♪ the wedding was beautiful. i thought he was the love of my life. i wanted them to find the real killer. i wanted all of this to be behind us and go on happily ever after. >> single mom meets single dad. and in a single moment, it was love. >> he was very handsome. >> he was fun. >> all smiles. very outgoing. charming. >> everything he did just melted my heart. >> but there was something else about this dreamy, single dad, something about his past. something deadly. >> i just came in the house. i saw janet on the floor. >> he was crying. he was in shock.

>> his whole life was shattered. >> he said i should probably let you know that my wife was actually murdered of the. >> killed in a crime that had never been solved. >> she was almost a perfect victim. >> and what about him? he'd become the focus in his first wife's mysterious death. was he a victim too? >> i was a father, i had a family. i didn't kill jan. >> you didn't want to believe him. >> who would want to believe that? >> here's josh man coe wit with deadly denial. she'd found plenty of the wrong guys. now in front of her was someone different. >> we worked at a day care where both of our children went to day care. >> she was 25 and a single parent when back in 2007 she met

raven. like her, he was single and raising a child alone. >> he was very charming. he would always come up with such fascinating dates. >> he seemed different. >> he seemed very different. >> a good guy. >> very good guy. >> and you fell for him. >> hard. >> but along with the charm and the lavish dates, raven also had a story -- a horrible, awful story that had changed his life and would also change vanessa's. the story raven told wasn't just about himself. it was about his first wife, janet. >> he said i should probably let you know that my wife was actually murdered. >> murder, raven said, happened three years earlier when he and janet were living in durham, north carolina. >> it happened in a home invasion. and he came home and found her, and that he didn't want to talk about it any further. >> it was not the kind of thing vanessa expected to hear from

the man who had just stolen her heart. >> i was beside myself. >> she retreated to her laptop and began searching online, looking for exactly the details raven had not provided. >> i had started researching and stayed up until 4:00, 4:30 in the morning. >> the homicide, she learned, occurred in april of 2005. raven had just come home from playing in a nighttime soccer game, when he found his wife on the floor of their tiny, second floor office. janet had been stabbed three times. raven talked to us about that dreadful discovery. >> when i initially look at her, i'm talking to her, laike, hey, janet, what's wrong. and then it clicks on me that her eyes are open looking at me, but she's not blinking her eyes. something was terribly wrong. >> she's dead! >> you're going to have to calm down, okay, what's the address? >> for janet's parents, val and

janet, it was the worst day of their lives. >> i pick up the phone, and raven screaming into the phone. "she's gone! ." that's all he it was saying. >> of course, i can't breathe. i thought i was having a heart attack. >> they raced to durham to be by raven's side. >> he immediately broke down into bawling, tears. i remember putting my arms around him, giving him a hug and saying, we'll get through this together. >> everyone was left to wonder, why janet? a woman as gentle as she was pretty. >> she's extremely loyal, i guess, is the word, with all her friends. when she has close friends, she's really good to them. she's really good to me. >> she always wanted everyone to be happy. >> she loved to help other

people. >> that came in handy growing up in a mormon household with no fewer than nine siblings. >> she was a peacemaker. >> she did not like confrontation. >> absolutely not. >> in college, janet excelled in the classroom and especially on the soccer field. >> what was it with her and soccer? >> she got to kick a ball. >> and she loved that? >> she did. >> but from a very early age, janet had her sights set on something more. >> her goal in life was to be married and have children and be a mom, to, having a very -- well, a perfect home. >> enter janet's college sweetheart, raven. >> with her, you know, i want to say i knew right away. her and i started talking about a long-term relationship three weeks into being together. >> brooky was janet's best friend in college.

>> he was very handsome. and i said all the time, you're the all-american couple. >> it was a foregone conclusion that this couple was destined for marriage. it rained the night of the wedding, but no one seemed to care. and then the perfect all-american couple completed the perfect picture, welcoming into the world, a son, caden. >> she said this is so phenomenal. >> oh, she loved, absolutely loved being a mother. >> but just six months later, that perfect picture went dark when janet was discovered lying in a pool of her own blood. >> was there anyone who disliked her? >> not that i know of. >> she was a good person. >> three years later in salt lake city, the news of janet's homicide was also shocking to vanessa. vanessa had learned the killing had never been solved. she wanted more details, from raven, about his terrible loss.

>> we sat down and had a conversation. i had my questions written out. and so we addressed every single one. >> how long did that take? >> we took an entire evening just to go over everything. >> when the evening was over, vanessa was convinced that the horrific crime back in 2005 had claimed two victims -- one, of course, was janet s but the other was raven. >> i felt, so, so, so, so sorry for him. i couldn't imagine possibly going through that. >> she also couldn't imagine that this terrible crime from the past would forever change her future. when we come back, why had this killing never been solved? we delve into the clues. a bloody shoe print, mystery dna and a coin in the yard. >> we didn't know exactly what happened. all we could think was that somebody didn't expect her there and killed her. save them.

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the disturbing story of how raven abaroa's first wife had been killed did not scare off vanessa. she was in love with him and committed to helping raven get beyond both the heartbreaking loss of janet and the homicide investigation back in durham. >> i wanted to, i wanted them to find the killer. i wanted all of this to be, all of this to be behind us. >> but vanessa knew that wouldn't be easy. the past seemed to haunt raven, as he shared with vanessa just how much janet meant to him. >> he laid kind of in the fetal position next to me. and then he just, he started talking how mad he was after janet died. >> he said i loved my wife. >> i loved my wife. >> for everyone who loved janet, the days following the homicide

back in 2005 were agonizing. raven says he found himself asking the same question over and over again. >> why we could have this beautiful child, why we could have this beautiful relationship and then to have her die. >> misty, a friend of both janet and raven, attended janet's memorial service. >> how did raven look? >> he looked crushed. but he was trying to hold up. >> soon attention turned to finding her killer. >> we didn't know exactly what happened. all we could think was that somebody broke into the house, for what reason, didn't expect her there and killed her. >> charles sole, now retired, was a cop with the durham police department in 2005. and he was called to the scene of janet's homicide. >> it was a two-story, family residence. >> these part of town? >> quiet for sure. >> first responders discovered

janet lying on the floor of the upstairs office. >> she was on her back. her shirt was raised up, exposing a wound to the center of her chest. >> janet also had a stab wound to her hand, suggesting she tried to protect herself. the fatal wound was to her neck. and the weapon was nowhere in sight. >> there was literally no disturbance on the desk. >> suggesting it was not some violent struggle. >> no. not at all. which is kind of odd, based on it being a stabbing. >> crime scene investigators began the task of swab being the entire house. it was no surprise that most of the blood and fingerprints tested came back as either raven's or janet's. but there were some things the techs had a harder thing explaining. the first was a fingerprint found on the upstairs office closet door, not far from janet's body. >> the print didn't come back to anybody? >> no. >> then there was a shoe print

left in blood next to janet. >> could you tell anything about this bloody foot print? >> it was right there by janet, but nothing definitive about the type of shoe, the make or anything. >> finally, analysts found unidentified dna mixed with janet's blood on a storm door leading to the side entrance. none of that forensic evidence could be traced to raven, janet or anyone connected to the investigation. >> those are things as an investigator, you absolutely want to try to figure out. >> while technicians processed the house, detectives began interviewing raven, hoping he could help point them in the direction of janet's killer. >> raven was visibly crying. he looked like he was distraught and upset. he, himself, said that he knew of no enemy that she had. >> he realized that some items from the house were missing. >> and they asked me, well, where was the last time you had the computer. >> so this was later that night or the next day. >> it was later that night.

it it was in that initial, initial meeting with them. >> his computer was gone. robbery? it was possible. >> he also talked about some knives being missing. >> had there been burglaries in that neighborhood? >> yes. >> lisa seeley was one of the abaroa's neighbors who had been burglarized. >> your car was broken into, right? >> yes. it was unlocked and somebody went in and took out some change. >> a seemingly petty, insignificant theft until a canine dog was called to search the grounds of the abaroa home where janet had been killed. when the dog got to the front of the house, it stopped unexpectedly. >> it was in that proximity where the bottle was. the dog made his alert that there was something in that area. >> there, amongst the weeds, the dog had found a coin. >> one of the neighbors reported that her car had been broken into and some change had been stolen. >> you're correct.

>> i guess at least one theory was that maybe this coin was from that. >> it certainly could have been. >> a homicide. a burglary down the road. and a coin that could link the two. detectives needed to find out more about that coin. >> coming up. scenes from a marriage. and secrets from the past. had raven and janet been as happy as they seemed? >> you never knew when the coin would flip and all of a sudden everything that was wrong in the world was her fault

the theory that janet abaroa's death may have been collateral damage from a burglary gone bad was not getting much traction. >> generally, when you surprise a burglar, they don't fight you or try to kill you.

they runaway. >> that's correct. and there was no rum anding. none of the drawers were gone through. none of the ransacking that you would see in a break in. just didn't add up. >> as for the coin found in front of the abaroa home, the police dog was unable to track a scent from it back to the house or anywhere else. detectives were having a hard time finding a link between the burglary down the road and janet's killing. the next step was the obvious one. detectives took a look at janet's husband, raven. >> it's pretty common to look at the spouse in situations like this. >> that's correct. that's, you know, part of the process. >> according to raven, the day of the murder was like any other for the abaroas. >> raven told investigators that a member of the church had come over the evening of the incident. >> later that night is when raven said he left janet and his son at home to go play in a nighttime soccer game, about a

half hour away. jason small was one of raven's teammates. >> business as usual, you know, a bunch of guys playing soccer together, trying to beat the other team, nothing out of the ordinary. >> raven seemed normal to you that night. >> completely normal. >> after the game, raven told police he drove to a gas station to grab a sports drink. just to be sure, detectives checked the station's security video, and there was raven. raven said he then headed home to find caden undisturbed in his crib, but janet lying in the pool of blood. >> she's dead! >> you're going to have to calm down, okay, what's the address? >> detectives also talked to raven's family and friends. by all accounts, he was outgoing, friendly, charming and broke. >> they don't have any money. they can't rub two nickels together. >> he needs every dollar he can earn. >> exactly.

>> money or the lack thereof it -- he had been caught stealing sports equipment and selling it on ebay. his mother was stunned. >> i just couldn't believe it. i was like, how could you be so stupid. but at least he admitted it. he didn't try to get out of it. i was proud of him for that. >> for owning up. >> for owning up. >> along with the young couple's financial stress, friends told detectives, raven and janet had also had a brush with infidelity. according to janet's friend brittany, within months of the wedding, raven had cheated on janet. >> how did she sound when that happened? >> devastated. >> and then she went back with him after that. >> she forgave him. she made promises to love him for good, for bad, for ugly, and to support him. >> but brittany noticed other problems in the marriage. janet, she said, was struggling

with what appeared to be raven's increasingly dramatic mood swings. >> she told me that sometimes things were like, perfect, and it was like holding your breath, because you never knew when the coin would flip and all of a sudden everything that was wrong in the world was her fault. >> things got so bad that a year before the homicide janet and raven briefly separated. but by itself, a marriage on the rocks did not mean raven was in any way responsible for janet's death. despite police suspicion, many refused to believe raven could or would kill janet. including janet's own parents. >> when you heard the police thought raven was a suspect, what did you think? >> i defended him. >> you stuck up for him. >> i did. i couldn't bear the fact that someone whom i entrusted my child's life with would turn on her like that. i could not go there.

>> neither could raven and janet's friend, misty foxily. >> raven could not have killed janet. he loved her. he loved her. he wouldn't have done that. >> detectives had an equally difficult time convincing the district attorney who, after reviewing the evidence, felt there wasn't nearly enough to get an indictment. >> they're the ones who make the decision if the guy's in court. why they didn't do it, i don't know. >> with no other strong leads, the investigation into janet's homicide began to cool. raven had relocated to utah to be closer to his family, which is where, two years later, he met vanessa pond. >> he wanted to move things very, very, very quickly. >> with you. >> yes. >> despite all the things vanessa had learned about raven, she stood by him. in part, because raven was very up front about how police were investigating him. >> he said that they didn't have anybody else to look at, which

is why he was the only person of interest. >> okay. wait a minute. you find out that a guy you're going out with was a suspect in a murder is still a suspect in a murder. >> yeah. >> and he gets another date? >> he talked me into that. everything he did just melted my heart, because i felt, i felt so bad for him. >> and that's how vanessa decided raven, the person of interest, remained the only person she was interested in spending the rest of her life with. after a four-month-long courtship, raven proposed. and vanessa said yes. >> you didn't waste anytime. >> no. >> but before vanessa walked down the aisle, she sought the counsel of her father. he was a retired cop with 23 years on the force. randy decided he needed a man-to

man with raven. >> he just came in and was all smiles and very, very fun to be around, very talkative, very outgoing. >> and you and your wife thought, good. >> oh, yeah. i was very impressed with raven, yeah. >> so impressed, randy gave the two his blessing. >> how was the wedding? >> the wedding was beautiful. it was great. >> and you thought, what? we're going to be okay? >> absolutely. >> coming up. >> you think at last, justice? >> yes. >> an arrest in the case. and for this new bride, an awful surprise. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> she would find herself in the middle of a murder trial. [ male announcer ] eliminate odors and reduce allergens with new febreze allergen reducer. [ man ] wanna see some allergens? [ together ] eww! what is that thing? they could be all around you right now. [ gasps ] ♪ how would you deal with them?

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the killing of a young wife and mom, janet abaroa, has been a mystery for years. her husband raven, had been a person of interest in the case. but he has slowly rebuilt his life in a new state with a new wife. now a new team is taking another look at the evidence. and everything is about to change. here again, josh mankiewicz.

>> the christiansen family never gave up their quest to pursue their daughter's killer. they made phone call after phone call to police in durham. >> we just weren't sure that they would ever be able to solve the case. >> but detectives felt they already had. they shared with janet's family the evidence of raven stealing and cheating. eventually, janet's parents agreed that raven was responsible for killing janet. >> i just knew in my heart that he had done it. and it was a horrible realization. >> and in 2009 new, more aggressive prosecutors reached the same conclusion. after taking a fresh look at the old evidence and concluding there was, after all, enough to seek an indictment. five years after janet's killing, raven abaroa was arrested and extradited back to durham to stand trial for first degree murder.

>> when raven was finally arrested, you think at last, justice. >> yes. >> finally. >> in april 2013, assistant district attorney charlene franks was tapped to prosecute the case. >> you felt in pretty good shape heading for trial. >> yes, i did. >> prosecutor franks, first went after his character by calling women from his past. he hoped they would start to see the defendant as an amoral, uncaring man who cared little about his marriage. charlotte revel testified that one afternoon she went over to the abaroa's house and raven showed her a sex tape. and then janet came home. >> he was like, you have to go hide. you have to go hide. he pushed me into the closet. soy just stayed until she left, and then i left. >> next to testify was raven's

co-worker, annabel. she said raven flirted with her, and they eventually had sex. >> i did say to him, what if your wife finds out. and he said, she won't ever know. >> prosecutor franks then got to the heart of her case, hoping to prove that janet was trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage. >> now did janet ever talk to you about any problems she had with her marriage? >> yes. >> best friend brittany said she heard first hand just how destructive janet's marriage had become. >> i overheard him talking to janet in a way that you wouldn't want your dog talked to. >> what did he say? >> he told her that she was good for nothing, that she couldn't do anything right. >> brittany said raven had taken control over every aspect of janet's life, including her phone calls. >> and she said he doesn't like me talking to you. she said i have to walk to the pay phone to talk to you. and like, my heart just, i said,

but how long you have been walking to a pay phone? and how far away is this pay phone? and does any of this make sense to my friend who's so smart? >> she was almost a perfect victim of a domestic violence situation. she did exactly what she was told, when she was told. >> you file sorry for janet, don't you? >> yes. i felt sorry that she didn't have an outlet to get help with. >> if janet was the perfect victim, who was raven? >> he's a predator. >> a predator, who according to charlene franks, lied repeatedly to police. for proof, she turned to janet's contact lenses. >> one of the biggest things were the contacts. >> in his interview with police, raven said janet was in bed watching tv and about to go to sleep when he left her to go play soccer. >> and all the sisters, mom, dad, they were adamant that before going to bed janet always took out her contact lenses. >> so, on a hunch, detectives

exsumed janet's body and according to the prosecution unearthed the truth when they discovered she was still wearing her contacts. >> suggesting that she wasn't about to go to bid as her husband suggested. >> right. she was not in that bed sleeping. when he left, she was dead. >> then they turned to the 911 call. >> is your wife conscious? >> she's blue! >> she's blue? >> he says she was dead. her lips were blue, and her eyes were open. >> but mike gusman, the abaroa's church counselor testified raven told him something completely different about finding janet. >> i believe he said to me that she had asked him why do i hurt so bad. >> that statement he made to mike is extremely important, because that shows she was not dead at the time he originally was with her. >> one of those is a lie. >> exactly. >> one item conspicuously absent

from the growing pile of state's evidence was the weapon. but franks had something she felt was almost as good. the evidence that raven was a collector of knives. in an online video, raven with janet by his side, proudly displays one of his recent acquisitions. >> that's my new knife i got for christmas. thank you. i bought it myself. >> raven had told the detectives his collection was missing, along with his laptop. then there was the issue of motive. prosecutors don't need to prove it, but jurors have come to expect it. so charlene franks called sandy, raven's boss at the time of janet's death. she told the jury raven knew he was about to lose his job. >> looked at me and said, you got my pink slip, boss? no. we're going to wait until the end of the month.

>> the point was looming unemployment and mounting debt could have driven raven to kill. she then showed the life insurance policy. the payout was $500,000. the beneficiary was raven abaroa. >> the only way he could afford to live his lifestyle was to get that insurance policy. >> but another piece of the puzzle was about to appear in court. and it had to do with his second wife, vanessa pond. it turns out, vanessa and raven were not a match made in heaven. >> i was way too naïve. way too naïve. >> vanessa traveled from salt lake city to durham to testify, not for the defense, but for the prosecution. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> she told the jury how her storybook romance with raven ended almost as quickly as it began. >> did you all argue a lot? >> yeah. >> at one point, vanessa said

raven became physical. >> he had me by the arms, and he threw me up against the wall. >> he told me how much he hated me. and how much he didn't care if i died. >> right after that, he calmed right down. i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. >> according to vanessa, raven displayed that same, moody, unpredictable behavior, again and again. >> the moment he got fired up about anything he flew off the handle with f you, you're an f-ing whore. >> that quick? >> instant. >> their marriage lasted only three months. >> you think you escaped something worse than just a bad three-month marriage? >> absolutely. >> charlene franks rested her case with confidence, even as she admitted there were some

things she didn't have. >> no murder weapon? >> no. >> no witnesses? >> no. >> no blood in his car? >> no. his advantage was trying to say that i'm just a bad husband. i'm a criminal as far as money goes, but there's no evidence i killed my wife. >> now it was the defense's turn to fire back. and fire back they did. on everything. his marriage. >> did you love her? >> i did love her. >> his alibi. >> he was already warming up on the field. >> his send wife. >> vanessa has her motives for saying what she's going to say. >> which would be? >> when dateline continues. septic system breakdowns

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isn't it beautiful? your sweet peppers aren't next to your hot peppers. [ gasps ] [ sarah ] that's my tide. what's yours? raven sat quietly at the defense table as the prosecutor wrapped up her case. >> at this time the state rests. >> but inside, raven says he was fuming. >> there's no evidence that says that i did it. they're coming up with circumstantial stuff that quite frankly are lies. >> raven has always maintained his incensnocence. >> did you love her? >> i did love her. >> did you kill her? >> i did not kill her. >> he says he did not emotionally abuse her either. >> you've been accused of

bullying her, keeping her down. any truth to that? >> no truth at all. i have a strong personality, but i've never been dominating. >> just as the state had done, raven's defense attorneys called character witnesses of their own, offering the jury a completely different image of both raven and raven's relationship with janet. >> they were a close couple. they really seemed to have a genuine concern and love for each other. >> misty foxily also couldn't recognize the man the state was describing. >> i didn't know what the heck they were talking about. i was shocked. i was very shocked. what are they saying? not only about raven, but about janet. >> when you heard janet described in court as kind of like meek little mouse who you were pushing around. >> yeah. >> that sound familiar to you at all? >> no. no. she's quiet and reserved. but when she did talk, you know, people listened. >> but what about the testimony

that janet would walk a mile to a pay phone so raven wouldn't find out she was talking to her best friend brittany. >> that doesn't make you look like a good guy. >> that didn't happen. never happened. totally fabricated story. >> more evidence that janet was an independent spouse with a will of her own came from, of all places, the prosecution after it made a stunning announcement. a computer hard drive had suddenly been found in an evidence locker. >> it was an inconvenient piece of evidence. >> it was the hard drive from janet's work computer containing e-mails she sent right around the time of her death. >> the hard drive to me was janet's voice, and it was the truth about who janet really was. >> some of the e-mails selected by the defense, expose add flirtation janet was having with an old flame. raven's side said it made it clear janet was making decisions on her own. >> it showed that people were

taking the stand and saying things that just weren't true. >> if the hard drive had been part of the evidence from the very beginning, we would have seen the whole picture of janet and janet and raven's relationship. >> the defense immediately made a motion for a mistrial, arguing that without this new evidence they were unable to properly cross examine the state's witnesses. the judge did not agree. >> motion for mistrial in the court's discretion is denied. >> the defense decided to hit head on what were by now raven's undeniable miss deeds. >> i've done a lot of bad things in my life. i admit that. >> most damaging was raven's history of infidelity. janet knew of at least one affair. and when janet confided in her mother-in-law, karen says she was furious with raven. >> i said doesn't deserve you. leave him. >> you told her to go. >> yeah. they did separate.

and janet called me just a few months later, and she said, we have been through counseling. and we love each other. i'm not leaving, and neither is he. >> did you think their troubles were behind them at this point? >> oh, i knew their troubles were behind thil. they were stronger than ever. >> then came that horrible night in 2005. almost as soon as karen arrived in durham, she said she got an uneasy feeling about the investigation and the way police were looking at raven. >> i think they immediately decided, oh, this guy's not perfect. he's embezzled. husband always does it. they wanted it to be raven. >> defense attorneys hammered crime scene analysts about the possible excukul culpatory evid they claim was being denied, the bloody foot print, the dna.

any they say could have been left by an unknown killer. >> there was a lot of things they didn't do. forensic evidence that wasn't pursued. >> but defense attorneys felt they wouldn't have to look any further than raven's alibi to be convinced of his innocence. >> mike gusman, the church counselor was the last to see the couple. >> did there seem to be any stress in their relationship? >> no. >> did she seem to be getting along just fine? >> yes. >> he said he left the abaroas at 7:00. both the prosecution and defense agreed it would have taken raven about 30 minutes to drive to the sports arena where he played soccer that night. the defense called jason small who testified raven got to the game right before it started at 9:00. >> was raven there when you got

there? >> yes. >> and what was he doing when you got there? >> he was already warming up on the field. >> add it all up, the defense says, and raven would have had to kill janet, clean up and compose himself to appear normal on the soccer field in 90 minutes. >> there wasn't enough time for him to get it all done, change clothes and get to the game. it didn't make sense. >> the defense was about to rest, but first, it needed to address the damaging testimony of vanessa pond, his second wife. >> she says you put your hands on her, shoved her, pushed her against the wall. >> and i pointed my finger at her chest. i didn't leave bruises, but i poked her. >> you want the key to the city for that? >> it wasn't rage, and vanessa's story has been totally twisted. she has her motives for what she's going to say.

she's bitter. >> you didn't believe anything vanessa pond said? >> no. >> karen suggested her testimony was pay back for a bitter break up in 2008. >> tragically someone would do that. but she's doing it. >> karen says she once overheard raven on the phone with vanessa soon after they broke up. >> he happened to have it on speakerphone. she was screaming at him, how dare he leave her. she flat out said, all it takes is one phone call from me. it doesn't matter what i say. people will believe me. >> you heard her say that. >> i heard her say that. >> you ever threatened him like that? >> no. he threatened me. >> the courtroom battle between two bitterly divided families was about to come to an end. now it was up to the jury. but just after 24 hours word began to spread throughout the courthouse there was trouble in the jury room. >> coming up. >> i had prepared to walk out of

court that day or spend life behind bars. >> another stunning turn was in store for both sides. >> heartbroken. shocked, stunned. >> scared? >>

an investigation spanning eight years, a five-week-long trial with more than 80 witnesses, all building to this one moment. >> it was painful. it didn't feel like it was going good. didn't feel like it was going bad. i mean, it was just painful, painful three or four weeks. >> janet's parents felt optimistic. >> were you hopeful? >> yes, in one word, yes. >> but after just ten hours, word came out of the

deliberation room that the jury wasser revokably deadlocked. >> the court is of the opinion with further deliberations this jury would likely not reach a verdict. the court in its discretion will declare a mistrial. >> the split came down 11-1 in favor of conviction. >> and then they come back, and they can't reach a verdict. what did you think? >> i had prepared to either walk out of court that day or spend life behind bars. never even crossed my mind that a mistrial could be declared. the one thing that i wasn't prepared for is to sit in durham county and do this all over again. >> it was an outcome no one seemed to want. >> for all but one person to say that he was guilty. and one of them undecided, i was thinking, really? send them back. >> vanessa pond was back in salt lake city when she heard.

>> how did you feel when the jury couldn't come to a verdict? >> heartbroken, shocked. stunned. >> scared? >> terrified. >> prosecutor franks immediately announced she would try raven again. but almost one year after the judge declared a mistrial and less than one week before round two of jury selection was scheduled to begin, the state made a stunning announcement. >> late last week, district attorney's office extended a plea to the defendant, and that has been accept ed. >> the d.a.'s office made raven abaroa an offer he couldn't refuse. plead guilty to manslaughter, not murder, and serve less than four more years in prison. >> mr. abaroa, do you now personally accept this plea bargain? >> yes. >> you were okay with that deal? >> given the alternatives. >> because if he gets tried again and is given an

acquittal -- >> he walks free. >> immediately. >> but this wasn't just any plea. he was offered an alford plea, meaning he would not be required to admit to killing janet. that didn't sit well with prosecutor franks. >> it wasn't my decision to make. i try the cases. i am not the administrator. that was up to my boss and my supervisor. >> why did you take the plea? >> i took the plea to get out, to get out. to have a guaranteed date to get out and be with my son. i felt that there was so much corruption, so much lying that was going into that trial that i, i just knew i wasn't going to get a fair trial the second time around. >> he denied any responsibility for this crime. we were very disappointed in that. >> i wanted to throw up. that was like stabbing janet all over again. >> he didn't mention "i'm

sorry." he admitted nothing, apologized for nothing. and it was so cold. >> in trials like this, there are no winners. just two sides, bitterly divided. >> the person who killed my wife, right now, thinks he's home free, but i'm trying to clear my name so that we can shift the focus and know that there is still a killer out there who right now is walking on the streets. >> custody of janet and raven's son caden was granted to raven's mother. janet's mom is left with the memories of the daughter she loved and lost. >> how often do you think about janet? >> constantly. the only way i can handle it is i know she's happy. i know she is. >> that's all for now.

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. next on "meet the press," the nightmare is over for america's last prisoner of the afghanistan war. bowe bergdahl, he's a free man after nearly five years in taliban captivity. but despite the obvious good news, there are concerns over the fact he was released in exchange for five taliban prisoners from the prison at guantanamo bay. has a dangerous precedent been set? i'll ask defense secretary chuck hagel who joins me exclusively from afghanistan. and following his exclusive interview with brian williams, edward snowden has been called a traitor and a coward by secretary of state john kerry, but after hearing him speak, does the american public agree? we'll bring you the results of a brand new nbc news poll. plus, recording the reality of war. ahead of the 70th anniversary of d-day our tom brokaw