justice is for the state to have proof that it really is a set fire. and they didn't have that here. >> it wasn't a case of charging the wrong person with a crime. there was no crime at all. it was an accident. >> it's hard to comprehend that >> it's hard to comprehend that in the philippines, there are 7,000 islands. residents say you can hide in these islands and never be found. living there has its challenges.

>> they've got mosquitos the size of dogs there. it's huge. you see spiders as big as your head. you see weird stuff. stuff that you never seen before. >> the nicest woman you could have ever met. there wasn't a bad bone in her body. >> julie, as warm as she was to the american community, she wasn't crazy about the philippines. there were some people, probably not surprising, that drnt like the philippines. >> on february 25th, 1991, joe snodgrass called police to report his wife missing. he said they had an argument. >> he says i thought she was going to go cool off. this sort of thing happened before, okay, when she storms out.

>> military records showed that julie left the military base around 10:30 p.m. but this time, she never came back. at 4:00 a.m. the next morning, a cab driver found julie seated in her truck two miles from the base. she had been stabbed repeatedly. julie was still strapped in her seat belt and her driver's side door was ajar. >> at that point, they told us she had tried to get out and couldn't. >> there was a great deal of blood inside the car, kpept on the passenger seat. >> a search of foreign hairs and fibers did reveal a potential clue. >> the only thing that we found

that was not consistent with julie or any other hair from the family were some dark hair which would have been consistent with philippines. >> in a field nearby, police found a folding knife covered with julie's blood. there were also fibers from her clothing. unfortunately, there were no fingerprints. >> why was this truck sitting in the middle of the night on a dirt road in a restricted area where no service member would go and certainly no wife would go. >> julie snodgrass was just 33 years old. josh recalls his father's reaction when he heard the news. >> what i recall is shaking,

shaking, shaking. i can just equate it to advanced par kinson's. >> joe snodgrass never left the base that night, so he was never considered a suspect. but who wanted to harm his wife? ♪

[ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

the murder of 33-year-old julie snodgrasst wife of a u.s. serviceman, shocked everyone who knew her. she was extremely well-liked and had no known enemies. >> i remember then feeling this is a crime of passion. somebody wanted julie dead. and wanted her dead in the worst way. >> her body was flown to mississippi for burial. >> funerals were intense. the wakes were intense. of course, there was no open casket. i wish there was. i wanted to see my mom again. investigators didn't have to look far. >> unemployment in the philippine community was 60%. if any philippine had a job, they were often supporting 10-15 people who didn't have a job.

>> but investigators were more intrigued by the rumors of problems in the couple's marriage. >> his wife and he had been sprated. they had gotten back together, they divorced. they remarried. there was a lot of turmoil there. >> as word of julie's murder spread, local informants told investigators that they might want to question the family's philippine housekeeper. >> her first name was lucy.

very attractive. very young. much younger than joe. i would say early 20s? possibly? >> my impression is that it was common knowledge that there was a very close, maybe relationship, beyond the housekeeping relationship. >> lucy had been the snodgrass's housekeeper for more than a year and was practically a member of the family. >> she also wanted to be my mom. to some degree, that's what i felt all of the time. she would say i'm your mom. i would say you're not my mom. i'm going to be your mom. no, i've got a mom. you're not going to be my mom and stuff like that. >> during questioning, lucy said she knew nothing about the murder and she denied rumors that she was having an affair with julie's husband. but julie's son knew this was a lie. >> the only reason i knew something was going on is because i opened the door to the bedroom one day and saw dad doing something he shouldn't have been doing, you know. >> she passes a polygraph, you know. so, boy, the case is in the toilet, huh? >> they interviewed lucy another time, this time, using local law

enforcement. >> i think she was more comfortable talking to philippine investigators than to american investigators. and she started changing her story. >> in a remarkable turn around, lucy now admitted taking part in julie's murder. >> she described how joe came to her, explained to her that he wanted his wife dead, that he couldn't live with his wife anymore and wanted her out of the way. >> lucy said she hired her two uncles to carry out the murder. and they, in turn, hired a third man to help them. so when was shee lying? was she lying the first time or

the second time. >> joe snodgrass denied any involvement in the murder of his wife. he call his former housekeeper a liar. to prove it, he permitted investigators to serge his house. >> they found these insurance policies under a mattress. and he said, you know, i didn't want you to find those. a little suspicious looking. >> the policies revealed something troubling. joe had increased the wife of his wife's life insurance from 200 to over $400,000. and on joe's desk at work, investigators found even more potential evidence. >> they came up with a bunch of floppy disks, those big 5.25 disks that we used to use. >> but just as the investigation was starting to take place, joe's colleague and the office of special investigations made a

catastrophic blunder. one that threatened the entire case. >> it's a crazy story. and something that you cannot imagine happening. >> the emotion was just incredible. it was a gut-wrenching, sickening feeling. that's been called the benchmark of its class. really, guys, i thought... it also has more rear legroom than other midsize sedans. and the volkswagen passat has a lower starting price than... much better. vo: hurry in and lease the 2014 passat s for $199 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. ♪

♪

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app.

investigators found two floppy disks which they thought might hold evidence of his complicity with his wife's murder plot. but, before they checked the disks, investigators wanted to make sure that they actually belonged to joe snodgrass and weren't someone els. so they asked him to come to the investigation room. >> he was a law enforcement official. if someone's investigating, well, naturally, try to cooperate. try to help. there are pieces of this disk on the floor. i'll tell you, a couple things go through your mind at this point.

the first thing is how in the world did this man get scissors into the interview. and, second of all, how did he get the disk and do this. >> apparently, snodgrass knew the investigators had his floppy disk and he came to the interrogation prepared. >> we knew whatever was on that disk was absolutely -- should i say death -- to joe. >> joe snodgrass was immediately taken into military custody. >> he called us up and said they are arresting me fr the murder of your mother. and he said, i promise, i did not kill your mother. and i said okay. i believe you. >> investigators were desperate to repair not only the disks, but their reputations, as well. so they collected the pieces and sent them to the u.s. military's brand new computer, forensics laboratory. >> they said you're not going to believe what happened. we were interviewing this guy and he reaches into a box and pulls out a disk and starts cutting it up with a pair of pinky sheers. okay, i'm not a magician, i'm a computer crime investigators whachlt are we going to do? >> to their dismay, they couldn't find a single instance of someone successfully reassembling a damaged floppy disk. >> we were calling everybody we could think of. we went to the private sector, you know, because maybe they had tools. we pulled out all of the stops! one federal agency offered to try, but said it would take months, possibly a year to figure out how to do it. it would cost close to $1 million and there were no guarantees.

okay, i'm not a magician, i'm a computer crime investigators whachlt are we going to do? >> to their dismay, they couldn't find a single instance of someone successfully reassembling a damaged floppy disk. >> we were calling everybody we could think of. we went to the private sector, you know, because maybe they had tools. we pulled out all of the stops! one federal agency offered to try, but said it would take months, possibly a year to figure out how to do it.

it would cost close to $1 million and there were no guarantees. >> after everybody gave up, we were driving around the beltway after we picked up our diskettes for this one government agency that failed, one guy said give me a shot, you gave all the other big shots a chance. i said what are you going to do? he said tape them bark together! the inspiration was on a post-it note. the back is strong enough to hold together but it is easily removed, leaving no residue behind. first, technicians used heat to smooth out the rumpled pieces. unfortunately, not all of the pieces could be sufficiently repaired. so they needed to find a way to replace the damaged pieces to make a complete disk. >> so what we did is then take that original piece of evidence, put it onto that disk and actually cut out a template of where it would fit into.

remove that piece from the new disk, drop the evidence into place and then actually tape it on the backside so that it was now became a part of a whole. >> to hold the pieces together they used a clear tape with an adhesive like the post it notes so they could read the other. the technicians placed it inside the drive and turned on the computer. >> we ended up slinging the head across the room in the office because the disk broke the head off the disk drive. >> the problem was the thickness of the tape. they needed to find a thinner tape with the same adhesive properties and their research led to a brand of scotch tape called 8-11. >> it doesn't leave a residue

and easy to apply and easy to take off without damaging anything. >> so they used it to piece together the damaged floppy disk. to their enormous relief it was a success. >> it took some initiative and it worked. >> it was pretty cool. it was rewarding that we developed a technique that was working and got data. >> what some said cost close to $1 million had only cost $131. >> but was this information on the disks that would implicate sergeant joe snodgrass in his wife's murder? o® credit score's on here. we give you your fico® score each month for free!

awesomesauce! wow! the only person i know that says that is...lisa? julie?! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and see your fico® credit score.

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you.

and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app. thanks to the efforts of the u.s. military's computer forensics lab, investigators were finally able to read what was on the floppy disk. the ones sergeant snodgrass had tried so hard to destroy.

on one, for all to see, was a portion of a letter joe snodgrass had written to his housekeeper lucy, asking her to hire some hitmen to kill his wife. >> at least ten times a day i say a prayer that you will have luck down there finding someone. i talked to josh and jamie and they are tired of her also. please help me with her and come back soon. if you need anything else let me know and i will try to send it to you. i have to go back to work now. i love and miss you, joe. >> this tied joe snodgrass to his wife's murder. >> i think the computer fragments were the catalyst, and a catalyst in the sense that it made sense of the housekeeper's story.

it corroborated her story and added credibility to her story and the story of her uncle who gave full statements. >> and how much money did joe pay to have his wife killed? >> what's the cost of a life? it was 150 bucks u.s. and 1,000 pesos for transportation. next to nothing. >> the information taken off the disk was absolutely critical. it was crucial. it put the nail right in the middle of the coffin. >> when confronted with the information from the disks, sergeant snodgrass pled guilty soliciting his wife's murder. >> he said it was borne of marital turmoil but he did not admit -- it is mercenary to say i took out $450,000 on my wife and wanted her killed to get and live on easy street. >> according to the forensic evidence at joe's request, lucy hired her two uncles and another man to kill julie snodgrass. since joe worked for the office of special investigations, he asked his wife julie to help him

one one of his cases. he asked her to drive off base and make a payment to an informant. julie did what her husband asked. but when she got to the off-base destination she realized she had been set up and she knew who was behind it. >> while she was being stabbed to death, julie snodgrass cried out in english, i hate you, joe. i hate you, joe. >> the circumstances even more vile than if he had taken the knife himself and killed her. you know, the manipulation that took place, the planning that took place. >> apparently, lucy believed that joe would marry her and take her to the united states when his tour of duty was over. they would have lived comfortably on the $400,000 from julie's life insurance.

sergeant joe snodgrass was sentenced to life in a military prison without parole. lucy was convicted by a philippine court and sentenced to only one year in prison. her two uncles served similar sentences. the third man involved in the murder has never been found. >> this was the first case where digital evidence and the term forensics were put in the same sentence. computer crime investigation was not a forensics discipline until we put these diskettes back together. >> our cyber guys broke ground in the field of forensics, they really did. >> this case not only made forensic history but changed security protocols around the

world. no longer was cutting a disk in two enough. >> the implications of our technique was for $131 and not a lot of brain cells we can retrieve that data. and now everybody has to change their protocol on how to safeguard classified information. at times a perpetrator's dna is the only clue at a murder scene. this case made forensic history when scientists saw in these genes, literally, the killers physical description. in the 1600s baton rouge and louisiana got its name from french settlers and meant red stick. to this day, baton rouge is one of the most racially diverse cities in the country. pam kinamore new the town's history well by birth and by profession. pam operated an antiques store. >> pam loved life. every day she couldn't wait to do all t