♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, the double life that led to murder. >> molly was absolutely 100% in love with him. >> about to marry her sweetheart. did she learn he was already married before things went horribly wrong? >> the police tell you that your husband has a dead fiancee? >> yes. >> how did the bride to be wind up dead? plus remembering sidney poitier. from groundbreaking roles in movies like "guess who's coming to dinner?" >> you think of yourself as a colored man. i think of myself as a man. >> the legendary actor breaking down barriers with quiet dignity. honestly, i thought my floors were clean.

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♪ thanks for joining us. molly watson thought she was about to marry the man of her dreams. turns out there was a lot that she didn't know about james addi, her fiance, and those secrets led to her murder.

here's our correspondent deborah roberts. >> this is an unbelievable story. this is a story about a man who was living a double life. >> just built and built and built to the point where the guy with two lives was about to have two wives. and he had to make a choice. >> two days before this long-awaited marriage, she's found murdered. >> april 27th of 2018. it was a friday night. >> glen is taking a shortcut from his mother's home in monroe county. he sees this car pulled over on the side of the road. >> i come up on the vehicle, my headlights came over on her body in front of the car. when i seen her, i swear, my heart stopped. i just kind of got a little frantic, i think. i could tell she wasn't moving. >> 911, what's the address of your emergency? >> ma'am -- ma'am -- oh my god.

i don't think she's alive. >> reporter: this case takes place in the american heartland. it's the northeastern section of the state of missouri, monroe county, and neighboring randolph county. >> just farm ground. i mean, just -- there's dairy cows, there's beef cows, there's -- mainly, for the most part, just farming. >> back at the crime scene, investigators are trying to identify this victim. >> it was very obvious within the first few minutes to me that there was foul play involved. she was essentially shot execution style. she had been shot once in the back of the head at point-blank range. >> looks like it's molly watson. >> it is molly watson?

okay. >> when she was born, i actually named her. me and molly were both kind of goofballs. she was like my best friend. even from when we were growing up, i always looked after her. i was always molly's protector. >> the murder of molly watson sends a shudder through her community in rural missouri. everyone is asking, why? the life she led didn't seem to be one that would end in violence.p>> reporter: molly ha son and is in a relationship when she lands a job at the local prison. >> she was a corrections officer-i, down in the wings, had to do counts. >> reporter: molly meets someone at the prison, a lieutenant named james adi. >> molly was 100% in love with him. she would have walked to the end of the earth for him. >> this guy is a proud veteran of the united states marines.

he was born on the 4th of sdwrul. >> james adi has history. he's been married four times. he has so many ex-wives that apparently some of his own family members say she can't keep track of everyone's names. but now it's james and molly. >> reporter: after seven years of having this relationship with james, she surprises her family. she suddenly announces, i'm engaged. >> we always heard excitement about the wedding. the colors, the theme, the decoration. >> molly was over the moon about her upcoming wedding to james adi, but her family wasn't so sure. >> he pulled in one day. sandy was in the kitchen. she says, come here, come here! so we're standing in the kitchen looking out the window. and i went, him? she likes him?

and she said, yeah. >> just days before the wedding, molly is expressing real concern that james is getting cold feet. >> are you still sure you want to marry me with my anxiety >> yes, dear, why would you ask something like that? >> because when you were talking earlier, you sounded like you were starting to doubt your decision. >> not even close, dear. >> as molly's building and getting ready for the wedding, there's some horrible news. james tells molly his ex-wife, melanie, has just died. >> his ex-wife/mother of his kids was in a car accident over the holidays. she had just passed away from the injuries. >> this is such tragic news. and of course it could not have happened at a worse time. just as molly is putting the final touches on her day, her wedding day. boom.

>> on the day that molly watson was murdered, james adi had dropped off centerpieces or decorations for the wedding planner and had made a payment on the wedding. >> deputies say they found a woman's body in the area of highway 151 and route m friday night. >> police get their first big break in this investigation. and that's thanks to the guy in the pickup truck, glen. >> earlier in the night he was taking his daughter to his mother's home. and he saw a car come up and kind of cut him off. >> i pulled over to the side of the road. i can see another car parked over on the right, facing away from me. >> an older white male in a giving grandma car, he said. >> glen had a brief verbal exchange with this older white male, and the other individual indicated glen needed to go around a different way. >> the more i thought about it i

was like, that doesn't -- it's not right. i talked to my mom and my brother for a minute and i told them, i'm going to go back through there. >> that's when he finds molly watson at the scene, dead. calls the police. >> at this muddy crime scene, investigators find remarkably well-preserved tire tracks. >> there were what appeared to be double-os. i think everybody looking thought, probably a goodyear tire. >> investigators find more evidence along nearby roads, including a t-shirt spattered with gunshot residue and molly watson's blood. >> they soon realize something very important is missing from this crime scene. something that really should be there. >> molly watson's cell phone was not found at the scene of her murder. >> reporter: right now, in the middle of the night, there's something they've got to do right away, break the bad news

to molly's fiance, james adi. >> so they went to his house that evening. >> they're expecting that he's going to be devastated that they found the body of his fiancee. >> what they didn't realize is that the shocking news that was going to be delivered to them would change this investigation immediately. >> a bright light is about to illuminate the secret life of james adi. what has he been hiding? you are an electric vehicle. electricity powers your heart. want to feel your heart beat faster? drive an electric car. made by a company whose evs have gone five billion miles... for every highway... every driveway... ...and every speedway. and where the loudest sound... ...is the beat of your electric heart.

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♪

a man drivingage a back road in mural missouri makes a stunning discovery. the body of a woman. so he calls the police. >> is it molly watson? okay. >> the investigators working this crime scene discover that the victim, molly watson, has a fiance. his name is james addie. >> he was supposed to marry molly in like two days. >> so sheriff polston, along with a couple of members of the missouri state highway patrol, went from the crime scene to james addie's home. >> while the trooper is there in the home, he makes a startling discovery. there's another woman in james addie's house. she asks the trooper, what are you doing here? >> the answer is not just a complete surprise, it's a shock. it turns out the woman who was there is james addie's wife.

melanie addie. she had not only been married to james for more than 20 years, but she's the mom of their two children. >> now, this is a stunning moment. since addie had told molly his ex-wife was dead. >> the wife, she denies any knowledge of the affair. i don't think that she knew. >> james addie was interviewed apart from the other members of the home. >> he admits that he was cheating on melanie with molly. and that, yes, they had been engaged to be married. >> he tells them that he had been talking to molly earlier that night, using a phone that he kept hidden from his wife. >> james addie volunteered that the last time he had spoken with molly watson was earlier in that evening. and showed the police a jean shot of a 22-minute phone call

from her to him. >> for police, everything has changed. this man has a wife. he was sweating in the interview. he's got phone and text messages that seem ever so suspicious. what do they do? they arrest him. they charge him with first-degree murder. >> james' wife of 23 years, melanie, admits there were problems in the marriage. but says they could always work through the issues. >> she says she felt her husband was dedicated to his family and very loyal, and she never suspected that he was having an affair. >> did you get any sense of whether he was contented and happy in the marriage? >> he seemed the same all the time. >> james addie was in a completely different place. >> he was over it. he was done. he didn't love her anymore. >> james addie, for the past seven years, had been living two lives. >> he would get up at 3:00,

usually he would get up at 5:00. and i would say, why are you always so late? that would be an argument. he didn't want to tell me anything. p>> any suspicions? >> not about an affair, no. >> no suspicions about an affair meant no suspicions about what was going to happen on april 27, 2018. the night molly watson was killed. >> the police tell you that your husband has a dead fiancee? >> yes. >> you're learning all of this in one night? >> immediately, yeah. >> what did you think? >> it's mind-boggling. it made no sense at all. none. didn't seem right. this was not my life. >> did you think your husband was capable of murder? >> yes, it just seemed like something he would do. to fix a problem. he was a pretty selfish person. he could be controlling and intimidating.

>> after 23 years of marriage, melanie addie had divorced james soon after his arrest. >> a trial has started for a mid-missouri man accused of killing his fiancee. >> james addie, the former prison guard, has himself been under guard, locked up in county jail for three years until his trial begins. glen testifies about seeing that older white man at a crime scene. but in a blow to the prosecution, he cannot identify james addie as the man he saw. >> i just couldn't get a good enough eyeball on him to tell for certain, hey, yeah, that's the guy. >> from glen's description of the car that man was driving, that old grandma car, police say that matches addie's car. >> prosecutors say one of the tires on addie's car, a goodyear tire, is just the kind that could leave a double-o impression like the one found near molly watson's bed. >> the defense is saying, not so

fast. >> there is no widely accepted scientific principle behind an examiner looking at one tire and looking at a cast and saying they look the same. >> and then they introduce a key item of evidence. it's a cell phone, also found out on the side of the road. >> molly watson's cell phone was a vital link in the chain of evidence for prosecutors. but it's almost like molly was speaking from the grave. >> information from her cell phone did tell us that she had driven from her home to this location while she was on the phone with james addie. >> investigators say there's a reference to that story about addie's wife dying after a car crash. >> prosecutors say addie texted molly that his ex-wife's funeral was happening the day before their wedding. >> the funeral was tomorrow. >> i'm sorry, sweetness, i love you so, so much. >> why would james addie lie?

why tell molly his ex-wife, melanie, was dead? some speculate he hoped the story about the car crash would cause molly to postpone the wedding and the collision of his two lives. but instead it may have sped up his day of reckoning. >> forensic searches of molly's phones indicated that the day weave she was murdered, she was looking for melanie addie's obituary. >> prosecutors argue a theory that molly has figured out she's been fed a pack of lies. james' wife isn't dead. he's not free to marry. this guy's a con man. so perhaps molly confronted james, and he decides, well, i'm just going to end it with a gun. >> remember that t-shirt with the gunshot residue and molly's blood? james addie's teen daughter testifies it was one of a kind, that she herself had made it and given it to her father. >> now it's time for the defense to take its turn. they could introduce evidence. they could call witnesses.

or they could put james addie himself on the stand. instead, they do none of the above. >> not putting up a case for the defense is fairly common. because the argument is, it's the state's burden to prove something beyond a reasonable doubt. >> he was in love with molly, was the defense. he was having an affair, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was the killer. >> the jury found james addie guilty of first-degree murder in the death of molly watson and armed criminal action. >> i was so happy to hear that. my sister got justice, my mom and dad got justice. >> do you feel your husband should have been found guilty of murder? >> absolutely, yeah. >> is he a killer? >> apparently. >> two months after his conviction, james addie is formally sentenced. >> i hereby sentence you to life imprisonment without the

possibility of parole. >> i would like to see him and ask him, what were you thinking? why did you do this to us? why did you do this to you? >> you don't see yourself as a sick t victim? >> not at all. molly's the victim. she's not here. she lost her life. >> our thanks to deborah. though serving a life sentence, james addie still proclaims his innocence and has filed an appeal. when we come back, remembering sidney poitier, the distinguished actor who broke down barriers with his talent and dignity. what is... an overpass? come on! question, is that an “s” or a “5”? think it's a 5... i thought so. argh! frustration...loading. [sfx: laser sounds] nobody wants more robot tests. but we could all use more ways to save. chai latte, for “rob ott.” for “rob ott.”

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♪ finally tonight, we leave you with the remembrance of sidney poitier who died today at the age of 94. the acclaimed actor who with grace and authority paved the way in hollywood. he helped fight injustice so future generations could follow in his footsteps. the first person of color to win an oscar for best actor in 1963 for his performance in "lilies of the field."

at a time when black actors usually played stereotype character roles, poitier was a celebrating leading man in movies like "guess who's coming to dinner." >> well, we have this problem. i fell in love with your daughter. >> and "to sir with love." ♪ the time has come for closing books and long last looks must end ♪ >> the film's title song sung by lulu, a classic. ♪ to sir with love ♪