♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, what she saw. a horrifying crime. >> it was one of the more brutal scenes i've ever seen in my career. >> kelly clayton, the beautiful young mother, murdered. >> and there was blood everywhere. >> her 7-year-old daughter, charli, the only witness. >> charli had told that she had seen somebody hitting her mother with what she described as like a white stick. the shocking details about the suspect. >> she kept saying, he did this, he did that. finally i said, how do you know it's a he? she said, "his eyes looked just like daddy's." >> the victim's husband

thomas clayton, a former semi-pro hockey player, seemingly has an airtight alibi. plus the exclusive prison interview. police unravel the twisted plot behind the murder. >> as police begin interviewing all kinds of people close to thomas clayton, a name comes up, michael beard. >> making a stunning connection between the victim's husband and the handyman. >> the focus shifted from thomas clayton doing the crime itself. now it became a murder for hire. >> what the hitman is saying now. >> what evidence can you point to that shows that you're innocent? >> this special edition of "nightline," "what the little girl saw," will be right back. she's feeling the power of listerine. he's feeling it. yep, them too. it's an invigorating rush... ...zapping millions of germs in seconds. for that one-of-a-kind whoa... ...which leaves you feeling... ahhhhhhh listerine. feel the whoa! i'm feeling better. body pain? headache? nope. all in one and done.

cuh-congestion? better. cough? fever? better. mucinex all in one relieves 9 symptoms in 1 dose. it's not cold and flu season. it's always comeback season.

♪ good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm phil lipof. tonight we hear from a man serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a young mother of two. the only witness to the crime, the victim's 7-year-old daughter. how she helped them solve a twisted murder for hire plot. here's "nightline" coanchor byron pitts. >> help me, help me, my wife's dead. >> the 911 call was pretty eerie. he had just found his wife. >> is she breathing at all? nothing? >> no. >> is she beyond beyond cpr? >> yes, yes.

trust me. you'll see, you'll see when they get here. >> reporter: what police did see when they arrived shocked even veteran investigators. >> oh my god. >> now it became a murder for hire. >> the actual story needed to be heard versus what you heard and what they wanted you to know. >> the southern tier of new york, we border on pennsylvania. it's kind of a rural area. >> reporter: in winter, hockey draws a big crowd around here. >> guys want to fight someone, just like when you're a little kid, you get so mad you want to fight. >> reporter: thomas clayton is a local celebrity. one night after a game, kelly catches his eye. within the year the couple are married and eventually have two children. >> i thought they were an ideal family. they did everything together. >> reporter: then one night, tom clayton comes home late for a poker game and makes a horrifying discovery.

>> help me, help me, my wife's dead. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know, i don't know, i just got home. >> reporter: police were called to the house. their body cameras capture the horrific scene. >> anybody else in the house? just you? >> the kids are at the neighbor's house. >> where's she at? >> the victim lay dead on the kitchen floor, her head bashed in, hit with some kind of heavy object. >> it was gruesome. there was blood spatter pretty much everywhere. >> tom, where were you when this all went down? >> playing poker with my buddies. >> okay. she was home alone? >> i came home and my daughter said there was a robber in the house, and she saw them. >> he had checked his clothes and his hands. >> let me see your hands real quick. you ain't hurt or anything? okay, good. >> for any sign of struggle or blood or any other evidence that would indicate he was part of this and found nothing.

>> we've got blood on the wall, blood on the steps. looks like she was attacked in bed. there's blood all over. she's been dragged. blood on the wall. blood with a hole in the wall, looks like a face plant into the wall. >> her face was basically destroyed. >> reporter: as the night wears on, investigators are combing through everything for evidence. no murder weapon turns up, but they do find suspicious tire tracks. >> the side door's open, that door's open no forced entry. >> we checked the safe. we checked her jewelry. there was no sign of theft at all. when you see that kind of damage, especially to someone's face, it tends to lead you to a crime of passion. >> while authorities suspected early on this could be a domestic dispute, thomas clayton had an alibi. >> this is where we played poker on monday evenings, every monday at 7:00. >> take me back to september 28,

2015. >> his mind was not into poker, you could tell. usually he maybe jokes around a lot more. there was none of that. he was doing a lot of texting on his phone. >> he was there until the game broke up? >> greg miller recalled that thomas left his home at about 12:15 for the 10 to 15-minute ride home. >> husband's claiming he was out playing poker. came home. kid said, "daddy, there was a robbery." >> colin 3, charli 7. these poor kids went to bed and woke up and they had lost everything. life as they knew it was gone. charli had witnessed the entire brutal murder of her mother. >> in her room, she hears her mother yelling, "run, charli, run." her mother actually got to her bedroom doorway and may have

actually taken a step inside. charli follows the fight. >> charli had told that she had seen somebody hitting her mother with what she described as a white stick. >> she kept saying," he did this," "he did that." i said, "how do you know it's a he?" she said, "his eyes looked just like daddy's." >> reporter: those three words, "eyes like daddy," opened a pandora's box. >> that was a chilling moment for me. i knew that i needed some help in this interview. >> "20/20" obtained this video of charli's interview with investigators. >> and there was blood everywhere. >> where? >> on my door, on the floor, not on the carpet, though. and i thought she was dead when

she was lying on the ground and dad di was out in the car for basically 20 minutes. he came home, oh my god, because he saw my mom on the floor with blood all over. >> here's a 7-year-old girl that saw one of the most traumatic things you're ever going to see in your life. and she's a smart girl. super smart girl. and i think her mind was trying to work through it and figure out, what did i just see? >> thomas clayton was arrested and charged with the murder of his wife. this description from charli of this assailant looking like her daddy, eyes, mask, clothes. he gets charged, largely based upon charli's words. clearly police knew they still had a lot of work to do. they've now charged thomas clayton with the murder of his

wife, even though he had a rock-solid alibi. when we come back, the investigation takes an unexpected turn. police discover there was another person in the house. >> open the door, walks in, get the shock of my life. ulcerative colitis persists... when me put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable,... i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. check. when uc held me back... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when uc got the upper hand... rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older... with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks.

don't take if allergic to rinvoq... as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there, with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq. and learn how abbvie could help you save. victor... why are you still living with odors? get back in there and freshen instantly with new febreze air mist. that's right! febreze now has a new, finer mist that floats in the air longer and quickly fills the room to help eliminate even your toughest odors. leftover fried fish funk? instant freshness! gaming teen odors? instant freshness! spray new febreze air mist to keep your home smelling fresh and clean. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor.

learn more at boost.com/tv i've been telling everyone... now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america.

business can happen anytime, anywhere. so help yours thrive and stay connected with the comcast business complete connectivity solution. it's the largest, fastest, reliable network. advanced gig speed wifi. and cyberthreat protection. starting at just $49.99 a month. plus, you can save up to 60% a year when you add comcast business mobile. or, ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card. complete connectivity. one solution, for wherever business takes you. comcast business. powering possibilities.

♪ this case came back into the spotlight after one of the killers decided to tell his side of the story. here again is byron pitts with his exclusive prison interview with michael beard. why he's now claiming the wrong man is behind bars.

>> a man accused of killing his wife in their home in september appeared in court today. >> clayton pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. >> reporter: facing multiple charges for the killing of his wife, kelly, thomas clayton says he's innocent and has an alibi to prove it. but prosecutors say the evidence points to a different story. >> we found that thomas had been dating women even before the murder of kelly, but certainly after the murder of kelly as well. >> reporter: as the investigation proceeds, a new suspect comes into the picture. >> thomas clayton and michael beard knew each other for at least five years. >> mr. beard, i'm byron pitts. >> reporter: i sat down with clayton's former employee, michael beard, for his first and only interview from prison. >> go-to guy, he needs something done, his handyman? how would he describe it? >> he'd describe me as being a reliable worker.

>> michael beard, children in south carolina, a child in upstate new york. primary breadwinner. he was living paycheck to paycheck. when he met thomas clayton, this local sports hero who had a business, he thought his life was changing for the better. >> our relationship was more of a work relationship. i never hung out with him after work, nothing like that. >> reporter: clayton not only employed beard to do day jobs for his fire and damage restoration firm, he was also his landlord. weeks before kelly's murder, beard was fired. financially, what state did it leave you in when you lost your job? >> basically broke. >> reporter: the police get a break when lucky miller, who hosts poker night with her husband, tells them that clayton used her phone the night of the murder. >> find out that this suspicious call that was made was michael beard. >> reporter: the police bring him in for questioning. >> he denies any involvement with the murder. he says that he had been at home the night of the murder drinking

with his wife the entire night, never left the house. >> holly barrett was michael beard's partner. they had been fighting, and he left. that fits in with getting a call from thomas at 10:53. holly says something that actually really cracks the case. thomas clayton had approached michael beard about burning his house down for $10,000. >> i was like, mike, is $10,000 the reason you killed kelly? he kind of paused for a second and responded, "yeah, that's why i did it." >> reporter: a surprising twist for investigators, beard making a full confession to murdering kelly clayton as another job for his boss. beard said, "he wanted me to go to the house, kill kelly, then light the house on fire." he said the kids would be at her sister's house. there was also gas in the garage. h wanted the cars to burn also so he could collect insurance money."

>> beard confesses to the murder, tells him where the murder weapon is, tells him where the bloody clothes are buried. adds the critical detail. the reason he did it was because tom clayton offered him $10,000 to kill his wife. >> the focus shifted from thomas clayton doing the crime himself, now it became a murder for hire. >> with beard's confession, prosecutors feel pretty confident they've got an airtight case. but then, just before the trial, beard recants. now prosecutors have got a mess on their hands. >> he says, "i didn't kill kelly." he says he was there that night, he says he was there to set the house on fire but that he got scared, backed out. >> then he looks up and there' a mysterious figure who was there at the house, handed him a murder weapon. >> michael beard called us. he wanted to tell his side of the story exclusively to

"20/20." >> because the actual story needs to be heard versus what you've heard and what they wanted you to know. >> reporter: there's something beard maintains is true, that clayton called asking him to come to the house the night of the murder. > and why is all this happening so late at night? >> doing a 24/7 restoration company, calls could come in at any time. >> you'd gone to his house this late at night? >> i've been to his house 3:00 in the morning. i go, get the key, open the door, walk in, get the shock of my life. i see her laying on the floor. and i get scared from that point. which -- not using it for an excuse, but i never called 911 that night. >> why not? >> i wanted to get out of that situation. i walked into something that had nothing to do with me. >> you're a grown-ass man. when you walk in, you see a woman dead on the ground, or at best unconscious on the ground, blood everywhere.

you don't think to offer her assistance? >> put yourself into my shoes. i'm a black man in the middle of a white neighborhood in the middle of the night. where a white woman's laying dead on her kitchen floor. i didn't want nothing to do with that. and i'm sorry. >> now, this is, in layman's terms, is a signed confession. >> that's -- that was not my words. prior to that statement, they came and they laid down the whole scenario to me on what i supposedly had done. so the more resistance that i gave them, my family starts to come into play with this. so i'm telling them, "if you keep my family out of this," i said, "you can say whatever you want to say and i'll deal with it." >> that, in my opinion, would not be helpful to an interview, to threaten him. people need to give confessions voluntarily in order for them to be believable, in my experience.

>> i wouldn't want to coerce a confession from somebody that didn't do it. just morally, it's wrong. like, i wouldn't be able to sleep at night if i did that. >> breaking news, michael beard has been found guilty on all charges in the death of kelly stage clayton -- >> michael beard was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder. he was sentenced to life without parole. >> what evidence can you point to that shows that you're innocent? >> in the victim's hands is the dna of an unknown source. doesn't match my profile. on the victim's clothing, again, dna that does not match my profile. >> reporter: according to authorities, the dna on kelly's clothing was likely from her husband or son, not beard. but the dna sample found underneath chilly's fingernails was insufficient to either identify or exclude anyone, including beard.

>> when kelly clayton ran down the hall, we found her palm prints on the door. mixed in with that blood, we found michael beard's profile. his dna was in that blood swath that was recovered from that bedroom door. >> the evidence was really overwhelming, that michael beard had actually killed kelly clayton. the question was, what evidence was there that tom clayton actually hired michael beard? >> this case really became all circumstantial. we don't have a smoking gun. >> 12 jurors will decide the fate of thomas clayton. >> reporter: when michael beard changed his story, the prosecution could not use him as a witness. >> the cell phone records turned out to be very pivotal in the investigation. >> the phones really provided a timeline of interaction, of planning. >> it's a pattern that clearly shows that michael beard and thomas clayton did this together. >> there's no direct proof that

tom clayton engaged in a plot with beard to kill there was no record of any payment. >> the motive was to get rid of kelly. he didn't want to go through a divorce. part of our proof at trial was to show he engaged in extramarital affairs. >> it's a distraction. the question isn't whether it was right that tom clayton had affairs, the question is, did he do this crime? >> reporter: after several weeks in court, thomas clayton's fate now rests in the hands of the jury. >> breaking news out of steuben county court. >> thomas clayton guilty on first degree and second-degree murder charges. >> at his sentencing, clayton is given life in prison without parole. >> first and foremost, i am extremely proud and honored to call thomas my son. >> reporter: in a statement to abc news, clayton's family says their support for him is

unwavering, and they pray that the justice system will right this incredible wrong. >> i believed that thomas clayton was a white privileged man. he used michael beard. michael beard would do just about anything for money for his family. >> the children are in the custody and care of kelly's sister. and it's my understanding that both kids are thriving. >> you took her life, not her light. and her light will shine forever. through charli, through colin, through me, forever. and we'll be okay. >> stay with us, we'll be right back. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill,

once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you.

you go by lots of titles. veteran, son, dad. -it's time to get up. -no hair stylist and cheerleader. so adding a “student” title might feel overwhelming. but what if a school could be there for all of you? career, family, finances and mental health. it's coming along. well, it can. national university. supporting the whole you. in las vegas, the most popular food is broccoli. yeah, that's the only food. they have broccoli smoothies, and broccoli pancakes, and broccoli ice cream, and broccoli hotdogs, and of course, they have raw unseasoned broccoli..... with stems. -daddy, i don't want to go to las vegas with you and mommy tomorrow. oh, are you sure?

are you sure you don't want to go, it will be so much fun!

♪ both thomas clayton and michael beard have exhausted their appeals and are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. clayton declined to speak to us. of "what the little girl saw" on hulu. that's "nightline." we'll see you right back here at the same time monday. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.