>> i was like really freaking out. i was like, "what's going on, what's going on?" everything just hit me. it was like a load of bricks. i couldn't believe that any of this stuff was happening. >> reporter: an unbreakable bond. >> that's my little bro! >> reporter: brothers and best friends. then, in t still of the night -- >> i felt like a hand being placed on my mouth. i started telling him, "please don't kill me, please don't kill me." >> reporter: ambushed, tied up and beaten. and their mother? murdered! >> looked like two ghosts had just committed the ultimate crime. >> reporter: it's a harrowing, heart-pounding story. two intruders burst in, and terrorize a family. but the question for police, is it true? >> he's the only one who survived.

he's practically unharmed. >> they treating you like a suspect or a witness? >> they are treating me like a suspect. >> reporter: inseparable brothers. were they now suspects? >> it was scary. i've never been in that situation. >> reporter: police plan to lay a trap to solve the mystery. >> he's stepping out of the car right now. >> reporter: an undercover sting right out of the movies! >> i think we all stopped breathing for about ten seconds. >> reporter: who was the real mastermind behind this murder? >> i wanted to be wrong. i really wanted to be wrong. >> reporter: i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's josh mankiewicz. >> reporter: the american dream. so many of us want it. the loving family. the honest job. the home you can afford. the idea that you can start over here. and in this new country, that better life will be yours. this is a story about that dream.

about a family that worked for it. won it. and then what happened to them. >> 911 emergency. >> reporter: this wasn't part of anyone's dream. >> someone just robbed our house. they broke in. they, they tied me and my mom up. >> reporter: how could it happen, in this safe, gated community? in this home they'd worked so hard to have? >> is everybody okay? >> i don't know. they just beat me up. i don't know where my mom is. >> reporter: and who deserved it less than this woman? >> my mom brung the heart to the family. >> reporter: ryan girgis was the baby of the family, spoiled rotten by his mother ariet. >> we couldn't function without my mom. my mom was, like, the chef in the household, counselor. >> the full-service mom? >> oh, yeah, she did it all. yeah, she was really, really nice, sweet lady.

>> reporter: she was one of those mothers who showed her love through food. her cakes were legendary, making every birthday that much more special says her older son richard. >> she made this really good upside-down pineapple cake. it was phenomenal. i always remember cake and ice cream at the birthdays. >> reporter: growing up, richard was inseparable from his mom. >> was she was like the other moms that your friends had? >> no, i think she was a bit more on the conservative side. >> reporter: conservative because of where she came from. ariet girgis was born in egypt and then came to the u.s. when she was 29 years old. her family settled in northern california. ariet led a comfortable, all-american life. but cultural ties are strong and in 1980 ariet was called back to egypt to meet a nice young man named magdi.

>> when my mom went out there and ended up meetin' him, she, like i mean, she really liked him. >> reporter: years later, she would reminisce about how their romance blossomed. >> in egypt, you really can't just go out like on dates and stuff. so they went together to the movie theatre and then when it got real dark, my dad reached over and gave her, like, a kiss on the cheek. >> which was a very big deal. >> yeah, for her it was, yeah. i think it almost sealed the deal. >> reporter: it wasn't the american way of falling in love, but ariet seemed happy. she and magdi married just two weeks later in egypt, and moved together to california. in 1981 richard was born. five years later came ryan. >> reporter: richard was delighted to have a brother to play with and to watch over. >> so you were his protector, big brother? >> yeah, i always kinda keep an eye on him. i love my brother with all my heart. >> how'd you and your brother get along? >> like best friends. i always looked up to him.

>> reporter: their dad was the classic, hard-working immigrant. magdi earned his license to become a respiratory therapist, then put in endless hours to keep a roof over his family's head and clothes on their backs. >> he came from a really poor country. so for him, it was, like, to come here he was, like, workin' real hard to try to build things up and try to establish a life. >> magdi emphasized education, teaching both his sons math at an early age. he strove and saved to help them all prosper. and they felt he would do anything to keep his family safe. >> he didn't want your family to get pushed around? >> not at all. not at all. >> reporter: it took many years of hard work, saving, and investing but magdi finally put together enough money to buy this home in a gated community in the city of westminster, a quiet town in orange county, california. the girgis family was well on

its way to living out the dream magdi and ariet had worked so hard to build. but then on september 29, 2004 all of it came crashing down. ryan girgis, then 17, was out with friends and stayed out later than he was supposed to. >> when'd you get home? >> i got home 1:00 to 1:30 that night. i had slid the back door open and i went upstairs. >> reporter: his dad was not at home. his brother, at work. his mom, asleep. >> i remember i was fixing up my ipod dock. and i fell asleep to music that night. next thing i know, i hear a door open. and first instinct was that maybe it was my brother. >> reporter: his older brother, richard, his best friend and protector, coming home. or so he thought. but it wasn't richard. >> i kinda looked back and then

that's when i felt, like, a hand being placed on my mouth. and it was a hand with like some type of cotton glove. >> can you see who this is? >> i noticed it was a black male that was heavy-set. i was yelling for my brother and my mom to help me. and i was really scared. >> reporter: ryan says he fought the intruder. >> i bit down on the hand and i rolled off the bed and then i popped up and i was shoved into, like, the wall. he's telling me, like, to -- like, shut up and calm down. >> reporter: the man put duct tape over ryan's mouth and started taping his hands and feet together. >> and right after that, a second suspect comes inside and he starts making threats to me like, "don't get your moms killed, don't get your moms killed." >> don't get your mom killed. that had to be terrifying to hear. >> yeah. yeah, i was really terrified. >> what did you think was going on? >> i didn't know what was goin'

on. i thought it maybe was, like, a robbery or something. >> reporter: a terrifying situation was about to get much worse. >> through the hallway i saw my mom yelling "take anything you want. take anything you want." and then after that i just noticed that the guy was taking my mom away, like towards her bedroom. >> reporter: ryan's attacker dragged him into the closet but then noticed the duct tape was slipping around ryan's hands. >> i heard him taking, like, some shoestring off of one of my shoes. >> reporter: using the shoelace, the man tied ryan's hands behind his back. through the closet door, ryan pleaded with his attacker. >> i started tellin' him, "please don't kill me. please don't kill me." and i started praying. and during that time he was like, "i know your circumstances. i know what you're going through. i'm not gonna kill you." >> reporter: i know your circumstances? strange as those words sounded, ryan found them somehow comforting. >> and then after that, like, i started feelin' a little bit of a sense of relief.

>> reporter: but then ryan heard a sound that would come to haunt him. >> i heard a like a cutting of a sheet. so i thought he was, like, cutting my sheets up. i didn't know if -- like, what was goin' on. >> reporter: and what was going on was worse than anything he could have imagined. >> so who were these men? and what did they want? when we come back. >> they're like, i will kill you. >> a panicked call to 911 and another two his brother. >> i was like really freaking out. what's going on? what's going on? >> what really happened inside that house? >> oh, my god! oh, my god!

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>> both black guys that were really huge to me and, like, their whole persona just was like gangsters and, like, thugs. >> never seen 'em before? >> never, ever. >> reporter: they tied him up, threw him in a closet but not before he saw one of the men drag his mother into her bedroom. he says he thought he heard the men walk out, thought he heard a car drive away. but for a few more moments ryan sat in that dark closet, heart thumping. afraid, he says, to come out. it was now or never. ryan says he managed to untie himself and grabbed his cell phone. >> i went down the hallway. i looked to the right really quickly. i noticed that the door was like in, like, a closed position. >> reporter: to your mother's bedroom. >> to my mother's bedroom. >> reporter: why didn't you check on her? >> i wanted to get out of the house as fast as possible and then come back with help. >> reporter: but you had to be

thinking that's my mom in there. i've got to see how she is. >> the whole time i was like i need to -- i need to get out of this house and come back with someone because i already got overpowered by myself. >> reporter: he ran outside the house and called 911. >> what happened? >> they, uh, two black guys just jumped in my house, and then they just started beating the [ bleep ] out of me. they're like, "don't make me have to kill you. don't make me have to kill you. don't make me have to kill you. i will kill you. don't get your moms killed." >> reporter: ryan called his dad magdi. he was shocked and asked two things, if ryan was okay and where ariet was. and ryan didn't know. ryan also called his older brother, richard, who was working the night shift at the queen mary hotel. what did richard say when you called him? >> he questioned if i was all right. he questioned, "where's mom?" he also questioned, "who do you think it is? is it someone you know, ryan? >> reporter: why would richard think that you might know the people who'd broke into the house? >> well, he felt like i was the one that got tied up and things like that, and they came into my

room. so he just was, like, questioning, like "ryan is it something having to do with you? like, what's going on? did they have a personal vendetta on you or anything? >> reporter: as you'll see, that's a question that would come up again. after ryan's call, richard left work and drove to the house. but the police tape was already up, and they wouldn't let him through. >> i was, like, really freakin' out. i was like, "what's goin' on? what's goin' on?" and, you know, i was asking 'em, like, where's my mom at? where's my mom at? >> reporter: police took richard and ryan to the station. the boys were surprised to find themselves split up and sitting in separate interview rooms ryan's hands were bagged to preserve any evidence. but before detectives could ask too many questions, richard asked one of his own. >> what happened to my mom? please. before we go on, please, i deserve that, please.

>> your mom's dead. so we have a murder investigation. >> oh, no, she's not. no, she's not. i didn't hear that. i didn't hear that. >> reporter: ryan says he didn't know what was happening right then, but he could tell it was bad. >> oh, my god! oh, my god! >> i just hear, like, a scream. and i'm like, "what just happened?" it sounds like richard, my brother, and he is screamin' to the top of his lungs. >> no she's not. she's not! >> reporter: you can't see richard? you can just hear him? >> i can just hear him in the other room and he was goin' hysterical. i had never heard him scream like that in my whole life. >> oh, my god. does my little brother know? >> reporter: police soon told ryan the same awful news, that their mother, ariet, had been murdered. now the cops started asking questions. and that wasn't all they did. >> reporter: police took your fingerprints? >> police took my fingerprints, cotton swabs, dna. you name it, they did it.

>> reporter: they treating you like a suspect or a witness? >> they are treating me like a suspect at this point. >> did you have a chance to check on your mom before you ran out of the house? >> no. i didn't want 'em to, like, have them chase after me or anything, so i just ran out of the house. >> is the stairs before your mom's room? >> you have to pass by my mom's room. >> oh, you had to pass by your mom's room to go down the stairs? >> yeah, i didn't even look. i didn't even look. i just ran as fast as i can. >> reporter: richard was facing questions that were slightly different but just as skeptical. >> what i'd ask is why would someone pick your house and break into your house? >> i don't know, man. i wish i knew. i don't know. >> reporter: cops take your fingerprints? >> yeah. >> reporter: and your dna? >> yeah. >> reporter: did you think to yourself, they're look at me as a suspect? >> yeah. it was scary. i've never been in that situation with the police. >> reporter: but the detectives'

focus seemed to linger on his brother, ryan. >> this wouldn't be, like, directed against him, that you know of? >> i mean, i don't know, dude. i don't know. the first reaction i had when he called me is, i was like, man, was it one of your friends? did someone break in or something?" >> that was your first reaction? >> my first reaction was that. >> reporter: as police continued their questioning, one question stood out above all. why would these two thugs come into your house, basically not hurt you and then really leave behind a witness? >> yeah. >> reporter: this investigation was about to take a turn that no one expected. coming up -- >> it looked like two ghosts had just walked in and committed the ultimate crime. >> dna and csi. what will the evidence reveal? when "dateline" continues. we're going to do this thing on a roof top. ♪ ♪ ♪ your phone and your wallet are now one. so you can get where you're going...

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>> reporter: ryan girgis was attacked in his own home. and, hours later, given the worst news imaginable. while he had managed to escape, his mom, ariet, had not. she was dead. all of which begged a pressing question. >> why would they kill her and leave me? >> reporter: police and even his own brother were asking the same thing. >> reporter: how many murders you get in westminster? >> not that many, really. >> reporter: sonia balleste was a deputy da in orange county,

california. the ariet girgis case file landed on her desk. >> it's a nightmare. it's the thing that most people would fear, to be home, in the sanctity of your home, asleep in your bed and have intruders come in and do the unthinkable. >> reporter: police found ariet's body near her bed. she'd been stabbed multiple times. that odd tearing sound ryan said he heard? investigators believed it was the sound of the knife ripping through the mattress as ariet's killers slit her throat. was that knife found at the scene? >> it was not. >> reporter: james wilson was a patrol officer at the time of the murder. wilson says the details of the crime scene pointed to something other than a home invasion robbery. in part because nothing appeared to have been stolen. this was not a burglary in which she was sort of collateral damage? >> definitely not. >> reporter: cash was in plain sight.

jewelry too. even ryan's ipod and new dock, all untouched. >> the house wasn't even rummaged through, as if they were looking for something. >> reporter: what's more, this was a gated community. the killers would have needed a gate code to get in. >> it just starts getting more interesting as to who could have done it. >> reporter: crime scene investigators collected mounds of evidence and, surprisingly, with all that blood, not a single trace of unknown dna. all the dna results matched the people who lived in the house -- ariet, magdi, richard and ryan, the witness who for some reason was left alive. two guys came into the house, beat up ryan, tie him up and then kill ariet in a brutal hands-on way and leave no trace? >> that's what it looked like. it looked like two ghosts had just walked in and committed the ultimate crime.

>> reporter: it seemed improbable and it encouraged detectives to look closely at ryan. he claimed to be a victim, but was he really? police learned the friend he was with the night of the murder had offered ryan a knife for protection just hours before ryan's mother was brutally killed with a knife, a knife that had not been found. they also learned ryan smoked marijuana. and not just at the occasional party. he smoked every day. and he wasn't just smoking. >> i was helping out someone with, like -- like, selling, like, narcotics and stuff. >> what kind of narcotics? >> marijuana. >> reporter: police found small amounts of marijuana in ryan's room, along with a bong, baggies and tin foil. and there was more. like the description ryan had given detectives about the two suspects. >> both male blacks. they were large. he said that they acted like

they were from a gang. but that was something that still didn't know 100% sure if that was true or not. >> reporter: claiming two black men committed the murder seemed almost too convenient. and more troubling, if ryan had been beaten by gang members much bigger than he was, why didn't he look like it? there's no question that if ryan had been in a serious duking it out fight with a couple of guys that he would have ended up much more battered than he was? >> if those guys wanted to hurt him worse than they did, definitely so, yes. >> reporter: and remember ryan had told police that one suspect said i know your circumstances. i'm not going to kill you. was that true? and, if so, what did it mean? and then there was the issue of ryan claiming to have left the house before he so much as took a peek into his mother's bedroom. that strike anybody as odd? >> i think so. as a detective, you have to

consider why somebody would do that. >> reporter: soon detectives found out ryan had more dark secrets than they'd realized. coming up -- >> he's the only one who survived. he's practically unharmed. >> new questions for ryan. and a new clue. had he received a warning before the attack? >> you better watch your back. i know where you live. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbell's chunky soup. it's

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>> reporter: investigators looking into the savage murder of ariet girgis naturally took a hard look at the only other person known to be in the house when she died. her 17 year old son, ryan. >> he's the only one who survived.

he's practically unharmed. he was selling a small amount of drugs. we had to pursue that. >> reporter: police still had a lot of questions about ryan's story, but they had yet found any evidence to suggest he killed his mom. for now at least they had to take him at his word. >> until you can find a reason not to believe that person, you kind of have to go with what they have to say unless they start lying to you. >> reporter: as far as you knew, ryan was not lying? >> as far as i knew, yes. >> reporter: but the investigation was just starting. and police could not discount another possibility -- that ariet was killed because of ryan. detectives learned that a year before the murder, ryan had confronted another kid at school who hadn't paid him for some weed. later, that kid's friends jumped ryan. doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would spark a homicide. but i'm guessing you've seen

homicides that were sparked by a lot less. >> it is typical for especially gang-related homicides to be something just as small as that. >> reporter: remember ryan described his assailants as sounding like gang members. and then there was this bombshell, a message ryan received on his aol instant messenger just weeks before the murder. >> it was about a week ago you said? >> reporter: he brought it to detectives' attention during his interview. >> and it popped up like, "you better watch your back. i know where you live." this, this, this. i was like, i'd never even seen that person before. that's why i didn't really, like, pay attention to it. you know what i mean? >> reporter: ryan told police he had chalked it up to a prank. now it seemed like key evidence except ryan had not saved the message. no way to tell now who had sent it. any idea who it was from? >> no. >> reporter: aol able to help you with any of that? >> no. >> reporter: a frustrating dead end.

but by now police were looking at other possibilities. they dug deeper into the american dream the girgis family seemed to be living and interviewed the man of the house, magdi. >> how did you feel about your wife? >> sir, i am very devastated. we've been together for 24 years. it's, uh -- she's the mother of my kids. >> he really didn't have any vices. he didn't spend any money on any hobbies of any sort. so he was a guy who went to work and went home. >> reporter: but their father wasn't just a hard worker, said his sons. he was more like a workaholic. >> i think my mom felt neglected. >> he wasn't affectionate towards her. it was like all he would do was just work. >> i played sports like all my life, and he never, ever came to watch any sports that i played. >> a lot of the childhood and a lot of me growing up, i can remember a lot about my mom, but i don't remember a lot about my dad. and it's not 'cause i don't want

to, it's because he just wasn't there. he would come, go to sleep, get up, go back to work. come, go to sleep, get up, go to work. >> reporter: that was because for magdi, they said, the american dream was all about the green. >> he was work, work, work. >> reporter: money, money, money. >> money. exactly. >> reporter: after a rare outing to the beach one day, ryan says he and his father dropped by mcdonald's. >> i asked him if i could borrow a dollar so i could grab a 99-cent burger. and not only did he ask for that dollar back, he also asked for the tax money on it. what kind of father asks his 13-year-old son to reimburse him for a $1 hamburger? >> my father, he was like always trying to hustle someone for some type of money. >> reporter: it didn't take prosecutor sonia balleste long to learn about magdi's obsession. this is the united states. everybody goes to work. everybody tries to make money. everybody tries to provide for themselves or their family. he's different?

>> yes. he's very different. he's in a category of very few people who have an unhealthy relationship with money. it drives everything that they do. >> reporter: we're not talking about penurious or thrifty? >> no. >> reporter: we're talking about squeezing every dollar until it bleeds? >> yes. >> reporter: his sons describe magdi as not only obsessed with work and money but also a strict disciplinarian. did you love him? >> yeah, i did love him. >> reporter: were you scared of him? >> yeah, from when i was a kid. yeah, i felt like there was like a thin line and i didn't want to cross anything. >> reporter: the brothers say they saw what could happen when they crossed that line. one night when ryan was 14 and came home past curfew. they say magdi simply lost it. >> he threw me on the floor and he started kicking me, and my

brother had to pull him off of me. >> reporter: your brother kind of shielded you a little bit, didn't he? >> he did. he did. >> reporter: sounds like you were closer to your brother than you were to your father. >> very much so. >> reporter: ryan rebelled, staying out late, smoking weed. richard was more dutiful, but he too felt his father's wrath. >> punch, a kick. you kinda name it, depending. i would find that the sooner i would cry, the sooner that it would stop. >> reporter: that's a tough lesson to learn from your dad. >> yeah. he was a very harsh person which was made it more fortunate that i had my mom in my life 'cause she was like the complete opposite. >> reporter: as tough as he was on his sons, they say magdi was just as tough on his wife. ryan and richard say they never saw their father hit their mother. but, they say, they heard the yelling and they did see the bruises. >> we never, ever called 911. it was just like we had that sense of fear that we didn't want to we didn't want to cross

the line. >> reporter: you were more afraid of what your dad would do to you if you did call 911 than what might happen to your mom if you didn't? >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: so the boys stayed quiet. but a storm was brewing. in the end, ariet would give investigators their best lead. coming up -- >> i really felt like my mom was empowered. >> a transformation and confrontation. >> there's no going back. >> and so the life you had before -- >> was never going to be the same. >> when "dateline" continues. when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out knock it out, fast. with abreva.

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>> reporter: as investigators worked the murder of ariet girgis, they heard disturbing information from her sons. most disturbing, by far, was what happened seven months before the murder in february 2004, on the eve of magdi and ariet's 24th wedding

anniversary. >> so she starts talking to magdi. can we go out to dinner? that's what starts this fight. >> reporter: doesn't sound like it was a very long fight. >> no. he punches her in the face. >> reporter: richard remembers arriving home that evening and seeing his mom. >> she looked very subdued. her face was swollen. her nose was still like bleeding. so i went upstairs and i confronted my dad. >> reporter: what was what was his response? >> he told me to stay out of it. >> reporter: but richard, in nursing school at the time, worried his mom could have a concussion or worse. he rushed her to the emergency room. they had kept their family secret for so long. but that was about to change. >> the nurse asked her, like, what happened. >> reporter: and your mom said? >> my mom told her that, you know, "he punched me in the face." that started the whole cascade. >> reporter: police went to the girgis home and arrested magdi.

>> that was really scary. >> reporter: that was scary? not thrilling. >> it was terrifying. >> reporter: not the moment you'd been waiting for? >> no, no, no, no, no, no. there was no point of return. somehow i knew immediately after that, that it was like -- >> reporter: there's no going back. >> there's no goin' back. >> reporter: and so the life you had before -- >> was never gonna be the same. >> reporter: a court issued a protective order and magdi moved out of the house he'd worked so hard for, to an apartment complex he and his brother owned nearby. after more than two decades of marriage, it seemed magdi and ariet were headed for divorce. it was a thought that seemed to terrify ariet. >> i think she was scared and had a lot of cold feet. >> reporter: about striking out on her own in the world. >> exactly. >> reporter: ariet was totally dependent on magdi. she'd never written a personal check, didn't even know their mortgage was paid off.

>> she would express to me, like, "you know, i wish all this would just not be here," or, "i wish, you know, everything could go back to the way it was." >> reporter: magdi, too, seemed frightened and perhaps, chastened. >> he was definitely trying to get back with my mother. >> reporter: did it seem like your mom was wavering at all? >> yeah, there was a limbo period where my mom was considering taking him back. >> reporter: richard, who had stepped up during his father's absence as the man of the house, overheard a strange conversation between his parents. >> he was like, "oh, you know, i love you." >> reporter: had you ever heard your dad say, "i love you," to your mom? >> i can't really recall that. >> reporter: until that conversation when he needed something from her. >> yeah. >> reporter: what did magdi need? it turned out he was more worried about himself than anyone else. a domestic violence conviction might cost him his respiratory therapist license, which would

cut off his income. and magdi knew a divorce would force him to split his hard-earned money with ariet. he had his back to the wall. >> yeah. >> reporter: so magdi came up with a plan, a letter in which ariet would say she wasn't sure what happened, that her injuries could have resulted from a fall. magdi and ariet weren't speaking at the time. so magdi convinced richard, the dutiful older son, to transcribe the letter and persuade ariet to sign it, thus getting her husband off the hook. did you feel bad at all trying to get your mom to change her story of something that you knew she was telling the truth about? >> yeah. back then i kind of felt like i was just trying to help. >> reporter: and maybe the price of saving your family is convincing your mom to lie about something that you know is true? >> he really just manipulated me. >> reporter: he knew his mother

had mixed feelings about the breakup of her marriage. richard told himself he was doing the right thing. >> i was trying to support my mom. at the same time, i still felt like he was still my dad. so i felt really pulled. >> reporter: ariet agreed to sign the letter. magdi, no doubt, breathed a sigh of relief. but then came his preliminary hearing, in which ariet did something quite unexpected. she took the witness stand. and she told the truth. >> she felt that enough was enough. so she went, and she really laid everything out. >> reporter: not just about the night magdi gave her a black eye and bloodied her nose, but about abuse ariet described as stretching over two decades. did your dad feel betrayed? >> my dad was like i can't believe what she said up there. >> reporter: ariet girgis had finally stood up for herself. it might have been the manifestation of her own american dream.

ariet hired a divorce attorney and began planning a new life. >> i really felt like my mom was, like, empowered. she just wanted to be happy. you know, that she felt like there was happiness, like, coming. >> reporter: instead, the next month she was murdered. and to investigators who heard ariet's story, it now seemed obvious her husband, magdi, was the prime suspect. >> everything pointed at magdi. >> reporter: except for the fact that phone records proved that magdi was at his own apartment when ryan called him that night. and according to the only witness, two black men committed the murder. and there was still the question of why that witness, ryan, was left alive. and just a few days after his mother was killed, the rebellious son ryan received another anonymous message on his computer. how did you like your gift?

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>> reporter: investigators were zeroing in on magdi girgis as the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, ariet. the two had been going through a domestic violence case and were

divorcing. >> you know, he's an obvious suspect, but that doesn't mean he did it. >> reporter: no matter how noxious he may have been during the marriage, maybe he's not the guy that you're looking for? >> sure. you have to explore every possibility. >> reporter: especially after the couple's son, ryan, received a taunting message on his computer days after the murder. how did you like your gift? lol. lol. >> reporter: police looked into it, but just as with the threat ryan received weeks before the murder, they weren't able to track down the sender of those messages. in hindsight, do you wish some more work had been done on that? >> yes. >> reporter: older brother, richard, also came under scrutiny. richard had sort of stuck up for, maybe even covered for his father during the domestic violence investigation. did you guys think he might be doing that again? >> initially, they believed it was a possibility. yes.

>> reporter: soon after the murder, the brothers left westminster and moved to northern california and they did so without telling magdi. as police continued to dig, richard and ryan say they worried. whoever killed their mom was still at large and knew ryan was a witness to the crime. >> i have recollections. i have nightmares. i also get chills. i don't like to be at home by myself. i have trouble sleeping. i mean the list goes on. >> reporter: ryan and richard say they had a growing suspicion their father was responsible for their mother's murder. they said they were too scared to confront him. but in the months that followed, the investigation seemed to stall. >> reporter: seems like you had a lot of leads that kind of hadn't gone anywhere. >> we had a lot of paths that we went down. yes.

>> reporter: remember, there was no physical evidence linking magdi to the murder. ryan said it was two black men who had broken into the house and killed his mom. police had never found those men or any trace they ever existed. and those threatening messages to ryan? still no idea who sent them either. was there a point where you thought maybe this won't ever be solved? >> it's hard to think that way, when you desperately want to solve it, but yes. >> reporter: and so the years rolled by. richard became a critical care nurse. ryan, the self-admitted stoner, says he stopped smoking. he was working toward a bachelors' degree in business and had started his own events and entertainment company. magdi would have been proud of his boys if he knew how far they'd come. but richard and ryan say they never once got a call from him in all those years and they made no effort to contact him.

the brothers did call the westminster police department again and again, urging detectives to investigate their father. and each time, they heard the same response. >> you know, we're still looking into it, but we don't have any new leads. there's nothing. >> reporter: depressing. >> it was. >> reporter: they made endless calls, enlisting family and friends to write "america's most wanted" and they raised a $55,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of the suspects. all of it led to nothing. how many other cases you do in those years? >> a lot of murders. >> reporter: but something about this one stuck with you? >> absolutely. >> reporter: was there something about ariet that made you not want to quit? >> you don't ever want to quit on any case, but i think that the fact that she came so close

to being an independent woman, to standing up for herself, to being the kind of mother that she wanted to be to those boys. and she did everything right. and she died on our watch. it was a terrible feeling. terrible feeling. >> reporter: it was 2010, nearly six years after the murder, when richard made another of his many phone calls to the westminster pd. this time, it was james wilson who answered. he'd been a patrol officer at the time of the murder but in the intervening years had worked his way up to detective. >> i really didn't have very good answers for him. what's going on with my mom's case? what are you guys doing on my mom's case? sxw and i know there's nothing really going on in his mom's case, so i just started looking into it. >> reporter: out of guilt? >> i think an obligation really. you know, this is one of the reasons you that become a police officer, is to help people like that. >> reporter: as detective wilson pored through the mountain of evidence on the case, he came

across that interview detectives had with ryan right after the murder. reading through the transcripts, he saw a key detail that no one had noticed. >> you say you bit this guy? >> yeah. >> on the hand. was it on the hand, or through a glove, or -- >> i think it was through a glove, but he had to take off the glove to put on the tape. >> reporter: ryan was telling detectives the intruder took his gloves off before handling the duct tape and also the shoelace used to tie him up. >> you don't have to be a detective to think, "well, maybe that might have some dna on it." >> reporter: detective wilson checked to see if the shoelace had ever been tested it had not. so he sent it off to the county crime lab. and sure enough, one afternoon, eight years after ariet's murder, detective wilson's phone rang. >> the crime lab did call me and told me that they got a hit. >> reporter: and no one could have predicted the name police were given. coming up --

>> that had to be our suspect. wasn't even in our computer. >> a whole new suspect. who was this guy? >> did you know where he was? >> i knew exactly where he was. >> when "dateline" continues. your bar and grill favorites made a little better for you. you get your favorite steak and you get it with whole grains. you get delicious cedar grilled chicken and you get it with quinoa. you get a low bill and you get it with a big smile on your face. the pub diet starts at $9.99, only at applebee's.

she had been the night that two intruders burst into her home. who had killed ariet girgis? investigators said it appeared that a ghost committed the perfect crime and then disappeared into the dark. they questioned her son, ryan and richard, and husband, magdi. soon they had a plan, an undercover sting straight out of hollywood. here again, josh mankiewicz. >> reporter: it was 2012, eight years after the murder of ariet girgis when detective wilson got his first solid break. home invaders had tied up ariet's son, ryan, with a shoelace. the detective submitted the shoelace to the crime lab, hoping for a long-shot dna hit.

and now the results were in. >> it had to be our suspect. or at least one of our suspects. >> and the name the crime lab gives you for the dna hit is? >> anthony bridget. >> was that name in any of the case files? >> no. >> not someone who had been talked to at any stage in this investigation? >> wasn't even in our computer -- our in-house computers as ever being a person that's been contacted by the police. >> reporter: and yet the dna proved anthony bridget was the attacker who had tied up ryan. detective wilson entered bridget's information into a computer. >> so who is he? >> he's a member of a trace 5-7 crips. >> reporter: the crips, one of the most notorious and violent gangs in the u.s. and mr. bridget, street name "little shotgun," was by any standard a professional criminal. >> he had numerous violent conduct, including prior conviction for manslaughter.

so this was no novice. >> reporter: long, violent rap sheet? >> absolutely. >> reporter: bridget also had a drug conviction and remember, ryan girgis admitted he sometimes dealt weed. could ryan and anthony bridget have known each other? is that why richard immediately wondered if ryan was the target of the attack? police considered that theory and dismissed it. in fact, for police, anthony bridget and his gang affiliation confirmed ryan's story. for one, bridget matched ryan's account that the man who tied him up seemed like a gang member. >> he looked like he was one of those guys, like, that just came out of the pen and stuff. >> uh-huh. >> and just, like, wanted revenge on someone. >> reporter: and two, bridget's prior booking photos matched the sketch ryan had given police. and so investigators developed a different theory about bridget's involvement. >> he had the resume that you would expect the intruders who

came to kill ariet to have. >> reporter: the kind of guy you'd hire to commit murder? >> that's right. >> reporter: and they suspected the person who hired him was magdi girgis. of course, there was no proof of any of that. >> reporter: i'm guessing one of the things you did early on was subpoena magdi's bank records. >> oh yes. >> reporter: looking for that big chunk of money that he took out a few days before his wife was killed. >> you could hope. but -- >> reporter: but it wasn't there? >> it wasn't there. >> reporter: well, maybe he's innocent. >> maybe he's just careful. >> reporter: careful? perhaps. but in what universe would magdi girgis and anthony bridget's paths cross? one way to find out, they could ask anthony bridget. did you know where he was? >> i knew exactly where he was.

>> reporter: he was in soledad state prison. prosecutor balleste and detective wilson decided to pay him an unannounced visit. >> reporter: and there you are in a little room? >> yes. >> reporter: little table like this one in between you. >> yes. >> reporter: and you say? >> i twoontwant to talk to you. >> reporter: and he's a little surprised, right? >> he's a little surprised, yes. >> reporter: but anthony bridget was hard to rattle. >> he's been involved in gang-related homicides in the past. pretty experienced at the prison system. >> reporter: so, saying to him, "hey, the guy that hired you magdi girgis, just rolled over on you," that's not gonna work? >> right. >> reporter: this is not a virgin. >> exactly. >> reporter: but they did get something. you said to him, "i have your dna at a murder scene." >> yes. >> reporter: and? >> and he said, "where?"

>> reporter: he said "where?" not, "i haven't committed any murder." did you ask him whether he knew magdi? >> no. we never got that far. >> reporter: here's what bridget didn't know -- the prosecutor and the detective didn't really care what he said. their target was magdi girgis and all they wanted was to prove a connection between him and anthony bridget. that's why before they left orange county, they had set up a wiretap on magdi's phone. he was back, living in the house where his wife was murdered. he even had a new girlfriend. and now investigators listened to see if bridget would tip off magdi. >> i was hoping that at least my visit would inspire him in some way. >> reporter: didn't happen? >> no, it didn't. >> reporter: so game over? >> he's stepping out of the car right now. >> reporter: no. it was just starting. coming up, a return to the scene of the crime. a dramatic confrontation at magdi's house. >> check it out, me and my homie

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>> reporter: january 30th, 2013, the home where ariet girgis had met her awful death was suddenly once again the scene of an unexpected confrontation. >> what's up my [ bleep ]? >> what's up, man? >> reporter: two men showed up on magdi girgis' lawn. >> let me holler at you for a few ticks. let me holler at you for a second. >> reporter: and it was all

caught on camera. >> what do you need? >> check it out, man. >> my homie locked up the pen right now, police approached him about him killing your wife for you in this [ bleep ] house. >> reporter: interesting. because prosecutor sonia balleste and detective james wilson had just returned from visiting crips gang member anthony bridget, in prison. they suspected magdi had hired bridget and another as-yet-unknown man to kill ariet. and now, apparently, here were a pair of gangsters on magdi's property. the more talkative of the two called himself "d-money", and money is what he wanted from magdi. >> you know what i'm saying? we don't care about that. but the thing is we want to get paid for it. we not going to say [ bleep ]. you know what i mean? >> what are you talking about? >> reporter: good question, and who better to answer it than "d-money" himself. >> reporter: you're a born actor? >> i believe i am. >> reporter: he's not a gangster. he's an officer from the long beach police department who was working undercover, which is why we're concealing his identity. >> reporter: you a little nervous going in?

>> not at all. no. >> reporter: the role he played at magdi's home that day was part of a war game sonia and detective wilson had set in motion even before they met anthony bridget. >> reporter: so tell me about this scheme. >> you call it a scheme. i call it a plan. >> reporter: by any name, it was an attempt to trap magdi. >> the only way anthony bridget or somebody like him commits a crime like this is some kind of gain, financial primarily. so you develop that kind of individual and you come up with a way in which they were able to contact magdi and demand more money. >> let me holler at you for a few ticks. >> reporter: in other words, these two undercover officers, posing as gang members, would approach magdi, and hit him up for some hush money. since investigators knew that money was magdi's particular obsession, they hoped they were about to strike a nerve. but they had to be careful.

if the killers were working for magdi, it wasn't clear if he knew them directly or hired them through a middleman. >> reporter: so you couldn't have these guys claim that they were the actual guys in the house? >> correct. >> reporter: because possibly he knew them. >> possibly he knew them. >> reporter: so you have them pose as friends of the guy in the house? >> yes. >> reporter: and he's now in jail. >> in prison, which is -- we knew that was true because anthony bridget was in prison. >> reporter: and so his friends are, what, trying to leverage that knowledge into some extra money for them? >> correct. >> reporter: operations like this are especially tricky. there's usually only one shot to get it right. if the phony gangsters threatened magdi, the sting wouldn't hold up in court and magdi could walk free. and at the same time, one thing had to be crystal clear. >> you want to make sure that everybody knows that we're

talking about the crime that occurred, about his wife being murdered in that particular house. that couldn't be left ambiguous. >> reporter: a risky plan, and no guarantees it would work. true that a lot of d.a.'s might not go for an operation like that? >> yes. >> reporter: sonya wanted to win. >> she wasn't scared to fail. >> reporter: did you think you were going to fail? >> i was very nervous, to say the least. >> reporter: it had taken nine years to get to this moment. a team of cops watched and videotaped as the undercovers approached magdi. >> he's stepping out of the car right now. >> reporter: everyone was on edge. except for the man cast in the role of d-money. you had to be going over in your mind, like, you know, if he says this, if he does this, i'm going to -- >> no. things come out spontaneously. >> reporter: really? >> you have to be quick. he say "a," i say "b." he say "c," i say "d." you have to have something up there. and it's nothing you can rehearse, nothing you can write down. either you can do it or you can't.

>> reporter: still, there was cause for worry. while these officers looked the part, they had never done anything like this before. were you worried at all about sort of their acting ability? >> i was concerned. >> reporter: too late now. it was on. coming up, a surprise snafu. >> cell phone dials the number of undercover and they tell me he didn't answer the phone. >> an undercover officer misses the call and that was just the beginning. >> i think we all stopped breathing for about ten seconds. >> when "dateline" continues. with tempur-pedic the whole bed is comfortable. we actually got our bed as an engagement gift from her parents. maybe that's the secret to marriage. you're gonna stay together if you have a tempur-pedic bed. i told our friends, this is the best investment i've ever made. it's helping to keep us young. i love my bed. (vo) it's your year. treat youself to your best night's sleep with tempur-pedic.

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>> reporter: magdi girgis didn't know it, but he was the target of a sting operation. he had just arrived home. the undercover officers approached, and the camera was rolling. >> check it out, man. my homie's locked up in the pen right now. the police approached him about him killing your wife for you in this [ bleep ] house. you know what i'm saying? we don't care about that. the thing is, we want to get paid for it. we not going to say [ bleep ] you know what i mean? >> what are you talking about? >> reporter: what's his reaction when you make it clear that you know about his wife's murder? >> he appeared to be shocked. you could tell it was something that he wasn't prepared for, that he never thought it was going to happen. >> we want five racks, $5,000. you know what i'm sayin'? we ain't going to say. we ain't going to the police. we ain't going to say nothing else. >> let's roll. >> you understand what i'm saying? >> let's roll. >> all right. give me a call man. take my number. that's me. call me tomorrow by ten o'clock. >> who are you, my friend?

>> don't worry. i'm d-money. just give me a call tomorrow by ten o'clock. >> can i see your i.d.? >> 5,000. hit me up tomorrow. >> can i see your i.d.? >> reporter: almost as soon as it began, it was over. magdi left standing there with d-money's phone number with instructions to call the next day. >> reporter: and in terms of oscar-winning performances, they did a pretty good job? >> i think so. they did a great job. >> reporter: now police waited and wondered what would magdi do? if he doesn't call, this all is for nothing? >> it's a done deal. the case is over. >> reporter: more than eight years after the murder, here was the make or break moment. >> he was either gonna ignore them, he was gonna contact them or he was gonna call the police and say, "guess what? i think the guys involved in my wife's murder just came to the house." >> reporter: which is what an innocent person would have done? >> yes. >> reporter: but he didn't call the police? >> he did not. >> reporter: and he didn't ignore them?

>> very true. >> reporter: the next day the surveillance team tracked magdi driving, and just at that time -- >> his cell phone dials the number of undercover. and i'm notified immediately by the wire room. and -- and they tell me he didn't answer the phone. >> reporter: the undercover officer missed magdi's call. >> so i had to call the undercover and -- >> reporter: and say? >> i'm like magdi -- >> reporter: the target of the investigation -- >> just called. >> reporter: -- is trying to reach >> he was in a bad area for reception so he had to move. you? and then -- >> reporter: it's like a nightmare. >> uh-huh. so we were hopin' he called back. >> reporter: the undercover, as usual, was confident. why were you so convinced he'd call back? >> 'cause he called the first time. to me, in this type of deal when you -- you call the first time, you -- you know, you're -- you're over the nervousness and they're gonna call back. >> reporter: and magdi did call back.

the surveillance team caught him on camera, this time from a place that doesn't get a lot of traffic in the 21st century. >> we know he's at a pay phone, that got really interesting for me right there. >> i'm sittin' in the car. and the cell phone went off. let it ring a few times. and answered the phone, you know. >> this is d-money. what's going on? >> you stopped by yesterday. >> yeah. i came by yesterday, man. >> yeah. what is the problem, my friend? >> what's that? >> what is -- what's up? >> the problem is my boy is locked down in the pen, like i told you yesterday. we know what's going on. you know, my boy, you know, took care of a little business, you know. so we're just trying to get paid just to keep it hush. you know what i mean? >> i thought you got -- you got paid everything. >> and once he told me, "hey, i thought i paid you guys everything," homerun. >> you know, it's one of those feelings where you've known this all along and then you actually hear it from him. and so i think it was overwhelming feeling of confirmation. >> reporter: and then just as quickly, it all threatened to blow up in their faces. listen carefully. >> who is the -- who was the

middleman? >> what? >> who was the middleman? >> reporter: middle man? the undercover had no idea. magdi had just asked a question that none of the investigators could answer. >> when magdi says, "tell me who the middle man is so i know i can trust you," that was something the undercover officers, i think, weren't ready for. >> no, i think we all stopped breathing for about ten seconds. >> reporter: investigators had considered the possibility that magdi might have hired the killers through some third party, and now this conversation seemed like confirmation that he had. but who was it? it seems to me that the middle man for this would have to be somebody that magdi really trusted, somebody he knew well. >> he would've had to trust this person, yes. >> somebody who would stick up for him. >> yes. >> reporter: any thoughts on who that might be? >> i do. i do. >> reporter: there was no way to

tell the undercover that. so d-money just stayed in character. >> i -- i -- i don't -- i do -- you know every -- everybody know who the middleman was -- the middleman was. i ain't worried about that. people talk, and i -- i -- >> well, how am i going to trust you? >> people -- because i got -- the information that i got, player, i can go to police, but i'm not. i'm just -- >> you can go. it's not a problem. i'm -- i'm just -- i'm just trying to -- i'm just trying to get my money, so i can go. >> reporter: so the conversation about hush money continued. magdi, true to form, haggled over the price. >> five thousand ain't that much, man. i -- you know. >> i don't have it, that's the problem. i lost my job. and i have some, but not the -- the whole amount. >> it just goes to show the true character of this man. i mean, here's a guy who will negotiate with thugs ten years later because he feels like he already paid. i mean, it's just -- that's what i mean. he's not in the normal range of thrifty.

>> i have on me $1500. >> what's that? >> $1500 i have on me. >> reporter: police probably had enough to arrest magdi right then and there, but they waited. now you want to do the actual exchange of money? >> got to get the money. >> reporter: that meant a second meeting, but would magdi even show up? and if he did, would he come with a plan of his own? 3 f2 tenían que tener una segunda one more hidden camera moment. >> what happened? you bring me a check? >> no. vo: when you're trying to lose weight it seems like food is everywhere. with your very own weight watchers personal coach you've got a plan and support from someone's who's been there before and who knows what it's like. this week was good i stuck with our plan. mmm, hum thanks coach. hi pumpkin pie. vo: introducing personal coaching

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>> reporter: magdi girgis had just been caught on tape apparently admitting to hiring thugs to kill his wife. >> i thought you got -- you got

paid everything. >> reporter: he seemed willing to pay even more to keep things quiet, and made a date to do it. >> i have on me $1,500. >> what's that? >> $1,500 i have on me. >> reporter: the next day officers secretly trailed magdi leaving his home, driving on the freeway, and pulling into this home depot parking lot, the meeting point chosen by magdi. zblv's zblv's. >> reporter: everybody's out of sight except for you? >> everybody's out of sight, plain clothes. unmarked vehicles and -- except us, the two of us. >> reporter: i'm no police officer, but this is starting to sound like fun. >> uh-huh. oh, it's definitely fun. it's fun. it's -- it's a rush. it's -- i'll do it all over again. >> reporter: prosecutor sonia balleste was nearby watching it all unfold. tell me what that was like. >> nerve-wracking. it's -- exhilarating. >> reporter: could you see magdi? >> not at first. >> reporter: but soon enough, he

came into view. the undercovers approached his car. >> what's up my [ bleep ]? what's going on? what's happening? did you bring me a check? >> no. >> cash? that's 15? >> yes. >> so i took the envelope, basically snatched it from him and counted the money right there and put it in the envelope. >> reporter: it was, what, 15 in $100 bills? >> fifteen in $100 bills. >> fifteen racks. going to be over. you ain't going to see us no more, man. >> all right, my friend. >> yeah. is everything good? >> yes. >> reporter: so this was not some sort of frightened little mouse who was doing what he was told to by you guys? this was a guy who was poised and kind of in control of the situation? >> oh yeah. oh yeah. "i'm -- i'm -- get it done and this is gonna be it. and it'll be over." >> reporter: but before it was, the undercover dropped one more line to see if magdi would bite. >> what did your [ bleep ] wife do so bad to you that made you

want to kill her [ bleep ]? >> see you, my friend. >> reporter: he didn't take the bait? >> he almost did. >> reporter: magdi probably thought he was home free, but as he drove away, officers swarmed in. you arrest him and you guys are all feeling like wyatt earp? >> we're feelin' pretty good, yes. very good, actually. >> reporter: ryan girgis, of course, had no idea any of this was happening. he had moved back to southern california and was completely unprepared for the call he received from detective wilson. >> reporter: you come to the station, the cops bring you in, and they say? >> your father has been arrested. and i couldn't be more happier. i -- i really felt like my dreams and my prayers had been answered. >> reporter: richard, once their dad's loyal and trusted confidante, was not as thrilled. >> i was happy that the arrest was made. but then on the other end of it, i mean -- i was sad in a way, too. because even though i knew in my heart he had something to do with it -- >> reporter: it's still your

dad. >> it's still my dad. and i always had some deeply wedged fantasy that maybe one day the cops would arrest someone else completely and end up actually telling us, like, you know what? your dad ending up not having anything to do with it. >> reporter: you wanted to be wrong? >> i wanted to be wrong on that. i really wanted to be wrong. >> have a seat over there for me magdi. >> sure. >> i'm detective wilson. >> hi. >> reporter: detective wilson brought magdi to the station and sat him down in the interview room. his tactic was an old one in small rooms like this, play dumb and see where magdi took him. >> basically, what i need to know is what was going on in long beach there by that home depot center? looked like there was a money transaction there or something going on. can you explain that? >> two days ago, on wednesday, around 12:30, i was coming from costco. i find two guys approaching me.

i never saw them in my life. >> uh-huh. >> and they are black guys. this is the truth. >> reporter: but his account differed in key ways from what detective wilson already had on tape. >> i stunned when they told me is, "your lady got killed in this house, and you have to pay us five grand, otherwise we're going to hurt you and hurt your kids." >> reporter: that's lie number one. there are no threats on the tape. >> well, how did you get to be with them today? >> yeah. they throw telephone number on the lawn. >> like on a piece of paper or -- >> small piece of paper. >> they threw it on the lawn? >> on the lawn. >> hit me up tomorrow. >> reporter: lie number two. the tape clearly shows magdi taking the number. then detective wilson asked magdi the million dollar question. >> why didn't you call us?

you had our phone number. >> because i was worried about my kids and myself. >> are you scared of the police? is that why? i mean, i don't understand. >> no. it's not scared but my wife problem is not solved yet. and they consider the husband as a suspect. >> reporter: those tears had no effect on wilson who now had magdi on tape paying hush money. >> and we know you paid them. okay? >> no. >> yes. >> no. >> reporter: wilson bored in. >> i'm here to find out one thing. what kind of person are you, because right now, we don't know. is magdi the type of guy that's a hard, cold, calculated murderer that paid someone to kill his wife? what kind of person are you? >> i'm just innocent person, just simple person. believe me. >> okay. >> reporter: magdi pleaded for sympathy. detective wilson was not sympathetic. >> i lost my wife. >> no. >> but it's your fault. >> no, it is not. >> you hired somebody. >> i not hired anybody.

>> we recorded it. >> oh! >> they recorded the conversations with these guys. i'm not lying. i'm not lying. >> i need a lawyer. >> let me tell you -- let me tell what they said. >> talk like that. no. you guys are going to trap me and stuff. no, no, no. >> reporter: magdi had said the magic word, lawyer. he was done talking. there would be no confession. you didn't expect that he was going to admit it. >> no. the lies were good enough for me. >> reporter: good enough to make the case. but wilson thought he'd try one more time to crack magdi, this time by making him face his own son. ryan wasn't so sure at first. >> i called my brother, as i normally do, as the younger one, and i told him, "what do you think?" he was like, do you feel like you wanna talk to him? i was like, "yeah, i want some questions answered." >> reporter: so he walked in that little room and saw his father for the first time in more than eight years.

>> what's wrong with you? you forgot dad? >> you don't even look the same. >> reporter: and ryan had a lot to say. >> you had a choice not to hurt me and richard. >> my son. >> you had a choice not to hurt your wife. why did you do that? >> i didn't hurt anybody. >> what are you talking about, you didn't hurt us? look at me right now. look at yourself. >> i'm looking at you. i'm looking at you. i can't believe you, man. >> my son-- i don't believe you don't -- >> don't call me your son. i don't want to hear that. you're a horrible person for what you did. i just want to let you know that you're a horrible person. >> i didn't do anything. >> yes, you did. >> i did not. >> reporter: was had hard to tell your dad that you thought he was involved in your mom's murder? >> yeah, it was definitely very, very hard. >> reporter: it's hard for you to talk about it now? >> yes, it is. it is. and the person that i had nightmares over was right in front of me and i was scared.

>> reporter: and soon ryan would face his father again. this time in court. coming up -- >> the killing of ariet girgis was because she interrupted a robbery or a drug transaction between ryan and these two suspects. >> a father/son showdown. exactly who is on trial? >> the evidence suggests that he was involved with people that were dealing hard core drugs. >> when "dateline" continues. each year 17 billion toilet paper tubes are thrown away in the us alone. that's enough to fill the empire state building...twice. now there's scott naturals® tube-free bath tissue. get the premium softness you need... ...without the wasteful tube. toss the tube for good with scott naturals® tube-free. coughequence #5. the sleepless night. sorry.

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>> reporter: march 2014. magdi girgis had been sitting in jail for about a year, after an undercover sting led to his arrest for the murder of his wife, ariet. it was a case prosecutor sonia balleste couldn't wait to try. nearly a decade in the making

and, as it turned out, it would be her last. sonia had been promoted to management. >> my swan song, yes. >> reporter: so you wanted to go out with a win? >> prosecutors don't like to lose. >> reporter: yeah, i've noticed that. [ laughter ] >> reporter: despite what you've seen, the case still wasn't a slam dunk. there was no proof magdi knew the alleged killer, anthony bridget. no evidence he'd paid bridget any money. and while detectives had their suspicions about the involvement of a middleman, they still couldn't prove it. and, as you'll see, even that undercover tape could be seen through a different lens. >> who's the -- who was the middle man? >> reporter: on the eve of the trial, richard and ryan got ready for the big day. their suits were pressed. they reviewed their prior statements. and they weighed the consequences of what this moment meant.

>> i'm happy that we will get closure, but then it's just sad, 'cause we lost our mom and in the same night it's like we lost our dad too. >> reporter: their only surviving parent, the one they had lived in fear of for years, would be the one they had to face in court. >> part of me is scared of him, but also part of me wants to stand up and let my voice be heard after all these years. i want to be strong. >> reporter: and so the brothers walked into court together that first day of opening statements, standing strong, united in their quest for justice for their mom. >> magdi girgis conspired to have his wife murdered. she was an inconvenient woman to him and people are disposable to this defendant. >> reporter: our cameras were not allowed to record witness testimony inside the courtroom, where sonia balleste stacked up her evidence against magdi. she showed the jury how, in the months leading up to the murder, magdi slowly drained his joint accounts with ariet, leaving her

with almost nothing. and, sonia said, the crime scene evidence showed this wasn't just some random murder. >> it was about silencing somebody who defied him. >> reporter: but then, on the witness stand, richard -- who had once helped his father persuade ariet to back off her story -- now defied magdi just as ariet had done. richard testified about the abuse his mom had suffered at his father's hands. he testified about coming home and finding his mother battered and bruised. richard recounted the story to the jury, but it seemed he was really speaking to his father. we caught up with richard after court. >> it was a really a good experience for me just to be able to actually finally face him, face to face and be able to look him in the eyes and actually like, you know, be able to confront him for what he's done. >> reporter: but magdi faced an even tougher confrontation from the words of his now dead wife. ariet's testimony from the preliminary hearing in the

domestic violence case had been saved. and now the prosecution read it into the court record. how important was ariet's testimony from the previous case? >> it was huge. it was as if for an afternoon she just came back to life and took the stand. >> reporter: ryan would need to channel that same strength of his mother's for what came next. he took the stand with magdi just feet away. a father's eyes bored into his son. >> i really felt like if he had me one on one, he would beat me down. he just wanted to -- anything to get me to shut up. >> reporter: this time, ryan refused to keep quiet, telling the jury -- and his father -- about that terrible september night when two men broke into his home, beat him up, and

repeatedly stabbed his mother in the next room. then ryan faced cross examination, and defense attorney rudy lowenstein had already told the jury he planned to put ryan on trial. >> the killing of ariet girgis was because she interrupted a robbery, or a drug transaction, or a collection of a debt of some kind between ryan and these two suspects. >> reporter: the defense argument -- ariet's murder was tied directly to ryan's criminal activity. >> i think that the evidence suggests that he was involved with people that were dealing hardcore drugs. >> reporter: ryan admitted that he smoked and sold weed, but lowenstein told the jury ryan was doing much more than that. he pointed to the drug paraphernalia police found in ryan's room, tin foil and what lowenstein said was a pipe with white residue, which he said was

consistent with heroin and methamphetamine use. evidence that police had failed to test. the defense said it showed ryan's drug dealing was bigger than he'd let on. then the defense directed jurors to those threats ryan had received on his computer just weeks before the murder -- you better watch your back. i know where you live. and the taunting message that came after the murder -- how did you like your gift? lol. lol. >> did anybody follow up? not really, no. they just said, "oh well, we know who did it. magdi did it." they focused on magdi. and they never left magdi. >> reporter: could the threats be the reason ryan's friend offered him a knife? >> the fact that he was offered a knife for his protection by

his drug-dealing friend just minutes, or at the latest, hours before the murder of his mother by someone using a knife suggests to me that there was some reason for him to be afraid for his own safety in his own home. >> reporter: the defense also attacked ryan's credibility. remember what ryan told us that one of the intruders said -- >> "i know your circumstances. i know what you're going through. i'm not gonna kill you." >> reporter: it turns out ryan did not tell that to the 911 operator. why? the defense argued because those words were never spoken and said ryan made them up later to deflect suspicion from himself and his drug connections. one thing was irrefutable and hard to explain, the defense told the jury. ryan did not check on ariet before he fled the house. >> how does a young man, whose mother has come to save him, not look in and check to see whether or not he could save his mother before running out of the house? what does that say about his character?

>> reporter: after two days of brutal cross examination, ryan says he felt dejected and betrayed. >> i feel like i'm getting backstabbed by my own father. that he's claiming that his son is such a troubled youth. >> reporter: of course, the defense also had a huge problem. those videotapes of magdi taking the phone number from the undercovers. >> hit me up tomorrow. >> reporter: calling them the next day. >> i thought you got, you got paid everything. >> reporter: and then showing up with $1,500. >> it's at peace. >> reporter: all of it made magdi look very, very guilty. >> i would like him to get up there on the stand and try to explain what he meant when he said "i already paid everything off." >> reporter: it turns out the defense did have an explanation, and documents too, which might prove magdi's innocence. coming up, would that undercover tape convict him or clear him? a defense surprise.

>> he's playing along with them in order to be aible to apprehend them. >> and the verdict, would that be a surprise, too? >> this is it. >> i didn't want to let those boys down. (humming) vo: the good more is all the end-of-season deals on great tech stuff at verizon. the not so good more having the season actually end. get the good more, like the powerful droid maxx by motorola free. quitters, you're all quitters! only at verizon.

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>> reporter: in spite of the damning testimony against magdi by his own sons, defense attorney rudy lowenstein tried to show jurors magdi did everything to provide a better life for them and his wife, ariet. >> his life was dedicated to his family and to making the

american dream work for him. he was an immigrant who came with nothing and made something of himself. >> reporter: magdi had his flaws and he had done some bad things, the defense said, but he did not have ariet killed. but then what to make of those undercover tapes and magdi's apparent admission? >> i thought you got paid everything. >> reporter: would magdi take the stand to explain what he meant on those tapes? no. apparently he felt he'd done enough talking. instead, the defense attorney showed the jury evidence which he said proved magdi was not guilty. magdi had written down the serial numbers of the 15 one hundred dollar bills he had given the undercover officers, and he tried to write down the license plate number of their vehicle. which, said the defense, cast that undercover video in a whole

new light. >> he is playing along with them in order to be able to apprehend them. >> and so when he says to them, "just tell me the name of the middle man so i know i can trust you," he's bluffing. he doesn't really know the name of the middle man? he's just trying to get that information out of them? >> absolutely. >> reporter: lowenstein said the only thing magdi was guilty of was trying to play detective. >> remember, he's been a suspect for ten years. the police have never left their vision of him as being the suspect. and because of that, he's got to essentially solve the case on his own. >> reporter: what would the jury think? on the day of closing arguments, richard and ryan walked to court together. they had brought something for prosecutor sonia balleste. a religious tile belonging to ariet. >> sonia wanted me to bring like a item, like -- from our mom and stuff to have right there that she could hold on to. >> reporter: they learned the evidence-driven prosecutor had a superstitious side. she wanted to have something of ariet's to touch during her last closing argument to channel

ariet's spirit and courage. >> she took the witness stand in the preliminary hearing and faced evil and for the first time in her life, stood up to him. she knew exactly what he would do to her for it. >> he's done some bad things in his life, but he didn't hire anybody to murder ariet girgis. he's innocent. >> reporter: there was nothing left to do now but wait. after nearly a decade, these final moments were perhaps the most excruciating. >> it's a lot of anxiety built up right now, just wondering when the verdict's gonna come in. it's going to be like any moment. >> reporter: sonia, already at her new job, waited for the phone to ring.

she had played the waiting game numerous times. it wasn't any easier this last time. >> i didn't want to let those boys down. so, yes, i was probably a little bit more nervous than usual. >> it was definitely agonizing every time we heard a ring or a buzzer, it really, like, got us, like, okay, did they get a verdict? >> reporter: after two days, they finally heard it. three buzzes. the jury had reached a verdict. were you worried there was going to be a not guilty verdict? >> the only thing that had worried me was -- all it takes was one person to not see things the way that everyone else sees it. >> reporter: you never know what a jury is going to do. >> you never know what a jury is gonna do. >> reporter: and when they filed back into the crowded courtroom, ryan didn't look at his dad. instead he held onto his brother. >> i was just embracing the moment that this is it.

this is all riding on this -- >> we, the jury, in the above-entitled action find the defendant, magdi faiz girgis, guilty of the crime of felony conspiracy to commit murder. >> oh, it hit -- it hit us. it's what we've been waiting for for 9 1/2 years. >> reporter: in the gallery, the brothers cried and as the hearing continued, richard's sobs grew louder and louder until he couldn't contain himself any longer. >> why, papa? why? i couldn't hold myself back. i was trying not to, like, say anything. but it just was pouring on. i -- i told him in arabic. i was like, "why, dad? why, why, why, dad, why? like, i just -- i still can't fathom the reason of why he would do such a thing. why he would throw away, like, our family, why he would throw everything away. >> reporter: what was magdi trying to tell his son? we'll never know. magdi's thoughts at his

sentencing were somewhat clearer. >> i have nothing to do with the killing of my wife. i did do my best ability to work hard, secure future, and advise my kids not to get involved with all of this gang activity or anything. i'm not a bad father. maybe i am strict, but i love them. they are my kids. >> reporter: magdi girgis was sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> if magdi had not taken the bait, if he'd gotten the phone number from your two undercover officers and thrown it away and just said, "i don't know who you are. i don't know what you're talkin' about. and if you call me again, i'm going to call the police," would he be in custody today? >> probably not. >> reporter: so he ended up giving you your whole case? >> his greed gave me my whole

case. >> reporter: magdi girgis had worked tirelessly to build the dream. and then, by his own hand, destroyed it. well, perhaps not all of it. these two brothers may have lost both their parents, but they still had each other. >> that's my little bro. >> yeah. >> reporter: the story isn't over yet. accused hitman anthony bridget pleaded not guilty and is still awaiting trial. the second intruder has never been identified. and despite investigators' suspicions, neither has the mysterious middleman. you never found out who that was? >> not yet. >> reporter: been ten years. >> that's true. took me nine to get magdi. you have to be patient in this line of work. >> reporter: there's still a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the remaining suspects. richard and ryan hope someone

will come forward. in the meantime, they're keeping their heads down and working hard, just as their father always taught them to do. but they will do some things differently. do you picture yourself as a dad someday? >> i do. >> reporter: what kind of dad are you going to be? >> i'm going to be the opposite of my father. i'm going to be there when my kids need me. >> reporter: and that's the beauty of the american dream. there's always a new beginning no matter where you came from. that's all for now. i'm lester holt.

right now at 11:00 -- clear, crisp across the bay area. temperatures are dropping fast. good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm janelle wang raj and jessica have the night off. the cold blast spread across the bay area. our third night of below freezing temperatures. jeff ranieri tracking the freeze warning and side effect of the cold weather. >> and the