i know what year it is. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." do you? hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline."ens . it doesn't happen to your family, to your brother. but it does. i'm to hcraig melvin. >> and this is dateline! >> it happens on tv. it doesn't happen to your nephew, to your brother. but it does. >> no one thought it could happen to him. he was a tough guy prepared for

anything. >> he always would say, if anyone tries to begin hint. i will kill them. >> instead, he was killed. >> stabbed in his own home. >> you show your dad's cool to the touch? >> his son, and daughter in law, stumbled into a terrifying scene. >> that's what i saw the gun. >> they said, we're gonna have to kill you now. >> a strange story that only got stranger. >> they had purple gloves on. >> and they had blue, floods the gloves. >> something isn't right here. >> could he have killed his own father? what really happened in that house. >> i did not do this! >> and, a this came forward and changed anything. in this was our story, the strangest thing of all was the truth. >> he planned for any scenario except for the one that happened to him.

>> -- -- was a man who built a fortune, and afford shifts to protect. it then, they found him in his home, with a bloody crime scene. how could someone so vigilant be taken by surprise? it was a riddle that threaten to destroy this family until someone, with an explosive secret, reveal the horrifying truth. here's keith morrison with mystery in payson canyon. >> there are people on this glorious, sunkissed passionate of ours. who get up each morning to the miracle of being alive, and worry. not that there aren't things to worry about, of course. but whether we can do anything about them or not. and some people worry a great deal indeed. and to try to be prepared for whatever. and one of those prepared people was a brilliant, retired university professor. named cain morgan's in. whose sister was --

>> ised k. what will happen if i'm not prepared and i'm hungry, or my kids are hungry? tim we come to your house? and he said, i'll just shoot you. he was definitely willing to protect what he had. >> oh yes, he certainly was. and sure enough, one night. >> 9-1-1. what's the address of your emergency? >> but. we are getting ahead of ourselves. what happened that night was a long time coming. it was long before that when kay became a survivalist. with attitude. >> he knew exactly what he thought about everything, and even though he knew what he was saying was going to be outrageous, he would say it anyway. >> he had a black belt in karate and own scores of firearms. kept guns in just about every room of the house. and of all his cars, a fully stocked concrete bunker.

outside of his home in utah. >> he had food, he had everything there. what are. to go to the bathroom. magazine, looked storied. >> kay was very clear about it with his wife. >> and he would say, this is where you and i are gonna end up. because there will be a nuclear war. and i would say, i don't want to live if everyone else is they. so, he was a true patriot and he worried about things. and wanted to be prepared for the civil war that was going to erupt. so he was a little over the top. >> she wasn't thrilled about it, but she accepted him and his radical views. after all, they were kind of in their honeymoon phase. >> it was all kind of surreal. i think we both felt like we were back being teenagers again. so, we both hadn't really had love for quite a few years. >> they found each other late in life. after both have raised families. kay had three adult children by then.

one of whom, his oldest, roger, stayed close. >> he was my best friend. we did everything together. >> mind you, roger was not at all like kay. for one thing, he had suffered a brain injury years ago. so unlike kay, he couldn't work much. lived on disability. but he like to hang out with his dad. >> we live less than a mile apart because we did enjoy spending so much time together. if i ever needed help, he was gonna be there in a minute to help me. >> although, said roger's wife, it wasn't always easy. that's just the way that kay was wired. >> rodgers that was a very strong willed person. it was his way or the highway. >> so, roger learned early to shy away from confrontation with his father. not at all how it was with his new love, darlene.

when she was around, they say that kay tough hide melted. >> we knew then that he really loved her. and he was willing to compromise and do something so that he could make her happy also. >> did it seem to soften him up a little bit? >> it did. a lot. >> so kate and dara le got married. and they were as happy as they had ever been. >> he said, what else do we need to do? where we're tired. have plenty of money. we will just have fun. >> kay was a rich man. made most of his money buying gold at 2:50 an ounce, says starlet. >> he just had of the foresight. he always had the foresight. don't worry. it's not gonna be worth anything. >> he put his money in a trust so that roger in his other children would inherit everything once he was gone. heaven knows that he wasn't spending any, he was worth

millions but. >> he was very frugal, very frugal. and i just used to say to him, when is it that you're gonna spend your money? what are you waiting for? >> so kay promised darla, he travel with her. see the world. but he made sure that his bunker was stopped. and he kept his guns close to him. just in case. and then it was november 16th, 2009. darla was away watching her granddaughters. he kay was alone in the basement. >> 9-1-1, what's the address of your emergency? >> it was evening when the call came in. >> i have the help on the way, but i need to get some information. are you sure that he's dead? >> but darla was on her way home, the cell phone chirp. it was a neighbor. >> he said something terrible has help. and and he said i think it's at your house. >> darla mind flash decay. and his guns. >> and i thought oh myself, he's probably shot somebody. but >> she found a family friend. >> i said, something is going on. i'm alone. i need to be with somebody. can you come down and be with

me? >> chris ruch to meet garland at the foot of the canyon. police blocked off the road that led to their house. and now darla and chris thought exactly the same thing. >> but kay probably shot someone. >> coming up, roger makes an agonizing discovery. and stumbles directly into a murder scene. >> he said, wrong place wrong time! >> when dateline continues! me! >> when dateline continues! they said the wrong place, wrong time. craig (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ 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

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keith (voiceover): everyone knew that kay mortensen was always book online or go to prepared, surrounded himself with a veritable arsenal of firearms-- just a tough old bird who could defend himself against just about anything. he always would say, if anyone tries to break in here, i'll kill him. keith (voiceover): but life, no matter how well we prepare, everyone knew that kay mortensen was always prepared. surrounded himself was a venerable arsenal of firearms. a tough old bird that could defend himself against anything. >> he always would say that if anybody tries to break in here i will kill them. >> but life, no matter how well we prepare is full of rude surprises, as it was for k. it was november 16th se2009 just before thanksgiving. >> hi, we have the police on the way to help you there are you sure that your dad is cool to the touch? >> he did not shoot some intruder, as he was long promised to do. no, somebody killed him. without firing a shot. >> yes, he's leaned over face forward in the bathtub with his throat slashed. >> and the man on the phone reporting the crime?

roger. k's eldest son. >> slashed his throat? >> yes. >> it wasn't long before his wife, darla, had made it to the mouth of the canyon. and made it to the command post that have been set up down the street from their home. that's where they gave her the news. >> your life just comes tumbling down. you have it all planned out, you think you do know what it's gonna be. and then, everything is gone. >> him, cut off guard? not kay, said dara. impossible. but that seemed just to be what happened, at least that's what roger and pam told the police and later us. a very strange story that it was that began, they said, when pam received a pie at work as a gift. >> we knew how much he loved that peak on pie and we decided as soon as she got home from work to take him that pie. >> so they went to his house

intending to drop off the pie and then leave but when they got there, they, said there was an unfamiliar car in the driveway. pam said that she had knocked on the door and the young man answered. >> i said is kay here? he said he is, he's upstairs. i said, we're just here to drop off a pie. and he said go on in. i thought about the land. they when i was asked to come back down i heard the door shut. and when i turned around, that's when i saw the gun. >> what was it like to see that? >> it was a shock. as soon as we turned around and saw the gun, another guy started walking down the stairs also. he had it in his hand, a lot of zip ties. they turn to us and said, you are here at the lot wrong place in the wrong time. hold out your hands. >> the intruders of tied their wrists and force them down on the living room floor. then subside their ankles. >> after we were tied up, they said, well i'm sorry but you've seen our play faces. we're going to have to kill you

now. >> pam, quaking in terror, she said, looked up at a picture of jesus that was hanging on the living room wall. >> i kept thinking, heavenly father, if you really love me and care for me, please make us get through this. and, it calmed me. to keep looking at that picture for us. and to be able to help roger stay calm. >> it really impacted you? >> it did. >> why? >> it brought me comfort. it brought me piece to know that. >> even if they killed you? >> to know that the, my love heavenly father loves me. and then he would do the right thing for me. >> both men left the room, they said. and then, roger began praying aloud. he was midsentence, he said, when the man walked back in. then something quite amazing happened.

>> my wife nudge me and said, okay, be quiet they are back. and one of them says, no, that's okay. keep praying. and they both folded their arms in front of them, and bow their heads. and listen to me as i continue this entire prayer. >> how weird is that? >> when i got done with the prayer, we both sat down and their demeanor changed at that point. one of them looked at us, and said, well. we decided we are not going to kill you. we have decided that we are going to tell you a story that you need to relate to the police. >> what was that story that the intruders told them to say? the three black men with ski masks invaded the house. three, not too is they actually were. black, not white as they

actually were. and then, said roger, they took his drivers license. told him they'd know if here pam ever told the truth. and if that happens, they would hunt him down and kill him. and then the two men left. roger and pam waited a while, got out of the zip ties. and roger ran upstairs well pam died 9-1-1. and was on the phone with the operator when roger found his father in the upstairs bathroom. >> and i saw my father off of the bathtub. his feet were tied, and his head was down in the bathtub. >> inconceivable! tough, resilient, i amped to the teeth murdered with his own kitchen knife? what a story. eric, aside agents with the new york counties office was assigned. he was sitting in the office, went from up at the house, the first officer to talk to pam and roger called him.

>> he said, you know, something isn't right here. it seems from his perception that maybe some things were staged. or some things were just not what you would think would be normal for a crime as heinous or vicious as this. >> something about that bizarre story did not sit right. he just couldn't put his finger on it. but not yet, anyway. >> coming up! the >> problem was, that bizarre story got weirder by the minute. >> they had purple gloves on. >> and they had blue, fuzzy gloves. >> when dateline continues! ] i know what it's like to perform through pain. if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. ♪3, 4♪ ♪ relief is possible. ♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪

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keith (voiceover): the death of kay mortensen was horrific, humiliating, helpless to defend himself inside his own sacred fortress.

the death of kay mortensen was that he maleate, unable to defend himself inside his own fortress. the killer had bent him over the bathtub, thrashers throat, and had all those guns. but not a single one fired. it seemed so personal. sergeant eric of the new county sheriff's office got a briefing on the first officer of the scene. he turned on his audio recorder when he met it kay son roger, and his wife pam. roger found the body and was already suggesting possible killers. >> he told me had an appointment for lunch at noon, with a guy named mike kept. discussing $25,000 worth of guns. >> mike? he was ks former student. >> roger and pam identify him real quick. saying that he is involved. he owes my dad money. he is the one who did this. >> roger told detectives that kay was holding a collection of mics weapons. 30 of them. posting pistols, and rifles, and some shotguns. he put the guns in his bunker. roger thought there might be a grudge involved. when detectives went to look for the guns, they were gone. >> so we pullen michael that night. we interviewed him, and we can get his out will buy that is quick. nothing. >> nothing suspicious it turned out, he had nothing to do with the murder. he simply needed money. and kay agreed to buy his guns. by now, tips are coming in. >> and this female said, she it's the bigger boys. the bigger boys did this. >> the big boys were brothers, who fairly or not, had developed a reputation as the towns troublemakers. detectives found them. they had solid alibis. and then a next day, another

tip. a woman who implicated her own husband. >> he came home last night the timeframe before the homicide, he grabbed a bunch of stuff, like a knife. and then he was looking for guns. so he might be involved. >> but he was not the suspect. detectives thought the stolen guns would even the case. >> we recovered a lot of firearms that were stolen but none linked. >> that just highlighted another aspect of the mystery. but he had collected firearms and had almost 1000 voluble guns locked up at his house. but the thieves only stole the cheaper ones. >> pretty bizarre robbery to take those and not take the far more valuable collection? >> agreed. >> in fact, the inside of kay house was pristine, untouched. no sign that anybody had stolen anything. if this was a home invasion, this was an odd one. but by then, truth be told, detectives were already holding in to the two people who admitted they were there the whole time. we kay son roger, and his wife

ham. starting with the 9-1-1 call they made, something odd about it. >> did not sound how i would think that phone call should be made to 9-1-1 at right after discovering your father had just been killed and had been subside in the bathtub. >> roger in pm, said detectives. we're unemotional, uncaring, even callous. even though they claim the gunman stood over them, kept them hostage for two hours. the first time they seem to describe the man. >> okay, the guy that had the gun. what did he look? like was he white guy, back guy, has manic? >> i don't know. >> she seemed uncertain even about the number of gunmen. >> how many where? they're how many guys were? there >> there could've been three. >> but listen to what happened next. roger took the phone and stay changed the story. >> where they white, black, hispanic? >> they were white. >> three white males? >> two white males? >> roger explain the reason for

all the apparent confusion. if they ever revealed what their captives look like, they would be hunted down and killed. >> did you buy? that >> no. i didn't. they didn't appear fearful. they were saying, it they weren't acting fearful. >> anyway, why would vicious killers not have killed them too? night of the murder, they interviewed them. >> my name is eric by the way. what >> did they seemed urges or agitated? >> not nervous. just an emotional. >> even at times cole towards the victim, roger's father. >> he's a contender his old and he says his mouth to everybody. >> and as they told their stories, detectives started noticing subtle differences. >> and they had blue, fuzzy gloves. they look like women's winter driving clubs or something. the fuzzy ones.

>> i know they had purple gloves. purple, you know, medical gloves. >> lots of details on which they did not agree. so the sergeant decided to employ a well known police interview. he got tough. accusing. >> quite frankly, i think the story is a bunch of crap. i think the story is a bunch of crab that you and rodgers have come up with. okay? >> i'm sorry you can't believe me, but. >> i'm trying to. >> does it sound sound to rehearse? >> yeah. >> i want them to say, i had nothing to do with this. detective your crazy, i had nothing to do with this! that's what i want to hear. but nothing came out.

>> but listen to what they've come out. >> is your husband capable of killing somebody? >> i need to get a drink. >> i wouldn't hope. i mean, i wouldn't think he is. i wouldn't think that he is capable of killing his father. >> the search of roger and pam's home show they seem to be in financial trouble. detectives found collection notices, and an send mortgage coupons. suggesting they were behind in their house praise payments. >> i know we are in a lot of debt. but, we, i, personally, would not have my father in law killed for his money. >> and yet, as roger told the detective. >> i'm not so sure, but i did get a bigger share of my dad's millions to. >> after the murder, pam and roger agreed to go back to the

house with detectives for the videotape retelling of their intruder story. >> at the front door, my wife was holding the pie. right here. >> that provide you any useful information? >> it provided useful information from our standpoint. in terms of more circumstantial evidence that they're not being 100 percent truthful. >> once again, detectives heard foggy memories. >> she knocked on the door, or rang the door, or i believe she knocked on the door. >> they heard dialogue that sounded like a bad crime movie. >> he pointed to that is and said, you are here at the wrong time. put out your hands.

>> but then there was that same strange lack of emotion. when roger described what should have been the worst moment of his life. >> came back downstairs and my wife was talking at the time, to 9-1-1 dispatch. and i said, he's dead. >> roger and pam took a polygraph test. and what do you know? roger was found to be deceptive. and pam? was jumpy. the operator couldn't complete the test. but still, roger and pam swore up and down that they had nothing to do with it. they were victims, themselves. truth be told.

the police needed some real evidence. and out of the blue, something arrived. >> investigators are confronted with new evidence. and strange does not begin to describe it. someone saw the clearly. in a dream. >> coming up! >> i have a photo lineup drawn up. and i said it's your favorite on it. she puts it right around roger's face. >> when dateline continues! mo—, and show off clearer skin and less itch with dupixent. the number one prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. [♪♪] 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. hey, you should try new robitussin honey medi-soothers

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welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. police suspected roger and pam mortensen welcome back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. police expected roger and pam wears some cold blooded

killers. to investigators, their story about finding kay mortensen dead at the hands of two armed intruders did not add up. and with kay gone, roger stood to inherit a fortune. soon, an unlikely witness would bolster the detectives case with her own chilling tale of what happened that night. continuing with mystery and hansen canyon, here's keith morris. >> within days of kay mortensen murder members of the family started hearing deeply troubling reports from the utah sheriff counties office. the investigations was leading, sure is it could be, to kay's own son roger and his wife pam. de la salle that she couldn't believe it at first. >> i was just adamant that they could not have done it. that was their biggest defended. >> then they were asked to listen to roger and pam's recorded statements. and she too started to wonder. >> they told lies and it put more suspicion on them. >> gradually, her conviction grew. saying for kay sister. >> i can by the fact that they were thinking of rodgers involvement. >> they were just too many

things about roger and pam story that did not make any sense to fern. and there was something else to, a possible witness. >> remember that woman who suspected her husband was involved? the police found the. here in salt lake city that drug binge with some friends. they were high on meth. and one of the people there, a woman named cammie told the detectives that she had a story to tell. about a dream that she had. >> she describes, in what she calls a dream. what seeing someone getting killed. she describes being outside of a room, she describes a female off to her left crying in esoterics. and she describes three or four males in the bathroom. and she says there's one male that is related to the female on the floor screaming. >> now remember, the woman was on methamphetamine. reporting, not what she saw. but what she dreams she saw. still, you never know till you

ask. >> so i have a photo lineup drawn up. and she stares at it, and she puts her head down, and she put her finger on it. she put it right on rodgers face. >> the next day, detectives took her to kay house. showed her the crime scene. and again, she named roger. >> i can't really see roger. he is holding kay. >> you don't hear a story like that, and say well, that is a piece of crap. and go on from there? >> no. not when she gives that amount of detail. >> suspicion of roger and pam was hardened by the detectives that kept the family of the developments. >> what it is due to you? >> it threw me for a loop. >> when pam and roger attended kay funeral. the tension was thick. >> it was very difficult to be there. because everybody wanted to know what happened that night. >> but they couldn't say anything, said pam. detectives told them not to. >> and my sister came up to me at one point and says, tell me what really happened. and i tell her, i sorry that i cannot talk about this. >> shortly after, roger and pam took the polygraph tests and were told about the dismal results.

they hired a lawyer. few in the family could understand why they would do a thing like that, if they were innocent, that is. >> i tried to say, what would i do if i was in their situation? i would do everything i could to help get these people that had caused such horror in their lives, and murdered kay. >> on the advice of their attorneys, roger and pam stop talking. and the lopsided rift in the family widened. from mistrust, to anger, to outright accusation. chris, the woman dialogue called on the night of the murder, was one of the very few people that continued to support roger and pam. >> they were left out to hang and dry. >> how did you feel about that? >> i was so angry. i was just so, so angry.

i couldn't believe that you could love somebody and do that to them. even if i thought roger had done it, i would not have abandoned him. >> and they did? >> they absolutely did. not only did they abandoned him, they crucified him. >> months dragged by. roger and pam were headline news in utah. but in the absence of definitive evidence linking the case to murder? they remained free. day by day they went about their business. as if their lives were still quite normal. then on july 28th, 2010. utah county prosecutor took a dramatic step to break the logjam. he presented the case against roger and pm to a grand jury. >> so why call the grand cherry? why not just charge them? >> we thought the grand jury was a great tool to force them to come in to talk. >> it was a secret proceeding. no defendants, no defense attorney. only prosecutors, police, some members of the family, even

some of pam's coworkers. all in front of 16 jurors. whose job was to decide whether or not they should charge roger and pam with the murder. and? in just over an hour. the jury decided to indict. >> so what did that say to you? >> well, there was enough to proceed. >> sort of reinforce what you are thinking? >> it did. >> and that same day. eight months after kay mortensen was found dead in his home, roger and pam were deposited in the county jail. chris, the family friend who still believe they were innocent, went to roger sister. >> i said julie, we need some

money to hire an attorney for roger. we think pam's family can come up with money for pam, but we have to give him a separate attorney. can you help me? there is millions of dollars in the trust. she told me, her words, we're not one red penny will be spent on his defense. >> julie told us that she did not use those specific words. but she said that the family was advised by their attorney not to use kay money to pay for the defense. which means that roger, who stood to inherit a big chunk of his dad's millions, would have to rely on a public defender. where he and hem diabolic killers as detectives and their own family had come to believe? of course, we, and everybody else. just had to know. >> coming up! >> roger and pam face some tough questions. >> as the interrogation continues. there were stories that didn't stay the same. according to the police at least. >> when dateline continues! >> when dateline continues!

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keith (voiceover): much of utah county, along with roger's own family and many of their one-time friends, joined the lineup arrayed much of utah county along with roger's own family and many of the one-time friends, join the lined up against roger and pam. as they sat in jail. charged with murdering rogers fat father and they waited for their day in court. there evidence that day? they're strange demeanor. the alleged troubles. but mostly, according to the detectives, that does bizarre and ever-changing story about the night of the murder. what was the truth? we asked the only people whom know for sure. starting at the beginning with that strange 9-1-1 call.

>> who held you hostage? >> i don't know. >> our viewers here that 9-1-1 call and say, wait a minute something is wrong there. people scream on 9-1-1 calls. they're crazed. >> and i think i was in a lot of shock. to. and i don't know the real reason why i was, i could stay as calm as i can. but i just, that's just my personality. and that's the type of person i am. >> and although she didn't sound like it, she was terrified, she said. that captures her just threatened to kill them if they told the truth. >> and so when the 9-1-1 operator asked me how many were there? i was totally confused on what to say. do i tell the truth which is what i want to do? >> rodgers said he knew exactly what he had to do when he discovered fodder in the bathtub. >> i went to her and said, tell me the exact truth, we are gonna get them. but >> pam said that she still couldn't spread it out. >> i was, kind of, staggering through what was going on, there was two, maybe there was

three. because i did not know. i was terrified for my life. still. and, i didn't know what i should've said. >> what about their police interrogations? when their stories did not match? >> i thought that the gloves were one color. she thought the gloves were another color, other than that. our stories were basically the same. >> they both cooperated fully, said roger. kept arcing for days. even as police brought up one accusation after another. >> there was an inheritance involved? >> yes. >> and you talked about that with the police? >> i may have, i'm not sure. >> according to them, you talked about it. and it provided one of the classic motivations that children have for killing their parents. cops ran into it all the time.

right? >> they say they do. >> and, that's clearly, what they were thinking when they talk to you. >> yes. >> does it make that clear? >> they didn't make very much clear to us. they just said that we were not being cooperative with them. even though, from the very beginning we told them everything that happened. they just didn't believe it. they didn't believe that two people would kill one person and leave two more alive. >> perhaps, but what about roger and pam's apparent financial troubles? >> we were not having any financial problems. if we were having financial problems, my father would be glad to help us! we had that type of a relationship.

>> they were certainly not debt free, they said, but it did not amount to a whole lot. and as for the pile of consent mortgage coupons? they simply started paying online, they said. like everybody else. but as for the failed polygraph test? roger said he should have never been able to take it. remember, strong disability. because years ago serious action had left him with a brain injury. which caused them, among other things, short term memory loss and confusion. the sort of thing that would make a polygraph results quite useless. >> i said, how could i failed. i did not do this? >> so, was he lying? or did police have it all

wrong? >> they didn't know how to proceed, they could not find fingerprints because the people had gloves on. they didn't find a gun because they took it with them. they didn't know what to do, and so being confused, they went after the easiest subjects that they could find. it was us. >> the days piled up. the month, two months. four months in jail. waiting for their day in court. a day in which larger's lawyer was quite so eager as they were. >> we had a case that i thought we could defend, at the end of the day i was still scared. >> and no one was prepared when one cold winter day, in the utah county sheriff's office, the phone rang. >> coming up! the unexpected call. the true reveal. >> he said that they took him to the bathroom. and bend them over the tub. >> a surprising ending that you won't believe! when dateline continues! something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. 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.

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hey, you okay? i'm gonna pass out if that's alright. get the real deal, get xfinity. keith (voiceover): summer turned into winter again. the family marked the grim anniversary of kay mortensen's summer turned into winter again. the family marked a grim anniversary of the kay mortensen murder. as kay son roger and the daughter-in-law pam cool their heels in jail. all the time maintaining their innocence. pam said that she was offered a deal if she turns the evidence against roger. >> if you can tell them what you want to hear, you can go home. but for me, i was not gonna lie just so i could be a free person. >> rodgers public defender, anthony howell, believed his client was innocent. >> i was looking for that piece of evidence that would be, that's the thing i can't explain. and there just was nothing. >> but here was the rub, how had new juries. and his trialed approached, when he was deeply unsettled. >> i was worried that he was gonna be convicted regardless of what i was trying to do. >> why? >> because this is the kind of case where a jury would be

worried that if they didn't convict, that they would be letting a murderer go free. >> but howell did not get the opportunity to defend his client in court. the reason was that phone call today you talk county sheriffs alphas. a call from a woman named, rachel bingham. and here's what she had to say. >> oh, i've just been blocking it off like it didn't happen. and i just watch the news. and these people are gonna go to jail, prison probably, life sentence. >> what she had been blocking out was a bombshell, her ex husband, martin bomb, told her he and a friend named benjamin went to kay's house to steal his guns. >> and they pulled out their guns. and told them to put zip ties on. and he said he wasn't willing at first, but he eventually did. >> a bomb, he said, told her everything. >> he said that they took them

into the bathroom. and bet them over the tongue. >> and cut his throat. and then. >> he just said that all right after they heard the door the doorbell ring and it was the two. >> the two? where roger and pam. and we know the rest of the story. rachel kept the secret for months. until finally, her conscience one out. she told the police one more thing. how the crooks got the job from kay mortensen. it turned out that martin's dad, and kay were old friends. k had known him as a kid. which is why kay, armed against intruders welcomed him in and turned his back on his killers. >> he had planned for any worst- case scenario to happen except for the one that happened to him. >> in that, there are so many ironies aren't there? >> there are so many ironies.

yes. >> the biggest perhaps? roger and pam's crazy story about armed intruders was true all along. those star jim still had trouble believing it. >> i can pick up the case, and i can read through it. and i can read through it and see discrepancy after discrepancy. i can see -- >> but can you see where that maybe isn't enough? >> yes. >> asked for treating the possible evidence, the dream sequence of a girl on matt? >> this is evidence? >> well. it's more circumstantial evidence. it's a lead. >> you'd even call that circumstantial evidence? a lead? saying she had a dream? >> it's a good dream. and it's pretty close. >> and in the end, the

prosecutor admitted that he and the detectives got it wrong. >> based upon the new physical evidence that we have located, we anticipate dismissing the charges against roger and pm tomorrow. >> roger and pam were finally free. >> those four and a half months seems like four and a half thousand years. i felt like i was in there forever. >> pam got a standing ovation from an unlikely crowd. >> as i was walking out of that big dorm area, there was 90 women clapping and cheering for me. they knew i was innocent. and for me, having the situation that we dealt with, with rodgers family turning

against us. france turning against us. to have that support of those people that people would consider criminals. to have them cheer and yell and scream? was a very emotional thing for me. >> pam wanted the prosecutor to issue a public apology. that would help make up through what all this has cost, them she said. we offered the prosecutor this form. >> am i sorry? i am. i have no problem with saying i made a mistake. they did not try to defraud anyone, we did not try to lie, we did not try to fabricate anything. but we made a mistake. >> and and roger filed a lawsuit. arguing that they lied to the grand jury. but a few months later, the u.s. supreme court ruled that grand jury witnesses and

prosecutors were immune from civil litigation. so the judge dismissed their case. >> so let me understand this. the police come to your house, you're arrested, your names are dragged through the mud. then somebody gets the right guy. and they say, well by, see later? >> exactly. >> as in so many cases, they ended up blaming each other. one took a deal, got 25 to life, the other went to trial, was convicted, and his doing life without parole. the star prosecution witness? rachel bingham. and if she had not come forward, the two innocent people would be an in this prison today? >> is it gonna chase you for a while? >> a little. but i can put it behind me. the case is closed out. what i'm happy for me, personally, is that the family has closure. >> but do they?

it isn't just the murder that they must learn to live with, but also the wreckage spewed for howell knows long through the family story. >> i have a motions of happiness, and relief, but still there is some regrets that i did not support roger and pm. from the beginning? >> it changes your perspective on the world. it really does. >> and, by the way, said roger and pm. a little piece of advice. >> if anything happens, and there is anything dealing with law enforcement. don't say a word. and you get an attorney. >> and that's for darla, who had finally found the love of her life. what was there to say? >> that moment of sunshine snatched away? >> yeah. you just take what life brings you. it's not always what you would expect it. when you're a young girl, you have all your dreams of what your life is gonna be and, somehow it just doesn't quite work out that way. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching! >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> they were high school sweethearts. >> we both expected to spend the rest of our lives together. >> but when she was murdered, sympathy turned to suspicion. his palm print was elon the >>