>> inside the courtroom, christina's family clung to each other in relief. her sister colette was there too. >> when they read it, it was a good moment. >> carl carlson was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. his appeal his conviction, 29 years after a fire to cristina carlson's life, her family, finally, has answers. but even time, they say, doesn't heal all wounds. >> i don't think you can put a time when you would miss some of the most. the memories are good, i still have her pictures up around my home, and i'm not gonna take those down. and so she's right there in my bedroom with me at all times. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. hing. and this is "dateline."hock. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> i didn't see it coming. it was shocking. >> i had a bad feeling. >> she did say, he has a gun and i'm afraid he might use it.

>>reporter: a story of sand, sunsets in fatal attraction. she had so much to give. >> she would make everyone feel special. >>reporter: successful at everything except love. then, she found him. >> she fed said she felt so good in his arms. >>reporter: he was handsome and crazy about her. there was talk of marriage. and then suddenly there was talk of trouble. she was frightened enough not to go home. >> she had fear that something would happen to her. >>reporter: it did. >> my sister's not answering her phone. >>reporter: how did love go so wrong? in a surprising twist, it would take not one, but two trials to discover the truth. >> he wasn't convicted of killing my sister anymore, all of a sudden. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. who who -- was a savvy

entrepreneur. cut tom toolan his teeth in the financial world. they are connection was instant. but when they're somewhere love cooled, tempers flared and the relationship to the tragic turned. initially, it seemed like an open and shut case. but there was a surprise in store. here's what -- with murder on nantucket island. >> nantucket island, a gorgeous place off the coast of cape cod. a simple inelegant place in a way this is serious money. the beaches are pristine, the food phenomenal, and the shopping? pack your credit cards.

as a setting for romance with its surf, sunsets and see braces, nantucket is 50 shades of fabulous. but then, the fog rolls in. dense, mysterious and everything changes. suddenly, it seems, anything is possible in this movie place. maybe even sinister things. >> 9-1-1. state your emergency. >> we have an emergency -- my sister, she's not answering her phone. >>reporter: it was october 25th, monday, 2004. a great day. officer daniel was on patrol when the car radio crackled at about 1:15 pm. >> she was supposed to pick up my son a day camp and she won't answer her phone. >> okay, i'll find her. now >> it was a routine matter, or so it seemed. the officer met his partner at hawthorne lane. there were two houses on the property. both were owned by longtime island resident barbara.

>> she said, are you miss lochtefeld? and she said, no, and pointed over there. the >>reporter: officers walked up and knocked. it was the first hint of trouble. >> i moved around a bay window. and that was the first time i saw someone on the ground. >>reporter: for todd always looking at the crime scene. i radioed sergeant koch lee. >>reporter: furtado's partner kicked in the door, and saw a woman stabbed to death. furtado never saw anything like it and was hit by a wave of fearsome oceans.

>> from shock to awe to frightened. that's how it went. the police training then kicked in. >>reporter: adrenaline surging, the cops pull their weapons. >> our thought was to draw our weapon with our safety. so we proceeded to clear the house with weapons drawn. >>reporter: it was all clear. but horrifying. there were signs of a struggle. blood in a bedroom and in a

living room by the body. officer furtado radioed in. >> i made the comments, just get here. >>reporter: it was furtado's first homicide. but if he was a stranger to homicide, so is nantucket. there hadn't been a murder on the island for two decades. >> it doesn't happen here, it can't happen here. that was the way it was, kind of, until then. >>reporter: her name was elizabeth lochtefeld but everyone called her beth and she was an unlikely victim. she was 44 years old, a successful business woman from new york, who sold her company for a tidy profit and moved to this nantucket cottage just months before. >> she had this incredible gift of making people comfortable.

>>reporter: beth's brother, tom lochtefeld. >> she'd be chatting up the clerk when we went out to a store and i was like, come on, let's go, what do you doing? >>reporter: smart, vibrant, adventurous, that was all that and more. but what tom remembers most was her way with people. >>reporter: sounds like you're way with your sister -- sounds like she made people feel better, it's a way with love. >> she made everyone feel special. >>reporter: the 35 children, she was raised in peekskill, new york, about 50 miles nur north of new york city. >> my mom was home, dad was home at 5:30 for dinner.

>>reporter: but -- for years, if it was summer, beth was on the island. >> she was game for everything. >> leslie costello met beth more than three decades ago. they were freshman at the university of notre dame. >> the last time she was in california, we were going to go out surfing, and i said, beth, i think you better -- she boogie boarded plenty, she never served before, and she said, i know, i want to go for it, i want to learn to serve. so here she was, always willing and wanting to embrace new experience. embrace it with joy. >>reporter: after college, that settled in new york and started her own company. in this video, she talked about those early days. >> i worked my fingers to the bone, your nose to the grindstone. >>reporter: she chose a tough

gig, helping architects navigate new york's building regulations. >>reporter: that seems like a job for a tough, hard edged woman. doesn't seem like the type of woman you are describing. >> she was enormously successful because she was hardworking and honest. she shined and people just could trust her. >> but it sounds like it was just one part of her life that was missing. the one part, it was love. finding someone spent her life with. did she talk about that? >> yes, she did. >>reporter: in early september, 2004, that dream seem to be in reach. >> she was thinking, this could be the guy, absolutely. >>reporter: it was labor day weekend, a sunny day on nantucket. burnett called her friend beth. >> i said, hi, i think i'm looking at your future husband right now. and she said, really? and i said, yeah. and she said, i'll be right over. >>reporter: bernie death had only known bat for a few months. not long but long enough. >> she told me that she had been successful in all parts of her life except love. >>reporter: so when burnadette's old friend tom toolan came to stay with her, she introduced him to beth. >> it was electric, the minute she walked in, it was like, whoa. >>reporter: beth had finally met mr. wright. but people aren't always what they seem to be. or pretend to be. >> there was a lot to like about beth's new boyfriend. but there was also something a little troubling. especially after he met beth's friends. >>reporter: coming up -- >> she said something like, i thought you were really sophisticated and charming. and he said, under his breath, boy, i really should've been an. actor >> when "dateline" continues.

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in september 2004, beth lochtefeld

was a woman in love. >> in september, 2004, elizabeth "beth" lochtefeld was a woman in love. her brother tom remembers exuberant phone calls about the new man in her life. >> of course, he was over the top about this guy, friend of a friend. and, of course i had learned -- new [laughs] -- after many of those phone calls, to try to not get too excited for her. >>reporter: at 37, was tom toolan a walking, talking, smooth machine, all broad shouldered and preppy. beth had a lot in common with him. >> he like literature, music, he was good-looking, came from a catholic family whose parents were still married 30 years later. that was a big attraction for mitt. >> she saw someone who is like- minded, i guess. >> in many ways, yes. >>reporter: tom toolan's friend

barnegat had introduced a couple. they grew up in the same apartment building in brooklyn. >> he was the same age as my brother. he always felt like a little brother to me. i can't tell you how close we were. >>reporter: after college, tom sold cars for a while and then landed a job as a broker at smith barney. other jobs in finance followed, including a stint as a bank executive on wall street. he seemed to have it all. >> he called me on some corner in manhattan. and he said, she's unbelievable, we're having so much fun. >>reporter: tom whitman as well, from day one. >> he said, whoa, she's an amazing gal. a great gal. >>reporter: even though they lived apart, they started i'm seeing each other regularly. beth was eager for marriage and family. soon there was talk of rings.

although, beth's brother said, it was mainly tom doing the talking. >> it's my understanding that that first day, he said, i'm going to marry you. and she is like, yeah, right. >>reporter: beth hesitated as she learned more about her new man. he told her he had drinking problems. but for burnett fognini, playing cupid, it hardly seemed like a deal breaker. >> i knew he had a drinking problem. and regardless, i know 1 million people with drinking problems. >>reporter: other friends had misgivings. louis taught beth japanese martial arts and tuck it. and she confided in him. >> she says, well, i met someone. and i say, wow, that's great. and he smokes and drinks, she says. and i say, wow, that doesn't sound like a great mix. she says, he's a little crazy, fences, well, i'm a little crazy to.

>> if she was making excuses, she had her reasons. >> she told me this was the first time in 15 years time with a man that wants to be with me, he was protective. >>reporter: besides, beth was a fixer. >> when she would take eyes, a lot of times she would say to herself, well, he'd be really great except for this. but i think we can work on that. >>reporter: no surprise, then, that beth decided to work on tom's drinking problem with him. >> she was trying to help him dry out. he told her he wanted to stop and dry out. >>reporter: a few weeks after they met, they flew to california together. tom was now having meetings they are and beth decided to tag along. it was their first extended trip together and for bat, it was an eye-opener and now she saw things that she could not dismiss. >> he's amiss, she said, he couldn't get on the plane. they missed the plane. what was he doing, i said? he was walking in circles in the hotel room, smoking

cigarettes. not packed. just a mess. >>reporter: beth wanted to introduce tom to her friends on the west coast. -- was -- he but she was less than impressed. >> he was distant and very formal. i didn't understand him. the >>reporter: trip ended badly. >> they went in a taxi and he had a temper tantrum. and i guess she said, let us off here, but whatever she said, he turned and he really yelled at her. she said it was a bit scary. >>reporter: and he was drinking. >> she said he had eight beers by the time he got on the plane. >>reporter: bernard says, on the way home, tom asked beth what her friends thought of him. he said something chilling that followed. something that troubled her so much that she told burn it out about it right away. >> he said, what did she say

about me? she said, i thought you were really sophisticated. and he said, under his breath, boy, i really should have been an actor. and she said, that just went right into her gut. >>reporter: it was at that point, perhaps, that she began asking, who is the real tom toolan? she told family and friends that she was going to give the relationship the four seasons test, to see how things stood in a year. but it was becoming clear that tom toolan was not inclined to let one season pass, let alone for. >>reporter: coming up, a troubled relationship becomes a terrifying win. >> why she didn't -- that day, i'm not exactly sure. >> when "dateline" continues. ex >> when "dateline" continues d w. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv

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in october 2004, beth lochtefeld went to new york >> in october, 2004, elizabeth "beth" lochtefeld went to new york to be with her boyfriend, tom toolan. by then, the two had been dating for six weeks. but the relationship was fraying. beth was beginning to see a troubling side of this new guy. and she started to give him ultimatums. >> he would start drinking and then he would get really ugly. she would say, you are a good guy but when you are drinking you are an idiot. and you need to decide between alcohol and me. and he would apologize and say,

i choose you and i want you. i don't want the alcohol. >>reporter: that week, beth invited her brother to meet her boyfriend. perhaps, she wanted his take on. tom first impression? you see him walk in. >> he had long-ish, blond hair, sort of combed back in a double breasted blue razor blazer on. he looked like something off of the captains union. but very pompous. i don't know. he seemed fake to me. >>reporter: that night, beth's brother kept asking tom toolan what he did for a living. and he couldn't really tell me. what he did. oh, i'm an investor. and i said, what do you invest in? he couldn't really give me an answer. beth's brother says that he was drinking during dinner but not

to access. >>reporter: afterwards, tom toolan and beth headed back to his apartment. beth told friends that something shopping happened. she had seen him drunk or angry, but she never saw her new boyfriend like this. >> he put her into a headlock and was walking down the street saying, i want to be your head in. she shared with me, i went back to the apartment to get my cell phone in palm pilot, and i wonder if i should've just left us left behind and left at that moment. >>reporter: little did beth know that tom toolan had apparently been aggressive with at least one other woman. >> i thought, wow, flowers, how nice. this is such a gentleman. >>reporter: becky hammond, sorkin as a bartender, dated tom toolan once. >> we had plans at newark athletic club, and i thought that was nice. it >>reporter: didn't turn out that way. dinner was pleasant, then came

drinks. >> that's when he accused me of being lascivious with a bartender, because i was just having conversation. >>reporter: they got into a cab to go home and becky says toolan tried to grab her. she didn't wait around. >> i jumped out and ran. i ran across the street. >>reporter: and now, four years later, elizabeth "beth" lochtefeld was in a frightening situation with the same man. but that night, instead of grabbing her stuff from toolan's apartment when she got their, beth stayed. and leslie says that beth later told her that things went from bad to terrible. >> he got very violent with her that night. he sexually assaulted her. and i think that beth was probably, sort of in a state of -- it's a confusing thing when it is somebody that you are supposedly close to. who violates you. my guess is that she was probably just in the state of

shock. and why she didn't leave that next day, i'm not exactly sure. >>reporter: by friday, october 22nd, two days after the dinner with her brother, beth decided to leave new york. friends and family say it was clear that she intended to call it quits with toolan, and she had even left her weather a message, saying she was coming to spend the night. but by now, something else was becoming clear. tom toolan was not going to let death go. >> he wouldn't leave her. and he followed her and said, they got to the metropolitan, and she said, i was standing there, in front of this painting, this dark painting, saying that this painting reminds me of tom toolan. >>reporter: that was the moment, beth later told leslie, that tom toolan i picked to propose to her. he chose a gallery in this world famous museum, the metropolitan museum of art.

he proposed to beth before but never like this. >> he pulls this run out, gets on his knees, proposes to her again. and she says, i was not -- she didn't feel safe enough to say no. she knew she was in a dangerous situation. so she said to him, i need more time. >> she was so upset. because he said, it's now or never. >> and her response to him was? >> then it has to be never. >> and these are words right out of best mouth. >>reporter: beth rushed out of the museum, toolan pursued her. >> she was screaming, i'm going to get drunk with my friends. she was going to get our stuff and get out, and he hopped into the cab with her, they ended up at his apartment. at some point that night, beth called her brother. in retrospect, she said, she

sounded terrified. >> her words were measured. she was speaking very clearly, enunciating. unlike her. she said, i'm here with tom in the city and we are trying to work things out. and i didn't even think to ask, or are you okay? or cough twice if you are in trouble. >>reporter: he had no idea his sister was in danger. >> i didn't want to deal with the breaking up making up thing. >>reporter: later, he would learn best ordeal that night and it's horrifying details. >> it's my understanding he was holding her at gunpoint. >>reporter: beth's brother says he has no proof of that but he has piece together a story from various accounts. >> he held her captive, she tried to get away. he was either drunk or tired and he ended up -- she was laying down on the bed -- he ended up laying on her legs and

then going to sleep or passing out himself. >> to prevent him from leaving? at >> which point flee slipped out. >> i understand she didn't want to use the della bader elevator. she ended up taking the stairs, afraid the ding would wake him up. it >>reporter: it was 4 am when beth managed to escape. >> where was she going to go? >> she was going straight to lug our laguardia, to get the next flight to nantucket. >>reporter: it was now saturday, october 23rd. and atm, beth called her brother. it would be the last time the two spoke. >> she mentioned she had broken up with him and that he had called her 50 time since. >> did that raise any alarm bells with you? just a guy who is heartbroken?

>> yeah. so i was thinking, well, she's going to go up to nantucket, everything will be over. things will be fine. >>reporter: except that would not happen. tragedy was too short days away. >> coming up -- a surprise visitor and a panicked phone call. >> he said to me, barbara, lock your door, don't go out, i'm calling the police. >>reporter: when dateline continues. and when it comes to your laundry, adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind. lysol. what it takes to protect. [♪♪] 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. (vo) welcome to lobsterfest. is your party ready? ready to attack this new lobster & shrimp stack? formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. 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? covid-19? i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults

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you want to see who we are as americans? i'm peter dixon and in kenya... we built a hospital that provides maternal care. as a marine... we fought against the taliban and their crimes against women. and in hillary clinton's state department... we took on gender-based violence in the congo. now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are.

welcome back to "dateline." i'm andrea canning. beth lochtefeld fairytale romance with tom toolan had turned dark. she told friends and family tom was a heavy drinker with violent tendencies. on a trip to new york, she said he sexually assaulted her and later held her at gunpoint. beth had left town but danger was not far behind. turned dark. she told friends and family that tom was a heavy drinker, with violent tendencies. on a trip to new york she said that he sexually assaulted her and later held her at gunpoint. beth had left town but danger was not far behind. once again here is with -- "murder on nantucket island". >> after a terrifying night where she was held captive in

tom toolan the's apartment. she had managed to escape and get home to nantucket her refuge. she called her friend leslie the morning she got back. >> she did say he has a gun and i'm frayed he might use it, i'm not gonna stay here, i'm gonna go spend the night at my brother's house. >> that same day, saturday october 23rd, beth stopped by the nantucket police department to ask about which filing a restraining order. >> for her to stop at the police department, that probably tells you all you need to know about what was going on inside of her. >> yeah, i would think so. i think she had well founded

fears, especially after the incident in new york when he held her captive. >> beth did not file the paperwork, she spent that night and the next at her brother peters home. she was frightened enough not to go home. >> i would have to say she had fear that something would happen to her. >> on monday october 25th, best return to her cottage in the morning collected his clothes, mail them back to him. she returned to the cottage and chatted with her land lady barbara, it was just after 10:30. she came in the yard and we were talking in the driveway, she's going to do some work on her computer and we were going to meet again around 1:00. >> beth went into the cottage to work. >> and that's the last i saw of bat. >> barbara continue to guard, in a short time later, she was feeling a wheelbarrow when suddenly she heard a voice behind her. >> the voice said is there anyone here is this house, i looked up, and i looked right at him. >> the man, oddly dressed for nantucket in a hat and long overcoat, was inquiring about betts cottage. >> i said i don't know. >> something about him bothered her. >> i knew beth had been seeing

someone and i think if she more or less told me, i think it's over. i said i guess this is the boyfriend who came back. >> he moved towards the cottage door, barbara went to her house to house lunch, but she was uneasy. >> as i said, it was an intuition. >> barbara said she called beth's brother peter but couldn't reach him, she said she called beth's parents and couldn't reach them either. she knew beth was planning to pick up her nephew before 1 pm, but beth's car would not move. and then, she noticed the shades in beth's bedroom window had been drawn. >> i had a bad feeling, i had a bad feeling. >> she called peter again and this time she reached him. >> i told him that there was someone in the yard, and i think that it is beth's boyfriend and he just said to me, barbara, lock your door, don't go out, i'm calling the police. >> 9-1-1. >> he's at her house now, she won't answer her cell phone.

>> it was then that sergeant daniel furtado with the nantucket police arrived at the cottage and with his partner made the discovery. beth lochtefeld's body on the living room floor. it was just weeks after she thought she had found the love of her life and dreamed of a new beginning. for the lochtefeld family, life would never be the same. what did you lose on that day? >> i would have to say i lost my best friend and confident apart from my wife, she was my closest sibling. we always got along very well. >> leslie got a call that same day. when you heard the news, how was a tool to you? >> he killed her. and i just remember being in shock. i didn't see it coming, i didn't know it was coming, it was shocking. >> you knew exactly who he was. >> oh yeah.

yeah. i did. >> tom toolan was arrested, picked up in rhode island, with bottles of beer and vodka in the car with him, his bloody clothes in a bag on the back seat. the rhode island state police videotaped his arrest and recorded his voice in the cruiser. >> can i be told why this -- why am i in this situation, sir? >> he was held without bail and arrange a month later. burnett finney was in the courtroom, she could barely contain herself. >> it was the reality hating me, sitting there that this happened. this really happened. and he walked in and it was like they were bringing in, you know king kong like a monster. i felt, you know, like it was my fault. she's gone. >> toolan was charged with

first degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, he pleaded not guilty. ahead lay a trial and explosive revelations about a man finally stripped bare of all pretend. coming up. >> what's seemed like an open and shut case was anything but. >> it's like the perfect storm, had all of these swirling together inside this man's head. when "dateline" continues. head. when "dateline" continues. longes plus odor protection with downy unstoppables. try for under 5 dollars.

witin june 2007 whilees. tourists wandered through old nantucket town looking for souvenirs, tom toolan went on trial for the murder of beth lochtefeld in a courthouse in the center of town. he'd pleaded not guilty. all rise. hoda kotb: the defendant was as smartly turned out as ever, looking like the successful executive he'd long wanted to be, the sort of guy who'd fit right in on this toney island. but the defense would argue that toolan's polished exterior was nothing more than a facade for a profoundly troubled man. they wouldn't say that he did not kill beth lochtefeld, but they would argue that he shouldn't go to prison for it. he was, they said, not guilty by reason of insanity. good morning, jurors. hoda kotb: toolan's attorney kevin reddington began by hinting at the turmoil that

lurked within tom toolan. see tom toolan? looks good. he's got a suit on and a tie. hair slicked back. certainly someone may say doesn't look crazy to me. hoda kotb: but the master of the universe act was just that, reddington declared, an act. because tom toolan was a mess plagued not just by alcohol abuse but drug addiction, too. his drink of choice would be absolut vodka right out of the bottle. drink a fifth a day. he was on the prescriptions legally. he was taking them illegally. hoda kotb: when beth broke up with him, reddington told the court toolan snapped. the drinking and drugging and even deeper troubles, all of them combined to push him over the edge. kevin reddington: the evidence will show that thomas toolan was suffering from a mental disease a defect at the time of this incident, that he was well within our legal definition of insane. hoda kotb: and who better to tell

the jury about the defendant's demons than the defendant's mother. my name is dolores toolan. hoda kotb: she recited the sorry facts of her son's life-- kevin reddington: at some point, was it apparent to you that he had an alcohol problem? yes, i would say when he was 16, 17. hoda kotb: his battle with drugs-- kevin reddington: did you know if he had occasion to make purchases from places other than drugstores? he got some prescriptions from the internet. >> his battle with drugs. >> did you know that he made purchases from places and other than the stores? >> he got some prescriptions from the internet. >> she told the court that she and her husband tried to string him out, sending him to rehab several times, beginning in 1999. >> and how long was he in hazel turn four? >> a month. >> now to describe his state in the days before the murder. >> did you at some point receive a phone call from your

son? >> yes. >> she described the conversation with her son, two days before the murder. he was inconsolable over the breakup with beth. >> he said, she's gone, she's gone, she's taken all of her stuff. i was asleep and she just left. >> the next day, sunday, the toolan went to manhattan to see their son, he was in terrible shape. >> his whole body exuded, you know, the smell of alcohol. >> the defense believed that establish toolan's state in the days before the murder. now, for the day itself. when he was picked up in rhode island after the murder, he had been drinking. sobriety test later put him at twice the legal limit. >> multiply that by six -- >> a forensic toxicologist doing some complicated calculations estimated that at the time of the murder toolan's blood alcohol level was 0. 300.

>> where does that fit in? >> that fits in the next level above confusion to the stupor phase. >> the defense argued, tool and was profoundly impaired at the time of the murder, and that was just from the drinking, add in the drugs, how much did drugs play in tom toolan's life? >> he will take whatever drugs he could take -- >> such as? >> methamphetamines, zoloft -- >> there was more the defense revealed that toolan had spent years fighting depression and ocd, in the left 80s he had attempted suicide. finally the defense was ready for its knockout punch. >> i would call doctor donald. >> a neuropsychologist. >> my opinion is that he has profound frontal executive dysfunction. >> he testified that years of substance a bruise had bought about that mental defect. because of it toolan could not

control his impulses and the defense argued that he could not be held criminally responsible for the murder. >> it's like the perfect storm. you have the frontal lobe defect, a person is unable to control their emotions and the executive function, coupled with the lowering of the inhibitions through the alcohol, you have all of these swirling together inside this man's head. >> the prosecutor's job was to blow that argument away, to argue that tom toolan knew exactly what he's doing when he murdered beth lochtefeld. that he was so enraged by the breakup that he planned and carried out a cold, calculated killing. >> we're presenting to your timeline -- >> as evidence of premeditation prosecutor told the court that on the night before the murder, security guards at new york's laguardia airport stop toolan

from boarding a plane to nantucket because he was carrying a ten inch knife. when asked about the knife, toolan offered a series of stories. >> he said that he had forgotten that it was in their. >> he had to cut a birthday cake. >> he was having lunch with his sister in nantucket and she wanted him to bring a knife. >> the prosecutor presented evidence to show that the next morning toolan boarded another plane bound for nantucket this time without a knife. but when he landed, he went shopping for knives. toolan may have been drinking that day, the prosecutor argued, but he was used to consuming quantities of alcohol and drug without showing it. the prosecutor called witnesses who would testify that toolan didn't seem drunk. >> raise your right hand please. >> that's what's the clerk who told him the knife said. >> i would say he was sober. >> and the rental car ancient at the nantucket airport. >> did he seem intoxicated to at that point? >> no. >> food you have told him to carve he appeared intoxicated to you. >> not likely.

>> they played a surveillance tape from the airport at massachusetts, tulane flew in to the airport after the murder arriving at around 1:15. jurors can see him renting a car, walking up to get it and driving away in a gray chevrolet impala. >> you're able to see how he's walking, and he's not falling, he's not stumbling. the persons are interacting with him, and they're interacting in a normal way. >> and there was audio of toolan in the back of the state trooper cruisers after he was arrested in rhode island. >> can you tell me what's going on, officer? >> i said will discuss it when we get back to the barracks. >> the prosecutor argued toolan was coherent. he was capable of thinking clearly and of distinguishing right from wrong despite the alcohol. and the prosecution also had a forensic psychiatrist whom they thought would deliver their own knockout punch. >> were you able to form an opinion concerning the criminal

responsibility of thomas toolan the third on october 25th of 2004 in respect to the killing of beth lochtefeld? >> on that day, he did not have a mental disease or defect. >> and so, the prosecutor told the jury, tom toolan was criminally responsible when he stabbed beth lochtefeld to death. the testimony took nine days in all. as the summer arrived on nantucket, the surf and see beguiling visitors, the stores beckoning shoppers, inside the nantucket superior court, the jury in toolan the's murder trial got the case. >> coming up. the end of a trial. >> is the defendant guilty or not? >> but not the end of the story. when "dateline" continues. "da. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the number one prescribed biologic

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now extremists are banning abortion and contraception right here at home. so, i'm running for congress to help stop them. for your family... and mine. i approved this message because this is who we are. the jury in the tom toolan trial took five hours to reach a verdict. >> the jury in the tom toolan trial took five hours to reach a verdict. do you get butterflies every time? >> yes, you do. >> as family members and jurors return to their seats, the courtroom suddenly seemed too small for a big drama. >> you hear a pin drop in the courtroom, the emotion is palpable, obviously, it's high stakes. >> high stakes with subtle hints. >> you can tell if the court officer surrounds the defendant it's not gonna go well. >> is the defendant guilty or

not? >> guilty. >> guilty of first degree murder, guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. a stoic tom toolan, a distraught mother, and no rejoicing from the victims family. >> we are relieved that this troubled and vengeful and dangerous man can never harm another innocent person. >> tom toolan was sentenced to life in prison and that's where things stood for four years. but in august of 2011, everything changed. the massachusetts supreme judicial court overturned tom toolan's conviction. the court said there were flaws in the jury selection process, and ordered a new trial. the trial got underway in june 2013. this time at a courthouse on the mainland in barnstable, massachusetts. for the family, going through

the second time was deeply disappointing and worrying. >> all of a sudden he wasn't convicted of killing my sister anymore, and he was. as far as i was concerned. >> but for tom toolan it was an incredible second chance. this time, the defendant looked thinner than he had during the first trial, and this time, a new defense attorney argued the case. >> this is not a who done it, this is not a where, when, how case. this is a wild case. >> robert opened with an admission that the first events never made explicit, that toolan did kill beth lochtefeld. what the jury had to decide was why. >> this is a difficult issue to look into somebody's mind, in figure out what was going on in that mine. was he a common criminal, that's the issue? >> it was the insanity defense all over again. dressed up a little

differently, presented in court by an attorney who was keenly aware he had an uphill battle on his hands. >> the real question is is anyone willing to let somebody who has done something this horrific quote unquote off the hook? because of the problem with their drug abuse, alcohol abuse and underlying mental issues? >> the prosecutor, brian had the gloves off once again. >> 52 days, ladies and gentlemen, 52 days from the time elizabeth beth lochtefeld, met thomas toolan, until he stabbed her 23 times until she died. >> he told his new set of jurors just what he said during the first trial. that tom toolan knew exactly what he was doing the day he killed beth lochtefeld. >> it was a choice that he made knowing it was wrong and he understood that at the time. he still chose to do it, that's with criminal responsibility is. >> this time the trial was considerably shorter and this time when the jurors went out to deliberate, they were back

the same day. >> the defendant thomas toolan is charged with murder, is he not guilty or is he guilty? >> the jury has found him guilty. >> guilty of what please? >> first degree murder. >> guilty, again. on all counts. and stoicism from the defendant sentenced again to life. he is appealing his conviction. beth sister kathy read a statement in court. >> this verdict cannot bring beth back, but it does bring a measure of justice. >> for tom it lochtefeld was satisfying, even though for him, the first conviction was the one that mattered. >> on that day, we all took a walk up to bat's grave site after the conviction and i just remember feeling that it was a beautiful june day and it felt like wow, this is finally -- i'm finally not upset to be here anymore. it was good again. >> for those who were close to

beth lochtefeld there is a real sense of closure this time. the trial behind him, beth's father the artist john lochtefeld finish the book he and beth had worked on together. it was published after she died. he illustrated her words and dedicated the book to beth and her dreams. the dream she lived and those that died too soon with her. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline", i'm natalie morales, thank you for watching. for watching. it was horrifying. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." this was my mom, a vibrant woman, >> i'm craig melvin. >> and this is dateline. >> it was my mom. it's horrifying. just ripped out of wo