in the desolate place where erin's life was cut short , a garden grows in her memory. when you look at that desert garden, what are you thinking? >> it is beautiful, like my girl. it's a peaceful place. i have a peace that can't be explained. i decided i could not be bitter and angry. he has taken enough from me and if i'm bitter and angry, he's taking my mind, soul, and heart, and i'm not giving him that. hello ?.> hello. i am craig melvin and this is dateline. a mystery in los angeles.

a missing woman. >> cindy, where's my mom? i instantly knew and i said call the police i'm on my way. >> a loving mother. >> always there for me. >> a beloved friend. >> she was easy to like. >> something was very wrong. >> was she murdered? was a for her money? >> how much did she have in the bank? >> i think it was seven figures. >> it through him for a loop when he found out that my mom had met somebody else. >> police had a suspect in the case■ç is about to take an unbelievable turn. >> one of the most shocking things i've ever seen in a courtroom. ia, hello, and hello, and welcome to dateline.

deede keller made a comfortable life for herself, a successful realtor in southern california. she lived in a neighborhood where she was surrounded by family and friends then suddenly, she disappeared. as her loved ones launched a frantic church, investigators would follow the trail of clues to a suspect with a dark obsession. the final twist in the case would leave the courtroom stunned. here is josh mankiewicz with the trail of trust. >> snethern california's south bay. a singularly stunning strand of shoreline with familiar names. josh mankiewicz: this seaside playground we call it we call it the sandbox. >> people don't think the success but it does. >> this playground is lined

with beachfront properties worth millions. nestled among the small beach towns is an oasis called el segundo. >> it is main street usa. >> a great place to raise kids. >> in 2003, one of the rainmakers in the real estate business selling this beautiful homes in ■çel segundo and the south bay was a woman named julia, known as deede. >> she embraced everyone that came into her path. >> her best friends, mortgage executive and a real estate sales partner linda. she was good at her job. >> i loved working with deede. >> she was easy to like and always wanted the best for everybody. her clients were loyal over the years. >> deede was loyal not only to her clients but as a divorced mom to her children, mike and julie.

>> i remember my mom explaining to me that as you get older, probably not going to be as close or you won't like me as much. it never if anything we got closer. >> deede keller had a heart problem, not literally. it may have been a little too big. she loved without limits and she simply hated to disappoint or let anyone down. she loved dog so much she literally could not say no to another one. she was surrounded by them at home. >> i joke that when i graduated college that's when she started replacing us with dogs. should never stop being a mom. >> and she never stopped loving everybody? >> she never did. she was ready to be embraced into embrace you whenever you wanted it. >> there was one area of her life in which deede keller's honesty and embrace had not caught hold. your mom was so lucky and ■çlif

was so easy in so many ways. she couldn't quite make the man in her life thing, right. >> she had a wonderful life but she hadn't found that person. >> she did have a long-term relationship but that ended sadly in 1997. soon after, she met someone new. he was a real estate client named erwin howard. a pilot, airline mechanic. originally from bolivia. >> i remember deede saying she wouldn't date anyone else unless the treasured and adored her. and she did feel loved and adored by irwin. >> when irwin popped the question, deede said yes. at her bridal shower in march 1998, he delivered ■çhis fiance to the surprise party. the smiles did not last after the engagement was over. the marriage began. >> it wasn't within six months

after they were married, she blurted out that she had married him on the rebound. >> and was having second thoughts? >> apparently so. >> it was hard for her because she knew he loved her. >> so much that the marriage lasted another four years after that conversation. ultimately, their divorce was amicable and a year after the split in the summer of 2004, deede seemed to find her footing once again. she had begun dating a south bay car sales man named bobby. that■ç new relationship was goi so well that on the evening of thursday, july 8, he took deede out to dinner to meet his father. >> i talked to her before her date.

>> any sign she was nervous about anything? >> she was in a happy state when i talked to her and we made plans to get together the following night. so i could get the update on the date. >> that conversation never took place. >> i called her on friday and she didn't call me back which was not unusual. i called her saturday and she didn't call me back. that was pretty typical. by sunday, i started getting concerned. >> concerned was daughter julie. she talked of meeting her ■çmom that same friday during a layover at lax as julie headed to mexico. >> she said i might have an appointment that morning but if i don't i will come by. we will have coffee. we laid over in los angeles. i didn't get a text. it was a little odd but didn't think much of it. >> deede's son did begin to worry after he returned from a business trip. >> when i called her cell phone, the voicemail was full.

that had never happened with my mom. she prided herself on being responsive. >> you go to your mom's has. >> i went in the back gate and it was clear she had not been there for a while. >> what made that clear? >> the water dish for the dogs was bone dry.■ç my mom would die of thirst without her dogs. >> his first call was to cindy. >> he said where is my mom? i just -- i instantly knew in that moment that something had happened. i knew and i said call the police, i am on my way. >> where was deede keller? not only was there no water left outside for deede's beloved dogs but detective noticed other things wrong inside the house. her purse was there but her wallet was missing. this was a woman with money, a lot of it. >> was her hefty bank account a

factor in her disappearance? investigators follow the money trail. coming up. >> who got that money? >>■ç the beneficiaries were her two children. >> where were her son and daughter when she vanished? >> both out of town at the time the mother went missing. some things should stand the test of time. long lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision and can help you go up to 4 months between treatments. if you have an eye infection, eye pain or redness, or allergies to eylea hd, don't use. eye injections like eyla hd may cause eye infection, separation of the retina, or rare but severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye. an increase in eye pressure has been seen. there's an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots.

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was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. hi, i'm michael, i've lost 62 pounds on golo and i have kept it off. but shingrix protects. most of the weight that i gained was strictly in my belly which is a sign of insulin resistance. but since golo, that weight has completely gone away, as you can tell. thanks to golo and release, i've got my life and my health back. josh mankiewicz: on a sun-splashed sunday in la's south bay, clouds were rolling in over one household.

only son splash sunday and the south bay, clouds were rolling in over one household. it was july 2004. el segundo real estate agent known as deede was missing. ■ç her son mike had gone to her home when he had not heard from her for three days. the biggest red flag? her beloved dogs left without food or water. what did you think had happened? >> i didn't know at that point. i knew something was very wrong. >> he called her best friends. cindy, who last had spoken to deede three days before as she prepared for a date , rushed to the house. >> you could tell the dogs had been running around for days. the way the tv was on and the way the shades were, i felt like thursday night had never

ended. i felt like friday morning never came. >> cindy phoned deede's new boyfriend■ç bobby lowe and he reported they had dinner on thursday at a local restaurant, then they return to deede's house for a night cap. >> he said she had a little too much wine and was starting to fall to sleep. he said good night and let himself out. >> anything about what bobby lowe said sounded suspicious to you? >> not at all. >> the next call? el segundo police and on the scene, then the detective sergeant mendoza. >> this doesn't happen to people known as well as deede is. >> what detectives found in their on soul search of the home only deepened the mystery. in the kitchen, her purse, her ç cell phone still inside but no wallet.

a vodka bottle the police learned was usually kept in the freezer was out on the counter. in the living room, the tv was on cnn. >> we discovered when she left the house she would put the tv on to classical music station so it would relax the dogs. it was on cnn when we came in. >> so deede was watching cnn and had the dogs there and having a drink and left for some reason? suggesting, whatever happened happened in a big hurry? >> she didn't have time to do her routine she usually does before she leaves. >> it appeared deede left in her car, the garage was empty. her silver mercedes gone.■ç strangely, police found the car keys sitting on her patio. >> we decided to call the sheriffs department homicide bureau to assist us.

>> jimmy gates was the detective who answered that call. >> there was no forced entry whatsoever. we started walking through the house i noticed several articles that were very valuable. >> so she let in whoever it was and it was not robbery. >> absolutely correct. if she didn't let them in, the person let themselves in and they may have had a key. >> gates wonder has she left in her car was someone she knew? how did her car get taken without its key? you don't have a key, is it ely -- easy to steal a car? >>■ç not day 1999 mercedes. it is hard to steal. you almost need a key to get access. >> if your car does not have a key, the next up is a car dealership to have a new one made. first, gates and his crew search the house, looking for deede's

spare mercedes key without success. gates quickly became convinced of one thing. you thought finding deede's car would be the key to this? >> it would be extremely important. >> her friends and family printed up posters and launched a massive search. >> an army of people trying to help find her and we broke up into teams and map everything out and one-mile increments to search every parking lot■ç looking for her car. >> we would as people, have you seen this woman? have you seen this car? it was frantic. it was heartbreaking. >> it was leading nowhere and at the same time the detective wondered who would have a motive to have abducted deede from her home? the most common, love, money, jealousy are always the one police hug first like old friends. deede made a lot of money. >> she was successful. >> how much money did she make?

>> i think it was over seven figures. >> a lot of murders committed for less than that. who got that money? >> the beneficiaries were her two children. >> the detective noticed something about the whereabouts of her two children. mike and julie. ■ç at the time of deede's disappearance. >> they were both out of town the time the mother went missing. >> why is that significant? >> i thought the mother goes missing and it just so happens that mike has gone to san jose and julie is at a resort. it's been my experience that sometimes people exhibit stress after a crime. some people leave the area to dissipate stress. >> there was one more person who just happened to have been traveling near the time of deede's disappearance. her ex-husband, erwin howard, had just flown to his home country of bolivia.

erwin was a mechanic and worked for american airlines in l.a. a common thread in all these trips?■ç nearby lax airport, and so the detective thought, what better place to dump a car? lax is a big place. >> a lot of parking lots and it took a few days. >> you look through them all? >> everyone. >> ♪ mercedes and no shortage a person of interest. a lot of people close to deede keller were about to be hugged like old friends. >> detectives were about to get blunt with julie and her brother. >> he says, did you do anything with your mom's disappearance? >> it was more, did you kill your mother? other?

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♪ ♪ [ speaking minionese ] no. no. no. no. no. no. [ gasps ] [ chuckling ] good job, junior. way to go. [ chuckling ] [ speaking minionese ] josh mankiewicz: in the days after the disappearance of el segundo realtor deede keller, all of la south bay in the in the days after the disappearance of a secunda realtor deede keller, the south bay seem to be looking for her. and for her missing mercedes. leading the search, her best friend cindy and linda. a lot of people disappear intricate the family working on it. everybody else is like -- >> not and this town. >> she had an army. >> julie rest back from a trip

to mexico. >> it was the most surreal experience. >> only to be greeted■ç by suspicion. delicious detective gates discovered that in the event of their mother's death, julie and her brother mike stood to inherit more than $1 million. he confronted deede's kids using one of the oldest tricks in the investigator handbook. do you remember an interview you did with jimmy gates? in which he asked some basic questions like, what your name? where do you live? ordinary stuff then all of a sudden he says, did you have anything to do with your mom's disappearance? >> i think it was more, did you kill your mother? >> and you are startled or angry? >> it was horrible but i understand why. >> detectives asked similar questions of julie. next,■ç in attempting to rule o

suspects, those closest to deede, detectives turned to her ex-husband, erwin howard. it turned out that although they had been divorced for more than a year at the time of her disappearance, friends told police she had recently invited him back into her life. six months earlier, deede had been in a car accident and issue recovered she needed help with her dogs. she appeared they felt bad about the pain their divorce had caused erwin. >> she calderwood to help her because that's what he did best was help her. he helped nurse her back to health and take care of the house and the dogs and her. >> in taking a look at erwin howard, the detective found she had -- he had a rock solid alibi.■ç on the night of her disappearance, july 8, when clocked into work for his job at the american airlines hangar at lax at 8:30 p.m. he said he worked all night but

it wasn't just his word. he had to use an electronic key card to get into the hangar. that's a pretty good alibi. that's not something the employee can influence. >> that is correct. >> that left the last person to admit seeking deede alive, her new boyfriend, car salesman bobby low. he said he had left the house between 11 and midnight that night then had gone to the gym the next morning. what possible motive could bobby lowe have to want deede dead or out of the picture ? >>■ç there was no motive that i could determine whatsoever. >> and bobby lowe provided them with two important clues. first, he said, while he was at deede's that night, the dogs had started barking at something outside as if someone were lurking. the next morning he discovered someone had keyed the side of

his ford explorer, leaving a long scratch. is suggest what? someone is following him? >> that is what it meant to me. >> who was following deede and bobby? who was at angry? that act of vandalism pointed away from bobby lowe. >> i was an investigator for several years and have never known anyone to vandalize their own car. >> that would make it a perfect alibi. "p enough but his background indicated he was a well-liked guy. kind of successful himself and didn't have a lot of enemies. >> even as investigators looked at suspects came the news that all who knew deede had hoped for and feared. deede's car had been found, not at lax or in l.a., but 2.5 hours down interstate 5 mac in

san diego. the silver mercedes had been parked on the street in downtown san diego earning several parking tickets. when the local pd ran the play, it came up as belonging to a missing person and when the trunk was finally opened? there was a body wrapped in sheets covered by a blanket which was itself decorated withç dog paws. deede keller was no longer missing. police asked to meet with deede's family. >> was a wide range of emotions. almost some type of relief they found her because we were starting to think how long could this go on? >> hardest day of my life. one of the hardest days for my children and all her friends and her family. >> deede keller was dead at age 54, autopsy showed she had been asphyxiated and the clues that were and were not left in her car were about to take the

case back in a familiar direction. >> coming up. just days before she was murder, deede ■ç had a visit fr a stalker. >> she said she was in the shower. they had a huge altercation. he was calling her every name. , heartworm disease, and more... all in one delicious, monthly, soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients.

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former president0çtrump's adviser steve bannon must report to federal prison monday after the supreme court rejected his last-minute bid to push back is four month sentence for defying subpoenas on the house january 6 committee. judge rejected alec baldwin's attempt to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter case. the trial over the fatal shooter of the cinematographer is set for next month. his attorney tried to get it dismissed after the firearm in question was damaged during forensic testing.

i'm craig melvin. deede keller was missing. welcome back to dateline. deede keller was missing and when she was found, her family's worst fears were realized. deede was gone. the apparent victim of a "buqááá(ársqbut with the discovery, detectives would uncover a crucial clue, one that would convince them her killer was close to her. of her silver mercedes. deede keller had finally been found, dead in the trunk of her silver mercedes. the car had been a subject of a massive search ever since deede had been discovered missing from her home two hours north in el segundo. the homicide detective gates who always thought finding the car would be the key to finding deede, now gave the mercedes a

thorough going over. fingerprints, dna in the car? >> there was not one fingerprint on or in the car nor partial print. >>■ç deede's or anyone else's? >> nobody. >> what does it say? >> someone went to great lengths to make sure they weren't identified. >> the killer did leave a clue in the tape wrapped around deede's body. >> i'd never seen tape like that. it appeared to be consistent with red duct tape. >> that started gates in one direction but he looked closely at the way her body had been placed in the car. >> someone took great care to place her in the car, and that indicated to us that someone cared deeply about her. >> part says professional part says someone that knew her. >> that's correct. >> but the the said professional fell away in favor those that said someone who ■ç

knew her. not her children for someone who reentered deede's life in the months before her death. her ex-husband, erwin howard. did you ever think of her and when as violent or dangerous? >> no. i never suspected that he would do something physical. >> the detectives soon learned something had changed in erwin howard in the months before deede's murder. after a car accident in january 2004, deede invited erwin back in her life to help care for her and her dogs. that request had apparently been misinterpreted by erwin. he started wearing his wedding ring again. erwin wanted back in her life, and it sounds like on some of him that adored her and wanted to take care of her. even somebody you're not going to be with anymore.

you think she made that clear enough to him? >> no. >> she was too nice. >> always too nice and trusting. >> that might be why investigators thought erwin seemed surprised when two weeks before deede's murder, erwin gained access to her computer and found emails referring to a relationship with a new man . bobby lowe. >> i think it through him for a loop when he found out that my mom had met somebody else and that's when things started getting scary. >> scary because erwin ■ç detectives learned started doing things appointed to an up session with deede, and how did they know that? and one of the only in a small town coincidences. mike lived just down the block from deede's new boyfriend bobby lowe. one night mike was in his living room when he saw a familiar green range rover driving back.

inside? it was erwin. >> as the evening went on, he continued to drive by the house. >> did you call your mom and say, by the way, erwin's driving around the block while you are with bobby lowe? >> i did not. i didn't put it together. >> 10 days before her murder, deede would call her friend cindy in a state of panic. >> she was crying and she said she was in the shower and erwinç came in the house without her knowing. pulled her out of the shower and they had a huge altercation, and he was calling her every name under the sun. >> deede told the same story to her friend. >> said do you realize that erwin's behavior is escalating? she said, yes. >> and you said call the police . >> no. i said have you changed your

locks and she said no. i will do it on the way home and of course, she never did. >> investigators learned in those conversations with her friends, deede left something out. the detail she mentioned only to her daughter julie. during that argument, erwin howard had also slapped her. >> i said, mom, you ■çhave to call the police. you have to get a restraining order, and i remember her asking me not to tell michael. she was going to handle it. i remember being torn. this is my mom telling me, i got it. but also thinking, maybe she didn't. >> a few days later it was clear julie was right. the night her mom went missing, julie got another phone call. this time from erwin. >> i got on the phone and he was like what is your mom thinking? i said erwin, i don't want to talk about this. i feel this is between you and

my mom. he was like, you need to pray for her soul. i remember thinking that was a little odd. but then, given his grasp on thw english language sometimes he would say funny things. or get something wrong but i thought that was an odd comment. >> detective gates felt erwin howard's motive for killing deede keller was clear. proofing erwin had the means to, the murder was another matter. and he steadfastly maintained his innocence to investigators from the moment he stepped off the plane as he returned from bolivia after the murder through the months after, even though he was clearly the prime suspect. and, the case against erwin was not without its problems. it's one thing to stalk someone and another to kill them. there was no physical evidence tying erwin howard to the crime, and there were the key card records showing him clocking into his job at american airlines■ç the night o

the murder. still, detective gates took the information he gathered to the l.a. county district attorney's office and asked for a warrant. >> they declined filing charges. >> did he have the wrong man and his sites? with there be enough evidence to arrest a killer? and a killer? >> coming up. >> that is like lightning striking. >> twice. >> make it three times. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

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without an arrest in the murder of beloved el segundo real estate agent deede keller. summer had summer had come and gone in l.a.'s south detebay without■ç arrest in the murder below does condo real estate agent deede keller. as the months dragged on, detective gates kept pounding the pavement. building, what he thought, was a strong circumstantial case against deede's ex-husband, erwin howard. but the das office had declined to issue a warrant for his arrest. deede's son wanted answers. there was a long time and erwin was walking around free . >> it seemed like decades. it was painful, emotional. >> jimmy gates was feeling the same thing and his hard work started paying off. that unusual red tape found on deede's body? specially trained dog found erwin's sent on ■çit and

detectives found similar t at erwin's workplace at american airlines hangar at lax. what about erwin's alibi, computer record showing him at work in the same hangar the night of deede's disappearance and he worked a 10 hour shift. it turned out the more detectives dug into that alibi, the less solid it seemed. detective gates painstakingly dissected the procedures at the hangar and he found this. erwin howard its way been at the employee parking lot, using a key card at this turnstile, then clock in inside the hangar. he could also leave whenever he wanted by walking out the large bay doors and catching an employee shuttle.■ç there would be no record of his leaving. jimmy gates discovered on the night of the murder, erwin used his key card to swipe into

the parking lot at 8:24 p.m., and again at 10:21 p.m., and for a third time at 1:47 a.m. which completely blew apart his alibi that he had been at work the whole time. he would sweep his car to get back in after there was no record of him leaving. >> right. >> by now you are convinced erwin is the guy? >> absolutely. of the witnesses and evidence. >> there was one more key piece of evidence. the day after the murder, a witness saw a mercedes on the street in el segundo(çand she thought it belonged to a friend so she sped up to capture. >> she sees it's not her friend and sees a male hispanic driving the car. she remembers that license plate. >> the license plate belong to the mercedes owned by deede keller . the man driving?

the witness helped a police artist draw this sketch. who doesn't look like? >> it looks like erwin. >> the witness was shown a photo lineup and she picked out erwin howard. that is like lightning striking. >> twice. >> then it struck again. six months after the murder, jimmy gates phone ring. it was deede's next-door neighbor who had been interviewed and ■ç offered nothing of value but now, apparently, she was having an attack of conscience. the neighbor told the detective she had seen erwin on june 30 , the date erwin had confronted and slapped deede. >> she said it lasted 15 or 20 minutes where he articulates he was mad enough to strangle her with work gloves. >> that is what the neighbor said erwin said to her? >> why do you think she did not tell you for six months? >> i have no idea why a

neighbor during a murder investigation didn't tell the cops the truth that he wanted to kill her. >> i'm to that new and threatening statement. the detective was able to get is warrant and soon erwin howard was under arrest for the murder of deede keller. now, the case was in the hands of the l.a. ■ç county deputy district attorney. >> what made the case different? >> i love cases where you have a good idea who the suspect is, but it's a question of putting the evidence together. circumstantial cases where you have a high motive but you are looking at lots of little facts and seeking, what can you turn this into? >> it would take three years for the case against erwin howard to come to trial. cameras were not present in the courtroom when trial began in the fall of 2008. john laid out his case in a devastatingly thorough, 2.5 hour long powerpoint risen to

patient to the jury. >> opening statements are like a check. i'm writing a check, the jury here's the■ç and if i do my job right after opening, all there waiting to see if it their fund is in the bank. >> if you deliver what you say you will in the opening statement, you will get dashed >> that is my hope. >> never in this wildest dreams that he believed his opening statement would have the effect it did on erwin howard and his defense attorney. you read that and something changes? >> something change. i went back into lockup and i spoke to erwin and i said, listen, remember how i was speaking about the circumstantial case and it could be powerful? i think there could be problems now. his answer was, i need to tell you something. >> that's something with stun deede keller's faeimy and

friends in the prosecutor himself. >> one of the most shocking things i've ever seen in one of my cases in the courtroom. >> dateline returns after the break. break. shingles is a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. ahhh, there's nothing like a day out with friends. that's nice, but shingles doesn't care! 99% of adults 50 years or older already have the virus that causes shingles inside them, and it can reactivate at any time. a perfect day for a family outing! guess what? shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care.

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months was on the verge of bending in two days. the prosecutor john lewin presented a powerful opening statement. >>■ç i had seen the defendant during the opening of thought maybe something had gotten to him. >> he was right because after the opening, the defense attorney had spoken with howard then made a stunning admission. >> for the first time in my career, i heard a defendant confessed to a crime, and i was the first one he told. >> until that moment his defense was i was out there and didn't have anything to do with the. >> correct. >> he walked in the courtroom and made a statement that caused miles to fall open. >> he gets up and says you will see something that you will never see in a court ever, my client killed tran a but did not murder her. >> what did that mean? manslaughter out of it. et

>> the deck 80 --- deputy da asked to speak with erwin howard behind closed doors and made an offer. plead guilty to second-degree murder and be eligible for parole in 15 years. >> my memory is as i'm saying this he is nodding. >> it wasn't just him admitting it to you. he admitted it in a courtroom to everybody. >> yes. >> and he did just that, suppressing a courtroom filled with deede's friends and family. >> there was such a sense of relief to think oh, my gosh, we are going to hear the truth finally and erwin would conference. >> he guided him through the sequence of events, beginning ç with y erwin went to deede's house on the night of july 8, 2004.

>> june >> june 30, 2004, when after discovering she was dating another man, he stormed into deede's house, confronted her in the shower, tossed emails in her face, and slapped her. on that final night, erwin said he knocked and deede, loan after the new boyfriend left, he says, let him in . and that angered deede. >> >> he said he threw a pillow at the dog, and that angered deede.

erwin said he put deede in a sort of bear hug. >> >> erwin said he put deede in a bear hug. >> how tight >> how tight were you holding?■ and put deede's body in the car. using a spare key he had for the mercedes, >> erwin said he >> erwin said he came back the next evening and put deede's body in a car using a spare key he had for the mercedes, he started heading for mexico. he wondered how he would get back across the border, so i left the car on a street in san diego and hired an off-duty taxi

to take him back to l.a. erwin admitted to the murder but he talked about it in a way that seemed almost accidental. >> he was willing to accept responsibility for the rage and the anger but he was not willing to accept responsibility that the murder happened intentionally. >>■ç second-degree murder. >> despite the, john lewin felt a second-degree murder conviction was the best he could secure. after erwin left the stand and took the plea, deede's friends and family had the chance to speak to him. they offered surprising words of gratitude and forgiveness to a now confessed killer. >> [ crying ] >> you did the right thing with the circumstances and for that, i thank you and i bid you

peace. >> thank you. thank you for doing the right thing. >> i remember thinking something special had happened. although nothing is going to bring my mom back, we got the best possible outcome, given the circumstances. >> it is rare in a murder trial to hear so much of a lack of anger and vitriol during the defendant. >> they are good people. they are not vengeful and they realized that deede, in hindsight, had not handled things as best she could have in terms of terminating that relationship. >> erwin howard was granted parole in february 2019. deede's friends and family, theirs are tinged with regret, now honored deede by urging other women not to ignore the warning signs of domestic violence. >> i want deede life ■çto accou

for something. i hope people will reach out for help and get support. >> i know you do not blame deede for this, but i know you wish she had been more forthright with the two of you because you would impacted even though she did not want to. >> yes, we would have. >> there is no question i would've done things differently if i could relive it. >> for deede's friends, regrets give way to wonderful memories. today, there's a plaque at the local dog park both remembering and honoring a woman whose big heart wouldn't ever let her turn away a stray. that's all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. hello hello, i am craig melvin, and this is dateline.