emotions as he was let out of court. he was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 29 years after a fire took christina karlsen's life, her family finally has answers. but even time they say doesn't heal all wounds. >> i don't think you could put a time when you would miss someone the most. the memories are good. i still have those pictures in my home. i'm not going to take them down. she's in my bedroom at all times. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. hello, i am andrea canning and this is dateline. >> i didn't see it coming.

it was shocking. >> i had a bad feeling. >> she did say he had a gun and i'm afraid he might use it. >> a story of sand, sunsets, and fatal attraction. she had so much to give. >> she would make everyone feel love. >> then she found him. >> she said she felt so good in his arms. >> he was handsome, sophisticated, crazy about her. there was talk of marriage, then suddenly, there was talk of trouble. >> she was frightened enough not to go home. >> she had fears something would happen to her. >> it did. >> my sister is not answering her phone. >> how did love go so run. it would take not one but two trials to discover the truth. >> all of a sudden he was not convicted of killing my sister anymore.

hello, and welcome to dateline. elizabeth lochtefeld was a savvy entrepreneur who built around business. thomas toolan cut his teeth in the financial world. the connection was instant. when their summer love cooled, tempers flared in the relationship took a tragic turn. initially seem like an open and shut case. but there was a surprise in store. here is hoda kotb with murder on nantucket island. nantucket, massachusetts, gorgeous smudge of an island off the coast of cape cod. it is simple and elegant in a way that says serious money. the beaches are pristine and the food phenomenal and the shopping, pack your credit cards. as a setting for romance with its serve, sunsets and sea

breezes, nantucket is 50 shades of fabulous. but then, the fog rolls in. dense, mysterious, and everything changes. suddenly, it seems, anything is possible in this moody place. maybe even sinister things. >> 911. stager emergency. >> my sister is not answering her phone. >> monday, october 25, 2004. a gray day. the officer of the nantucket police department was on patrol when the car radio crackled at about 1:15 p.m. a call had come in. >> she was supposed to pick up my son at day care. she won't answer her cell phone. >> it was a routine matter, or so it seemed. he was dispatched to check it out. he met his partner at hawthorne lane. there were two houses on the property. both were owned by longtime island resident barbara. >> i said, excuse me, are you

beth lochtefeld? she said no she's over there toward the cottage. >> the officers walked to the cottage and knocked. no answer. it was the first hint of trouble. >> i moved to the bay window and i looked in. i saw someone laying on the ground. >> he was looking at a crime scene. >> a turn toward the sergeant and i said we have someone down inside. >> his partner kicked in the door in the body was on the living room floor. a woman stabbed to death. he had never seen anything like it and was hit by a wave of fierce emotions. >> shock ought to frighten. that's how it went. the police training kicked in. >> the cops pulled their weapons. >> our thought was to draw our weapon for our safety. with weapons drawn, we proceed to clear the house. >> it was all clear.

but, horrifying. there were signs of a struggle, blood in a bedroom, and in the living room by the body. the officer radioed in. >> i made the comment, just get here. >> it was his first homicide. but if he was a stranger to homicide, so was nantucket. there had not been a murder on the island for two decades. >> it doesn't happen here. it can't happen here, and that's away was up until that day. >> her name was elizabeth lochtefeld, but everyone called her beth . she was an unlikely victim. she was 44 years old. successful business woman from new york who had sold her company for a tidy profit and moved to this nantucket cottage just months before. >> beth had this gift of making people feel comfortable around her. >> her brother, tom. >> i would be with her and we'd

go in the store to run an errand and she would be chatting with the clerk at the counter. getting in a conversation. i would say, let's go. what are you doing? >> smart, vibrant, she was all of that and more. but what time remembers most is her way with people. >> it sounds akshay made the other person feel better, bigger. more loved. it is a gift. >> she would make everybody feel special. >> the third of chide -- five children, she was raised 50 miles north of new york city. >> my mom stayed home and cared for us and my dad was, 5:30 for dinner at 6:00. >> when school was out the family headed to nantucket where the father was a well- known local artist. for years, if it was summer, beth was on the island. >> she was game for everything. >> leslie met beth more than three decades ago.

the refreshment together at the university of notre dame. >> the last time she was in california, we were going to go surfing. i said -- she's never served and she would boogie board. you might have more fun doing the boogie board. oh, no, i want to learn to surf. off she was. always willing and wanting to embrace a new experience with joy. >> after college, beth settled in york and started her own company. in this video, she talked about those early days. >> hard work. work your fingers to the bone. your nose to the grind stone. blood, sweat, and tears. >> helping architects navigate new york's byzantine building regulations. that seems like the kind of business for a tough, savvy, hard-edged type woman. it doesn't sound like the woman you are describing. >> you know what? she was enormously successful because she was hard-working and honest.

she shined and people could trust her. >> it sounds like there was one part of her life that was missing. love. finding someone to spend her life with. that she talk about that? >> she did want a family. >> september 2004, that dream suddenly seemed to be within reach. >> she was thinking this could be the guy. absolutely. >> a sunny day on nantucket, bernadette called her friend beth. >> i said, hi. i think i'm looking at your future husband right now. she said, really? she said i will be right over. >> bernadette had only known her for a few months. not long, but long enough. >> she told me she was successful in every part of her life except for love. >> when her old friend tom toolan came to stay at her nantucket home, she introduced him to beth. >> it was the connection. it was electric the minute she

walked in. >> beth had finally met mr. right. but, people aren't always what they seem to be, or pretend to be. >> there was a lot to like about beth's new boyfriend but there was something a little troubling. especially after he met with's friends. coming up. >> she said, that you were sophisticated. charming. he said under his breath, boy, i should've been an actor. n ac. 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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in september 2004, beth lochtefeld was a woman in love. her brother tom remembers exuberant phone calls in thseptember 2004, beth lochtefeld was a woman in love. her brother, tom, remembers exubera phone calls about the new man in her life. >> of course, she was over the top. i met this guy. friend of a friend. of course, i had learned after many of those phone calls to try not to get too excited for her. >> at 37, tom toolan was a walking, talking swoon machine. tall, broad shouldered, preppy. beth had a lot in common. >> he liked literature, music, he was good looking. he came from a catholic family whose parents were still married 30 years later.

that was a big attraction to beth. >> she so someone like-minded? >> in many ways. >> tom toolan friend bernadette. she had known times since he was a toddler. they had grown up in the same apartment building. >> he was four years younger and the same age as my brother. he felt like a little brother to me. i can tell you how close we were. >> time went to private school that columbia university. after college he sold cars then landed a job as a broker at smith barney. other jobs in finance followed including a stint as a bank executive on wall street. he seemed to have it all with charm to spare. >> he would say, i'm waiting for him here. it's unbelievable. were having so much fun. >> tom was smitten too from day one. >> he said, she's a great gal. she's an amazing gal. >> even though tom lived in new york in bed the nantucket, they started to see each other regularly.

beth at 44 was eager for marriage and a family. very soon, there was talk of rings although beth's brother said it was mainly tom doing the talking. >> it's my understanding that the first day he said i am going to marry her. she was like, yeah, right. >> beth may have hesitated as she learned more about her new man. he told her, he had drinking problems. for bernadette feeney plank cupid, the drinking hardly seem like a dealbreaker. >> i knew he had a drinking problem. regardless, i know 1 million people who have drinking problems. >> other friends had misgivings. lewis talk about japanese martial arts on nantucket. she confided in him. >> she said, i met somebody. i said that's great. she said, but he smokes and drinks. i said, that doesn't sound like a good mix for you. she said, well, he's a little crazy. then she said i'm a little crazy too.

>> if she was making excuses for him, she had her reasons. >> she said she felt so good in his arms. he was so protective. she told me, this is the first time in 15 years and with a man who wants to be with me. >> besides, beth was a fixer. >> when she would date guys, lot of time she would say to herself, well, he would be great except for this. i think we can work on that. >> no surprise she decided to work on his drinking problem with him. >> i believe she was trying to help them dry out and he told her he wanted to stop. >> two weeks after they met, beth and tom flew to california. tom who was working as an investment consultant at meetings and beth decided to tag along. it was her first extended trip together, and for bed, it was an eye-opener. now, she saw thing she could not dismiss. >> he is a mess.

she said, he couldn't get on the plane. they missed the plane. i said what do you mean? she said i watched him and he was walking in circles in the hotel room, smoking cigarettes, not packed, just a mess. >> beth wanted to introduce time to her friends on the west coast. top of the list was leslie, beth's college friend. leslie lives in san diego, and she was eager to meet her new beau she was less than impressed. >> he was distant and very formal. i didn't understand him. >> the trip ended badly. >> they were in a taxi and he had a temper tantrum. i guess she said, let us off her . he really yelled at her. she said it was a little scary. >> and he was drinking. >> she said he had eight beers before they even got to the airport. >> bernadette set on the way

home, tomas beth what her friends thought of him. he said something chilling during the exchange that followed. something that troubled her so much that she told bernadette about it right away. >> he said, what did they say about me? she said they thought you were really sophisticated and charming and this and that. he said under his breath, boy, really should've been an actor. she said, that went into her gut . >> it was at that point she began asking, who was the real tom toolan? she told family and friends she was going to give the relationship the four seasons test to see how things stood in a year. it was becoming clear that tom toolan was not inclined to let one season pass let alone four. >> coming up. a troubled relationship becomes a terrifying one. >> why she didn't leave that next day, i'm not exactly sure. , and often out of the picture.

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because breathing in october 2004, beth lochtefeld went to new york to be with her boyfriend tom toolan. in october 2004, beth lochtefeld went to new york to be with her boyfriend, tom toolan. by then, the two had been dating for six weeks. the relationship was dashed began to see a troubling side to this new guy and she started to give him ultimatums. >> he would start drinking then he would get ugly.

she would say you are a good guy, but when you're drinking you are an idiot. you need to decide between alcohol and me. he would apologize and say, i choose you. i want you. i don't want the alcohol. >> that week beth invited her brother to meet her boyfriend. perhaps she wanted his take on him. >> first impression, he had longish blonde hair combed back in a double-breasted blue blazer on. he looked like something off the love boat. captain stooping. very pompous. i don't know, he seemed fake to me. >> that night over dinner, beth 's brother kept asking tom toolan what he did for a living. >> he couldn't really tell me to my satisfaction what he did. oh, i'm an investor. what do you invest in? he couldn't really give me an answer. >> he said that toolan was drinking but not to excess.

afterwards toolan and beth headed back to his apartment and on the way home beth told friend something shocking happened. she had seen him drunk. she had seen him angry but never seen her new boyfriend like this. >> he put her in a headlock and was walking down the street saying, want to beat your head in. she shared with me, i went back to his apartment to get my palm pilot and cell phone and to get out of there. i wonder if i should not of left that behind and left at that moment. >> little did beth know that toolan had apparently been aggressive with at least one other woman after he had a few drinks. >> i thought, flowers, how nice. this is such a gentleman. >> becky hammonds working as a bartender at a new york sports bar dated him once. >> we had plans to go to dinner and i thought that's nice. >> it didn't turn out that way. dinner was pleasant. then came drinks. >> that's when he accused me of

being lascivious with the bartender because i was having a conversation with the bartender. >> they got nick have to go home and becky said toolan tried to grope her. when they reached her street, she didn't wait around. >> i jumped out and ran. i literally ran across the street. >> now, four years later, beth lochtefeld was in a frightening situation with the same man. that night instead of grabbing her stuff from toolan's apartment when she got there, beth stayed and leslie said beth later told her, that things went from bad to terrible. >> and then he got very violent with her that night. he sexually assaulted her. i think that beth was probably sort of in a state -- it's a confusing thing when it somebody that you are supposedly close to. violates you. my guess is she he was probably in a state of shock. why she didn't leave that next day i'm not sure.

>> by friday, october 22, two days after the dinner with her brother, beth decided to leave new york. friends and family say it was clear she intended to call it quits with toolan. she left a message at her brother's connecticut home saying she was coming to spend the night. by now, something else was becoming clear. tom toolan was not going to left beth go. >> he wouldn't leave her. he followed her. she said we ended at the metropolitan, and she said i was standing in front of this painting and it was a dark painting thinking, this painting reminds me of tom toolan. >> as bizarre as it sounds, that was a moment but later told leslie, that tom toolan picked to propose to her. he chose the most public place possible. a gallery in this world famous museum, the metropolitan museum of art. he proposed about before, but

never like this. >> he pulls a ring out and gets on his knee and proposes to her again. she said, she didn't feel safe enough to say no. she knew she was in a dangerous situation so she said to him, i need more time. >> she was like so upset. he said, it's now or never. >> and her response to him? >> it has to be never and these are words out of beth's mouth. >> beth rushed out of the museum and he pursued her. >> he was screaming, going to get drunk with my friends. she was going to get her stuff and get out. he hopped in the cab with her and they ended up at his apartment. >> at that point that night, beth called her brother. in retrospect, he said she sounded terrified. >> her words were very measured. she was talking very slowly and enunciating very clearly. unlike her. she kept saying, i am here with tom in the city, and we are

trying to work things out. and, i didn't even think to ask her, are you okay? are cough toys if you are in trouble or something like that. >> he had no idea his sister was in danger. >> i was tired and i didn't want to deal with the breaking up, making up thing. >> later from family and friends, he would learn the horrifying details about's were deal. >> it's my understanding he was holding her at gunpoint. >> beth's brother said he had no proof of that or other details of what went on that night. he has pieced together a story from various accounts. >> he held her captive. she tried to get away. he was either drunk or tired, and he ended up, she was laying on the bed and he laid on her legs and then going to sleep or passing out himself. >> to prevent her from leaving.

>> and she slipped out and slipped away. >> she didn't even want to use the elevator because she was afraid that ding would wake him up so she took the stairs. it was around 4:00 a.m. when beth managed to escape from the apartment. where was she going to go? >> she was going straight to laguardia to get the next flight to nantucket and get away to her home. >> it was october 23, at 8:00 a.m., beth called her brother. it would be the last time the two spoke. >> she mentioned she had broken up with him and he called her about 50 times on her cell phone and he wouldn't stop calling her. >> did that raise alarm bells with you? just a guy who's heartbroken? >> yeah. i'm thinking she'll go to nantucket and everything will be fine. >> except that was not going to happened. tragedy was two short days away. >> coming up.'s surprise visitor and a panicked phone call. >> he said to me, barbara, lock your door. don't go out.

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tropical storm barrel is on track to make landfall on the texas coast in hours. the storm is expected to -- category 1 hurricane a bring life threatening storm surge and winds to the region. francis left-wing parties projected to win first and the second round. the results are seen as a surprising upset for the french far right road to victory in the first round of voting last weekend. lan welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning. beth lochtefeld fairytale romance with tom toolan had turned dark. she told friends and family that tom was a heavy drinker with violent tendencies. on a trip to new york, she said he sexually assaulted her and held her at gunpoint.

beth had left town but danger is not far behind. once again, here is hoda kotb with murder on nantucket island. after a terrifying night when she was held captive in tom toolan's new york apartment, beth lochtefeld had managed to escape and get home to nantucket. her island refuge. she called her friend leslie the morning she got back. >> she said he has a gun and i'm afraid he might use it. i am not going to stay here tonight. i will spend the night at my brother's house. >> saturday, october 23, beth stopped by the nantucket police department ask about filing a restraining order. for her to get to the point of stopping at the police department, that probably tells you all you need to know about what was going on inside of her. >> yeah, i would think so. i think should well-founded fears. especially after the incident in new york where he held her captive. >> beth did not file the

paperwork. she spent that night and the next at her brother peter's home. she was frightened enough not to go home. >> i would have to say she had fear that something would happen to her. >> on october 25, beth returned to her cottage in the morning, collected tom toolan's clothes and mail them back to him. she returned to the cottage and chatted with her landlady, barbara. it was just after 10:30. >> she came in the yard and we were talking. she was going to do work on her computer. we were going to meet around 1:00. >> beth went in said the cottage to work. >> that's the last i saw of beth. >> barbara continue to garden. a short time later she was filling a wheelbarrow when she heard a voice behind her. >> the voice said is there anyone in the house. i turned and looked up and i looked right at him. >> the man that they dressed

for nantucket with a hat and overcoat was inquiring about beth lochtefeld's cottage. >> i said, i don't know. >> something about him bothered her. >> in beth had been seeing someone, and i think she told me that, i think it's over. i said, i guess the boyfriend has come back. >> he moved toward the qaeda storm barbara went to her house to have lunch. she was uneasy. >> i said it was intuition. >> barbara said she called beth's brother peter but could not reach him. she called beth's parents and could not reach him either. she knew beth was planning to pick up her nephew before 1:00 p.m., but that's car did not move. and then, she noticed the shades in the bedroom windows had been drawn. >> i had a bad feeling. >> she called peter again and this time she reached him. >> i told him there was someone in the yard, and i think it is beth's boyfriend.

he said to me, barbara, lock your door. do not go well. i am calling the police. >> 911. >> he's at the house now and she won't answer her cell phone. >> it was and officer furtado arrived at the cottage and with his partner, made the discovery. beth lochtefeld's body on the living room floor. it was just weeks after she thought she found the love of her life, and dreamed of a new beginning. for the family, life would never be the same. >> what did you lose on that day? >> i would have to say i lost my best friend aside from my wife. she was my closest sibling. we always got along really well. >> lily costello got a call that same day. >> when you heard the news, how was it told to you? >> he killed her.

i remember just being in shock. i did not see it coming. i didn't know it was coming. it was shocking. >> you knew who the he was. >> oh, yeah, i did. >> tom toolan was arrested within hours of the murder. picked up in rhode island driving a rented car with bottles of beer and vodka in the car with him. his bloody clothes in a bag on the back seat. the rhode island state police videotaped his arrest, and recorded his voice in the cruiser. he was held without bail and arrange a month later. bernadette feeney was in the courtroom. she could barely contain herself. >> it was the reality hitting me , sitting there, that this happened. this really happened. and he walked in, and it was like, they were bring in king

kong like a monster. i felt, you know, like it was my fault. and she is gone. >> toolan was charged with first-degree murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. he pleaded not guilty. ahead leia trial and explosive revelations about a man finally stripped bare of all pretense. >> coming up. what seem like an open and shut case was anything but. >> it was like the perfect storm. all of this inside this man's had. had. e 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.

i think it's a great pin june 2007 while tourists wandered through old nantucket town looking for souvenirs, in june 2007, wander through old nantucket town looking for souvenirs, tom toolan went on trial for the murder of beth lochtefeld in the courthouse in the center of town. he pleaded not guilty. the defendant was as smartly turned out as ever, looking like the successful executive he long wanted to be. the sort of guy fit in on this island. but the defense would argue that toolan's polished exterior was nothing more than a facade for profoundly troubled man.

they would not say that he did not kill beth lochtefeld, but they would argue that he should not go to prison for it. he was, they said, not guilty by reason of insanity. his attorney, kevin reddington began by hinting at the turmoil that lurked within tom toolan. >> he looks good. he has a suit on and a tie. some may say -- >> the master of the universe act was just that, redington declared. and act because tom toolan was a mess, plague not just by alcohol abuse but drug addiction too. >> his drink of choice would be absolute vodka out of the bottle. drink a fifth the day. >> when beth broke up with him, he told the court that toolan snapped. the drinking and drinking and deeper troubles, all of them combined to push him over the edge. >> the evidence will show that

tom toolan was suffering from a mental disease, defect at the time of the incident. that he was within our legal definition of insane. >> who better to tell the jury about the defendant's demons than the defendant's mother. >> my name is dolores. >> she told the facts of his sorry life. >> at some point it was apparent he had alcohol problems? >> yes, i would say when he was 16, 17. >> his battle with drugs. >> did he make purchases from places other than drugstores? >> he got prescriptions from the internet. >> she told the court she and her husband tried to straighten him out sending him to rehab. beginning in 1999. >> how long was he therefore?

>> one month. >> now to describe the state before the murder. >> did you receive a phone call from your son? >> yes. >> she described a conversation with her son two days before the murder. he was inconsolable over the breakup with beth. >> he said, she's gone. she is gone. she has taken all her stuff. he said, i was asleep, and she just left. >> the next day, sunday, they went to manhattan to see their son. he was in terrible shape. >> his whole body exuded the smell of alcohol. >> the defense believed that established his state in the days before the murder. now, for the day itself. when toolan was picked up hours after the murder, he had been drinking. sobriety tests later put them at twice the legal limit. >> multiply that by six. >> a forensic toxicologist and complicated calculations

estimated, that at the time of the murder, his blood-alcohol level was 0.30. >> where does that fit in? >> that fits in the next level above confusion to the stupor phase. >> the defense argued toolan was profoundly impaired at the time of the murder, and that was just from the drinking. ad in the drugs, how much did drugs play in tom toolan's life? >> he would take whatever drugs he could get his hands on. methamphetamines. paxil, zoloft. >> the defense revealed that he had spent years fighting depression and obsessive- compulsive disorder. in the late '80s he attempted suicide. finally, the defense was ready for its knockout punch. a neuropsychologist. >> my opinion is that he has profound frontal executive dysfunction. >> he testified that years of

substance abuse had brought about that mental defect. because of it, toolan could not control impulses, so the defense argued, he could not be held criminally responsible for the murder. >> it's like the perfect storm. the frontal lobe defect versus unable to control their emotions in the executive function coupled with the lowering of inhibitions through the alcohol. you have all of these swirling together inside this man's head. >> the prosecutor might seek job is to blow that argue away into argue that tom toolan knew what he was doing when he murder beth lochtefeld. that he was so enraged by the breakup that he planned and carried out a cold, calculated killing. >> the commonwealth presents a time line. >> is evidence of premeditation, the prosecutor told the court that on the night before the murder, security guards at new york's

laguardia airport stopped him from boarding a plane to nantucket because he was carrying a 10 inch knife. when asked about the knife, toolan offered a series of stories. >> he said he forgot it was in there. >> he had intercut the birthday cake. >> having lunch with a sister in nantucket and she wanted him to bring a knife. >> the prosecutor presented evidence to show the next morning, toolan boarded another plane for nantucket but this time without a knife. when he landed, he went shopping for knives. toolan may have been drinking the prosecutors argued, but he was used to consuming quantities of alcohol and drugs without showing it. the prosecutor called witnesses who would testify that toolan did not seem drunk. that is what the clerk who sold him the knives testified. >> i would say he was sober. >> the rent-a-car aged at the airport. >> did he seem intoxicated?

>> no. >> would you have rented him a car if he appeared intoxicated? >> the prosecutor played a surveillance tape at the airport . he flew into the airport after the murder, riving at about 1:15. jurors could see him renting a car, walking to get it, and driving away in a gray chevrolet impala. >> they were able to see how he is walking. he is not falling or stumbling. people interact during with him in a normal way. >> there was audio toolan in the back of the cruiser after he was arrested in rhode island. the prosecutor argued toolan was coherent. he was capable of thinking clearly, and of distinguishing right from wrong, despite the alcohol. the prosecution also had a forensic psychiatrist whom they thought would deliver their own

knockout punch. >> are you able to form a opinion concerning the criminal responsibility of tom toolan on or about october 25 of 2004 in respect to the killing of beth lochtefeld? >> on that date, he did not have a mental disease or defect. >> and so the prosecutor told the jury, tom toolan is criminally responsible when he stabbed beth lochtefeld to death. the testimony took nine days in all. as the summer arrived on nantucket, the surf and sea beguiling visitors, stores beckoning shoppers come inside the nantucket superior court, the jury and the murder trial got the case. >> coming up. the end of a trial. but not the end of the story. , it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch.

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the jury in the tom toolan trial took five hours to reach a verdict. the jury in the trial took five hours to reach a verdict. do you get butterflies every time? >> yes, you do. >> the courtroom suddenly seemed too small for a big drama. >> you could hear a pin drop. the emotions were palpable. it is high-stakes. >> high-stakes with subtle hints. >> you can tell of the court

officer surrounds a defendant, you figure things are going that well. >> is the defendant guilty or not guilty? >> guilty of first-degree murder. guilty of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. a stoic tom toolan. a distraught mother. no rejoicing from the victim's family. >> we are relieved that this troubled and vengeful and dangerous man can never harm another innocent person. >> tom toolan was sentenced to life in prison and that's where things stood for four years. in august 2011, everything changed. the massachusetts supreme judicial court overturned tom toolan's conviction. there were flaws in the jury selection process and ordered a new trial. the trial got underway in june 2013. this time at a courthouse on the mainland and dunstable, massachusetts, for the

lochtefeld family, going through it a second time was deeply disappointing and worrying. >> all of a sudden he was a convicted of killing my sister anymore. he was as far as i was concerned. >> for tom toolan, it was an incredible second chance. this time the defendant looked thinner than he had during the first trial. this time, a new defense attorney argued the case. >> this is not a whodunit. it's not where, when, how case. it is a yk's. >> he open with an admission that the first defense team never made explicitly. that toolan did kill beth lochtefeld. what the jury had to decide was why . >> this is a difficult issue. figure out what was going on in that mind. was he a common criminal or

not? >> it was a insanity defense all over again just a little differently, presented by an attorney who is keenly aware he had an uphill battle on his hands. >> the question is, is anyone willing to let somebody who has done something this horrific, off the hook? because of the problem with their drug abuse, alcohol abuse, underlying mental issues. >> the prosecutor had the gloves off once again. >> 52 days, ladies and gentlemen, 52 days from the time elizabeth lochtefeld met thomas toolan until he stabbed her 23 times until she died. >> he told this new set of jurors just what he said during the first trial. that tom toolan knew what he was doing the day he killed beth lochtefeld. >> it was a choice he made, knowing it was wrong and he understood it at the time and still chose to do with. that's a criminal responsibility is. >> the trial was shorter and

this time on the jurors went to deliberate, they were back the same day. >> the defendant thomas toolan is charged with murder. is a not guilty or is he guilty? >> the jury has found him guilty. >> guilty of what? >> guilty again on all counts. stoicism from the defendant sentenced again to life. bet's sister ready statement in court. >> this verdict cannot bring beth back, but it does bring a measure of justice. >> for time it was satisfying even though for him, the first conviction was the one that mattered. >> on that day, we took a walk to baths gravesite after the conviction, and i remember feeling that it was a beautiful june day and it felt like, this is finally, i'm finally not upset to be here anymore.

it was good again. >> for those who were close to beth lochtefeld, there is a real sense of closure this time. the trial behind him, beth's father, the artist, john, finished the book he and beth had worked on together. it was published after she died. he illustrated her words and dedicated the book to beth and her dreams. the dream she lived and those that died too soon with her. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. thank you for watching. hellos "d. i am craig melvi this is dateline. >> it was horrifying.