delicious. plus, superior nutrition. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best. keith morrison: detectives had talked to adam as long as they're the best. frasch for nearly two hours. had listened when he said he wouldn't
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harm a hair on her head. not samira, the love of his life. but they weren't buying his accident story. didn't buy any of it. in fact, one detective said it sounded to him like it was a fatal attraction. sergeant: you love her to death, huh? adam frasch: that term is not appropriate for you to be saying that. keith morrison: police had heard enough. detective 1: this interview is concluded at 1:37 am. keith morrison: they arrested adam frasch, but not for his wife's murder. didn't have enough evidence for that. so they found another way. because adam and samira were in the midst of a divorce, and by court order he had no right to take the kids that morning, they had a reason to hold him in jail. order, and he had no right to take the kids that morning. they had a reason to hold him in jail. >> he was arrested because he violated an agreement, having custody of the children. >> and you can keep them in custody for a while that way? >> sure, he stayed in custody.
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we continued to work on our death investigation. >> reporter: adam in his jail clothes, was shaved and pale when we caught up with him. he had a clear message, that he would never harm his wife. he loved samira from the night he met her in paris, almost ten years before. >> what did you see in her, anything new? >> her beauty, for one. >> couldn't miss that? >> yeah, and you know, she did not speak very good english. i spoke good french, and we just had a great romantic time together. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: once they married and started a family, adam told us there wasn't a better mother on this earth. that hyrah dot come clothing line -- adam figured samira was probably driven by the deprivations of her own childhood. >> they had the opportunities that she didn't have. >> reporter: and the day adam got the call from best friend kendall with the awful news about samira, it's still fresh in his mind.
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>> what was that like to hear? >> oh, it was just terrible. i mean, it just destroyed my world. you know, i was just in shock, crying, i broke down. my little girls are saying, daddy, why are you crying? >> reporter: but wait, if i was really was that loving husband, and what about all the other woman, the stories of infidelity. it didn't happen, he told us. not while he was living with samira, not until they separated and he thought his marriage was over. >> i was off to divorce number three, and i just want to start on with my life. i started dating. >> you went through relationships all the way through your marriage with samira. >> because this is the allegation that's out there. >> it's not true. >> reporter: in fact, said adam, he and samira we're trying to reconcile. during that last month, he'd been staying over at the house with her in the children. and they agreed to try again. she was going to call off the divorce, he said. >> she said she was sorry, and
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that she wanted to be back. >> how did that feel? >> wonderful that i got her back, and then she admitted that it was very difficult raising the two girls by herself. >> reporter: and their final identity said was that making glove, nothing else. murder was not possible, said adam. but before long he made bail on the child custody case, months passed. if prosecutors were ever to charge adam with samira's murder, they'd have to get around a problem, a big one. >> a neighbor of adams came forward with some information. >> what did he tell you? >> on the day that adam left, the morning of, he believed he observed a black female standing outside of the frasch's residence. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: he said she was tall and thin. >> who did he think it was? >> i never really led on to say this is samira frasch. he just said that he saw a black female standing outside of the frasch's residence. >> but he thought it probably was her?
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>> i think he did. >> yeah, what time? >> he said that he and his daughter were taking a walk in the neighborhood, and this wasn't a time period, about 20 minutes before gerald gardner discovered her. >> so, wait a minute, that would be like 10:30, 10:20, something like that? >> correct. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and he was very sure about the time, very sure. no earlier than 10:25 am. so, was it the samira? the detectives were baffled. having checked the secret to get cameras, they knew adam had, as he told them, left the house with the two kids around 8:00 that morning. and if the woman the neighbor saw was samira, that meant she was still alive when adam left, and for a couple of hours after. >> and if that person was telling the truth or was accurate, your guy couldn't have done the crime. >> that's correct. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and then, there was another possibility, that
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the woman and the driveway was not samira at all. it was someone else entirely, and if that was true, the woman the neighbors saw might have been the killer. >> so, what did you do about it? >> for me, it was try to figure out who is it he saw, one was he in the right driveway, and number two, could it have been somebody else? it was a tough situation. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: tough, yes. the cops had the work cut out for them now. how to track down the woman in the driveway? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- could she be someone the doctor knew? it turns out he had no shortage of companionship. >> so, tell me about these girlfriends, what kind of people where they? >> three of them were strippers. >> reporter: the investigation is about to get a lot more interesting. >> i never met samira, but she did really leave a voice mail on my phone. she was, like all again, it's going to be came over, okay? it's going to be game over.
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try new mirafiber gummies. oooh! refill? help yourself man. dude? dog food in the fridge? it's not dog food. it's freshpet. real meat. real veggies. real weird. he was bad luck anyway. freshpet, it's not dog food. it's food - food. [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's healing formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ )
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emergen-c crystals. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: detectives are paid to be skeptical. and in this case, their suspicions lay like a white blanket on adam frasch's explanations. one in particular, adam saying he only dated other woman after samira filed for divorce.
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nothing could be further from the truth, said the detectives. >> mr. frasch had multiple female acquaintances, several of which look very similar in stature -- >> yeah, so where these women, would they be seen as suspects? >> i mean, they are persons of interest. i would not necessarily put them in the suspect category, but throughout this investigation, everybody's potential. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and they could not ignore the possibility that one of those other woman wanted to take samira's place in adam's life, that one of them could be the woman the neighbor saw in the driveway. >> so, tell me about these girlfriends, what kind of people where they? >> three of the more strippers. >> so, you actually found yourself kind of traveling around the state instruct clubs , tracking people down? >> i did, i did.
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not the best time. >> reporter: and for each one, a question -- >> the last time you were at tallahassee? >> she was one of the women. she fit the description of the woman the neighbors on the driveway that morning. >> i never met samira. but she was like, all again, and we will -- now that triggered to look away. >> reporter: then, there was erica, also a possible match for the mystery woman. >> let me ask you this question. you know anything about his wife's death? >> no, sir, i swear on my life. i don't know anything about it. >> reporter: there was also a third woman, not one of the strippers, a woman whose story was a lot more complicated. her name? martha more. >> somewhere between the engagement and the marriage, adam had a relationship with an individual named martha moore, and they had a child as well. >> awkward? >> certainly. >> reporter: when adam found out she was pregnant, he did the decent thing. >> put up a place, got her a car, always gave her money. >> reporter: samira found out about martha when she moved to florida just before she married adam, but she went ahead with
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the wedding anyway, except these things do have a way of warming themselves into a marriage. the issue did not die. >> she made him take a dna to find out if it was his child or not. and when he did, and it was, she really got upset. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: investigators naturally wanted to talk to martha, especially after they found out samira confronted her on the phone a number of times, after she found out about the baby. so, what happened then? >> you guys had a few run-ins down the road, didn't you? >> i left them alone. i really didn't have any run- ins with her. the only thing i do is meet adam once a month. pick my money up, and we go.
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♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and so she did. police let her go after the interview. like the other woman she had an alibi, which detectives would have to check out, of course. but in the meantime, they had another way to get at the truth. a bit more foolproof. >> we had an unknown dna on a rope that came off the victim in the pool. >> reporter: samira's leopard rope, if one of those women had thrown samira into the pool, she may have left a little of herself behind. newlin got dna samples from the woman. >> we try to eliminate all of them. >> reporter: no matches, not to the woman, and not to the handyman, nor his son, and not to adam's friend, kendall. all of them were cleared. investigators couldn't figure out who is a woman in the driveway was. now, they're back to square one. and they figured adam frasch was standing squarely in it. he had put himself there when he claimed samira let him take
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the children to the beach house. >> i know she would never give him tickets. that's for sure. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and certainly not the way they were dressed. it wasn't samira's style. >> the day that adam took the children to go to panama city to give samira break, they were in jeans. >> which simply didn't happen if she were -- >> reporter: open to interpretation, of course. like phone messages left by adam on sandra's phone after his friend kendall told him she was dead. what were they to make of this? >> samira, please turn on your phone. and calm as soon as you get this message. i'm starting to worry about you, baby. please call me back. >> reporter: he had called her throughout the day leaving voice mails. i'm getting worried about you. why don't you answer your phone? >> wouldn't that suggest more innocence than guilt? >> i believe it is just another attempt at an alibi for adam frasch. but he can't win in a situation like that, though?
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i mean, you believe he's trying to get an alibi, and it may just be as likely that he really is terrified about her condition? >> you know, when you are a couple, a phone call that your wife's dead, and the fact that you caught your wife, not law enforcement, to see, hey, i've been told my wife has been passed away. i have the kids. what's going on? and add to the fact that he is not supposed to have custody of the kids at all, it just did not make sense. >> reporter: and you know this story adam told at that last happy day with samira? well, security camera tapes from late that night told a very different story. first, in an auto repair shop, adam, trying to talk to her, and samira driving, backs up
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the car with a door open, and him in it, like she doesn't seem to want any part of it. same kind of thing when they got home, adam tries to talk to her through the car door. she slams it on him. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and if a lot of this was not hard evidence against adam, it did make for a pretty strong circumstantial case, or so prosecutor georgia cappelman believe. so, she convened a grand jury, and put the case to them. and this was unusual. adam testify. >> it did not surprise me. he's a talker. you know, is smooth. it thinks he could talk his way out of things. >> reporter: not this time, apparently. adam was indicted for first degree murder. and so, a jury could decide if, as one detective said, adam frasch loved his wife to death. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: coming up -- >> did you have an opportunity to over an argument between mr. and mrs. frasch? >> yes, on the phone. >> reporter: damning testimony from an ear witness. >> during the time that mr. frasch was on speakerphone, did he make any threats to her, misses frasch. >> he did, he said i will kill you. >> reporter: -- when dateline
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continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ help yourself man. dude? dog food in the fridge? it's not dog food. it's freshpet. real meat. real veggies. real weird. he was bad luck anyway. freshpet, it's not dog food. it's food - food.
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adam frasch was in a world of trouble, >> adam frasch was in a world of trouble, charged with killing his wife and facing the possibility of a life sentence. if that wasn't enough, federal agents raided his medical office on suspicion of medicare fraud, which might explain why the podiatrist seems so filthy rich. this prosecutor became aware of the raid after she took on's murder case. >> he would have to be seeing two patients simultaneously, 24/7 to account for the amount
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of building that he was doing. so that was pretty flagrant. >> busy guy? >> yes. >> the feds investigated but did not press charges. and then as frasch's trial date for murder approached, prosecutors offered him a deal, plead guilty to manslaughter and serve a maximum of 15 years , adam said no. he was innocent. he wanted his day in court. >> adam how are you feeling today? >> fine. >> and so almost three years after samira was found at the bottom of the family pool, her husband went on trial for murder. his father, alvin, was there. >> a bad situation for the whole family and for him to. because it destroyed his life. >> samira's was thousands of miles away in madagascar and friends. she did have an advocate in court, a tough an experienced
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prosecutor. >> the cause of death as ruled by the examiner was blunt force trauma and drowning. >> basically he killed her twice, he hit her and caused such massive injuries that she probably would've died from that, very likely. but then through her in the pool while she was still alive. >> who would do such a thing to this beautiful young mother of two small girls? >> well, that was adam, said the prosecutor. >> their history was probably the biggest clue that it was a homicide. >> yes, that history of excess, infidelity and conflict, which he said led to a fatal confrontation at the swimming pool. the ugly scene was described by the handyman who discovered her body. >> there she was, laying in the pool. >> when you say there she was, who was that? >> misses frasch in the pool. >> how could the jury be sure that she didn't trip and fall by accident? here was the medical examiner. >> do you have an opinion as to whether she could have tripped and bumped her head and fallen into the pool? >> i don't think that's what
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happened. those are significant impacts that i do not think she would generate herself by just falling. >> can you imagine a scenario where she would have hit both sides of her head and managed to get into the pool? >> i can't, no. >> detective tony guaraldi testified and told us that when he first met doctor frasch -- >> he had some scratches, some significant marks that not any normal person would have. >> how did he get them? did he tell you? >> he told investigators some of the marks were from him and his wife, samira, having sexual intercourse the night before. love marks. >> my goodness. >> the specific one under his eye, he shared with us that it was his ten month old child who had scratch them. >> you're about to hear a recorded conversation. >> the prosecutor make sure the jury would hear the detectives skepticism about the scratches. by playing the recordings of
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the interrogation. >> the baby was playing around, and she always kind of grabs at my eye and face. >> so you're trying to make me believe that a ten month old has nails enough to make those types of scratches on your face? >> yes. >> the prosecutor argued that adam killed samira before leaving for the beach at 8 am. on the stand, the emmy testified that the time of death was a noble. >> there is no way to say the exact time of death, or i should say when she was placed in the pool. there is just no way to say. >> the prosecutor simply thought that doctor frasch could not be rolled out, he must of killed or before leaving the house at eight. the way he drove off with the girls that morning, very suspicious. >> unusual that he would depart with those kids after 8 am after getting in at midnight and to load up and pack up the kids for the first time ever off on a trip somewhere and his wife happens to be discovered that a few hours later. >> after, said the prosecutor, the doctor sped away with the
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kids towards all woman name martha moore, the other woman with whom he had a baby. martha was called to testify about a phone call she got from frasch that morning. >> what did he say on that call ? >> he said he was on his way to my house. >> why did you put martha moore on the stand? >> to establish that the defendant calls her first and was headed in the direction of her home. i believe to drop the kids off their, it was probably his intention and then to flee. >> that was really only speculation of course and martha wasn't home that morning anyway. on the stand, she acknowledged that it seemed unusual, the girls would be alone with adam. >> they were going through the battle of divorce and the court orders, he shouldn't have had the kids.
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>> the prosecutor said that it was a bad set of facts for adam, a scorn husband with ample time to commit murder before hastily fleeing the scene, with kids who were not supposed to be in his care. >> mr. frasch i will read you your miranda writes? >> yes. >> they played more than an hour of frasch speaking with investigators, honing into his demeanor hours after samira's death. >> you done up here and broke down in your own way of crying, i don't know how many times, and not one tier has dropped out of your eyes. >> well i'm already teared out for six hours, sir. >> he spoke with several law officers in the hour. king was one of them. >> he put his hands over his face. >> were you able to observe actual tears? >> none that we saw, no. >> then the prosecutor called a man who could comment directly on adam frasch's state of mind. that man was named stephen wilson, he helped samira set up
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a website to celebrate his daughter. he recounted something that he heard from his own ears less than two weeks before samira was killed. >> did you hear an argument between that mr. and mrs. frasch? >> yes on the phone. >> and during the time that mr. frasch was on speakerphone, did he make any threats to harm misses frasch? >> he did. >> what did he say? >> he said i will kill you. >> i will kill you, the words of a man that looked guilty at every turn. of course the evidence was circumstantial. but there was one more player waiting in the wings, and what a story he would tell. coming up, that tail would lead investigators back to the frasch house and to a dramatic discovery. bingo. >> yes, bingo. i looked at it for a minute and said seriously? >> when dateline continues. dat ♪♪ stay ahead of your moderate—to—severe eczema,
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growing up, my parents wanted me to become a doctor or an engineer.
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those are good careers! but i chose a different path. first, as mayor and then in the legislature. i enshrined abortion rights in our california constitution. in the face of trump, i strengthened hate crime laws and lowered the costs for the middle class. now i'm running to bring the fight to congress. you were always stubborn. and on that note, i'm evan low, and i approve this message.
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hi, i'm jessica layton with a look at some of the hours top stories. russia has launched a drone attack on the ukrainian city of kharkiv. killing seven people, including three small children. local officials there say russian forces struck civilian infrastructure late friday, causing several large fires and damaging at least 15 homes. the ceo of one of nigeria's largest banks is amongst those killed in a helicopter crash in california on friday. san bernardino calla -- in a statement that all six people who were on board had died. now, back to dateline. . now, back to dateline. there's a long tradition in american jurisprudence, >> there's a long tradition in american insurance prudence, condemned as it is used, the jailhouse snitch, the witness prosecutors hate to love, but this one had a story just too good to pass up. his name was fulsome.
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yes like the prison. and he told his keepers he had something to say about adam frasch. the day spent some time in a jail cell together? >> they spent several months in a jail cell together. they did. top bunk, bottom bunk. >> he talked to fulsome in the county lockup. >> we're about the same age, we just hit it off real big. >> i believe the information he provided me was credible. >> and here was the story fulsome said he got from dr. frasch. on the day she died, samira discovered her husband had been texting another woman and she hurt and angry started a fight and ended up at the bottom of the pool. now, on day three of adam frasch's trial, dale fulsome raised his right arm and swore to tell the truth and told that story to the jury. >> she started a fight that night. >> his testimony about the
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fight between adam and samira was vivid and rich with details. >> he defended himself pretty much, they were fighting, and he hit her in the head with a club. >> what happened, he hit her in the head? >> with a club. golf club. >> he said he didn't mean to kill her, it just happened and he got scared and ran. >> in a largely circumstantial case, here was an account of exactly what happened, allegedly, from the killer himself. would defendant with any sense is going to say would happen before the went on trial? >> it happens all the time, you have nothing all day but stare at those four walls, you have to talk to somebody, right? >> yes. >> if it's a piece of evidence i'm gonna put it on, and it's gonna be up to the jury to decide if use credible or not. >> it was up to investigator newman to vet his story, find
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evidence it was actually true, and he came up with something. came up with something almost too good to be true. newman testified that one fulsome was about to be released from jail, doctor frasch asked him to take care of something, something in his house. >> i'll never forget bill telling me, adam told him to get rid of the golf club put them in the lake, the river. do not give them to anyone, just make them go away. >> make them go way? fulsome said there was no mistaking what frasch meant, he wanted him to get rid of those golf clubs which would include the one frasch used to hit samira, the murder weapon. >> did he tell you a specific golf club? >> yes, ma'am. >> big club like a driver, big fat one. >> and now, the court, a real live moment, investigator new men took a big fat golf club out of an evidence box with the jury could have a good look. >> this is the golf club.
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>> purple club head? >> yes man. >> how did newman get that club ? well, fulsome never did make it to the house, so newman got a search warrant and went for a little look around. >> i went to the master bedroom and there is a golf club sitting in the corner, and part of me laughed inside. >> bingo. >> yes, bingo. >> it must have looked like a beautiful big, fat piece of evidence that would help make the case into a slam dunk? >> i looked at it for a minute and said, seriously? when i actually went to the golf club and photographed it, it had cobwebs, it had been there for a couple of nights. >> this was one for the books. a jailhouse snitch supported by actual evidence. and caplan had one more surprise.
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she called crime lab analyst. >> i received or was able to develop a complete dna profile from the club portion that hits the ball and that dna profile matches samira frasch and the frequency was one and five in ten quintillion. >> and there it was, the story of samira frasch's murder, wrapped up in a tidy sum package. but did the doctor really confess? >> this was after all still a story coming from a jailhouse snitch. >> this was the golf club -- >> and the golf club with samira's dna on it, maybe not so obvious after all. defense attorneys were about to take on, dale fulsome and his story, and they couldn't wait. coming up. the prosecutors timeline on trial. >> the absence of wrinkling of
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fingers and toes speaks to the likelihood that she has been immersed for a very short amount of time. >> testimony that samira may have died later than the prosecutor contends. >> the greatest possibility is that she died after 8 am. >> in other words, after doctor frasch had left the house. when dateline continues. datel. diabetes can serve up a lot of questions, like... what is your glucose, and can you have more carbs? before you decide... with the freestyle libre 3 system... know your glucose and where it's headed. no fingersticks needed. now the world's smallest and thinnest sensor... sends your glucose levels directly to your smartphone. manage your diabetes with more confidence, and lower your a1c. the number one cgm prescribed in the us. try it for free at freestylelibre.us. ♪♪ emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ )
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i am a big advocate of recommending things that i know work. covid-19? i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild-to-moderate covid-19 and a high-risk factor for it becoming severe. it does not prevent covid-19. my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid must be taken within the first five days of symptoms, and helps stop the virus from multiplying in your body. taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead to serious or life-threatening side effects or affect how it or other medicines work, including hormonal birth control. it's critical to tell your doctor about all the medicines you take because certain tests or changes in their dosage may be needed. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, hiv-1, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeed. don't take paxlovid if you're allergic to nirmatrelvir, ritonavir, or any of its ingredients. serious side effects can include allergic reactions, some severe like anaphylaxis, and liver problems. these are not all the possible side effects so talk to your doctor. if it's covid, paxlovid.
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ask your doctor today. and now it was the defense's turn. >> and now it was the defenses turn, from the prosecution's theory of how samira died, to her story of her husband's confession to a jailhouse snitch, adam frasch was ready to fight back. the high powered defense team
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picked but frasch in part from a life insurance payout he received after samira died. hyle did he pay for his defense in this trial? >> it's not relevant. >> is it, because insurance paid out, right? which is unusual in a case like this? >> i mean, he had money, you can see the picture of his lifestyle, he had assets. >> the tailors started with this video. 8 am, his daughters leave the gated community, if samira was killed after this, adam did not do it. >> there is a huge problem with the timeline, that is reasonable doubt. >> the timeline presented by
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the prosecution was in fact quite vague, the emmy who did the autopsy testified it was impossible to say how long summer of been in the pool before she was found. that was a worry for the prosecutor. >> usually we get a window of maybe 2 to 5 hours for a time of death, so it is not precise signs. but we weren't able to do that in this case. >> the defense aggressively leapt into the void arguing that evidence could establish a time of death. >> it was performed about 3000 autopsies -- >> they brought in their own pathologist. doctor ardent focused on three things to show when samira died. first, recall mortise had not set in. next there was no of the tail tell skin discoloration that occurs soon after death after blood settles with gravity.
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>> but was the last factor? >> the rankings of the finger and toes. >> finally samira's fingers and toes were not wrinkled when she was found, not even a little bit. >> the absence of wrinkling of the fingers and toes speaks to the likelihood that she has been immersed for a relatively short period of time. >> even if you take a shower or a bat or jump in the pool, sometimes within 20 or 30 minutes, you have wrinkling of the fingers and the toes. >> even if you're dead? >> period. >> no rig more it is, no settling of blood, no wrinkled skin, it all pointed to the same thing. >> my opinion, she was dead for a relatively short amount of time before she was discovered and removed from the water. >> would you say mrs. frasch died before after 8 am? >> i would say the greatest possibility is that she died after 8 am. >> do we know exactly what happened? who knows. the state really wasn't specific with their theory. >> for the defense?
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this was a case of when? not what. >> it was after he left, there for, everything else is irrelevant. >> but, there was more. after listening to the science, the jury heard from an eyewitness. >> i decided to go for a walk. >> he is the neighbor who said he happened to be walking past the house that very morning. he was a mild mannered, measured witness but his testimony was explosive. >> what did you observe? >> i saw a woman, african american, tall, dark hair, thin. >> is there any doubt in your mind that you saw a slender tall black woman loading something into a vehicle in the driveway? >> no. >> between 10:25 and 10:45 on the 22nd of february 2014? >> there is not. >> he was very specific on his time, he and his daughter were walking by the house, they often looked at the house because there were all sorts of cars parked there, he looks down, he sees a vehicle by the
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garage door and he sees a tall slender black female who looked like a model entering her car,. >> when they showed him a photo of samira, he couldn't say for sure that was the woman he had seen. but if it was samira in her driver around 10:30 that morning it would give adam an airtight alibi. >> he couldn't specifically identify that person as miss frasch, but everything else about the description fits. >> this was a big deal. the prosecutors knew it. this was a credible person, right? >> yes, i think he was wrong, i don't think he was lying. >> of course you think he was wrong, but he thought that he was right. he was pretty certain. >> he was. >> the neighbor had credibility, not a quality said the defense possessed by adams sale made, dale fulsome, the
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jailhouse snitch. he is a witness that the defense loves to hate. we love niches, don't we? tell me what you know about this particular one. >> he is a career criminal, started with his first convictions in 1990. >> in court, attorney taylor the father went right after fulsome, he did not spare the rod. >> it's my understanding you have was it four or 40 prior felony convictions? >> 40. >> 40? >> yes sir. >> do you have any pending charges? >> i have one. >> what is that pending charge? >> possession of methamphetamine. i've done almost every drug there is, i've been an attic since nine years old. >> give me a break. this guy was outrageous. >> what was more, fulsome had an arrangement with the prosecutors. he was released from jail on probation in exchange for his testimony about frasch, tailor made sure the jury knew all
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about that. >> isn't it true that you will do anything to stay out of jail? can you raise your hand and swear to say nothing but the truth, so help you god. because your truthful guy. >> most of the time, i try to be. >> when you're writing bad checks, stealing from people and doing drugs? that's all i have judge. >> the defense may have destroyed the messenger, but they still had to deal with his message. fulsome story about the golf club with samira's dna on it, completely meaningless said taylor, that golf club belonged to samira, of course her dna would be on it. >> they say well she has dna on it, anybody that plays golf knows if you don't have head covers, you pulled your club out in the bag with your hands,
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and you grab -- >> blood, and hair on that? >> no. >> just touched dna? >> correct. correct. how convenient was that? >> so convenient according to the defense, but it was downright suspicious. >> lo and behold here comes fulsome, he has his story and the law enforcement guys go out and what do they find? they find the magic golf club. planted evidence, no question in my mind. >> investigators in frantic li denied any wrongdoing over the gulf club. but in the end, all that who have about the club was possibly a red herring, because the states own medical examiner testified that samira's injuries were not caused by any golf club. >> do you think that that purple golf club could've been responsible for the injury that misses frasch received? >> i don't think so. the pattern that she had was
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more diffused. >> your opinion or the injuries more consistent with a fist than a golf club being the instrument used? >> yes. >> so that was that. the states case had taken a very big hit. so it was no time for grand gestures like defendant testimonies. >> you have a desire to testify, is that correct? >> doctor frasch remained mom, and it was with an air of confidence that the defense rested. unaware that in a case full of surprises, there was one more to come. coming up. the first surprise, the speed of the verdict. >> when they came back quick i thought it was going to be good news. >> the second surprise, a new revelation that could turn the case upside down. >> that was absolutely stunning, and we were like, what are they talking about? >> when dateline continues. dati
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two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.
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the trial of adam frasch was a closely contested affair. the trial of adam frasch the trial of adam frasch was a closely verdict, very much in the balance. the lawyers had one more chance to make their case, in closing argument. clyde taylor the third would take a seat and let his father speak to the jury. >> he's one of those guys that thinks closing argument is where you win or lose a case.
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>> we don't convict people because a crime was horrible. we don't convict people because they have a lot of money. we don't convict people on speculation. >> taylor returned to the medical evidence. his argument, that's amara died after her husband left home. >> what proof do we have that she was in the pool before atm? no comment evidence of that. none. scientific evidence says no. the defendant was not proven guilty in this case. >> it did check out. >> prosecutor georgia cattleman had the last word. >> all the evidence points not to a mystery killer, but to this defendant. this was a personal crime. and who had the motive to kill this woman? only one person. >> she spoke to the evidence, but passions were not far from
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the surface. >> as she lay there on the concrete, fighting for her life. the man that she trusted to make her dreams come true, put her body in that pool. please render a verdict of guilty as charged. then there was nothing left to do but wait. it's always troublesome when the jury goes out. it's a sick feeling until you get here. your answer. >> howard was? she >> pretty worried. >> the neighbor and the time of death bothered her. >> both sides settled in for a long night. but just 90 minutes since deliberation, word of a verdict. >> i thought they'd be out for a while. they came back quick i thought i was gonna be good news. >> i thought just the opposite. i thought to be a four. well >> when they came back that quick, i think it was bad news. as i waited for the words, faces, hot and anxious. >> state of florida versus adam
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frasch, when the jury find as follows as an indictment and defended as guilty in the first degree murder. >> guilty. he stared blankly, then dropped his head under the weight of the verdict. >> how did he take it? >> hard. he was believing in the jury system. >> on the prosecution side, gratitude. >> i was really happy with the verdict. it was a combination of a lot of hard work. >> but was that the final word? after the verdict, a surprise. before the judge delivered the mandatory sentence, life in prison, no parole. >> for us, samira -- >> she read a letter from samira mother, in madagascar. this was not a typical victim impact statement, it included something that sounded a lot like evidence. >> according to samira, she had noticed the presence of someone prowling in their home nights before his death. >> a prowler? the jury never heard about any prowler. >> and said defense attorney
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taylor, neither did he. >> that was absolutely stunning. as you hear something was there something, what are they talking about? because the defense never had been advised that there may have been a prowler in the home, within a day or two of the death. it has to be disclosed, under the law. >> that's the best we can do on the translation. >> prosecutor -- that she didn't withhold anything. the letter was written in french, instead of translation, she only learned what was in it when she read the letter allowed in court. as brayden fresh, he will spend the rest of his days behind bars. >> when you understood that you're going away for life? what is that like? >> i pray to god you don't get anything more than i can handle, but this is more than i
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can handle. >> so, let me just ask you directly, did you kill your wife? >> no. i would never harm my wife, no. i loved her more than anything in this world. >> you loved a lot of women in your life? >> not really. she was my first true love. >> love of your life? >> love of my life. >> adam frasch is unwavering about that. the convicted murderer who still saying he's innocent, and misunderstood. >> i'm not saying i'm perfect. i've tried to live a good life and help people. and enjoy life. >> as for those two little girls who samira papered and loved, they went to live with his adam frasch brother in a state for a way. an existence that was untroubled by conflict. and no longer over the top. >> her children are her legacy, i hope one day to have the
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opportunity to tell them that they had a great mother. >> look at that. >> samira youtube videos are still online. uncharitable artifacts of a broken dream, and a life that was passionate and beguiling and brief. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and this is dateline. >> a mystery in los angeles. a missing woman. >> he said, cindy where's my mom? >> and i just instantly knew. and i just in michael, called the police, i'm on my way. >> a loving mother. >> always there for

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