lo dad, hello dad. uh-oh. good bunnies. ahh! [music playing] hello, i'm andrea canning, andmy mom found her.e." she said it looked like she might have slipped in the shower. hello,th i'mis andrea cannig and this is dateline.

>> my mom found her and said she might have slipped in the shower. >> she was in the fetal position in this bathtub. >> you could see marks on jessica's neck. >> police said we're going to rule this as a homicide. >> reporter: detectives using new technology to view this crime scene in extreme detail. >> there is no forced entry, no tool marks. >> there was blood on the couch. >> who could have done this? >> they said usually it is someone close. >> an investigation focusing on friends and family. >> they brought up the association with the motorcycle gang. we came off as kind of a tough guy. >> we fool around a little bit. >> and he threatened to take out my whole entire family to get custody of our kids. >> wow. >> reporter: a chilling story of danger and duplicity. >> we would try to figure out who did this. >> he knew the whole time. >> this is the ultimate

betrayal. hello and welcome to dateline. jessica nelson was a hard working single mom who kept her loved ones close. and then one morning, she was found dead in the house she shared with her son. but the discovery left her family shattered. but their ordeal had just begun. detectives would soon discover someone close to jessica was living a lie. here is keith morrison with evil intent. >> reporter: it was 9:00 in the morning on the 25th of june, 2015, omaha, nebraska. missy nelson's morning ritual was interrupted by a phone call. it was the bank where her daughter, jessica worked. she was an hour late. >> i was like what? what do you mean she's not there? they are like she's not here and we've been calling her, and she's not answering. >> reporter: the thing was

jessica was never late. missy tried calling her. no answer. panic now, she ran to her car and was jessica at home, sick? >> so i was calling her on the way over there, and i was thinking i don't know where she is at. and then i started to think really bad things. maybe she was in a ditch somewhere passed out. maybe she was in a really bad car accident. >> but you knew it was something bad? >> i felt something was wrong. so i get over there and her car is in the driveway, so i'm relieved like okay, she's here. she's not in an accident. but why isn't she answering the phone? >> reporter: the door was locked. so missy used her key to let herself in. >> i walk in and her house is really dark. i couldn't find her. everything is dark, so i don't know where i'm going, and the bathroom is the first door on the left and the door was closed, but i hear water running, okay, maybe she just

used the bathroom. i opened up the door and turned on the light, and she was in the bathtub. the water was running. the water was up to her nose. she was laying like this. she had something in her hand, it was a phone cord. i didn't understand where that came from. i started screaming. i had my cell phone, so i called 911. >> 911, do you need police, fire, or rescue? [ inaudible ] >> my daughter's dead in the bathtub. >> i don't understand a word you're saying. what's going on? >> i just found my daughter dead in the bathtub, and it looks like she slipped. i don't know how long she's been in there. >> i drained the water thinking i could help her, but she was already gone. >> you could tell? >> i could tell she was blue, her face was a weird pattern on her face. it looked checkered, but her body was still like a normal color. >> i can't imagine that. >> it was horrible.

it's like a nightmare. i still see it, like one of the worst feelings in the world. because she's gone. >> by the time jessica's father, harry got there. >> there was a policeman in the driveway. >> reporter: and not far away he found missy, a wreck, a mess. >> i hugged her. what's going on? what do we know? we don't know anything. >> reporter: had she slipped in the shower? >> he thought that at first, but i saw the mark on her neck and the cord in her hand, and i didn't think it sounded right. she shouldn't have had her phone charger there, her phone wasn't there. >> i didn't know what to think. i was devastated. i wasn't even thinking at that point. >> reporter: first responders trying to keep an open mind weren't sure what to think either. >> it wasn't an obvious homicide. they didn't know if it was a medical emergency because we find people like that, that have suffered a stroke or heart attack or something in a similar

kind of situation, so they really didn't know what they had. >> reporter: homicide detectives derek moys and ryan davis. >> i do a cursory walk through the residence. they show me where jessica is at. she's in the bathtub. oddly enough her clothes were in the bathtub with her. >> but not on her? >> nope. they were laying near her feet. the couch in the living room had blood all over it. so my reaction is maybe there was some sort of a medical emergency that occurred on the couch. she had gone to the bathroom to maybe clean herself off and had collapsed and succumbed to whatever medical emergency she was having. >> there wasn't any obvious signs of trauma on her body. >> she had a small bruise on the side of her neck. it didn't look like anything. >> she could have gotten it any way? >> it didn't look like she was assaulted. >> reporter: but there was something off that did not quite look right. they decided to treat it like a homicide. >> because you only get one chance at this. if you go in and you go guns

blazing and you try to rush through things, you're going to miss things. >> reporter: the csi people arrived, using a laser scanner to quickly take billions of measurements and create this virtual representation of jessica's house, 3d. so more accurate than any photo. and then they removed jessica's body, and yes, detectives could see homicide was the right call. >> when we were able to actually look at her eyes, it was fairly evident that there had been some sort of a strangulation, asphyxiation at the very least that took place. >> one of the things we noted right away is that she had longer fingernails, and one of those fingernails was quite evidently bent back. we knew that there was a chance then that if she had fought back against her attacker, there's potentially dna there. >> reporter: the next day the autopsy confirmed that jessica

had indeed been strangled to death. >> there is a slight ligature mark around her neck, but it was disrupted. it almost appeared there was possibly a hand, -- >> her hand maybe. >> trying to pull, so the marks were intermitten. >> reporter: and one more thing the autopsy revealed. she had been sexually assaulted. >> the first thing that goes through your head is why, how, who? i mean everybody is a suspect and nobody is a suspect. who could have done this and why. >> reporter: did she have any enemies? >> none that we knew of. coming up. the man in jessica's life and their volatile relationship. >> she would call us like every other week. can you come and get me? me and john had a fight. >> and then did a facebook post put her in danger? >> she just put out there that she was home alone and did it without even realizing. >> so if anybody was following

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have heart failure with unresolved symptoms? it may be time to see the bigger picture. heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms like carpal tunnel syndrome, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat could mean something more serious, called attr-cm a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist and ask about attr-cm. keith morrison (voiceover): there's nothing better than a close family and friends who are like family. there is a close family and friends who are like family. missy and harry nelson had it. three kids, kids partners, grandchildren. until. until the morning they found

their beloved oldest child jessica just 28 years old dead in their own bathtub. but who was she? everybody loved her. she was the big sister. >> she just always wanted to have fun. she was like another mom to us. she would always be there even if they were fighting, she would be there. >> a big sister to an extended family. her cousins, close friends who were more like siblings. her siblings close friends were more like relatives. >> she was always really nice to everybody. >> reporter: laura wonder had been a friend since grade school. >> she just wanted to have a good time. she was, i wouldn't say crazy. >> goofy? >> goofy. she did whatever she wanted to do. >> reporter: and that held true

in her choice of men. her first serious boyfriend was him. >> with his tattoos and stuff. he seemed to be something that she would have been into because she had a few tattoos as well. >> reporter: his name was john mcdowell. he and jessica were good together and sometimes not. >> she would call us like what, every other week. can you come and get me? me and john had a fight, and i'm not staying out here. so we would drive out there to missouri valley. a couple weeks later, she's back out there again. >> reporter: a year in, there was still no wedding, but there was a baby, dominic, dom. >> i remember everyone was so excited, wanting to meet him. >> she loved him, and i think it was an instinct she had. she wanted to do the best for him she could. and after everything else. >> reporter: and then one day, dom was still quite small. it all seemed to come apart. >> they were doing okay until he

left her a voice mail by accident. >> an unintentional voice mail. and the message that was left was bad, very bad. >> he told them he slept with another girl and that was it. >> whoa. >> and so i helped her move that day. >> she must have been so upset? >> she was. she was devastated. >> to get an accidental voicemail from the guy, the father of your baby? i slept with another woman. >> and kind of bragging about it. >> yeah. >> you should have seen the one i was with. >> and that's why jessica elected to be a single mom. better she decided to concentrate on her little boy, the center of her life, dominic. >> she did everything she could for her son. just to try to do it right. i have things i want him to have, so i need to pay for those

things. >> so she worked? >> two to three jobs sometimes. >> how does a person even do that? >> she worked at the first national bank. >> she liked that job? >> oh yeah. that was her dream job. >> and then jessica and dominic lived in a little house on the north side of town. >> it wasn't very big. but dom had the bigger room, and she's like well, he has more toys and his bed has a slide. he has a slide? yeah, he needs a slide. sure he needed a slide. it was just she gave everything up for him. he was her world. >> reporter: in fact jessica's last words on facebook, the night she died when dom was at his dads were i am such a mess when dom is gone. >> and she had lost the remote and thought it was the worst 15 minutes of her life. >> she was lost. without dominic because he could find the remote. >> but. >> she put it out there she was home alone and did it without

even realizing. >> so if anybody was following her, they would know? >> yeah. >> reporter: but of course someone was following her on facebook. maybe quite a few someones. but finding the one with evil intent, not so easy. >> investigators start the search with jessica's ex, and soon hear some troubling stories. coming up. >> she would post pictures, and if she is around guys, they were just friends. john, you could tell he was, like a little sad. >> her sister, ashley's ex raises eyebrows too. >> he threatened to take out my whole entire family to get custody of our kids. >> wow. >> when dateline continues. take all the pics! so many selfies. a preposterous amount of pano! that means panoramic.

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♪ ♪ ah, you're adorable. huh. oh, whah! welcome back to "dateline." who would want to harm jessica nelson? that question baffled her grieving family. welcome back to dateline. he vwho would want to harm jessica nelson? that question baffled her grieving family. when the vibrant young mom was found strangled, her loved ones wondered if a facebook post alerted jessica's killer. now investigators were about to drill down on her personal relationships. one of them was complicated. back to keith morrison with evil intent. >> word of jessica nelson's

death spread quickly among her friends in omaha. >> i got a phone call from a mutual friend of ours. she was so hysterical. i couldn't understand what she was saying. i thought she said that dom had been killed. so i got off the phone with her and i called john, and he said they found jess dead, and it was unreal. you couldn't believe that. >> reporter: laura's friendship with jessica had drifted a bit after high school, but by 2015, it was a little unusual. laura and jessica both had babies with john. laura, they didn't at first, but it was after she broke up with john that her son, christopher was born. and that was not long before jessica got pregnant. >> i found out when i was six months pregnant with our son that him and jessica had been dating or just started dating. >> reporter: two women, two children, one man. >> i wanted to be mad at her and i couldn't because she was just

too nice. >> reporter: any way pretty soon john was no longer in the picture for either of them. and then as single mothers, laura and jessica reconnected, so their sons, half brothers, could bond. >> our kids met each other and they got to play together. >> reporter: and now her friend was dead. and the father of both their sons was sitting in the police station, answering questions. >> dude, i couldn't even tell you for sure. it's probably been three months. >> and so when did you actually last see jessica? >> when she dropped my son off last night. >> which meant he was the last known person to see jessica alive except for the killer unless he was the killer. detectives brought family members and friends and questioned them all about john. >> i think everybody kind of had their own impression of jonathan. >> and some of those impressions

were not flattering. >> she would post pictures of us just out with friends. if she is around with just another guy, even though they were just friends, john, you could tell he was like a little like who is that? >> jealous? >> yeah. >> did jessica trust john? >> no. >> i know she was planning on filing for sole custody of dominic. she was just tired of it because half the time when it was john's time, he would refuse. >> they would have these fights over dominic, over custody, over money. jessica was routinely upset with him. >> john seemed to be trying to minimize those issues. >> you had issues at each others throats or anything like that? >> the biggest thing we might fight about is you have a pair of shorts that i bought him two weeks ago, and i haven't gotten to see them. i need to find them. >> okay. >> after a few hours of questioning, they let john go

with a warning. he was suspect number one, and they kept an eye on him as they investigated other men who crossed paths with jessica. >> we were interested in any male party she had recently been introduced to. anybody at all that could have been showing interest in her, communicating that with her via social media or any other means that maybe seemed kind of unwanted. >> can you tell me if there is anybody that she's seeing like right now or that she has been seeing up until recently? and i'm talking about even casual footnotes. one in a great while or anything at all? >> and i know her last hookup was, um, with an old high school crush that came back to town. he doesn't live here. >> he was a high school crush and in the military. when he was home on leave, she hung out with him for a few days, but that was it. he was gone again. and i know she stayed over there once. >> detectives looked into his

whereabouts the night jessica was killed. he was nowhere around. couldn't have been him. the thing was it had to be someone close, someone she knew or trusted. someone with a key maybe? the door was locked when jessica's mother arrived in the morning. >> i was going through her divorce, and my ex was not so nice. he threatened to take out my whole entire family and then myself just to get custody of our kids. and the week before that he physically assaulted me. >> he pinned her on the floor and left bruises on her arm. >> reporter: he had been arrested, facing charges for domestic assault. a man who was violent, threatening families. detectives checked out the alibi for the night of jessica's murder. and they also went looking for anything else that might have

had access to jessica's home. like maybe some lover, but apparently there weren't any. spurned or otherwise. >> everybody that i asked that dating question, they would say that jessica often referred to the only man in her life is dominic, and her other man was her job. and that is all she wanted to concentrate on was her work and providing for dominic. >> reporter: but sometimes jessica had friends over for saturday night gatherings when dom was at john's. and the last one? maybe days before she was killed. >> jessica's freaking out next to me. >> coming up. >> you find all kinds of stuff on people's cell phones? >> oh my gosh, all the time. >> investigators discovered odd text messages on her phone. maybe we need to figure out who

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. "oppenheimer" wins best picture at the oscars. emma thompson, the co-producer gave the last speech of the evening, accepting the oscar for best picture. the u.s. military air lifted non-essential embassy employees out of haiti as the violence continues to escalate. the nation in a state of crisis as gangs threaten to take down the government. for now back to dateline. . welcome back to dateline, i'm andrea canning. jessica nelson had been murdered in her nebraska home. her ex-boyfriend, john mcdowell, was a prime suspect. then investigators discovered there was a party at jessica's house before she was killed, and the list of potential suspects was about to grow. meanwhile

jessica's friends and family were galvanized by their grief. but could her killer be among them? here again is keith morrison with evil intent. >> reporter: it was a week before they could have a funeral for jessica. a small sad service for family and friends is what they expected. but it wasn't small. not at all. >> it was overwhelming. just to see that -- that many people knew her or at some point had cared enough to show up and say they were sorry. . >> some of the young men vowed revenge as they wore their justice for jessica bracelets. her brother, matt, her brother's best friend also named matt who knew jessica like a sister. >> he was with us throughout the whole thing. >> like another son? >> like another son.

what he needed help with, people would bring over food. he's there helping us carry it in, you know, that kind of thing. . >> there as well helping out grieving, john mcdowell. police had checked his alibi. he could not have been the killer. >> we were also able to look at his cell phone locations and they were exactly where he said he was. at no point did his phone ever put him anywhere near jessica's house. . >> john did not kill jessica. when he first learned she was dead. >> i just felt completely lost. instantly trying to figure out how i was going to tell my son his mother, that was his world, was no longer here. i didn't know what to do. . >> he tried, but even at jessica's funeral, her son just 6 years old, didn't seem to

comprehend. what was that like for you? >> it was horrible. especially with her being right there and he is still wasn't comprehending that she wasn't with us anymore. >> that is when the detectives were tracking down, well, they didn't know who. a sister's ex, the guy charged with assault had a solid alibi. but what about the men who attended jessica's small parties? one party in particular. . >> one of her friends invited her boyfriend. her boyfriend invited some of his friends. those friends invited others. so as this get together kind of went on in the evening, more and more people were showing up to jessica's residence whom she didn't know. >> what does that do to an investigation? >> that opened our suspect pool

up quite a bit. >> jessica thought something illegal was going on at her party. asking them. . >> are they doing a drug deal in my house? this is not okay. >> i just know that he came outside and said hey, that guy in there, he's got pills if anybody needs them. >> so i want to know exactly who invited this guy to jessica's house that night. who thought that would have been okay to do? . >> the answer complicated matters even more. friends told detectives that the man who invited the drug dealer also tried at the party to initiate some kind of sexual encounter with jessica. . >> he was in the bathroom and she went to grab a towel, and said hey, can you grab me a towel? there was clutter in the bathroom. no, i just want a towel. and he said he tried to close the door and all this stuff. she like said no and opened the door and walked away. >> and now they need to track him down and every male who attended the party. how long did you spend on this?

>> we spent several weeks. that's all we were doing, attempting to identify these people, locate them, interview them, and go through the same vetting process as far as getting a timeline and alibiing them as everybody else. >> we were taking dna samples from every single person we talked to. >> at the same time they asked one of their tech investigators to look for clues in jessica's cell phone. . >> you find all kinds of stuff on people's cell phones, i bet? >> oh my gosh, absolutely. but what's remarkable about this one when you say all kinds of stuff. on this one it was pretty much one thing on there, pictures of her son. >> this kind of stuff? >> her life completely revolved around him. >> there were text messages too. lots of them. some were pretty interesting. >> one of the last people she was communicating with, someone named matt kidder. >> matt kidder. he was the friend more like a son who grieved with the nelson family and was like a second

brother to jessica. it always had an easy teasing sort of relationship, so, of course, they texted each other. but officer herford didn't know any of that when the texts caught his attention. >> there was just something weird about him. the way he would be constantly asking her, basically out to do stuff. he would say hey, do you want to go bowling, and she would be like you know what, i got to clean up the house. then he would be like maybe i could come over and maybe help you clean up the house? and then she would reply, i'm almost done, don't worry about it. now i'm really sorry and i'm going to go to bed, and it was like this over and over. so i talked to the sergeant who was in charge and said that maybe we need to figure out who this person is. >> reporter: jessica's friends and family said that sort of back and forth was quite typical of their relationship. >> they were like brother and sister type of thing. they go on their way. >> apparently nothing to see

here. but, of course, detectives had to dig a little. who was this matt kidder whom the nelsons loved like their own? . >> in th interrogation room, he felt guilty he didn't stop the killer. >> i feel like i was there and i could have done something if i had drove by that night or if i had known. . >> when dateline continues. you can feel it when your dream becomes a pursuit. and with vitiligo, the pursuit for your pigment is no exception.

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whodunnit stories, yes, but also love, loss, regret. . a murder investigation is often a collection of stories who had done their stories, yes, but also love, loss, regret. john mcdowell was innocent, but he didn't feel innocent. >> the only thing that went through my head is really it was all my fault. because if i never messed up and if we never split up, i would have been there to protect her. . >> you still feel a little bit that way, don't you? >> yes, sir. . >> does she intrude upon your thoughts a lot? >> yes, sir. . >> so many stories, witnesses, family, friends of the victims like matt kidder. >> when i got the call, i walked out of the room to make sure the sky wasn't on fire.

i couldn't deal. >> when detective davis interviewed matt, he encountered a man still apparently grieving. . >> she had a really good heart. >> yeah? >> a good mother, a good friend. i don't think i've ever heard her not put herself out for somebody in need. >> so davis was sympathetic and matt opened up. talked about his brotherly teasing sort of relationship with jessica. . >> me and jess, we've always had the relationship where we have like inside sexual innuendo joke, but we never did anything. and you know it's never going to lead anywhere, so everything's on the table. >> like brother and sister sometimes, they would get physical in a playful way. >> we would fool around a little bit, but i mean. >> what do you mean? >> kind of like she would pinch me, i would poke her on her side. i mean just teasing, sibling teasing i guess is what you would call it. >> kind of like flirting?

>> not quite like -- i don't know, maybe. i didn't consider it flirting, and it wasn't like, i mean as far as i know, she's never been interested in me. we were just friends. >> and after jessica was murdered, it was matt who vowed to take revenge and told detectives he felt so guilty for failing to protect her. >> i would do anything for my friends. i would die for them if i had to. and i know it's stupid. i've talked to her mom because she's going doing the same thing. i shouldn't put it on myself, but i feel like i was there and i could have done something. if i had drove by that night or if i had known. >> after all he was at work that evening close by. so he said he struggled with regret even as he tried to figure out what happened. >> i have an overactive imagination or brain or whatever you want to call it. >> whoever did it, must have been waiting to find her home alone and must have seen her facebook post. the one about her son, dom, being away that night. >> that has to be a million shot

if they were watching her facebook feed to go in. somebody had to have been watching the house far while to know she was 100% alone there. >> and maybe, he said maybe it was more than one guy. . >> i'm a fairly strong guy. i have weaknesses, i have, my body's pretty -- up, and she would kick my butt, so it doesn't make sense for one person. >> he knew something about bad guys. he had spent some time in prison he said for something he didn't do. attempted sexual assault. >> i was dating a married woman, and when i broke up with her, she called the cops and reported me for rape. >> but she lied, he said. a false accusation, and the nelsons supported him. >> this guy somehow got railroaded over this. >> so this poor kid had some kind of consensual relationship, and then afterwards, instead of getting in trouble for it, she blamed him? >> yep. she told me the same thing that

she was always up to no good. >> after matt got out of prison, the nelson's celebrated with him and his family. after all his dad and harry nelson had been best friends for decades, just as he was best friends with jessica's brother. >> they've had my back for as long as i could remember. >> after jessica's death, matt provided a sample of his dna. of course, he had been to jessica's house, so if his dna happens to turn up there, well, perfectly innocent reason for that. >> i pretty much bleed in everybody's houses that i go to. i get bored and either pick at a scab or cut myself on something. >> but if they are looking at him as a suspect, they have the wrong guy. . >> i wouldn't be able to look at them in the eye if i did this. i wouldn't be wearing justice for jessica on my wrist. i wouldn't be sharing her picture on facebook looking for the people who did this.

>> and because we are all suffering. i feel bad being around their family sometimes. >> he couldn't have killed jessica, could he? coming up. , stunning and heartbreaking. what this family had to say about her murder. >> it never should have happened. >> yep. . >> what her story will mean for the case when dateline continues. dicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. numbers move you. but some can stop you in your tracks.

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welcome back. the search for jessica nelson's killer had turned up no shortage of potential suspects. . welcome back. the search for jessyka nelson's killer had turned up no shortage of potential suspects. investigators had cleared her ex-boyfriend, john mcdowell and several men who went to a party at jessyka's house before she was murdered. now they had more questions for her friend, matt. it had been a long road, but investigators were about to hear a truth from a surprising source. here's keith morrison with the conclusion of evil intent. >> matt kidder, the young man who was like a brother to jessyka's nelson, a son to her parents, was sitting in the police station three weeks after jessyka's death. >> do you think i consider you a suspect? >> i think you consider everybody a suspect at this point. >> okay. but specifically do you consider you a suspect? >> i hope not. >> but they did see him as a suspect. they knew that matt checked facebook the night jessica was

killed. would have seen the post that revealed she was home alone. they had discovered that matt's cell phone was at or near jessica's place for 17 minutes that night. . >> you will see where his phone is. >> oscar diegas. >> right now it's about 11:00. you're going to see a couple more activations where he is still at work. right there. and then all of a sudden, it switches. >> and that's at her house? >> yes. that is directly in the area of the house. >> and there is more. the detectives had noticed a crescent shape cut on matt's hand. could have been made by jessica's thumbnail bending back as she defended herself and they found his dna under that nail. and on the court she was strangled with. so now detective davis played his hand. >> i think you were there when this went down, and i think you had something to do with it. . >> and matt exploded a stream of

loud and determined denials. . >> i didn't kill her. i don't know who did. i wasn't there that night. i wouldn't be able to watch my uncle harry basically collapse over the body of his daughter at the funeral if i had done this. somebody's murdered my friend, and here you are trying to accuse me of it. you arrest me for something i didn't do, it is going to destroy her family. >> rhonda beetle was lead prosecutor. >> he was narcistic and a sociopath. you might scratch your head and say do we have the right guy because he was so convincing. >> but police believe they did have the right guy, and they arrested him for the murder of his lifelong friend, jessyka nelson. >> no, i'm not going to jail for this. >> it's not up to you. the decision's been made. >> it's the wrong decision. >> that's something you can take up with your attorney. right now you need to stand up because you're leaving here,

okay? >> and now it was time to tell the nelson's. . >> we said we have made an arrest, and we have arrested matthew kidder. my head hit the table. . >> missy and harry gathered the family to tell them. . >> i said look around, look at everybody here. who is one person that would probably be here, but isn't? and my son, matthew kind of raised his eyebrow like oh my god, no. >> up until that moment, matt kidder had been matt nelson's best friend in the world. the one he trusted implicitly. the one who would never f betray them. and here they were. . >> everyone who was there broke down, just bawling their eyes out. >> as matt kidder waited in the local jail, evidence piled up. he had talked to his father on the phone, recorded, of course.

>> i think she fell asleep on the couch after i left, and somebody came in behind. >> after you left? you were never there. >> dad, my phone puts me there. >> huh? >> dad, my phone puts me there. >> oh. >> it's changed now from the 169 times he denied being in the house, yelling at the detective, very sternly denying that he was even there. that was big. . >> there was more. he got chatty with his cell mate. he told him the whole ugly story. this is prosecutor beth beninato. >> the details he gave us, they were accurate, from walking in to her house, head butting her, which would explain the blood we saw on the blood patterns on the couch cushions to the sexual assault itself and to the things she said, to the injury on his hand and the injury on her finger, to the cell phone charging cord. this informant gave us a view

into what jessica went through. >> it was about power, control, and i think being rejected by her via text just made him angry. he's a very angry individual. >> in a weird way his turn on, the more he's rejected, the more he needs to have that power and control and that's a part of the build up? >> we think so. . >> which brings us to this woman, patricia springborg, the woman who accused him of rape. he went to prison, attempted sexual assault, but convinced the nelson's she was lying. it was no lie. and when patricia heard about jessyka? >> that's the hardest thing for me. because it never should have happened. >> because you already warned everybody about him? >> yep. >> her experience with matt at first was not unlike the nelson's. >> he warmed his way into our

family and none of us thought he would do anything like that. >> and so he was a friend of your family too? >> yes. i met him through my oldest daughter. >> wow. . >> yep. my husband taught him how to drive his truck, you know, things like that. things you would do if we had a teenage boy. . >> sure. >> and then one day he caught her alone at home, and he grabbed her neck and tried to choke her, and she feared he would kill her, stopped struggling and discovered something revealing about matt. >> from what i could tell, and with my situation is the violence and stuff is what got him. >> because when you relented, it obviously wasn't a turn on for him anymore? and if she hadn't given in? >> i wouldn't be here. >> you would have been in

jessyka's place? >> yeah. it shouldn't have happened to that girl. >> no, it shouldn't have. >> and she's got a little boy. it just shouldn't happen. and that is why after everything that happened, when the prosecutor asked me if i would testify for them, right. >> and she did. there was one more thing, the police had seized matt's laptop when they arrested him. what they found? well. >> i've seen some weird stuff, but nothing like this. it was a lot of rape videos and torture videos, and just like the combination of them. i mean it let us know basically his intent and his mindset. because what he ended up doing is basically recreated one of these videos that he likes in real life, where he storms somebody, assaulted them, killed

them, and then left. >> matt kidder did not testify, but his defense said all the evidence, dna, cell phone tracking, the cell mate story, all had innocent explanations. and besides they said he wasn't the killer, plain and simple. but the jury? deliberated just 41 minutes before convicted matt kidder of jessyka's murder. he was sentenced to life in prison. the nelson's, of course, still miss jessyka terribly. and dominic? lives with his dad, john now and also with laura and his half brother, christopher. after jessyka's death, laura stepped in to help out as much as she could. >> we were over there all the time with dom and john and the kids all playing together, and it was just one day after the next after the next. and we just fell together.

i mean it's a one good thing that came out of this tragedy. dom has a whole family, and he is so happy about that, you know, i've got a mommy in heaven, and i've got a mom here. >> in time laura and john got engaged. and the nelson family grew by a few more. just one empty place. >> but you never fill the hole in your life when you lose a child? >> no. >> how often do you think about jessica? >> every day. . >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is "dateline." all? man: are you sane? sane? that's relative. guilty, hmm.

i wouldn't do anything that i felt guilty about. andrea canning: you may think you know the charles manson >> i would not do anything i felt guilty about. >> you may think you know the charles manson story but not like this. >> police had never seen this before. >> he was primed to take advantage of peace and love, flower power. >> even now decades later the world is still fascinated by charles manson and his crimes. we take you inside his world of drugs, sex, and rock and roll. >> they really did listen to the white album over and over. >> with new interviews and new details. >> he would always frame his statements, this is what i

believe. >> the murders. the mayhem. >> charlie was acting meaner toward the girls. >> maybe i should have killed 4- 500 people, then i would have felt better. he symbolizes the horror that is possible in this world. >> hello and welcome to dateline. charles manson was a man of small stature and monstrous delusions, the one-time amateur musician thought he would be bigger than the beatles. after the dream was crushed it was replaced a chilling fantasy, a nightmarish prophecy placing manson on the throne as ruler of a post armageddon world. he convinced his young followers to slaughter innocent

victims, delivering manson the same he claimed. here is the summer of manson. >> all that remains our ruins, the ramshackle ranch is long gone. only the fitful that valley wind is left now. to stir the baited bits, the rusted junk. artifacts from another time when this was ground zero for one of the most infamous crimes of history, the hideout of a living personification of evil. charles manson. one hot dry weekend in la, august, 1969. a pregnant movie star slaughtered along with four others in her home. across town a couple butchered in theirs.

>> these were brutal crime scenes, things the police had never seen before. >> murders so bloody and ugly they rewrote history, they became a bookmark as a era of optimism ended and a darker time began. >> the 60s came to a close and that was the final curtain. >> who could make sense of it. who even now? >> how do our kids in the doing this kind of incredibly violent crime? how did that happen? >> we will do our best to answer that question, to get past the myths that have clouded the story of charles manson and with the help of those who witnessed finally explained, the chaos, crimes and horror.

it is a story that begins in a small town on the banks of the ohio river. west virginia, where the myth manson sprung had its beginning. >> manson told his own life story, he was a child nobody wanted, his mother is a career criminal and prostitute. >> manson lied. this is jeff, the author of manson, the man whose research revealed the facts behind the myths. >> manson was raised by a loving family, his uncle and aunt and grandmother. these were folks that were very religious and they of course wanted charlie to go to church which he hated but he had a amazing nap to memorize scripture. >> he was fascinated with the book of revelation which he learned to quote at great length but he did not learn to

be good. >> he constantly stole, he lied, he picked on people, he was fascinating with knives and nothing you would do to try to discipline him worked. >> finally manson was sent to reform school, eventually prison, by 32 he spent half of his life locked up. >> he was immediately struck by the pimps, from them he learned how to control women who were and this was his quote, bent but not broken. >> manson also became fascinated by a popular book by dale carnegie. >> how to win friends and influence people. >> it is strange to hear that he read dale carnegie. >> absorbed it. >> i was not the only manson picked up in prison, another inmate gave him guitar lessons,

and one day in the prison workshop a radio was blaring the top 40 of 1964. >> he hears a song by the beatles and he sets a goal to become better than the beatles and he starts writing songs and performing in prison shows. >> by the time charlie manson was released from prison on parole, his fantasy was very strong. >> he would be signed to a contract, he would become world famous, rich and have all of the women and drugs he wanted. >> the fantasy and manson himself would have remained anonymous had it not been for this. san francisco's ashbury district where that moment in 67, busloads of kids were arriving to what they thought would be a new world of peace and love. >> there was hundreds of people

sitting on the sidewalk, grass, asset, speed. >> into that scene walked charlie manson. >> he did. >> he could identify the ones that could be tricked, coerced, drawn in. >> bent but not broken, troubled young women. like susan atkins. she left home as a teenager and drifted, washed up in the hate. worked as a topless dancer, quit and then fell under manson's spell. he nicknamed her sadie. later it was leslie, got into drugs, ran away from home, had a abortion and then met him. people magazines elaine has written about manson. >> he slept with all of the girls right away making a connection with them and they felt this man gets me.

>> he kept adding women to his entourage and they went with him everywhere, even to meet and flirt with his parole officer who heard manson preaching to his flock, a oddball mix of free love, social commentary and apocalyptic prophecies. >> he found a lot of the stuff silly but he would frame his statements this is what i believe and the girls all believed it. >> the girls hung on every word he spoke, seemed to do everything he asked ike when he told them to have sex with men he wanted to win over. when he told them he was destined to be a good than the beatles. >> manson intended to be a rock 'n roll star and did not think it was going to be hard. >> the summer of love was over, manson loaded his family onto a school bus and took them to la. he was still a smalltime criminal with a dream but not for long.

>> a most unlikely pair, a beach boy and charles manson. coming up. >> manson's strange hold on his family. >> he dances, he sings, he looks beautiful and happy and this draws a lot of people. >> when dateline continues. lin with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. looking for a smarter way to mop? try the swiffer powermop- an all-in-one cleaning tool... with a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. now save $8 on powermop. what can you do with sensitive skin? cetaphil moisturizing lotion hydrates for a full 48 hours. because a lot can happen in 48 hours.

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keith morrison: los angeles, 1968, at the center of the rock 'n' roll universe. rock 'n roll universe. here was capital records, the beatles record company. the sunset strip and hear the producers that can make charles manson a star. he positioned his family out here in the wooden haven of alternative living called topanga canyon. >> it was a burned-out house. >> eric carlson was living nearby, in his first interview he told us how he got to know manson and his a very available young women. >> they would come over to take showers and stuff. sadie was called sexy sadie and not without cause. >> it was not exactly eric's house or shower to offer, the

main occupant and owner of the house was a soft-spoken music teacher named gary. >> he was just generous, he never charged me rent. >> when some of the women were busted for a spray of minor crimes. >> charlie came over and asked gary if he can help. he said what is the bail? >> gary as he paid the bail had no idea how manson would return his favor. they moved from topanga to a defunct western movie location called spohn ranch a few miles out, hansen told another of his followers annette, who was nicknamed squeaky, to make the owner happy. so the family in exchange for a few chores got to live on the ranch for free.

manson -- >> he dances, sings he looks beautiful and happy and it draws a lot of people. >> they scrounge for food in trash dumpsters said a former family member. >> it was fun. behind the store they used two throwaway good stuff. you can find all kinds of treasures out there. >> the family did not just live on scavenged vegetable, they still cash, credit cards and cars. manson taught him a skill called creepy crawling, entering houses at night without waking the sleeping people inside and used his women to advance his dream of becoming famous. >> sent them to areas known as

rockstar areas, find some of them and get them to take charlie on as their project that they will introduce him to the right people. >> ridiculous? of course but then, the most extraordinary thing, it worked. >> dennis picked up a couple of girls on sunset, hitchhiking. >> dennis of the beach boys. jacobson was a music producer. >> they went to his house, had a good time, played music and all of those things. >> manson's system worked like a charm, offering the young women as sexual favors to get what he wanted. before the day was out he and most of the family had moved right into dennis wilson's house. >> dennis used to call me up,

we are partying, all these girls are here, you have to meet charlie. the wizard. >> improbable as it seems, dennis took manson to his brothers studio, brian wilson, to record some of his songs. here is him singing during that session. when the other beach boys actually heard that. >> they did not have a high opinion of the music or charlie. >> the session fizzled. the beach boys did play one of manson's songs on the mike douglas tv show but dennis rewrote the words and title. >> charlie was angry that anybody would dare to change their lyrics, it was like misquoting him. >> so the beach boys were not the answer to manson's dreams but there was one more chance,

greg jacobson to a man in la that could snap his fingers and give manson a contract, his name was terry mulcher. one of la's top music producers and in the spring of 69, mulcher agreed to come to spohn ranch to hear manson sing. >> he expected somebody to pull out a contract and a pen. sign here and you now have a contract with columbia records. >> there was to be no contract. later terry mulcher politely but firmly rejected charlie manson. >> charlie was crushed. >> he would not be a rock 'n roll star. he was a failure. which to manson, said his parole officer. >> charlie was in danger of losing the family. he did something politicians are masterful at, he creates this horrible out there, there

is going to be a race war. >> it was a time of racial strife in america especially in la and manson blended that information somehow with the book of revelation to prophesy armageddon, a world ending race war. he called it helter-skelter after one of the songs on the beatles white album, the followers believed it but did he? roger smith is not so sure. >> it was basically used to keep them focused and divert attention from the fact that he was not doing well in terms of realizing his dream. >> time to move he told the family, got their money, cars, get to the desert to wait out the war between the races again the manson story may have disappeared from history without a ripple or trace. except --.

>> coming up, a day in the life of a manson family. >> every day he would gather everyone together and does them with lsd. >> the killing begins. when dateline continues. datel. show off their clearer skin and noticeably less itch with dupixent. because children 6 months and older with eczema have plenty of reasons to show off their skin. with dupixent, the number one prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, they can stay ahead of their eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your child's 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

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po, you need to bring peace to the valley. ask your child's eczema [ choking ] the chameleon is nothing like anyone you've ever faced. she is capable of mimicking any shape. awesome. i mean it's disturbing, but it's awesome. [music playing] keith morrison: charlie manson had come to los angeles with a plan, to be bigger than the beatles. by the summer of '69, he knew that wasn't going to happen. charlie manson had come to la with a plan, to be bigger than the beatles.

by the summer of 69 he knew that was not going to happen and that is when manson told his followers they had to ignite something he called helter-skelter. a world destroying race war for which he named for reasons only he knew after a song on the beach boys white album. >> we are going into the desert and stay for years with a black man takes over they will need him later and that is when he will come out as the master race and be the leader of everyone. >> it sounds ridiculous. >> it is ridiculous but the combination of drugs and isolation, he had them convinced this was real. >> he was serious about this. >> he believed it. >> or so he persuaded his followers, he told them he needed loyalty and control. >> every day he would gather

every one together and does them with lsd and he would talk for a while. >> that is when, for his bent but not broken flock, manson portrayed himself as the new jesus but not a sweet and kind version. >> charlie was acting meaner toward the girls. >> if they failed to follow directions. >> he would hit you in the head with a stick. he really got mean. >> mean and desperate to find the money and cars to take his family to death valley where he told them they would wait out helter-skelter and who had money and cards? the music teacher friend. >> charlie knew all of that. >> eric was with gary when manson called and made demands. >> he is telling gary to join the family because helter- skelter is coming and he needed to cash out all of his

investments and go with the family out to the desert. >> gary told manson nope but the man who had become used to getting what he wanted persisted. >> he says gary this is your last chance, if you do not do this i will not be responsible for the karma you invoke upon yourself. >> karma manson stop. then he sent a friend to the family to shake down gary. >> he beats him up and asks the money is and he says i have no money. manson comes down and he is wearing a sword he is waving around. charlie slices part of his ear off and the parts again. >> manson's followers tortured gary for three days until he finally signed over the pink slips for his cars.

then he threatened to call police. >> he calls me and said what are we going to do? manson says you know what you have to do. >> he stabbed gary and then mary as susan finished him with a pillow over his face. >> gary died because he did not want to give up the money and cars. >> yes it was equally important to become part of it. >> manson had a term for these people. another song from the white album. >> if you want to be one of the piggies, today's pork is tomorrow's bacon. >> on manson's orders on the wall of gary's house there at the words political piggy and left a paw print all in the victim's blood hoping it would lead the police to suspect black panthers committed the murder. >> the county police come and

investigate, it is a murder but they do not link it to a black revolutionary execution. >> manson's misdirection failed. in less than a week bobby was pulled over driving one of gary's cars were police found a bloody knife. he called manson from jail demanding help and saying he had not ratted on him yet. jeff then believed manson decided on a plan, to spring him and save his own skin. >> family members at spohn ranch are talking about what has happened to bobby. how can we break him out? >> they did hatch a plan so horrible that the name charlie manson would be famous all right, not as a star but as a symbol of evil. >> coming up, helter-skelter, a night of madness and murder.

>> sharon tate is naturally screaming, she is begging not for her life but her babies and susan says i have no sympathy for you. >> when dateline continues. tel or the day before that? or the day that it broke? he broke it. - we'll take it. the mylowe's rewards credit card helps you save 5% every day. apply today. did you know most dish soaps don't remove all the grease, even with scrubbing? whaaat? i just cleaned those! try dawn platinum. it removes 99% of grease and food residue. that's why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil. dawn platinum cleans to the squeak. - "best thing i've ever done." that's what freddie told me. - it was the best thing i've ever done, and- - really? - yes, without a doubt! - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - great people. different people, that's for sure, and all of them had different reasons for getting a reverse mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same

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i am richard louis with a news update. the first released photo of princess kate after the surgery has been removed, it appears to have been manipulated, kensington palace did not reply to a request for comment. oppenheimer dominated at the oscars. now back to dateline. dateline. of murdering gary hinman. maugust 6, 1969. bobby was in jail accused of murdering gary. charlie manson was afraid bobby

might talk and implicate him in the family. then a idea, a crazy, horrible idea. >> they are watching some old james cagney movie where he is in jail for the murders and they do these copycat murders to prove he is not the one. >> that is when manson decided to commit murder so similar to what they did to gary that the cops would have to think the real killers are still on the loose and if they thought that they would release bobby. the key to the copycat killings, decided manson, was to find a high profile the them. >> if it is somebody famous in the newspapers and tv are making a big deal out of it, then it will work. they will have to let bobby out. >> free bobby and maybe touch off helter-skelter in the bargain by framing the black panthers. august 8, 1969, susan atkins,

sexy sadie, dressed in black and headed out of spohn ranch. >> sadie hung out of the car window and said we are going to kill some pigs. >> also in the car, patricia and linda. their target, who ever lived in the house recently vacated by terry mulcher who months earlier had politely blown off manson's hope for a record deal. >> whoever is living there has to be rich and famous, nobody else could afford a house like that. >> manson had been at the house earlier that you're looking for terry, he moved out but manson acquired the current resident, actress sharon tate, the wife of roman polasky. now they cut wires to the same house. they all went over the gate and just then a young man, stephen, who had been visiting the property caretaker was heading

out of the gate, they confronted him with a knife and shot him multiple times. the killing had begun. susan and patricia went outside than inside of the house. text kicked him. susan went to see who else was there. >> she starts down a hallway and there is a guest bedroom and there is a woman sitting up in bed, it is abigail folger. >> errors to the folgers coffee fortune. >> folger assumed it was another friend of sharon's and waves to her and susan gives the little finger wave back and continues down the hall. >> in the bedroom she found sharon tate and jay, a celebrity hairdresser and former boyfriend. she herded them into the living room.

>> at a certain point watson turned his back and jay charged, he shot jay as he was coming to him and then watson went over and started stabbing and kicking. >> sharon tate is quite naturally screaming. folger breaks out of a side door and is running to the outside lot, they chase after. >> soon everybody was left for dead except sharon tate. >> she is begging not for her life but for her babies. susan says pitch i have no civic the for you. and she is slaughtered. >> then susan atkins wrote the word pig in blood on the front door to make sure the cops would connect these murders to gary's murder. >> the arrived back at the ranch and charlie manson is

waiting for them. what did you do, tell me about it and they tell him and he is furious. from their description he does not think they left the house appalling enough that it will get the attention they want. >> so, manson himself returned to the house and draped the american flag near tates body. >> manson thought that would be the thing that would really make everybody gassed and pay attention. >> and movie actress and four of her friends were murdered and the circumstances were lurid. >> the body is badly related. >> nobody made a link to gary, bobby remained in jail. >> charlie was furious. they screwed up. they blamed them.

if they had done it right. this time i am going with you to make sure it gets done properly. >> he took his band of killers on a tour of la looking for just the right innocent victims. there was a street manson knew, he had been to a party there. he picked the house next door. no idea who lived there. it was the home of rosemary lobby uncle. >> charlie says when he is outside the home he will go in and check it out, charlie comes back out and gets text. they go in first and capture lobby uncle, ties them up, asks if anybody else is here he said his wife was in the bedroom. >> then manson went and got patricia and leslie who begged to go with them this time.

>> charlie goes in there and says do what you need to do. >> they died as brutally as those the night before, bound, blindfolded, gagged, egg crime scene created to horrify. >> there was blood, the killer scrawled death to pigs. helter-skelter, misspelled had been written in blood on the fridge and carved into the torso, there was one word, war. surely nobody could missed that message. >> coming up, the killing still was not over. >> this was the one murder manson was involved in. >> how a jailhouse chat finally brings the nightmare to a finish. when dateline continues. en dat.

[music playing] keith morrison: there were many funerals that week in the summer of '69. too many. there were many funerals that week in the summer of 69. too many. one for the beautiful sharon tate. >> it was billed as a private family affair. >> families watched the shocking news on tv, including the manson family. follower barbara hoyt. >> i remember being scared by

that. >> how did they react? >> they laughed, it did not bother them. >> charlie manson thought he hoodwinked the police for sure, they would ink the same people that killed tate also killed gary so they would free bobby. even though they thought the murders would be connected to each other, nobody connected them to gary's case. the plan failed. bobby stayed in jail and if that was not frustrating enough for manson, six days after the murders, more than 100 sheriff's deputies descended on the family. >> they decide they are going to have a huge raid on spohn ranch, they will arrest everybody in it. >> the raid turned out to be good news for charlie manson,

because it did not have anything to do with murder. the warrant was for auto theft, totally unrelated and even that charge did not stick. >> manson uses this is a great example, see how powerful he is? they arrest all of us but i used my power and they are letting us go. >> the la times and a small story about the car theft grade along with the article about the tate murders. each story separate but manson was still on edge especially after he found out a ranch hand named shorty was trying to get the family kicked out of spohn ranch. barbara remembers what happened next. >> i heard a scream. >> any way to describe what that sounded like? >> just horror. i knew it was shorty.

i recognized the voice. >> this was the one murder manson was personally involved in and shorty was hacked to pieces. >> manson decided it was time to get out of la maybe he was feeling the heat or he needed a more remote place to keep his family under his control. >> to him the idea of control is not just having people worshiping you but having people follow your orders in ways that contradict common sense. >> that is fleeing a apocalyptic race war, helter- skelter. he moved them to a old homestead, called barker range, 200 miles outside of la now part of death valley national park. >> during this war, he will lead his family into death valley. where there is a bottomless pit and a city underneath the surface. they will go to down there and be safe.

>> he seriously thought there was something beneath the earth where all of you can go and hide. to escape the race war. >> rivers of milk and honey, trees with different kinds of fruit. >> barbara remained loyal until out in the desert one day she overheard susan gleefully describing the murder of sharon tate and suddenly feared for her own life. so early one morning barbara and a friend took a huge risk. >> we walked out. >> into the heat of death valley. they walked for miles to the nearest ranch and she eventually reunited with her real family but the rest of the manson family stayed busy in the desert. >> the family is up to its old tricks, there are cars stolen,

different death gratian of national monument areas. >> all of which drew the notice of law enforcement. during to rates in october they rounded up most of the family. the last to be captured was manson himself hiding under the bathroom sink. he told the authorities he was manson, charles, m, a.k.a. jesus christ, god. they had faced several charges before, but this time something unexpected, completely out of manson's control, somebody in the family squealed about susan atkins and her role in gary's murder. so adkins was moved from a jail death valley to la. >> she could not stay quiet, she started sharing this incredible and unbelievable story. >> atkins boasted to a fellow inmate about the sharon tate murders. >> she said you know who did it

? i said i do not. she said you are looking at her. >> atkins told virginia every detail, even mocking one of her victims. >> he was screaming help and she said nobody came and we killed him. >> virginia told the cops. >> police got a break in the tate case when this girl was arrested and talked to the cellmate about the killings. >> four months after the killings, charles manson and several of his followers were indicted for murder. he came to la seeking same, he was about to find it. >> coming up, what if the family had not been stopped? who would have been next? >> elizabeth taylor, steve mcqueen and frank sinatra. >> when dateline continues. tel

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[music playing] men, good day. i don't have any guilt. i know what i've done. it's all a play, isn't it? keith morrison: banter from a man about to be tried for one of the most notorious killing sprees in american history. t he dancer from a man about be tried for one of the most notorious killing sprees in american history. >> manson heals he is a product of our society. >> the case went to vincent, a young prosecutor at the time. >> used to have conversations

with manson all the time, i will convict you avenue to get a feel trial. >> most family members stayed ferociously loyal to manson and some not charged staged demonstrations outside of the courthouse. even shaved their heads in a show of solidarity. >> we do anything for a brother. >> chatty susan atkins was supposed to be a key witness. she bragged about the killings in jail and then told the story to a grand jury. >> describe me how you feel? >> dead. >> adkins recanted. so he turned to virginia, one of the jail inmates atkins confessed to. she told the jury how she described the tate murders. >> there was not a sign of

remorse or anything. it was almost boastful. >> atkins vowed they were just getting started, they had a plan to murder a-list celebrities. >> tom jones, elizabeth taylor, steve mclean and frank sinatra. they were going to skin him alive and make purses out of it and sell it on hollywood boulevard. >> virginia's testimony made the front page, one of many headlines in a trial that lasted seven months. >> the jury hearing the charges against charles manson and three girl members of his family brought in its verdict this afternoon, all were found guilty of murder in the first degree. >> manson and several members of the family were sentenced to death for the tate and lobby yunker murders. a career making case he was

emphatic. >> the death penalty was the proper verdict in this case. >> then a little more than a year later it all changed. >> the california supreme court ruled today that the death penalty is unconstitutional. >> there would be no gas chamber for manson or any of his family members. >> do you believe that there should be a death penalty? >> we are born to die. we are born with a death penalty. i am believing what i am told to believe, don't you? >> because of the california state supreme court ruling the sentences were reduced to life in prison with a possibility of parole, even for manson, that touched off a debate that still rages decades later. can people like these be rehabilitated? >> there are so many reasons why i am against parole. >> he spent most of his adult

life fighting parole for the killers of his uncle. >> when somebody says i have changed, you might have, but your victims are dusty and riding in a grave. >> over the years manson, tex, patricia and susan all had parole hearings, each time they were quickly denied. leslie seemed to have some hope of being paroled, this was rehearing in 2000. >> it is really hard to live with the murder, i accept responsibility. i know what i did is inexcusable. >> she was recommended for parole on five different occasions but each time the governor's office overruled the decision in sharon tate's sister deborah was relieved. >> i do not think she deserves it, these people were brutally butchered, there has to be some

kind of accountability in this world. there just has to be. >> it does not stop when a person is 65. >> in the spring, deborah got the news she feared for years, the court of appeal overruled the governor and granted parole. after nearly 50 years in prison charles manson became a shell of his former self, frail and in ill health. one of his friends told us he believed he was suffering from early symptoms of dementia shortly after his 83rd birthday, charles manson died of natural causes. up until his last day on earth never a hint of remorse. >> i have not done anything i am ashamed of. i would not do anything i felt guilty about. >> manson and his family still seem to occupy some dark corner

of our imagination but said jeff, it is time to strip away the mystery and stop burnishing the legend of charles manson. >> we cannot stop what manson did or his fame, if he is notorious, let him be victorious for what he is, a horrible sociopath. >> a small man who used his talents such as they were, to become not just a symbol of loss of innocence or naoveti, but a enduring lesson on how not to be a human being. that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea, thank you for watching. watching. hello. i am craig melvin and this is dateline. >> it was just such