the nicest guy i've ever met. >> and for tom dove, he is now retired from the sheriff's department and at his going away party, his fellow detectives gave him this -- it honors his commitment to the jesse case. >> it means more to me than any plaque or award i have received ever in my life. >> in retirement, tom's plans to set up a shelter for stray dogs. the urge to rescue runs deep. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. hank you for watching. watchin. >> i am craig melvin. >> and i am natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> she was a person out of a

'40s film. >> mistry to match. >> she was a stunner physically. she was able to say, jump, and the men would say, how high? >> he always said she has this hold over me. >> but there was someone she seemed even closer to. >> they bought matching underwear together. the mac they shared everything. >> they are sleeping in the same bed together, she living in her house. >> but they also share a deadly secret. >> it was a love triangle, and one of them had to go. >> but was it her idea? it seemed like a good idea at the time. >> or hers? and who would take the fall for evil? teline."

attorney larry mcnabney had been living fast and loose, >> hello, and welcome to dateline. attorney larry mcnabb me had been living fast and loose, but things are finally slowing down for him. he had a thriving law practice, a wife he adored, and plenty of money. then, a new friend entered the picture, and a love triangle took shape. the murder was a whodunit involving three tangled lives. one of them was hiding a secret identity. to entangle this mystery, police needed to know, who was the mastermind pulling the strings? here's keith morrison with poison. >> it was september 11th, 2001. just about everybody knows where they were that awful day. like the glamorous trio that was traveling north through california's yosemite national park.

even as the rest of the world's attention was focused on new york city, they were intent on their own urgent needs. their desires, their fears, their deadly love triangle. so they probably didn't appreciate the passing wonders, the astonishing cliffs, the waterfalls, the giants of way is -- any more than the one in the back seat, through fading eyes. here is one of them. his name was larry mcnabb, and he was a tall, handsome man from a well-known and respected attorney from nevada. a personal injury specialist. made buckets of money. loved the big life of being in control. >> there is never a hair out of place. there wasn't dust on his desk, his pen was always in the same spot. >> larry's daughter was crazy about him, and all of his type

a personality, his joy of life, his courtroom present. >> not an ounce of shyness. he commanded the courtroom. >> i have been a trial lawyer for over 20 years. >> larry's longtime friend, fred atchison. >> he could open 50 files a month in personal injury litigation, which made him a rich man. >> but nobody is perfect, of course. and for all of larry's unquestioned talents, the man carried around with him a raft of corresponding demons. >> i know he had a difficult childhood, and that a lot of your personality is shaped when you are a child. >> and as an adult, larry struggled with alcohol, women. he married and divorced several times. >> it was like a void he was trying to fill and he never could fill it.

>> in fact, from time to time, larry had gone on benders and just vanished, weeks at a time. everybody would worry and wonder . and sure enough, he would show up again. >> i had a t-shirt made up once, yellow with black letters saying, where is larry mcnabb? >> finally, well into his 40s, he seemed to get his act together for real. he set up a new office in las vegas. everything clicked, possibly for an attractive region, as havey yet discovered. >> i went by the office one day and he said, i have someone i want you to meet. he stared this is alisa. >> alisa, 17 years younger than larry, and he was in love. >> and he said, she is just fun and vivacious and she is young and it is just -- we have a good time. >> tapia didn't stand in the way. she wanted her dad to be happy.

>> we welcomed the new person in. it's my dad, so i didn't want anything that would inhibit me from spending time with him. >> and he really cared for this woman? >> he did. >> larry and alisa thrived, but personally and professionally. they got married. alisa became his office manager. they opened up another firm in sacramento, on you. so they hired a young, attractive college student. she soon became a friend as well as a sort of personal an office assistant. and together, alisa and larry enjoyed the highlife. >> she was into the same things that larry loved. and style. and they went out and bought viper cars together. >> they also shared larry's newest passion -- quarter horses. >> larry would show horses and

show himself, which fit in with larry looking good and feeling good. >> larry could do more of what he liked while young sarah pitched in to help alisa run the business and of his law practice. just about perfect. the larry's friend fred was a bit of a stick in the mud about it. >> the fact that she took control of his business allowed him to engage in drinking and partying. >> which is not really what larry needed. >> no. because his appetites would run amok. >> so when, after nearly seven years of marriage, larry suddenly dropped out of sight, close friends weren't extremely alarmed at first. after all, larry had gone on drunken benders before. but this time, his days stretched into weeks. it seemed different. extremely odd. ginger miller started working at the law firm as a secretary in september, 2001, just about

the time larry went missing. alisa kept the business going in his absence, but couldn't seem to settle on what the staff should tell people about larry. >> i was told to tell his kids and different people in his family different things. i was told that he was golfing or skiing, someplace they couldn't get a hold of him at. >> it was all obvious bs? >> yeah. if it was a client, i had to say he was working with a deposition, he was working with another client. >> larry's kids didn't know what to think. >> i said to my brother, this doesn't sound right. why do the stories keep changing? >> still no larry. thanksgiving. in december, he was always a family on his birth day. but still, no sign of larry. >> i didn't get a good feeling. and what i worried about was, had something gone wrong? dad was scared, and he took off? >> had larry offended the wrong person?

tapia had a friend in law enforcement who told her. >> you have to look at it two ways. if he is in hiding, he's not going to be happy you found him, is obviously, he is hiding for a reason. or, something's happened to him. >> meanwhile, i could the office, ginger was hearing things -- worrisome things. until she just couldn't keep it in anymore. >> i went to the sheriff's department. i wasn't sure what to do, i just asked for a piece of paper, and i slid it under the window. >> detectives figure they should have a chat with lisa. but by the time they went looking for her, just like larry, she was gone. >> who exactly was alisa, and what did she know about her husband's disappearance? the investigation heats up when police uncover the dark secrets in alisa's past. coming up.

>> she was a person out of eight '40s film noir movie. she was a stunner physically, but more important, she had control over men that was just amazing. >> when dateline continues. the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. we now return to our interview with the insurance whistleblower. ask your eczema specialist [ distorted ] i just think everyone should know there's an insurance company out there exposing other companies' rates so you can compare them and save. hmm. sounds like trouble. it's great, actually! it's called autoquote explorer from progressive. here, look! see, we show you our direct rates and their rates, even if we're not the lowest.

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severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes. common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off. and i'm lowering my cv risk. that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. (marci) so, how long have you lived here? and how are the restaurants around here? are they good, bad, meh?

(luke) marci, we've gotta go. (marci) i'm sorry. (luke) we've got seventeen thousand more parks to visit. [marci screams] (luke) we bring you the best neighborhood info. (marci) ding dong (luke) homes-dot-com. keith morrison: by the dawn of 2002, while the rest of us were getting used to a post-9/11 new normal, it seemed pretty clear that something very abnormal >> by the dawn of 2002, while the rest of us were used to a

911 new normal, it seemed pretty clear that something very abnormal must've happened to that successful personal injury attorney, larry mcnabney. nobody had seen him in five months. he had never been on a bender for this long. and now his wife, lisa, was missing, too. by this time, ginger had dropped off her note to the sheriff's office, and detectives were poking around in the abandoned remains of larry's law practice, talking to employees like sarah, the attractive 21-year-old art student from sacramento state who worked at the mcnabney law firm as an office secretary . she brought her little dog ralph with her to the sheriff's office. sarah told the detectives that she and alisa had become close friends, and so she, sarah, certainly noticed how erratic alisa became after larry went missing. explanations for larry's whereabouts. sarah confirmed what ginger

said, that alisa kept changing her explanations for larry's whereabouts. sarah said she saw alisa signing larry's name on checks and day-to-day business transactions. ow, and, in the absence of larry, invited sarah to go along. in early january 2002, said tara, alisa planned a trip to arizona to attend a horse show. and in the absence of larry, invited sarah to go along. alon. the ticket was not paid for. >> but when sarah got to the airport, the ticket was not paid for. and that was that, said sarah. she hadn't heard from alisa since.

ases. and so, when he heard about the case of larry and elisa mcnabney, he gravitated toward it. thomas was the san joaquin county prosecutor. he had any number of missing people's cases, and when he heard the story of larry and alisa mcnabney, he gravitated toward it. >> he was an attorney with a caseload he just disappeared. this is not someone who's a homeless person who you think took a greyhound to nevada. >> testing began by taking a hard look at alisa. >> she was a person out of a '40s film noir movie and that she was a stunner, physically. everyone said that, more importantly, she had a control over men that was amazing. she was able to say, jump, and the men would say, how high? >> it certainly seemed true for larry, so said his old friend.

>> she was controlling him to the extent that she was keeping him away from his family and his former friends. >> did not include the relationship he had with you? you find yourself shut out ? >> yeah. >> so did larry's daughter. >> alisa completely cut me out of the picture, and i was devastated. >> but why? why was alisa keeping larry away from his family and friends? what did she have to hide? >> he called me up once on the phone and said, fred, i don't know who she is. you know, i thought he meant, well, we don't ever really know who our spouses are deep down, and he said, no, i don't even know if this is who she is. if her name is what she says it is, or anything. >> by then, said fred, larry had discovered ample reason to stop trusting alisa. >> he couldn't keep his wallet in his pants. she would steal money out of his wallet. he had to hide his wallet in his own house. >> turned out she was also

stealing from the law firm. >> she had ripped him off. >> for a month? >> over $100,000. >> larry told fred all about his troubles at alisa, and yet, he kept her around. not like he hadn't divorced women before, but not this one. octavia didn't get it. >> he always said, she has this hold over me. i never understood what that meant. >> and larry's comments to fred about not knowing his wife, his suspicions turned out to be true. a little research told detectives that the real woman behind the name alisa mcnabney had a considerable terminal rap sheet, including stolen property, credit card fraud, grand theft. >> she really had a way of ingratiating herself with men and using her female charms. and she was very, very good at it. she was a true and true con artist. >> so was alisa just conning larry?

surely, thought fred, she wouldn't have done away with them, would she? >> it wouldn't make any sense, even for a dedicated polecat, to do anything like that, because he was the goose that laid the golden egg. it wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. >> it was a farmworker tiwho noticed a flock of vultures and buzzards drifting above one of these feeds saw something sticking out of the ground. and soon, a missing person's case turned into something much, much worse. and considerably more bizarre. >> dateline returns after the break. break.

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keith morrison: it was february, 2002. a remote vineyard up in the northern end of california's central valley. a farm worker checking the outer reaches of a giant field of grape. >> it was february 2002. a remote vineyard up in the northern end of california's central valley. a farmworker checking the outer reaches of a giant field of grape couldn't help but see the big birds wheeling around and around. something out there. >> vultures were circling. he spotted the vultures and so he went out to see what they were circling. >> investigator javier ramos worked at the san joaquin county sheriff's department at the time. they were among the first on

the scene. >> must've been a dead animal. >> that's what he figured he was going to find. just some dead animal out there. >> but it wasn't the dead animal. the leg that was sticking out of the ground was decidedly human. and soon, larry's daughter heard the news. >> i got a call from the sheriff's department. i felt myself get really hot and nauseous, and she said that the body they found, the dental records, it was him. and i remember -- i never swear, and i yelled out this cuss word, and i slammed down the phone and i just started shaking. it was a moment in time that i have never felt such anguish. >> it is still rot even now. >> it is. because i thought -- i don't know. i thought -- i guess i was hoping he was in hiding. >> very fortunate that the body

was discovered. and now we can move on and investigate it as a homicide. >> her hopes, crushed. police have ample proof now, five months after he vanished, that larry had been murdered and left to rot out here in the middle of nowhere. >> there weren't any stab wounds or any bullet holes. >> there were no obvious signs of larry's cause of death, so he looked further and found something very unusual. >> the medical examiner was able to find out that the cause of death was poisoning with a horse tranquilizer. >> horse tranquilizer. >> yes. >> that was strange, but get this -- >> he had been dead for an extended period of time. however, the body had not decomposed consistent with the timeframe we were looking at. meaning, it was reserved and kept cold.

>> one of the first things that i thought was, the first person that killed larry, where would they have access to a walk-in refrigerator large enough to hold a human body ? >> detectives wanted answers, and so did larry's daughter, who sometimes leaves she could hear her father in her sleep. >> i would wake up and i would hear him calling for me to help him, and i didn't know what to do. i didn't understand what was going on. >> sometimes people get a sense of knowing either what or who was responsible. did you? >> i knew alisa had done something. >> larry's much younger wife, lisa. she vanished a few months after he did, and now that larry was dead, she was the prime suspect his murder. sheriff's deputies and the f he i finally tracked her down. in march 2002, in florida. >> she cut her hair short and changed her name.

>> alisa was now going by the name of shane i baroni and was working as a paralegal at a florida law firm. >> alisa was a very smart person. she had, i believe, a 140 i you. >> but now that she was finally exposed for the con artist she was and was in custody, alisa decided to tell her story, starting, at long last, with her legal name. keith morrison: elisa, or laren, was from massachusetts and was a mother of two. she was wanted in florida for violating probation >>y an alisa, or lara, was from massachusetts and was a mother of two.

she was wanted in florida for violating probation on a burglary and theft charge, and had been on the run for 9 years, she said. she eventually settled in las vegas where she met larry, and by this time, had changed her name to alisa. she told police that she was at the horse show in arizona when she found out police wanted to talk to her about larry. and so she took off in her jaguar, drove from state to state. so with the preliminaries out of the way, now came the big question -- what happened to larry mcnabney? alisa, without hesitation and without even being asked, spilled the beans. >> did i kill my husband? yes. i killed my husband. >> there it was. no apology, no evasion. she simply confessed to killing her husband, larry mcnabney .

but -- and with a b -- that wasn't the whole story. not even close. >> coming up. did alisa have help? when dateline continues. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes

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>> a news update. firefighters try to control california's park fire and are bracing for threatening conditions this weekend has high temperatures could erode progress made over the past week. multiple fires are also burning in colorado, killing one person and prompting the evacuation of thousands. and the olympic metal collection of simone biles is now in the double digits. the star gymnast claimed her 10th career olympic metal after winning the vault apparatus final on saturday. for now, back to dateline.

>> welcome back to dateline. i am craig melvin. larry mcnabney's wife had confessed to murdering her husband and burying his body in a california vendor. it would've seemed like a straightforward case if not for what she told investigators next. mcnabney was a killer all right, but did she act alone? here alone is keith morrison with poison. >> there is a purity to confession, a real cleansing of the soul. and now after months on the lamb, alisa mcnabney, a.k.a. was finally off custody and unloading the secrets of a lifetime. didn't hold back. yes, she killed larry, her husband of nearly seven years, she's dead. but it wasn't her idea. ed elis?

it turned out, detectives had already talked with her. she said? who was this other woman who pushed alisa to commit murder ? turned out, detectives had already talked with her. remember sarah, the young secretary, alisa's friend who came in with her little dog and had been so helpful to detectives after larry and alisa disappeared? now, alisa said killing larry was sarah's idea. and sarah said there was just one thing to do-- alisa told the story this way. larry was a heavy drinker and drug user. he was abusive, she said, and she feared for her life. one day, she said she confided in her young friend, sarah, and sarah said there was just one thing to do -- kill larry mcnabney. now, in this three hour long interview, police went into detail after gruesome detail of how they did it.

alisa and larry ride a horse show in los angeles, they said, and sarah flew down to meet them, or rather to meet alisa, since larry didn't like sarah, she said. keith morrison: that was september 9, 2001. according to elisa, larry had already passed out after imbibing a little horse tranquilizer on his own, for fun. >> that was september g to9th, . according to alisa, larry had already passed out after imbibing horse tranquilizer on his own for fun. so sarah decided, according to alisa, to just give him more. and no one would ever find out. >> it seemed like a good idea at the time. >> while larry slept, set alisa, she and sarah's worded drops of horse tranquilizer

into his mouth. but larry didn't die. instead, the next day, september 10th, larry got up, and then went right back to bed. >> he is like, lying there, and i thought he was dead. >> but he was so heavily drugged, he couldn't walk. dn't. keith morrison: this, by the way, was september 11, 2001. everyone else in the known world preoccupied elsewhere. well, elisa and sarah drove north through california >> this, by the way, was some to 11, 2001. everyone else in the known world preoccupied elsewhere well alisa and sarah drove north to california with larry slowly dying in the back seat of the truck. truck.

keith morrison: so, she said, they drove on. they thought larry would die in the car, but he didn't. so when they finally made it back to larry at elisa's home near sacramento, larry was slipping in and out >> so, she said, they drove on. they thought larry would die in the car, but he didn't. so when they finally made it back to larry and alisa's home near sacramento, larry was slipping in and out of consciousness, still alive. >> at 6:00, the sun starts coming out. >> that was the morning of september 12th.

keith morrison: they stuffed larry's body in the refrigerator while they decided what to do with it. >> they stuffed larry's body in the refrigerator while they decided what to do with it. for three months. but they couldn't quite decide. and so they kept larry's body in the refrigerator for 3 months. and then they decided to take it to las vegas. find someplace there to bury it.

keith morrison: en route to las vegas, with their two dogs in the back seat, larry in the trunk along with two shovels. >> en route to las vegas with their two dogs in the back seat, larry in the trunk, along with two shovels. once there, sarah hung out at a hotel with the dogs. alisa went out looking for a burial place for larry. but when she started digging, she said, the ground was too hard. hard.

and the next morning at 4 o'clock, she drove out to a vineyard, dug a hole, and buried him. so, alisa said, they drove back to california. next morning, she drove up to a vineyard, dug a hole, and buried him. >> how deep of a hole did you dig? >> not deep enough, obviously. >> that was alisa's story. just a few hours after she finished telling it, california detectives called in the alleged driver, and her story -- well, it was a little different. >> coming up. is sarah a cold-blooded killer, or an innocent who is just trying to survive? when dateline continues. the test of time.

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keith morrison: sarah dutra appeared confused. no little dog to keep her company now. her close friend elisa mcnabney he had confessed to murdering her husband larry and claimed that sarah, just 21 >> sarah tappeared confused, n little dog to keep her company now. her close friend elisa mcnabney had confessed to murdering her husband larry and had claimed that sarah not only helped with

the murder, but was actually the driving force behind it. >> what you think elisa is doing right about now? her with elisa's written confession. they confronted her with elisa's confession. keith morrison: sarah dutra broke down and told detectives

her side of the story. and in this version, it was elisa, not sarah, who >> sarah dutra broke down and told detectives her side of the story. and in this version, it was elisa, not sarah, who was a cold-blooded killer. it was elisa, she said, the dosed larry with horse tranquilizer. keith morrison: elisa who was eerily calm when larry finally did expire. elisa, who is eerily calm when larry finally did expire. expir keith morrison: that was the morning of september 12, after the long and harrowing drive home from the horse show in los angeles, said sarah.

and through her tears, she told the detectives how larry's body >> that was a morning of september 12th, after the long and harrowing drive home from the horse show in los angeles. through her tears, she told detectives how larry's body ended up in the refrigerator. keith morrison: and this was the heart of sarah's version. she went along with the whole awful, crazy thing for one reason, she said. >> this was the heart of sarah's version. she went along with the whole, awful, crazy thing for one reason, she said -- she was deathly afraid of elisa . was it possible an innocent

young woman in the thrall of a con artist and killer? sarah dutra seemed so frightened, so emotional. >> i felt, a little over the top . >> she was a little over-the- top? >> yeah. h. r. it was a classic crime story. >> you mean, she was kiacting? putting on? >> i believe so. >> after more than nine hours of questioning, sarah dutra was arrested and charged with larry's murder. it was a classic crime story. two killers, mutual finger- pointing. prosecutors knew they could use each woman's testimony across the other. uneasy checkmate. that is, until elisa took herself off the board. on march 30th, 13 days after her arrest, her jailer found her hanging by her neck in the cell. a suicide. >> 1 million questions for

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when we're young, we're told anything is possible... ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd ...but only a few of us go out and prove it. witness the greatness of anna hall on a connection worthy of gold: xfinity mobile. only xfinity gives you the most powerful mobile wifi network, with speeds up to a gig in millions of locations. and right now, get up to $800 off the new galaxy z flip6 and z fold6 when you trade in your current phone. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. welcome back. sarah dutra was behind bars, charged with the murder of larry mcnabney. larry's wife elisa told detectives

>> welcome back. sarah dutra was behind bars, charged with the murder of larry mcnabney. larry's wife, lisa, told detectives they had killed mcnabney together, but insisted it was sarah's idea. then elisa committed suicide, leaving sarah to face trial alone. her defense claimed she was a pond, forced to commit a horrendous act, and it was lisa who was the real mastermind. which story with the jury believe? here's keith morrison with the conclusion of poison. >> it was the winter of 2003. more than a year after larry mcnabney was poisoned with horse tranquilizer. his admitted killer, his wife, elisa mcnabney, chose her own destiny . and her alleged accomplice, alone, faced the possibility of spending the rest of her life behind bars.

>> you attended the trial every day. >> yes, 11 1/2 weeks. >> why? >> the d.a. had told us the importance of our family being represented, our dad not forgotten. >> she believed her father had died at the hands of both elisa and spat sarah. and while sarah admitted to being there when larry died, and in the days amongst, she never went to the police because she was so afraid of elisa and of ending up just like larry. a theory that even prosecutor thomas testa found -- well, believable. >> when i first got this case, people in this office will tell you that's exactly what i was saying want up and down the halls. poor sarah. as i got deeper into the case, i totally turned around on this. but i started with that very mind-set. >> he reviewed the evidence in preparation for trial and he became convinced that sarah dutra was in fact the woman in

charge. >> sarah did not like larry. she always accused him of being full of himself, talking about himself all the time, self- centered. she didn't like him. solera didn't want sarah around, sarah did not like larry. this sounds to me like two people who both love elisa and want the other out of the way. >> that is it. that is exactly it. that's a love triangle, and one of them had to go. >> sarah, said the prosecutor, was enjoying a very fancy life with elisa, and larry was simply in the way. >> if your theory is right, these are two girls who have this great relationship and they are living off the proceeds of larry. why get rid of it? you have no motive. >> larry was elisa's golden goose, but elisa was sarah's golden goose . and sarah was about to be cut out of this whole triangle. larry had just told her, two days before he was killed, you

know, that he wanted her gone, he wanted her fired. >> so, said testa, it was sarah who had the motive to kill larry. sarah's lawyer, of course, saw differently. >> this seems like a classic instance of evil sort of wrapping around a sweet young little baby. >> at the trial, the defense attorney portrayed elisa as a black widow, a sophisticated con artist wanted her husband dead. and sarah was her innocent and terrified pond. now prosecutor testa introduced ginger miller. remember her, the other secretary who worked alongside sarah and elisa? really? the prosecutor introduced ginger miller. remember her? the other secretary that worked alongside sarah and elisa?

she said in the days and weeks after larry vanished, elisa and sarah started to feel anything but remorse. >> they are laughing together, eating together, they are sleeping in the same bed together, she living at their house. >> they were not really working, were they? >> they were. about two hours a day. >> what are they do the rest of the day? >> shop, party, sleep late, go flirt with boys. >> all the while, spending the firm's money. larry's money. a lot of money. >> sarah got a red bmw. >> was a close friends, or may be more than friends? >> they bought matching underway together, the first week they were like, look what we bought! they both were wearing matching underwear. they were best friends. >> they were blowing through money so fast, they fell behind in rent payments for the law office and got addicted.

so they moved the office into elisa and larry's home , which according to ginger, now seemed more like elisa and sarah's home. >> in the room, they had no close of larry's. the bathroom, hers and sarah made them hers and hers instead of his and hers. she said they were pretty much moving him out. >> well, not quite. because all this time, remember, larry's body was still in the garage, still in the refrigerator. as for the idea that sarah was an innocent child, elisa's puppet, that was nonsense, said ginger. >> everybody know she wasn't terrified of her. sarah had as much say as lisa had in the whole situation. >> sarah, the daughter of those devout children christians, sat at the defense table a wide- eyed innocent. elisa wasn't around to be cross- examined, so her videotaped confession didn't get played for the jury.

and with no dna, no prints, no trace evidence, no living eyewitnesses, the case against sarah was entirely circumstantial. >> it's first-degree murder. >> yeah. >> but with the jury see it the way he did? after four days of deliberations, the jury found sarah dutra guilty of involuntary manslaughter and accessory to murder, not first- degree murder. >> had she not been a young, attractive, tall blonde whose parents were clutching bibles, crying in the first row, one wonders if this verdict would've been the same. >> sarah dutra a sentence to 11 years, served eight, and in the summer of 2011, at age 31, she was released. >> it is painful to know that such little time was given for such a horrific crime, and one that seemed so premeditated to

me and so thought out and so callous to the end. >> sarah dutra did not respond to our interview request . and octavia, she told us she had forgiven sarah as much for her own sake as anything. >> will i ever forget what she has done? never. but i don't want to have my whole life be there cruelty and the things they chose to do to him. i would rather remember the loving times we had together. and they are not going to take that away from me. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. u for w good morning and welcome to this sunday edition of mornin