>> harry says he is filled with nothing but gratitude for his time at nbc, but of course, we are grateful for him, his stories, and his heartfelt writing. congratulations on an amazing career, and we are excited for your next chapter teaching a class on curiosity. who better, my friend? on that note, i wish you a good night, and remember to catch my show every weekend starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. from all of our colleagues across the network on nbc news, thanks for staying up late. have a good weekend. te. have a good weekend. right away. please. it was disturbing a young, handsome police officer, a young beautiful wife. somebody that i talked to almost every day is gone. it doesn't make sense, please, joplease have somebody come. >> it was disturbing, a young

handsome police officer, a young, beautiful life. >> somebody that i talked to almost every day is gone. it doesn't make sense. >> when you hear suicide? >> no. >> things started stinking. >> she met another man? >> yes, it is a big messy triangle. >> how many other women besides you was he having an affair with? >> 10. >> 10? >> she had told her boss that she had done something bad. >> i think the last statement, within her diary said it all. >> we knew we would get here, we just had a lot of hurdles to get over. >> i will never forgive myself, never. ♪

>> the life of a police officer. full of danger. and stress. >> they have rough days at work, and if they end up holding it in. >> they are our first responders. >> it is hard. it is hard work. >> the one call you don't know what is going to happen. >> but our story is about what happened, and the first responder had to face a crisis in his own home. >> maybe, please wake up. >> a cop, pleading for help from his fellow men and women in. >> tell them-- tell them i'm a cop please. >> in one moment, a family is shattered. >> it is this disbelief. it is like a surreal moment. >> and overtime, an entire community's secrets revealed. >> i laid there and cried, it doesn't make sense.

>> it starts, here in the village of los lunas, new mexico. tara chavez grew up in a loving family, with her for twin brother, josh and younger brother aaron. >> she was a girly girl, very motherly. >> she always was working with drawings and poetry. always writing. >> melody gonzalez was tara's best friend growing up. she was amazing, she was shy, a lot of times in school people thought that she came off kind of stuck up. >> that wasn't her? >> not at all. >> that shy girl met the handsome boy who would change your life in so many ways. levi chavez. >> how did you talk about it? >> she loved him, didn't take very long before she fell hard for him.

he was turning towards her and she thought he was gorgeous. >> tara was quiet and artistic, levi was a guy's guy, who loved basketball and boxing. their love bloom to the new mexico desert. tara got pregnant when they were still in high school and they got married just before graduation. >> he was happy about it, scared as well, just like she was, something that they had-- neither one of them expected, just happened. >> every time you would see them they were happy. >> michael romero is levi's uncle, and as a town magistrate, he performed the ceremony. >> on that wedding day the whole family was there? >> yes, our family was there, it was a joyous occasion. they were a lovely couple. >> together, they dropped of the life they would have. tara worked as a hairstylist, but had bigger goals. >> she was really wanting to start her own business. >> run business, meaning her own salon?

>> yes, she approached me. i'm all for it. >> i will be her partner, although she did laugh at me. >> levi worked long hours as an officer with the albuquerque police department, it was his dream job, in levi's world, police work was known as the family business. >> he is a grandfather from his father's side, a police officer, and he has four or five uncles that are a police officer and i am an ex-officer myself. >> he was a natural? >> they had two children, andrea, and levi, and had settled into a house at los lunas. but while levi was fighting crime in the big city, tara was finding out that life in the suburbs wasn't entirely crime free. her brother, aaron. >> she called and said i think

somebody tried to break into my house. so, we immediately-- let's go to the house, and the door looked like somebody had messed with it a little bit. >> whoever did that didn't steal anything, but it put levi and tear on alert. he said he suggested she keep one of his old duty guns at home. to protect yourself. >> levi and tara live in a tough neighborhood? >> in general, i think they had a high crime rate. it did have a lot of break-ins, all of the crime in that area. >> and levi and tara were about to experience it firsthand. levi had bought an expensive new truck. she heard a dog bark, she looked outside of the truck was conquered she said, guess what, levi's truck got stolen. i said what happened, are you okay? is home? she says, no, he was at work last night. >> that made melanie worry commanded turned out, there was plenty to worry about. two weeks later on a sunday, the kids were away, visiting levi's.. levi, himself, had a pretty quiet weekend on patrol, but

when he stopped to check on tara and saw what was in front of him, levi found himself on the other end of an anguished call to 911. coming up, the distraught husband overcome by guilt. when dateline continues. e cont. o guess. (players) hey, get out of here man. get off the field. (luke) understood. (players) security! grab him! (marci) great student-teacher ratio... (luke) marci! we've got to go! marci! we have got to go! we bring you the real, in-depth school info. (marci) what were you thinking? (luke) i don't know. i. don't know. (vo) ding dong! homes.com emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ )

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plus odor protection. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was a blustery october night, with high winds gusting over new mexico's sandia mountains. albuquerque police officer levi chavez called 911 from his own home. it was a blustery october night, with high winds gusting over new mexico's santeria mountains. albuquerque police officer, levi chavez called 91 one from his own home. he told police he had found his wife lying in a pool of blood

in their bed, in a panic, levi begged for help >> they are on their way. levi, will it be easier for you to go to another room? okay. okay. >> oh my god. >> aaron judge was a detective with the sheriff's department in suburban los lunas us. >> i got a call from my sergeant, saying that there had been a police officer's wife that had been shot. >> it was just after 9:00 p.m., when jones got to the chavez home. >> it was disturbing. i mean, it was a young, handsome police officer, young beautiful wife. >> jones saw tara lying on the bed, with a gunshot wound to her head and he found this glock 17 by her body. it was the same done levi said he had given her for protection. >> it was a service weapon? >> it was a service weapon. >> that he left at home? >> beside the bed on the nightstand there was a three word note, i'm sorry, levi.

jones quickly determined that tara hadn't been a victim of crime. she had turned the gun on herself. she was only 26. >> we do have a lot of suicides out there, unfortunately a high rate of suicides, it is not uncommon. the iconic part of it was that it was a police officer's wife. >> within minutes, members of levi's on police department in neighboring albuquerque came over to the house to offer levi support. as the news of tara's death spread, one officer's wife called tara's best friend meryl melanie. >> she said tara is dead, and it took me a minute to process it and i said, what do you mean? i don't understand. >> at the scene, police saw an inconsolable husband. >> he kept referring to himself as a piece of crap, that he should have been a better husband and just been with her. >> i will never forgive myself,

never. >> jones, the local detective, took a statement from levi, the big city cop. bared his soul. he told jones he blamed himself for tara's suicide, his wife was prone to trauma and depression, he said, but at times he didn't take it seriously. now it was true too late. the detective did his best to bring a week levi under control. >> whatever is going on right now, take a deep breath. >> you are trying to make the sky feel better? >> i am, i was concerned that possibly he was to the point that he might hurt himself too. >> officers went through a scene in the bedroom and stumbled on something, tara, the writer, had kept a journal tucked under her mattress. >> parts of it were very dark and described the young woman that was having some dark times in her life.

>> tara had laid bare the depths of her despair, writing, sometimes i want to just disappear and i am depressed i want to fall off the face of the earth. >> every day i feel my time and work on getting nowhere. that sounds like depression to me. >> classic depression. >> and police found another page of writing that sounded desperate, torn up and buried in the trashcan. and levi showed detective jones something else. >> i got a text. >> a text he received from tara earlier that day. >> i'm afraid i'm going to hurt myself. i am so upset, sad, and hurt. >> open and shut, by 2:00 a.m. police were wrapping up their work at the chavez house and

detective jones headed to tara's parents home to break the news. >> introduced a deputy and a chaplain, and said it is about your daughter. so, i'm already feeling week. >> what did you think? >> i thought there was a terrible traffic accident. i never, never thought to hear otherwise. >> i asked him what happened, and erin jones said it is an apparent suicide. >> possibly the most painful news a family can here, but the family wasn't prepared to accept it. they felt a deep conviction that no one outside the family saw coming. >> when you hear suicide what did you think? >> no, no way. >> that girl up those children. they knew right then and there that she would not take her life.

and leave those children behind. coming up, heartbreak and disbelief. >> it is not the tara i knew. i never would have, in 1 million years, thought that she would have taken her life. >> was tara's definitely is was that? >> something about it, something about it started stinking. >> when continues. continues. i'm, on it. already sold to carvana. go to carvana and track your car's value today. sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte™. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke.

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“download the gametime app josh mankiewicz (voiceover): family and friends awoke to a piercing sadness in this tight new mexico community. tera chavez, the wife of an albuquerque police officer, had died by suicide. i laid there and cried, i couldn't believe it. ery family and friends awok a piercing sadness in this new mexico community. tara chavez, wife of an albuquerque police officer had died by suicide. >> i laid there and cried. i couldn't believe it. i mean, somebody that i talked to almost every day is gone and you don't know why, you don't understand it. it doesn't make sense.

>> when levi's uncle, michael, try to help his nephew that next morning, he said he saw a broken man. >> i went and saw levi, and he was-- i just didn't know what to say, this is the worst thing that could happen to anybody. >> what did levi say to you that day? >> he didn't say anything. he was too emotional, he couldn't even speak. >> but along with the shock, tera's best friend was overcome with a sense of disbelief. >> part of me was like, no, this isn't right, this is and what happened. like, they are like, it's not true. >> and that is exactly what tera's parents were telling the detective who had come to their home. for one thing, they told him that there was simply no way tera would leave her children. >> you would not be the first family of a loved one who committed suicide, who did not want to leave if that was

possible. >> i don't know about other families, but i knew tera. i knew tera. >> but what about the depressed person who emerges from that diary police found at the scene? tera's family points out that many of the darker passages in that journal were several years old. >> her journal, i think, was an outlet for her just to vent sometimes. >> gina cordova is tera's sister-in-law. >> i mean, i married, i have kids, sometimes i just want to disappear, and it doesn't mean that i'm going to harm myself in any way. >> in the very last entry, three months before death suggests tera was, in fact, the opposite of depressed. tera wrote goodbye to the person i used to be, welcome new day. happiness. >> i think the last statement within her diary said it all. happiness. >> and her family said she had lots to be happy about.

tera was finally making plans to open that new hair salon she had long dreamed of . she was even starting to look at real estate. >> she was so excited to do it. >> gina says tera had an appointment to look at a place with her dad just two days after her death. >> she was thinking about how she was going to decorate, how it was going to be you know, girly, and she was just really excited about it. >> that is the tera her brother aaron saw all the time, and he says he just two days before she died she sent him this funny video of her kids. >> they were dancing around, just being goofy and joking around. it was pretty funny, actually. >> nothing on that video to suggest that she was miserable? >> there is a little second on there on that video where you see her, she is just laughing, because her daughter and her little boy are just being goofballs, you know? >> and tera's best friend, melanie, reread the last text

tera had sent her around that same time and saw nothing right in it >> it was just simple. she just said, hi, i haven't talked to all day, how are you doing? >> it doesn't sound like someone in the middle of a terrible depression? >> not at all. >> could you have conceived of her taking her own life? >> it is not the tera i knew. i would have never in 1 million years ever seen, or expected or thought that she would take her own life. >> melanie in the cordova's say their instincts were telling them something was wrong and that suicide seen at the house. and faye let detective jones know it. >> i don't think you believe you. >> no, i'm sure he did it. >> it looks like a suicide. >> that is correct. >> but something you said to him, or some way you said it made him think that he needed to go deeper. >> yes. >> i promised tera's mom and that i would look at it and i knew that i couldn't just close this case without looking at it and digging into it.

>> to dig in, that bedroom scene was very unusual. women make up just 10% of gun suicides. and he wondered about that recent break-in attempt and levi's stolen truck. have someone been gazing the neighborhood? maybe targeting the officer's house? >> i wanted to check and make sure there wasn't any kind of indication of any break-in or anybody else had done this. >> but nothing seems to be missing from the house and jones could find no sign of forced entry. still, he went back to photos from the bedroom and started noticing things, like what appeared to be a swipe of blood on the bed. >> what could that smear of blood on the bedsheets indicate? >> well, it indicated the fact that she didn't commit suicide and the fact that the person that fired that fatal round would have had blood on their hands.

>> and the detective remembered something else from that night that no struck him as odd, a red substance in a toilet on the other side of the house. was it tera's blood? and if so how did it get there? >> you are in a situation where someone has died. >> jones also focus closely on that gun and noticed the patterns of blood on it. to the detective it looks like you ever had fired it had to be left-handed. >> the areas of the that did have blood on them. >> like a perfect handprint, like a perfect handprint of a human hand. >> a left-hand? >> yes. >> tera was right-handed. >> yes. >> was it suicide? or could it be homicide? jones turned all of it over in his mind. he even handled the gun himself. >> you physically put a glock in your own mouth? >> well, yeah. yeah. >> unloaded? >> of course. >> the medical examiner had

ruled tera's does a suicide a day after she was found and the lid on this case might have been shut then and there. but jones hesitated. >> unless i came up with something pretty contrary contradictory to that, my job was to write it up as a suicide >> why did you? >> i just couldn't do it, just something about it, things about it started stinking. >> after three weeks of investigation, the closing the case, jones asked the medical examiner to change the manner of death, from suicide to undetermined, now the hard part , determining what really happened to tera chavez . coming up. tera had a secret. >> yeah, it's a big messy triangle. >> but was it a motive for murder? when dateline continues. e cont.

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i'm richard louis with a news update, one of the large floating cranes on the east coast has arrived at the site of the breakfast at key bridge in baltimore. the 1000 ton crane is expected to lift debris to make way for ship traffic. a new study finds heat waves are heading higher temperatures, occurring more frequently and moving more slowly across the globe, due to climate change. a study published in science advance say america is among the regions hit hardest so far. for now, back to dateline. the more detective erin jones looked at that scene, where tera chavez died, the more questions he had. then he says, a light bulb went off. something that seemed like the key to the case. jones says that, when he found the gun next to tera, the magazine with the bullet wasn't locked in place. it had been partially released.

suggesting what? >> suggesting it was tampered with. >> so, someone uses the gun to shoot tera , the gun recycles and then what? putting the gun down or dropping it the accidentally released the magazine? >> well, that's-- that's what i believe, yes. >> but if tera didn't shoot herself, then who shot her? now, jones would have to delve into tera's life and relationships and soon jones learned that tera had a secret. >> she had met another man? >> yup. >> jones heard from million dollars that tera and her husband had been growing apart for years. and three months before she died, tera stepped over a line. his name was nick wheeler, like levi, he was another handsome police officer in the albuquerque pd. nick would get his haircut by tera every thursday , and sparks flew. >> what drew tera to this guy?

tunic? >>'s personality. he treated her great. another guy that comes in and is nice to her, shows her attention and treats her good. >> and you've got the recipe for an affair? >> exactly. >> but there was a problem. tera was married to levi, and nick ? >> he was married to a friend of ours. >> of yours and terrace? >> it's a big triangle, messy triangle. >> now, that big, messy triangle was suddenly part of detective, aaron jones's investigation, and a tricky one. jones and nick wheeler had been friends. >> back in like, 2005, we have worked in the field. he was a very likable guy. >> but jones said he couldn't let that get in the way of his investigation. he was going to take a long, hard look at his friend and he remembered something that now seemed suspicious. the night tera was found, nick had called him, digging for

information. >> probably within an hour of me getting on the scene, i started getting texts and phone calls from him. >> nick wants to know what? >> not sure at first, but he was just asking questions about what was going on and if i do anything. >> was nick concerned about keeping his affair with tera under wraps? or something else? melanie told the detective that tera had broken things off with nick before she died. and told melanie that it had not ended well. >> she just told him, it is not right. we are both married. what we are doing is not a good thing. >> her conscience? he didn't want to let her go? >> didn't sound like it. >> now, jones stopped nick could be a potential suspect. so, he and another detective visited nick's home and didn't tell them the conversation was being recorded. nick quickly admitted the affair, his wife, samantha, was

right there to hear all of it. detective jones found himself witnessing the kind of domestic argument that investigators usually hear about only after- the-fact. then, samantha said something that surprised jones. she had known all about the affair. because tera had confessed and apologized. because i understand where she was coming from. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so if you believe that, the two women in this love triangle had made

peace, if you believe that. josh mankiewicz: did you think it was possible that either nick wheeler or his wife had killed tera? absolutely. well, let me ask you a question. >> so, if you believe two women in this love triangle had made peace. if you believe that. >> did you think it was possible that either nick wheeler or his wife had killed tera? >> absolutely. >> let me ask you a question, did you kill her? >> no. i love her, i really did. i did. >> that left one more question about the man in the middle. nick. where was he that weekend tera died? >> he was her alibi and she was his? >> pretty much, yeah. >> that doesn't necessarily mean anybody is lying, sometimes that's the way it works out. >> it is, they were a couple and i knew from experience that they spent a lot of time, you know, either with friends or family or, to put themselves at

home. >> the investigator says he did dismiss the wheelers as potential suspects, but he had no evidence to link them to tera's deh, so jones started focusing on the man any detective with need to look at. tera's husband, levi, and jones says there was plenty to examine it >> their whole relationship seemed like it was just a roller coaster. coming up, investigators find out that levi had a lot more to hide than his wife did. >> how many other women, besides you, was levi chavez having an affair with? >> 10. >> when dateline continues. lin arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): if tera chavez's death was homicide and not suicide, then her husband levi would be a natural suspect, and it didn't take long for detective aaron jones to find out that, when it came to levi chavez, the albuquerque cop, if tera chavez's death was homicide, and not suicide, and her husband, levi, would be a natural suspect. it wouldn't take long for detective, aaron jones, to find out that, when it came to levi chavez, the albuquerque cop, there was something about a man

in uniform. >> levi was a very charming guy? >> he was a very charming guy. >> he clearly knows how to talk to women. >> he clearly does. >> there's no evidence that levi knew about tera's brief affair with nick whelen . but it turns out that levi was carrying far more secrets than his late wife had. levi had been cheating on tera, but that doesn't quite tell the story. levi chavez was racking up so many infidelities, he could barely remember some of his girlfriend's names. tera's friend, melanie, says that kind of thing had been going on ever since high school. >> and it wasn't just one girl, two girls it was numerous girls. >> so, he never really stopped? >> no. >> detective jones tracked down this woman, rose, a married mother of three. rose said is that, at the time of tera's death, she and levi had been sleeping together for 2 years. >> by the time i came around i was shocked to be number three. >> number three? you are the third affair he had

had? >> no, i was in his phone when he opened it up i was number three on his phone speed dial. >> so, levi was open with you, not just that he was married, but that he, in addition to being married, and in addition to having an affair with you, had another girlfriend, someone who is a little higher up on the hierarchy than you were, and you are okay with that? >> yeah. >> having multiple mistresses while married was apparently nothing new for levi. tera said levi's multiple tasking skills what made it all possible. >> how many other women was he having an affair with? >> 10. >> 10? you and nine other women? >> yes. >> how did you and levi falling to be with 10 different women and presumably also, you know, fight crime? >> we were actually almost neighbors. we live really close to each other. >> that would be essential in a situation like that. >> yeah. >> you couldn't commute to see somebody, because there is not others? >> i think a couple others lived around us.

>> where did you and levi usually meet up? >> the running trails, the kid's school, my school, the duck pond between our houses. >> so, a lot of meeting up outdoors? >> and even if i went to his house and the kids were there, he would just pop in a movie and have the kids watch a movie and we would take off and do adult things. >> and rose says, those adult things didn't have anything to do with love. >> i didn't love him, i just -- >> this was just sex? >> just sex. >> but listen to this. one time, when rose and levi were together at his house, she noticed a photo in the bed. >> i put two and two together and i said that is levi. >> and she said yeah, we are married. >> rose recognized the boy in the photograph because she knew tera and had just figured out she was sleeping with her hairstylist's husband. >> and you say?

lie down, not i have got to get out of here, this is weird. >> it was a little weird, not going to lie, but there seems to be no love lost between us, because there's no love there, so i didn't care. >> rose told detective jones a lot about her affair with levi, but didn't seem to know anything useful about tera's death . so, jones turned to others on levi's speed dial, including heather, a fellow cop and levi's department. jones interviewed heather, but she did have any leads. so, he found levi's more serious girlfriend at the time, another cop, named deborah romero. >> she believed that levi was going to be the real deal for her. >> levi had admitted to jones and their very first conversation that he had been with another woman the night tera died. now, deborah romero would become a key part of jones's investigation as he began to track levi's whereabouts that weekend. >> he said he hadn't been home until he discovered the body.

>> right. >> the detective believes tera had been killed sometime on saturday night and levi's story was that he had been on duty until mid night and then went to deborah's house. jones went to talk to her. >> what is the first recollection that you have of seeing him physically at your house? >> when i woke up he came into the bedroom, still in his uniform. >> deborah confirm she was with levi, from the time he got off work that night until the following evening. >> you guys were together the whole time? it was an outing? >> correct. >> so, mistrust as alibi, maybe not a squeaky clean defense, but for now, at least, their stories were in sync. but jones still had questions for levi. so, the next time we went into his office, jones set up a camera to record their conversation without levi knowing. he wanted to see how levi would react to the suggestion that tera had not killed herself .

>> i did, i wanted to make him know that i had some concerns about some of the behavior that was going on. >> at first it was all pretty routine. >> well, whatever you need, and i have nothing to hide from you. nothing. >> then jones told levi he suspected tera had been murdered. >> levi, you understand why this whole thing is happening? >> no, i really don't. >> when i wanted your house that night, i really, honestly believed it was a suicide, but the problem is that somebody killed your wife. >> that was my mind, it would be easier to tell my kids that, what i think happened, but i can't say that possible. i mean, i think i would have saw something. >> jones told levi he has some questions about all of those women. >> what it looks like is this. >> and appeared >> you don't even remember-- you guys don't even remember

the names. >> i told you that, i know. i'm not trying to be an all about it. >> you are a major romeo. >> a major romeo who said he still cared for his wife, despite all those infidelities. >> she is like my partner, man, like -- >> yeah? >> yeah. we might not have been in love- - >> business partner or parent raising partner? >> there's so much-- >> it was on this like she was your nanny. >> if you want me to apologize and say i was about person, i was. fine. >> i will probably take the cake. >> i mean i was a-- husband, dude, but i didn't-- >> when he admits to some of the affairs, admits to being a better husband, but says he is no murderer, i don't see a guy who looks tremendously guilty there, but you did? >> will not necessarily over just that. it was the totality of everything. >> that is because the totality of everything, for jones,

included some startling information he was getting. something tera's family and friends say she told them just before she died. coming up. >> she had a couple of statements to me that, if anything ever happened to her that levi did it. >> did tera have a premonition about her own death? when dateline continues. eline . . wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet. emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? ( ♪♪ ) ( ♪♪ ) emergen-c crystals. we're travelling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. wh-who wants to talk about their heart! how's the heart? how's your heart? how's your heart? -it's good. -is it? - aah, i don't know. -it's okay. -it's okay!

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the family of tera chavez never believed she took her own life. and they also didn't buy her husband levi's story about how he found her. there were a lot of just suspicious things. nothing added up. the family of tera kiewchav never believed she took her own life and they also didn't by her husband, levi's story about how he found her. >> there were a lot of, just suspicious things, nothing added up. >> two tera's sister-in-law, gina, the suicide note found on the bedside table just didn't make sense, mostly for what it didn't say. >> i think my first thought was, like, i want to read it,

because i want to see it. >> the note says, i'm sorry, levi, but the note doesn't mention her kids. could you conceive of her leaving a note like that and not mentioning her kids. >> no, she would not have left her kids. she would not have left her kids. >> detective jones had come to agree. the one sentence didn't seem like a suicide note, at least not one tera would right. >> she was a very expressive person. >> you would have expected a more detailed and expressive note? >> absolutely. >> tera's best friend also told detectives that the behavior of the levi she knew was much worse than the philandering he had a needed to. >> you would break her down so bad verbally. he would tell her all the time that she was worthless, that she was nothing without him. >> tera tried to keep it to herself, but especially from her dad. >> we didn't like seeing our daughter go through what she was going through with levi. and being a father and wanting to fix everything, i think it

created this curtain of don't let that no. >> but in the month before she died, tera did tell both of them she was getting fed up with levi and was ready to end her marriage. >> she did tell me she was going to be okay and the kids are going to be fine. they were going to be getting divorced, and she was going to be moving forward. >> after tera's death, the court orders say levi never appeared to be the grieving husband, but instead seemed cold and distant. by the time of tera's funeral, they say, levi had already wiped away all traces of his dead wife. >> everything my daughter did in that house was either in a box, or somewhere, somewhere else. it wasn't in the house. we were there to pick up clothing. for reviewing that was going to happen wednesday afternoon. >> and there is nothing left? >> there was nothing. who does that? who boxes up the person that made that house what it is?

>> within 48 hours. >> within 48 hours. >> she's gone. >> it made the family wonder if evidence of levi's guilt was also being boxed up and hidden, especially when they learned that potential evidence from the house had been destroyed the night tera was found. remember that red substance detective jones saw on the toilet that night? it turns out that never made it to the crime lab. >> were you able to collect that evidence? >> no. >> because? >> because it had been flushed by an albuquerque police officer in the house. >> one of levi's friends? >> well, friends, coworker. >> so, was a tera's blood? was it even blood? will we ever know? >> we will sure not. >> and that betting with the mysterious blood swipe was also removed by apd cops. tera's family couldn't shake

the feeling that levi's fellow officers from albuquerque may have been helping out their friend and that the local investigators in charge should have stopped then. >> i was extremely angry with the sheriff's department. i was beside myself. how could you allow another agency to come into your jurisdiction and enter that house? >> the jurisdiction of the man who found the body. >> yes. >> detective jones says there was no evidence of a conspiracy or cover up and he blames himself for not immediately treating the house is a crime scene. because of that, he was forced to work backwards to find both evidence and a possible motive. and soon, he found something interesting. a life insurance policy that covers tera. >> how much money would levi get in the event of the death of his wife? >> $100,000. >> what if it was a suicide? >> $100,000.

>> and tera's family told detectives that the couple, headed for divorce, had been having financial problems. but the main reason tera's family and friends believed levi had something to do with her death is this. >> she had made a couple of statements to me that, if anything had ever happened to her that levi did it. >> did you take that seriously? >> obviously not serious enough. it took me a while to think, oh my god, maybe she was right. >> and her mom said that, a few months before she died, tera told her the same thing. >> she did tell me if everything ever happens to me, levi did it. and i immediately asked her, if she was okay and if the kids were okay and she told me everything was fine. >> but why say something like that? >> i couldn't tell you why she said that. but she did tell me that. >> tera told her mom not to worry, and not to say a word to her dad. >> you didn't tell him? >> i didn't tell him.

>> i don't blame my wife for anything. tera knew me well. she knew that i would intervene. >> is there any part of either of you that thinks that levi might not be responsible for this? >> no. >> no. >> now, the family of the detective were on the exact same page. >> you didn't believe tera killed herself? >> no. >> you thought levi killed her? affected? made it look like a suicide? >> yes, sir. >> but the feeling that levi was responsible for tera's death wasn't widely shared in law enforcement, largely be because levi had that alibi. deborah romero, a fellow police officer, who said they were together that night. jones wanted to interview levi's police coworkers who had been on the scene that he, and his many other mistresses for more information. but some weren't talking. after a year, the investigation had reached a standstill. >> i was allowed to officially

work the case for sometime, but i worked it when i could, and however i could. >> levi's uncle, and family of cops bill jones's investigation was pure witchhunt. >> with the police start to focus on levi what you think? >> when you mentioned police, my daughters not police it is erin jones. >> he was driving the bus here? >> he was driving, and he was the only one on that bus on the highway. >> while jones's bus was stalling, the albuquerque press corps rolled on with a story. even though no arrest was made, levi was put on administrative leave in his job and remained the one and only person of interest in the case. >> he didn't have a case, they think they were trying to make levi look like a bad guy. >> so, maybe he is not a good husband, but he is not a murderer? >> no, he's definitely not a murder.

levi found her. >> but jones refused to give up and was determined to dig up new information anyway he could. he began to think outside the box. and suggested something highly unusual. >> i had told the court, if you have got to sue me, sue me, sue somebody, but if you have got to file an order on this case, on this. >> they filed a wrongful death with levi and the police department, claiming they had all played a role in terror's death. it was a huge fishing expedition, but with a catch anything? coming up, levi's first testimony under oath, and one of his girlfriends tells a new story about what happened the night he found his wife's body. >> he's like, my wife just died, i was in the shower and i heard the pop, >> when dateline continues. lin

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): tera chavez's parents were determined to help get their son-in-law arrested for their daughter's murder. so, for their civil suit the family's lawyers subpoenaed more than 50 people for depositions

tara chavez's parents were determined to get their son-in- law arrested for their daughter's murder . so, for their civil suits, the family's lawyer subpoenaed more than 50 people for the deposition with the hope of learning something new. >> please state your name for the record. >> levi chavez. >> levi was called in to give a videotape deposition. >> were you aware that a realtor was seeing your life? >> he had always been cooperative in the past, but this time, levi was under oath and as his lawyers evoked his fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, levi was far less chatty. >> when do you remember receiving an alleged text message from tara saying she might hurt herself? >> so little was learned from levi that day, but attorneys also put his talkative mistress, rose slama under oath, and in her deposition, she revealed something she had never told police, and later

told us. >> the night that i had talked to him, i texted him, he was like, my wife just died. and i was like, well, what happened? and he was like, well, i don't know. i was in the shower and i heard a pop. >> levi told you that he was in the shower and he heard a pop? >> and then when he got out, he had found her. >> levi's story to investigators has always been he had been with one of his other girlfriends, deborah romero, that night and only found tara that when he returned home that night. the story you told her is quite different. >> you know you are the only person that tells that story to mark are you sure that is what he said to you? >> absolutely, positively sure. >> this new story was puzzling to jones, but he did match one thing detective recalled seeing at the scene, wet towel. and rose had even more trivial in

her deposition. remember, she had been sleeping with levi, but had also been a client of tara's at her salon. >> presumably, you chatted with her, the way women do with their hairstyles. >> and it was a double-edged role and it turns out, would put rose slama at the center of this investigation and lead investigators to a possible motive. the last time she saw tara, rose says, tara told her something odd about the truck that had disappeared from the family driveway. >> you had a conversation with tara about levi's truck being missing? >> we were talking and i was like, well what is going on with the truck? and she was like, it did not come up stolen. >> rose says, tara told her , the story of the truck being stolen had been a lie, and she believed her husband, levi, a cop, was mixed up in something very illegal. >> she said, levi had some friends take it to claim insurance, so he happy truck

taken. >> so, tara was very upfront with you that she thought the truck disappears with a part of an insurance scam from levi? >> yep, and she told me she was going to call the police and tell them. >> and when she later told levi, rose says she told him that his wife thought he was involved in some type of scam. >> what was his response when you told him? >> she did not know what she was talking about. >> still, if tara was telling rose that she believed her husband was a criminal, what would happen next? >> i believe he was scared because she was going to turn him in and he had a lot to lose. >> to detective jones, that sounded like a reason for levi to want to make his wife disappear and he found even more evidence that suggested tara was going to report her husband. six days later, the fbi received a tip about a stolen vehicle. the caller's name was sarah, but later said, he thought it could have been tara, and in

fact, the woman's contact number was from the salon where tara chavez works. >> what did you learn? >> about three days prior to her death, she had told her boss that she had done something bad and if she ended up dead, levi killed her. >> i feel a sense of responsibility for tara's death, because if i never said anything -- >> about the truck, to levi? then what? >> then she would still be alive here and maybe if i would have kept my mouth closed, it would be okay, she would still be here. but that's my cross to bear, and i owe her family a great apology, and i have apologized to them, and i hugged them, and i said it is something i have to live with. >> as the civil lawsuit wound its way through court, detective jones retired from law enforcement, but the revelations that came from the

suit jumpstarted the investigation into tara's death and eventually caught the attention of prosecutors . brian mckay was an assistant da. >> you felt the truck was a motive? >> we felt the truck was a motive in a really simple sense. he just moved to apd, he is wanting to move up the ranks. i'm sorry, you know the breath is going to do something if everyone's going around your wife is reporting you are committing fraud. >> all of the defendants, except levi, settled that civil suits, denying any liability, but the family got what they really wanted. in april 2011, more than three years after tara's death, levi chavez was charged with her murder. coming up. >> there is no way he could have done this. >> levi chavez goes on trial. >> a perfect, side equals suicide.

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in june 2013, levi chavez was to stand trial in a new mexico court for killing his wife tera. in june, 2013, levi chavez was to stand trial in a new mexico court for killing his wife, tara. he had been out on bail, fired from his job as an albuquerque cop after he was indicted. >> the trial for an apd

officer, accused of killing his wife, is finally underway. >> tara's family and friends thought justice was near. >> was there a time when you thought he would never be prosecuted? >> no, we knew we would get here. we just had a lot of hurdles to get over. >> levi's family saw the trial very differently, as a chance to clear his name and they are spirits >> did you ever have any doubt as to whether or not levi was capable of this? >> i had no doubt. from day one, i was one that was advocating, there's no way he could have done this. >> david sarno is levi's defense attorney. >> i think the evidence strongly determined that the investigators ignored all the other evidence, other than evidence pointing to levi's guilt. >> two families, once joined by marriage, could now hardly look at each other as they sat on opposite sides of the

courtroom. the state set out to prove levi, the cheating husband, killed tara and staged her suicide to keep her from exposing a big secret . >> this was not a suicide. >> it was a purely circumstantial case, but lead prosecutor brian mckay thought he had more than enough to brand levi a cold-blooded killer. >> so, the perfect homicide equals suicide. >> you began by talking about the perfect murder, is that what you think this was? >> yeah, a cop knows a suicide. if they are convinced early on that this is a suicide, it's closed, it's over, it's done. there is no investigation. >> mckay thought levi did not count on the determination of tara's loved ones , who took the stand to make their own passionate case, that tara would never have killed herself . >> there is no way that tara would have done this, no way.

>> she had said that she is done, she was done putting up with him and his cheating on me and she was ready to move on with her life. >> prosecutors thought a big part of their case would be levi's alleged involvement in a stolen truck scam. rose slama came to court to testify about what she had heard here too i had asked her about the truck situation and she had told me that levi had it stolen for insurance. >> prosecutors told the jury, they would prove this was levi's motive for murder. >> he knows tara is telling people that he is involved in some kind of a fraud. that's bad news. >> but the state could not really deliver on that supposed motive. levi always maintained, the truck really was stolen and fraud charges were never filed against him. so, the judge would not allow any testimony in the trial that would backup

rose's story. the jury also never heard family or friends testified that tara thought levi might hurt her, perhaps over the truck. all of that was hearsay. still, mckay and his cocounsel, and keener, believed they had much more evidence against levi and made his infidelity the centerpiece of their case. they said, levi had simply grown tired of tara. >> how would you describe him? >> levi chavez was-- is a very me-centered person. everything about levi is about levi. >> coming up, levi's lovers take the stand. >> when you went to the residence, did you have a sexual encounter? >> yes, i did. >> and one mistress, his alibi, changes her story. >> is there any way for you to know what time you actually got there? >> i do not know. >> when "dateline" continues. s loyalty program is her.

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prosecutors in the levi chavez murder trial were dealt two major blows. prosecutors in the levi chavez murder trial were dealt two major blows. first, the judge blocked estimate is supporting their theory that levi was involved in an insurance scam. second, he bought statements from friends and families, that alleged tara .. it was time to put the cheating husband's love- life on full display.

among the mistresses who arrived in court was katrina garley, a verizon store clerk levi met shortly before tara's death. they began an affair the day they met , and a few weeks later, they were in bed together again, in the same home where tara had died. >> when you went to the residence, did you have a sexual encounter? >> yes, i did. >> do you know if the children were there? >> he said they were, but i did not see them. >> next a, a fellow apd officer, regina sanchez. tara had called her when she learned regina had been sleeping with levi. >> the nature of the phone call was pretty much to get mad at me, ask what was going on. >> was she upset? >> yes, very. >> and investigators showed that not long after that phone call, someone had typed in a web search on levi's computer, how to kill somebody. >> after the how to kill somebody search, there was a

webpage that was visited, that is one how to kill someone. >> the state's implication, that levi thought murder might be easier than divorce. the prosecution said to me levi had grown tired of tara. >> that computer showed something was going on. he tells tara she's holding back , calls are a worthless piece of skin. >> the prosecution alleges, levi had a plan to get rid of tara for a new girlfriend, heather hindi , she also got to know levi in the weeks prior to tara's death. >> you did not start a sexual relationship until the end of november of 2007? >> correct. >> 63 days after tara died, the man who once tearfully told aaron jones, he would never get over his wife's suicide, gave heather a diamond ring. >> and when did you get married? >> july 5th, 2008. >> the official story is that

heather and levi met just a couple of weeks before tara's death, but things did not evolve until long after tara's death. knowing what we know about levi, do you believe that you marks >> no. i think she was the ultimate goal. >> and the state had something else, deborah romero, the mistress who had been levi's alibi, now to the stand to testify for the prosecution. >> i actually think he called me that evening. >> romero originally told investigators, levi was with her right after his shift ended, during the period when it is believed tara was killed. now, years later, she testified that she could not be sure when he arrived at her house. >> is there any way for you to actually know what time he got there? >> i do not know. >> according to the prosecution, levi got off work at midnight and it's something that his cell phone records show was highly unusual for me he shut off his phone for 15 hours here at >> on october 21st, after midnight 2007, the defendant

turned his phone off. >> his phone is off for a longer period of time that it had been off in a very long time. >> yes. that was a huge piece of evidence because of the timing. i mean, really, that is the only time this big break and it happens to be when your wife is killed you marks >> prosecutors then laid out for the jury exactly what they believed happened that night. they said, levi got to the house and walked inside to the bedroom, where he found his wife asleep. >> slams that gun in and pulls the trigger. instantly killing tara chavez . then, he pulled the gun out, turns it over, and he lays it down. >> and then? >> and then at that point in time is when he hopped in the shower, get the gunshots heard, comes out, nothing nobody has responded. towel. that is when he sends that text.

>> prosecutors said, it was levi who sent that text from tara's phone, i am afraid i am going to hurt myself, i am so upset, sad, and hurts. it was the text levi would later show investigators. but detective jones took the stand to describe what he believes was levi's one mistake. >> did you push the magazine release in this case? >> no. >> detective jones testified how he had found the gun at the scene with the magazine already released. the state called experts to the stand to say that if tara had shot herself, she would not be able to release it. >> i found this book better than five pounds of direct pressure in order to release this magazine. >> and prosecutors believe the person that did release the maxing was levi, the cop. they said, levi's perfect crime wasn't perfect after all. >> this is not a suicide. the defendant killed tara

chavez. >> but the defense was ready to tell a very different story, one of a lovesick woman in a spiral of despair. coming up, the case for the defense, starting with a cross- examination of the lead detective. >> i just thought as a world- class cop, maybe you were clairvoyants as well. >> i'm working on it. >> i bet you are, no doubt about it. >> turns out, he had a troubled past. >> you had failed to be a police officer? >> that is what he ultimately said, yes. when "dateline" continues. en ". [music playing] today, you can give a gift like no other. a gift that can help st. jude children's research

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i'm richard lui with a news update. the manhattan da's office has asked the judge in the trump

hush many case to clarify the gag order against him and how it applies to family members, saying, potential jurors and witnesses are likely to fear retaliation after trump attacked a judge's daughter just this week. and friday marks one year since eric-- evan was notoriously held in a russian prison. a statement was released saying, the u.s. is working to secure his release. now, back to "dateline." it seemed all of albuquerque was transfixed by the sex drenched the narrative that was the levi chavez trial. prosecutors argued, the former police officer killed his wife and staged it to look like suicide. now, it was the defense's turn. their first argument, the reason investigators initially thought tara took her own life, was because she did. defense attorney david sarno.

>> it was called a suicide, because their own investigators, whose job it is, to go and see who what kind of death it is, called it a suicide. >> stating he knew what the jury must be thinking, sarno admitted levi was a failure of a husband, but said that he did not make him a murderer. >> he was completely unfaithful to her. >> just about every way, just about every opportunity. >> absolutely. but he talks about tara being his partner . she was his partner because they had gone through so much, they had had children together. >> all along, levi's family felt the investigation into tara's death was flawed and fueled by an obsessed detective. >> when one. came up and did not pan out, yet another theory. i think in police work, you

have to have evidence. you have to have something that we can hold on to. >> in a series of testy exchanges, the defense tried to discredit erin jones on the stand. >> i just thought as a world- class cop, you were clairvoyants as well. >> i'm working on it. >> i know you are. i bet you are. i have no doubt about that. >> sarno grilled jones about his work history. turns out, he had been fired twice and reprimanded about his handling of cases, including one that caused jones to be written up as unfit for duty. >> they basically found you in a five page written report, unfit mentally? >> that is what he said, yeah. >> jones was later found fit to serve and left law enforcement voluntarily. the defense argued, his troubled record has cast a cloud over all his police work peers >> how important was it to sort of chip away at erin jones's credibility? >> it was absolutely necessary. it was absolutely necessary that the jury see jones for who

he is. >> remember jones's theory that the shooting showed the shooter was left-handed while tara is right-handed? that theory never made it into court because it was backed up by forensics. and that insurance policy covering suicide that jones found suspicious? the defense showed it was an old policy that had been in place for years through levi's military service. >> michael aaron-- my client never changed the amount, coverage, or clauses of anything of his insurance policy, right? >> i did not know that then peers >> and to cast more doubt on jones's investigation, the defense suggested that he never took a serious look at tara's lover and his former buddy, nick wheeler. >> so they never took dna, did they take print exemplars from you? >> no, sir. >> in the end, the sheriff's department concluded there was

no evidence nick wheeler or his wife had anything to do with tara's death. as for rose slama ? >> i had an inch and he scratched it, that was it. >> slama argued that rose could not be trusted, in fact, she was facing felony charges of her own. >> you were arrested for fraud over $2500, right? >> that is right. >> and forgery over $500, right? >> yes, sir. >> the defense suggested rose made up the levi stories, hoping for leniency with her own legal problems, which she says, stems from her own messy divorce. she would later plead out to lesser charges and get probation, but rose swears all of her testimony was the truth. >> i got no deal. i testified because it was the right thing to do. >> and the rest of that parade of mistresses, the defense argued, those women only holstered levi's case, proving

he was a lousy husband in a crumbling marriage, which gave tara ample reason to be depressed, even suicidal . >> he wasn't a good husband, and he wasn't there, and he didn't respond when she was making these cries for help, and he feels horrible. >> the defense's suicide expert, dr. alan berman, testified, all the evidence pointed to tara taking her own life. >> she had a number of both chronic and acute risk factors for suicide. >> and the i'm sorry note left on tara's bedside table? dr. berman said, that note was too ambiguous to call it a suicide note to me but that ripped up page found buried in the garbage, experts said, that had the hallmarks of a real suicide note. the line, i hope you will be happy now, is something we sometimes see in suicide notes.

>> originally, the state suspected both notes were forgeries, but their own handwriting expert confirmed tara wrote both of them. >> so, you came back with an opinion that tara wrote both of these so-called suicide notes ? >> i don't know what kind of notes they are, sir, but they are those notes. >> one thing to keep in mind, no expert on either side could say when those notes were written, that day tara died, years earlier, no way to tell . but the weekend tara died the defense said, there was more evidence of her spiraling out of control. she called levi 315 times, and that's the reason levi shut off his phone, not to escape detection but to escape his wife. >> he does not want to be having his wife bugging, and bugging him when he is you know, hanging out at his mistress's house. >> or he does not want a record of where he is. >> well, look at this year the

prosecution's theory is that he knew all about the cell phone tower pings. will he did not know anything about that at all. >> well, there isn't a police officer in america who does not know about that. >> well, he does not know there is going to be a trail of where he is at every minute. i've got to tell you, levi is not a criminal mastermind. >> that still left the question of how tara could have shot herself and then partially released the gun magazine. the defense hired a crime scene expert to make this video, demonstrating how they believed it could be done. >> the magazine released. >> but when he came to court to do the same demonstration in- person, he failed. >> the gun is cox-- cocked and you can get the magazine release, sometimes i can, sometimes i can't.

today i can't. >> there are smiles on your faces when that happens. >> i am sure there were. >> do you think that was a pivotal moment in the trial? >> i did, because i have handled the same handgun. my daughter was very petite, has small hands. i have big hands and i can't one handedly release the magazine. it just does not happen. it is not a type of the button. you have to press it and release it , and when that did not happen, yeah, it felt pretty good. >> it was a high five moment for the prosecution. >> did you think when that's happening to me this is like the greatest thing? >> absolutely. the fact that he gets up there to show how his theory would work and is unable to do it, you know, once again, went absolutely to what we were saying to me she could not have killed herself.

>> you think you would get a guilty verdict at that point? >> i never know what we are going to get. did i think that was very crucial, key evidence, absolutely. i have been doing this too long . 12 people sit there and have to come to a unanimous verdict. i gave up trying to guess what they were going to do years ago. >> would that one mistake cost levi his freedom? the defense attorney did not think so, because he had another strategy, a surprising and risky move. >> the defense calls levi chavez. coming up, levi chavez takes the stand and tells his story. >> there was a little light on from the tv, i couldn't believe what i was seeing. >> when "dateline" continues. with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. ma, ma, ma—

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theresa cordova says, the woman levi's defense attorney described at trial was not her daughter. teresa says, the woman levi's defense attorney described at trial was not hurt daughter. >> tara was a very needy person, a very desperate wife. >> i walked out of there gnome. it was horrible. >> attorney, david sarno said, chavez was a sad, needy woman, desperate for male attention and the breakup with nick wheeler since her over the edge. >> that was the double whammy, because now she thought she had found someone else to, you know, latch her start to, and

he said, nope to her also. >> match her start to, how about make her feel happy, and not cheated on. >> that's fine, okay. >> i mean, it was very little to suggest tara was interested to let her start on to anybody. >> i think you are right. she wanted somebody that was going to treat her right. >> and now the man everyone agreed had treated her so wrong, was going to take the stand himself. >> please spell your last name. >> levi said, he and tara had been living on the verge of divorce for years come and she had become lonely and depressed. >> did she express ever thought to you, like she just wanted to disappear off the face of the earth? >> all the time. >> and he said that on the weekend tara died, he did ignore the 315 phone calls his wife placed to him. >> she would call and i would just hit the end button. i didn't want to be bothered.

>> levi says, he worked until midnight on saturday, then went directly to his girlfriend's house. >> deborah is nice. she was like a nice person, i liked her. i did not want to take my phone in there just ringing off the hook, and have to explain, you know, it's my ex, i'm sorry. so i just turned it off i did not have to deal with it. >>'s attorney took levi the next day. the kids were out of town, at his dad's. levi says, he had gone from deborah's house to his mom's house, where she was watching desperate housewives. his mom said, she could not reach tara, and she was concerned. >> when i was talking to my mom, everything is coming together in my head, like her threats. 200 phone calls. >> when you say threats, but you may threats? >> if i don't come home, i'm going to hurt myself. so i have that kind of

information, and then she just stops corresponding totally. my mom said, she called in sick and did not go to work on sunday. i got afraid. >> he says, dear made him race to the house to check on tara. >> i walked in and the house is dark. [ crying ] >> do you need a little time do you need a little break to collect yourself? >> no. >> so, i walked in and our bedroom is to the left, and there was a little light one from the tv. [ crying ] i couldn't believe what i was seeing. >> he says, he instantly knew what had happened, and hit -- he was to blame. >> i was telling myself, this is your fault. this right here, it's your fault

, because i didn't answer the phone. i blamed myself. >> what emotions were you feeling? >> guilt. but guilt does not even begin to describe it. and for the first time, it felt like god was telling me, this is all your fault, this is all your fault. >> after his emotional account of finding tara, his attorney gave levi a chance to explain away a series of other prosecution points . that computer search for how to kill, levi told the jury, that all came from his passion from martial arts. >> i remember looking up how to rip somebody's throat out because i wanted to find that martial arts. >> and rose slama, yes, they had an affair, but levi testified the rest of her story was a lie. >> rose slama told you, tara seemed to think your truck was

not really stolen. did rose tara slama ever say such a thing to you? >> no, she never told me that. i do not even know for sure tara even cut her hair. >> and remember how tara's things were so quickly packed up, levi says, her family did all of that on their own. >> did you know about family members boxing stuff up? >> no, i did not have anything. all i remember is, the bed was gone. >> to close, the defense lawyer had two more questions for his final witness. >> did you kill your wife, the mother of your children, tara chavez? >> absolutely not. >> did you tamper with anything to make it look like her death was a suicide? >> no, i do not, absolutely not. >> on cross-examination, prosecutor mckay try to rattle levi, grilling him about that text the state believed levi had faked from her phone and

showed investigators. the prosecutor thought it suspicious that levi had deleted all of tara's other text that we can peers >> yet, you deleted every text except that one. >> i don't know, how am i supposed to know what texts i deleted? >> mckay went on to needle levi as a line for leather. the answer, that was the old levi, he was not a changed man. >> it's impossible for any person to change in one day, it was a process. >> and levi was not afraid to interrupt to make his points. >> i am excited to the jury, it's a process. let me speak to my jury, please. >> early october. >> can i speak to my jury, please? >> your honor, you need to answer the question. >> nearly 6 hours of testimony, levi chavez tried to show he had nothing to hide and that he did not kill his wife >> turns out, levi didn't do

it, nobody else did it, tara wrote those suicide notes, and they are suicide notes. >> what would his jury agree? coming up, as they begin deliberations, jurors are unanimous on at least one point peers >> someone made the comment, can we all agree that levi chavez is a dirt bag? >> what would that influence their verdict? when "dateline" continues. con makes sense. use that gps for your poor sense of direction. excuse me? my grandfather was a homing pigeon. my internal compass is genetic. must have skipped a generation. uh, i'm a walking gps. okay. which way is north? okay. that's up, not north. i should get the watch. switch to progressive and you could save hundreds. to spend on whatever you dream up. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture.

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the trial of levi chavez was drawing to a close,

as the judge charged the jury to deliberate. the trial of levi chavez was drawing to a close as the judge charged the jury to deliberate. was tara chavez's death a suicide or murder ? >> if levi is convicted, life in prison? >> yeah, life in prison. >> or he walks free. >> yeah. >> behind closed doors, after five weeks of testimony, the jury could finally discuss the evidence. >> is mentally, emotionally draining. >> yes. >> we spoke to six of the people levi called my jury. >> what did you think of him continually referring to the jury as my jury? >> it was a little disturbing. >> i personally did not have an issue with him, it was about him.

i did not take it personally, but some jurors were offended by that. >> i think what offended some jurors, you sate like you are my jury, like you are my friends, or something. >> kind of taking for granted that you are on his side? >> almost implied a level of collaboration that you're never going to get. >> they began deliberating and took a quick look and realized, they were far from unanimous, but they did agree on some things. >> all of you know someone who has had an affair? >> yes. >> yes. >> yes. >> any of you know someone who has had as many affairs as levi chavez? >> no. >> someone made the comment, can we all agree that levi chavez is a dirt bag? >> and apparently, they could agree on that, while simultaneously setting it aside, concentrating on the evidence, and not levi's bad behavior. >> we all felt that we couldn't judge him on his character. it was our job to judge him on

the facts that were presented to us. >> but some of the comments the state said levi made about his wife, they couldn't get over. >> he called her a useless piece of skin. to me, that meant, i am done with tara. so, that is kind of what made me think he killed her. >> they thought long and hard about how tara was found, and about the gun that killed her. they asked for the glock to be brought into the jury room. >> we played a lot with the gun. we put the magazine in, took the magazine out, put the magazine in, we compared it to the photos. >> after a day of examining the evidence, couldn't agree. >> my question was, what happens if we can't make a decision? i thought for sure, there's no way, we are too far apart. >> the jurors went home that night and when they came back the next day, they took a vote, now they were unanimous. the court summoned the families. >> i'm shaky.

wasn't quite prepared for that moment. >> how did levi look? >> he looked very worried. >> before i call in the jury and find out what the verdict is i've been observing throughout this trial and there's a lot of animosity in the courtroom, you could cut the tension with a knife in here. >> the judge ordered quiet in the courtroom and instructed the families to leave separately after the verdict. >> juror number 51, has the jury reached a verdict? can you have-- mr. chavez, please rise. we find the defendant levi chavez, not guilty of first- degree murder. >> not guilty. levi chavez was about to walk free. >> were you looking at levi at the moment? >> yes. all of us were hugging, and said a little prayer after.

it was very-- i mean, it's just like, it's over. >> but the other family in court listened in agony and quickly left. >> justice has not been served. i immediately put my arm around teresa and got out of there. and i wanted to get her home. >> i was shocked, disappointed, and disgusted with our system. >> so, how did the jury reach that not guilty verdict? prosecutors, they said, hesitantly failed to make their case. several said they were baffled at how little evidence was presented. >> when the prosecution rested, i was like, seriously? i was expecting much more from them. >> i really would've hoped them to take out two of the mistresses, and put in something else that would give us more hard evidence, but they didn't. >> many told us they specifically didn't believe one of those mistresses. >> rose slama , didn't trust

her? >> no, not at all. >> what did you say? >> don't trust her with a 10 foot pole. >> aaron jones, good police officer? >> definitely not. >> jones testified that the gun's magazine had been released, but when they looked at the photos, they weren't so sure. >> for me, no one proved that that magazine was unseated peers >> so the fact the defense expert tried to show how it could be done and couldn't do it, that wasn't some huge fail for the defense? >> no. >> and remember, the jurors never heard the comments attributed to tara from her family and friends, that if something happened to her, levi did it. in the end, all of the jurors we spoke with said, it came down to a reasonable doubt. one was upset that they weren't able to convict. >> and it was not a decision that i wanted to give, but i had to, because of the reasonable doubt. >> so, you think levi got away

with murder marks >> unfortunately, i do. >> the jurors i talked to said, they were stunned when the prosecution rescued-- rested. that is it, there's no more? did you guys screw this up? >> no, we gave them the evidence one, we were allowed to give, and two, that was out there. we don't get to create the evidence. >> so my question is, was it worth it? >> yes. >> even though you did not get the result you wanted? >> yes, we know the truth. >> we know the truth, and tara's words , even though they weren't heard in that courtroom, they are being heard today. >> after the acquittal, levi charged out of court and straight through the press corps he felt had been harassing him for years. >> i did not do anything wrong, i'm not surprised at all. >> you were the only member of

levi's family who was willing to talk to us. how come levi does not want to talk? >> i feel that the media has really-- i don't think they gave him a fair chance. none of my family has ever said anything bad about the court. we are all victims and i really do feel sorry for him, i really do. they can take this apology from my family, but you know what, levi is a victim. >> when we last spoke, his attorney said, levi had no plans to return law enforcement and hoped to go to law enforcement some day. after the trial he remained in albuquerque with his wife, heather, their young son, and levi's two kids with tara. >> do you think levi is being a better husband to her that he was to tara? >> levi is being an excellent husband and father. >> the family later decided to drop their wrongful death civil lawsuit against their former

son-in-law. >> we are all here to remember tara peers >> a few weeks after the trial , family and friends came together in low slowness to remember tara chavez on what would have been her 32nd birthday. for all of those who loved her, tara is never really that far away. >> i'll be in good company if something ever happened to me now, wouldn't i, josh? i i have my baby. she's my angel. and this is dateline this is a couple of cases i've really carried with me. there's a woman who lost