party and a gunshot. >> they said there was a shooting. >> one life ended. >> instead of buying a graduation gift you're buying a casket. >> and so many others about to change. >> he was telling my mother, they're trying to pin this on me. >> but it wasn't just police saying this young man pulled the trigger. two of his best friends said so, too. >> i told them ryan did it and basically went along with their whole story. >> but only until the next day when those friends said they had lied under pressure from police. >> they were crying and they said the police made us say ryan

did the shooting. >> none of that stuff is true? >> none of it. >> here's the problem and it's a big one. they're now free and their son? >> it's just hard to see they're walking around and ryan's not. >> he's inprison. >> i'm not a murderer. >> a search for truth in "a circle of friends." >> good evening and welcome to "dateline." i'm ann curry. it's saturday night in a small town and teenagers are heading to a party. nothing that doesn't happen every weekend in thousands of towns across america but this party would be different. within hours, one teen would lose his life to a bullet and another would lose his freedom for as long as 25 years for what he says was a lie. here's dennis murphy. >> reporter: a bullet fired from a gun travels a thousand feet a second or more. one such bullet, a .22 weighing just 35 grains, took down an 18-year-old boy in an instant

and flung once close friends into an endless cycle of guilt, pain, and recrimination. >> i've been beating myself up for 11 years over this thing. >> sometimes i set it aside because you have to. you have to go on and live, but it's in my mind a lot. >> never in a thousand years, you know, would think that this would happen to you. >> a snap-your-fingers moment of horror at a teenage party that would reverberate for years to come. >> it's a nightmare. you just can't wake up from it. >> reporter: the town of plainfield in eastern connecticut is where this story plays out. it's an old yankee mill town where everybody knows everybody. the kind of safe and friendly place where scott and jane thompson wanted to raise their son, ryan. >> it was the hometown america neighborhood. >> they're in and out of one another's houses, riding bikes, doing stuff. >> right.

>> reporter: tell me a little bit about ryan. >> easy kid. happy go-lucky and lots of friends in the neighborhood. >> reporter: brandy stebbins and her brother dave lived across the street. >> a pretty close knit group of kids wasn't it? >> pretty much. they called it curb side because they would sit on the curb and look at people driving by and say, hey, you know, hello to people they know. >> reporter: another friend lived one street up. >> growing up in that small neighborhood you go through ups and downs but you become best friends. >> brandy became a single mom at age 19. >> dave and jared struggled in school at times. ryan, too. >> he was getting disgruntled with high school. he was thinking about going into the marines, actually. and i was thankful for that because to me if you stay in a small town, and you don't go away to school or you don't have a trade, you can get in trouble.

>> reporter: april 18th, 1998, a saturday, ryan's parents were out of town. he went over to dave and brandy's house around noon. >> he was funny. he was always joking and being goofy and laughing. >> reporter: now, were you guys thinking about being boyfriend/girlfriend at the time or something? >> we had just started dating, yes, you could call it that. >> reporter: jared was there. his parents, too, were out of town. >> there's an 18 pack of beer and we were just hanging out at the house. got the grill going, music going. >> ended up getting a phone call from another young lady we knew from school who told butts a party that was going on and we should all come. >> brandy hadn't been drinking so they all piled into her car and arrived at the party around 9:00 p.m. it was in full swing. ♪ >> there was music. >> keg of beer or byo or -- >> it was bring your own booze to my knowledge.

>> reporter: was there dope smoking? >> off in another room i think that people were smoking pot and whatever. >> reporter: a little beer, a little drugs? >> yep. >> reporter: dave says everything was cool until his new girlfriend spotted him and so did her ex-boyfriend. >> and she came over and started hanging on me and that kind of upset him. >> reporter: eventually dave says he and the ex-boyfriend exchanged words and went outside. >> everybody was like, ah, a fight, a fight. >> reporter: and the guy throwing the party says, here's trouble. >> right. >> reporter: so you're out. >> absolutely. >> dave told me go get my sister and ryan and let's get out of here. >> reporter: what kind of shape was ryan in? >> he was buzzing but he wasn't out of control. >> reporter: it would be hotly disputed later but the four friends say they simply got into brandy's car and left. >> we're driving away and i remember a 40-ounce bottle going right by the car smashing on the road. they were throwing beer bottles

as we left. >> we stopped the car a little further down the road because she was out there, erin was out there and she was upset crying. >> reporter: this was the girlfriend who was the cause of the fight. >> right. she was crying. >> reporter: so you decided even then that you and ryan were going back to the party? >> right. >> reporter: the phone at dave's house started ringing. >> some girl crying and screaming at me saying you guys shot him in the head. i thought it was somebody crank calling me. >> reporter: you had no idea what was going on? >> had no clue. >> reporter: brandy says she and ryan didn't either until a car load of teenagers flagged them down on the way back to the party. >> they said there was a shooting. they said dave stebbins had done the shooting. >> your brother? >> correct. we said that's impossible. we just dropped dave off at home. >> reporter: brandy and ryan continued on to the party and pulled up to flashing police lights and an ambulance. the host of the party saw ryan and pointed him out to a police officer.

>> ryan, what's going on, why are they saying this? >> reporter: apparently he kept talking and making a little more ruckus than he should have. >> right. he was impatient. he had been drinking. >> reporter: so here's the town officer with this drunk kid in his face. >> pretty much. >> reporter: and he ends up what, in the back of the car? >> right. he got arrested for breach of peace. >> reporter: her friend ryan under arrest, her brother dave accused of shooting someone. brandy says none of it made any sense. >> i just thought it was a terrible misunderstanding and that it would be cleared up with, you know, within no time. >> reporter: she could not have been more wrong. coming up -- it's no longer just a shooting. now it's a murder. >> he just never woke up. >> reporter: and police get a surprise. >> that was the jaw-dropping moment for the vedetectives. >> reporter: when "a circle of friends" continues. from abilify. if you're taking an antidepressant

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as four teenage friends were being sucked into the confused aftermath of a shooting at a party, another family was being pulled into something much worse. when you look through your old family albums what do you see rob doing? what's the happiest picture you like? >> they're all happy. he has a smile in every picture. >> reporter: 18-year-old rob mccaffery loved life and had

lots of friends. >> he was full of gusto and he found good in everything and everyone. >> reporter: his mother thought nothing of it when he went to a party the night of april 18th, 1998, but it turned out to be the party that changed everything. >> the phone rang at 10:30 and it was meredith screaming into the phone rob's been shot and i said where and she just kept screaming. >> reporter: it was the same party the four friends went to. dave had an argument over a girl where a shot was fired. rob mccaffery was the one who got hit. he was sitting on a roof top with a friend when a single bullet seemingly out of nowhere pierced his skull. rob's mom raced to the hospital. >> he was in intensive care and -- excuse me. we went in there and he had tubes coming out of everywhere on him. i held his hand and laid my head

next to him and begged for him to fight. >> reporter: who shot rob mccaffery? suspicion settled almost immediately on the four friends who had left the party after one of them got in a hassle and had gotten kicked out. ryan thompson was already under arrest for disturbing the peace. now connecticut major crimes squad detectives came for his buddies jared and dave. >> we all thought it was kind of a joke at first. >> they get us in the car. they're cracking jokes. i'm naive to this whole situation. >> reporter: jared says he started to wise up at the police station. >> they swabbed my hands and at this point -- >> reporter: unshot residue. >> yes. at this point i'm starting to wonder. this doesn't seem to be standard. >> reporter: dave stebbins was also tested for gunshot residue. they accused you of being the gunman. what did you think? >> i thought you're out of your mind. i didn't do this.

i got nothing to hide. >> reporter: ryan was in a cell just down the hall. did you know he was also in the same police station? >> i knew once i heard him screaming in his cell. >> reporter: he was screaming back in his cell. >> yes. >> reporter: if all this sounds ominous jared and dave say it didn't seem that way to them. >> they weren't drilling us. they just wanted to know what we did, when we got in the car and left. >> reporter: did you see anything? >> did you see anything? no. the interview was over. >> reporter: the police dropped them off at dave's house at 4:30 in the morning. what did you think just happened to you? >> i didn't know but i wasn't worried because i hadn't done nothing. >> reporter: or so he claimed. so they all claimed. but police were getting a very different picture. first there was the behavior of ryan thompson. he had been arrested for disturbing the peace but seemed to think he was in much more serious trouble. prosecutor vince dooley. >> he's behaving completely irrationally. he's swearing at them. he's being belligerent.

he sits there and says, what was he shot with, a .22? >> reporter: what is that moment? >> that was the jaw-dropping moment for the detectives. they didn't even know at that point what type of weapon had been used in this incident. >> reporter: in fact the teenager had been shot with a .22. >> and all of a sudden thompson quiets down and sees that they have concerns with that and then he says, or -- or -- or maybe it was a shotgun. >> reporter: then the next morning there was the statement of a witness at the party, a man named bobby latour. he told police that when the four friends left the party they didn't leave quietly. >> latour said that stebbins had left the car, pointed the rifle at him, threatened latour with the rifle. he then said that stebbins got back into the car. >> reporter: in other words according to latour the four friends had a gun and that wasn't all. latour said the car moved a short distance, stopped, and he saw ryan get out.

>> he sees him carrying what he thought was a rifle. he sees him running between two houses, a short time later he hears a pop. >> reporter: that statement jibed with one from the host of the party, ron harding. he said he saw a man in a white jacket like the one ryan was wearing run from between the two houses to the car right after hearing a pop. >> harding saw the same individual getting back into the car and then the car leaving the scene. >> reporter: those two witnesses made ryan thompson the chief suspect in the shooting -- his friends suspected accomplices. at about the same time, rob mccaffery's parents watched helplessly as their son slipped away. >> he just never woke up. they had to try to let him breathe on his own. and then we had to make the decision to have the ventilator turned off. >> reporter: and your rob was gone. >> he was. >> reporter: now it was a murder case.

the four friends smack in the middle of it. coming up, betrayed by friends. detectives hear a new and very different story about the night of the killing. what is the second story that comes out? >> we didn't have anything to do with it. it was all ryan thompson. >> reporter: what made these two long-time friends suddenly turn on one of their own? when "dateline" continues. was expanding rapidly, many and my car was worn out, so we got the '97 camry. when i was 16, i got the camry, and i drove it for nine years. then when i turned 16, i was passed down the camry. i was like, "yes!" [ man] and then we just got a camry hybrid. it's just such a perfect, practical car. [ boy ] i'm hoping to probably get the new camry hybrid. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] share your toyota story on facebook.com/toyota. ♪ was good for it, too? aveeno introduces nourish + style, the first line of styling products with active naturals wheat to fortify while you style

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>> reporter: a gentle kid shot to death at a teenage party. four friends under suspicion. police finally release the last of them, ryan thompson, about 4:00 a.m. he went to his friend brady's house. >> he was telling my mother, they're trying to pin this on me, mrs. stebbins. and she was saying, don't worry, ryan. you know you didn't do anything wrong. it'll, you know, it's going to work out. >> reporter: but brandy became concerned when detectives questioned her in a police car a few hours later. >> they wouldn't really write down the things i was saying. they were saying, well, you're leaving stuff out and i was saying, i'm really not. and i eventually got frustrated and said, this is over. and got out of the car and went in the house. >> reporter: ryan's parents out of town for the weekend knew nothing about what had happened until they got a cryptic call from their son sunday morning.

>> saying that there'd been a problem at the party the night before, and he'd gotten arrested for breach of peace and he said, you know, no rush to get home. don't ruin your weekend. >> reporter: that's a big headline for dad, though. >> exactly. so of course we packed up, hopped in the car, and went home. >> reporter: they were unpacking the car when a neighbor walked over. >> and she said, did you know the boy died? we were flabbergasted. we didn't know what they were talking about. >> reporter: first you're hearing about this. >> right. >> reporter: they got the story from ryan in bits and pieces. hassle at the party, the shooting, the accusations, ryan's arrest. jane, how are you taking this story? >> i was pretty devastated. >> reporter: some poor kid had been shot. >> and they're saying my son did it. >> reporter: the parents say they weren't alarmed even when they saw police cars staking out their house. >> i guess i didn't really understand the implications yet fully. >> reporter: they didn't know that bobby latour and ron

harding, two witnesses at the party, had placed ryan or a man wearing a white jacket near the scene when the shot was fired. >> the police served a search warrant for the house. that's when it really kind of clicked that, wow, they really do think it's ryan. >> reporter: the warrant was for a gun. police didn't find one but as they were leaving they noticed a white jacket hanging on a peg by the door. >> they asked ryan if that was the jacket he was wearing the night before and he said, yes. so they asked us if they could take it and he said, sure. >> reporter: that same day police visited the house of another of the four friends -- jared gilkenson. his parents, too, had just returned from a weekend away and didn't know about the shooting. >> we were stunned. of course we welcomed them into our home. >> reporter: did you regard them as on your side? >> exactly. they were the guys with the white hats. >> and within the first few minutes we realized that ryan thompson, a kid we've known for a number of years, is their prime suspect, and that jared was with him the evening before

so they think that jared has some information. >> reporter: the night before at the police station, jared had told police he had seen nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing about the shooting. but now police confronted jared's parents with some shooking new information. >> the officer put his hand around my shoulder and said, george, i tell you, we have three people that saw ryan, and he motioned with a gun, had the rifle up to his shoulder taking the shot. right there it was like somebody just hit me in the back of the head with something. it was just a complete shock, you know. i kind of broke down a little bit. and he was very con soelg. he really was. he said, george, i understand that you're -- why you're feeling this way but we just want jared to come clean with us so we can tie this up. >> reporter: then the gilkensons say one of the detectives got a call on his cell phone. >> he hangs up the phone, leans over to his detective buddy and says, ryan just confessed. we're headed down to the thompson house. i'm like hit with a ton of bricks. how did i miss this?

how did this happen without me seeing this? >> reporter: after that the gilkensons say they took over from the police. >> we became then the interrogation. then the intensity picked up. i told jared, you're going to tell me what went on and i was raising my voice and jared was crying, breaking down. >> reporter: jared's mother feared her boy would be charged as an accomplice unless he came clean right away. she, too, went to work on him. >> i started saying oh, my god, jared, you've got to tell them what went on. mom, i've been telling them. well, jared, ryan has confessed. how could you not know anything was going on if ryan confessed and they have three witnesses? >> reporter: and under questioning from police and his parents jared's story changed completely. same for another of the four friends, dave stebbins. the night before he'd been a suspect but denied everything. now when police questioned him again in the light of day he, too, flipped. ryan's friends, once his staunch defenders, were now his chief

accusers. prosecutor vince dooley. what is the second story that comes out? >> reporter: we didn't have anything to do with it. >> it was all ryan thompson. david stebbins said thompson brought the gun to the party with him. he gets out of the car. he gets back into the consider and says i think i shot somebody. jared gilkenson' statement, ryan runs into the car and says i think i shot somebody. let's get out of here. >> reporter: both teenagers put a rifle in the car. >> absolutely. >> reporter: two of ryan's own friends, his curb side buddies from the neighborhood who the night before had told police they weren't involved now separately gave statements implicating ryan in the shooting of rob mccaffery. >> i noticed three or four cars coming and i said, ryan, this is it. i think they're here for you. they came in and arrested him. >> cuffed him? >> yes. >> read him his rights? >> read him his rights. got him outside away from us quickly and then took him away.

>> reporter: and he never really came back, did he? he sort of left your life in some way at that point. >> yeah. that was it. >> reporter: but ryan's arst wasn't the end of the story. far from it. the shot that killed rob mccaffery would echo for years to come. starting the very next day when ryan's two friends had a confession of their own to make. they said they lied when they fingered ryan as the killer. >> they were crying and they said the police made us say ryan did the shooting. it's our fault that he's in jail. >> reporter: if they helped put ryan behind bars, could they now help free him? when "a circle of friends" continues. do your lashes want volume or length? how about both? introducing covergirl lashblast fusion. a mascara for lashes that want it all. all at once. our biggest brush meets our fiberstretch formula to bring you a blast of volume and length.

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>> reporter: a single .22 bullet had ended rob mccaffery's life. now his classmate ryan thompson was sitting in jail charged with murder. his bail set at half a million dollars. the strongest evidence against him, statements given independently by two close friends who were with him the night of the shooting. >> i kept saying, no, just, you know, it can't be. it can't be. i don't believe it. that wasn't his personality. >> reporter: that was ryan's mom. but his dad thought what police told him was too strong to ignore. >> they explained to me that they had three witnesses that saw ryan actually hold the rifle

to his shoulder and shoot. >> reporter: made that motion. >> yeah, made that motion. they showed me that. >> reporter: so you're thinking, maybe my kid is responsible here. >> yes. >> reporter: ryan's two good friends, dave and jared, who were with him the night of the shooting, had also given statements to police implicating ryan. the evidence seemed overwhelming until suddenly it didn't. a day after incriminating ryan, his two friends began to backtrack. >> jared is a mess. i mean, he's just a mess. and he said he -- he didn't do this. he couldn't have done this. i was there, mom. >> reporter: so why had he fingered his friend? jared and his parents now made a startling claim. do you think he got manipulated, george? >> i know he got manipulated. we got used by the state police. >> reporter: the parents say that by telling them that three witnesses had seen ryan fire a shot, then saying ryan had confessed, police convinced them to put pressure on jared to come clean and protect himself. >> i coerced my own son.

it's the biggest regret of my life. >> reporter: jared says under pressure from mom and dad he signed a statement that was suggested by police. >> they told me the story and i just kind of filled in the blanks. i had seccumbed. i had given up. they could have told me that the sky was pink and i would have been like, yeah, the sky was pink. >> reporter: what about dave stebbins the other friend who implicated ryan? he, also, wanted to retract his statement, claiming that police had applied pressure by saying ryan had fingered him. >> they're like almost screaming at me. they're saying, your f -- d you. you're going down for 25 years. >> reporter: here are some major points. in fact ryan never did accuse dave and ryan didn't confess either and the three eyewitnesses who supposedly saw ryan fire the fatal shot, they didn't exist. the witnesses did put ryan at the scene possibly with a gun.

no one could say for sure who pulled the trigger. if the detectives really did say all those things, then they weren't telling the truth. did they step over the line? >> no, absolutely not at all. i mean, legally they could have done a lot more. >> reporter: the detectives declined to talk to "dateline" but it is legal for authorities to lie to witnesses during interrogations. the question now was did police tactics cause dave and jared to accuse their friend, ryan, even though he was innocent? >> dave and jared were sitting at the kitchen table and they were crying and they said, the police made us say ryan did the shooting. it's our fault that he's in jail. and i got angry. i swore at them. i said, tell me the truth. the police told me ryan did it. and i believed them. now you guys are telling me that he didn't do it. how -- how could that be possible? >> reporter: so now you don't know where the story lies. >> exactly. >> reporter: but for ryan's dad at least there was a tiebreaker.

the fourth friend in the car that night, brandy stebbins, she, too, claimed that police had tried to manipulate her but unlike dave and jared, she never changed her original story that ryan wasn't involved. >> one of them said that ryan just confessed and i said, well, i still didn't see or hear it. >> reporter: brandy, a single mom with a 3-year-old, says police pressured her in other ways, too. >> dcf would be involved and try to, you know -- >> reporter: child services? >> child services. >> reporter: might take your boy away from you? >> that's what they implied, yes. >> reporter: but brandy stuck to her story. now all four friends ryan included were saying what they said the first night. there was no gun. we didn't see or hear anything. >> when i found out that their initial statements all matched, i felt that that was the truth. >> reporter: you never wavered after that. ryan's parents went all out.

set up a website and hotline. they borrowed money for a lawyer and offered a $10,000 reward for tips leading to the killer even as their income was taking a big hit. the video store became a casualty didn't it? >> yes it did. our business after the arrest dropped off 30% or 40%. there were great customers and they just stopped coming. >> reporter: scott and jane even ran down leads themselves. >> we drove over half the state looking for rifles that could have been thrown on the side of the road. >> reporter: what, just driving down roads? >> we actually got calls from psychics saying they knew where the gun was so we'd go through streams and rivers and fields. i'm thinking if we find the weapon there will be fingerprints or something to prove who did it. and that'll save ryan. >> reporter: but the gun never turned up. ryan sat in jail and the murder case against him went full speed ahead. coming up, which of the friends' stories would the jury believe? the version where they told detectives ryan was the shooter

or the one where they took it all back? ryan was about to find out. everybody rises and here comes the jury back. >> heart was going. i was scared for him. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. ouch! ow! oops! it's neo to go!®

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♪ >> reporter: when the class of 1998 graduated from plainfield high, empty chairs suggested a small town's pain. >> instead of buying a graduation gift you're buying a casket.

you know, you just shouldn't ever have to do that, never. >> reporter: nancy mccaffery's son rob had been cut down by a single bullet at a teenage party. >> they left his chair empty and they put a basket on it and every student that walked by put a rose in there. >> reporter: others were absent as well, like rob's classmate ryan thompson, still in jail charged with rob's murder, and jared gilkenson, another of the four friends allegedly tied to the shooting. >> plainfield high school says we want you to just stay out. don't come to the graduation. we'll send you a diploma. >> reporter: why didn't they want you at school? >> they told me for my protection. >> reporter: in december, 1999, ryan thompson went on trial for the murder of rob mccaffery. two families in agony. >> never thought i'd see a day like that. we cried quite a bit during those times. >> reporter: any part of the trial you couldn't take, you had to step outside? >> yes. when they brought out the

evidence, when they pulled out robby's shirt covered in blood and his jeans. i had to get up and leave. i tried to stay but i couldn't. >> reporter: what's the state's theory on what happened? >> my feeling was these kids were mad. ryan thompson was mad. he was drunk. he wasn't thinking particularly rationally. he got out of the car. i think he would have seen the two people on the roof and he shot at them. whether -- >> reporter: in the spirit of what? where do you guys get off throwing us out of your party? >> i think it was just a stupid thing that he did. >> reporter: the state didn't have to prove motive. it did need to present forensic evidence linking ryan to the crime. but gunshot residue tests on ryan's white jacket were inconclusive. and no residue was found on any of the four friends or in brandy's car. the murder weapon hadn't been found either. >> we'd like to be able to show

you something forensically but we don't have it. >> we don't. >> reporter: so the state relied on its key eyewitnesses, bobby latour and ron harding. both testified they saw ryan possibly with a gun at the time and near the place where the shot was fired. latour also testified that just before that dave stebbins had threatened him with a rifle. when the defense's turn came they attacked the eyewitnesses. should a reasonable person believe robert latour? >> absolutely not. absolutely not. >> reporter: ryan's defense team said the story changed with each telling. >> robert latour couldn't keep his story straight. he was walking around right after the shooting saying i think i just saw dave stebbins shoot someone. >> reporter: it wasn't until the next morning they told police they saw ryan at the scene and at trial sometimes contradicted each other on the stand. ryan himself testified saying no way was he involved. didn't happen. and so did his friend brandy.

any possibility that deit? >> no. i was near him at all times so i knew in my heart that it wasn't possible. >> reporter: it all came down to ryan's buddies, dave and jared, the other friends in the car. they flip flopped twice. first saying ryan wasn't involved, then implicating him, then claiming detectives had manipulated them with lies and threats. the detectives denied on the stand under oath that they told anyone ryan had confessed or that there were three eyewitnesses. did you look at ryan when you were on the stand? >> yeah i did. >> reporter: what did you see? >> i saw my friend basically looked like he was going through hell and didn't know what was going on. didn't know what happened to him. you know? i felt bad. i cried a lot over it. >> reporter: dave and jared both testified under oath that their first statements were the truth. that they didn't see or hear anything. that ryan was not guilty. how did it feel in a courtroom?

>> it felt like i was doing the right thing. >> reporter: the prosecutor felt otherwise and in his closing argument condemned jared and dave for lying. called them reprehensible? >> i think i said some bad things about them, yes. >> reporter: they had reserved a place in hell for themselves? >> yes. >> reporter: they may not be in trouble with the law right now but there may be charges still to come? >> i did. >> reporter: the jury deliberated for five days, then on january 27th, 2000 -- everybody rises and here comes the jury back. >> heart was going, pumping pretty hard. you know, i was scared for him. >> reporter: on the counts of murder and intentional manslaughter. >> not guilty and not guilty again. >> reporter: that's good news, huh? >> yeah. >> reporter: then the final count x reckless manslaughter with a firearm. the verdict? guilty. >> it was like a hammer coming down on us. >> reporter: how do you take care of your child in that

situation? >> you're helpless. >> reporter: across the aisle rob mccaffery's parents thought that for their child justice had been done. >> i had my husband's hand and our priest's hand and we were elated. >> reporter: ryan, age 19, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. ryan's lawyers appealed arguing the prosecutor had tainted the jury by calling dave and jared reprehensible, accusing them of lying to protect a killer from justice and saying they have not yet been arrested. >> when you imply that, you know, you, the mighty state of connecticut, that we're going to take a look at them later, the jury is automatically going to go, oh, boy. they must be bad. >> reporter: did you step over the line? >> i did step over the line on that. >> reporter: the appellate court unanimously found that vincent dooley exceeded all bounds of acceptable conduct and granted ryan a new trial. but only a short reprieve. because the supreme court reinstated ryan's conviction.

your only obligation as an attorney is to give him his best shot in court. you don't have to believe in him. but do you? >> oh, absolutely. absolutely. if you're asking me, is this one of those cases where you're walking away from it going, i think he's innocent, of course it is. >> reporter: as for ryan, what does he say about the deadly night? ryan, let me ask you directly. did you shoot rob? we'll hear ryan's story in his own words, next. and later on "dateline" the tangled tragedy of the best man. he was the life of the party, gave the toast at every wedding. >> the best man ever. >> reporter: then he met shirley. some say she went quickly from sweetheart to stalker. >> he was just too nice to say get the hell out of my life. >> reporter: finally he broke up with her. then he disappeared. >> i knew something was very wrong. >> reporter: found murdered. shirley the prime suspect. and there was another shock in

store. >> this man said, do you know that shirley turner's pregnant with your son's child? >> reporter: out of all the anguish a beautiful baby boy but with an accused killer for a mother was he safe? >> we're pretty damn sure she is dangerous. >> reporter: loving grandparents who would do everything they could to protect their son's legacy. >> they just poured all of their love and attention into zachary. >> reporter: would tobacco enough? (sfx: birds chirping)

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>> reporter: ryan, did you shoot rob? >> i did not shoot robert mccaffery. >> reporter: ryan thompson maintains now as he did the night of the shooting that he had nothing to do with it. >> i'm not a murderer. i'm a very humble person, happy, and i'm definitely not the violent type. >> reporter: ryan initially got arrested for disturbing the peace he says because he was defending his group from false accusations by the host of the party. >> he kept saying, you guys did this. you guys shot rob. >> reporter: so you're drunk and you're getting in the officers' face. is this one of the stupidest

things you have ever done? >> yes. >> reporter: challenged a cop? but ryan says he cooperated with detectives at the police station. >> they asked if i'd submit to a gunshot residue test and a polygraph test and i said i agreed to both. >> reporter: did you say i need a lawyer? >> i hadn't done anything wrong. why would i need a lawyer? >> reporter: the prosecutor would say you acted in a guilty manner by coming back to the scene and being confrontational in the station house. >> i hadn't been confrontational until one of them made a remark that it was my fault that had happened. that's when i got upset with the officers and started swearing at them. >> reporter: and ryan says the only time he mentioned the .22 was when detectives asked him what kind of guns he had fired in the past. >> i had shot a .22 rifle one time in my life. >> reporter: did you put a .22 rifle in the car? >> there were no guns in the car that evening. >> reporter: if ryan got himself arrested it was the second statements of his friends dave and jared that got him

convicted. they said that you got out of the car. you came back in and said, i shot somebody. >> correct. >> reporter: both of them put a murder weapon in your hands. >> correct. >> reporter: your friends. what did you think of them? >> i was wondering how it would be possible that they would sign their name on that statement. >> reporter: maybe because it's true. >> no. i knew that it wasn't true and that's why it was so devastating to see that. >> reporter: in fact, both friends testified under oath that those second statements were not true, that police had coerced them. but that didn't save ryan. how do you feel about those two guys? >> i try not to hold anger towards them. you know, i forgive them for what they did. and understand, making the false statements, but things will never be the same. >> reporter: your statement put one of your best friends into the slammer. >> yes and for years and years i let that eat me up. i still think about it every day. >> reporter: people still can't understand you would confess to something really bad if it isn't

true. >> right. unless you're in the situation you would never, never know. you feel like your life's on the line. >> i felt backed in a corner like a cat you know what i mean? i just wanted to get away. >> reporter: and none of that stuff was true. >> none of it. for a long time i drank a lot. you know? turned into an alcoholic and just like i aged about 20 years after that night. you know? nothing was funny anymore. depressed all the time. >> reporter: a month after ryan was convicted, dave and jared were charged with perjury and hindering prosecution for recanting their incriminating statements on the witness stand. they made plea agreements without admitting wrongdoing and served a few months in prison. >> it was hard for us. even to this day to see them. >> reporter: sorry doesn't quite cut it does it? >> there were apologies and i'm not angry at them. it's just hard to see they're walking around and ryan's not. >> reporter: brandy, the fourth friend who said from the start that ryan was innocent and never changed her story was also

charged with perjury -- lying to cover for ryan. >> i thought i was going to prison. i thought my son was going to be without his mother and that was horrifying. >> reporter: she was placed in a special program accelerated rehabilitation. the charges against her were erased after two years. did you guys stay together as friends? >> yes, we did. we had to stick together, you know, because we're in the grocery store, people yelling murderers across the store. >> reporter: you three against the world huh? >> pretty much. >> reporter: during those trying times, brandy and jared started dating. >> jared and i became very close because we went through all this together. >> reporter: you became a couple. >> we ended up becoming a couple. we ended up having children, getting married. >> reporter: but they have since separated. another bump in the road that stretches all the way back to that fateful party when they were just kids. the four friends still say they were falsely accused by bobby latour and ron harding. they think it may be connected to drugs being used and sold at

the party. >> reporter: hand-to-hand sales at the house? >> right. maybe something went bad there. >> reporter: something the friends speculate that caused a shot to be fired and caused latour and harding to sic police on dave and ryan and deflect attention from themselves. >> i know definitely bobby and ron have something to do with it because why would they lie? why? there has to be some reason there. >> reporter: bobby latour's statement to the cops. why do you think he would have done that? >> to keep himself from getting in trouble. >> covering for somebody or even doing it himself? >> it's a good start. i've heard a lot of different stories. people that were at the party came forward and they all tell us, we know you guys didn't do it. but nobody will say anything. >> reporter: ron harding, who is currently in prison for burglary with a firearm and third-degree larceny declined to comment. and bobby latour can't provide any answers. three years to the day after rob mccaffery was shot, latour died of a drug overdose. >> please all rise.

>> reporter: nearly 11 years after the shooting, ryan thompson got one more chance at a new trial. an extraordinary proceeding called a habeas hearing. >> mr. thompson's hand restraints may be removed while he's in court. >> reporter: ryan's new attorney, john watson, presented arguments that the original defense counsel had been ineffective, failing, for example, to undermine the state's key witness, bobby latour. watson found an eyewitness who said latour was in a parking lot right after the shot was fired so he could not have seen ryan thompson get out of the car before the shot as he claimed. ryan's original attorney knew about the witness but didn't call him. >> that's a really, really crucial piece of information that the jury should have heard. >> reporter: watson also argued that ryan's trial attorney should have shored up dave and jared's testimony, bringing in experts to explain how ryan's friends pressured by police could have implicated him even though they knew he was innocent. >> the police were holding over

their heads all three of them the possibility that they, too, may be arrested if they didn't toe the line. >> jurors are simply not inclined to believe that police officers are not truthful or that a person would falsely implicate themselves or somebody else unless they were, if you will, physically tortured. >> reporter: the judge heard all the arguments. then on january 20th, 2010, he denied ryan's petition for a new trial, saying he was hard pressed to find fault with the approach of ryan's trial attorney. ryan called his parents from prison after the decision. >> how you doing? you hanging in there? >> went to work today, tried to stay busy. i mean it's not over. just got to keep fighting. >> keep fighting it. >> it's been 12 years of being shot down so can't let this get me down too. you know, dad? >> you've got a great attitude. i'm so proud of you. >> reporter: but behind the encouraging words, there was

disappointment. >> i actually let myself think of different scenarios if ryan was home, you know, things we could do together, help him get a job, and buy a motorcycle or whatever just to have a regular life with him. we just have to wait a little longer. >> reporter: ryan, age 30, has served 12 years of a 25-year sentence. before the original criminal trial began, prosecutors offered him a deal, plead guilty in return for a sentence of 17 years. if he had taken it he might be up for parole soon. do you regret ryan not taking a deal? >> i'll never say i killed rob when i had no involvement with it. >> reporter: so if there was a figure going down that alley holding something that may or may not have been a rifle it wasn't you. >> it was not i. i'll say that until the day i die. >> reporter: one senseless shot in the dark of night echoes

through so many years, so many lives. >> the mccafferys are living a parent's worst nightmare and we're living a parent's second worst nightmare. >> reporter: ryan and his parents say the cops and courts failed to find the truth. >> i will never tell anybody the system works. >> reporter: but they're not giving up. >> we're hoping that, you know, somebody will say, my god, that poor kid is still in jail for something he didn't do. i have to come forward and tell the truth. >> reporter: for rob's parents, who believe ryan is guilty, there is just one truth. their son is never coming home again. trials and sentencing don't really solve the ache, do they? >> no. i miss him every day. i talk to him every day. >> reporter: you never really get over it. >> no, we haven't. >> and now we turn to another family's emotional struggle with the justice system. it all began with a young man who had a generous spirit and a big heart, a heart that wanted

the love of family and a huge circle of friends but also led him to trust a little too easily, be patient maybe a little too long. one day that trust led to tragedy and those who loved him would go to extraordinary lengths to honor his promising life and protect his poignant legacy. here's keith morrison. >> reporter: he was everybody's idea of the perfect best man. >> everybody grab your glass. we'll turn it over to the best man. >> the best man is really the groom. >> reporter: andrew bagby. did anyone have more friends than he? >> i always wanted him to be my best man. >> it just made sense to have him as best man. >> i can only assume you would have asked him to be your best man. >> a friend of 20 some odd ye s years, sum it up in two minutes or people will start looking at the champagne and say, bagby, shut up or die. >> there was a lot to say. >> charismatic, opinionated.

>> really a good story teller. >> a giant of a man. >> animated. >> kind. >> caring. >> jubilant. >> laid back. >> very approachable. >> so intelligent. and -- sorry. >> sad. >> why? >> i'll tell you about it some day. >> do you know who that is? >> andrew. why andrew get killed? >> reporter: it was november, 2001, when dr. andrew bagby, 28 years old, was found in hospital scrubs lying face down in a state park in derry township, pennsylvania. he had been shot five times including once in the back of the head, execution style. >> i said, my son murdered? >> i threw the phone at the desk and i jumped up and just screamed, no. >> he's so loved. i thought, you know, who would want to kill him?

>> reporter: andrew was the only child of software engineer david bagby and his wife kate, a nurse practitioner. he was the whole world to them. what do you do about this? >> wanted to die. >> actually contemplate suicide? >> oh, yeah. very seriously. >> i thought, well, god, this is it. you know, you gave me a lovely son and now it's over. >> reporter: when another of andrew's best friends kurt kuenne heard about the murder he also went into a tail spin but he was moved to honor his friend the best way he knew how, by making a film. that's what kurt does. he's an independent filmmaker and so he set out to collect the memories of andrew's family and giant circle of friends. >> i decided to go on the road to interview people because i thought, you know, he's never going to have a wedding. >> reporter: but as kurt made his way around the globe his tribute materialized into something far bigger and much darker than anyone could have

imagined. much of this "dateline" report incorporates material from kurt's documentary as well as something else -- the childhood films he made as he taught himself his craft. >> i'm kurt kuenne and i play indiana jones. >> reporter: they grew up together in northern california where the fledgling director gave andrew starring roles in some of his earliest ventures. >> shut up! >> hey, must be a smart boy. >> he liked playing bad guys a lot. >> so different from who andrew really was. a fine, devoted son who made eagle scout at 15. inspired by his mother's tales of interesting medical cases and wonderful patients, andrew decided he would be a doctor. laudable ambition, difficult to achieve. >> it's no easy thing to be a doctor in america. andrew despite his obvious abilities was turned down by every medical school in the country. but he was accepted here, st.

john's newfoundland, the eastern most point in north america. memorial university medical school and thus the decision from which all else followed. andrew came to st. john's. >> now engaged to this lovely girl and he's going to go to med school. it was great. >> reporter: the girl was heather, also an aspiring doctor, and she followed andrew to st. john's. and when, after his first year at med school heather broke off the engagement, andrew was crushed. >> i knew he had been struggling with me moving on and dating other people. >> reporter: and then in the spring of 1999, andrew found someone, a newfoundlander also a doctor in training, a woman named shirley turner. >> my new girlfriend. >> i was so excited that he was dating somebody. >> come on, shirley. get out from behind him. >> i thought maybe he had found somebody that he could really be happy with. >> reporter: but would that somebody turn out to be a blessing or a curse?

>> this is shirley turner. yes. >> corporal gardner with the pennsylvania state police. i have to tell you andrew is dead. >> are you sure? >> yes i am ma'am. i'm absolutely sure. >> reporter: coming up, andrew dead. but how? why? >> i said, do not meet her in private. he said, what can happen? >> the answer to that will horrify everyone. when "the best man" continues. got our families together at olive garden the other night.

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>> reporter: life for andrew bagby was good. his medical studies in newfoundland were complete. he had returned to the u.s. and had discovered a passion for family practice where his love for people and theirs for him seemed as natural, as comfortable as the quiet town in pennsylvania in which he had chosen to live. and then november, 2001, andrew bagby was shot dead in a state park not far from the hospital in which the young doctor was a resident. and his devoted parents all but lost the will to live. after you found out about andrew's death the impulse to just end it, you were done? >> yeah. >> what stopped you? >> i think it was a rage at the person who did this. i've got to go to the trial and see what happens to the bastard

who did this. >> reporter: the rage was tempered with a yearning to know just why andrew had been assassinated. andrew of all people seemed to have no enemies at all. the only thing about his life that didn't make sense to some friends and family was his relationship with that doctor from newfoundland, the one he'd started dating when going to medical school there. >> she just kind of appeared and then she was there all the time all of a sudden. >> and just didn't seem suited for him. >> it was considerable age difference and then the second time i heard him talk about it he actually confessed to the age difference and i was like [ bleep ]. >> shirley turner also a doctor in training was 12 years older than andrew, twice divorced, a mother of three. andrew assured his filmmaker friend kurt that the 40-year-old was a passing fancy. what did you think when you heard that? >> she said look i'm not looking for another husband, just someone to hang out with and have fun with in school. he's like i'm not looking for anything serious, just want to

get through medical school. >> reporter: as kurt tracked down andrew's friends for the documentary he discovered that not a one had anything favorable to say about shirley. >> just really inappropriate with things, poor taste, things she would say. >> she was always making sexually inappropriate comments. >> andrew, you know you can do a lot better. he said, no, i really can't. >> he'd poke fun at himself all the time. he'd say hey he's a short, portly little fellow. >> not looking all that pretty. >> you don't want to go out with a woman because you can't do any better. >> what a flakey person. the first time we had contact with her was over the phone. she called trying to get andrew when he was here doing rotation here in california. kate answered the phone and she couldn't get off the phone for an hour. >> reporter: what feeling did that give you? >> i thought, well, he's got to get out of this. >> reporter: but shirley would make it tough for andrew to do that. when he returned to the states, shirley showed up soon after.

she landed a residency at a hospital in iowa, several states away, but still close enough to allow occasional weekends with andrew in pennsylvania. andrew's parents say he tried frequently to ease out of the relationship all together. but shirley wouldn't buy it. >> she just kept coming back and coming back. she would never go away. and part of andrew's problem was, i think, he was just too nice to say, you know, get the hell out of my life. i'm tired of this. go away. >> reporter: andrew tried to make a clean break with shirley in october, 2001. but a few weeks later she showed up in pennsylvania unexpected for the wedding of one of his friends. for this night they were a couple once again, dancing and drinking together. but on sunday, when he drove her to the airport, andrew made it clear to shirley, it was over for good. >> on sunday night i got out of

bed and prayed because i thought andrew was at risk. i had this overwhelming feeling. and i prayed to god to be looking after him. >> i never know what to think about these feelings people get. >> i have a lot of trouble with those things too and i suspect what really goes on, what's called intuition, is really a very, very complex calculation of lots of little indicators, little things that andrew said on the phone maybe, maybe the last time you talked to shirley there was some very subtle change in tone. >> reporter: in kurt kuenne's documentary clark simpson one of andrew's close friends at the hospital remembers that november morning two weeks later when shirley surprised andrew again. >> he said you'll never guess who showed up on my door step at 5:30. and i said, who? he said the psychotic --.

i said, you know andrew when i put somebody on a plane and break up with them and send them 1300 miles away, they knock on my front door i'm going out the back door and i'm calling the police. he said, what do you mean? i said, andrew, be serious. nobody drives 16 hours after you've just broken up with them. i said, do not meet her in private. he said, what can happen? >> reporter: but andrew did agree to meet shirley in a nearby park. >> he said i'm going to need to catch up with you and we're going to have to do some serious talking. i said, bring some beer. i only live a block away. i said when do you think you'll be done? he said, well, it's 4:30 now, meeting her at 6:00. 7:30 i'll be at your house. things people should know about andrew. he was never late. when andrew didn't show up at 7:30, i knew something was very wrong. >> reporter: andrew's body was discovered the following morning

with bullets lodged in his face, buttock, chest, the back of his head. when police interviewed the hospital staff -- >> i said you know what to look for. they're like what do you mean? i said, this woman was in town. she was here. i said, find her and i think you'll find who did this. >> reporter: police got shirley turner on the phone back in iowa. >> i have to tell you that andrew is dead. >> are you sure? >> yes, ma'am, i am. i'm absolutely sure. >> his parents don't even know, do they? oh, my god. you can't do this over the phone. >> reporter: the ammunition used to kill andrew was cci .22 caliber bullets. it turned out shirley owned a .22 caliber handgun which she acquired while living in iowa. >> i'm not going to kid you, doctor. i'm interested in the gun. you just bought the gun not too long ago right? >> yeah. well i have it for protection. >> yeah. i can understand that. >> and i wanted it for safety. >> would you be willing to turn the gun into your local police

department so they could get it up to us to let us look at it? >> yes. >> reporter: but then she claimed she couldn't find it. >> it's either in my closet or my bedroom. or it's in the car. >> reporter: shirley also claimed to have been home in iowa sick in bed the day of the murder. they could check the cell towers then but only manually. it would take two weeks. in the meantime, without that crucial piece of evidence to charge her with andrew's murder shirley turner quietly left u.s. soil and returned home to newfoundland. >> so this man said to me, do you know that shirley turner is pregnant with your son's child? >> reporter: coming up a grandchild on the way. the baby's mother the prime suspect in his father's murder. was it possible? >> people thought she was delicate but i used to look at her hand and think, it doesn't take much to pull a trigger, sdoet? i does it? >> reporter: when "dateline"

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>> reporter: when dr. andrew bagby's bullet riddled corpse was found in a pennsylvania state park in november, 2001, his devastated parents prayed that his murderer, whoever it was, would be swiftly brought to justice. how did you find out what happened, how he had been killed? >> the police didn't give us very much information, but they started to let out hints that shirley turner was thefá prime suspect. >> reporter: was that a shock? >> it was shocking but not a surprise. >> reporter: but she was allowed to go back to newfoundland. >> without those cell phone records they couldn't formally charge her and if they don't charge her they have no way to restrict her travel. >> reporter: and go she did. back to newfoundland, canada. and one of the first to see her there was t.j., the eldest of

shirley's three children who had recently been in a bad car accident. i was hurt in an accident. she was coming here to take care of me. right? it didn't clue me in at all that she was fleeing the u.s. >> reporter: t.j. says while he was touched she had shown up at the hospital he was also a little surprised. he says his mother was so often unavailable especially from the time she started medical school. he was in high school then. >> i would cook supper sometimes when she wasn't around. i kind of took care of myself at that point. >> reporter: ultimately she sent him away with no forewarning to live with his father in a tiny coastal village hundreds of miles away. >> i can remember being really upset and pissed off about that happening because i had friends here and i had no time to tell anybody basically -- i didn't even know why i was going other than mom didn't want us around. we in the way i guess of her trying to go to school. >> reporter: and, says t.j., in

the way of her opportunities to be in the company of younger men. >> she's kind of reliving university life again. >> reporter: including andrew bagby. >> he was funny. >> reporter: when t.j. heard about andrew's murder -- >> i just figured, okay. well, he was in america. things happen in america that don't seem to happen up here as often. >> reporter: when someone tells you that your mother was a suspect, what was your first thought? >> no, it has to be a mistake. couldn't be her. >> reporter: two weeks after andrew's murder cell phone records would show that shirley turner drove all the way from iowa to andrew's neighborhood in pennsylvania, arrived there the day of the murder, and then she or at least her cell phone returned to iowa. with that powerful evidence, shirley turner was formally charged with andrew's murder and arrested by newfoundland police. american authorities asked canadian authorities to send her back to the u.s., which would require an extradition hearing. but before that could happen,

shirley was apparently deemed neither dangerous nor a flight risk and almost immediately released on bail, most of it posted by one of her mentors from med school, a psychiatrist to whom she had gone for treatment after andrew's murder. the bagbys would scarcely believe it. >> people thought she was delicate, you know, and looked like she couldn't kill but i used to look at her hand and think, it doesn't take much to pull a trigger, does it? >> reporter: was it reasonable for the court to trust her? laws governing the rights of defendants are fairly strong in this country but there is something about newfoundlanders in particular which may have contributed to the judge's decision to grant bail. serious crime is rare in this country. newfoundlanders tend to trust each other. perhaps it's because generally they can. with a skilled lawyer on hand to do shirley turner's bidding the bagbys wondered if there might ever be an extradition hearing. >> and then they started

slogging through the courts with one issue after another. and it just took forever. >> reporter: in the meantime, andrew's parents made a momentous decision. they quit their jobs and moved from california to newfoundland. >> lock, stock, and barrel, yeah. >> reporter: here's the thing. it wasn't just to monitor the extradition process. shirley turner had some startling news. she was pregnant and the baby was andrew's. it had happened almost surely the last night they were together and dna tests would later prove that andrew was indeed the father of that baby. when you did find out that she was pregnant, what was your thought? >> the baby would be half andrew and that for us was sweet. we'd get a chance to have some of andrew again. >> reporter: andrew's best friend, filmmaker kurt kuenne

suddenly just knew what had begun as a small film to memorialize his old friend would now have to be something else, a visual letter to andrew's baby. >> it was no longer just my search for what was left of your dad. i'm kind of the keeper of all this footage that is the only way this little boy is going to get to know his dad. >> a time machine. >> i vowed to collect every memory for you before they were gone. >> reporter: as for andrew's parents david and kate, they were about to enter the mouth of the lion. she kept trying to get between you and the baby. >> oh, yes. >> yes. if she had her way we would not have had any visitation at all. >> reporter: coming up, fighting not just to see their grandson but keep him safe. which they feared was about to become even more difficult. >> i sat there and bit my lip and cried. >> reporter: when "the best man" continues. [ son ] i'm a good son. dependable. i call my mom every week.

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zachary andrew turner the son of murder victim andrew bagby and his accused killer shirley turner was born on july 18th, 2002, eight months after the young doctor's murder. one of the first to meet zachary was shirley's eldest son, t.j. >> you could see in his eyes that he was full of life. >> reporter: how did you feel about having a much younger brother come along? >> i thought it was great. i had two sisters already.

so a brother was great. now i have somebody that i can teach about hockey and share guy things with. >> reporter: and tell me about your mom with zachary. it was a tight bond? >> it seemed like it to me, yeah. she always spent time with him and seemed to me like she was taking care of him. >> reporter: still grieving over the loss of their only son david and kate bagby had forsaken their lives in california and moved to newfoundland not just to be sure justice was served but also to be with their new grandson. >> there was this wonderful feeling, i'm going to see part of andrew. >> reporter: but they'd have to wait almost a month. if shirley turner had her way they wouldn't have met zachary at all, claiming she didn't trust them. >> we first got to see him personally in family court. we had negotiated a one hour a week visitation in family court with a supervisor and we had to

be searched. she told the court she was afraid we would harm the baby. and we would have agreed to anything. we would have done hand stands and cart wheels to get in there if that's what she demanded. >> i didn't have any problem at all with them spending time with him. i thought they were great with him. unlike my mother obviously. i guess i just thought, well, they're kind of accusing her of murder. it would be kind of upsetting i guess to let your son spend time with them. >> reporter: must have seemed like the enemy. >> yeah, i guess it did at the time but i still didn't have anything against them. >> reporter: how difficult must it have been to ingratiate themselves with their son's suspected killer? but that is what the bagbys did. however awkward shirley turner made it they were sweet, cooperative. they treated her with kid gloves. >> our usual policy was just to let her go. we would never disagree with her or fight with her about anything

unless there was real substance to it. and then weed deit throu'd do i lawyers. >> that upset her. >> reporter: then things changed. when zachary was 4 months old a canadian judge ruled a properly instructed jury would likely find shirley turner guilty and ordered her incarceration while awaiting a decision from justice officials to surrender her to the united states. the bagbys couldn't have been happier particularly since shirley asked them to take custody of zachary while she was gone. >> it was wonderful. he was such a good baby. just like andrew, you know. happy and turner had said he was a cranky baby. >> reporter: but there were some caveats. for one thing shirley required the bagbys to bring zachary to visit her once a week in jail. in the tribute documentary their son's best friend kurt kuenne was making to some day give zachary the bagbys' friends recount how difficult it was for david and kate to keep up their end of that bargain. >> they would drive two hours to

the jail where shirley was. >> in the winter. >> the weather here is terrible. >> that journey was awful. only kate and david would have done it really i think. >> reporter: perhaps the most irksome part of the deal with shirley was they had to accept her dale phone calls. they recorded them. >> hello. >> hi. >> yes, hi. >> baby there? >> he just got up. a little bleary eyed. >> hi, sweetheart. talk to me. how is our baby today? are you having a good day with grandma and grand dad? zachary, i love you baby. mommy loves you. mommy misses you. >> was she taunting them they wondered or was this her way of demanding that they suspend their critical faculties and declare their belief in her innocence? >> i don't know what to give zachary. there will be little frames like for a picture of me and andrew.

do you feel all right putting that up? >> not right yet. >> reporter: safe and warm inside the bagbys' house while the gales of the newfoundland winter raged outside the inevitable happened. the bond between zachary and his grandparents grew and grew and shirley noticed even from prison. >> i think we were on the phone or something. and the baby crying and i said oh, my baby. i can watch that for sure. you aren't trying to take my place. >> reporter: despite it all the bagbys were thrilled to be living with zachary. but two months later that would change. after shirley appealed again to be released on bail. the bagbys attended the hearing of course and could not quite believe their ears when they heard the judge's ruling. there is no indication of a psychological disorder that would give concern about potential harm to the public generally. as her crime, while violent, was specific in nature. specific in nature?

for the bagbys, shock might have been too tame a word. >> i sat in the back of the room while judge green said to her, i'm so sorry, dr. turner, your life is on hold and i know the law is slow. and i wanted to scream, my son's life is on hold forever and you have the audacity to apologize to his accused murderer? but of course i didn't. i sat there and bit my lip and cried. >> reporter: what was it like to hear she was going to get out of prison? >> this ranks right up there. >> reporter: and now that she was freed, shirley would once again get custody of zachary. >> we had to take him down the stairs and give him to shirley's friend, who happened to have a car seat. we had to pack up zachary and send him off. we just climbed right back upstairs and went to bed and melted down again. >> reporter: even more, the bagbys' gloom was mixed with worry. >> by this time we were pretty damn sure she was a complete

wacko nut case dangerous. >> reporter: what did you think that she would do, kill you? >> no, not us. >> what if she is backed in a corner if it looks like it, how is she going to behave? i lay in bed a couple of times and thought, if i just kill her, zachary will be safe. there won't be any question about whether she can hurt him. >> reporter: coming up as david bagby wrestles with these terrible thoughts, his wife sees something that rocks her to the core. >> i knew exactly what my son looked at before he died. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. [ female announcer ] there's something about grilling out

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>> reporter: winter is capricious in newfoundland. repeatedly spring is briefly offered and then taken back again. shirley turner awaiting extradition for murder was out of prison on bail. 6-month-old zachary was returned to her. a court mandate allowed david and kate bagby to spend time with their grandson baby sitting, even sharing in joint activities with shirley. they watched the legal proceedings grind infuriating and slow. they did their best to keep their dark feelings about their son's accused murderer in check.

they held their breath. >> dealing with turner was like, i don't know, walking around with a hand grenade in the kitchen, with the pin already pulled. >> we were always afraid she was going to find something. >> what are you going to say that will trigger her? >> reporter: and find something she did. going so far as telling them that they had some anger issues which needed to be addressed by a therapist. >> there has been i guess a lot of uncomfortable feeling on both our parts. i would like for you to maybe consider getting some help with that. i was really upset when you took him today because i feel like i did the day i saw him at family court. >> look, we will do what is best for zachary. we will not hurt zachary, period. do you understand? >> i know you don't want to and you don't intend to but if we don't get help we don't know what's best. >> you don't like this answer

but i'm going to give it to you again. the reason we go through the lawyers is so that we don't have these meltdowns and emotional scenes. understood? >> i can't consent to more time right now feeling this way. >> reporter: there might have been a particular reason for this. now that zachary was starting to walk he was free to make a beeline to whomever he wanted. >> i do have a complaint finally. he is too happy. >> okay. >> reporter: in july, 2003, a year and eight months after their son's murder andrew's friend filmmaker kurt kuenne who had been making the documentary film for zachary about the father he'd never know arrived in newfoundland to meet the now 11-month-old little boy. hello. hello. >> this is your uncle kurt. >> i think he was a little scared of me when i first came up. i was like hey buddy. you know. he warmed up to me as the week wore on certainly. that was fun.

>> reporter: but the bagbys were especially anxious. the next hearing in the extradition process was set for september, at which time they hoped shirley turner would be returned to the u.s. to face a murder trial. how were his parents coping? >> i don't know. i think they just poured all of their love and attention into zachary basically. >> reporter: a week after kurt's visit zachary turned one. shirley held his birthday party at mcdonald's. home video captured what looked like a typical domestic scene but beneath these happy images lies a darker truth. here the grandparents are making nice with the woman they believe killed their son. kate says everything seemed to be going smoothly until here. shirley put zachary on her lap to open presents and he resists. >> he didn't want to open presents. you know, he wanted to get down. so he came straight to me. and that's when she said, he loves you more than me. why don't you just take him? and she went over in the corner

crying and i gave him back and he was crying so i went into the ladies room and sat there for a while. made her very angry. and i saw that night her malignancy. i knew exactly what my son looked at before he died. she was deranged. she was so angry. vicious. >> reporter: because zachary liked you best? >> at that point. >> reporter: the bagbys said shirley would later apologize for her reaction. but that didn't erase their unease or a remarkable feeling that david began to have. >> i considered killing her myself. seriously considered it. if i just kill her, zachary will be safe and there won't be any question about whether she can

hurt him. i thought if i do that, i go to prison. maybe kate can still raise zachary. >> reporter: you didn't seriously think of -- i mean you talk about this plan. >> i would have to dream up some reason to go over there in the middle of the night, for me to just appear on the front door step with some kind of weapon. >> reporter: you're not capable of that. >> turned out i wasn't. i never really convinced myself that she could, that she would hurt zachary. she helped convince me that she would not hurt zachary. >> reporter: shirley meanwhile seemed to be preparing for her extradition and perhaps she was looking for a way to exclude the bagbys from zachary's life. even talking to her eldest son and his girlfriend about him. >> there was a conversation one time she had with me and erica, you know, in regards to if something ever happened to her and she had to go to jail or anything like that, would we take care of zachary? we were kind of like, well, we're not the best ones to be

taking care of a child. just from that conversation you could kind of get the sense that she didn't want zachary going with the bagbys at all. >> reporter: and for the bagbys shirley issued what sounded somehow like a warning. >> i just want your word that i'm going to know where he's at, like any baby-sitter, if you're going to take him anywhere, just say, shirley, we're going to do this, is it okay? you would be worried. >> reporter: was she planning something? a few weeks after zachary's birthday party they took zachary swimming an activity he usually enjoyed. shirley insisted on keeping him in the deep pool which frustrated him because he couldn't move on his own. it apparently frustrated shirley too. >> she said oh, take him and get him dressed so i took him in and got him dressed. >> reporter: zachary fell asleep in his car seat. upon dropping shirley and their grand boy off at her son t.j.'s home -- >> she said, wake up, zachary.

and say good-bye to your grandparents. and that was the last we saw of him. >> when we woke up that morning we realized they weren't there. kind of panic sets in i guess. and that's when it all hit the fan i guess. >> reporter: coming up, a knock at the door and then the news. when the best man continues. hi, ready to order?

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it was almost two years after andrew bagby's murder when shirley turner's eldest son t.j. drove home to his girlfriend after an especially long work day and dropped himself in front of the television. shirley and zachary then 13 months old had been staying with the couple. around 11:30 p.m. shirley came downstairs, asking to borrow t.j.'s car. >> she said zachary was being fussy and just driving him around would calm him down. i was like oh, okay. yeah. so i gave her the keys. >> reporter: do you find yourself going back and playing that back in your mind? >> yeah. that one comes back a lot. zachary didn't seem like he was fussy at all. why would she say that if he

wasn't? >> reporter: the sea at midnight was endless black. the night was quiet. t.j. and his girlfriend went to bed. it was august, 2003. the wee hours of the morning by the ocean. someone found a car that didn't belong. a security guard reported hearing a baby cry. >> when we woke up in the morning we realized they weren't there. kind of panic sets in, i guess. and that's when it all hit the fan i guess. >> we were out shopping or something. and we came back to the house and found a card from a police officer that we knew, constable walsh, asking to call him. that was mid afternoon. so we called and he came over and told us that zachary and shirley were missing. >> reporter: you're in turmoil at that point. >> oh, yeah. it's pretty easy to analyze what the options are. either she grabbed zachary and has taken off and is trying to escape and she has a snowball's chance in hell of getting away

with that because it's hard to get off newfoundland. that's one of the options and the one we hoped for. >> reporter: a couple hours later there was another knock at the door. >> they told us what happened. they told us that they had found the body of a woman and a baby on the beach and i lost it again. i was just gone. we both did. kate went to the floor and i kicked the door and just -- just like with andrew there's nothing you can do. you can just -- nothing. they hadn't been identified, but it's obvious who they are. >> reporter: he was right. shirley turner had walked out to the end of the pier with tiny zachary strapped to her body

with a sweater, then jumped into the ocean. an autopsy report would show that an antianxiety drug prescribed by the very psychiatrist who put up shirley's bail money had been mixed into zachary's formula. at least he might have been asleep when she went in the water. the bagbys went to the morgue to identify their bodies. >> kate just dropped to the floor and laid down and i went down after her. and i don't know. i just lay on top of her and we cried and cried. >> reporter: t.j. opened the door to police, too, and heard the news about his mother and baby brother and was slammed with instant blowback. all this time he had believed her. >> suddenly everything rushes into you and you realize that she did murder andrew. that it was all incorrect from the beginning, all this

innocence and everything she's told you is a lie. and now it's just unforgivable and that's just the way it's going to be for the rest of my life. >> a different kind of relationship after this kind of thing with god. because up until andrew was murdered i was a polyanna. i thought life was wonderful. i had a great childhood. i had a lovely family. i had a job i loved. i had a husband i loved. i had a son i used to think it was easy to thank god. and then suddenly you're in the pits. and then you have to learn that god's in the pits with you. >> reporter: two weeks after zachary's murder the press covered a conference the bagbys called. >> we believe the legal system helped her to kill our grandson. >> reporter: charging that the authorities dropped the ball and that a disastrous bail system allowed a probable first-degree

murderer to walk the streets. >> shirley killed andrew. the legal system helped her kill zachary. they might as well have sent a taxi to her to help take him out and drowned him. we couldn't let the authorities who let this happen get away with it. this is not about money. this is about getting laws changed. >> reporter: the bagbys' public outrage had some results. in 2006 the press was there again to cover the issuance of a report on the death of zachary turner. >> the government has received a scathing report that concluded the child protection system failed zachary turner. >> we will develop policy specific to children whose parents are charged with a violent crime. >> i am going to continue to scream long and loud about the bail. >> reporter: the bagbys have continued to campaign to the overhaul of the bail system. now armed with a powerful tool, dear zachary, a letter to a son about his father. the tribute film kurt kuenne started making first in honor of

his beloved friend andrew and then for andrew's son zachary. but then it became something else. >> i almost gave up making this film when you were killed. i couldn't see the point anymore. but something kept me going. and then one day i realized what it was. this film was no longer a letter to you. it was now a letter to someone else. >> everybody always says what would be the difference if one person were alive? >> love him very much. i love him very much. >> i love him very much. >> i admired and respected you so much for two things. one for being such a wonderful young man and the wonderful young man you raised. >> they raised a wonderful young man. >> thank you for bringing such a wonderful person into the world. >> and for having the strength to make it through something like this. >> it's what you've been through to still be carrying on, still holding your heads up and keep going and pushing forward is

amazing. >> i think god put some people down on earth just to be examples for the rest of us. >> we're brothers and i love you and i know you love me and -- yeah. i need to move on from that. like i said, i'm a bagby male. we don't gush very much. >> and to learn more about the documentary film about andrew bagby or if you want to take part in an online chat with a filmmaker directly after the broadcast go to our website at dateline@msnbc.com. that's all for this edition of "dateline friday" we're back sunday at 7:00, 6:00 central. i'm ann curry. for all of us here at nbc news, good night. next at 11:00, three bombs in three days. is a popular bay area place the target? caught on camera. whale watching goes