she wanted to tell the story of what happened, and what did not. >> i'm going to take you with me step-by-step in my investigation. >> the podcast was a finalist for the pulitzer prize, but shapearl is not sure the people she really wants to hear her are listening. >> i have no faith in chicago police department. >> so, your mission is not over? >> know. i will keep fighting for courtney until my last breath, until they bring me a convicted murderer. >> you know that won't even the scales? >> no, but i feel that my son deserves justice. >> and, that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. . keith morrison: they seemed like the ultimate power couple. kathy inzerillo: she told me she would be travelling on secret missions.

bill walter: he had all the medals. silver star, a purple heart. keith morrison: glamorous military careers. but was it all camouflage? bill walter: the bs alarms are going off in my head like you wouldn't believe. they seemed like the ultimate power couple. >> she told me she would be traveling on secret missions. >> he had all the metals, silver star, purple heart. >> glamorous military careers, >> glamorous military careers, but was it all camouflaged? >> the bs alarms are going off in my head like you wouldn't believe. >> that they have something to hide? >> we started doing surveillance. maybe we have a crime here. >> i'm think to myself, this can't be true. >> what happened to her last husband? >> whoever did this is very evil. >> the hurt, the anger, it makes you question everybody. of tennessee's appalachians.

>> it seems alive, somehow, here in the foothills of tennessee's appalachians. the creepy tendrils of mountain mist that snake and swirl like lies. there is gold in there somewhere, so they say, the sort of place where you could strike it rich or maybe get away with murder. >> very scary. >> shocking, and devastating. >> so, after the serious stuff here, who can anyone trust? dearest friends? >> the word betrayal come to mind? brother -- brothers in arms, closest family? >> she looked at me as if she wished i was dead. maybe no one. >> we were always looking over

our shoulder. >> it might still be, had it not been for him. >> very shocking stuff. i don't think i will work anything like this again in my career just because of the different twists and turns. >> yes, in that toxic swamp of secret identities, heroes and villains driven by greed and lust, power -- >> whoever set this up and whoever did this was very evil. >> no, so many lies. >> everything that you were taught as a kid was a lie. >> this place, where the story begins, seems created not for lies, but for love. the tranquil waters and soft sunsets of bradington, florida and though the local sheriff's office may seem an unlikely place to find love, here's where

it struck a county detective named bob mcclancy. >> do you have anything to say, bobby? >> i have a lot to say. how many hours do we have left out of the day? >> a funny man and very kind, said his nieces, not just to people. >> he would be so excited to go over there to see what new animal he got. he would be like oh, i got a new bird. come over and see it. he had got some little turtles as kids. >> he was a real animal guy, wasn't it? >> he was, yes. >> loved his nieces, too. >> used to take us out on the boat. he just always took care of us. >> just like he took care of his sister, kathy, when they were kids. >> it was always like the two of us doing everything. >> is a sheriff's deputy, said

his sister, kathy, he wants facedown a violent gang. >> they had knocked him to the ground and took his gun and everything and beat him up. as a matter of fact, i believe they fired a shot, but it missed. >> so, he barely made it through that one. >> yeah. >>'s marriage could not take it, and bob mcclancy sought love elsewhere and then a southern belle at the sheriff's department , and a live secretary known as the office whiz caught his eye. her name was martha ann. was he crazy about martha ann? >> yes, he was. >> how close were the two of them? could you tell that? >> they seemed very close. >> very much in love. >> it was a real love match. >> yes. >> martha ann had two sons. >> i always respected my mom. >> she was very charming. highly intelligent. >> sean was adopted as a baby, met jen as a teenager, and she

became his wife. where sean was from was not discussed at home, but then, he had martha ann, the only mother he had ever known. >> a mother is the sun and the moon and the stars to a little kid. did it feel like she was? >> i was always told since a young age that the only people you can trust completely are your parents. >> in the mid-90s, sean's mom, martha ann, was going through a painful divorce and then fell for the detective, bob. >> bob was very down to earth and he taught me a lot of things. >> like what? >> how to be a man, how to be a real person. >> sounds like you liked bob. >> i liked bob a lot. >> in 1995, bob and martha ann got married and on holidays, bob's sister, kathy, got closer to martha ann.

>> we would go out shopping. that was our big thanksgiving. bobby would stay home and the girls would just take off and go shopping. >> bob and martha ann retired in the late 90s, left florida, and bought a big, secluded hillside cabin in coker creek, eastern tennessee, in the shadow of the smoky mountains, not far from where martha ann grew up. a place where a man could forget about being a cop and all that violence. by then, sean and jen had their own family and visited from time to time. >> bob, especially, would treat her kids great. >> he was fond of them? >> he was the real deal. >> martha ann went back to work. an accounting job. she loved numbers, and they made time for friends, too, like debbie hartman. >> we met at church. bob and martha ann just became very dear friends. >> and martha ann? debbie found her soulmate. >> she was what i would refer to as the quintessential southern lady. she was like a sister to me. we had the same type of upbringing, the same type of

morals. we had fun together. we enjoyed sharing recipes together. she had two boys. i had two girls. we would talk about our children. we were very close. >> over the years, they shared cookouts, road trips, church events. >> just like two peas from the same pod. >> you could just see, said debbie, how much bob and martha ann loved each other. >> never once did i hear them argue or have us our word against one another, never. it's just very loving. the perfect couple. >> and then, in may, 2006, when martha ann was at work, family friend stopped by to see bob at home and in front of him , well -- he called 911. >> i can't get a pulse and he appears to be cold to the touch. >> martha ann got home then

called for her friend, debbie. >> she's screaming and she's like, bob is dead. and i'm like bob is dead? >> coming up, what happened to bob mcclancy? >> i cried for 10 hours. i could not believe we lost such a great man. >> shocking. the two of us just cried our eyes out . the next thing you know, the sheriff comes out and i'm like, what's going on and she's like, i don't know. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues. ♪♪ ♪♪ what can you do with sensitive skin? ( ♪♪ ) cetaphil moisturizing lotion hydrates for a full 48 hours. because a lot can happen in 48 hours. cetaphil. we do skin. you do you.

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the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. now that's a breath "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi

and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. jkeith morrison: it was the 15th of may, 2006 in coker creek, eastern tennessee. 5 pm. operator: 911. where is your emergency? chuck kaczmarczyk: i just walked into the residence. it's the mcclancy residence. it was the 15th of may, 2006 in coker creek, tennessee. 5:00 p.m. >> mr. mcclancy appears to be -- >> bob mcclancy was laying in his favorite recliner.

the caller, a family friend, said the body was already cold. the friend hung up and waited for first responders. >> i was a detective, had been a detective for almost a year. >> travis jones, then a detective with the monroe county sheriff's department, was one of the first to go into the house. >> i found robert nick clancy -- mcclancy in a recliner. he had a pistol in one hand and an empty bottle of pills in the other hand. >> had you ever seen such a thing before? >> no. >> the gun had not been fired but there were pills strewn all around the body, a white foam around his body, and a do not resuscitate order signed by bob mcclancy and left in the kitchen, said he wanted to die. >> did you see this do not resuscitate order? >> i did. >> it looked like suicide and martha ann had to spread the dreadful news to bob's sister

and nieces in florida. when you got the call, what does it do to you to hear that about somebody you are so close to? >> we were just like in disbelief. >> it's like a nightmare. >> shocking. when she told me he took an overdose and killed himself. >> you still remember that moment? >> yes, i do. you know, it affected me quite a while. >> sean, too, was grief stricken when he heard about his step dad's death. >> i think i cried for 10 hours driving from florida to tennessee. i could not believe we lost such a great man. >> but, shocking as it was, to those who knew bob intimately, it was not a complete surprise. why? four letters. ptsd, posttraumatic stress disorder. back when the vietnam war was sinking into its body depths, bob volunteered to go as a marine. it took its toll, as

did life-threatening incidents during his police career. bob had been on heavy medications, but still suffered flashbacks, nightmares, depression. >> he said to me one day, i'm kind of having a rough time at the moment. i have not been sleeping real well and he said so, i will get up and i will sit in the chair in the hallway, and what worries me is if i fall asleep in the chair, and maybe martha ann will get up to go to the restroom, maybe i will attack her he said you know, i'm having issues, and he said it kind of worries me. >> martha ann told debbie she was very troubled. >> she said i'm trying but you know, when i'm at work , i will give him his pills. she said bob is abusing it. >> bob's sister, kathy, had also seen warning signs. >> how did you become aware that

ptsd was beginning to become a factor in his life that had to be dealt with? >> we had been up for thanksgiving and he explained to me that right after the holidays there was a program and he was going to enter it. >> when it came up that he was going into that program, i found it shocking, you know. i mean, he never seemed like that. >> bob's new year's resolution for 2006 was to finally beat ptsd and in january, he set off to nashville for an intensive six-week program run by the va. soon after he got there, he called his sister, kathy, with hope in his voice. he had made a new friend. his roommate, charles kaczmarczyk . he went by chuck. >> had finally found somebody to talk to that understood what he went through in vietnam because chuck was there. >> yeah, you kind of need somebody who's been through the same thing, i guess. >> right, so he was happy.

>> bob's new veteran friend, chuck, was no average grant. he was the very model of a war hero. special forces air man, citations for valor earned in the most during operations. he was invited to the presidential inauguration. chuck was a sort of tonic bob seemed to need. >> this relationship continued after the program was over, right? >> yes. >> after they got out of the program in february, bob spent most of his time with chuck, who lived not far away in knoxville. they did handyman jobs in each other's homes. >> bob kind of replaced everybody else with chuck, you know. chuck was everything. >> but, bob's ptsd persisted. martha ann did what she could to pick up bob's spirits, though that seem to backfire when she got a makeover. >> she had gotten her hair cut

short and blonde. big change and i'm like oh my god, you look beautiful. she says well, i'm certainly glad you like it, she said, because bob does not like it at all. he had a fit that i cut my hair off. >> i said but then, a lot of men like ladies with long hair, so you know, give him time. he will come around. >> when martha ann was at work, chuck kept an eye on bob. >> chuck was right there. >> but, bob was in a downward spiral. martha and complained that bob was abusing his antidepressants. the and and chuck found themselves managing one painful scanner after another. in one episode, they rushed bob to the va hospital more than three hours away, passed out in the car. >> out of it. i understand they had to stop the car because they thought they were going to have to do cpr on him. >> bob was stabilized and after he was deemed well enough, sent home.

two days later, on that monday in may, martha and got up early and went to work as usual. she had arranged for chuck to check in on bob that afternoon. it was he who found bob, and called 911. debbie arrived later to find police cars and ambulances, and frantic martha and. >> and so, the two of us just sat there and just hugged each other and bald and you know, just -- cried our eyes out. it was horrible. bob was dead. the next thing you know, the sheriff comes out with chuck in a t-shirt. i'm like, what in the world is going on and she's like i don't know. so, they drove off with chuck. >> coming up, police have some questions for chuck. >> they came in and found your friend dead.

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keith morrison: martha ann was a mess. her husband bob dead of an overdose of ptsd medications. and she couldn't even get back into her own house. martha ann was a mess. her husband, bob, dead on an overdose of ptsd medications, and she would not be able to get back into her own house, so her best friend, debbie, took her in. >> the three of us just you know, why, what happened you know, crying all night long. just sobbing and in disbelief that bob was gone. >> to be there for my mom, i left immediately and drove through the night. >> and, sean was filled with a flood of sorrow and guilt that he had not been there for his stepdad, bob, as bob had been there for him. >> bob took care of me every day.

>> that will make you feel close to a person. >> it did. >> debbie tried in vain to is martha ann's grief. >> i would bring up you know, some things that we had done with bob. it would be like an hour not to have that anymore. then i would start bawling and then of course she would start bawling with me. >> then, to make it even worse, bob's best friend, chuck, had been taken away by sheriff's deputies. and so, debbie watched as martha and try to cope with her own sorrow, as sheep planned her husband's funeral, anxious at the same time for her friend that the small-town cops had the wrong idea about chuck. >> i thought okay, this was bob's best buddy. now, you know, you're grieving for bob. i've got to take care of chuck.

tough situation. >> which was about to get tougher, courtesy of that small town sheriff stepney, travis jones. something strange here, he thought, he and the other detectives, so they held chuck for questioning. for one thing, why was he so cool, his best buddy was lying there dead. >> he wasn't rushing around in all upset or anything like that? >> no. >> called? >> he was calm, which was suspicious in itself, to come and find a friend dead and he was calm. >> as he had been calm, kind of strange, on the 911 call. >> mr. mcclancy appears to be expired. >> the operator suggested chuck might try to revive bob. >> if you want to try some cpr on him i can give you instructions. >> i am cpr qualified. we do have a cpr do not resuscitate order on him. >> chuck did not seem to want to save his best friend and to the detectives, the do not resuscitate order seemed a little too convenient. travis jones is not alone.

bob's sister, kathy, had her doubts, too. kathy knew bob suffered from ptsd and took medication, but refused to believe her brother would kill himself. >> i mean, he could have part of his finger hanging off. he would duct tape it up and keep going. >> that's the kind of guy to you two, too? >> so a pill popping brother did not make any sense to you. suspicions deepened a week later at bob's funeral in eastern tennessee. deep in their grief, they met the friend who had reported bob's death to the police, and he was back in the community as peace -- police continue to look into him. his name is chuck kaczmarczyk . how would you describe the guy? >> he was just very creepy. there was something about him like when he looked at you as almost as like he could stare for you. >> he seemed like a tough

military guy. >> there was a look about him. >> the cold stare. >> yeah. >> then, kathy got a copy of the 911 call and what she heard what sounded like the verbal equivalent of 1000 yard stare. >> mr. mcclancy appears to be expired. >> i played the tape. i played it over and over and wrote it word for word what was in the tape, and it did not make sense. first, he said he did not touch the body, then he told the 911 operator when he asked about cpr, he said he didn't need it. he was already gone. if you didn't touch the body, how would you know he was gone? >> how do you go on after that when you are full of these doubts and suspicions? >> you go on. you don't have a choice, you know, but i knew i would not let it drop. >> but, in the end, even though chuck was questioned at length, everything he did put under a microscope, the suspicion appeared to be unfounded. >> the corner actually ruled it a suicide.

>> then in the weeks and months after bob's death, as suspicions dissipated like the mist from the surrounding hills, chuck could once again walk with his head held high. >> when we did the veterans parade in knoxville, they put him on the top because he was the most highly decorated -- >> after the apfel -- awful tragedy of bob's death, chuck got on with his life again, said goodbye to his dear friend, and comforted bob's widow, martha ann. oh, boy. coming up -- >> he has lost his best friend. she has lost her husband. >> two grieving friends with growing feelings. >> it was like somebody just dropped a bomb on my head. >> the cruise ship courtship. >> i looked at her and i said, are you and chuck together? >> when dateline continues. tog >> when dateline continues. she is a little ray of sunsh ine. one of the happiest babies you'll probably ever meet.

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president biden rejected

calls for him to exit the 2024 presidential election in his first television interview since the debate, biden referring to his performance in the debate is quote, a bad episode and dismissing polls that show him trailing #. earlier today, hurricane beryl now downgraded to a tropical storm. beryl entered the gulf of mexico after battering mexico's yucatan peninsula. hurricane watch and storm surge watch have been issued for portions of the coast of texas. now, back to dateline. in the wake of bob's death in may 2006, it was only natural that martha and -- martha ann stated touch with

chuck. they shared a tremendous loss. >> there commiserating. they are helping each other through this grief. >> and, there was something else. >> chuck said that martha and was not feeling good. she was having issues with her back. >> so, it made sense martha and would reduce her chores at home. bob remember loved animals but the menagerie was too much for martha ann so her son, sean, helped her downsize. >> bob had an animal rescue that he ran out of his home. he had seven dogs and a couple cats and chickens she started to get rid of all these animals as soon as he had passed away. >> then there were other changes. weeks after bob's death, martha ann invited debbie and her husband to celebrate chuck's birthday, dinner at chuck's place. >> when we got there , martha ann's dining room set was in chuck's dining room. >> what did you think when you saw that? >> i said your furniture is up here and she said well, it

certainly suits his house a whole lot better than mine. >> but they are just friends. >> their friends. >> still, how close are they getting? >> i called her one day and said jim and i are going to take a quiz. >> debbie and her husband had gotten an incredible deal from a friend on a weeklong caribbean crews. >> she said well, do you think chuck and i can go on that quiz? and it was like somebody had just dropped a bomb on my head. >> chuck and i? >> i said if there are still spaces available, i'm sure she will be glad to accommodate you. >> it turned out there was still space, and martha ann and chuck shared a cabin. >> so, we are on this cruise ship and every event, they're all dressed matching, and now

at mealtimes when the waiter took orders, chuck spoke for martha ann. >> chuck would speak up and say the lady will have and then he would order for her. >> when guests around the table rolled their eyes, said debbie, martha ann stiffened. >> she said my mother taught etiquette, and a waiter would never have the nerve to speak to a lady. >> oh, my goodness. >> we were just all speechless. we were like hello, do you know what century we are living in? have you heard of women's lib? relet the order for ourselves. i was just absolutely floored that she would make a statement like that, you know, a waiter would never have the nerve to speak to a lady. >> wow. >> i thought well, number one, that is not chuck. i mean, he would know what right fork to use. excuse me. >> debbie alas confronted her good friend and that's when the other shoe dropped. >> i looked at her and i said, are you and chuck together?

and she said yeah, and i said are you going to get married? and she goes oh, heavens no. >> though she was surprised, debbie wanted her good friend to be happy, and when the ship docked in cozumel, mexico, the group disembarked, went shopping then returned to the liner and compared the treasures. >> i said so you know, what did you guys get? and martha ann is like you'll just have to wait and see. very mysterious, and you know, it was kind of fun. >> a few weeks after the crews and months after bob's death, martha ann invited debbie and her husband to lunch. >> she said i have something to show you and i said to her, is this our cozumel surprise ? when she pulls out a ring box that has the most gorgeous wedding set you would ever want to lay eyes on. it was breathtaking.

and i'm like oh my god, this is -- i can't believe this. >> they were not getting married immediately, but when that time came, martha ann assured debbie she would play the supporting role. >> she said i want you to be my maid of honor. and i'm excited. absolutely, i would love to be you know when i'm ecstatic for you and i would be very honored to be your maid of honor. >> big deal to be asked. >> big deal. >> so, in spite of the apparent sneaking around, thought debbie, there was something almost poetic about the romance between martha ann and chuck, and maybe dear old bob would approve. >> just so happy that the two of you, you know, have found one another, you know. i know we have lost somebody dear to us, but something good has come out of this, so. congratulations. >> besides romance, there was so much more to celebrate.

martha ann and chuck were going places. they were about to be transformed from local tennessee romantic partners to into a sophisticated, washington, d.c. power couple. only in america. coming up -- >> she met a man from the fbi and she would be traveling on secret missions. >> lying on her first two or something? >> martha ann's secret, sudden change of fortune. >> sitting in front of my house is this gorgeous $350,000 motorhome bus. >> when dateline continues. ome. >> when dateline continues. ises will come back. tiny troy: he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... little rascals... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here! i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. he's the best.

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keith morrison: it was five months or so after bob's death, late 2006, martha ann and chuck were it was five months or so after bob's death, late 2006. martha ann and chuck were about to move up in the world.

martha ann broke the news to bob's sister, kathy. she had parlayed her office wizardry into a big, new high profile adventure with the federal government. she would be spending time in washington, d.c. >> she told me one day that she met a man from the fbi , and he offered her a job as a secretary. she was getting a security clearance, and she would be traveling out of the country on secret missions. >> is a secretary? >> yeah. >> was not long before martha ann was promoted, as she told kathy. she was transferred to the state department. very hush-hush. she had a limo at her disposal, two passports and with the government pension, would never have any money worries again. her schedule filled up fast. she was apparently living in the highest circles. she was already working for -- flying on air force two. >> yeah, and with the vice president. >> including travel to undisclosed locations. >> she's kind of hard to get a

hold of? >> no, yeah. >> sean moved to tennessee with jenna and the kids, could not reach his mom, either. >> i would call my mom to check in on her and she would go missing for a month at a time, two months at a time and you could not reach her by cell phone or home phone, and as we find out, she was out traveling the country. >> and, though she was clearly very busy, martha ann, along with chuck, carved out time to give back, to volunteer. together, they traveled the country, presiding over dedications and flags honoring troops. >> chuck would go out with all his metals and go to the local high school and to veterans parades. >> he also reconnected with the

guys he served with way back when. they recalled times. >> when i first met chuck, he had just started his training. he just didn't like all the other guys. he was one of us. >> he seemed to be a nice guy. >> the walter and pj cook are combat veterans who with chuck, or cannons on some of the most powerful gunships in the u.s. arsenal back in vietnam. they lost touch. easy to do in such a sprawling military, but decades later, pj ran into chuck at a reunion of his gunship unit called the spector association. >> it was kind of good to see the guy because he was just a guy we served with. i assumed he had completed his career like i did. i served 22 years. bill served 30 and we give our whole lives to this unit. >> back in the old days, said bill, chuck's nickname was kaz but now, kaz had come up in the

world from the lowest thanks to the highest. >> i go out there and talk to him and say what's up, man, how you been doing? is is oh yeah, i retired here a couple years ago. really, wow and i said well, what was your rank? >> i retired as a chief. >> i'm like really. >> is a former airman caught up in more than 25 years, chuck flashed his metals. >> chuck says you guys should check your classified records. the va checked my classified records and i found out i got a whole bunch of really high metals from operations in vietnam. >> check invited pj to his home in knoxville, tennessee. >> i personally saw these awards on the wall in his house in tennessee. i was floored and i said well, that's really great you got this. >> he said oh yeah, they finally released these classification and here they are. >> chuck had an idea.

he figured the spector association could benefit from martha ann's political savvy. and as the months went by, martha ann carved out time from her schedule to become association secretary. >> she was our recorder. she was really good at taking down notes and making paper and so forth. >> association members were so impressed with the couple that chuck was promoted to the board. he and martha ann traveled internationally, representing spector, carrying the units mascot and there was time for fun, too. they reveled in new found

happiness, enjoyed their newfound responsibilities but also decided to live a little. >> just out of nowhere they said boy, we would certainly like to have an rv and my wife's as well, my boss is selling a beautiful rv. of course they went and looked at the rv and liked it a lot so they made them an offer. >> right next to the rv, chuck noticed a garaged anniversary edition corvette. tempting, even though he already had a mercedes convertible. >> well, i like corvettes, too. show me that. next thing you know, they but the corvette, too. >> pretty soon, they were parading their new toys for their old friend, debbie. >> i hear a knock on the front door and i opened the door and sitting in front of my house is this gorgeous $350,000 motorhome bus. and, it was to die for. this is what the wealthiest of the wealthiest drive. it had been custom-made. >> to debbie and others, martha ann and chuck had made it. they put bob's painful death behind them and were now a high-powered couple doing good things and living well, the sort of success a person wants to share.

in early 2008, chuck relish the opportunity to share with the group of young people, stories about his many combat exploits, and what do you know? when he made his speech, there was a reporter in the room writing it all down for the local paper. coming up. >> she said there is more to the story. >> new lives that seemed like a dream, but chuck and martha ann were in for a very rude awakening. >> the bs alarms are going off in my head like you wouldn't believe. >> when dateline continues. believe. >> when dateline continues. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler

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now you can add the new xfinity streamsaver™ that includes netflix, peacock, and apple tv+. that's xfinity streamsaver™ for just $15 a month. all your favorites. all in one place. only from xfinity. for more watching and less spending... x marks the spot. do it all on the network made for streaming, and bring on the good stuff. keith morrison: amazing, isn't it, how life can change on a dime? in the spring of 2006, martha ann was burying her husband amazing, isn't it? how life can change on a dime. in the spring of 2006, martha ann was burying her husband , bob mcclancy, but by the end of the year, she had rebuilt her life and had a new partner, chuck.

in the meantime, bob's sister, kathy, had questions for martha ann about chuck but could not reach her what with the state department travel schedule, air force two duties. >> i wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt but at that time, when i told my older sister what was going on she said oh, there's more to this story. >> kathy still wanted answers about her brother's death, but you know how people can start to sound like broken records. >> i think my family, friends, probably everybody was tired of listening to me saying this isn't right, i know something had to of happened. >> when martha ann found the time to respond to kathy, she told her she was imagining things. >> did she accuse you of meddling? >> she said your brother always said that you always had to get in people's business. you could never just let things -- let things lie, and i guess that was true. i don't stop until i find out.

>> then she said martha ann got even more snippy. >> she literally told me that i needed psychiatric help. i need to get over the fact that my brother killed himself, and i said i will never believe that. >> but kathy was not the only one getting the brush off from martha ann. remember how martha ann promised that when she eventually got married , her best friend debbie would be made of honor? the monthly meeting of the corvette club in knoxville, debbie got a surprise from the chairperson asked new members to stand, and -- >> all of a sudden i hear this hi, my name is chuck kaczmarczyk and this is my wife, martha ann, and we bought

an anniversary edition corvette. >> just a second. when he got up in the back of the room that day and said i'm chuck and this is my wife, this is the first you knew they were married? >> this is how i found out. >> you must've been asleep that day when you're made of honor. >> i must've been. actually, i was kind of hurt . and i said you know, when did you all get married? >> no, we went on a crews and we got married on the beach down in some island and i said wow, you know, i'm happy for you. i'm still hurt but i'm happy for you. >> rude awakening, but nothing compared to the morning early in 2008, soon after chuck gave his speech to a group of students eager to hear about his money and heroic combat exploits and a story about chuck's talk appeared in the newspaper. vets who read it reacted with outrage. at the same time, bill walter was hearing about chuck from another veterans group. >> he was telling all of his were stories to them and these guys were like, we never even heard about you before. we've had these reunions for 30 some odd years and this is the

first one. your name is not anywhere on here. >> special forces guys like bill and pj did not brag about their service. when i like oh, he is just some guy spouting off, talking trash, trying to impress his buddies. >> people want to aggrandize their service. >> yes, some guys do that. it's very rare around our people to do that, especially when they're doing it in front of our people. >> the veterans called chuck out. >> chuck went home all mad because they challenge him. >> chuck sent the group his official military records just to prove he was telling the truth. he also told them, due to an emergency, he would be dropping out of circulation for a while, would not be able to attend anymore reunions anytime soon. >> in the bs alarms are going off in my head like you would not believe. >> bill on the others and from the air force and then the air force contacted the veterans administration, asked them to check this guy out. >> the job fell to former

marine and investigator of the va's office of inspector general in nashville, special agent nate landkammer. >> this is definitely a career -- i don't think i will work anything like this again because of the twist and turns. >> twists and turns that would end up leading to a chilling conclusion in right away, here is what they heard. >> the people who had served with him were very emphatic that he had not participated in these missions. he specifically talked about the iran hostage rescue, been part of that, being at the fall of saigon in vietnam. >> he said he was there for all the big stuff. >> naturally, nate's first step was to check chuck's service records, so we went back to the air force and was surprised by what he found in chuck's file, not what he expected. >> had -- his records did contain items substantiating significant comeback service in vietnam and after vietnam, the distinguished flying cross, some very high awards and they were substantiated by names and socials and names of missions

and dates that these missions took place. >> so, as far as the air force knew, he was on the up and up? >> yes. >> which presented a dilemma for the va investigator. >> so, you've got really good looking documents but you're sitting in somebody's living room and he's saying this is all bs. >> yes, from the servicemembers i talked to that served with him, every one of them was emphatic that he did not participate in any combat at all. >> so, nate went back to the air force, ask them to double check. >> the air force really started pouring over these documents and permissions, on the order numbers and quickly determined that these were all forged documents. they were not legitimate. >> yes, check had been in the air force but no act of heroism. chuck had doctored old mission records, inserting his name and

some official -looking stamps, all of it convincing enough he was able to get the forged documents entered into his own air force record. so, he had gone to an awful lot of trouble to lie about his service. >> he did. >> if he would lie about his service, nate wondered what else the phony war hero might be hiding, so he kept digging because down deep where it really gets mucky, evil lives. and quite possibly, evidence of an unimaginable crime. coming up, nate landkammer would launch a special operation to learn the truth. >> we started doing surveillance on charles and martha ann. >> chuck in a wheelchair? exactly what were they up to? a crime far darker than anything investigators imagined. >> it really gave you the sense that whoever did this was very evil. >> when dateline continues. evil. >> when dateline continues.

keith morrison: chuck kaczmarczyk didn't know it, but he was under investigation. while his military record engraved him ry, chuck didn't know it , b

he was under investigation about his military record engraved him in the pages of history, with a chest full of ribbons, the combat veterans who knew him were saying, this guy was a fake. after a close inspection, air force officials were inclined to agree. they determined the documents touting chuck's heroics were forgery. that was no joke to the investigator and former marine, late nate. >> wasn't he appearing at arlington cemetery to give flags to widows or something? >> he was appearing at funerals, wearing his purple heart, comforting widows of servicemen who died in combat. >> it got worse as nate kept

digging, he discovered something about martha ann, who had never donned a military uniform in her life, showed up at a veterans retreat and claimed that she too had ranked and medals, and combat experience. she showed off a purple heart. met several of the attendees at this retreat specifically remember her talking all about and working at the pentagon, being at the pentagon during the 9/11 attacks. and charles was also telling people that, yeah, she is a full bird colonel in the marine corps, retired. statement and nobody questioned her then? >> they believed her. >> but, nate discovered that military glory, that big-time career didn't exist, any of it. there was no high profile state department job in washington, d.c., no travel aboard air force two with the vice president, no undisclosed locations, they were all the

fantastic stories of two sophisticated con artists, a con that wasn't just about social prestige, either. it was about cash. chuck and his documents -- >> i knew we had a very substantial fraud case, because those documented in particular were used to get benefit money from the va and social security as source documents that gave legitimacy to his claim. >> chuck is claiming thousands of dollars a month in disability payments . and look at this, it looks like martha ann was helping chuck . on statements she signed supporting chuck's claim for 100% disability. >> she claimed that he was homebound, that he could not take care of himself. he would not be able to feed himself. he wouldn't eighth bathe, which is the wandering around the house aimlessly. he was in bad shape, should be getting more money from the va than what they are paying him. >> it looked tonight light the

va was being scammed. and if chuck was scamming , what was martha ann up to? he ran her name and wouldn't you know, martha ann was getting disability payments herself. >> she claimed to be having back issues, she could not walk, was wheelchair-bound. >> and she found out that while martha ann was entitled to some of her ex-husband's infants, she got more. nate wanted martha ann and chuck, or charles, as his name appeared in the records, to be charged with fraud. first, he needed proof they were lying about being disabled. so-- >> we started doing surveillance on charles and martha ann. >> federal investigators got into the back of a van with their videocamera and they waited.

>> we had several agents all participating in surveillance. >> and it was not long before martha ann and chuck appeared outside their home. here they are, supposedly disabled people. but by the look of it, perfectly fit. >> we observed them doing hours and hours of yardwork outside their home. very thick strenuous stuff for hours at a time at their knoxville house. watched them pressure wash their house, the driveway, and clearing brush, bending over. >> no sign of back trouble. look at this, here they are arriving at the va for one of chuck's regular assessments. >> we quickly found out that was the case. >> martha ann lips i have a wheelchair out of the car, chuck gets in. she wheeled him into the va center. a picture that might ring pity from even the hardest of hearts . sometimes, when they

followed martha ann -- >> she was moving pretty good, sometimes to the point where you would break a sweat almost tried to keep up with her. >> and when martha had her appointments, she and chuck would switch positions. the couple only had one wheelchair so she they got to thinking. >> here is out dr. seuss would write it, and then nate got an idea, a wonderful, devious idea. [ laughter ] that's true in a way. >> yes. >> what if they'd arranged the schedule so that martha and chuck had their appointments at the same time , who would get in the wheelchair then? what happened? >> coming up, a conniving couple caught in a trap when "dateline" continues. tinues. dry burnt-on stains. old dishwashers. very hard water. finish ultimate, with cyclesync technology, helps deliver the ultimate clean. (♪♪) what can you do with sensitive skin?

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beca with powers farppen beyond mortal men or you might just explode. [ laughing ] keith morrison: va investigator nate landkammer had set a trap. va investigator, nate landkamera had set a trap. he knew martha and chuck had one wheelchair as they set up for disability. he sent them an appointment at social security at the same time. >> they arrived at the facility, as we suspected, they only had one wheelchair, so charles, instead of using one wheelchair, he had a walker and a cane, both. >> and a knee brace. still like

it.>> still naked, and was carrying an oxygen tank at the same time. >> and his agents waited, martha ann a charles busted. >> i pulled in chuck and martha ann was being questioned by another va agent and the social security administration of oig agent. >> martha and chuck had been found out. truck was once no desecrated hero and never once seen combat. no silver stars, no purple hearts. those ribbons were all fake and martha had never walked the halls of the pentagon as a marine colonel, much less been in the 9/11 attack or flown on an air force two. they confessed to perpetuating a complex and massive fraud and fake disability claims. >> had you and your partner in

the investigation ever encountered people who were so complexly fraudulent? >> i don't think i will ever work okay like this in my career. >> but the really sinister stuff was yet to unfold, because family and friends were only just finding out about the fraud. in the summer of 2012, over early morning coffee, martha ann 's best friend, debbie hartman, was reading the newspaper. >> and i am thinking to myself, this can't be true. this can't be true. so i start yelling to the top of my lungs, jim you've got to come and see this! >> her husband, jimmy, was veteran and she and her husband could not believe what they were reading. >> stole money from our veterans. it was the fact that they took it out of veterans' pockets that made it, that-- that just sticks in my crawl. it hurts.

>> it must be something to know that this woman, who was your best friend, hid herself from you and conduct you all these years? >> absolutely, took me for a complete sucker. >> chuck too. >> he would go and present the flags to the widow of a veteran who'd lost his life. that's cruel. the people that he took in under that don't deserve that. >> and it wasn't long before sean was in disbelief about sean's own mother caught in an act with outrageous fraud with chuck. >> we found out they were arrested on eight federal indictments. >> that's how you found out? >> that's how we found out. we had no idea. >> made your heart stop. >> very overwhelming. >> martha ann stole her dead husband's valor. >> my mom never served a single

day in any armed services unit. she assumed bob's purple heart and told the veterans and groups that was her heart she received in the 9/11 pentagon attack. >> early 2013, martha ann and chuck were sentenced. >> charles got 30 months federal and martha had got 20. >> they'd spent most of their ill-gotten gains, of course. so before she began her prison sentence, martha ann prepared to sell the house for restitution. >> she started boxing up her belongings, selling things, closing of the house. >>, medals 16 martha ann was a notorious packrat , she had kept everything. trunks full of clothes, thousands of pages of receipts, contracts, documents. what did she do? she gave them to her son, sean and his wife, jen for safekeeping . >> if she asked me to do

something, i would do it. >> i suppose, if she gave it to you, the and other investigative agencies wouldn't have access to it. but when those boxes of records arrived, sean and jen dived in lavishly to see what they could uncover. >> who keeps almost-- >> 30,000. >> 30,000? that must have been some job going through all of this stuff. >> it was overwhelming. >> it was. i did feel conflicted about digging into my mom's affairs, but i needed to know the truth. >> then, sean turned over one of the computers his mom had sent for self safety safekeeping. he intended for their kids to use it, so he wanted to make sure it was clean. he checked the trashbin and he could not believe what he saw. >> there were photos of my stepdad, bob, deceased, dead. there were many photos in there. >> there were photos of bob

mcclancy, lying dead in his recliner in 2006. >> what was it like to see those pictures? >> disturbing. >> here were the pictures that told entirely different story than what sean and mcgavic one new. >> in one picture, bob would have a pistol in one hand and a bottle of pills in another. and in another picture, but would just have a bottle of pills and nothing in the other hand. >> and it was odd the way he was in the chair, where his leg was placed, uchitel looking back it was body manipulation. >> the pictures did not appear to be police photos because they were all apparently taken before police arrived on the scene. an >> so you called the cops? >> yes. >> sean, conflicted, was utterly faced with the prospect maybe implicating his own mom, so he called nate, the va investigator, and began to tell him all about bob mcclancy's

death in 2006. >> he said, i just want to talk to you guys about this and get it off my chest , because it's really bothering me. and if there's nothing to it, great to me but if there is, i think it needs to be investigated. >> and now the string let back in time, six years back to that dismal afternoon in the tennessee hills when chuck called 911 to report a suicide. >> it was just a part of a very complex, evil! scheme, and that's when i got a sense that i got when i first saw the photographs. >> so maybe this wasn't just after all a fraud case. maybe someone had gotten away with murder. coming up, the old suspicions about chuck. what had happened to those investigations all those years ago? >> it was devastating. i felt guilt about this. >> when "dateline" continues.

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get yours at kardia.com or amazon. keith morrison: va special agent nate the a special agent, nate landkammer had martha ann mcclancy and chuck kaczmarczyk for fraud, but the investigation was about to take a sudden turn to evil. he had learned about the suspicious photos sean and mcgavic one found in the computer martha ann had given them . pictures of bob found

dead. >> he contacted the u.s. attorney's office and said, i have some information that you might want to know that might be helpful to the investigation. >> i had phone conversations between sean and i. >> nate learned, there had been an investigation into bob mcclancy's death six years earlier. remember, detective travis jones had been called to the house after 911 call placed by chuck. >> i just walked into the residence, just a plant growing in the landscape of the fire. mr. mcclancy appears to be in the fire. >> back then, the detective thought chuck was acting way too calm, was avoiding cpr on his best friend and was staging that's perhaps too convenient, do not resuscitate order. and it turned out the detective had good reason to want to question chuck after he discovered a digital camera inside the backpack. >> who found the camera? >> i did. >> did you assume anything

about its ownership or anything like that? >> i assumed it belonged to the residence there, mr. mcclancy . >> did you think, as you're opening it up, hey, wait a minute, maybe i should not be doing this or not? >> note to me it never crossed my mind at the time because that was standard practice on the assumption that there is no need to get a search warrant for the dead guy's camera. >> on the camera, were pictures of the deceased bob mcclancy, his body position differently than the police found it. they were the same pictures sean later found on the computer, some showing bob holding a revolver, others bob holding a pill bottle. what did you think when you first saw them? >> that we had a staged scene. >> maybe we have a crime here? >> yes. >> that is when detective decided to question jack. at the sheriff's office confronted with the photo evidence, chuck's story change

dramatically. his first statement to the police when he arrived at the house after bob died and called 911. now, he was telling them that when he arrived, bob was not quite dead, but was taking his last gasps. >> he had come home, found mr. mcclancy, said he was still alive , and he was barely breathing. >> chuck said, he was the one who staged the scene and took the photos, because he did not know bob was going to die and hoped that photos of his friend suffering might help bob leverage more and if it's from the the a. >> did you suspect he killed his friend, bob? >> that was a possibility. >> at the time, detective jones believed he had at least a case of negligence.>> his negligence caused his death, that was the case we had at the time. >> if he had moved quicker, or call 911 sooner, or try to do

cpr or something, his friend would still be alive? >> he let him die before he called 911. >> chuck was charged with criminal negligence and tampering with evidence. but that's not what happened. before the case could go to trial, a judge ruled that photos taken by chuck were not admissible in a court of law. why? the camera belonged to chuck, not bob, and detective jones had gathered the photos without a search warrant . in the courtroom, that was it. the case of chuck kaczmarczyk collapsed. >> when you got the ruling that it would not be a case at all, what was it like for you? >> it was devastating. >> did you feel responsible? like you had blown it? >> yes. >> six years later, 2012, chuck was a convinced convicted conmen and investigator, nate

landkammer was looking at the very same images on the computer. >> i knew that the local sheriff's department had some suspicions that chuck had done something, but really weren't able to substantiate anything for charges being able to stick. >> but maybe, chuck was up to his lying eyeballs in bob mcclancy's death . >> it just really, really gave you the sense of whoever said this up, whoever did this, and whoever took these pictures was very evil. >> chuck had taken the pictures, but what were they doing on the computer sean got from his mother, martha ann? and then, nate and the state investigators who joined him, came up with a plan. they put sean and jen on the spot that would get sean to spy on his mom. sean was about to become an undercover agent. coming up-- >> what's it like to phone your

mother, knowing you are going to be putting her on tape? >> it had to be done. i asked her why the pictures were there. >> and she said, photos of bob? >> when "dateline" continues.

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tonight, president biden sitting down for his first tv interview since his first presidential debate. biden saying, he will not be leaving the race, rejecting calls to take a cognitive test saying, his presidential responsibilities give him a full, neurological test every day. a huge victory for supporters of abortion rights, the supreme court of kansas affirmed the constitution protects abortion access, striking down restrictions passed by republican troll controlled state legislation. now, back to "dateline." it should be noted that sean's relationship with his

mother, martha ann, was never particularly warm. martha ann wasn't exactly the kodaly, protective type. >> i think i was more scared of my mom , looking back. >> remember, sean had been adopted as an infant by martha ann and her first husband in florida. he says his mom was strict and to punish if sean crossed her redline. >> you knew that was it. your life was not going to be as pleasant for a period of time. >> what did you think when you saw her treating sean that way?>> it made me angry. >> even so, sean tried to stay loyal to his mom, but now, he was about to go against her in a way he could never imagine. he'd seen the photos of bob's dead body, contacted the investigator, nate landkammer, and now he and jen were turning up more evidence for

nate's investigation. >> we were coming up across what we will call these crazy, crazy documents. we cannot wrap our brain around it. >> and one of those crazy documents was bob mcclancy's will . bob had been married before martha ann and had a daughter . she was cut out of bob's will. >> he wanted nothing to do with her, and i don't want you to know about my death. i'm leaving you one dollar of my estate. >> the wording seemed especially harsh. >> i did not know bob mcclancy, most fathers would not write something this cruel to their only daughter. i just realized that this was not adding up and it was very, very suspicious. >> bob's sister, kathy, thought it was fishy too. >> i even said to my daughters, uncle bobby would never put this in here. >> nate concluded that martha ann, the sole beneficiary , and

had forged the will. >> came from martha ann, and the will in particular ended up being a major part of the investigation. >> and then, nate discovered a curious date, or dates. martha ann's wedding to chuck. >> if you wait until after you turn 57 and mary then, you can keep the benefits for the rest of your life. and she ended up marrying chuck in las vegas, nevada, one day after her 57th birthday, which allowed her to keep the va benefits associated with bob for the rest of her life. >> martha ann use the same formula to claim her husband's social security benefits. >> there was a stipulation under her social security benefits she could not remarry prior to her 60th birthday. so of course, they then got married again, three years to the date after their first marriage. they had essentially two marriage dates.

>> with so much compelling evidence against martha ann and chuck, nate figured it was more than a coincidence, but martha ann had married the last known man to be with her husband, bob. if chuck had known bob, and martha ann buried chuck just five months after her husband's death, must have known something. >> we really did not believe she could be capable of killing bob. and we knew that chuck was the last person with bob. so, we really didn't think martha was the one that had killed bob. i think we both believed that it was chuck. >> but, they wanted to be sure. if there was a murder conspiracy, maybe a son could find out from his mother. they decided to recruit sean, get him to wear a wire, placed a call to his mother, martha ann, and ask her what he knew about the photos, sean agreed.

>> he was willing to make the phone call and we gave him a recording device. >> but it like, to phone your mother, knowing you will be putting her on the spot that wait on tape with someone listening? >> well, it had to be done. >> were you nervous? >> i was nervous, but at the same time, you have to know. >> nate and sean's wife, jen were listening as the call began . >> we talked for about 45 minutes to an hour. >> he's like, hey, mom, the kids were on the computer over the weekend, and when i got in the trash, i found over 100 photographs of bob dead. >> i asked her why the pictures were there. >> she said, photos of bob? >> she started saying, i think those are police photos. >> and you said he had a pill

bottle and a pistol, and he doesn't, he's dead why are these photos in here? >> the spontaneous reaction was, for god sakes, sean, delete those photographs. that was kind of what we were looking for. >> what did you think when you got off that phone call? did you think, this moment was a part of it? >> i really started thinking, she is guilty. she's had more of a role in bob's death then she puts on. >> nate agreed. with the suspicious will, the wedding dates, and photos of bob, nate's investigators believed they were dealing with a murder conspiracy, that bob had not killed himself with an overdose of antidepressants, but had deliberately been poisoned. as they confronted the two suspects, one of them was about to sing like a canary. coming up--

>> it was chuck's idea and he did it. >> a dramatic courtroom showdown, chuck versus martha ann . >> did you kill your husband? >> no, sir, i did not. >> when "dateline" continues. e that smells good! or turn it down... hmm. nice and light. enjoy 40 days of freshness, your way. ♪ lalalalala ♪

enjva special agent natess, landkammer waited ou it was a cold night, december 2012. va special agent , nate landkammer, waited outside a jail cell in nashville, tennessee, nervous. uncertain inside, investigators were trying to persuade chuck

kaczmarczyk to reveal finally the real story that deadly monday, in 2006 who did what, why? then, out came investigators, smiles on their faces. chuck talks. >> that was kind of like the culmination of everything, knowing what we had suspected was correct. >> nate understood full well. the stage was set for an epic he said, she said battle between two major league con artists. he couldn't know which story would win, but nate was for sure, the one finally telling the truth was chuck. >> we did not suspect it anymore, now we know. >> in november 2014, in madisonville, tennessee, martha ann mcclancy went on trial. >> she was charged with first- degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first- degree murder. >> attorney marty matthew rogers was appointed to defend martha ann . the guilty verdict

could mean the death penalty. but martha ann was fully ready to defend herself with an absolute blanket denial. >> she maintained her innocence from the very beginning. she made it clear she wanted to speak with the jury and tell her side of the story. >> there were no cameras in the courtroom, but microphones were allowed. >> bob with the love of my life. i couldn't have imagined losing him, and i didn't want to lose him. i did not want to be without him. >> and besides, she testified, she didn't need to kill her husband. >> there is these allegations that you and chuck had some sort of financial reason too? what do you say about that?

>> no sir, absolutely not. i had my own money, my own funds. >> to this day, would you be better off if bob mcclancy remained alive ? >> absolutely. >> martha ann did not benefit for the death of bob mcclancy. she would've received benefits through the government for his military service, whether he had remained alive or whether he had passed. >> chuck was the villain, said attorney rogers. chuck played martha ann like a fiddle. >> she was a part of a con, just as the government had been in the past, mrs. mcclancy was another victim of mr. kaczmarczyk. >> he never indicated to me or anybody that he had lied about what he had done in the military, about what he had received. i thought that he had all of these awards. >> lying chuck, said attorney rogers, would say anything to avoid the blame. >> what did chuck not lie

about? he is a habitual liar, and that is proven and documented. i was in a position to attack his credibility and it was not very hard. >> it was chuck who forged bob's will, said martha ann, and she went along with it because the contents of the will was what bob wanted. >> that was initially chuck's idea? >> it was chuck's idea, and he did it. i did go along with it. >> she had no idea, she said, that chuck was planning to take all those awful pictures. and when questioned about the flashy government job she told bob's sister, kathy, about in washington, d.c., martha ann simply scoffed and said it was a joke . >> i mean, it was just a hoax. that's all it was. a hoax to more or less get her to stop bugging me. >> attorney rogers took martha ann back to the date bob died.

a normal day, she said. and she did not have a clue that anything was wrong, she testified, until she arrived home after 6:00 p.m.. >> a young detective came out to hold my hands and he said, this is going to be the most difficult thing that you ever hear. and he said, your husband has passed away. >> conspiracy with chuck, of course not, she said. >> did you and chuck ever have a conversation about getting rid of your husband? >> no, no we did not. i don't know where he has come up with this. >> the first time she heard about a murder conspiracy, she said, was after she told chuck she wanted to divorce him in 2012. >> i did not know about it until much later on, when this wild, concocted story of my having murdered my husband was told to the or the first time and it was told by chuck kaczmarczyk.

>> did you kill your husband? >> no sir, i did not. i did not kill bob mcclancy. i did not have anything to do with killing bob mcclancy. i can't tell you anything more than what i know, that he died of a drug overdose . >> and that was martha ann's story, every word of it was true, she swore. >> if martha ann believes that her husband, bob mcclancy was murdered, she would say it was chuck kaczmarczyk. he was there when bob mcclancy died, by her his admission. he was the one that took photos of bob and manipulated the scene of the death, whether it was a crime scene or not. >> but the battle of the con artists were just getting started and the prosecutors believed they had a strong case. >> what was the most important piece of evidence, in your view? >> the most important piece of evidence, of course, was the

mirandized confession taken from chuck kaczmarczyk. >> and what a dark , devious story of murder chuck was about to tell. coming up-- >> keep it simple, make it look as natural as possible. >> powerful testimony from the star witness and from a reluctant son. >> she looked at me as if she wished i was dead. when "dateline" continues. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it.

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the years of fraud, the money and position the climax is at hand. the years of fraud, the money, position and goodwill stolen from all those veterans were only background now. martha ann mcclancy, charged with premeditated, first-degree murder, faced the death penalty. >> a lot of work went into this case, 12,000 pages of documents. >> cindy and matt, then assistant district attorneys, to the huge task of boiling down a story every bit as convoluted as it was devious. >> and the ability to tell it as simple as a story, so 12 people off the street understand it. >> that is really complicated to do. >> that is a hard thing. >> they would prosecute what was clearly a complex case using a well tested strategy. >> the old kiss strategy.

keep it simple stupid. >> they presented the evidence of bob mcclancy's forged will and wedding dates, but not chuck's photos, which had collapsed the case in 2006. instead, they show the jury police photos, while sean described the photos he found, all as he faced his own mother. >> she looked at me as if she wished i was dead. she looked at me with the most hate i've ever seen from anyone . >> when bob's sister, kathy, testified-- >> i wanted to jump over the bench and choke her, i thought, well that won't get me anyplace. but she just sat there, she showed no emotion, just cold. coldhearted person. >> at last, martha ann's fate landed in the hands of the state's star witness, her lying husband, chuck, now on the

stand. chuck began at the beginning, when he met bob at that ptsd clinic in 2006. >> did he ever express any suicidal thoughts to you? >> no. >> then, bob introduced him to martha ann , he said, and they began an affair and she began skimming to do away with bob. >> she mentioned on several occasions she would like to get rid of him and if you went away, they could be together. >> she made all the decisions that chuck investigator nate landkammer agreed. >> was in charge of his medication? >> martha. >> turns out before he died, martha ann was put in charge of all of his meds, bob was not to have any access to his medications whatsoever. >> days before bob died, said chuck martha ann ground up all the peels into something she called magic dust. >> she had fixed his favorite

meal for him and afterwards, remarked that she had used magic dust on it. >> the doses got bigger and bob more disoriented. it was martha ann's idea , said chuck, to rush bob to the va hospital to reinforce the impression that bob was suicidal. and then, two days after his last trip to the va hospital-- >> i was pretty sure she would give him a illegal dose of the drugs because she was so specific about me being there a certain period of the day on that day. >> she told him specifically, i'm going to load him up with magic dust before i leave for work. she said, you come over and find him, he should be dead by then, i will come over and i will have an alibi. >> keep it simple to make it look as natural as possible, or make it look like a suicide. >> then, chuck confessed, he staged the scene.

>> i took some photos. there was also a bottle of pills i put in his hand. >> those photos intended as leverage to try to squeeze more money out of the va. and the gun, chuck claimed it was to honor the wishes of a former detective to die with a gun in his hand. >> you thought that was an honorable thing to do with bob? >> i wasn't killing him. >> while you were letting him be killed and sleeping with his wife?>> yes. >> i think they were evil to me but i think the root of their evil was their greed. >> there it was, martha ann poisoned bob and chuck was her willing servant. >> a match made in hell, quite friendly. >> the motive, chuck and martha ann wanted to be together and they wanted money.

>> how much money altogether? >> i would say close to $1 million . >> the prosecution rested with a scathing indictment of martha ann . >> to have your husband die in stages, thinking he is losing his mind because you keep overdosing him with these drugs until you get to that fatal dose, it is hard to comprehend how some people could be that evil. >> but how would the jury judge martha ann? >> the jury was out for quite a while ? >> yes, it was scary. we did not know whether we had won or lost. >> sean, debbie, and kathy were all in court, nervous, hearts racing. and then it came. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, martha ann mcclancy, a.k.a. martha ann kaczmarczyk not guilty on the offense of first- degree murder. >> not guilty. a wave of disappointment washed through the room.

>> i wished she would have gotten the death penalty, both her and chuck. >> but the jury wasn't finished. martha ann was found guilty of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder . >> it wasn't really a happy feeling. i am glad justice was served, but i still thought, why did you have to kill him? >> do you think they got it right that she was the one primarily responsible? >> yes, she was a real connive or. >> chuck had already made his deal. he had already pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy, got 25 years in prison. >> does chuck's princes sentence make sense to you? >> he was necessary to be able to prove the case against her. so when you look at that, it makes sense. >> in june 2016, when it was martha ann's turn to receive her sentence, she clung to a walker, taking disability again? that is what the prosecutors believed. and then, the judge

tore into her. >> the slow poisoning and slipping of life from an individual is exceptionally heinous. >> he gave her the max, 50 years. and although that was held on appeal, martha ann may serve the rest of her life in prison. >> i'm a firm believer that karma will get you. >> for my best friend, debbie, was relieved. >> absolutely the epitome of evil. she was the meanest, coolest, and she didn't get away with it . that made me feel a little bit better about it. >> and for the detective that believes nearly 10 years earlier that chuck was guilty, it was vindication. >> the fact of the matter is, if you had not looked at that camera, if you had not looked at those photographs, we would not be sitting here talking to

them now. >> no. just as would never have gotten served for the mcclancy family. >> and so justice was served after all . >> yes, it's a good while, but it did. >> know small things to martha ann's son, sean. >> no child should ever have to testify against their parents . that was the hardest thing. >> and he has not been the same since finding out about his mom's monster is crimes. >> i think he had a lot of trouble wrapping his head around it and believing that she was capable of this. bob was a man of right. he was a detective. he was a marine. and he would fight for justice for strangers, and there was no way he was going to go down like that and be silenced that way. >> but there was one more piece of unfinished business. sean, remember, was adopted. >> i had always been told that i would never find out where i was actually from, or who my

birth parents would be. >> even after a florida court denied him access to his adoption records, he was determined to find his birth parents. he ended up getting in touch with ancestry dna. and what do you know? >> we basically hit the bull's- eye immediately. >> wow. >> they found his birth father living in maine. >> that feels amazing. overwhelming. >> not long after first speaking with his birth father, sean traveled to meet him and they now chat regularly on the phone and as they plan to see each other more often, sean is discovering a whole new life, a whole new future. e new future. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, i am craig ermelvin, and this is "dateline."