♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away

♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ don't run away ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: all right. their album, rhye, it's called "woman" and it is out now. i want to thank them, thank mary-louise parker. thanks to idris elba and apologies to matt damon. we ran out of time. tomorrow night kevin bacon, diane krueger and music from the bacon brothers. thanks for watching. "nightline" is next. good night! ♪ ,,,,,,

tonight on "nightline," fatal error? a woman murdered and a bloody crime scene, and a trial that ends with the death penalty. we ask, did texas execute the wrong man? they're powerful, majestic creatures who have lived in these waters for thousands of years. we go to thailand to find out if it is too late for these endangered fish. and the emmy snub tonight. the emmys are out and you will be surprised who didn't make the

from new york city, this is "nightline" with juju chang. good evening, and thank you for joining us. it is being hailed as a major step forward for our criminal justice system. an unprecedented federal review of death penalty crimes has revealed 27 cases where fbi forensics experts may have helped garner wrongful convictions, often being very complicated. today, we examined a case that condemned a man to death. but did the state get the wrong man? we go to texas for "crime and punishment". >> reporter: a friday night in corpus christi, texas, a call comes into 911. it is wanda lopez, a 24-year-old single mom working as a cashier

at a roadside gas station, and she is worried. >> what is she doing with the knife? >> reporter: minutes later, wanda lopez calls 911 again. >> an armed robbery going down right now. >> reporter: lopez is stabbed to death in a vicious struggle. it is just one of many crimes in the country that ends in the death penalty. but now, it is raising a provocative question, does the death penalty always punish the guilty or are mistakes made? is it possible our system has killed an innocent man? carlos deluna. police rush to the bloody scene and find there is an eyewitness who entered the store just as the killer left. a description is broadcast immediately across radios. as wanda lopez is rushed to the

hospital where she dies from a knife wound to the chest, police find lopez hiding underneath a truck, and then he is brought back to the scene, where a witness identifies him. even though there were no fingerprints linking him to the crime, he becomes the lone suspect. at trial, he identifies another man. but at trial, deluna gets the death penalty. and is executed. he swears to his last breath he didn't do it. >> i just wish somebody would do something about it, and look for the person and do something about it. >> reporter: no one did until now. meet james leadman. do you believe that carlos deluna was innocent? >> i believe that. looking into it, carlos deluna said i didn't do it, i saw

another man do it. >> reporter: a law professor has conducted one of the most thorough reviews of a capital punishment case in u.s. history, spending years digging into deluna's case in the way no one, not even the police or prosecutors have. >> we're convinced the state of texas executed the wrong man. >> reporter: and he believes he can prove it. >> what we can say for sure if they have have a lot of evidence another man did it and they didn't go look. >> reporter: that other man is carlos hernandez, he says, the man that was identified but prosecutors never pursued. to check out leadman's claims, we went to the texas town rocked by this heinous murder several years ago. this was the scene of the crime, a shamrock gas station and convenience store, but it was here on a lonely night in 1983 that wanda lopez was brutally

stabbed to death. and these grisly crime scene photos are crucial new evidence, he claims. >> we found photographs that were not shown to the jury or defense that we found 20 years later. >> reporter: one of the most shocking photos shows a detective standing on top of the possible evidence. >> you can see she is standing right on top of a napkin that was knocked to the floor. could have a fingerprint on it or blood on it. >> reporter: she is just tromping on it. >> reporter: leadman says it is possible the weapon was not found. >> carlos, his pants, the white dress shirt, there was not a bit of blood on there. >> reporter: he also points to a bloody footprint. this is the killer's calling card. >> nothing was made out of it. >> reporter: that footprint

could have helped to have exonerated carlos deluna. >> reporter: so he was executed without any physical evidence against him. but what about the eyewitnesss? one man stood face to face with the killer, and later was brought to the squad car where he positively idçó 'd him. it is pretty strong, isn't it? >> no, it is actually quite weak, because people can make mistakes especially in cross-racial identifications. >> reporter: later, he was tracked down, they taped the interview with him. >> how certain were you that night? >> probably 70 percent, it was not 50/50, it was more. but i will say this, one of the police officers mentioned we found this guy hiding underneath

the car without a shirt on two blocks north of us. >> if they had not said that would you be less than 70% sure? >> yes. >> about where would you have been if they hadn't said that? >> about 50/50. >> reporter: okay, so there was no blood on carlos deluna, and now the key eyewitness is doubtful. but now there is this, leadman tusly unreleased tape recording indicating the officers may have chased another man before their attention was drawn to deluna. >> i don't know if it is another suspect. >> reporter: but the most shocking new evidence leadman discovered, carlos hernandez allegedly boasted he was the killer. he looked a lot like carlos deluna, and he liked to use a knife on his victims. one similar found at the crime scene. two women overheard him bragging but were never questioned. >> was sitting on the top of the

steps. so we overheard that he, carlos hernandez had hurt wanda. >> he was bragging to the uncle that he had hurt somebody. >> i was scared because of what i had started to put two and two together and what carlos had done to ms. lopez. >> reporter: from the moment he was arrested, carlos deluna said he didn't doçó it. and later he testified in court that a man named carlos hernandez did. but his claims were dismissed by the prosecution. deluna's defense lawyer james lawrence met us in the same courtroom where he was tried and sentenced to death. he said he tried his best. >> what do i have to counteract anything, anything, had we had that other tape? gosh, i got something. because then you could have said was that the carlos hernandez that we have been looking for? yes. >> reporter: the prosecution team declined to speak with us on the record.

rose roton is deluna's sister. >> it is just that we didn't know how to help him. >> reporter: she said her final good-bye to her brother on december 7th, 1989, right before he was executed by lethal injection. >> at the end, he said i'm innocent. you're executing the wrong person. >> reporter: it is what he said all along. >> there may be a day that the truth comes out. i don't think it is right. >> reporter: he the dreams until the end, too. >> i think -- i will try to remember the word of god. because i learned that while being here that that is the only way i can make it now. >> reporter: the death row champion always felt he was innocent and watched him die. >> he laid down and said will you hold my hand?

>> reporter: what is the lesson for the rest of us? >> we need to look at the whole picture. what is it accomplishing? it is not stopping crime. >> reporter: carlos deluna is long dead now. wanda lopez, too, but their tragic story may hold an eternal truth. >> what i really want to come out of this is make a determination for the public that it is real, that we can take life in a case like this. they have no idea how many other cases out there, there are like this. >> our thanks for that compelling report. ten years after convicted, deluna died, he was 54 and back in prison for attacking a neighbor with a knife. so tell us what you think about the death penalty. tweet us at "nightline," coming up next for us, a search for powerful creatures. stay with us. >> abc news "nightline" brought

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. you know, myths about sea creatures like the loch ness monster have gripped our imaginations for centuries. and in thailand, not hard to see where these myths came from. and we traveled to thailand for huge fish. >> reporter: he has been called the fish whisperer, which may not sound like much until you realize we're talking about monster fish, like this fish,

the jaws, razor-like teeth that can take off a hand. this is like indiana jones, they track down the living creatures. 30 different species that few realize are living in the rivers, they can grow over ten feet long and weigh over 600 pounds. the living fossils, they're going to be extinct. he invited us to the best place, he says, really the only place in the world we're guaranteed to see monster fish for ourselves. we journey to the catch and release fishing lodge. here, grown men have been known to weep, well, at least shake with joy when they catch something even if they can barely hold it.

and for him, it is a life time. under that surface, there are more monster fish under the surface more than any other place in the world. and in the water, i'm seeing something coming up for a gulp of air, and then moving out of sight. >> these are true loch ness monsters, because they do get big, they get ten feet long. >> reporter: but when he asks if i want to catch one? >> these are not the little fish at home. >> reporter: he explains that monster fish are losing their battle to survive in the wild. here, the anglers are using methods to protect them. this is going to be a sight? >> yeah. >> reporter: but first we wait and wait, with a single bite. when we hear two anglers not far from us have something big we go

check it out. >> and this fish, i'm guessing, is at least a 200 pounder. >> reporter: it is an arapima, a living loch ness. >> they don't attack people, they're just big and powerful. when he wants to get away, we might get hurt. >> reporter: just as we admire it? holy moly. that was a close one, with a head like concrete he could have seriously hurt someone, he swims away. next? >> amazon red tail cat fish. a lot of people's favorite fish because of the colors, really nice pattern on his head, bright red tail, white stripe along his body. those little moon-shaped pads that you see, those are his teeth. >> reporter: that is light. they're not cuddly, but they are kind of cool. beautiful fish. >> yeah, these are really

pretty. >> reporter: back at our spot we finally get a bite. the battle is on, suddenly we get a glimpse. zeb and the guide know right away. >> this is a monster cat fish, you have to be careful. >> reporter: we have a giant cat fish on our line, the king of monster fish. >> and they are the hardest fish, you're trying to reel in, but you're not even doing anything. just don't even try to reel in right now, just hold onto the rod. that is your job. >> reporter: okay, do you want to try -- he is so powerful we have to keep trading off. oh, my gosh. but finally with my arms like jelly? okay, it feels like i'm trying to pull in a mack truck. the cat fish gives in. >> here you go. >> reporter: it takes three of us to do it, but then zeb hops in the water. and my first monster fish is in

my net. >> there we go. >> reporter: wow, amazing! it's okay to just -- >> yeah, to just touch him. this is the macong giant cat fish, the cat fish don't have scales. you feel his skin. it is very soft. >> reporter: a little bit slimy. it is so rare even zeb has not even one in the wild in more than three years. >> it is a fish that very few people have seen, and certainly in the wild, nobody has ever seen one of these in the wild. >> reporter: oh, man, no teeth? >> yeah, put your hand there. >> reporter: oh, man, wow. he gets checked out. >> you feel him -- >> reporter: yeah, i feel him getting stronger, it doesn't take long for him to recover. zeb wishes everybody could do this, monster, yes, but also magnificent. these living fossils that still exist among us, just underneath

the surface. that is amazing. fresh fish, and ooh, slime to prove it. for "nightline," gloria rivera. >> it airs fridays. next, new photos of dzhokhar tsarnaev, who released them and why? since i've been using crest pro-health, i've noticed a huge improvement. [ male announcer ] go pro for a clean that's up to four times better, try these crest pro-health products together. [ carolina ] the toothpaste is really awesome. it cleans a lot. [ male announcer ] crest pro-health protects not just some, but all these areas dentists check most. this is gonna be a very good checkup. i feel it. [ male announcer ] go pro with crest pro-health toothpaste. always triclosan-free. after using crest pro-health for a few weeks, i just feel brighter, fresher, cleaner.

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tonight on feed frenzy, that rolling stone cover continues to spark outrage, and one photographer decided to take things into his own hands. targeting tsarnaev, just as the controversy over the rolling

stone cover of the boston marathon bombing suspect sparked outrage and boycotts. photos from the night of tsarnaev's bloody capture. he said that the images makes it glamorous. emmy snubbed, netflix's "house of cards," the first series to nab an emmy nomination for drama today. but it was the academy snub that had us saying wow. fox's new girl, the fan favorite that snagged multiple nominations last year didn't get a single nod. neither did the most watched cable drama, amc's "the walking dead." cruising down memory lane.