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hi, everybody. it's molly. i figured i would just kind of give a little bit of background on me. >> it was pitch black that night. it was very dark. >> looks like it is molly watson. >> is it molly watson? okay. >> when her body was found, they were planning a wedding. and that wedding was less than 48 hours away. >> never would have thought that i would be going to her funeral that next week instead of her wedding. never would have thought it. >> molly watson come in the door and said, i'm here to get a marriage license. a lot of things happened after that. i don't want to cry. >> she was about to get married, but she also had several serious relationships before that, and so had her fiance.

and somebody was living a double life with a lot of secrets. >> investigators go to deliver what they believe is going to be shocking news. the shocking news was going to be delivered to them. >> and i'll see you guys later! april 27th of 2018. it was a friday night. >> so, that night, me and my daughter come down through here. we figure we'd take the shortcut through. >> glen mcsparren is taking a shortcut from his mother's home there in monroe county. >> didn't really think nothing of it. just a typical night. >> county road 930. >> it's a gravel road. there's trees pretty much on both sides. pretty grown up around the roadway. that leads back to a low water crossing. it's an area where the roadway will actually go through a creek. >> very desolate, especially at

that time of the year. >> as he's going along the road, he sees this car pulled over on the side of the road. >> i come up on the creek. you got to turn as you go down into it and go across it because the road kind of curves. my headlights came over on her body in front of the car. and, uh, i had to stop out in the middle of the creek, like right about here. >> he finds a dead woman. >> 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? >> i am at the end of route "m" and 151. and there's a woman laying on the ground in front of a car. >> i stayed in my truck, and i called 911. i don't know what the hell's going on here. >> all right, sir, would you mind if you would get out of your vehicle and check on her?

>> yes, sir, i will. it was just kind of a freaky situation. the whole time i'm standing there, i'm waiting on somebody to come out of the darkness. i had no flashlight that had batteries that was charged. i had my truck running behind me, so i couldn't hear nothing. i'm just, you know, scared. like, when's somebody's going to come out of the woods? you need to get the ambulance out here. there's a lady laying in front of a car. i don't know if she's alive, dead, or what. they wanted me to make sure she was alive or not. >> you can check on her and give me an update, i'd appreciate it. >> finally they got me out of the truck, and i grabbed my handgun and walked through the water, an i just kept on the phone with them. ma'am? ma'am? oh, my god. i don't think she's alive, no. i'd seen if she was cold to the touch or had a pulse, and she did not. and i looked in her eyes, and i could tell that -- that she was gone. her eyes are open. she's -- i swear to god she's dead.

>> this case takes place in the american heartland. it's the northeastern section of the state of missouri, monroe county and neighboring randolph county. bucolic, agricultural community. >> not a whole lot of industry. the prison is one of the biggest employers. >> that is the amish. there are kind of two big areas of amish that are in northeast missouri. >> just farm ground. i mean, just -- there's dairy cows. there's beef cows. there's mainly, for the most part, just farming. >> there's probably more animals than there are people in that county. >> it's most well known for being the birthplace of mark twain, and he wrote a lot of his stories about this idyllic kind of landscape here in monroe county. >> back at the crime scene, investigators are trying to identify this victim.

>> where my patrol car is is in the general vicinity of where we found the victim's car when we arrived on scene, outside of the driver's door. there were what appeared to be blood on the ground, and then there were some drag marks in the gravel. and ultimately, we found a deceased female in front of the vehicle. >> she's wearing pajama pants or sweatpants, as well as a tank top. >> well, 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. >> some investigation was done as to ascertain the identity of the victim. >> the match on the d.o.r. was the only thing i thought. >> we initially run the vehicle

registration, things of that nature. >> it looks like it is molly watson. >> is it molly watson? okay. >> we were eventually able to figure out that the victim was molly watson. >> police wake up the family in the middle of the night with some pretty bad news. >> my wife woke me up, said, your dad's on the phone. he doesn't sound good. something happened. i'll never forget my dad. he said, timmy, he said, the highway patrol just left our house. i was like, what happened? he said, they found molly dead in the road. i was like, what? >> sandi called me at 2:00 in the morning and said that, uh, the police had just been to their house and told them that molly had been shot. >> i think she kept screaming, molly's dead. didn't she? >> yeah. knowing that molly was dead was a -- was a big shock.

>> i'm jodi lindberg. i'm molly's cousin. >> i am patsy dent, and i'm molly's aunt. >> 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. >> hi, everybody. it's molly. >> i'm not sure when she started doing the youtube thing. >> and today i am just kind of doing a general vlog. >> but then it kind of -- she kind of got the bug for it and wanted to start, like, a weekly vlog where she would, you know, just talk about herself or what's going on in her life. >> i figured i would just kind of give a little bit of background on me. i work in education right now.

i have two degrees in psychology, a bachelor's and a master's. >> she was so smart. she could read any book. lots of artwork, costuming. she was really good at that. >> and as you can see, i was preparing to work on my next costume when i decided to do this vlog. >> she wanted to be a singer for a long time, and she had a really good singing voice. >> i am going to sing the healing incantation from "tangled." ♪ flower gleam and glow ♪ ♪ let your powers shine ♪ >> she was one of the luckiest people i've ever known. like, whenever we would walk by a pop machine, she would always, like, push the buttons and i don't know how it would happen, but, like, a pop would come out. that's what's hard for me, knowing how she passed in one of the most unluckiest ways possible. >> is it molly watson? okay. you know how old she is now? >> police want to know what

brought molly to this dark, desolate place and, even more puzzling, who would have a reason to kill her? >> and i'll see you guys later! bye! >> molly watson's body was found -- >> wearing her engagement >> on her left ring finger when >> when she was shot to death. >> a marriage certificate was located in her car. >> a marriage license that had her name in there as well as her fiance's name. >> they were planning a wedding, the wedding of her dreams, to her fiance. >> that wedding was less than 48 hours away. guys, c'mon! mom, c'mon! mia! [ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ my favorite color is... because, it's like a family thing! [ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ made it! mom! leave running behind, behind. the new turbocharged volkswagen atlas. does life beautifully.

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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. >> molly had been married in her early 20s, but just after a few years, that marriage ended in divorce. but during the breakup, she was pregnant and had a son. >> he ended up having cerebral palsy, so he was unable to walk. but smart as could be. >> she loved declan. she would take him to the zoo. she would take him out anywhere with her. that was just her world right there. and then she met amber, who she started a relationship with. >> this is just a photo album that we had put together,

molly and i had, with declan. my name is amber brady. molly watson and i were in a relationship for about five years. that's molly that declan's laying on, and i'm right behind molly, and we're all just kind of napping on the couch. we actually met in kindergarten. we went to kindergarten together. we did not like each other whatsoever. i thought she was a weird little person, and she thought i was obnoxious. [ laughter ] so. >> amber and molly lost touch for a long time, but years later the kindergarten adversaries crossed paths again. >> we actually ran into each other downtown moberly one day. and she's like, is that you? i'm like, yeah. and so it just kind of kicked off from there. we actually grew a friendship there, and then things just got closer. >> they finally like the grown-up version of each other much more. >> she was just bouncy and bubbly all the time. i mean, anything would make her smile, the simplest things. >> and they fall in love. >> she was actually my first girlfriend. i was hers. she was married at the time.

i was too. but things weren't going well for either one of us. >> molly and amber move in together, and when molly's son is born, they're a little family. >> we could talk. we could communicate. we liked doing a lot of the same things. it just seemed to click. >> but then molly gets a new jo you >> she decided to go and apply at the prison, and that's where she was gonna work. really a correctional center. she was a corrections officer one. she was down in the wing she had to do counts, search the cell, break up fights. >> molly soon meets somebody new at the prison, not an inmate but a lieutenant named james addie. >> i thought we were doing fine, but i guess they grew close. >> amber says she caught molly and james at a motel. >> and i went up there and knocked on the door. she answered. james addie was getting dressed and leaving. that wasn't good. >> amber says there was another encounter at a gas station.

>> he gets out of the car, and he started to say something. i didn't give him the option. i told him -- i said, you need to shut up. i said, you broke up our famil >> at this point, she moved back into my mom and dad's hous >> amber says she's heartbroken. but molly apparently is head over heels for james addie. >> i didn't have any friendship or anything to do with molly. she had blocked me on everything, which that was fine. i mean, it wasn't a good breakup. >> molly was absolutely, 100% in love with him. she would have walked to the end of the earth for him. >> it seemed like a pretty nice relationship. smiling photos of them on trips together, a happy couple. >> there was definitely an age gap there. at first, you know, it was weird

for us, but everybody kind of got past i >> growing up, jim, as far back as i can remember, he was always a good brother. he was a role model, an example. he was in the marine corps, and then from the marine corps, he got out after desert storm and just created a life. >> this guy is a proud veteran of the united states marines. he was even born on the 4th of july. he's got two kids. he's worked as a mechanic. he's worked in a factory and had gotten a job at the local prison where he was liked so much he reached the level of lieutenant. >> james addie does have some history. he's been married four times he has so many ex-wives that apparently some of his own family members say they can't keep track of everyone's names. >> i loved melanie. she was always nice, always kind, funny. it was just melanie. the type of women that jim liked

were very nice, very kind. >> but now it's james and molly. >> and they really did seem to love each other. i mean, according to jim, it was a relationship unlike anything he'd had before. something that he said, the mutual respect between the two, that they could share anything with each other. it's something any of us would love to have in a relationship with another person. >> after seven years of having this relationship with james, well, she surprises her family. she suddenly announces, i'm engaged. >> and it was just kind of all of a sudden, boom, let's get married now. >> she was all about him. her family even described it, this was what she's always been looking for. she was happier than she's ever been. she was ready for the wedding. >> oh, constant. we always heard about the wedding. very excited about the wedding. you know, the colors, the theme, the decorations.

>> there was a lot of burgundy and gold. kind of reminded me of a renaissance kind of themed wedding. from molly's perspective, it was going to be a beautiful wedding and the best day ever. >> you were booked for her makeup and hair three years ago? >> yes. >> what did you know about molly and the wedding and her fiance? >> i remember meeting her. she was so excited she wanted a disney themed, and we had been working on a wedding that was beauty and the beast. and so we were like, we're very familiar with doing this very, like, disney themed weddin >> this dress, as you will see with it on me, i show it with me wearing one ball gown crinolin. >> she was very excited. well, she had how many dresses? >> two. >> two dresses, yeah. >> two dresses. she could not make up her mind. >> that's what molly wanted to

do, have a perfect wedding. >> she was so excited. >> very excited, because it had taken a while to get to that point, i guess, of them being married. >> what did you make of molly as a bride to be? >> she was really sweet. i loved working with her. >> a very wonderful wedding had been planned at the stoney creek inn. molly had invited her family here to come to this event. >> i got mine. sent my rsvp back. >> the couple times that i met her, she always had a smile on her face. she was bubbly. she was happy. she enjoyed talking about her wedding. james was kind of the opposite of molly. he was very quiet, didn't show much enthusiasm. i just thought he was just a groom along for the ride. >> is james looking to back out of the wedding? you see, in their text messages, molly appears to be worried about that. >> are you still sure you want to marry me with my anxiety? she found it.

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plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. before her life was cut short on that back country road, molly was over the moon about her upcoming wedding to james addie, but her family wasn't so sure. >> i asked her, you know, what does your family think about him? and she was really kind of hesitant, and she said, my family doesn't really like him. they've only met him a few times. >> he pulled in one day, and sandi was in the kitchen and 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. >> even though molly and james have been together for seven years, they don't really know this guy. molly's brother even says he doesn't know james' last name. >> he just -- he could never look you in the eye. he could never talk to you directly. everything was very evasive with him. he put off bad vibes to everybody. >> he was like a -- a ghost that would come in and go out. but molly was protective. it was her business. >> now molly is finally getting married again, but some of her closest relatives send their regrets. they're not coming. >> that was my last message to molly. i'm not gonna be able to go. my kids have a softball and baseball tournament that weekend. i said, but you know how i feel about weddings and funerals. i kind of have a thing anyway that i just kind of avoid weddings and funerals. >> molly finally had convinced me. she sent me a text message the

night before she was murdered. it was actually the last one i got from her. it said, you have to be there. it won't be the same without you. and that kind of got to me, so i told her, i was like, okay, i'll do it for you. >> never would have thought that i would have been going to her funeral that next week instead of her wedding. never would have thought it. >> late 2017/early 2018, the two james addie and molly watson began planning a wedding, going to the recorder's office, getting a marriage license. >> this one here is on the date on april 25th, 2018, james aaron addie, 51, to molly nicole watson, 35. i'm mark price. i'm the randolph county recorder

of deeds in the county of randolph in the state of missouri. >> as the county recorder, he's responsible for recording deeds as well as recording marriage licenses. and he performed that ritual for james addie and molly watson on april 25th, 2 days before her murder. >> security camera video actually shows molly walking across the parking lot and coming into the building. >> the cameras i've got in the back of my office for security filmed all that. >> even on security cameras, molly's bubbly personality is pretty obvious. she's smiling and laughing there, chatting with the guard. and notice her phone? apparently she always kept that close. >> molly watson come in the door just shortly before 4:00, and she said, i'm here to get a marriage license. and she was quite pleasant to talk to. we had a good time. and you can see james there in

his uniform, showing up late, hurrying inside. >> and then mr. addie walked in the door. and he was not smiling. he was acting like this was not the place he wanted to be in. she reached right over to him and was -- was touching his arm and stuff. and she would pat him on the back and she would lean into him a little bit. he seemed perturbed with some of the things that i was asking him, like if he had been married before and how it ended. he was just like, why do you need to know that? >> maybe addie just didn't like admitting he'd already been married four times before. or maybe he just didn't like the questions about his marriage to melanie addie, which he tells the recorder had ended in divorce six months earlier. >> the couple leaves the recorder's office holding hands. >> that's just tough. it really is. because she was a sweet girl. a lot of things happened after that. i don't want to cry.

>> judging by their text messages, it appears molly watson, the soon-to-be fifth wife of james addie, is beginning to question just how committed this guy really is. >> are you still sure you want to marry me with my anxiety? >> just days before the wedding, molly is expressing real concern that james is getting cold feet. >> 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. >> james is trying his best to reassure molly that he is all in. >> are you changing your mind? >> not at all. >> then what? >> it worries me that you were changing yours. >> i wasn't. >> good. >> if you read the cards that james sent, this sounds like a man in love telling molly, you are truly the love of my life, now and forever.

you are my everything. i love you. i adore you. this does not sound like a guy who's nervous about getting married. >> as molly's building and getting ready for the wedding and the excitement is starting to take over, 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. and she had just passed away from the injuries. >> molly was told by jim that she was on life support for a bit and eventually we just -- we had to pull the plug on her. we had to let her go. >> this is such tragic news. and of course it could not have

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bride-to-be molly watson has her wedding to james addie all arranged. she booked the location. she bought the centerpieces. she even hired hair and makeup.

but you know what they say about best-laid plans. >> the big day is right around the corner, but there are so many hitches in the wedding plans. >> the plan was that she had a stepdaughter who she was planning to do hair and makeup on. then she said that, but i'll let you know when we get closer to the time, because she's not sure if she really wants to be in the wedding. >> hey, chrystal. this is molly watson. work's just been kind of crazy trying to get ready for the wedding. >> there's some last-minute changes. james and molly cut their guest list in half. and molly leaves a voicemail saying james' daughter, emma, won't be in the wedding party after all. >> i did also want to let you know that it is just going to be me getting hair and makeup done. my soon-to-be stepdaughter has decided she and a friend are going to do each other's hair and makeup, so we're just going to go that route. >> we were like, oh, no big

deal. so i didn't really think anything of it. >> james had told molly, who told me, that his ex-wife was involved in december in a really bad car wreck and that she was on life support and they didn't think she was going to make it. >> with every wedding, we do a final walkthrough and detailing meeting. however, when i was reaching out to molly to try to get that meeting scheduled, she had mentioned that james' ex-wife had passed away from a car accident over the holidays. >> and a couple weeks before molly's death, she had actually told me that they went in and pulled the plug on her and she passed away. >> now, this is april we're talking, and she had just passed away from the injuries. so he had to go do funeral stuff with his kids when we were trying to meet. >> on the day that molly watson

was murdered, james addie had dropped off centerpieces or decorations for the wedding planner and had made a payment on the wedding. >> he seemed just like he did in every other meeting that i met him. so, this is probably the second or third time i've met him in person. again, really quiet, didn't say much. he brought in the decor, and me being a bubbly event coordinator trying to get people amped for their big day, i'm being enthusiastic. and i do recall, as i was walking him out the door, i asked if he's getting excited, and his one comment was that she was driving him crazy. >> mr. addie made a statement that molly watson was driving him crazy. >> deputies say they found a woman's body in the area of highway 151 and route m friday night. >> i was at home watching tv, and their pictures come up on the screen and that she was dead.

>> it has been identified as 35-year-old molly watson from huntsville. >> and i went, oh, my gosh. and i hollered at my wife. i said, carla, i think i was the one that sold them their marriage license just earlier this week. >> the investigation is sort of launched throughout that night with the missouri highway patrol going out there, looking at this. >> now police get their first big break in this investigation. and that's thanks to the guy in the pickup truck, glenn mcsparren. >> it was pitch black that night. it was very dark. >> glen mcsparren was taking a shortcut that night to and from his mother's home and discovered molly's body on the way back from his mother's. >> however, we also found out that that was not the first time he had been through the water crossing that night. >> about 30 minutes before he discovers the body of

molly watson, he's driving down this same desolate dirt road in monroe county, missouri. >> earlier in the night, he was taking his daughter over to his mother's home and actually encountered that scene from the opposite direction. >> and he saw a car come up and kind of cut him off, put their headlights right into his view. >> i started to see, um, that there was lights down here. and once i got a little bit closer, i could see that there was a car, and i thought that they wanted past me, so i pulled over to the side of the road. and i could see another car parked over on the right facing away from me. at first i thought somebody was stuck, because the car with the lights on facing us, it looked almost like it was spinning and like the front end was sliding back and forth. >> he said he saw a short white guy driving the car. >> on older white male in a big grandma car.

>> glenn mcsparren described the car with the older white man as a old grandma car. >> then, all of a sudden, he pulled up down closer to us. i rolled my window down just a little bit and i stuck my head over next to it, and right about then, the guy got out and come to the end of his door. and i couldn't hardly see him because of all the glare. and i just kind of turned my head towards the window. i said, hey is somebody stuck down there? and -- how did he say that? he said, i don't know where they're at. it's going to be a while. >> glen mcsparren had a brief verbal exchange with this older white male. and the other individual indicated that glen needed to go around a different way. >> so i just backed my truck up a little bit and went back to the west. the more i thought about it, i was like, it doesn't -- something's not right. and i talked to my mom and my brother for a minute, and i told

them, i said, i'm going to go back through there. >> and that's when he finds molly watson at the scene, dead. calls the police. >> in the hours after finding molly, police searching in the dark find her purse and her other belongings. but they soon realize that something very important is missing from this crime scene, something that really should be there. >> we all know that technology plays a big part of solving murder cases now. but at this point, police in this case don't have molly's cell phone. >> molly watson's cell phone was not found at the scene of her murder. >> investigators will set out to find molly's phone. but before the sun comes up, another important discovery comes to light. >> this discovery is pretty amazing. i mean, the deputy was not out searching for evidence. he was driving back to the crime scene in the dark. he's got the good sense to pick it up, and boy, is it going to turn out to be important.

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the crime scene is in the middle of nowhere in monroe county, missouri. >> it's remote. i mean, it's really grown up. you're driving in between trees and horse weeds down to the creek. >> so, this is a low water crossing. you can kind of see the roadway on the other side. it is an unpaved gravel road. >> it's a low water crossing, so it's muddy at points. >> at this muddy crime scene, right where that witness says he saw a man driving what he called a grandma car, investigators find remarkably well preserved tire tracks. >> there were tire impressions, which were along the edge of the road. >> there was an embankment, and there appeared to be markings

that looked like two os. >> what appeared to be lettering from a sidewall of the tire. there were what appeared to be double os. i think everybody looking thought that it was probably a goodyear tire. >> they also located a tire print just feet from molly's body. the missouri state highway patrol created a cast of a tire print in the mud near molly's body. they did that with the hopes that in the future, they'd be able to compare it to other tires. >> and they take some of this evidence from the tire track in the mud in order to analyze this tire track. could we match what we found here to any particular tire? >> authorities are working hard to try to figure out who in the world would have a reason to want to end the life of this friendly, happy young woman. >> when they searched molly watson's belongings in her car, they did locate cash still in her purse.

>> she was wearing what appeared to be a diamond solitaire engagement ring on her left hand. >> indicating that the motive might not have been robbery. >> so if it's not robbery, what is the motive? could molly herself have left a clue on facebook? >> in a facebook post that happened about a year before her death, molly complains about an ex, but she doesn't say who it is. she says they were trying to access her bank accounts. >> let me read the post to you. "i suspect it was the unstable individual who attempted to intimidate me with their service weapon by pointing it at me and threatening me when i left the relationship." >> i have no idea who had threatened her. i had never, ever, ever threatened her. >> amber denies meddling with any of molly's bank accounts. and keep in mind, she wasn't molly's only ex. james and molly had an on-again/ off-again relationship. there were other people in the picture as well.

>> this is definitely not normal. this is not something we get in monroe county very often. murders, we didn't get very often. >> brandon osborn was a sheriff's deputy with the monroe county sheriff's office at the time that molly watson's body was found. >> he needed to return to the sheriff's office quickly. >> on his way back to the crime scene, brandon osborn located a t-shirt in the middle of route m. >> i came upon this shirt laying in the road. went around the shirt and passed it, and then i stopped. and i'm thinking, eh, we're kind of close to the crime scene here. i probably better pick that up just in case. >> this discovery is pretty amazing. i mean, the deputy was not out searching for evidence. he was driving back to the crime scene in the dark. he spots the t-shirt. he's got the good sense to pick it up. and, boy, is it going to turn out to be important. >> that t-shirt, we later

learned, had gunshot residue on it, had molly watson's blood. >> we can infer that that was at the scene at some point of molly watson's murder, given the presence of that gunshot residue and her blood on the t-shirt. >> it turned out to be a very important piece of evidence. >> meantime, there is an autopsy. >> it revealed that molly watson died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, that the trigger was pulled when the gun was flush against molly's head, and that it was a small caliber weapon that was used to kill her. >> the medical examiner is able to extract a bullet from the body of molly. the problem is, this bullet is crushed beyond recognition. that's not what police want to hear when they're building a case against a suspect. >> prosecutors were not able to identify a murder weapon because the bullet that they found was too damaged to be able to match it up with any particular firearm. >> all we can say about the projectile is that it would be

consistent with a small-caliber ammunition. >> a .22 would be considered a small caliber firearm, along with several other calibers. >> investigators are searching, and on a road leading away from the scene, county road m, they find evidence. >> along route m, there were a couple of items of evidence that were located, including an ammunition box. >> it was an empty .22-caliber ammunition box. >> the investigators are gathering that evidence to examine later, but right now in the middle of the night, there's something they've got to do right away. they've got to break the bad news to molly's fiance, james addie. >> at that point, we wanted to make a notification to him that there had been an incident involving molly. >> the highway patrol trooper does one of the more unfortunate parts of a law enforcement officer's job, to go notify somebody that their loved one is dead.

>> 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 fiance. >> 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 addie. what has he been hiding? i have active psoriatic arthritis. but with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, i'm feeling this moment. along with clearer skin skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections

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this is an unbelievable story. this is a story about a double life. >> those lives were set on a collision course when he and molly watson began planning the wedding. >> molly apparently is head over heels for james addie. >> she was all about him. this is what she's always been looking for. >> he had told molly that his wife died in a terrible accident. >> two days before this long awaited marriage, molly's found murdered. >> just built and built and built. >> and somebody has a lot of secrets. a man driving along a back road in rural 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. >> the highway patrol trooper does a sort of unfortunate part of a law enforcement officer's job, to go notify somebody that their loved one is dead. >> so, sheriff colston, along with a couple members of the missouri state highway patrol went from the crime scene to james addie's home. >> molly watson was basically murdered at the midway point between james addie's home and her home. >> so they go to his house outside of mexico, missouri, which is, let's say, 25 miles away.

>> it's very late to the point we're getting to his house right around 2:00 in the morning. i went to knock on the door. >> and that door was answered by james addie. he's wearing a bathrobe. >> as investigators go to deliver what they believe is going to be shocking news to james addie, they had no idea that the shocking news was going to be delivered to them. >> 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? and i imagine the trooper probably felt much of the same thing. what are you doing here? >> the answer's not just a complete surprise, it's a shock. it turns out the woman was 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, including the teenage girl named emma who was upstairs asleep in her own bed. >> now, this is a stunning moment since addie had told molly his ex-wife was dead. >> we definitely were not expecting for there to be a wife present. >> she's his wife? the guy's living a complete double life. what is going on here? >> it was kind of like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. he was realizing that, i've already been married for years. i have two kids with this woman, but i also have this whole other life. he knew that in two days, all of that was going to collide. >> this is a huge predicament for him. how do you keep both of these lives going? >> molly knew he was married. he had told her. and she told me all of this. she's like, he has a wife.

he plans on leaving her once their daughter graduates high school. >> why would you ask someone to marry you if you're already married? you know, just continue on the way you were. >> it turns out melanie addie is james addie's fourth wife. so that would mean molly would have been his fifth marriage. but it's really unclear how those previous marriages ended. >> we tried to find those previous ex-wives, but no one we interviewed for the story knew any details. >> the wife, she denies any knowledge of the affair. i don't think that she knew. >> i guess melanie asked who molly watson was, and he had to confess, yeah, it's my lover. >> 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 admits early on that he had done something he shouldn't have in terms of an affair. he never said he killed anyone. >> mr. addie became visibly hot and uncomfortable during that interview. so hot and uncomfortable that he actually walked over to his window, opened it, and put a box fan there to blow the cool air in. >> at first, addie offers up an explanation of what he had been doing that night. >> james addie said he was going to see a friend that night at 7:00. >> he says he was going to pick up an avocado plant. says that he got back home around 8:30 that night. >> but addie also admits something else to police. he tells them he had been talking to molly earlier that night using a phone that he kept hidden from his wife. >> there was essentially a

secret phone or a private phone that he only used to communicate with molly watson. >> it was a purple cell phone that he went out and grabbed and gave it to investigators and said, this is what i used to communicate. and, boy, did he communicate. >> james addie admits to talking to molly watson every single day and volunteered that the last time he had spoken with molly watson was earlier that evening and showed the police a screen shot of a 22-minute phone call from her to him. >> he did not indicate that she was driving or what she was doing during the period of that phone call. >> james addie texts molly watson after she was dead. these texts were like maybe a caring fiance would send. >> what did you eat for supper? i love you so much. >> and finally, when he has no response, he says something like, night night, sweetheart.

i'll talk to you tomorrow. >> for police, everything has changed since that very first moment that they walked into the addies' house. this man has a wife. he was sweating in the interview. he's got phone and text messages that seem ever so suspicious. so for police, there's plenty. what do they do? they arrest him. they charge him with first-degree murder. >> now the trick is building a case. >> you doing all right, sir? okay. >> not really. >> i got a call from our sister heather, and she told me jim's been arrested for murder. and i'm like, no. i didn't believe it. there hasn't been a moment yet that i have thought that jim killed molly. >> and what did melanie, james addie's wife, think? i couldn't believe what she had to say about this incredible double life. he might have tried to kill you.

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all right, here we go. i'm here with joe diaz on our way to monroe county to interview melanie addie about this stunning story. when i look back on that drive, there was a lot of anticipation. this was going to be one of the more unusual interviews i've done. how did you even learn about this story, joe? >> i heard about this trial and was immediately, you know, fascinated by how this man lived a double life. >> we were about to interview melanie addie, the actual wife of james addie, the man who was now accused of murder. melanie, first of all, i want to thank you for doing this, because i know you've not done this before. >> no, i haven't. >> you said that you feel kind of emotional. >> i do, of course. >> yeah.

>> yeah, anything that -- takes you back there is hard. >> it had been three years since melanie learned the truth, but her emotions were still just under the surface as we went back to the beginning of her story. >> that's me and jim. >> oh, my goodness. tell me about meeting james addie. >> i was working at a convenience store, and he was a customer. he came in a lot and finally asked me out. >> and once you two hit it off, did he pop the question pretty soon? >> very quickly. maybe six months. >> that's the wedding photo. >> the wedding, mm-hmm. >> you look so young, both of you. >> we didn't have a lot of money, and we had ben on the way very quickly. >> when ben came into the picture, man, i remember going up to their house. it was always fun. so happy. >> a few years later, emma comes along. >> mm-hmm. >> so your family is growing.

>> it was exactly what we wanted. we had these two great kids. i was a stay-at-home mom. he went to work. it was a very traditional way to do things. i thought it was very good. i love that picture, yeah. all of us together at christmastime. >> as the years went on, melanie admits there were problems in the marriage. there were arguments about money. james clashed with their teen son. but 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. >> melanie did admit the marriage had its ups and downs, but in her mind, they had always been able to work through whatever the issues were. this was her reality. everything was the same. but the fact is, it wasn't. 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. >> how was he able to separate both of these lives? >> he's a very good liar. >> at one point he takes a trip to florida on his own. what was that trip about? >> he told me it was a trip related to his work, where they were doing some training. >> he took the extra step and printed out what looked like a business letter, made it look official that that's what he was doing, but he was taking the trip to florida with molly. >> another time he takes a trip to mexico. >> right. >> with friends. >> i never really knew his work friends. seems plausible. >> as i talked to melanie, knowing where this was going, it was hard not to be a little incredulous.

but no matter what i asked, she was consistent. she said she did not know the truth about what was going on. >> he would get off work at 3:00, and usually he would get home at 5:00. and i would say, why are you always so late? and that would be an argument. he didn't want to tell me anything. >> any suspicions? >> not about an affair. no. >> no suspicions about an affair meant no suspicions about what was going to happen on april 27th, 2018, the night molly watson was killed. >> so let's go back then to april 27th, 2018. any strange behavior on his part? >> no. not at all. nothing. he just seemed like he always did. about 7:00, he came into the living room where i was and said he was going to a friend's house. >> did it strike you as unusual or odd?

>> i remember being irritated that i wanted him to just be home, and he had a hard time staying home. >> do you remember when he came home? >> i was asleep. >> melanie says that emma stayed up long after she had gone to bed and whatever time james addie got home, well, melanie says that she woke up at 2:00 in the morning to the sound of his snoring. and she says she did what she normally does -- move to the couch in the living room. >> what next? >> about 2:30, i think, i saw police car lights out my window. it was very strange to see that. i didn't know what was happening. >> she wasn't ready for everything that was about to come. she wasn't prepared that he had this whole other life that was happening without her. >> the police tell you -- >> yes. >> that your husband has a dead fiancee? >> yes. >> and he's engaged to the woman. >> yeah. >> and you're learning all of this in one night. >> immediately, yeah. >> and you have been married

for -- >> 23 years. >> what did you think? >> i can't even tell you. it was just mind boggling. it made no sense at all, none. >> were you angry? were you hurt? what were you feeling? >> probably just disbelief in the beginning. it didn't seem right. this was not my life. >> did you think that 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. and it could be challenging. i could see this being a way out for him. >> melanie addie begins searching her house. she searches a loft-type area above the garage, which she rarely went into, and found a photo album. >> she finds several photos of

jim and molly together -- on trips to cancun, of them together smiling, a happy couple. >> she found photos of them in florida on this trip that she had thought was a harmless business trip for him to go on, that he was actually there with his fiancee getting ready to get married. >> were you asking yourself, how could i have missed this? >> oh, absolutely. every day. every day. how do you not see this? i guess because i wasn't supposed to see it. >> so he's under arrest. he's in jail. >> yes. >> do you go visit him? >> the following week. we were both in tears. both in tears. >> what is he saying to you? >> that he's sorry. he's very sorry for the affair, but he insists that he was not the killer, that he is not responsible for this. >> was there a part of you that felt for him on any level? >> absolutely.

because i felt like, oh, i have to take care of him. this is what we do. we take care of each other. >> did you look at him suddenly as a stranger, as somebody you didn't know? >> i looked at him as someone i didn't want back. >> what would become of james addie? if there's one piece of smoking-gun evidence in this case, prosecutors say it's not a gun. it's a cell phone. >> like they say, a deceased person doesn't speak, but it's almost like molly was speaking from the grave. rd with node- positive breast cancer is overwhelming. but i never just found my way; i made it. and did all i could to prevent recurrence. verzenio reduces the risk of recurrence of hr-positive, her2-negative, node-positive, early breast cancer with a high chance of returning, as determined by your doctor when added to hormone therapy. hormone therapy works outside the cell... while verzenio works inside to help stop the growth of cancer cells. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an antidiarrheal, and drink fluids. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts,

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this is an unbelievable story. this is a story about a man who was living a double life. >> those lives were set on a collision course when he and molly watson began planning a wedding. >> it 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. >> and when that wedding was less than 48 hours away -- >> two days before this long awaited marriage, she's found murdered. >> a trial has started for a mid-missouri man accused of killing his fiance. >> james addie is accused of killing his fiance, molly watson. >> james addie, the former prison guard, has himself been under guard, locked up in county jail for three years until his trial begins. >> a female appeared out of a

side room, caught me completely off guard. >> the lead investigator, bradley ream, takes the stand. >> i asked her who she was. she replied, i am his wife. >> he testifies about that jaw-dropping moment at the addie home when they find out that james addie is already married and his supposedly dead ex-wife, melanie, is still very much alive. she's standing right there. >> i was like, whoa. i was wondering what was going on. and he told me that, i got myself involved in something i shouldn't have. >> when you first went to the water crossing the first time, was there another car present? >> yes, there was. we came upon a pair of headlights down by the creek, and then i could tell there was another car facing away from me. >> glenn mcsparren testifies about seeing that older white man at the crime scene. but in a blow to the prosecution, he cannot identify

james addie as the man he saw. >> i couldn't get a really 100% clear look at him. i just couldn't get a good enough eyeball on him to tell for certain, hey, yeah, that's the guy. i wish i would have. it would have made everybody's life a lot easier. >> but mcsparren's description of the car that man was driving, that old grandma car, police say that matches addie's car. and then they take a good look at the tires. >> 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 body. >> it wasn't just that double "o" print from the side of the goodyear tire. officers have something more, what prosecutors call a perfect tire print in the mud, just a few feet from molly's body. >> a state crime lab expert

testifies that he compared the right rear tire on addie's car to a cast that was made of the track that was found at the scene of the crime next to molly's body. >> and what conclusion did you draw, if any, about the tire and the cast? >> my conclusion was that particular tire made that particular impression. >> prosecutors are convinced that this tire track matches addie's car. the defense is saying, not so fast. >> all right, i'd like to talk to you about this comparison that we've just had. 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 to me. >> state's exhibit 67. could you explain to the jury what they are looking at here? >> that is an ammo box, an empty ammo box of .22 caliber. >> a prosecution witness testifies bullets found in the .22-caliber rifle found in james addie's home are consistent with thunderbolt ammunition, the kind that came

in the empty ammo box they found. even so, that doesn't prove that that's the murder weapon. >> prosecutors call a long parade of highway patrol investigators and criminalists. and then they introduce a key item of evidence. >> prosecutors say it's not a gun. it's a cell phone also found out on the side of the road. >> we utilized a cell site simulator, and we were able to locate her phone. >> molly watson's cell phone was a vital link in the chain of evidence for prosecutors. like they say, a deceased person doesn't speak, 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 are poring over all these text messages between james and molly. and what they're hoping to do is reconstruct the events leading up to her killing. and maybe they'll find even a

triggering moment that caused it to happen. >> and 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 is tomorrow. >> i'm sorry, sweetness. i love you so so much. >> why would james addie lie? i mean, 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. >> molly, at a certain point, did try to look into this and question this, according to some of the things brought up in court. >> forensic searches of molly's phones indicated that the day before she was murdered, she was looking for melanie addie's obituary. >> what is the general theme of these searches? >> searching for obituary or death notices for melanie addie.

>> was obviously unable to find an obituary for melanie addie. >> prosecutors make sure to point out the significance of these searches the day before the murder. they 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. >> did james addie have a plan to see molly that night? >> as stated here in the exhibit, the text message says, i think i'm going to see you tonight. and that was sent from james' purple phone to molly. >> he knew. he knew what was going to happen. he knew how that day was going to end. >> earlier in the evening of april 27th, before james addie departed his home, he had sent text messages from himself to

himself. >> have a meeting tonight at 8:00. normal place. you have to be there. >> james addie seems to be almost firing himself up to do something drastic. >> don't be a [ bleep ] again. let's go, man. >> it was as if one part of him was telling the other to -- come on, we can do this. let's go. >> trying to psych himself up for something. obviously now we know what it is. don't be a [ bleep ] man. let's go, man. he is talking himself into it. he is getting himself ready. >> as the trial is getting under way, what could have -- or would have been james addie's closest allies as a criminal defendant, his wife and his daughter, are now actually going to take the stand against him. >> were you aware that you were on a guest list to attend your dad's wedding? i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks to skyrizi,

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night alive. >> she was home, just hanging out at her house when james addie, her fiance, called her and said something to her that prompted her to leave the house. >> grabbed her slippers, threw them on. grabbed her coat and threw it on and told my mom and dad, you know, i'm going to meet james here in a little bit. i'll be right back. and out the door she went. >> molly was lured to this monroe county road, a 22-minute phone call and a 22-minute drive to her death. the defendant is on the phone with her when she walks out her door. he is on the phone with her the entire drive. >> for the next 30 minutes or so, police say that addie's phones, both of them, are silent. no calls. no texting. >> that is when he killed

molly watson. >> will you please state your name and spell it for the court reporter? >> emma addie. e-m-m-a, a-d-d-i-e. >> the most emotion that we saw out of james addie was when emma took the stand. james addie was in tears. >> the evidence at trial showed that emma addie had actually met molly watson previously. >> james' daughter, emma, needed a costume. >> and dad said that he knew somebody who did that kind of thing. and that person was molly. and he took me to go meet her, and she made a costume for me. >> james had introduced molly as a friend from work. >> what was james addie thinking introducing this secret girlfriend to his own daughter, and of course the daughter has no clue what she means to him? i mean, why?

why would he do this? >> did you know about his relationship with molly? >> no. >> she articulated to the jury what she saw and heard and remembered from that night. >> i was still up doing homework at around 10:00 p.m. and that's when -- that's around the time that dad came home. >> specifically that he got home at 10:00, not 8:30. >> on cross-examination, the defense really tries to create some doubt with timing as to when james addie actually got home. even though emma says it was 10:00, maybe he had gotten home earlier. maybe he was in the garage working on his car. maybe she didn't know. >> you would agree with me that, back in this time frame, that your dad would frequently be in the garage, correct? >> yes. >> emma's most damaging testimony may be about that bloody t-shirt. remember the one that was found in the road near the crime scene?

>> the t-shirt becomes so important to this case because it's a one of a kind t-shirt. and here's the kicker -- it was made by james addie's daughter, emma. >> do you recognize that shirt? >> yes. >> all right. how do you recognize that shirt? >> she was able to identify it because she'd made it as a part of one of her classes. and she was able to affirmatively say, that is a t-shirt that i made. >> i know that's my shirt. >> she gave it to her father. >> i brought them home that day after the contest. and dad said that he would take one to the garage just to use as rags. >> the defense offers the jury an explanation for why that t-shirt was found near the crime scene. he suggests that perhaps james addie had given it to molly. >> is it so implausible that one fiancee has a shirt that belonged to their fiance?

>> as far as your marriage with james addie, can you describe it for the jury? >> testifying next, the woman james addie allegedly claimed was dead, his now ex-wife, melanie addie. >> it was good sometimes. it was bad sometimes. i thought we both tried to make it work. >> you were called to testify. >> mm-hmm. >> how hard was that? >> it's horrible. it's just horrible. you don't want to be there. i don't want to be in a position where i'm hurting him. i don't want to do that. >> so in april of 2018, were you still married to mr. addie and living in that same home? >> yes. >> did you have any plans to divorce at that point? >> no. >> after 23 years of marriage, melanie addie had divorced james for real, soon after his arrest. >> within a few weeks, you file for divorce. >> oh, yes. he had always been very hard on

me about, you know, how a wife should act and how a wife should be. and then he did this? he had an affair and that's okay? no, we were done. we were done. >> james addie didn't react to his ex-wife taking the stand. but everybody else did. anybody watching was riveted. >> i'm going to take you back specifically to april 27th of 2018. do you remember that day? >> yes. >> james addie indicated to law enforcement that he was wearing certain clothing that night. >> tells them boots and a pair of gym shorts. however, later conversations with melanie addie reveal that those were not the clothes that he was wearing. >> do you remember what he was wearing when he left? >> blue jeans, a black jacket, and boots. >> blue jeans, boots, and a dark, black colored jacket. >> that jacket was never recovered during our search of the addie home.

>> prosecutors also ask melanie about that outrageous story, the one they say james told molly, that melanie was dead. >> were you in horrible car crash in october of 2017, around christmas or new year's? >> no. >> and is it fair to say you did not pass away in april of 2018? >> that's correct. >> as the murder trial speeds along, a defense strategy catches some courtroom observers by surprise. and the jury delivers a verdict. >> all right, then. it is my understanding the jury has reached a verdict. do i have a foreperson? >> yes, sir. >> when the jury walked in, like, five of the jury members looked at us. like, they glanced over, and i thought, okay, i don't know if this is a good sign or not. [ sighs ] can't sleep? just a lot on my mind.

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my name is richard stuart painter. >> so back in april of 2018, you were in jail at that time. is that right? >> yes, ma'am. >> what's a case without a jailhouse snitch? but this trial had not one, but two inmates who took the stand to testify against james addie. >> bryce hendren and richard painter were two inmates in the monroe county jail at the time that james addie was arrested and brought to detention there. >> did something happen while you were in the jail that concerned you? >> yes, it did. >> they're all sitting together in a common room watching

television, just kind of shootin' the breeze. they ask jim, "what are you doing here?" >> the conversation about bond come up, and it was brought to our attention that his bond was $500,000. and that sparked our attention enough to wonder what he had done, and then the phrase was made, i put someone face down in a ditch. >> the guy said he laid someone face down in a ditch. that was about it. >> how the state interprets that was essentially jim confessing to having done this, to having killed molly. >> like most defense attorneys in cases where jailhouse snitches are used, this attorney wants to tear it apart on cross-examination. >> isn't it true that you actually aren't sure what you heard, right? >> i was right beside him, i can say 99% sure that that's what i heard him say.

>> you said that you gave a statement to law enforcement, right? >> yes, sir. >> okay. and in that statement, right, you said, i am not sure what i heard, right? >> if that is what i said, then that's -- >> my name is bradley breen. >> samantha cohen. >> nathan shokin. >> carl christopher. >> after calling nearly 20 witnesses over the course of three days, the state rests its case. >> thank you, sir. you may step down. >> and now it's time for the defense to take its turn. all kinds of options here. 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. >> james addie does not testify. in fact, as sometimes happens the defense calls no witnesses at all. >> 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. >> and i am confident that you will return the verdicts of guilty.

>> once my client puts a witness on the stand, now we're in competition for who is more likable, for who do we believe more? you lose the state's burden and you take on a burden yourself. your doubts are reasonable. your doubts are reasonable because jim did not kill molly. james addie's defense team took the stance of, the state is expecting to you connect the dots and that's not your job as jurors. >> because the evidence will show the state does not have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. >> they attempted to raise enough reasonable doubt about the things that weren't there. there was no murder weapon. what would be the motive of a man in love killing his fiancé? >> he was in love with molly, was the defense. and he was having an affair, but that didn't necessarily mean he was the killer.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the defendant had a choice to make, and the evidence in this case shows us that this is the life he did not choose. >> closing arguments in this case ended up being on what would have been james and molly's three-year anniversary. molly watson does not get to celebrate her three-year wedding anniversary today, but you have the power to give her justice. >> the most anticipated time for any jury trial is the reading of the verdict. here, the jury deliberated about two and a half hours the fate of james addie and announced they had reached a unanimous decision. >> all right, then. my understanding is the jury

has reached a verdict. do i have a foreperson? >> yes, sir. >> when the jury walked in, like, five of the jury members looked at us. like, they glanced over, and i thought, okay. i don't know if this is a good sign or not. >> verdict reads as follows. as to count one, we the jury find the defendant, james addie, guilty of murder in the first degree as submitted in instruction number six. >> the jury found james addie guilty of first-degree murder in the death of molly watson and armed criminal action. >> oh, i was happy. i was so happy to hear that, because my sister got justice. my mom and dad got justice. >> did you feel that your husband should have been found guilty of murder? >> absolutely. yeah. >> is he a killer? >> apparently. >> you asked me earlier what i was surprised at during the trial. >> during the entire course of the trial, he failed to represent anything that i brought forward, sir. >> up until this point, james addie has fully exercised his

right to remain silent throughout the trial, but now he's ready to open up and give the court his version of what he says really happened. >> jim took the opportunity to really lay out how he felt about this case. >> there is no way that i could have done this crime. >> and he's going to point to someone he says is the true killer. ...before asthma got in the way? fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur.

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thank you, and have a seat. we're here today on 18ac-cr01983, state versus james addie. matter comes on today for final disposition. >> two months after his conviction, james addie is formally sentenced. >> mr. addie, having been convicted by a jury of your peers of the charge of murder in the first degree, i hereby sentence you to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, that

being the sentence mandated by law. >> once sentencing is over, the judge wants to hear from addie. >> anyone expecting regrets or remorse is in for quite a surprise. >> normally, criminal defendants keep their mouth shut. they say yes when they're supposed to, and they move on their way to get their appeal going. >> addie has plenty to say, beginning by reading a love letter to the woman he's convicted of killing. >> molly was the love of my life. >> addie insists that molly was the love of his life. he says he misses her terribly and would have done anything to keep her happy. addie is now asking for a new trial. he's complaining to the judge that his defense counsel was ineffective. >> during the entire course of the trial, he failed to represent anything that i brought forward, sir. >> jim honestly let his defense attorney have it.

he said that he did not think that t.j. did a great job. >> can you give me an idea of what kind of stuff you wanted him to bring forward? >> cell phone records. facebook posts that were in discovery that showed motive that somebody else would do that. >> molly had an ex who, according to him, had stalked her. very much so had a motive to do harm to molly as her wedding was approaching. >> we reviewed all of the evidence collected during this investigation and presented the relevant admissible evidence at trial, and there was no evidence of any other person with a direct connection to molly watson's death. >> that evidence pointed to one person, james addie, who had the motive, means, and opportunity to take molly watson's life. >> it was the sins of the heart, i would say. he should have been a man enough to say, i did that, and i'm

sorry. it's just terrible that -- that -- damn it. i just wish he wouldn't have done that. >> 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 victim. >> not at all. molly's the victim. she's not here. she's lost her life. >> it's so funny, because here just a couple of days ago at work -- i'm a mechanic, and we have our bay doors open. and out of the blue, this balloon came right up to me, and it says, we love you. we miss you. and that was my mom, dad, and molly telling me, hey, we're watching you. so, definitely felt good. >> you just think of the lyrics of that song that molly loved so much from the movie "tangled."

♪ bring back what once was mine ♪ ♪ what once was mine ♪ so many people missing her. in late 2022, a missouri court upheld james addie's conviction, but he continues to pursue further appeals. that's our program for tonight. thanks for watch. i'm deborah roberts from all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night. >> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7news. >>