you've lost your husband, you've lost your son, and now your daughter is clinging to life. are you saying this is just a coincidence? >> this is by far the most shocking case i have ever been part of. >> it was unlike anything we had ever seen here.

>> it felt extremely surreal to know that i was, you know, somehow connected to these heinous murders. >> i didn't want another one to die in the house. >> and why is that? >> cause houses are nasty after somebody's died in it. >> i went to her house and asked her what happened, and she proceeded to tell me like she was giving me a recipe to a cake. no emotions. no nothing. >> she must be in great shock. who would think of walking in and finding your son dead? >> how much bad luck can one family have? >> it's not if sarah is going to die but when sarah is going to die. >> she was clinging to life. her brain function is failing. her liver function is failing. >> i just felt like i wanted to strangle my mom because of what she did. >> so are you a killer?

♪ ♪ we've been following this case of diane staudte for about eight years, ever since she confessed to killing members of her own family. she has never talked publicly about how and why until now. we're actually heading to the chillicothe prison in missouri where she's been held for the last six years to hear her story. ♪ ♪ >> hello, diane. i'm deborah roberts. this is a chance for you to speak. which you haven't done, i guess? >> no. >> ever. do you find yourself wondering how you wound up

you a nurse, a mom, a wife, a woman who had a full life. do you think you deserve to be in prison? >> yes and no. >> springfield, is a charming town. everyone is really warm and kind-hearted. >> we have a church and chinese restaurant on every corner. >> it's definitely conservative. you know, it is definitely the buckle of the bible belt. >> we pray to thee our god this day. >> so, whenever things like the staudte case happens, it really rocks the tight-knit community. >> reporter: diane and mark had been married for 26 years and had four children. shaun was 25 years old and the eldest, then sarah, rachel and the youngest was brianna who was 10 years old.

>> mark, her husband, was super active in his band, musically inclined, was fun, loveable. >> mark, growing up, developed a very early ear for music, and he wrote very good songs. ♪ you're just a female judas ♪ ♪ you wanna see me crucified ♪ >> how did you come to meet mark? >> at the time i was looking for new band members. he was just the perfect guy i would want in my band and actually we became fast friends. >> mark was so easy to get along with. our band just gelled immediately, and he was a great front man. >> he was always a very positive influence in my life. >> he was always happy with the kids. he was always happy with his wife. he loved them. he loved his family.

>> reporter: diane and staudte met in 1984 at a bluegrass music festival. >> tell me about mark and meeting him and what those early days were like. >> oh, my. he was a different person then, very outgoing, very nice. >> what attracted you to him? >> we were both into music. >> music was big for both of you? >> music was big for both of us. >> did you fall for him, or did he fall for you? >> kind of both, i would say. we hit it off. >> the first time i met diane she was pregnant. so, maybe the marriage was because of that. but mark seemed to be excited about them getting married. they seemed to be growing into a

relationship. >> may the peace of the lord be with you always. >> all: and also with you. >> reporter: the members of the redeemer lutheran church in springfield. >> i came to know the staudtes right away and they allowed me to become part of their family. >> music in a church can really be a place where the community connects. diane and her daughter rachel were very involved in our music ministry. ♪ from the ashes of a broken ♪ >> diane was involved with everything when it relates to music in church. i played with diana and her daughter rachel and the praise band for -- for almost two years. diane played the organ on sunday's. i played bass guitar. i was excited to play next to diane staudte.

i was honored because i knew she was the consummate musician. >> when did music become a part of your life? >> i started playing piano when i was 3. my mother taught me. it's soothing. >> how important was your faith to you? >> very important. >> you liked going to church? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: by all accounts diane was a busy person. aside from attending church on sundays, she was a trained nurse. she worked full time in the health insurance industry and looked after her four children. >> diane was very earnest. it was very important for her that things were organized well in advance, very, very diligent and diane was a devoted, involved mother. >> let's talk about the children. how would you describe them? >> all my kids were a joy. have you ever heard of little professors' syndrome? they all had their little special interests. >> so, in shaun's case? >> shaun enjoyed reading about

sweden, architecture, mechanics. >> what about sarah? >> she spoke french. rachel was into japan. she plays multiple instruments. >> so, she played in the church band as well, the two of you? >> uh-huh. >> was she talented? >> i think so, yeah. very talented. >> and brianna? >> brianna was into dinosaurs and cats and she was gifted with computers. >> reporter: by all appearances, diane seemed to love her children. >> from the outside looking in, you'd think it was a picture-perfect family. >> i mean, it looks like a very settled happy family. >> uh-huh. those were the good old days. >> you're smiling and the kids look pretty happy. mark looks content.

>> uh-huh. >> when you say the good old days, how good were they? >> pretty good. >> then on easter sunday 2012 tragedy strikes when diane's husband, mark dies. diane then posts this on her facebook page. "for all my friends on fb, this past sunday evening, mark, my husband of 27 years reached his eternal home." >> i was absolutely shocked. >> he's older than i was and this guy was on the front stage performing like he was 21. >> reporter: but is there more to mark's death than meets the eye? >> you're a nurse. >> uh-huh. >> why wouldn't you call 911? >> i was told, no hospitals, no doctors, no nothing, or, quote, i will kill you. that's the old me, before i started taking zeposia.

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springfield. this is the neighborhood where the staudtes spent most of their marriage. a lot of the homes around here are humble homes. >> reporter: before mark's death, the staudte family first moved to the springfield area. >> this home here where mark and diane lived with their four children 900 square feet. six people inside, that's a tight fit, and what we came to learn was that shaun was autistic and this family had a lot of issues. >> so, you and mark are this young couple with this baby. was he diagnosed with autism? >> he wasn't formally diagnosed

until he was in fifth grade. >> my family's impression was that diane really did not want to admit that he had a problem. >> not long after that sarah comes along. what was she like as a baby? >> a lot of separation anxiety. she would scream and throw temper tantrums. >> are you working at that point? >> and i'm working full time. i was the bread winner. i've always been the bread winner. mark could never hold a job very long. he would either play music or basically he stayed at home. >> diane was bringing in the money for the household, but mark was not someone who could keep a house. he did not do housework. he was a bit of a slob unfortunately. >> so rachel and brianna come along. >> uh-huh.

>> now you have four children. >> uh-huh. >> what is life like in the household? >> too busy. very busy. it was a very small home for a big family. just chaos. >> i could see that diane was hurting and lonely. i could see that mark was a dear soul that was not overly able to provide for his family. >> was mark helpful? >> for a while and then he started drinking. >> i could see it was a family in stress and a family that was overwhelmed. but i never heard diane say to me, mark is abusing alcohol. she never said to me, i need help. i need prayer. i'm having troubles. >> was he much of a drinker? >> no, because he blew

harmonica and he sung. so, drinking wasn't his thing. >> he made friends in the band. he was close to some of his band members. did you get to know them? >> i really didn't get to know them, and you know by this time he had his other friends that he'd run around with. >> other friends? what do you mean? >> let's just say they were heavy into drugs. >> i had coffee with mark wednesday of easter week 2012. he asked me how i viewed him, did i see him as crazy? and i said, no, i didn't see him as crazy. i saw him as a person who struggled in life. >> reporter: then on easter week 2012 mark's bandmates starting noticing some unusual changes in his behavior. >> you saw mark that friday before easter. >> right. >> what was he like? >> we were doing a recording

session and we never got the recording done because he was just so out of whack. and i'm like, mark, come on, we're trying to do a recording here. it didn't even click to him that we was trying to record. one thing struck me so out of place -- his skin color. >> what did it look like? >> yellow. his skin was actually a yellowish color. >> so something was wrong with him? >> something was wrong with him. that was the last time i'd seen him. >> reporter: his children are also becoming concerned about their father. >> on april the 7th, shaun writes, my father is slowly getting sicker. his voice is slurred. his walking is wobbly. >> tell me about that weekend. >> he had gone to band practice, like usual.

he came home. he was stumbling about. i finally got him to bed and he just slept. >> were you worried about him when you went to church? >> not really, 'cause i'd seen him do that before. >> so, you come home from church and what do you find? >> he was in the bed. >> and your husband's gone? >> and he wasn't breathing. >> do you know why he died? >> no. >> what did you think when you heard that your pal had died? >> sorry. i'm sorry. it took my breath away. >> you've lost your husband. >> uh-huh. >> you've got four children. >> uh-huh. >> what are you thinking? what are you making of this? >> it hadn't really sunk in. >> how did the kids handle this? >> nobody was really surprised. we knew he was getting worse and worse. >> i talked to diane. i went to her house and asked

her what happened. and she proceeded to tell me, like she was giving me a recipe to a cake. >> matter of fact? >> no emotions. no nothing. >> but you knew something was odd? >> but i knew something was odd about the way she's acting. >> so you try to cope with this and you go to the memorial service. >> yes. >> what was that like? >> i lost my best friend and i was sitting there in tears. when i looked at her -- i kept looking at her, and she wouldn't even acknowledge me and she just kept looking ahead. i thought that was strange. >> reporter: not long after the memorial service, diane gets a $20,000 payout from mark's life insurance policy. so, she decides to move the family to a bigger house in a . >> she had moved into a different house by that point which was good because the house they were living in was rather cramped with four children. we thought, well, good for her

and hoped that it would help them move forward. >> incredibly diane and the family had only been living in that home a few months when tragedy strikes the staudte family again. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> it was sunday, september 2012. there was a couple of police cars out front. so we went out to the front yard. we all stood there watching and waiting. and finally, a policeman came out and we asked him. he said there was a death in the home, but he would never tell us who it was. >> how much bad luck can one family have? ♪just one cord to set up.♪ ♪say goodbye to that truck.♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful mornin'...♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful day...♪ ♪they won't raise your rates at t-mobile...♪

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♪ ♪ >> reporter: by 2012 diane is settled into her new home. she's no longer working at a hospital as a nurse. she's got a job where she can work at home as a consultant for an insurance company. >> yeah, it seemed like a new beginning, and though i had conflicts of my own those are the type of things i typically celebrate for people. >> this neighborhood has a completely different feel than the first neighborhood that the staudte's lived in. in this neighborhood, the homes are a little bit bigger. the neighbors, a lot of them have their homes decorated. just seems like a perfect neighborhood for the staudtes to move to after such a tragic loss. >> you've moved to a new home. >> uh-huh.

>> you're in a new place. are your neighbors aware? do they know you've lost your husband? >> no. >> why not? >> i've never met some of the neighbors. >> they never seemed like they wanted to have conversation. every time i saw them drive in and would start to walk over to say, oh, hello, the garage door would go down. it was that kind of a feeling of leave us alone. so i didn't try to go to the door any more. but we did see the boy who we found out later was shaun. we saw him mowing the lawn quite often. every few days he was out there mowing. >> after mark died, i called upon diane and we would have coffee somewhat regularly and i would inquire, how are you

doing, how is your grief? i would listen. but there was never any statement i need help, i need prayers, i'm having troubles. so i struggled with knowing why we were meeting and i don't remember ever talking about matters of life in a significant way. >> then a few months later shaun is very sick. >> uh-huh. >> how sick was he? >> i'm trying to remember. i know he was having some stomach issues. >> and then there's one weekend -- >> uh-huh. >> -- where he's writhing in pain. >> uh-huh. >> you go off to church and he's really ill. were you worried? >> a little bit. >> a little bit? >> uh-huh. >> it was sunday, september 2n back in 2012.

and our neighbors across the street called us and said, something's going on. there is a coroner's van in the driveway of the new family next door. so i came over to their front door and i said, i'm rhonda anderson. i live across the street. we saw there was a coroner's van. and i just want to know what happened, if there's anything we can go. >> and she said, oh, my son died. oh, caught me off guard. your son died? okay. was he sick? was there something wrong? >> reporter: shaun was found dead in his bedroom, and like his father before him he too had a blood stain around his mouth. >> you said that you didn't take shaun to the hospital when you should have. >> uh-huh. >> why didn't you? >> cause he didn't want to. he didn't want me to. >> but you're his mom. you're a nurse. >> uh-huh. >> you know when somebody needs

medical attention. you could have overruled that. >> i could have, but i chose not to. >> what's really heart-breaking about the death of shaun is that the family didn't do much to commemorate his life. there was no obituary, no funeral. a little gathering at home and then he was cremated. >> there was three of us in the living room. i don't remember the children themselves being there. i remember diane being there and this director of music ministries and myself. at that moment i was there to care for a grieving mother in whatever way she presented herself. that's what i was there to do. and was it hard? yes, it was. >> we found out that shaun had

died from a posting in facebook from diane. >> reporter: after an autopsy, the medical examiner determines that shaun apparently died because of prior medical issues related to a history of seizu seizures. >> with his history of mental and physical issues, it seemed just a spate of bad luck for diane. >> so now you've lost your husband. >> uh-huh. >> you lost your son. >> uh-huh. >> then nine months later sarah is seriously ill. how do you explain that? what i'? or what if i can do diabetes differently? (avo) now you can with once-weekly mounjaro. mounjaro helps your body regulate blood sugar,

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♪ by the fall of 2012, mark's been gone since april. shaun's passed away in early september. it just leaves diane with her daughters, sarah, rachel and brianna. >> in my thirty-some years of ministry, i've never had two family members die in the same type of situations, ever. >> reporter: after a tough year, finally a bright spot for the staudte family. the eldest daughter sarah is graduating from college which

diane celebrates on facebook. >> sarah was a hard worker. she went and got a degree. she, you know, was well-liked, had a lot of friends. >> reporter: but in june of 2013, the staudte curse strikes again. sarah is seriously ill and this time the family is rushing her to the hospital. >> when sarah came to the hospital, she was the sickest of the sick. she was in what we call multi-system organ failure and she needed life support from every organ. >> the doctors told diane that sarah's organs were shutting down, that she was hemorrhaging. her brain was shutting down and they couldn't figure out why. >> sarah being ill and in the hospital was, once again, relayed through facebook.

again it was, what? she's really having bad luck with this family. what's going on? >> you took sarah to the hospital. >> uh-huh. >> what are you expecting is going to happen? do you think you're about to lose her? >> i didn't know. i didn't know how bad it was until they told me her lab results. >> she's the sickest we've ever seen. i never seen a case like that and i really don't know what's going on. then the detective came and i said, thank god. >> when sarah went into the hospital with the same kinds of sounding symptoms that had taken both shaun and mark, warning bells went off. >> now i see someone fighting for their life in circumstances and events that are just completely foreign to me.

>> and what is your name? >> so there was an anonymous call made to the springfield police department alerting them to the suspicious character of both mark and shaun's death. >> i shared that i am a pastor and i have a family who has experienced two deaths in a short proximity of time and now has another family member that's in the icu. i believed these were circumstances that needed to be investigated. >> reporter: the pastor suspects he's got a dangerous sinner in his own flock, and he can't in good faith keep quiet about >> when i first read the tip, it was just kind of like, no way. you know, this couldn't be.

this isn't something that would go on in our town or our city. so it was kind of shocking. but something that i of course had to look into just to see what the tip was about. >> how are rachel and brianna taking this now? they've got their sister who is in the hospital, having lost their father and their brother. how are they reacting? >> they really didn't say much. you know, they've always kept to themselves. >> when i read the report about mark, it appeared that it was natural causes related death and that's what it was ruled at that point. but then i reached out to the officers that were there on scene and one of the officers had actually witnessed diane step over the body of mark while he was on the ground. and he said that that just really stood out. when i read shaun's death report, in both reports it noted a small apt of blood around their mouth. so that raised some red flags.

>> you don't typically see that in a natural causes death. >> when i went in the hospital, the doctor told me that a bunch of tests that had been performed, but they weren't able to figure out what was going on. >> because she's young we start to suspect drugs. maybe she took a drug overdose or something, but there was nothing. and we say maybe its an infection. came back negative also. we didn't know what's going on. that same day the detective came and talked to me. my nurse told me the mother was not concerned at all. she wanted to stop the treatment. >> nurses told police diane was light-hearted. she was joking around with people. she was talking about a vacation and that sarah's situation, as she called it, was not going to keep her from going on vacation. >> and she said it just didn't seem -- the words she used was how a mother would act. >> so the detective goes to the

doctor who's taking care of sarah and they basically come to the same consensus. >> he said, okay, i received a tip from somebody that sarah's father and brother died suddenly. so he said, do you suspect something weird? i said, yes. >> are you worried, not only about her, but also about how this looks? >> no. >> were you thinking about that at all? >> actually i was worried about why my back was hurting, why my head was hurting, why i couldn't pee. >> so you were feeling symptoms too? >> i was feeling symptoms too. >> the first thing that came to my mind was heavy metal poisoning, lithium and arsenic. it's very rare. you have to send it to a special lab. not any lab will have that test. >> based upon all the tests he

had run, he believed there was a possibility it could be a poisoning. i waited for about one week for them to continue with their tests, but everything they were testing for came back negative. >> she required life support to support all her organs in order to stay alive. >> reporter: after several days in intensive care, sarah's condition is beginning to stabilize. but there are still very urgent concerns regarding the rest of the family. >> i was definitely in fear for the other members of diane's family. it was definitely time to talk to diane, to get her side of the story to try to figure out what was going on. >> i'm here to listen. i'm here to -- just tell me about it, diane. tell me everything that was going on. - the company goes to the firstborn, audrey. the model train set is entrusted to todd.

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>> reporter: over the ours of 14 months, the quiet, god-fearing staudte family seems to be cursed. member after member, stunningly struck down. mark staudte, who fronted a blues band, and 26-year-old son shaun, both suddenly dead. and now, 24-year-old sarah lying in the icu, her kidneys and brain failing. >> so you've lost your husband. >> uh-huh. >> you've lost your son. >> uh-huh. >> and now your daughter is clinging to life. are you saying this is just a coincidence? >> i don't know. >> now, police want to know is this a matter of bad luck or bad intentions?

>> well again, miss staudte, i appreciate you being willing to come down and speak with us. very helpful on your part. >> i try to be. >> it was one of the most stressful interviews i had ever done because going into it there was -- there was no physical evidence at that point. >> when did all this come about? >> she started feeling sick saturday. >> i started asking diane about herself, how involved in the church that she was. it was just a general conversation about her family. >> was mark -- was he active in the church as well? >> not as active, but he >> and in that, there was also strategy in -- in trying to get her to talk about the -- the two previous deaths in her family. >> do you have a son as well? >> no, not anymore.

he died. he died. he had -- he had a seizure disorder. >> diane does not seem to be nervous in this police interview. she's quiet. she seems to be answering the questions. the detective is very delicate with her. and he knows he has to be, because at any point she could just walk out the door. she was not under arrest. >> reporter: after about 45 minutes, detective mcamis then reveals that shaun's autopsy is being re-examined. >> i got a hold of the medical examiner's officer, and luckily they still had some tissue that was -- that was still being held. >> we've spoken with the medical examiner about that. so they're gonna do a bunch of tests on his stuff as well. >> oh, okay. >> so if his stuff were to come back with anything like that, something similar maybe to what's sarah's might come back with, how would you explain that?

>> reporter: it's from this point that diane begins to change her story about how shaun and mark might have died. >> i don't know about my kids, but mark had a lot of weird friends. well, i don't know if i'd call them friends -- acquaintances. he would -- they were into drugs and all that, but that wouldn't surprise me. >> throughout the investigation it -- it might've come up that mark would drink on occasion and smoke marijuana. but in terms of harder, more illicit drugs, there was absolutely no evidence or any kind of mention whatsoever that mark was involved in anything like that. >> as far as shaun, shaun had

been looking up things on the internet. he'd been threatening to kill himself. >> as the interview progressed, diane also said something about sarah possibly wanting to harm herself, and it was during this discussion that antifreeze was mentioned. >> so tell me about it, diane. >> there's a lot of arguments. to cut it really short and sweet, i knew they were drinking antifreeze. i was so mad at them i didn't want to take them in. >> she suddenly just offers, very quietly, i knew they were drinking antifreeze. it's like, what are you talking about? nobody just drinks antifreeze. >> okay, this could be our poison. this could be what we are looking for. i just continued to lean on her about doing the right thing.

>> diane, right now is your chance to -- to make some of this somewhat right. because you're gonna want people to see that you're remorseful, and that, you know, you're sorry for what you did. >> he used religion. he said, look, i'm a christian. you're a christian. you know, i'm a believer. almost in the, sort of, priest-penitent way. and it worked. >> diane, you knew that they were drinking antifreeze. >> uh-huh. >> you knew that. they didn't. we both know that. you knew, diane, that they were drinking antifreeze because you were giving it to them. >> i didn't know what else to do. i really didn't. >> he says to her, you knew they

were drinking because you put it in their drinks. instead of shock, horror, i would never do that, she says yes. >> and what were you putting it in? >> coca-cola. >> and how much would you put in? >> i don't know. just a little bit. >> from the poisoner perspective, this is a great poison. it doesn't have any real smell. you can't taste it. you can put it in almost anything and it's acutely poisonous. >> that's the lethal drink she gave to her son and daughter -- coca-cola and antifreeze, for days. and watched them get sick, and did nothing. >> you admit that you poisoned

your family with antifreeze. >> uh-huh. i said what i was told to say. >> who told you to say this? >> i can't tell you. >> okay. so if you can stand up for us, we're going to have to put some handcuffs on you. we're not going to put them on tight, but -- >> i'm saying there's more to that than what people know. >> well, tell us, because we -- >> i really can't go into that for safety reasons. >> reporter: at the time springfield police felt pretty confident they had their kill but they were about to uncover more evidence that would turn this case upside down. >> the journal was found in the southeast bedroom. >> and that journal has some sinister secrets.

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this is a story about a wife, mother of four who went off the rails. >> how is it that you could kill your own family, your husband, your son, almost your daughter? >> diane was eliminating family

members one at a time. >> basically what happened is your mom admitted to killing your dad and your brother and trying to kill your >> it's joustust so crazy. you think to yourself what is going on here? >> that doesn't happen here. it doesn't happen anywhere. >> diane was drinking antifreeze because you were giving it to them. >> what are you talking about? nobody just drinks antifreeze. you can't make this up. >> you tell the police you poisoned your own family. >> i'm saying there's more to that. there's more involved. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: after two hours of questioning, an astounding confession from diane staudte.

she admits to poisoning her own husband and children with antifreeze. >> at this point, diane's arrested. sarah's in the hospital, but rachel is home with her younger sister brianna. and the police need to break the news to rachel that her mother's under arrest for the murder of her father and brother. >> basically what has happened is your mom has admitted to killing your dad and your brother and trying to kill your sister, with poison. take some time. >> oh, god. >> your mom said this too. obviously have to ask you these questions. you didn't have involvement in any of this stuff?

don't take it the wrong way. i have to ask these questions. mom never confided in you that she was doing this? the kind of feeling i get from you is that thought never even entered your mind. i know you said she was frustrated, but you didn't think she would do something like this, right? >> reporter: with diane now in custody, police perform a search of the family property. they're looking for any evidence that might explain what had been going on. >> later on the night of the first interrogation of diane, we had our crime scene guys out here. >> during the search, the police find a house that really is in disarray. >> reporter: in 2016, lead detective neil mcamis took us back to the staudte family home to show us what police found. >> so this is obviously the living room of the home. it wasn't clean and orderly like it is now.

it was a little messy. there was some couches. there were some papers strewn about. >> there's stuff all over the place and on the floor. there are a lot of computers. everybody had a laptop. the search moves to the garage and that's where they hit pay dirt. on a counter there's antifreeze and very close to it, coca-cola. exactly what diane said she had done to both sarah and shaun. she'd fed them antifreeze in their coke. mark got it in his gatorade. >> this is the bench. obviously there are different things on here now. this is the bench where it was located. the position of the coke bottles was very odd. a bunch of household cleaners, whatever you can think and then right in the middle a six pack bottle of coke, which was completely out of place. >> one thing that i -- i noticed

immediately there seemed to be a lot of journals there, writings, notebooks, things like that. >> reporter: one journal in particular was discovered. >> during the search of the house, the police recovered in one of the bedrooms a purple journal on a shelf, just sort of thrown haphazardly on the shelf. >> the initial impression from the journal is, you know, what in the world is going on here? it is just placed right there along with everything else, nothing to signify its importance. it is right there amongst everything. and when detective cole got down to the police department he was flipping though and he came across that and realized it was a key piece of evidence. >> reporter: the journal is like a smoking gun revealing that diane wasn't the only staudte involved in the plot to poison the family. >> there was a journal entry that talked about rachel's knowledge of the upcoming deaths of mark and shaun.

>> these entries showed evidence of premeditated murder, and that rachel knew about it. >> it's sad when i realize how my father will pass on in the next few months. shaun, my brother, will move on shortly thereafter. >> who would think that a daughter would be assisting her mother in the killing of the rest of the family? >> reporter: now with this discovery, officer mcamiss brings rachel back in for questioning with a new agenda. he wants to confront her about that journal. >> were you ever suspicious of your mom? >> no. >> it sounds like you and her, from talking to her, that you and her were pretty good buddies, is that right? you guys were real close. mamma's best friend kind of? >> uh-huh. >> did she ever mention anything at all? >> no. >> so she -- did she -- so she never told you specifically that

she wanted to hurt your dad, your brother, your sister? >> no. >> during the interview i slipped the journal entry over to her. i wanted to see her reaction upon looking at that. there was an immediate sense from rachel. you could just see the look on her face. it was uh-oh. >> do you recognize this? >> you could see the wheels turning literally. you could see her processing how am i going to explain myself out of this? >> i remember this. >> what is that? >> journal. >> whose journal? >> mine. >> your journal? you wrote this is what you're telling me? >> rachel at that point i think she realized, i'm caught. she began to tell her story.

>> no more lies or untruths. we need to be honest about everything. you understand? >> uh-huh. >> what is this? >> i had a lot of really bad dreams about them dying. i talked to mom about it and she mentioned she was thinking of hurting them. >> i pressed rachel in terms of, hey, this isn't a dream. this is something much worse than that and you are >> so you said you'd been having some dreams about them dying? >> uh-huh. >> and you told your mother about this? >> uh-huh. >> what did you tell your mother? >> that it would be quick. that -- that

that they'd be to heaven soon and we would move on. >> that was the huge moment in terms of rachel's involvement in the crimes with diane. it told me that rachel was just as involved as diane. >> they were a killing team. a mother/daughter -- i mean this is unheard of. who does that? >> it still is just beyond comprehension to think that a mother and daughter, you know, systematically poisoning off each one of their other family members. >> rachel is just as evil as her mom. >> you're saying mark is the first one. there's nobody before mark. not in your past life or nothing. mark is the first one? it just got started because you

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13 years of a 23-year fbi career. when you look at diane, you see an individual who has no remorse for the actions that she's engaged in. >> 'cause by then i hated his guts. >> you hated his guts. >> uh-huh. >> i understand. >> i mean, i hated his guts. >> she's very upfront with what she did and why she did. >> shaun would be interfering with whatever i would do to the point where he was getting into my work. and i would have to tell him, you need to leave. you know, go to your room. go do something. you get to the point where you just pull out your hair. >> that interview is all happening before she's had a chance to talk to anybody else. so that's really your best

information. >> and i couldn't figure out a way to change. you know, i couldn't get them out of the house. i couldn't leave the house. >> okay. >> i think i snapped. >> you said, i couldn't figure out a way to change. i couldn't get them out of the house. i couldn't leave the house. i think i snapped, i really do. i just lost it. >> i don't' remember that. >> is that what happened? >> i don't know. i don't remember that. >> you don't' remember saying that? >> huh-uh. >> you said you hated your >> huh-uh. >> so have you just decided not to remember? >> no, i don't remember.

>> it started with mom 'cause she just wanted to find some way to make it simpler. >> and the reasoning to get rid of your dad -- tell me why, for him, and then tell me why for shaun. why did you guys want to get rid of those two? >> dad was basically a drain on her, on us. money -- he had no concept of money. he would always be out partying. always be out. shaun we argued on a lot 'cause i still think we could have put him in an assisted living, but she wanted him out. >> so clearly diane is -- is the ringleader here. but i think it's extraordinary that she draws her daughter in

to this plot and that rachel goes along with it. >> so when did the plan to kill sarah come about? >> may, june. >> may or june? and so, why did it -- was it decided to kill sarah? >> other than the fact that she basically lived in the back bedroom and didn't, like, have any gumption to get a job, i'm not certain. mom probably has her own issues with her. >> what about you? >> she's annoying, yes, but -- i don't know. >> unbelievable motives, and she vocalized them. she said these things. >> and what did you guys finally decide upon on how you were

going to kill them? you poisoned them. i know you said that. how were you going to poison them to kill them? >> mom decided on antifreeze. >> antifreeze. and why was antifreeze decided? >> because in general you could put it in something and you couldn't taste it. >> the chemical we're talking about is the alcohol component in antifreeze and when we metabolize it, our body will eventually turn that into a couple very dangerous elements that attack organs of the body. they slice and dice where they land. they're really bad for you. you do not want to drink antifreeze. >> would you put the antifreeze into the drinks whenever you gave them to your dad? or how would that go? >> she would mix it up and then just pass them out. >> so if the tops were already unscrewed, that's how you knew not to drink them? >> uh-huh. >> women are far more likely than men to use poison.

women tend not to use overtly violent -- guns, knives, bludgeoning -- to kill. >> how much, though, did it take to -- did you cokes for him also, or what did you put it in for him? >> gatorade. >> so you put it in mark's gatorade. was it cokes for both shaun and sarah? >> uh-huh. >> and when did mark start to get sick? >> he got sick on friday. >> and when did he die? >> on sunday. >> i think they knew what kind of poison they wanted. they knew what they wanted the poison to do and they knew that they didn't want the poison detected. >> and you say you expected the antifreeze to -- after they drank it, that they would -- it would be quick, and it would kill them right away? >> uh-huh. >> were you surprised when it took a while?

>> uh-huh. >> is that why you continued to give them more? >> yeah, 'cause i didn't know what else to do. >> sometimes we say it's easy to take candy from a baby, but it's actually easier to give candy to a baby. in this case it's easy for diane because her husband, her son and her daughter trusted her implicitly. >> for them to witness the demise of three family members who they were poisoning slowly over time, it's not just that they're cold and calculating, but they have become completely immune to the suffering of others. >> a poisoner has to be cold to the bone because every step of this process they're planning to kill someone and that's okay with them because the focus is how do i get away with this? >> reporter: what rachel tells police next may be the most heinous of all.

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♪ ♪ the staudte case, in my career is by far the most shocking case i have ever been a part of. >> have you ever woken up and your life is so bad that you can't stand to be in it? >> are you asking me? >> yeah. 'cause that' felt >> reporter: when you hear a case as diabolical as the staudtes, you have to ask yourself how does it all start? >> i played with rachel and diane in the church for almost two years.

they were two peas in a pod, right? they were a mother and daughter team out of all the kids, you know. rachel was the closest to them, to her, and -- they definitely had a, you know -- a relationship that was tighter than any other person in that family. >> they were very close, mother and daughter. >> i think they became alliances to each other. >> during my interview with diane, especially when we were talking about rachel, i just this really odd sense because of the way, you know, she would talk about rachel. she would light up. it was obvious that rachel was the pet. >> did you have a favorite? >> not really. a lot of people think i did but not really. >> who was more like you? >> rachel. >> how about rachel as a child, how was she? >> she's my first one that actually talked. i really didn't have much problems with her. >> rachel had discussed with me

that they were like a matched pair. they understood each other. they got each other. and rachel said that that's why she just wanted it to be her and her mother. >> there is some kind of psychological chemistry between the two of them that could explain the folie a the two of them fed each other psychologically into committing this crime together. >> rachel always looked up to her mother and her -- her mother groomed her for this, in terms of how she saw her father -- in terms of how diane saw mark. and so, when diane thinks rachel is ready to be brought into this, to help her out, she does, and rachel acquiesces. >> once that was set in motion, clearly it was a path that they could not veer from, that they did not veer

>> when were you guys going to kill brianna? >> some time after sarah. >> and how were you going to do that? >> well, she liked root beer. could easily have gone the same way that we did with the others. we didn't really go into any new ways. >> she had described brianna as a burden they didn't want around the house. that was her explanation. >> four people, they would've killed four people in this house if they could've? >> correct. rachel said that her mother was the only one that understood her. they could relate to each other. it was just going to be those two. i guess the ultimate goal was that rachel was the golden child. >> i'd like to know why you guys eventually took -- you know,

when sarah got so bad -- i know you guys said that you thought that she was pretty much dead. why did you take her to the hospital? >> i didn't want another one to die in the house. >> and why is that? >> cause houses are nasty after somebody's died in it. >> this is really just a different way of saying that guilt is knocking on the back of her brain. her own culpability, her own responsibility, her role for their deaths, is making it impossible for her to feel comfortable in the house where her crimes occurred. >> fortunately for sarah, she got to the hospital and got treatment just in time to save her life. >> we thought initially she was not going to make it, but then

after 24 hours, thankfully, she started to get better. >> reporter: sarah makes a miraculous recovery and a shocking revelation. >> so you read in her journal -- >> yes. >> -- that shawn had died, and that your name was listed, too? oh, he's straight ahead. he's straight ahead. straight ahead. go go go. ♪ cover more ground in the kia sportage turbo-hybrid. kia. movement that inspires.

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♪ ♪ the news of murder charges against a church organist and her bright creative daughter came in june. >> police reports say diane and rachel killed husband and father mark last april, son and brother shaun last september. >> both diane and rachel, facing numerous charges of first-degree murder and assault on sarah, now in the hospital seriously ill. >> as for the youngest daughter of the staudte family, who is about to enter the sixth grade, church officials informed me she is currently in foster care. >> anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. >> when diane was charged with murder, it was tough for me to wrap my brain around that. >> we were just totally shocked about that. that does not happen here.

that doesn't happen anywhere, does it? >> this don't make no sense at all. why she would even go that far? if you don't love your husband, divorce him. but to sit there and really think about how you're going to get rid of your family? >> i was, like, in shock. how could she do that? >> what was the reason? why would you kill your own husband, your own son, and attempt to kill your own daughter with the help of your other daughter? that's incredible. >> i was sitting in the audience. rachel and diane were brought in. she never looked at me, either one, diane or rachel. >> diane and rachel plead not guilty for first degree murder. >> sarah was in really bad shape. doctors, and everybody else, they they thought that -- that sarah was going to die and it was a -- it was miraculous that she survived. >> sarah fortunately survived,

but she will never be the same. she suffered a lot of brain damage because of the antifreeze and the organ damage. she had to start from scratch learning how to do the most basic things. >> it is a miracle that sarah survived. but how will the poisoning impact her in the long term? i met sarah in 2016 while she was still recovering, living in an assisted living facility. it was the first time she had ever spoken publicly about how she survived a vicious poisoning at the hands of her mom. >> what were you feeling in that hospital bed when you woke up? >> i just couldn't move. i was bedridden. >> clearly, the ethylene glycol in the antifreeze, when it's metabolized, it creates an acid that has fairly significant effects, obviously, on the

kidneys, on the brain, and, in fact, sarah had a brain bleed. >> sarah had to relearn to walk. now she's reliant on full-time, round the clock care. it's just heartbreaking. >> did you think you would live? >> no, but, i have this will to live. i did not want to die at a young age. and i thought that my mom is going to kill me, after my dad and brother died. >> you thought your mom was going to kill you? >> 'cause she had this journal that she wrote. she wrote the deaths of shaun, my brother, and me. >> so you read in her journal -- >> yes. >> -- that shaun had died, and that your name was listed, too? >> yes. >> and what did you think, when you read that? >> i was worried because i don't want to die. >> did you say anything to her? >> she told me, you're not going to die. >> did she explain what this was

all about in the journal? >> no. she just told me, don't read it. >> throughout the investigation there was talk that sarah had knowledge of the events that were taking place, and it's hard to say exactly how much that sarah did know. >> how about your mom and your sister rachel, do you still consider them family? >> not anymore. i just don't consider them people. i consider them as killers who hate me. >> and what would you have somebody say to rachel, and to your mom? >> i just feel like i want to slap both of them and call them "b" words. >> sarah said after learning what had happened that she wanted to slap you. she wanted to call you a certain word, that she was very very hurt and angry. what do you say to your

daughter who is damaged because of this poison? >> i'm sorry for what she went through, but i'm sorry for what everybody goes through. i'm sorry for what i've had to go through. >> are you saying that you were poisoned as well? >> i can't rule it out. >> diane is turning it into all about her. it's me, me, me. sarah wasn't just sick. i was sick too. i mean, this isn't just deflection, this is really squarely returning to the thing of i'm the victim. >> diane did not have any appearance whatsoever of being ill during during our interviews. >> shaun, you said he wasn't too much into church? >> no. >> neither was sarah? >> not really. >> and she seemed totally cognitive throughout. there was nothing at all to indicate that she was anything other than fine. >> were they sinners or -- >> i hate to use that term, you know.

>> diane, you understand that this sounds like a woman who doesn't want to take responsibility for what she confessed to doing, which is killing her family? >> that's not what happened. >> does your family believe that you're innocent? >> i don't know about innocent, but i don't think they think that i'm totally guilty. >> so are you partly guilty? >> i can't tell you. >> her inability to actually answer questions, her inability to show any emotion, it could be a ploy to explain away a psychopathy, an anti-social personality disorder at a very, very basic level. a level of narcissism which is very consistent with her. >> so what do you say to rachel

then? >> i think rachel doesn't know the whole story. >> reporter: but as the trial draws encloser, it isn't long before one defendant turns on the other. >> when you have two people, she said -- usually someone takes the deal. and it's the first person that takes the deal that gets the lesser sentence. more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. olive garden's never-ending first course is always on us with every delicious entree. garden-fresh salad? on us. homemade soup? on us. now as for the breadsticks, who we kidding they're on us too. only at olive garden.

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♪ ♪ prosecutors say rachel and her mother diane used antifreeze to poison her father mark, and to poison her brother shaun. virtually undetectable in taste, making them sick until their organs failed. >> the state wanted the death penalty for diane. >> diane's case was death penalty eligible just because of the extensive research she had done in planning it out. the torture that she put them through. >> what were you putting it in? >> coca-cola. >> i felt it was important that she be held responsible for what she had done. >> how much would you put in? >> just a little bit. >> reporter: the state wants the death penalty for diane, but for

rachel, life imprisonment. >> this was diane's idea. diane was -- is the one that, you know, has the motivation for doing it. clearly in this case rachel is the follower. >> we get word of another hearing, both for rachel and diane. and the big announcement that is made is that rachel has not only pleaded guilty, she pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against her own mother. that was a bombshell. >> it was always something that, you know, us in the newsroom, we tossed around the idea of what if rachel testified against her mom. >> we always assumed one is going to go against the other. when you have two people, she said/she said, usually someone takes the deal and it's the first person that takes the deal that gets the lesser sentence. >> now that rachel has pleaded guilty to her role in the crime, she is looking at two life

sentences plus 20 years, avoiding the death penalty. >> there's so much evidence against diane. it doesn't look good for her. she could face the death penalty. >> she knows her daughter is going to testify against her, so she finally agrees to plead guilty. >> based upon your plea of guilty to the class-a felony of murder in the first degree, you are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the missouri department of corrections. >> you pleaded guilty to murder. are you a murderer? >> no. >> no? >> and i didn't plead guilty, i took an alford plea. that's what i -- that's what i was told to do. i was told that it was not considered a guilty plea. >> so you took a plea. >> uh-huh. >> you acknowledged that you killed your family members. >> i said what i was told to say.

>> an alford plea, which means she is not technically saying, i did this, i'm guilty, but she is saying the evidence you have is enough to convict me of this charge, and i agree that that is the truth. >> we looked across and we weighed all the costs and benefits of whether to continue to seek the death penalty or to accept that plea. it simply made more sense to take the plea. >> i did not like the alford plea. i personally thought that diane should have faced the death penalty in this case. >> it's life in prison, no possibility of parole for diane. she's going to die in prison. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it is now rachel's senten sentencing. unlike her mother, she apologizes to her older sister, sarah. >> i'm sorry that i couldn't find the courage to stand up for

what was right, to go for help, to protect you or our siblings. i was scared, but being scared was no excuse. >> i sensed a little more remorse, maybe, with rachel than with diane, but i also noticed a lot of attempted remorse, i guess maybe you could say, with rachel. there was crying at times but no tears. >> she won't be eligible for parole for 42.5 years, around age 65. >> and i just want to be clear on this, you confessed to killing your own family? >> yep, to save my family. they were being threatened. >> threatened by whom? >> somebody. >> but diane, many people would say this makes no sense. >> lots of things don't make sense. >> she has zero remorse, zero empathy. she doesn't take any

responsibility for her actions. >> she wants to control things, but she doesn't seem capable or willing to actually put the story out there herself. it's like pulling teeth to get any kind of answer from her. you've essentially taken responsibility for killing your family. >> right. >> and people would ask you, how is it that you could kill your own family -- your husband, your son, almost your daughter? how does a mother kill her own children? >> that, i can't tell you. >> reporter: we pushed for more than an hour thinking diane might finally own up to her crimes. >> but you did it. >> no. >> reporter: then she blew us away spinning one bizarre alternate theory after another.

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>> reporter: many times throughout our conversation diane pointed a finger at some mystery persons, saying he or she forced her to >> i said what i was told to say. >> reporter: but our investigation found no basis for this. diane never once claimed this in court or reported it to the police or anyone else. she also touched on mark's alleged drug habit. but now she's beginning to suggest that he was more involved in the drug trade than anticipated. >> mark was with some people that are very dangerous. people have disappeared. >> you're saying that someone in mark's world tried to poison him? >> i was told in jail that mark had been green lighted. >> green lighted? >> green lighted. >> green lighting means that somebody's been authorized to be killed. it means to take the shot, take the person out.

they're green lighted. >> there is nothing whatsoever to show that anybody was involved in this case other than those mentioned already. diane and rachel. the ones that killed their family. >> who poisoned shaun? and who poisoned sarah? >> shaun left a note. >> so you're saying that shaun took his own life? >> yeah. >> shaun did not commit suicide. he was murdered. >> it's quite the fairytale, i would say, that she has concocted. it really is astonishing. >> reporter: diane agreed to talk to us to tell us her side of the story, but her version of events just seems less and less credible. >> i find everything that she says in this interview to be incredibly contrived, very carefully controlled, very well scripted, and not forthcoming. >> rachel says you were poisoning and killing your own family, that you might have even

poisoned brianna before it was all over. >> nope. >> were you going to? >> no. >> how are we supposed to believe that? >> i don't know. >> what is the truth, diane? >> the truth is out there. >> because this person has recreated their truth in a way that is necessary for self-preservation in prison. she may not even be clear in her own mind what the truth is any longer. >> what about sarah? sarah is now living in a group home. she's been permanently injured. this is a fairly recent picture of sarah. >> wow, she's gained weight. >> what do you want to say to her? >> that i hope she's happy. i'm sorry for what all she's gone though. but i hope that she is happy and content.

>> how hard is it to think back on what has happened to you and to think about rachel and your mom at this point? >> it is very hard. at the same time i love them, and at the same time i hate them. >> conflicting emotions. >> yes. >> do you see yourself at any point forgiving? >> yes. i have forgave them for what they did because forgiveness is the right thing to do. >> i forgive my mum for what she did to me. >> will you ever admit to killing your family? >> no, not like that. no. i will go to my grave. >> it's just a sad story. i mean, at the end of the day, you have a family broken because of why?

hate? >> sarah fortunately survived, but what that antifreeze did to her, that is a life-altering event. she will never be the same. >> that little boy here is my brother shaun. that's me. >> you're such a cute little girl. what are you fondest memories of hanging out with your dad? >> i loved going to concerts with him. >> reporter: mark staudte's music may have been more prophetic than poetic. just listen to the lyrics of his final song, "female judas." ♪ i said you're just a female judas ♪ >> reporter: to this day, bandmate charles alexander still

hearing those haunting lyrics in his head. >> i just wish i could've helped him. i wish i could've saved him. who would do that to their family? why? there's bad relationships everywhere, but you don't destroy your own family. in the end it seems diane staudte may have gotten what police say she wanted all along. no contact from her daughters sarah and brianna. her daughter rachel, her accomplice, declined to speak to "20/20." that's our report for tonight. thank you for watching. i'm deborah roberts. from all of us at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

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