. i want people to not be afraid. >> i'm telling you my secrets and i think it's going to help someone and it's okay to talk about it. >> tonig >> leslie's life had been perfect. had something driven her to leave town? or had something very different happened? >> narrator: but with few clues,

hollywood detectives would stage a dramatic press conference hoping to flush out a killer. >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." >> narrator: in the movies and on tv, people can just disappear without a trace, leaving family and friends with nothing more than memories, questions and worry. in real life, vanishing is more a magician's trick than an everyday occurrence. which brings us to that crossroads where magic and entertainment collide, hollywood. the cops who roll around these streets call it hollyweird, because anything can happen here, and sometimes what does happen makes no sense. hollywood's a real place, but it's also a myth and the fantasy

of what might be has always drawn the hopeful from every town in america with a bus station. for quite different reasons, it drew these two sisters, leslie and osha. maybe you recognize osha davis, she's one of the lucky few for whom that hollywood fantasy came true. within a few years of her move west, osha's star was rising, first with small parts on tv. a college student on t gilmore girls. a patient on house. a street wise girl on the shield. and in 2007, her big break on friday night lights. she was the sharp as a tack teenage preacher's daughter. >> go score some goals. >> narrator: but just as osha's

career gang to take off, her real life drama would test her strength. >> osha was used to facing the cameras, but this wasn't on a set or a publicity tour, where osha begged for help from anyone who would listen. any sister would be frantic with worry. but osha and her big sister leslie were closer than most, despite their gap in age. how old was she? >> she was eight years older than me. it was almost like having a another mom and leslie was in charge of us. she was a mama bear. >> narrator: leslie always

wanted things a certain way, her way. she was definitely a type a. her family always knew that if leslie was in charge, everything would be just right. >> even when we were younger, she would take me on dates with her. but that's who she was. she made sure that we were taken care of. >> narrator: leslie never stopped feeling responsible for osha so a few months after osha moved west in late '97, she followed. she found herself an office job that some would call boring. but she had such a penchant for stories, she kept her sister laughing. >> she always told stories, she could take something as simple as a tape dispenser and tell this amazing story. >> narrator: the moving west had been a good move for the sisters, especially leslie who

found a guy in an unlikely place, the .99 cent stores. >> they met in the store and they went to the movies and they were inseparable after that. >> his name was lyle and he had a job as a recruiter. he had grown up in los angeles. >> she called me one day and she said do you want to be a witness at my wedding? i was like, you're getting married? she was like, yeah. >> narrator: married less than a year after they met. leslie and lyle were clearly happy together. >> they seemed a pretty good match. >> yes. >> vivian tells us that she thought her older daughter had found the perfect man. >> they even dressed alike. they had the same jooackets, th had the same sweater u they had the same caps.

>> narrator: and they were together all the time? >> all the time. >> narrator: he was closer to leslie's family than he was to his own. vivian felt it. >> he always said he loved he more than his own mother and he said that my family was better to him than his own family. >> narrato >> you loved him like a son? >> i loved him like a son. >> narrator: it was her own mother who lived all the way across the country to whom leslie turned for comfort. and you talked to her almost every day? >> every day. a quarter of 11:00 every morning on her way to work. and sometimes in the afternoon. >> how old was she? >> 45. >> and she's still calling her mom every day? >> she called me in the morning so we could pray together and then sometimes i say to her,

where are you now? she say i'm in the elevator. i say you make me pray all the way to the elevator? she say, uh-huh. >> narrator: they shared daily prayers and they shared confidences. as a matter of fact leslie would only talk to her mother during those rare times that she was ticked off at lyle. >> wherever she was unhappy, if i wanted her to laugh, i would say to her, well, what do you expect? you met him in a .99 store. >> osha was married too and in 2008, she and her husband jeffrey found out she was pregnant with a boy. >> leslie was so excited to have a nephew. she was so supportive, she threw me a baby shower, she was going to get to see her little sister become a mom. zblng and though aunt leslie was sick with a cold, she couldn't

resist coming by to look through the window at her brand-new nephew. those should have been happy times for osha and her sister, a time with the family bonding with its newest member. but then osha got a phone call from leslie's boss. >> i called her work and they said she's not here today, and i instantly felt wrong. >> narrator: the joy of new motherhood melted away. leslie had missed two days of work and she hadn't called in sick. it was completely out of character for the always responsible leslie. >> i instantly called the two people who would know where she is and that's the one she's always with, lyle herring and my mom who she talks to twice a day. >> narrator: osha's mom hadn't talked to leslie, and now they realized that lyle couldn't be found either. but no one disappears without a

trace, do they? >> remember, this is hollywood, where pretty much anything can happen. and like a special effect while would briefly reappear. but it would raise more questions than answers. >> he got into the back seat, slides down in the seat and pulls my suit coat over his head. >> he's hiding? >> he's hiding. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know some owls aren't that wise? don't forget i'm having brunch with meghan tomorrow. who? meghan, my coworker. who? seriously? you've met her like three times. who? (sighs) geico. fifteen minutes could save you...well, you know. find out with venus embrace.

every five-bladed stroke gives you 360 degrees of smooth for goddess skin you can feel and feel. only from venus embrace. your skin can grow more beautiful every time you wear it. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin. neutrogena® cosmetics.

>> narrator: when someone you love disappears, it's hard to know what to do. there's no drills like for fires

or earthquakes. no how to books. osha davis had a million questions and almost no answers. >> we were wondering if we had to file a missing persons for both of them. we were nervous about what will we finding in the apartment, like what if they got robbed? >> osha's sister leslie and lyle were always together during their marriage. now they were both suddenly gone. leslie's missing and lyle's missing? did you think wherever they were they were together? >> yes. >> narrator: osha and her husband grabbed their child and headed to the condo in hollywood hills to see what if anything they could find there. >> leosha parked in leslie's parking space. >> narrator: osha wondered if

leslie who suffered from migraines might be sick inside. but their knocking got no response. they waited and they waited. they returned to the garage where they saw a man parking in the spot next to leslie's. >> we said, hey, have you seen the woman who owns this car? i haven't seen her, but i saw her husband yesterday. >> narrator: that was strange, so osha and jesse waited in their car by the front gate. because if that neighbor was right, maybe they would find lyle when he came home from work. >> and i remember a few cars coming in, then all of a sudden cars that matched his droipgs came in. >> but the car turned away from leslie and lyle's building. >> we thought that couldn't be him. >> because it went in a different direction. >> osha and jessie would have

waited all night, but having the baby, they headed home. while all this was going on, you had a brand new baby, so i'm guessing you weren't sleeping a whole lot anyway. i'm thinking maybe this made it just about impossible. >> i did not sleep at all. it was like such an amalgamation of love and fear. >> a new life is always a reason for hope. but with leslie and lyle both missing e was leaving the family feeling hopeless. so they called the lapd. osha and jesse couldn't get into the condo, but police could. officers wednesday inside and found nogs that looked unusual. they also found no lyle. and no leslie. osha worked the phones, friends and relatives knew nothing.

then she reached lyle's boss who said, he hadn't heard from leslie, but he thought he had seen lyle on tuesday. which was the day after leslie missed work. no les confused, osha decided it was time to file is that missing persons report. >> we went to the police station, and we gave them a picture of leslie and the guy said thank you and he put her picture on a pile. and i mean in california, i don't know how many people go missing from hollywood during the stay. >> people who come to hollywood suddenly they call the cops thinking they're missing, when they're just lost in the meat

grinder that is hollywood. >> we went back to the car and we saw, i don't know where to go from here. and the phone rang. and it was malcolm thomas. >> malcolm thomas is lyle herring cousin. he wanted to talk about a very distraught lyle who he had also seen in the days after leslie missed work. malcolm told osha that lyle seemed almost suicidal. >> did he mention leslie at all? >> he said don't bring up her name anymore, he doesn't want to hear about her anymore. >> is that because they were having a fight or they split up? >> i thought maybe it was a disagreement. people do have disagreements. people split up for short periods of time and get back together. and i said, well, maybe she's just upset over something. >> narrator: lyle asked malcolm to drive with him to his apartment complex.

lyle led him to his suffer. >> you're following lyle to his house? >> yes. >> but he doesn't go to his house, does he? >> as soon as we pulled into the driveway, he made a sharp left turn and that was different. >> away from his home? >> narrator: they ended up in a r remote garage underneath the condo complex. >> he opens up my back passenger side door. he got into the back seat, closes the door, slides down in the seat of the car and pulls my suit coat over his head. >> hiding? >> he's hiding. i said, man, don't do that in my car, i said what's going on. he said there are some people at the end of the driveway that he doesn't want to see or have them see us. >> some people near the end of the driveway? osha suddenly realized, that was you. >> it was us.

so we ran back into the police station, went back in, we said we just talk to my sister's husband's cousin, and we had a really frantic interaction with him. the policeman said, wait a second, i'm going to get you guys a detective. >> the next person osha met was detective chris gable. >> missing persons cases are not usually your department? >> no, they're not. >> but this was different? >> coming up, inside leslie and lyle's home, a strange clue buried in a closet. and then inside their marriages, something barely there too. >> she found out about that? >> yes. >> and i'm guessing she was pretty furious.

. >> narrator: wednesday, february 11, 2009. detective chris gable is working the lapd's hollywood session.

when in the front door walked osha, jesse and their baby. >> we went back to the detectives and we explained everything about leslie and about how worried we were. we didn't know what was going on. >> lyle and leslie were both missing and unreachable. maybe they were together, maybe they weren't, maybe they were safe and maybe they weren't. >> my instincts are that there's something suspicious going on. i don't know what it is. i don't know those people, they live pretty isolated lifestyle. but from the things that i have found so far, it seems suspicious. >> gable checked hospitals, coroner's offices and the highway patrol and came one exactly nothing. he put out a bolof, be on the

lookout for. he brought cousin malcolm in to hear firsthand about lyle's strange behavior. most of the family's saying that the relationship when lyle and leslie is terrific. >> yes. >> malcolm is the only one that sends out a red flag? >> after he talked to lyle in those first few days after she was missing, yes. >> gable knew he had to move fast. so at 3:00 a.m., some 11 hours after first meeting osha, gable and his partner were in the condo search warrant in hand. >> it didn't seem to be a place where a murder happened, right? >> it didn't it was real telling about the people that lived there. it was almost like an apartment divided, the part of the apartment that was leslie's was very orderly and put together. threaten there was a room that was lyles, it was like a tornado

had been through it. >> but still, no sign of a struggle? >> no. >> no blood? no visible bloods? >> the only thing that caught my attention that night was there was a large amount of towels hanging over the showers of both bathrooms. i just made note of this, but i thought it was maybe a flood or something was stopped up. >> he also saw spilled candle wax. if the ocd intensive leslie would have seen that, she would have cleaninged it up right away. she found a receipt from starbucks, dated february 9, that was the first day leslie missed work. where did you find that receipt? >> that receipt was found inside leslie's purse inside of her closet. >> so presumably it was leslie who went to starbucks?

>> it was 6:00 a.m. when they finished collecting their evidence and night turned to day in hollywood. and it occurred to detectives that this may not have been the happy home of a happy couple. a visit with vivian gave them a better picture. >> lyle cooked some food and he put a certain spice in the food. when she asked him what spice he had in the food, he couldn't tell her. >> vivian knew that certain spices triggered leslie's debilitating migraines, but vivian also knew and was the only one who did know that th this -- there was so much going on between mr. and mrs. lyle herring. things had not been good between your daughter and lyle? >> they had financial problems. >> to say these were financial problems is to understate what

has been happening. vivian said leslie had told her that lyle needed cash badly, so badly that he had committed identity theft against his own wife. >> he forged her signature and took money from her credit cards. >> and she found out about that. >> yes. >> and i'm guessing she was -- >> vivian cautioned leslie not to tell lyle she was thinking of leaving him. >> i said if you want to leave, you cannot let him know what your plans are. just leave. >> so don't tell him in advance? >> no. >>. don't leave a note? >> no. >> was this mother trying to hold on to anything that would tell her her missing daughter was still alive.

or did she know where she was. >> i'm guessing you watched that video several times? >> oh, yes. >> why this changed everything. ♪ [ female announcer ] they're all going in the same direction, but in very different ways. and pampers gives all of them our driest, best fitting diaper, ♪ pampers cruisers with 3-way fit. not only with up to 12 hours of protection, they adapt at the waist, legs and bottom, for all the freedom to move their way in pampers best diaper. pampers. for digestive health? yes and did you know that trubiotics is a daily probiotic that helps in two ways. it supports digestive and immune health by working in your gut where 70% of your immune system lives. try trubiotics today. that just falls flat. vidal sassoon volume collection gives you amped up shape

zero weight. foaming air moose boosts and lifts for up to 24 hours. vidal sassoon volume. salon genius. affordable for all. it's time to free ourselves from the smell and harshness of bleach. and free ourselves from worrying about the ones we love. lysol power & free has more cleaning power than bleach. how? the secret is the hydrogen peroxide formula. it attacks tough stains and kills 99.9% of germs. lysol power & free. powerful cleaning that's family friendly. another step forward in our mission for health. find out with venus embrace.

every five-bladed stroke gives you 360 degrees of smooth for goddess skin you can feel and feel. only from venus embrace. for goddess skin you can feel and feel. ♪ you're not made of money, so don't overpay for boat insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

no one seemed to know where leslie herring was. her husband lyle had been seen but wasn't returning anyone's calls. not even those from the lapd. had leslie simply left her husband without a word to anyone? it seemed unlikely, but then her sister osha was still in the process of learning about leslie's marriage, how bad it really was. how unhappy leslie was. things leslie was apparently

telling only their mother. >> the thing about my sister is, i think she really wanted people to believe that she had it all together, so she wouldn't tell us about the problems that she was having with lyle. >> she had always taken care of you, you're on tv, doing great, and maybe she thought, you know what? i'm not going to break osha's concentration for a minute? >> out of protection, a little bit of pride. >> narrator: so perhaps leslie was still alive somewhere and just keeping her head down. it's what vivian was hoping. >> i believed that leslie would come home. i went to sleep every night and i imagine i could hear the doorbell ring, i could imagine twlrp knocks on the door. i could imagine the phone would ring. she believed it because vivian knew something osha didn't know,

something vivian -- about some people who could help her just vanish u an underground. >> she mentioned going under ground? >> yes, she did. >> did she seem serious about going under ground? >> yes, she wanted to leave. >> as much as he knew her family wanted to believe that, detective chris gable knew, it didn't make sense. >> you would bring something, she had a lot of cash she left behind, she would certainly have her migraine medication. for all intents and purposes, she didn't take anything with her. >> narrator: remember that starbucks receipt that was found? leslie's handbag?

>> i'm guessing you watched that video several times. >> oh, yes. >> it's pretty clear video, and it's pretty clear that it isn't leslie. >> and lo and behold, lyle herring, lyle herring by himself with no wife with his long dreadlock hair and he purchases a single item. >> he buys a cup for someone who might be waiting outside? >> we were looking for that obviously. >> you think you were supposed to find it in less si's purse? >> as the investigation moved forward, i knew we were expected to find it there. >> three more days passed, an instant in hollywood. an eternity for osha and her family. and then the bolof got a hit. lyle herring had been stopped at the mexican boarder, not fleeing, but returning to the united states. the detectives dropped everything and headed south. >> you don't want to wait until

the next day? >> oh, no. our spidey senses were up, thinking that something could be awry. we didn't know. so we needed to get down there and talk to them. and we needed to find out if leslie was with him, and if not, where is she and what does he know? >> finally the detectives heard a story from lyle that explained just about everything. he confirmed what his mother-in-law had told the cops that he and leslie had been fighting that weekend. they had been fighting a lot, but this time he said was different. leslie had apparently had about enough of him and lyle said when he woke up in their apartment that sunday morning, leslie was gone. >> the detectives were surprised to hear all this. from a closely cropped lyle herring. a man who had been known for years for his long dreadlocks. lyle explained to the detectives that he owed money to some gang

members and that when he couldn't pay them back, they held him down and cult off his hair. >> they cut my hair, they cut my mustache off. >> you used to work the gang unit? >> yes. >> have you ever heard of a gang holding someone down and giving them a hair cut as a way of getting money that they wanted? >> not only have i not heard that, but the shave was a little added touch that i had never heard. a little hard to keep a straight face when i heard that. >> lyle said that before she dumped him, he and leslie had planned a valentine vacation in mexico and that he had gone there to look for her, a week after she had disappeared. >> so you went to look for her? >> it was stupid, right? >> it's not stupid, at all? if it was me, i would be looking for my wife wherever i could.

>> but lyle had come up empty. >> do you have any idea where your wife is? >> no. >> then gable asked lyle if during his search he had tried to phone or e-mail his wife. listen to lyle's answer. >> i called her. i just wanted to verify from my cell phone and hers. you can check my cell phone records. >> he volunteered check my cell phone rorz? >> yes. >> did you think, he wants me to see his cell phone records the way he wanted me to see that starbucks receipt? >> yes. >> suspicious? yes, but proof of a crime, not even close. lyle herring has not been arrested for anything. but gable was able to see lyle's suv. he then brought in indiana bones, from the l.a. county coroner's office.

a german shepherd trained to sniff out the scent of human decomposition. they sent the dog through lyle's suv and also through a classic cadillac that he owns. in both the vehicles, he stopped his in tracks and alerted. >> that dog told you there has been a dead body in the back of lyle's car? >> yes. >>nd now you know she's dead? >> gable didn't share that with leslie's family. there was so much he didn't have, a crime scene, a witness or the one thing most homicide investigations begin with, a body. >> had you ever done a murder case in which you had a dead body? >> this was the first time. >> you had never done that before. >> no, i never had. >> the case isn't going to be easy. so he realized he needed a little help from the media.

he held a press conference, but this would be a press conference unlike any you have ever seen. it would be a scene worthy of hollywood. everyone would be there, detectives, family, even the prime suspect. >> coming up, leslie's husband center stage in a command performance. >> i would like to introduce lyle herring. >> our captain said the next person to speak is lyle herring, and i think he had no choice at that point. >> when "dateline" continues. can your longwear makeup last 'til five o'clock?

[ female announcer ] outlast stay fabulous from covergirl can. outlast is a primer, concealer and foundation all in one for all day flawless skin. outlast stay fabulous. [ sofia ] from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. >> with hotwire's low prices, i can cross even more places off my travel wish list. this year alone, i hit new york and texas. see, hotwire checks the competition's rates every day so they can guarantee their low hotel prices. >> men: ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e, hotwire.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] imagine this cute little orange blob is metamucil... and this park is the inside of your body. you see the special psyllium fiber in metamucil actually gels to trap and remove some waste. and that gelling also helps to lower some cholesterol. it even traps some carbs to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels as part of your diet. now that's one super hard working fiber. metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber. ♪ in 1 super fiber.

i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh...no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just a click away with our free mobile app.

♪ 'cause germs don't stick on me ♪ [ female announcer ] band-aid brand has quiltvent technology with air channels to let boo boos breathe. [ giggles ] [ female announcer ] quiltvent technology, only from band-aid brand. use with neosporin first aid antibiotic. with venus and olay. olay moisture bars help lock in moisture for less dryness while five blades get venus close. revealing smooth. and goddess skin begins. only from venus and olay. hey, where are you going with...this? oh, you don't need it anymore. i don't? no. we got a better way. [ male announcer ] scrubbing bubbles fresh brush gets it clean with a heavy-duty disposable pad. and toilet cleaning gel keeps it clean by preventing limescale buildup and rings for up to seven days. that did the trick. without the, uh, ick. [ male announcer ] fresh brush. gets it clean. and toilet cleaning gel. keeps it clean. we work hard so you don't have to. [ female announcer ] s.c. johnson. a family company.

leslie herring was still missing. she hadn't turned up dead or alive. now detectives turn to leslie's family with a request. and it wasn't an easy one. >> you and your mom all give police a dna sample? >> uh-huh. >> now, you know that when police get to that point -- >> yeah. >> they're probably not looking for a live person anymore. >> that was -- >> hard to do? >> yeah. it's like you end up talking and dealing with all these morbid things, talking about finding bodies and where is she? what kind of ending did she have? >> those were questions detective gable had too. questions he wasn't close to

answering. so 44 dies after leslie went missing. the what happened held what started as a press conference and ended as something quite different. >> i thank you all for being here this morning. >> gable hoped that getting leslie's story in the news might jog someone's memory, in a way that would roll the investigation forward. osha and her entire family were there. and so was lyle. >> did you think he was going to speak at the press conference? >> he didn't want to speak. i would like to introduce lyle herring, the husband of leslie at this time. >> our captain just went ahead and said the next person to speak is lyle herring. and i think he had no choice at that point. >> leslie, if you're out there, give us a call, let us know what's going on. >> then it was osha's turn. >> it's unusual for her not to be in touch with her family,

she's a creature of habit. that's why her disappearance is so alarming to us. >> to osha the actress, this play out better than any script she was to follow. >> this is the first time i was going to see lyle since it happened. >> how did you not run to him and start shaking him? >> to me, approach everything with love. i didn't think shaking him would get an answer. i hugged him like i always do when i see him. >> she did not run away. >> unlike his sister, osha and her brother linda did not approach lyle with love. >> we same a long way to know what's going on. this is killing our family. >> through it all stood lyle herring, either a husband worried about his wife, or a killer worried about being caught. >> i'm the lead investigator for this case. >> when detective gable started

to speak, a reporter asked if lyle was being helpful in the search for his missing wife. >> has he been cooperating? >> i would describe his cooperation as fragmented and less than helpful. >> at one point, reporters asked detective gable, is lyle cooperating? and with lyle standing right there, detective gable says, not really. >> i was, you know, just floored by what was happening. >> and gable wasn't done laying out the inconsistencies in lyle's story. to an audience of eager listeners that included lyle. >> he left the condominium on tuesday, the following tuesday and went down to san diego to apply for a job at some colleges there. following that, he went down to mexico for a day. >> then reporters turned on lyle. >> he said you're less than cooperative.

>> lyle told gable he did not want to answer. and lyle took it. >> let me clarify one thing so we won't be taking things out of context. i had an opportunity to take a trip, we had an opportunity to take a trip to mexico, rosarita. that was one of the places we planned to go. for detective gable to throw it out there arbitrarily, he went to mexico, yes, to look for my wife. >> gable never believed that lyle went to mexico to look for leslie. >> obviously he's lying. and i can see that he's lying. >> seeing through lyle's lies was one thing, but what gable really needed was a break. >> i guess what you were hoping

for at that press conference was not somebody who had seen leslie alive, or somebody who had seen lyle in the process of moving or disposing her body. >> yeah, that's what i was hope fogger. >> somebody you hadn't talked to before? >> yes. >> and it paid off? >> it paid off immediately. >> coming up, what a new witness claims he saw, a stunning revelation. >> you think that was leslie? >> absolutely. >> and then, what little sister osha believes could have changed everything. >> i really, really wish he had. yeah, i do.

all my friends are going to gather, we're going to get quiet and think about her as hard as we can. it's alled by her. >> narrator: in the weeks after that surreal press conference, osha davis continued getting the word out about her sister, leslie herring. lyle herring, continued to play the part of the grieving husband. inside hollywood station, detectives gable and bynum were continuing to put the case

together against lyle. one with no dna, no blood. and still no body. but there was evidence that came in tiny little pieces. they found than undated dear jo type letter that leslie had written to lyle, that she was leaving him, that she was broken. and detectives finally got those cell phonie records that lyle ws so eager for them to see. it turns out lyle did call leslie after the time he said she had run off. but the records had more details than lyle expected. >> there was activity between both phones, that part is true. >> but? >> but the problems were where the cell phones were located. based off of the towers, we were able to show that the phones were in the same location.

so lyle had his phone in one hand and leslie's in the other? >> yes. >> and a lead that was spawned from that press conference. a neighbor from the apartment complex had seen lyle getting into the elevator at around 12:30 a.m. sunday on that weekend that leslie disappeared. lyle was moviing what looked lie a big, rolled up carpet? >> how big was the diameter, would you say? >> it was pretty big. it was like round, like round enough for a body to be inside it. >> do you think that was leslie inside that carpet? >> absolutely. >> it would take more than a year, but in april 2010, lyle herring was finally, arrested and charged with the murder of his wife leslie. it would take three more years to get to trial. >> over the next few weeks, my colleague here and i, are going to present to you the layered web of evidence that caught him, put him in this courtroom and

proves beyond a reasonable doubt that that man, that calculated husband, that killer is the defendant, lyle herring. >> i learned during the investigation that one of the things lyle does when they're having arguments is that he washes leslie's hair. >> as a way of --? >> getting back into her good graces. >> gable believes that the bathroom was the real crime scene. >> i believe they were talking about the letter that he had already received. she was likely adamant that she was leaving. he wasn't going to have any part of that. and i these he just pushed her under. >> and drowned her right there? >> and drowned her right there. >> remember all those towels gable saw?

he believes he used those to wrap all -- the defense said none of that happened, that lyle was not guilty because leslie wasn't murdered. she's not even dead. >> i don't want you to expect on closing that there's going to be any perry mason moments and leslie is going to walk through the door and say here i am. i will tell you at the conclusion of this trial, there will be more than sufficient evidence to believe that she could. >> i wish they were right. i would love to be hugging my sister and i wish that were true. but i know who she is and i know she's not alive. >> after a 3 1/2 week trial, a jury agreed with osha. >> we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant lyle herring sr. guilty of the crime of murder.

>> june 2013, lyle herring was sentenced to 15 years to life for murder in the second degree. it's not quite the end, because lyle is holding on to one last secret from a marriage that apparently had a lot of them. he's never told anyone where leslie's body is. >> lyle's probably going to see this program. >> i know. >> anything you want to stay to him? >> yes. >> we pray that you will tell us where leslie is so that we can have closure in our liveses. we know that you know exactly where she is. >> through her pain and loss, osha is trying to find a lesson. >> it's so important to me that women or anyone who's fearful about what other people are going to think about the way they're living their life, it's hard to not live up to what we think is success, but it's so much more important that you share, even your sadness with people. >> you wish leslie could talk to

you? >> i really wish she had. i don't think i would be here right now. >> but osha has also had an opportunity to bring some laughter back into this family. >> hi, i'm lacy. >> she's starring in a web series called "unwritten rules" it's a comedy about a black woman working one of those deathly dull jobs in a mostly white office. it's a little bit like leslie's life. i read those scripts and i just, i felt leslie, i felt her in my heart, i laughed again the way she used to make me laugh. >> and so one sister is paying homage to another. it won't bring leslie back, but it makes her loss a little less painful. in this hollywood story, it's the only happy ending that's

available. >> that's all for now, i'm lester holt, thank you for joining us. this sunday, the state of the economy. and will washington make it worgs with another partisan showdown? the president on the road again to sell a second-term economic blueprint and to blame republicans for standing in the way. >> you can't just be against something. you've got to be for something. >> but what is the president's record on the economy? and what is his agenda? plus, will washington go to the brink of a government shutdown this fall? this morning i put these questions to the administration's point man on the economy, treasury secretary jack lew. plus, a showdown this week in the house over the nsa's controversial post-9/11 surveillance program. >> passing this amendment takes us back to september 10th. >> a measure to shut down the program was narrowly defeated.

but where does the debate go from here? will there be more privacy safeguards put in place? and the snowden saga. i get the latest from the chairman of the house intelligence committee, michigan republican congressman mike rogers. and our political roundtable, sex and politics, a bicoastal summer of scandal from new york city to san diego. can anthony weiner stay in the race for mayor of new york? how much more can voters take? >> it is so disrespectful of women, and what's really stunning about it is they don't even realize it. you know, they don't have a clue. >> good sunday morning. a developing story this morning in e egypt where there is a rising death toll. 72 dead in weekend clashes between security forces and supporters of the country's ousted president mohamed morsi.

it is the deadliest attack by the security services since the 2011 uprising. secretary of state john kerry monitoring it all is urging egypt's leaders to, quote, help their country take a step back from the brink and allow peaceful protests. back home, the president is focused on the economy, a refocus, if you will, as washington prepares for another high-stakes budget debate. >> but over the past couple of years in particular, washington has taken its eye off the ball. an endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals. shift focus from what needs to be done. >> the president's weekly address this weekend. that's where we're going to start this morning with the secretary of the treasury, jack lew. we sat down for a conversation friday afternoon. mr. secretary, welcome back. >> good to be with you. >> always good to have you. i want to talk about the broader state of the economy? just a minute, but first let me talk about a potential standoff again between the white house and republicans on capitol hill over the et