on searching, hoping to learn what happened to his mother. >> yeah, i will be looking. >> he didn't just murder someone and have nothing afterwards. he left behind family. he left behind a disaster. if i'm the only thing to remind hum of that, then that's what i'm there for. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. i wonder why i didn't do more. i should have done something different. i'll live with that forever. forever and ever it will haunt me. >> high school sweethearts with the growing family. then it all

went up in flames. >> caller: there's a fire. >> his wife was inside. none of it made sense to me. >>. in the ashes, secrets. >> i don't care what you think you are seeing, you are dealingi with a murder. >> the gun, how did it end up completely underneath her body? >> in the front driver's seat appeared to be a note. >> she had rekindled a relationship with one of the executives. >> did someone has something to hide? >> did you kill her? no. >> it was like a script, he had answers for everything. >> he would realize this is it. >> you are going to hell for what you've done in this case. >> ♪

it was dark, past 3:00 a.m., a hint of crescent moon struggled to penetrate the night here in middle america. everyone asleep except on a quiet residential street, a woman unable to sleep watched a crime show on tv. was the popping noise from somewhere in the neighborhood, or was it her tv show, or just a remnant of a windy day around her windowsill? april 30th, 2011, tornado season. and there was a storm that night. a whirlwind sweeping all of wh them into its vortex, but it began not with wind, but with fire.

>> caller: what's the problem? calm down. >> caller: there's a fire. >> the man on the phone was frantic, out of breath. here is the video of an officer on duty that night, speeding to the fire where he met the 911 caller outside. you can see them both recorded on video. the man said his wife was in the master bedroom in the back of the house, second floor. and if that was true, it did not look good for her. a passerby caught this video on his cell phone. by then the volunteer fire brigade was arriving. not much any of them could do for the woman inside. as the man calmed down a littlee he told the officer he was ablei only to rescue his 2 and 4-year- old sons carried to safety, so somewhere in there, his wife, their mother, was dead.

there is more to the story as you will hear much more. but for now the dismal business of was sorting out what happened. so where to begin? ha the man on the street said his name was vashti secat. >> my dad thought the name was neat, so we named her vashti. >> neither could believe what they heard that morning. >> i called the county sheriff's department just to verifyme. expected they help yo >> they asked who i was, and i explained my relationship to vashti, and he said yeah, there has been a fire . we believe she is deceased. >> the man outside his burning

house was brett seatac, her very first love. >> she did some stats for a team when he was a wrestler. first love in high school, first boyfriend girlfriend. >> they broke up and got back together until they married in 2004. >> that first love holds a special place in your life. >> i don on the 30th of april, 2011, though as you will hear britney what to do in a crisis there was nothing he or anyone could do to get it back. the life he had with vashti and their two boys, now motherless boys, brandon, born in the fall of 2006, bronson less than two years later. >> it was a happy time. my sister was mother of the year, award goes to her. ar >> at 4:00 came she would get

up and hand-make baby food, so her kids could have organic healthy food. >> she lived for those babies. >> not just her own kids. >> she was the first to help someone at the boys daycare. a little boy had, it was cancer, leukemia, something, and she stayed up and baked mini loaves of banana bread for him to get treatment. he did walks with them. he would play outside with them. he was very engaged as a dad. he was very proud of his sons. >> brett was a family and law man, a former sheriff's deputy, and for the last few years he had been teaching officer recruits of kansas law informant enforcement training. >> he was hired to replace me when i left there. >> so what was the job of teaching what? >> got into the investigation,

but he was much more into physical training and defense tech decks than i ever was. >> he had more interest in that? >> he did. growing up he got into martial arts. he was into wrestling in high school, and got into bodybuilding, martial arts, and things. he was a lot bigger than i was. >> the training center had regular hours, which was a welcome change for being a deputy sheriff, especially with those two boys clamoring for his attention at home. >> he was close to the boys but very masculine, he raised them as boys, he was tough, they wrestled a lot, and he would wrestle with them, he would bounce them off the couch, and they would come running back. >> a terrible thing to happen

to such beautiful known family, even if the fire was all you heard about it, but now brett seacat headed to the local law enforcement, and he repeated to fellow law enforcement officers something he had said on the 911 call, that the fire was not what killed vashti seacat. coming up , what did happen to vashti? >> she was lying on her left side like she was under the covers, asleep. >> is appraising piece of evidence right there in the bedroom. >> the firearm was actually under her left hip, which would have been against the mattress with the barrel facing downward . >> a firearm, a gun in bed? when dateline continues. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time.

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april, 2011. in kansas, vashti seacat was dead . her house burned around her, and her boys were understanding what happened to them. >> like i believed somehow it wasn't true. you played with god, or you just want a miracle to happen. >> no miracles to be had. that might have been the end of it, and awful tragedy, but these are soon forgotten by the rest of the world. except, those volunteer firemen weren't quite sure what they were dealing with. so they took the step of calling the atf, the borough of bureau of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.

that morning, doug monti was the atf agent who showed up at the house to have a look around. >> if you looked at it from the front of the house, you noticed part of the roof had collapsed as you made your way around back, there was heavy fire damage to include collapse at the second and third floor, which is significant. >> really the front facade-- >> anybody going by could tell there was a fire that occurred inside on the second and third floors. expected to hear anything about a body? >> i will meet with the on scene investigators, the fire chief, local officers, and they had informed me that is the first arriving officer got there he made contact with brett seacat, and he indicated his wife was inside. >> they also told him when the first responders arrived that the windows in the master bedroom were still intact, which would have tacked down the fire inside the room where

vashti was last seen. there was some chance that some evidence would still exist in there. it would not be completely incinerated by the flames. and sure enough, when monti got inside what was left of the house, he saw the body of vashti seacat lying on the mattress in the master bedroom on the second floor. >> she was lying on her left side, her knees were slightly drawn up. it appeared that her elbows were bent. there was still a significant amount of blanket or covering on her, like she was under the covers asleep. >> also there, a weapon. >> the firearm was actually under her left hip, which would have been against the mattress with the barrel facing downward. >> it became clear the gun had been the source of a single gunshot wound to the side of her lower school. there were other wounds, too. oddly enough you can hear gunshots going off during the fire in that cell phone video

shot by a passerby. [ sound of gunfire ] >> when the hot fire exploded the remaining bullets in the gun, firing bullets into vashti's body. windows didn't burn up completely. >> we noticed a red plastic container close to her back on the mattress itself. >> a plastic container for what? >> it was a gas can. >> clearly? >> yes. >> what did that tell you? >> our job was to determine the origin of the fire and classify, whether it was accidental, whether it was incendiary, or whether someone intentionally started the fire. that would be an indicator. >> suspicious, oh yes, but maybe not what you are thinking. maybe not murder.

in fact, the answer to what happened to vashti seacat was right there in her husband's panics call to 911. but why would the mother of two boys kill herself? that was a story only her widower, brett seacat, could tell. coming up. she wanted to make everybody happy. >> brett seacat has secrets to share. >> she would put on one face for her family, and she would be a different person at home . >> a brand-new and nobody else? >> rights. >> inside a relationship on the ropes. >> i made it perfectly clear i was going to do everything i could to make sure she didn't see those kids again. >> when dateline continues. lin which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping...

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have happened to our family. the fire was only half of the deadly event that ruptured the seacat family . apparently the work of vashti seacat. partly because it occurred in a county it triggered a call to kb i, statewide kansas bureau of investigation, whose special agent, david, welcome to chance to hear directly from brett seacat himself. brett was in law enforcement himself and understood the agent needed to hear the whole story, warts and all. >> we interviewed him for 7 1/2 hours. >> forthcoming? >> he was very forthcoming. >> i just want to talk about what happened. >> okay. >> this must be a terrible time for you. >> the agent was about to discover brett was not just dealing with grief, but with a

heavy burden of guilt, though it took a while to get to that part of the story. >> when i interview people i want them to start at the beginning. >> it told them the story of how he met vashti in high school, how he was smitten from the first moment. >> she was great. she wanted to make everyone happy. she really worked on that, she really cared what people thought about her, almost to the point of neurosis, that's what i always thought. >> she had been paying too much attention to our job, he said, even when at home. >> she was dedicated to her job, and i thought that took away time from the kids. >> making matters worse, was that vashti was depressed and had been for a long time, something no one else knew. >> he said vashti was basically

two people. she had a mask for public, and one for at home. >> so that brett only knew about it? >> right. >> she was always worried about how people would view her, and even as her boyfriend, as her husband, the only reason i even ever got exposed to it, because i was the guy spending nights with her. >> things got so bad brett said, her depression was affecting their marriage. they started seeing a therapist. he told investigators that to help her lose weight she took a hormonal supplement, hcg, which has been linked to depression. that he remembered something that now came back to haunt him, he told them. one night she and vashti are watching a drama on tv during which--

>> someone omitted suicide with a firearm, and she asked him if that gun would be a good gun to do that with. he said yeah. i have got one of those, which he indicated was the 44 magnum they had, would be a better tool to do that with. >> you look back on it then in the interview with you as oh my gosh i told her how to kill herself. >> right. >> but it got worse, said brett, when vashti told him she wanted to split up and served him with divorce papers. he told her the night she died- - >> you and i will i made it perfectly clear whether i was truthful or not that-- if this went to court, i was going to do everything i could so she

didn't see the kids again. >> there was no sharing a bed anymore, and after he fell asleep on the couch downstairs he said, he said his cell phone rang. it was vashti calling from the bedroom upstairs. >> when i answered, she said are you awake? you need to get the boys. >> brett said he jumped up but heard a loud noise. >> like someone slammed the door as hard as they could. >> he said he heard someone walking around and bounded upstairs to the bedroom. >> there were small flames around the door. the flames were about that high off the ground. >> then he said he ran into the master bedroom. >> the bed was on fire, and the floor could have been on fire. i'm pretty sure it was, but i was just looking right there, and vashti was laying on her

back right in the spot where she sleeps. >> he said he reached for vashti's right shoulder, and around her neck-- >> she sank into my arms, then all of a sudden it came to me-- dead, fire, kids. >> he ran to the boys' room, scooped them up, put them in the car, then called 911. then ran back into the house to try to get vashti me he covered his face with a wet dishcloth and ran up the stairs. >> by the time i get to the top of the stairs i can't see anything, not even my hand in front of my face. i told myself to get out.

>> and now vashti was dead, and brett couldn't stop wondering if she was thinking about the kids as she prepared to end her life. >> you want me to tuck you in and say good night or say goodbye? because she did love those kids, and i could see her go in and kiss each one of them good night. >> brett explained that mommy is in heaven now, that she is with god. >> we talk about it every night before bed. >> it was as if brett seacat was in a confessional booth, full of sorrow for threatening to take away the boys, the trigger, he was sure, for her suicide. did he seem remorseful? >> yes he did, he showed remorse

that he had driven her, that he had given her no other out than to take her own life. coming up, a journal. >> in the front driver's seat appeared to be a note to brett and her children. >> a final message to her family? >> she said take care of each other, i took care of the house for you. >> none of it made sense to me. >> when dateline continues. kills 99.9% of bacteria that detergents leave behind. clean is good, sanitized is better. ♪ ♪ lowe's knows when you need clean is good, sanitized is better. a new appliance today you want it at a great price. shop deals on samsung bespoke refrigerators and the new samsung bespoke ai laundry combo - the industry's largest capacity, fastest all-in-one washer and dryer. shop lowe's now for memorial day deals. want the power of 5 serum benefits in 1? olay super serum activates on skin to hydrate, smooth, visibly firm, brighten,

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i am richard liu. it comes after the former president falsely claimed that standard language and an fbi search warrant amounts it to an assassination attempt. the un's highest court ordered israel to halt its military assault on rafah. the court cannot enforce the ruling, but it comes after several war crimes court sought

arrest warrants for the leaders of hamas, and administer benjamin netanyahu. back to dateline. the known facts or stark, quite clear. vashti seacat was dead, fatal bullet wound to the head. her house burned around her, her boys, motherless, her husband, a widower. now the trick would be finding evidence for or against the story behind the apparent suicide, the brett seacat story, which was a long time coming. in vashti's purse they found a list of expenses. >> indications of money she needed in her life insurance. >> it included funeral expenses, and they had a good look through vashti's volkswagen, and in the her trunk they found printed material about coping with stress and anxiety, and more

importantly investigators discovered something absolutely key. >> in the front driver's seat was a journal. as you open that book and go past some of the notes she had written to her children, kind of bookmarked with what appeared to be a note to her two children, and to brett. and she's trying to explain to the children, i love them, and she's telling her children to take care of each other, and that brett, i took care of the house for you. >> she said she would be watching over her sons from heaven. all those words on that page seemed pretty clear, it was a goodbye note. investigators also talked to vashti's friends and family . others who knew her well. they said vashti had been going

to a therapist for several months, that she had been losing a lot of weight recently and taking a hormonal supplement of hcg. could it have affected her mood? brett's half-brother bobby couldn't comprehend it, so he peppered him with questions. >> none of it made sense to me. i said were the problems? he said yes she filed for divorce. he said they had been going to counseling for six months. i said what would cause her to do this? and he said i used the boys as a weapon, something i never should have done. if she tried taking custody of the boys i would take the boys and run away with them. and he was beating himself up about that, and i of course said probably half of all the people that have gotten a divorce with kids involved have said something similar. >> he had never known, like when brett told him before vashti died she had been

spending evenings out. >> going out, partying, and dancing, and drinking. >> where with the kids be? >> with brett. and i'm not saying those kids didn't need a lot to her, she was a wonderful person on the surface. and there was a different vashti that we were unaware of, and it's upsetting to be made aware of it. >> vashti's going out, usher sign for right she was sinking further. bobby was shocked and didn't know a thing about it. >> before this happened i had never heard anything about her being suicidal. and that's why i have some disappointment in my half- brother, and i understand, but there are other people there to help you through this, and in hindsight i'm sure he wishes he would have shared those things.

>> the one thing jumped back at bobby. something he saw before vashti died. she was sitting by herself in the house while her young sons were hunting for easter eggs outside. >> she was not typical vashti who was usually bubbly and talkative. it was an easter egg hunt, and she didn't even come off the couch and come outside. >> he asked how she was doing. >> she said she really didn't like work, and work was a struggle for her daily. she said i got into hr to give people a future and hope, and i don't remember the last person i hired. >> vashti said when she had to lay off employees it was difficult for her, especially if she was close to them. but she said if they are not your friends they take the news and leave. if they are your friends they stay in the office and cry on

your shoulder for an hour. >> bobby came to understand that apparently the motions of vashti's job, the strain of her divorce, her depression, and brett 's there to take the kids proved too much. sadly, she took her life, leaving brett and the boys to go on somehow, themselves. >> gotten past anger towards her, now it's just it bothers me. there is just things i think in her life that derailed. >> to set the house on fire with her own boys inside? >> we are trying to assign rational thinking to someone i believe was getting ready to take their own life. >> for brett's family it was starting to make sense. but for vashti's family, it just made no sense at all. coming up, questions, and suspicions. >> he didn't like people, he more wanted to isolate my

sister and have her all to himself. >> i don't care what you think you are seeing you are dealing with a murder. >> when dateline continues. tel this painful blistering rash could also disrupt your work and time with family. shingles could also lead to long—term, debilitating nerve pain that can last for months or even years. if you're over 50, the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. (♪♪) and as you age, your risk of developing shingles increases. (♪♪) don't wait. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles today.

the vigil for vashti seacat was held across the street ask your doctor or pharmacist the vigil for vashti seacat was held across the street from her burned-out house. kathleen and rich were there. so was brett with his two sons. not easy for any of them. and truth, as vashti's siblings new, was a way of looking so different depending on who is doing the looking, which is why the minute rich found out something happened to his sister he called the kingman county sheriff's office. >> i don't care what you are being told, i said, i don't care what you think you are seeing you are dealing with a murder. >> a murder? even as they grieved kathleen and rich had become suspicious of rent.

ever since brett called kathleen to tell her the news and phrased it in such an odd way. >> he said vashti killed herself and set the house on fire. so, how it was said to us was backwards, and just from conversations her and i had had, i just knew. >> what did he sound like? >> no emotion, very calm, no tears, no hysterics. just very of matter of fact. i'm not married to her, she's not the mother of my children, and i'm hysterical. but he wasn't. >> a week or so later brett drove down to oklahoma to speak directly with kathleen and her husband. >> he had answers for everything, like why she did what she did, why she thought when she thought. it was like a script. answers for everything, where normal people would be confused. and there was a picture of her

that was a poster sized picture on my fireplace. and i looked over at it. i broke down, and he said i am over that. i'm just kind of angry at her and ready to move on. >> but they had to admit brett's social interactions had always been a little cold, sometimes inappropriate, and his reaction to vashti's death was not out of character. >> he didn't like people. he more wanted to isolate my sister and have her all to himself. i almost felt like vashti and the children were more of a position . than they were his. like your clan. >> everybody stay away from my stuff. >> yeah. so it was a different kind of love than maybe what i would define as love.

>> according to her siblings, early on vashti questioned her decision to marry brett, wondering if she should stay in the marriage, until she found out she was pregnant with the first of her sons. >> i think brett treated her well, he was very proud he was going to be having sons, and the seacat name was going to be you know, pushed on. but several times in their marriage it didn't feel right. i know she missed family. she wanted to reconnect with friends. she felt forced to not have the same friends, and that bothered her. >> did that change your personality? >> those boys were her life. >> she probably didn't notice it like we did from the outside. >> by the fall of 2010 said kathy, vashti was miserable again, feeling depressed , so

she and brett started seeing a therapist together and alone, but things didn't get any better. and so in the spring of 2011 vashti filed for divorce . >> i know she had thought it through well enough. >> she had enough of him and told kathleen so. >> she said he has a grandiose narcissist, and it's not going to get better. it's not going to change. >> but was vashti depressed? not anymore said kathleen and rich. they talked to her all the time. though she was sad about the divorce she was looking forward finally to a happier life. she felt liberated, they said, was excited about her job, was losing weight, starting new friendships. >> planning of a concert with you? >> and a spring trip, and we had gone shopping the big four,

and the clothes were still in the bag at her house. in fact she had so many things lined out for us to do that i was thinking i can't keep up with her. >> they didn't buy's story at all. >> she was not depressed, she was anything but. >> the wednesday before vashti died when brett was served with divorce papers she spent that night with her sons and a friend's house and was going to stay there until friday. when brett was supposed to be out of the house that was the plan. >> he got a hold of her on thursday and told her to come home, that she owed it to him to let him say goodbye to his kids. he told her he couldn't be out by friday, he had nowhere to go, his parents didn't even know, they were contemplating divorce. he didn't have friends to stay with. he said he needed a few more days to get out, could you please come home and let him

tell his boys goodbye and just talk? i begged her to not go. and she said kathleen, my only way out is to try to reason with him. she said i'm not a monster.i'm not a monster, he has nowhere else. >> bridge talked to vashti about dinnertime. >> the whole conversation was hey, sister, how are things going? everything she said was well, brett's having a really hard time with this, and brett's really struggling with this. >> it hurt her he was so torn up. >> less than 12 hours later vashti was dead. investigators were finding the truth as they saw. because he was a trained law enforcement officer, you are worried that he knew how to

beat the system? >> oh yeah, he would brag about it. he had books. he knew how to do it. coming up, brett seacat under scrutiny. >> if you bend over a bed on fire i would expect singeing. there was nothing. >> and a desperate family. >> i in this instance said justice will be served. >> what dateline continues. lin for a smooth shave with blades that barely touch skin shingles. the rash can feel like an intense burning sensation, and last for weeks. shingles could make it hard to be there for your loved ones. over 50? the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside you. don't wait. ask your doctor about shingles.

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it's not always so straightforward determining from evidence what's suicide and what's murder. brett said it was obviously suicide. it's not always so . straightforward, determining from evidence what's suicide, and what's murder. brett said it was obviously suicide. her family said no way. so, now investigators had to figure out who was right. they scoured the wreck of the

seacat house for please. >> i remembered grabbing one of the personnel working the scene, and i said give me some hope, or, are you finding something that's going to let everybody know what happened? and i remember he looked at me and said, i will tell you this, in this instance, justice will be served. >> but, what did that mean? as another investigator told them, >> justice will be served. we didn't have motions in this, we are here to collect facts. >> collect they did including unburned material in the seacat home, quite odd. >> there was a powerpoint that included like an instructor teaching a class on different types of death. suicide. homicide i believe was

listed. fire. blunt force trauma, things of that nature that an investigator would look at investigating the death of some sort. >> if he's a teacher or policeman then he might have that-- >> and eventually that could be looked at. >> in fact, said britt, that's exactly what it was. >> it was paperwork he brought home from school or class he had taken i believe in college. he pulled in there, because the night before the morning she passed away they were working on a budget, and we did see someone was preparing a budget for their bills together. they had separate accounts. he was trying to show he could help her out in paying some of these bills. >> that was the activity? it was kind of a cooperative activity? >> according to mr. seacat. >> said when he ran into the burning bedroom to save vashti

he was only wearing pants, no shirt or shoes, so-- >> i would have expected to see an injury from the fire. all we saw was minor singeing on his legs from hair. he would get more than that if you send yourself into a barbecue pit. he had minor blisters on his feet. if he bent over a bed on fire to get to his wife i would expect his chest to have some type of singeing. >> kb i found gas selling gasoline on the pants he was wearing. proof of murder, stating the scene, not even close. there was an autopsy of course, the results of which could be seen as suspicious, or not. >> there was no sort in her lungs, that would indicate there were no breaths taken prior to the fire. >> the fire was lit after she was dead.

>> you make that assumption. >> is a possible she could have poured the gasoline, let them all, lit them all, got back into bed, shot herself, died, and still no suit? >> it is possible. if she made the decision to go to that link i would expect she would be excited, respirations would be very rapid, so she would be breathing heavily. >> there would be something in her lungs? >> that would be my experience. i have worked multiple fatality fires over the years. >> investigators' opinion aside, facts are facts, and corners said there weren't enough to determine whether vashti's death was homicide or suicide. too much fire damage to be sure. so, it is poked around for what circumstantial evidence there

might be. they were told by coworkers at the law enforcement training center that on the day before vashti died brett took two computer hard drives to the maintenance shop there and ask, how to destroy them. >> ultimately they showed him a torch, and he used a torch that burns at a high temperature, he used that to torch the hard drives. >> then threw them away, two different trash cans, along with a couple cell phones he pulled apart. probably. on the other hand it was not like he was skulking around or hiding any of that unusual activity. he asked his colleagues for help, so back to the house, and the neighborhood around it. door to door with the investigators. three doors down from the seacat house was a woman who said she was having trouble sleeping that night, and so

was awake in the wee hours watching tv in her living room. >> at some point she believes she heard a gunshot, and she believed it was sometime before the fire trucks and the police officers showed up at the seacat residence. >> exactly when they happened she wouldn't say for sure, but you could tell which scene was playing when she heard that gunshot. and that's how the kb i was able to determine the gun went off long before brett called 911. >> we believed it was 35 minutes prior to mr. seacat calling 911. that's when she heard that gunshot. >> to do something. >> right. >> the fire was not simply a matter of lighting the bed on fire. was that where the fire started? >> there were multiple i think

started on the second floor of the residence. >> interesting. they didn't rule out the possibility vashti herself started the fires. >> there's a lot in limbo at that point. >> their suspicions pointed toward brett seacat, going from grieving, guilt ridden widower, to a's person of interest, which his half brother bobby found preposterous, especially when it came to what the abi that was suspicious behavior at the training center. he just knew his brother didn't do it. >> when you are in law enforcement and know about identity theft, those are things you do, you break cell phones and burn hard drives. not only was he well versed in identity theft, he was a substitute instructor of it. i think in hindsight if he had known what was about to happen that very night, he would not have thrown cell phones away. he would not have burned hard

drives. he would not have done anything, and he especially would not have spent the night in that house. >> it would make him look guilty? >> absolutely. >> was it just appearances, or more than that? coming up. >> we need to know why. >> there is no why, okay. i didn't do this. >> anger, accusations. inspected you murder her, did you pull the trigger, did you kill her? >> no. >> when dateline continues. lin

[whoosh] keith morrison: when brett seacat arrived for that chat with investigators looking into the death of his wife vashti, when brett seacat arrived for that chat looking into the death of his wife vashti, it was as if he could finally relax after the worst two weeks of his life. >> honestly talking to you guys

distracts me from all the thoughts that eat me up late. >> i did little talking. we just let mr. seacat go and he talked for multiple hours. >> brett knew the rules, of course. had to know he was very much a person of interest. he was content to chat back and forth for something like seven hours. didn't bring a lawyer with him. didn't ask for one. even when the investigators zeroed in on what they saw as holes in his story. >> things just aren'ted aing up. we want to make sure we get all the facts right and get to the truth. >> tell me what you want to know. >> brett willingly answered almost every question they had. why there was no real evidence on his body to back up his story on what he did the night vashti died. >> you had no blood on you. supposedly picked her up in the bed.

>> i didn't hold to me close. >> no fire on the bottom of your feet. if you walk through fire, you should have some kind of injuries besides a small injury. >> i don't know why the bottom of my feet aren't burned. i had weird black charring but you guys have pictures of that. did i know that i stepped in any fire? i don't. >> the investigators were starting to think the note in the journal was forged. >> to be honest with you when i looked at that notebook, i'm going this ain't right. slants one way part of the time and other way part of the time. >> it's not my handwriting. >> why on the friday before vashti died brett spent time in his office with the door locked. which was pretty unusual at the training center. >> oh my god. you know why it was locked. oh, screw you.

i was crying. >> you had the door locked and what was you looking at? >> divorce papers. >> problem is, brett. you're in love. you're still in love with her. >> yeah, i am. >> and she was going to leave you. there was no doubt about that. >> that's not why -- >> some people do. >> you have no idea how impossible it is. >> but could he answer this central question? explain the thing that didn't make since to anybody. why vashti, even if she was intent on suicide why she would destroy the house too. why set it on fire? >> she really did not like that house. we were going to have to fix it up. and we didn't particularly have the money or resources to fix it up. and she -- she started really hating that house. >> at its heart, vashti's

reason might well have had more to do with vanity. >> she was a very, very beautiful girl. and always thought about what people would see. i think she might have shot herself and then assumed that her face would be really messed up so she lit a fire and shot herself. >> sitting just a couple of feet away, agent falletti. >> we thought if he was interviewing me and saw the things that we saw and heard what he had told us would he think that things didn't add up. >> you see where we're coming from. >> i see why you're coming from. if this is 100 times worse than what i had pictured in my mind before i just thoughtty lacked any evidence and now you're

saying -- >> there's a lot of evidence that i never knew existed. >> just things are not looking good and they're not adding up that you had something to do with this, brett. we need to know why. >> oh no, there's no why, okay? i didn't do this. i loved vashti. >> i'm sure you still do. but people do things to people they love. >> i won't [ bleep ] my kids like this. ever. [ bleep ] her family. wouldn't [ bleep ] my family. i don't -- i didn't want to

give up vash. i fought hard to try to keep us together. >> in fact, said, if he had murdered vashti. >> if i wanted to be killing my wife it would have been a lot -- i could have come up with something better than this. this is [ bleep ] insane. this is what a crazy person does. >> not necessarily. crazy in love. crazy for his kids, you know. >> don't try and twist it around. >> no, i'm not. >> then falletti got to the point. >> did you murder her? >> no. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no. >> did you kill her? >> no. >> brett left the station then. left to be with his boys and whatever his thoughts may have been. not for long. they just department add up to the kbi. however depressed brett said

vashti was, it made no sense she would have lit the house on fire with her two sleeping sons in harms way. the next day brett seacat was taken into custody. he was formally charged three days later. >> brett t. seacat unlawfully, feloniously, intentionally and with premeditation kill vashti s. seacat. your bond is $1 million. >> he was also charged with arson and endangering his children. brett could not make bond and so remained in jail to await a jury's decision about what really happened in the seacat home in kingdom, kansas in the early hours of april 30, 2011. coming up. the note. >> some of his actions were reckless because the clock was winding down. >> the gun. >> how did it end up completely underneath her body when she

was sleeping on her side? >> the threats. >> she said do you think brett would burn the house down with me in it and i was taken aback by that and i said not with the kids at home. >> the prosecutors come on strong. >> so when those threats didn't work he had to kill her to maintain control. >> when dateline continues. ne , or an unbearable itch. this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks and could make it hard to be there for your loved ones. shingles could also lead to serious complications that can last for years. if you're over 50, the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside you. and as you age, your risk of developing shingles increases. don't wait. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles today.

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keith morrison (voiceover): as kingman coped with the tragedy in its midst, the smallest victims of the vashti and brett seacat story endured what horrors we cannot imagine. as kingdom coped with the tragedy in its midst the smallest victories of the story endured what horrors we cannot imagine. kathleen left her home in oklahoma to help care for vashti's young sons shortly after her sister died and perhaps more than anyone, she was learning what violent death could do to a family. >> we held those babies all night. they would wake up. they were traumatized by the fire. >> sure. >> so to rock the little two and a half-year-old begging you please ask jesus, please bring my mommy back, i'll be good, i need a mommy. that breaks your heart. and this went on for a long time at night. sobbing for hours. >> those poor kids. i mean you're trying to process

that mommy's gone forever and these people over here think mommy killed herself and these people think my daddy shot my mommy. >> the trial began in may 2013 two years after the fire. two years in which the local media covered the seacat case. >> looking like brett seacat will finally face trial. >> brett was entitled to ask to have his trial moved to another county, which might have been less saturate. he elected to keep it right here in kingman's historic courthouse. a mere two blocks from his ruined home. >> the defendant intentionally and with premeditation committed the murder of his wife vashti seacat. >> but for all the talk that had been around town, then assistant attorney general amy handily had precious hard evidence. the coroner hadn't labeled

vashti's death a homicide. no, the evidence was not hard. it was circumstantial. asking the jury to look at the circumstances then put two and two together. >> he got his .34 magnum revolver. he approached her in bed while she was sleeping. he shot her in the head. he set fire to at least two places in the house to cover up his actions. and he did all of this while their two young sons were in the home. >> the motive? quite simple, said the prosecution. brett did not want a divorce but he did want custody of his sons. and he would do what it took. even kill vashti to keep them. their marriage counselor took the stand. >> he said he felt like vashti was going to run.

he could just feel it. that she was going to leave him. and that if she divorced him she was divorcing the entire seacat family including the children and that he would take the children and she would never see them. even if it meant leaving the country. i told him it was not legal, that it wasn't going to help the children, it would hurt them a great deal. they needed access to both their parents. >> did you talk to him about divorce couples having two households? >> yes. >> and what was brett's comments about that? >> he said he'd seen children of divorce and he didn't think it was worse for them to have just one parent or one household, he thought it was better. >> as for brett's claim that vashti died by suicide. the therapist didn't believe it for a second. >> i asked her whether she would commit suicide and she said no. for two reasons.

one, her religious beliefs and her faith. and the second was that she couldn't do that to her boys. that she just loved being a mom. she couldn't leave them. >> the prosecutors showed the jury a photo of the contents of vashti's purse which contained that post it note listing various costs, including funeral expenses. >> vashti seacat as all of her friends and family testified was a very organized person as both a mother and in her career at work. and that list is simply somebody planning out what they might do in their future when they're going to get divorced, which we know vashti seacat was doing. >> prosecutors also showed jurors the powerpoint papers found on the dining room table. the presentation about homicide, suicides and fire. true, brett was a law enforcement trainer, said the prosecutor, but those were not his subjects. >> he was not teaching arson.

he wasn't teaching homicide. he wasn't teaching wound evidence. >> no. those materials brewed said the prosecutor. was premeditation. it was brett's deadly homework. what about that last entry in her journal. the one that read like a final farewell. forged, said the state by brett. the thing is that the handwriting expert it wasn't well done. that slight shakiness. he called that. >> the term we use in document is tremor of fraud. >> the tremor of fraud. it appeared, said the prosecution, that brett forged that note the day before vashti died. the same day he was torching hard drives. the same day he asked a staff member at the training reasonable certainty where he could find an overhead projector. something so outdated it was in storage. the prosecutor said it appeared brett used the projection light

to recreate vashti's writing in the journal. >> some of his actions were reckless because the clock was winding down. >> vashti told brett he could stay in the house until noon sunday. she was planning to go out saturday evening in wichita and spend the night there. >> it's friday, it's friday evening. this was his last opportunity while they lived in the home together to kill vashti. >> then there was the lack of evidence where there should have been some. if this were a suicide, that is. >> any soot in the lungs? >> no. >> the autopsy finding that vashti seacat had no soot in her lungs, in her airways and that there was no carbon monoxide in her blood, that was a key piece of evidence for the prosecution. because what it showed, what the jury could infer from that was that vashti seacat didn't breathe in any smoke. if she didn't breathe in any

smoke the fires was set after she was dead. >> something else. weird little detail. yet according to the prosecution it was telling. when she died vashti's bladder was quite full. >> there probably would have been a urinary urgency or the needing to go to the restroom. >> and the importance of that for the evidence is that the claim from brett seacat is that vashti is walking around the house setting these fires holding her breath, not breathing any smoke while she has a strong urge to urinate. that doesn't make sense. that's something that the jury needed to decide whether or not in their common sense and experience whether they thought that made any sense at all. >> just another point to add to the unlikelihood of this whole story that he was telling. >> that's right. >> the claim suicide weapon didn't make sense either.

.44 magnum ruger red hot. >> how was she able to get that heavy handgun up to her head and pull the trigger and do so in just the right downward angle that it slices right through her spinal cord. there was some kick. some recoil to the gun. how did it end up completely underneath her body when she was sleeping on her side. >> the prosecutor said the angle of the bullet proved one thing. >> that's consistent with someone standing over her while she was sleeping shooting her. >> because, said the prosecutor t because that's what he said he would do. brett not only woke vashti up one night to tell her he had a dream he killed her, but friends and colleagued testified about what they told the kbi in the weeks before she died vashti told them that incredibly brett threatened to kill her and burn the house down and make it look like suicide. >> she said do you think brett

would burn the house down with me in it? and i was taken aback. i said not with the kids at home. >> tragedy was, said the prosecutor, vashti didn't believe him either. >> when those threats didn't work, he had to kill her to maintain control of her. >> in other words, said the prosecutor, planned, premeditated, murdered. it looks bad for brett, doesn't it? you haven't heard the bomb shell the defense had in store. coming up. >> vashti had confided that she had rekindled a romantic relationship she was having with one of the executives at cox communication. >> an affair. that wasn't the only surprise ahead. >> what other mistakes did they

make? there's something about the investigation that stinks. >> when dateline continues. lin t attack at age 36? i didn't. here's a tip. if you smoke, it's totally possible. that's what happened to me. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now. -we're done. -what about these? looks right. nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper.

and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. brett seacat, unable to pay a lawyer to represent him, was lucky in one particular way. brett seacat unable to pay a lawyer to represent him was lucky in one particular way. his court-appointed defense attorneys just happened to be veterans of murder cases. val and roger. >> my grandmother used to love

to put together jigsaw puzzles. >> men who understood perfectly well that the puzzle didn't always go together the way the prosecution tried to make it look. >> there's a second side to this story. that is that vashti seacat, depressed and confronted with either losing her career or staying in the marriage decided instead to take her own life. >> why would she do that? here came the bomb shell. >> vashti had confided in brett that she had rekindled a romantic relationship that she was having with one of the executives at cox communication. >> vashti, claimed the defense, was having an affair with the cox vice president and the evening before vashti died

brett gave her an ultimatum. stay in the marriage or he'd expose her affair. that threat along with brett's vow to take the children were the triggers that sent an already depressed woman over the edge. >> she suffered from absolute depression. what can depression lead you to among various things that can go wrong. suicide is one. >> under cross examination, the seacat's therapist testified that vashti had a history of what she called depressive symptoms. starting when her brother died in an accident when she was young. >> major depressive disorder would be that occurring more than once for a longer period of time. possibly in a pattern. >> and with regard to what you wrote down regarding mrs. seacat, were you describing a episode or a disorder? >> i was describing that this was an episode but there had been others prior. >> a lot of folks think if you were depressed a week ago but

you ain't been depressed since you are cured. now i got the expert to say that isn't the way it works. >> nor is it possible to anticipate if or when a depressed person might take their own life. even when someone is making future plans, as vashti was, suicide is still possible, the defense argued. mind you, they're about to say it also wouldn't have been the first time for vashti. or at least brett was ready to claim she had attempted suicide before. >> brett wanted to testify about the suicide attempts that vashti had made on herself. some while they were married. some before. we said well show me the evidence of this. we had looked and looked and looked and could not find. >> you looked high and low. couldn't find anything. >> couldn't find hospital records that far back. but that should be in surprise

to anybody because hospitals don't keep records any more. >> even so, by judge's order brett would not be allowed to make that claim in court. what about the post it note that listed funeral expenses? >> it could very well be that that is her figuring out what things cost and whether or not insurance is going to cover it. that's what i think it could be. who knows. nobody knows. prosecution doesn't know. i don't know. >> but it has some significance you think? >> well you certainly could portray it as being significant. you could also portray it as being a load of hogwash. >> remember how the prosecution argued that vashti's suicide note was a forgery? probably committed by brett? the defense had a handwriting expert of its own who concluded that vashti did in fact write the note.

and brett asking for that overhead projector at work hours before vashti died, cross examined brett's coworker, the one who helped him find it. >> and mr. seacat was not the least bit secret even when he asked you. >> no, he was not. >> he goes and asks someone to help him find an overhead projector. those people take him up to where it. he carries it down from there in full view of anybody who is possibly in that place and he carries it back. now that sounds like somebody who didn't have anything to hide. >> and what about the state's point that no soot was found in vashti's lungs. under cross examination the coroner allowed it could be possible that vashti lit a fire just before killing herself. >> if someone lit a fire and shot themselves within seconds, would you expect to see soot in

their lungs ??? not necessarily, no. >> as for the powerpoint found on the seacat's dining room table. the one that discussed homicide and suicide and fire investigations, meaningless, said the defense. >> what the prosecution would have you assume; right, is that this really, really smart cop was stupid enough to be looking at all of this stuff the night he tries to burn the house down. please. i certainly wouldn't try to hide evidence by setting a house four blocks from the fire department on fire and praying that they would not get there until the whole thing had burned to the ground. that is silly. >> what's more, brett said, moe of the powerpoint print out had been in a tray in another room as scrap paper that the kbi must have moved those papers to the table just to make it look suspicious. like they made brett's use of

an overhead projector suspicious . >> the state wanted you to believe he was trying to destroy evidence of the crime. what evidence? they never say what evidence he tried to destroy. this guy is such a super criminal that where does he go to destroy that? he goes to the kansas law enforcement training center which is full of what? former cops. and he gets somebody to help him destroy those things. now if you wanted to destroy those things, there are innumerable farm ponds. if you wanted to get rid of that, you throw it into a farm pond pane nobody will ever find it. >> in fact, the state's whole investigation said the defense was at best incompetent. maybe worse. brett and the attorney claimed that vashti's car disappeared from the crime scene for three

days. even though the entire seacat yard was supposed to have been sealed off a crime scene. they showed the jury a series of photos taken from different vantage points which the defense argued made it look like the car had been moved in the days after the fire. this neighbor lived across the street. >> was the volkswagen there? >> no. >> it was not. >> no. >> do you remember seeing it in that driveway ever again? >> three days later. >> but you didn't see, if i understand your testimony, you didn't see anybody bring it back. >> no. >> i think he was telling the truth. if e thought he was lying i wouldn't have put him on. to me it implies the investigation itself is faulty. how do you let somebody get into the crime scene and drive it away? >> so either gross incompetence or intentional. >> my opinion would be it's both. >> if that happened what other mistakes did they make?

there's something about the investigation that stinks. >> just smelled bad. that the state claimed it found gasoline on brett's pants when the defense expert said. >> i would not make a determination that it's gasoline. >> maybe worst of all he said the kansas bureau of investigation did not even bother checking for gunshot residue on brett's hands. tests the defense claim would have revealed if he actually fired that gun that night. >> if you've ever seen what that gun looks like, everything comes out the side of that cylinder. that stuff goes somewhere. on to your skin is where you're looking for it at. >> they didn't look. >> they didn't look. >> he's a cop, they're a cop. >> brett seacat doesn't have much faith in the kbi. >> the star witness for the defense would be the last

witness. brett seacat himself. coming up. cold-blooded killer or grieving husband? >> i didn't think it was appropriate to be dragging my wife's name through the mud. >> you loved vashti? >> i love vashti. >> did you kill vashti? >> no, i did not. >> brett's story from the stand. his life on the line. >> in my heart of hearts i know that it wouldn't have made any difference what anybody said to brett because brett wanted to testify. >> when dateline continues. you can save 5% every day. you got this. and we got you. wanna know a secret? more than just my armpits stink. facts. that's why i use secret whole body deodorant for clinically proven odor protection everywhere. so i smell great all day, all hike, and all night.

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hi, i'm richard liu. prosecutors in the classified documents case asked a federal judge to bar donald trump from statements that pose an imminent and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents. this comes after the former president falsely claimed that standard language in an fbi search warrant amounted to an assassination attempt. alec baldwin's trial will move forward. a judge on friday denied his request to dismiss charges in the fatal shooting on the set of his film rust. the trial is expected to start this summer. for now back to dateline. ne. man: you may come forward and be sworn, please, sir. keith morrison (voiceover): it is-- call it unusual for a defendant to testify you may wn mcome forward an sworn please, sir. >> it is, call it unusual for a

defendant to testify at his own murder trial. dangerous, his lawyer might advise to subject himself to the aggressive questions of a skilled prosecutor. but. >> in my heart of hearts i know it wouldn't have made any difference what anybody said to brett because brett wanted to testify. he wanted to. he had to. he believed that if people just listened to the truth would out. >> mr. seacat, will you earl tell us your full name? >> brett theodore seacat. >> at his own request no video was taken of him. audio only. as brett set out to tell the jury what happened. beginning 21 hours or so before the fire. >> on that morning when i said good-bye, um, she said see you tonight and actually gave me a big kiss, which i thought was odd. >> why'd you think that was

odd? >> because in the last week, week and a half we had been back and forth about 50 times on divorce. and so it just let me know we were back on the not divorce track. >> but by the time he returned to the house that evening, said brett, things had changed. >> i couldn't figure out why she was in a big hurry to get a divorce, which was something that had never happened before. i told her we haven't really worked on our marriage very much. my angle in the discussion was i'll give you a collaborative divorce if we work on the marriage for three to six months. >> vashti seemed to agree to that. especially when he made it clear what he'd do in she went

forward with the divorce. >> i told her if this goes to court that i was going to do everything, everything in my power to destroy her. >> brett told the jury things he never told the kbi investigators. that he threatened to share private photos of her and that vashti had several recent affairs, including one with the executive at cox. and that brett threatened to expose her. as for why he didn't tell the kbi earlier about those alleged affairs? >> i didn't think it was appropriate to be dragging my wife's name through the mud. >> as it was, brett and his defense team didn't put on any evidence about an affair with the cox executive. or with anybody for that matter. then his lawyer finished with the key questions. >> did you love vashti? >> i love vashti.

>> did you kill vashti? >> no, i did not. >> did you pull the trigger on the ruger red hawk that resulted in the bullet going through her neck and severing her spine? >> no, i did not. >> so his direct testimony hours of it seemed to go pretty well. but now of course here came the prosecutor to put him on the spot. >> cross examination. >> she wanted brett to explain how it was possible for him to do what she thought was impossible. make that 911 call and stay on the phone while trying to get vashti's body out of a burning house. >> my wife's upstairs. oh, it's smoke everywhere. just a second. let me get a wet rag. >> how he was able to make that call and talk to a dispatcher

while he was supposedly running up and down the stairs twice in smoke and fire, wetting a rag, holdiing on to his phone. how he didn't drop the phone, fall, cough, gasp. >> turn the faucet on. you're holding your cell phone too. >> i don't think i'm holding it to my ear but it's certainly in my hand. >> you're talking to 911 at this time; right? >> you're correct. it must have been to my ear. i just don't remember that element of it. >> and then she asked him about the divorce. >> vashti wanted the divorce; right? >> depends on which ten minutes you talk to her. >> and when she told you she was thinking about divorce that's when you would threaten her? >> i'm sorry? >> when vashti told you she wanted a divorce you'd threaten her, wouldn't you? >> no. vashti never -- we talked about divorce a lot but the first

time they found out vashti wanted a divorce was when she told me that she had filed. >> and then point-blank she accused him of murder. >> you threatened to kill vashti, burn the house down and make it look like she committed a suicide. >> i absolutely have never said anything even remotely like that. >> you never made that threat to vashti? >> absolutely not. >> you killed your wife, didn't you? >> no, ma'am. >> you shot her in the head. >> impossible. >> you burnt the house down around her. >> i would never burn our house. >> and you did it while your two kids, 2 years and 4 years old were in the house. >> absolutely not. i would never expose my children to any situation like that. >> the investigation was thorough in this case and the kbi agents looked for any sign that would lead us to a different conclusion than that brett seacat killed his wife. and all the evidence that was

uncovered and alled evidence presented at trial by both sides led to that conclusion. >> vashti's family was upset about things brett said about vashti's character. they found his testimony revealing. >> i was almost embarrassed that he was still claiming he was innocent when there were just so many things that would have had to have lined up perfectly, that would have had to have been a fluke. >> but brett's brother bobby felt the trial only confirmed when he had always believed. >> i left that courtroom 100% convinced he didn't do it. >> up to the jury now. >> your head is spinning at that point. because you realize this is it. it was scary. coming up, double drama in the courtroom. the verdict. >> ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict?

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just take the first step, go to golo.com. there is no rule of thumb, nothing works anyway, to allow a person to successfully there's no erule of thumb. nothing that works anyway to allow a person to successfully predict a jury's verdict based on the time it takes to make it. brett seacat's jury deliberated six hours. what did that mean? brother bobby was nervous, of course, but had a good feeling. >> i think the state in every respect failed to prove and make their case. >> ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict?

>> yes, we have. >> we the jury find the defendant brett t. seacat guilty of murder in the first degree. >> guilty on all counts. the reaction until the courtroom was muted. >> it was a strange mixture of emotions because there was this part of you that thought when they say guilty i'm just going to get all this off my chest and feel good. there's this big part of you that realizes at the end of the day it didn't bring her back. >> the truth is everybody was just as hurt. no one won. so you think, why am i not feeling better? because what got better? he is behind bars. and he needs to be behind bars. but the lives that it affected will forever be affected.

>> brett's lawyer val all but said i knew it because. >> i don't think mr. seacat got a fair trial in kingman, kansas and i will never think that. >> but it wasbred who insisted on being tried in his hometown and in his lawyer's view he paid the price. >> certainly not blaming the jury; right? it just, to me, became patently obvious this jury did not exactly look kindly upon mr. seacat. >> it was going to be an uphill battle. >> before we even got started. >> agent falletti felt very differently indeed. >> i believe mr. seacat believed that house was going to go up in flames and law enforcement and fire were not going to find very much there. and that he knew this local police department and they probably would just think it was what he said it was and go on about their business. but the kingman police department and the sheriff's office called in other agencies to assist and fortunately for vashti and her family we were

able to find evidence to convict him of these charges. >> brett seacat is an unusual man. adamant that he is innocent. certain he was set up by the state, which was out to get him. by in laws who didn't like him and even by the judge. in fact, particularly the judge, which became abundantly clear at brett's sentencing when seemingly out of the blue brett lashed out with a remarkable, incendiary, venomous attack against judge solomon. >> this day belongs to you, judge solomon. this is your day. this is the day you get to take your place in front of the cameras and pass sentence on a man you work sod hard to convict. a man you know was innocent but a man you had to help convict so you could get this day. your day. so go ahead and collect your 30 pieces of silver, judge solomon. go ahead and sell custody of my little boys to vashti's family. go ahead and pass sentence you

think will land you a spot on the kansas supreme court. go ahead and pass the sentence that guarantees your spot in hell. just like amy, jeff and those 12 jurors you are going to hell for what you've done in this case. your corrupt decisions will bring an appeal. the evidence will be presented and i will be freed. and with that i'll step aside and let you have your day. after all, you purchased it with your soul so you've earned it. >> what did you make of that? of his statement? >> i like the fact that he said what he thought. when you believe you are innocent, why not say you are innocent? why not say what you think was wrong. say it. because it isn't going to make any difference. >> did it? here's how the judge responded. >> i heard a few things i didn't anticipate. i won't bother addressing them because they're so bizarre they

don't deserve a response. they merely affirm to me that a jury of 12 kingman county citizens made the appropriate decision in this case. you claim to be vashti's protector. in the next breath on the stand said the evening in question you would destroy her. at trial you made every effort possible to drag her name and her memory and her reputation through the mud. vashti was not indecisive about divorcing you. she was not depressed and she was not suicidal. the families hit it on the head, so did several witnesses at trial about you being arrogant, about you being controlling, about you being self-centered and narcissistic.

you live in some sort of bizarre alternate reality. you haven't admitted guilt. you haven't admitted responsibility. and you didn't this morning even express remorse that vashti's no longer on this earth. >> and with that he sentenced brett seacat to the maximum allowed under kansas law. he'll serve 30 years before his first shot at parole. and now? now their once graceful home has been torn down. the reputation of brett's family is tarnished. and the seacat sons are growing up without either parent and will have the heavy burden of knowing their father was convicted of killing their mother. vashti. the woman named for a queen. >> i miss her every day, you

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i am craig melvin and this is dateline. there must be a pit in your stomach, when you hear that your inmate is gone. >> yeah. he is a very, very dangerous person. >> you said a prisoner had escaped, and toby was missing. we have shown that he took her prisoner to use as a hostage.