for over 15 years i slept with a shotgun at the end of my bed. i slept with my weapon next to my head. i know the laws. tonight on "20/20" -- does mother really know best? three mothers. making headline and bad behavior. >> one drinking while nursing. one stalking the neighborhood. and this one, did she conspire with her own son to kill her husband? >> at that point, i just said it, i wish he was dead. >> he survived a drive-by shooting. how clean is the victim himself? >> you won't say whether -- >> we're not talking about this.

>> shame on me. shame on me. mommy or mastermind? plus, parents going crazy over the kids' games. meet the soccer mom who took it a whole new level. batter up. and -- >> i did breast-feed. >> the mom who made national headlines with a different kind of feeding frenzy. >> in your opinion you did nothing wrong. >> yes. >> yet your opinion got you arrested? tonight, does mom really know best. here now, elizabeth vargas and david muir. the dramatic trial just ended proving what happens in vegas often ends up in a courtroom. a drive-by, almost fatal shooting. was it road rage? >> did a las vegas mother draft

her own son to do her dirty work? tonight, we take you inside the case the husband who barely survives the wife at the center of the case, both talking nl to "20/20." here's gio benitez. >> reporter: las vegas. 4:30 a.m. on a brisk november morning, as the party on the strip winds down, robert bessey is putting pedal to the metal on interstate 15, hurrying to his job as a heavy machine operator at a landfill out in the mojave desert. suddenly, he's got company. >> i'm about midway into my commute. a vehicle comes onto the highway, same way a patrolmen would. >> reporter: so, in your mind, you were thinking that's a patrolman? >> the speed limit's 75. i'm doing 85, so, yes. i'm getting pulled over, but instead of getting lit up with the reds and blues, they just kind of hang right there.

as i turned my head i hear a pop. >> reporter: the car speeds off as quickly as it appeared, and it takes robert a few moments to realize what's happened. >> in the corner of my eye, i could see that my rear-window was blown out. at that point i feel some blood in the back of my neck. i can feel the spent ammunition, the bullet. so, i called 911. i'm bleeding like hell. i've been shot -- >> reporter: as state troopers race to the scene, robert next calls his boss to let him know he won't be in. >> i think i've been shot. they said, "hey, that's a new one on us." for some reason, they didn't believe that. >> reporter: trooper chelsea webster, who responds to the 911 call, finds the report of a single gunshot laughable too. >> it definitely seemed hard to believe, you know, a lot of things can sound like a gunshot. >> reporter: but robert is positive he was shot and provides details about the alleged get-away car.

what was it that you noticed right away about that car? >> the gold color of the fender. >> reporter: robert is rushed to las vegas university medical center where doctors do in fact remove a single bullet from his neck. as you can see from this photo of his wounds, his odds of survival were longer than drawing an inside straight flush at caesar's. >> because i was turned and it hit the skull, that's what stopped me from dying. >> reporter: authorities are puzzled. >> did somebody do it or was it possible he did it himself? we -- we had just so many things to consider. >> reporter: it all felt so random. could this have been a case of road rage? >> get the [ bleep ] out! you [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> reporter: there have certainly been enough cases of motorist mayhem in recent years to think that suv driver was yet another highway psycho. >> it's a scary situation. >> reporter: so, it's no surprise local reporters paint robert bessey's shooting as a

road rage story at first. >> road rage, which authorities say could be the case here. >> reporter: but as detectives interview robert in the hospital, he presents a far stranger explanation of how that bullet wound up in his neck. >> you have family drama combined with wild allegations. this case is a made-for-tv movie. >> reporter: 20 years ago, robert bessey married amy pearson, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed stunner. >> it was great. i love my wife. >> he treated me like a queen. >> reporter: they each have two children from previous relationships. then they have three more together. in this photo from a disneyland vacation -- >> they're your average, happy family in this photo. >> nothing in the world matters to me but my kids. >> our e-mail address was the bessey bunch. you know, after the brady bunch >> there are seven kids. and parents, so nine of us. it was hectic, it was never

boring. >> reporter: she may dye her hair these days, but aly, who became robert's adopted daughter, says that's because growing up there was another side of life with her new dad, robert, enforced strict codes of dress and behavior. >> they wanted us to seem like the perfect family when behind closed doors it was -- it was hell. >> reporter: according to amy's sisters, mary johnson and donna speakman, robert even dressed his once-glamorous wife -- >> amy wasn't allowed to wear certain clothes. >> it was loose and baggy. nothing to show form. >> it came to a point where robert would lay her clothes out in the morning before he went to work. that's when we started going, "wait a minute amy. what's going on?" >> reporter: and what would she say? >> she's like, "i'm being obedient to my husband." >> reporter: the family says you were controlling. were you? >> when i meant no, i meant no. when i meant yes, i meant yes. is that controlling? i don't know. >> reporter: for years, amy was okay with that arrangement. >> being a wife is exactly what

i was made to be. but the same could not be said for her first-born son, michael, who became robert's adopted son. >> he was a disciplinarian. this was not his biological child. there were problems. >> as michael grew up he was so intimidated from robert, because he couldn't do anything right. >> reporter: as soon as mom's little soldier turns 19, michael makes his escape, ditching the discipline of his desert home for the relative tranquility -- of the u.s. army! michael joining the army, was that to get away? >> he wanted to become a man. that was his words. >> reporter: after a tour of duty in south korea, michael returns a different person. >> he was so changed. he stood tall, he would look you right in the eyes. >> reporter: so, now, here we have robert the man of the house. did they butt heads? >> michael had grown a pair at this point. >> two alpha dogs fighting.

>> it just got worse and worse and worse. the animosity and the level of all of it. >> reporter: it all comes to a head in 2012, six months before the shooting, robert moves out and divorce proceedings begin. >> good morning, we're here on bessey versus bessey. >> i did what was right and i got away. it's time to move on. >> reporter: but had everybody really moved on? no, not according to robert. from his hospital bed robert tells police that adopted son, michael, still harbors a burning rage. >> he's not just talking about typical problems in a family. he's saying, "my son threatened to kill me!" so the authorities now have a real lead. >> reporter: but michael insisted he'd spent the night before with his mom over at his aunt mary's house -- everyone enjoying a big spaghetti dinner. and amy tells police he was home with her the rest of the night. >> did you stay there at your house? >> yeah. >> did michael leave the house?

>> no. >> reporter: and remember, robert specifically recalled that the shot came from a gold suv. michael drove a pewter gray bronco. the shooting remains a mystery until a tip breaks the case wide open. >> the suspect's vehicle was a gold colored -- >> gold-colored chevy tahoe or suburban. >> reporter: thanks to news coverage, a trucker reports seeing a gold suv at this gas station the morning of the shooting, just a few miles from the interstate. >> if robert hadn't said gold suv, we don't have our key piece of evidence. >> reporter: police head here and check the security cameras. in a word -- bingo. and we're not talking scratch off. that's michael there buying a monster energy drink and snacks at the counter with his uncle ricc, amy's brother, and an ex-con fresh out of prison. and in that video, there was a little smile, wasn't there? >> oh, yeah, there was a smirk for sure. >> reporter: and that, for you, was that chilling?

>> absolutely. >> reporter: after scooping up their munchies, the two get into the suv and drive off in the direction of i-15 where robert was about to be shot. soon, police track down that suv. it belongs to uncle ricc's girlfriend. in short order, they slap the cuffs on the gang that literally couldn't shoot straight. >> police say they've made an arrest in a shooting on i-15. >> reporter: case closed? not by a long shot. police are about to unearth more stunning revelations about the bessey bunch, which will explain why we're talking to amy behind bars. >> shame on me, shame on me. >> reporter: and the victim of the shooting guilty of something himself? >> this case kind of got out of control quickly. >> this case kind of got out of control quic[ kelly ] my days start early. and so do mouth germs. but now i have the protection of colgate total® mouthwash. it works just as hard and just as long as i do. [ man ] rolling in 5! [ male announcer ] colgate total® mouthwash.

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that's merrill edge and bank of america. "20/20" continues. once again, gio benitez. 21-year-old michael bessey, another man identified as richard pearson. he was arrested on attempted murder and battery charges. >> reporter: even after michael bessey and his uncle ricc have been arrested in the attempted murder of michael's adoptive father robert, investigators are just scratching the surface of

this case. >> this case kind of got out of control quickly. >> reporter: that's because robert has made a most disturbing allegation, telling police michael has an "unnatural" relationship with his mother, and describing a letter michael had written to amy with the phrase "i miss touching you." there is no question that robert bessey was suggesting that amy was having an incestuous relationship with michael. by making these allegations, he's suggesting a possible motive, that michael, his adopted son, wants him out of the picture, so he can have his mother to himself. >> robert kept insisting that michael was getting too close to his wife, it's ludicrous. >> he was jealous. >> he was jealous. >> reporter: amy denies there was ever anything wrong about her relationship with her son. she says robert had become delusional and unstable as michael challenged his authority, and made it all up.

>> michael getting older and bigger. robert came unraveled over the last two years. >> reporter: amy is making an alarming allegation of her own. she claims robert wasn't just overbearing, he was physically abusive for years. >> it went on for a while. it went on for quite a while. >> reporter: so why did you stay with him? >> where was i supposed to go? what -- what was i supposed to do? >> reporter: she says she'd finally had enough when robert gave her these bruises in a big blowout six months before the shooting. >> he went off and it was where i was on the floor with my hands and legs in the air telling him i just want to get up. i couldn't even breathe anymore. >> reporter: after that amy got a temporary protective order, which in turn led to divorce proceedings. given all that drama -- if michael couldn't stand his adoptive father and wanted to protect his mom, well, who wouldn't? >> hmm, god, this is hard to talk about. i hope you know that. >> reporter: amy's abuse

allegations are backed up by michael and by amy's sisters. so what does dear-old dad say about all this? >> reporter: did you hit amy? >> i'm going to take control of this situation. i won't talk about anybody in my family, and that is me taking control right now, and that is my example of controlling. >> reporter: you won't say -- whether -- >> we're not talking about that. >> reporter: police are now exploring a new theory, that robert's estranged wife hated him enough to have plotted his murder with michael and uncle ricc. were they just pawns in this game, and was amy the queen? >> we suspected amy was involved because she was the one that directly benefits from robert's death.

>> she's the mastermind. >> reporter: but amy told police just what she told us. sitting here today, you can say you had absolutely nothing to do with that shooting? >> positively. absolutely. nothing. >> reporter: her alibi? the same as michael's, she says she was at that spaghetti dinner at her sister's house the night before, then went home and was asleep in bed when the crime occurred. anyway, she says if she really wanted her husband dead, she could have shot him in self-defense when he got violent. >> for over 15 years, i slept with a shotgun at the end of my bed. i slept with my weapon next to my head. with robert beating the crap out of me. i'm bloody. i know the laws. that would have been a righteous shoot. >> reporter: a month after michael's arrest, amy is still in the family home with her kids, being a mom. that's when a bombshell explodes in the district attorney's office. >> we had a jailhouse informant

send a letter actually to sam's desk. michael has been spilling his guts to a snitch, saying mommy had murder on her mind. >> as i read the letter, there were a number of details that he provided. >> reporter: among those details, that amy had been plotting robert's murder for months. >> robert and amy had the big blowout that spawned the whole divorce proceedings. i think that's when she started to plot his death. >> reporter: but prosecutors don't think amy's motive was her safety. robert had already moved out of the house and was keeping his distance. no, they say, it's something much simpler, something folks in vegas would understand -- a jackpot. >> she was the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. >> reporter: and that life insurance policy was worth? >> $250,000. >> reporter: and the letter also blows up amy's alibi, and puts her near the scene of the crime. michael has told the snitch amy didn't stay home in bed. in fact, she drove to a diner just down the highway from the shooting, picked up michael, and helped him get away. the noose is tightening.

at that point, did you think you would be arrested? >> i no, i didn't have any idea about any of it. that is beyond me. that is evil. >> reporter: the prosecutors aren't buying it. they charge amy with seven different felony counts, and get ready to take her to trial. when we come back, the accused mastermind of the sinister plot takes the stand, and you won't believe what she has to say. >> i was fed up. at that point i just said it -- "i wish he was dead." >> reporter: and just wait till you hear the surprise prosecutors have in store for the jury. how many times do you think amy tried to kill her husband? >> she tried at least three times. >> reporter: when "20/20" continues.

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"20/20" returns. with "does mother really know best?" once more, gio benitez. >> reporter: las vegas prosecutors have charged

amy bessey with seven felonies including conspiracy to commit the murder of robert bessey, her husband of 18 years and father to 7 children. the case making national headlines. >> amy bessey is charged with plotting to kill her husband in a drive-by shooting with her brother and her son carrying out the crime. >> reporter: as the trial begins the prosecutors come out swinging. >> hell hath no fury as a woman scorned and that fury is the rage that she felt against her husband robert bessey. >> reporter: they tell the jury that they now have evidence amy had hatched schemes to off her husband not once, not twice but -- >> she tried at least three times. >> reporter: what follows is a parade of would-be and wannabe assassins. >> there may be no stronger

evidence than witnesses coming forward and saying, "yeah, amy bessey wanted me to kill her husband. and tried to get me to do it." >> reporter: enter courtney smith -- michael's ex-girlfriend. she testifies that amy spoke about that insurance policy incessantly. >> she said that it was for $250,000 and that she had made the comment that he was worth more dead than alive. >> reporter: and, smith says, she was in on one of the first, unsuccessful murder plots, a failed attempt to poison robert on father's day. death would be delivered in can of red bull laced with arsenic. >> who delivered that red bull to robert? >> i did. >> who actually handed it to you to deliver it to robert? >> amy. >> reporter: the defense draws out that courtney has an axe to grind with amy. >> and then you have a conversation with police which you describe amy as a [bleep]? >> she can be. >> reporter: up next -- vincent

swedberg michael's biological father. prosecutors say amy tried to recruit him as a hit-man too. >> did there come a point in time when she asked you to make him disappear? >> yeah. >> what did you take that to mean? >> dead. >> did there come a point in time where after you said no, that she would have someone else take care of it? >> i think so, yeah. >> reporter: the third time was the charm. prosecutors say, amy decided to keep things in the family, turning to her baby brother, ex-con ricc pearson. recruiting him and her own son michael to do her dirty work. >> everything leads back to amy bessey. >> reporter: did you ever tell ricc or michael or both -- did you ever tell them, "i wish he was dead"? >> no. not in those words. i did make the comment in front of everybody in my family that i wish the son of the [bleep] was dead. >> reporter: so in front of your family, you told them, "i wish he was dead." >> yeah. as a blanket statement, not, "somebody do this for me, somebody do this for me," like

it was portrayed at trial. that quote is one of those things that you wish you could take back. >> reporter: but there's no going back now. prosectors are finally ready to lay out their chronology of the crime -- it is the night before the shooting -- amy and michael are at that spaghetti dinner at aunt mary's. at 10:44 p.m., prosecutors say, a telltale text is sent from uncle ricc to amy. >> ricc was communicating with amy and saying, is everybody there? >> reporter: 1:47 a.m. the plan is afoot. prosecutors say the three conspirators go silent on their cell phones. 3:28 a.m., michael and uncle ricc pick up that energy drink and get spotted by the gas station

security cameras near the scene of the crime. >> she said if her brother hadn't stopped to get an energy drink, they would have never gotten caught. >> reporter: 4:35 a.m., the plan is executed on that lonely stretch of interstate 15. >> who do you think pulled the trigger? >> it's impossible to say. >> reporter: but the executioners have botched the job. their intended target lives to tell! >> if robert had been killed -- the information about the gold suv probably never would have made it to detectives. >> reporter: and at 5:07, yet another bone-headed mistake. uncle ricc calls amy, pinging a tower nearby the crime scene. >> there is no question this is amateur hour. >> reporter: staring at a maximum prison sentence of 91 years, amy rolls the dice, testifying on her own behalf. >> i said that i wanted him dead. that's different from what you're saying. >> reporter: but now she flip-flops. no, she didn't just go home from that spaghetti dinner and go to bed like she told the cops. on the stand she says she did

drive to that diner to pick up michael, but it was totally innocent. >> "i went and picked -- i never saw the vehicle. that's what my brother said, they had a flat, take michael home," i said okay. i sat and had a cup of coffee, and took my son home. >> so you lied to detective majors? >> no. when -- not on purpose, but yes, i did. >> yes, you did lie? >> yes, by omission, obviously, yes. >> when you're testifying on your own behalf, having to admit that you lied to the police doesn't help. >> reporter: but amy continues to proclaim her innocence through a two-week trial. >> did you participate in any way in the attempt on robert bessey's life? >> no, i did not. >> reporter: but the vegas jury doesn't go for it -- returning a verdict in time to make it home for dinner. >> guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. >> ms. bessey, i've given a great thought to this. >> reporter: the judge sentences

amy to 14 to 44 years, her daughter aly collapses in court. as far as you're concerned, was your mother behind a murder-for-hire plot? >> there's only speculation. i have no idea, but there i go with my heart that's screaming "no, that's my mom. that's my mommy." i'm done. >> reporter: michael and ricc plead guilty and are expected to be sentenced next month. they declined our requests for interviews. do you forgive your shooter? >> i need to forgive them, so i can move on with my life. >> reporter: robert bessey is now resuming his life raising three kids while his 43-year-old ex-wife applies her homemaking skills in a nevada state prison. what message do you have for the people who are watching this? >> if you have family -- do everything you can humanly

possible to love them. keep your family together. >> reporter: is there anything you would have done differently? >> taken my own advice i just gave you. >> reporter: as for the matriarch of the "bessey bunch" -- well, she's ok with how things turned out. she says these concrete walls and barbed wire fences are actually an upgrade -- from her old ball and chain. >> i might be in jail, but for the last 20 years i've been in prison. so for me to -- to have the freedom of my own will instead of a world being imposed on me on a daily basis, there is freedom in that. >> a real prison, better perhaps the life she had. after what you heard, did amy get a just sentence? up to 44 years. let us know on twitter. david and i will be right back. next -- the new mom versus

the waitress. >> two beers and nursing are fine? >> yes. >> plenty of people say, two beers and nursing aren't fine? >> is that really what she was drinking? together again for the first time. when we come back. and tonight, they welcome their newest member, mr. lebron james. what does one serve the best basketball player in the world? the new bacon clubhouse sandwich of course. 100% pure beef or chicken on a new artisan roll. all with our famous big mac special sauce. because everyone deserves the best. there's something for everyone to love at mcdonald's. you should serve it to everyone.

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tonight, to a story that's been blowing up on social media all this week. viewers already weighing in on this one. a mother nursing her newborn baby. the waitress who steps in, asking, does mother really know best? tonight, you decide. here's juju chang. >> reporter: less than an hour outside little rock lies the tiny town of toad suck, arkansas. population, roughly 300. a dry town where alcohol is banned. it's also home for tasha adams, a stay-at-home mother of three. 6-year-old cal, 2-year-old hyde, and the baby, ana, who's just 9 months old. how much do your kids mean to you? >> more than anything in the world. >> reporter: so, how did tasha wind up thrown in jail for endangering the welfare of her baby? for doing something that frankly, a lot of moms do. >> i did drink. i did breast-feed.

i don't know. i didn't know it was illegal. if i knew it was illegal, i wouldn't have done it. >> reporter: this is the first time tasha is talking on camera about her run-in with the law which all began after the funeral of a family friend. afterwards, she and her parents stopped for dinner in the nearby town of conway, where unlike toad suck, you can buy a drink in a restaurant. tasha had her baby, ana, in tow because at the time the 6-month-old was exclusively nursing. >> we had a pizza. and we had a big old thing of spinach dip. i had a beer with that, and then i had another one later on. some people, i'm sure, can drink two beers, and, and get buzzed or drunk. i can't. >> reporter: for you, two beers and nursing are fine? >> yes. >> because there are plenty of people who say two beers and nursing are not fine. >> exactly.

that's opinions. >> reporter: tasha insists she had just two beers over an hour and a half. but that's not what jackie connors says she saw. the off-duty waitress showed up early for an after-hours staff meeting and has a different version of what happened that night, and it disturbed her. >> it's about 30 minutes to last call, and they looked like they were having a good time, just drinking. and, things started getting louder and louder, and then the baby started getting fussy. >> reporter: that's when jackie says tasha began to breast-feed ana. but according to the off-duty waitress, tasha wasn't just drinking beer but something much stronger. cocktails made with hard liquor. >> there were two or three, um, drinks in front of her already when i got there. and then i watched the bartender make 'em, looked like long islands. but regardless if it was that or not, then it was strong liquor. >> reporter: jackie told her fellow waitress to report the breast-feeding mom to management. but she says she was told the manager had already decided not to cut the drinking mother off. jackie, who has an infant daughter of her own, consulted her own mom. >> and i said, "what do i need to do?" you know, and then she's like, "well, i don't know, maybe tell the managers."

i said, "well, the managers already know." so that's whenever she was like, she texted me back and said, "call the police." >> reporter: just after 11:00 that night, police arrived at the restaurant. >> and they said, "ma'am, we've got a report that you were drinking alcohol while breast-feeding." and i said, "okay. i didn't know that was illegal." >> reporter: she's right. it isn't illegal. but after admitting that she'd had two drinks, the officers made a judgment call and arrested her not for public intoxication but for endangering the welfare of a child. her child. but first, they had tasha call a sober family member to drive baby ana home. what went through your mind when you went to jail? >> i was just in disbelief. i've been literally, i've been sent to the principal's office one time when i was in high school, that's the extent of trouble i've been in in my life. >> reporter: so you -- this is surreal to you? >> yes. i'm just, i'm just going, this

is crazy. i'm more worried about my kid, she lives off of me. >> reporter: has he ever had formula before? >> no. >> reporter: that's because tasha says she believes that formula is less healthy. >> i'm very cautious, because i breast-feed, and if i'm drunk, i feel, you know, that i'm not able to take care of my kids. >> reporter: so your view is that you were nowhere near drunk? >> no, not at all. and i wish they would've gave me a breathalyzer, so it could be proven. >> reporter: so why no breathalyzer? conway, arkansas, police tell us they only breathalyze suspected drunk drivers. in your opinion, you did nothing wrong? >> right. >> reporter: and yet, your opinion got you arrested? >> apparently. >> reporter: tasha says the notoriety surrounding the whole incident turned her into the town's pariah. >> this has ruined my life. we live in a small town.

you know, i can't even go to walmart without people looking at me like i'm horrible. >> reporter: but was tasha in fact endangering baby ana? we asked abc's dr. jennifer ashton, an ob/gyn, who told us that surprisingly little research has gone into the issue of drinking while nursing. >> once in a while to consume a drink probably will not do any harm for the baby. >> reporter: so even the american academy of pediatrics does not say zero tolerance? >> correct. they don't say zero. but we have to remember that alcohol is in fact a toxin. it's especially toxic to the newborn brain. >> reporter: so, what is a nursing mother to do if she wants a drink now and then? >> you have the option of pumping in advance, pumping and storing milk. or, saying at the last minute, you know what, i want to have a fun night tonight, i'm going to drink probably more than one drink. and so for the next six hours, i'm going to give my baby formula. >> reporter: the district attorney recently dropped tasha's child endangerment

charge because there was just not enough evidence to prove tasha had had one too many drinks to care for her child. but the waitress, jackie connors, who says she was just trying to do the right thing, was fired the week after calling the cops on tasha. the management of gusano's restaurant wouldn't respond to our repeated requests for comment. the woman who called the police, she ended up getting fired. >> i don't think it had anything to do with me. i have never complained to anybody. you know, but if she really thought my baby was in danger, you know, maybe she done the right thing. >> if i was ever in that situation again i would still do the same thing because that baby can't speak up for itself. no one else was doing anything. >> reporter: it is ultimately a judgment call. like, a lot of people think they're sober enough to drive, a lot of moms might think they're sober enough to breast-feed. >> right. >> reporter: when perhaps they're not? >> maybe so. but --

>> reporter: right. i mean that's the slippery slope. >> right. and i believe, and i'll, i'll say it till the day i die. i was sober enough to breast-feed my kid. can you believe this is stemming from little league baseball? a family terrorized by anonymous letters. just watch how she gets caught, when we come back. help move your career forward. here's how: we work with leading employers to learn what you need to learn so classes impact your career. while helping ensure credits you've already earned pay off. and we have career planning tools to keep you on track every step of the way. plus the freshman fifteen, isn't really a thing here. and graduation, it's just the beginning. because we build education around where you want to go. so, you know, you can get the job you want. ready, let's get to work.

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well with baseball season on the way, we're going to see unfortunately a lot more of that, hopefully but not more. a mother threatening murder over little league. here's deborah roberts. >> reporter: it's springtime and that means little league sports. all about team building, right? well, not exactly. lately, it's a spectacle that seems to be on instant replay. nearly every weekend perceived bad calls, leading to bad behavior. but it's not kid athletes who belong in the penalty box -- it's their parents. fists. four-letter words. free-for-all brawls police he just got slam dunked! and what about this out-of-control dad?

so fearful his son is losing a wrestling match he shoves a 10-year-old clear across the ring, really? but the mvp, most vicious parent award, may very well go to janet chiauzzi. she may look like an unassuming suburban stay-at-home mom, but for more than a year she secretly terrorized her long island, new york, neighbors. >> we spent days, months, years, looking over our back. >> reporter: it all began one summer. john demasi was coaching his son dominic's baseball team when an angry letter was sent to the league board claiming demasi was playing favorites. >> it was just anonymous letter sent how wrong i was coaching the team and how bad we were. >> reporter: then there's another letter and another letter -- who could be so spiteful? month after month, the letters kept coming. the demasis were scared for their lives. >> "i know where your wife goes every day. i know where your daughter goes to dance school." >> reporter: how much did you alter your lives? >> i was working and i stopped.

i didn't feel safe with, you know, somebody else driving my children. i just, i was afraid. >> there was times i slept out here - just nervous about who's coming to the door, who's passing by, and it wasn't easy. >> reporter: but they found comfort in the friends, including janet chiauzzi, a neighbor whose son played ball with dominic and is in the same school. she suddenly began cozying up to linda. >> janet was texting me every other day. >> reporter: texting you about what? >> anything. "which nail salon do you go to?" >> reporter: even showing up at linda's 40th birthday -- uninvited. and here at another event. then, weeks later, a special delivery to the demasis. >> and there was two handwritten envelopes in our mailbox. so, i opened both of them. one was addressed to my son and one was addressed to me. "i made it my life's goal now to observe your family on a 24/7 basis.

don't be planning a vacation any time soon. you will have no home to come back to." >> reporter: that had to knock you for a loop. >> i read the letter written to my son, which was just -- took me down, because it just said that if your father doesn't step back, i'm going to kill him. >> "you might never see your dad again. you all better watching your [ bleep ] backs. this is no joke. this is as real as it gets." >> "get the hell out of east meadow baseball." >> that's to a ten-year-old child. >> reporter: could you believe that this is stemming from little league baseball? a death threat? >> no, i couldn't. but it did. batten down the hatches, lock up, call the police. this is at a next level. >> reporter: how frightened were your children? >> we sat him down and explained it. his initial reaction was to put down his glove and his bat and said, "you know what, dad? i don't need to play baseball anymore." >> reporter: yet, the demasis refused to give into their tormentor's demands. john remained the coach, a terrified dominic still on the team. >> i was definitely nervous.

and when i got up to bat, it felt like someone was always watching me. it definitely made the game more nerve-wrecking and harder to deal with. >> reporter: as the frightened family struggled to go on, nassau county police were sifting through the baseball parent list, looking for anyone who had an axe to grind. and they gradually began focusing on one key piece of evidence -- those envelopes that contained the hateful letters. >> if you just look at the town and the zip code on every single envelope, you can see that they're all the same handwriting. >> reporter: and another slip up, the stamps were all identical. >> that made it apparent that we were dealing with the same person on each occasion. >> reporter: but who? turns out investigators were zeroing in on a parent no one would suspect -- that new friend janet chiauzzi. >> some of the content in the letters showed that this person had some intimate knowledge of the family's background and that's what ultimately led us to

ms. chiauzzi. >> reporter: but to nail her, police needed a copy of her signature. so, linda demasi hatches a plot to trick chiauzzi into giving her one. linda has her 7-year-old daughter collect addresses for a fake fund-raiser. chiauzzi takes the bait. >> the way she wrote "east meadow," it was a certain way. i could feel my knees starting to shake as i was standing there, and i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: a chilling discovery. linda knows beyond a doubt that her so-called good friend was harboring some bad blood. so suddenly you knew that janet chiauzzi was part of this, was behind it. >> it was like a wave just came over us. >> reporter: 48 hours later, police matched the samples. they had their woman. >> new this half hour a long island mother arrested, accused of bad behavior. >> reporter: janet chiauzzi was arrested, charged with stalking the demasi family. >> and she made a full admission to her authoring all the letters

and making these malicious accusations. >> reporter: but what could lead a parent to threaten to kill another? chiauzzi told police she was angry because john, as coach, didn't choose her son for the little league travel team. chiauzzi pled guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, and ordered to stay away from dominic demasi. in a statement, her attorney says his client "was genuinely remorseful and recognized the seriousness of her crimes." for the demasis, justice. but what they didn't get was an apology. >> i wish that, as a mother, she could look at me and say "i'm sorry. i'm sorry i did this."

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