we're all shells of people walking around. the happiness in our life has been taken from us. >> reporter: they were, high school sweethearts, raising five strapping sons. >> it was a rowdy house. and our parents loved it. >> reporter: then, that terrible night. >> she's got blood everywhere! everywhere. >> reporter: a mother, murdered. but as shock set in, leads poured in. witnesses reported strangers, lurking. a car, speeding through the neighborhood. and there were footprints, out behind the house. >> jason i'm putting alarms on every door, because somebody's out there!

but detectives? >> reporter: they decided the killer wasn't "out there", but inside the house! now, with one of their own under arrest the family was furious. >> you see these people? this is love. this is love and belief in this human being. please listen to us. >> reporter: did investigators rush to judgment? >> how do you have any idea, beyond your own fevered imagination, that that's what happened?! you don't have a clue! >> i think that i do have a clue >> reporter: was the real killer still out there? i'm lester holt, and this is dateline. tonight, keith morrison, with a killing in cottonwood. 3 f2 en esta muerte.

here in northern california. his senior year was almost done. this was the place he loved. the game he loved. >> people sometimes talk about having premonitions of things. did you have anything like that at all? >> it was just another day. just another one of my countless baseball games. >> reporter: it wasn't of course. though no one knew it, as they whiled their way through a golden afternoon -- redding, california with its famous sundial bridge, its parks, its middle america feel, is a whole different place, a different life, than the california whose reputation blares technicolor from the botoxed and tmz'd narcissism 600 miles to the south. drive a few minutes from redding, and you're on the ball diamond in a little place called

cottonwood. here, in the shadow of mighty mount shasta, an anchor. a constant. just like the people casey knew would be in the stands. >> so, were they there? >> yep, both there. >> always there. >> always there. never missed a game. >> reporter: his parents, mark and karen duenas, side by side by the dugout as always. >> you know, they were together since they were what, 17 years old. >> they practically lived in each other's skin. >> exactly. >> reporter: his mother had brought the chocolate chip cookies she passed out to the players after every game and for which she was justly famous. his father had made sure he finished work in time for the opening pitch. >> what kind of parents were they? >> they were the best parents that you could ask for. >> reporter: this is jason, their eldest son. and here the photo of jason's graduation, with his proud parents, the day he became a fireman. >> they would do anything for

us, and they did. >> reporter: mark and karen were from big mormon families. high school sweethearts who married as teenagers and watched their own brood quickly expand -- all boys. jason, jacob, tyler, troy and casey. boys bursting with testosterone. >> it was a rowdy house. we had football games inside the house. we were egged on by our parents and they loved it. >> reporter: karen was a full time mom and, once the boys were old enough, taught part time at nearby shasta college. for decades, mark got up at 2 am to drive for ups just because it freed him to coach his sons' teams come afternoon. and to spare his wife middle of the night disruption, mark slept in a separate bedroom. had for years. >> my dad treated her better than, you know, anyone could treat their wife. my mom was the queen. >> they lived simply. they lived paycheck to paycheck. they never had a lot extra.

>> reporter: son tyler. >> for them it was all about family? >> yeah, always. >> reporter: and they all stayed as close as any family could be. when jason got married, he moved into the house right next door. helped celebrate mark and karen's silver wedding anniversary, as they all did. by 2012, they were grandparents many times over, had been married nearly 33 years. >> one thing i always looked up to and loved about their relationship was that they still dated. >> reporter: tyler's wife tina. >> after that long sometimes you can lose that, and i -- i never saw them lose that. >> reporter: but change does come for everyone. and by 2012, in their early 50s, mark and karen were making some changes. karen went back to school, nursing school. >> this was a plan they had talked about? >> it was the perfect situation. she got to stay home with the kids all growing up and now she

was ready to start her career. if you think about it, a pretty dang good plan. he worked his whole life, you know? he could start his own business while collecting a pension. and then she would, you know, start her career in nursing. >> reporter: not so easy of course. nursing school is a tough thing. not just for karen, either. her brother joe and his wife jackie. >> well, her commitments changed. having "grandma" here when you need or having mom there when you need her, she was going to have to study! >> she was struggling with the classes. she felt like she should be doing better. but i remember a text that said, "you know i just got back from the er and got a chance to work with people finally and i love it." and so she was on her way. she was really on her way. >> reporter: and so, that may the 4th, casey joined his parents at home after his ball games. then, it being friday night, he and a friend went to see a movie "the avengers."

>> i think started at 9:15. and told my parents everything was fine. >> do you remember the last thing to said to your mom? >> she handed me a $20 bill. and i thanked her and hugged her goodbye. >> reporter: it was late when casey returned. and almost immediately fell asleep. >> then, what do you remember next? >> it literally felt like i put my head on the pillow and two seconds later doors open, dad's at the door freaking out! >> reporter: and seconds later -- >> 911, what's your emergency? 3 f2 familia duenas estaba a punto when we return, a dad devastated. is one tragedy about to become two. >> i remember him coming in and collapsing. >> falling to the floor. over weight for a really long time. and now i'm not.

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>> reporter: it was 12:30 am. now, may the 5th, 2012. casey duenas, home from a movie and late dinner with friends, opened the front door, unlocked as usual and moved quietly down the little hallway toward his bedroom. had it not been so late, he might have stopped by his mother's room to say goodnight. but the house was dark. everyone asleep. or so it looked to an exhausted casey, who fell into bed and almost immediately into a deep sleep. and then, 25 minutes later -- >> dad's at the door freaking out. go next door! go next door! go get jason! something's happened to your

mom. go get jason! go get jason! go get jason! >> reporter: casey did as he was told. running next door to his oldest brother jason's house. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> reporter: while his father mark, beside himself, called for an ambulance. >> tell me exactly what happened? >> she's -- i just came in the room. i heard her. and she's got blood everywhere! everywhere. i don't know. i -- have no idea. >> you have no idea what happened? >> no. >> you don't know where she's bleeding from? >> no, i know. i mean, there's blood everywhere. >> are you with her now? >> yes. oh, it's in her chest! there's a gash in her chest! >> reporter: and jason woke up to the horror two ways at once. fire department alarm. brother alarm. >> i was asleep. as a volunteer firefighter, i have a pager. the pager went off. and i could hear casey coming up the stairs yelling at me in a panic. there's something wrong with mom. you got to come next door right now. >> did you have any sense of what it was?

>> i had no idea what i was going to walk into. >> reporter: what he walked into was a nightmare beyond dreaming. there was his father in full blown panic. and lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, was his mother. and the rookie firefighter, for an instant to his eternal regret, froze. >> if i would've come on that situation now, i would've immediately started cpr. there was a great deal of blood, so for somebody to live through that, that much blood, i didn't think it was going to happen. i believe i just missed her last couple of breaths. >> reporter: minutes later, the emt's arrived and karen duenas was pronounced dead. the cause? multiple stab wounds, including a massive gash to her chest. not long after that, the young detective arrived. logan stonehouse, a year under his belt as an investigator. but this would be his first big homicide case as lead detective.

and lo and behold -- >> i didn't know what was i walking into until i saw a picture on the wall and realized whose house i was in. >> yeah, you knew these people right? >> i did. i went to high school with the second oldest son, jacob. >> reporter: and here he found himself looking at the bloody body of jacob's mother karen. the lady everybody loved. the one who brought cookies to all the games at school. who could have done this? detective stonehouse had been on the force long enough to be well aware that violent crime was up around here. some said significantly. ever since california's overcrowded prisons nearby had to release potentially dangerous offenders, like drug addicts, desperate for money for a fix. so, was this a home invasion robbery gone wrong? the detective took a look around the house. he and fellow officers fanned out around the neighborhood. >> there were some footprints

outside the property, right? >> there was. there's a wood fence that surrounds that piece of the property. there's a back gate back there. and there was a little trail that led out to a canal area. >> reporter: and the first patrolman on the scene told them he had seen a car speeding away as he raced toward the duenas house. neighbors reported seeing two strangers nearby that evening. and here, in this crime scene video taken the next day, a screen on the window in karen's bedroom that looked suspiciously like it had been cut open. had intruders entered here? >> was anything disturbed around the house? >> no, actually the bedroom was pretty much intact. there wasn't drawers taken open like someone had burglarized the place. >> reporter: also, even though the screen appeared to be cut, didn't look like anybody had actually gone in that way. and so the detective had some questions for the only man known to be in the house all evening -- the husband, of course.

mark duenas. >> what was his story of what happened that night? >> he told us that he had been up with karen. they were watching a movie and then once karen went to bed, he tried to stay up a little bit longer to watch a giants game. he was falling asleep during it, so he decided to go to sleep himself. >> reporter: mark in his room, karen already down the hall he said in hers. the detective took mark to the major crimes unit where mark, who'd been awake more than 24 hours by now, finished the story himself. >> i'm in my room asleep. i hear crazy noise. and you, you know, you hear what cats sound like? >> uh-huh. >> it wasn't cats. it was a weird scream. >> hear any talking or -- >> no, i just heard some weird screaming type stuff. >> and then what'd you do from there? >> i ran. i got up and -- 'cause i didn't want those, whatever was going on to wake up my wife 'cause i -- you know, i'm sensitive like that. and i went to the door by the kitchen, opened it up and looked

out there. i didn't see any cats. shut it, walked down the hallway, looked under, the lights were on. so, i figured she's up. opened the door and that's when i found her. >> reporter: the detectives questioned mark for more than 3 hours, had him change so they could keep his shorts and t-shirt for testing, then sent him home to his children. >> i remember him coming in the door and just collapsing. >> falling on the floor. we were really worried about him because he kept saying like, his heart. and so we thought maybe he was having a heart attack. i mean, he was a mess. >> reporter: as the duenas family planned a funeral, their big extended family, including karen's brother joe and wife jackie, descended on cottonwood. >> i've never seen a person more broken. >> what was your perception of how he took it? >> he's taken it incredibly hard. he still does! >> reporter: and along with unbearable grief for the family, came anxiety.

>> i live next door. i'm worried for my family. i'm putting alarms on every door because somebody's out there. >> reporter: but the police did not seem to think that. in fact, within a day or two, one of the detectives announced no need to worry about some unknown killer stalking the town. now, why would he say that? 3 f2 y por qué lo diga? veremos what did his story mean? when dateline continues. on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay and we help you find options to fit your budget. where are they taking him? i don't know. this seems excessive! decontamination in progress. i don't want to tell you guys your job, but... policies without the price tags.

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murdered. >> the best way i can explain my mom is, she was pure of heart is the best way to say it -- >> reporter: the whole big family, mark's relatives,as well as karen's parents, brothers, sisters, gathered to support each other and mourn and struggle with the question that hung in the air. who did this? but the word on the street was that there was no question at

all. >> we immediately heard rumors, outlandish rumors, and you're just going i don't know where you're getting this. >> reporter: the boys heard them too. rumors that detectives knew the killer was mark to which the family said -- >> it's ridiculous i know there's no way possible he could've done it. >> my parents were best friends, from as long as i can remember. >> reporter: but if that was true then why would detectives be so suspicious of a husband married to his high school sweetheart for almost 33 years? a man without so much as a traffic ticket on his record, let alone a violent act? well, its true that when wives are murdered, husbands are frequently implicated and mark did discover the body. but there was another reason. just minutes after mark sat down to talk to those detectives he volunteered information that sounded to them like a motive

for murder. >> this is, it's, what was going on in our life. and it's -- it scares me when i think about it. >> reporter: it was an odd little story. one day at work toward the end of 2010, said mark, a ups co-worker asked him if he had ever gone on facebook. no, said mark, he hadn't. well, asked the colleague, haven't you ever wondered what happened to people you used to know? facebook might tell you. and mark thought about it and said, well, there was this girl he used to talk to back in high school. wasn't a girlfriend or anything, but he was curious about whatever happened to her. so, sure enough, the colleague found the woman on facebook. and pretty soon she and mark were texting and talking on the phone. catching up. >> we talked and we visited you know we kinda got carried away with a little texting here and there. >> reporter: carried away? well, that may be a little strong. in this age of sexting and lurid electronic dalliances they

did-talk and text, yes. for several months. even said 'i love you' a time or two, but was it some kind of affair? well, judge for yourself. >> was there ever any pictures sent or anything like that or was it always just -- >> there's pictures of just maybe, me or her, y'know just little, innocent, y'know we're not into any of that nasty porn, none of that. it was just, 'what do you look like now?' y'know it's she had sent a picture of her and she goes 'your turn.' she does a quilt or she took a picture of her quilt, showed it to me innocent stuff. she had a picture of her and grandkids and stuff like that. >> reporter: and, not once did they try to see each other, in fact, when an opportunity came up, they decided, no, it

wouldn't be fair to their respective spouses of more than 3 decades. or their kids. or grandkids. so they didn't. but, as mark told the detectives, karen found what he'd been doing when she went through a phone bill... and it hurt her feelings. so he promised he'd stop. except...he didn't . >> mark went and bought a secret phone to continue that communication that karen wasnt aware of. >> reporter: it was the woman who put a stop to it. and she sent karen this letter, postmarked just a little less than 3 months before the murder, asking for forgiveness, promising it would never happen again.. karen told a couple of her kids about it all oh, she was pretty upset for a while. >> reporter: how important was that? >> i would definitely say everything together showed that karen was not happy in their relationship. >> reporter: mark told them otherwise, that it was a happy marriage, the texting thing just a blip, but the detectives didn't believe it. so they confronted mark. >> when did you find out karen was gonna leave you mark?

>> leave me? >> uh-huh >> she was never gonna leave me. never gonna leave me. honestly >> reporter: in fact, investigators believed it all backed up what they suspected from that very first night. here, just hours after the murder, when they first accused mark of killing her. >> i didn't do it. and i -- i mean it's crazy! >> okay. >> and it's just like o.j. we need to be out there finding the real killers, right? lapd! they didn't have to go find the real killers. >> i know you're doing your job. but i would never lay a hand on my wife. i did not hurt her. i did not kill her. i walked in and found her in her condition. >> reporter: mark's family, by the way, said he told them all about that texting relationship. they said it didn't seem like such a big deal. >> it sounds to me that it was just them confiding in each other about their marriages and their families and y'know just an outlet. >> reporter: for youngest son casey, it explained why there'd been some tension between his parents a few months before the

murder. >> there was a good span where they didn't get along. but it was awhile before. >> yeah. and they seemed to be back together again? >> they seemed better than ever. >> reporter: and those claims by investigators about a pending divorce? not a chance, said the boys. >> they never were gonna give up. they taught us that! im sure a little bit of trust was lost. someone keeps something from you but y'know it was something they worked on and they got over. >> reporter: all that grief infected summer, a cloud darkened over the duenas family. when casey graduated from high school in june -- >> i remember walking in to where we'd be seated and seeing y'kow, dad, along with other family members. but you know of course there was one spot missing. >> reporter: and five months went by that way as if those early police suspicions had faded away..

but of course, we know better. don't we? >> coming up, mark duenas was in for a bitter shock. >> he was upset. are you kidding me? >> what his family did next would surprise everyone. >> it hardly ever happens? >> like never.

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3 f2 ha sido ases nada su esposo mark text with a woman who was once his teenage crush. mark insists it was innocent, certainly not a motive to kill his wife. hiss believe him, but what about detectives? again, keith morrison. >> reporter: it was evening in cottonwood, california, october 5th, 2012. five months to the day after the murder of karen duenas. her widower mark and their son casey were watching tv.

there was a knock at the door. and when mark saw the detectives -- >> he was upset. couldn't believe it. like, "are you kidding me?" >> reporter: they were not. detectives had suspected mark all along and now they had a warrant for his arrest. mark duenas was charged with first degree murder, held on a million dollars bail to await trial. >> to see him in that situation is surreal. man, you hope the system works because there's an innocent man up there having to go through this. >> reporter: the whole extended clan, including karen's family, told anybody who would listen that the police made a huge mistake. >> i've never heard him call anybody a name! i've never -- he just isn't that type of guy. >> i can't think of one time where he raised his voice to anybody! >> reporter: that family support was what persuaded an attorney 600 miles away in southern california to take the case. ron powell is his name. >> at first, i'm not thinking i

want to go up there. but you know, when i saw her family saying, "well, can you help us," that type of stuff and "us" meant mark. that's when i started to think, you know -- >> the victim's family wants the accused represented by you because they believe he's innocent? >> correct. >> that's sort of a once in a while thing, hardly ever happens. >> yeah, like never. >> reporter: but 14 months after the murder, when mark went on trial the family, his, karen's and theirs, filled the galleries every day to support him. >> you are there because you know that person. >> reporter: the judge allowed cameras in court but no audio. so, we can't play you the testimony of that woman from idaho and decided to conceal her identity. that's the one he'd texted and phoned but hadn't seen in more than 3 decades. still, it was to be with her, said the state, that mark killed his wife. and on the stand -- >> at one point, she said mark had mentioned that if they were meant to be together, something bad would have to happen.

>> reporter: the woman didn't seem to know what mark meant by that. but the prosecution claimed he meant he'd have to kill karen. not just so he could be with the idaho woman, but so that he wouldn't have to share his pension with karen, his wife of 33 years. anyway, said the state, karen must have been angry at mark and might have told him that night she intended to leave him. she wanted a divorce. >> the facts of the case showed that something happened that night between mark and karen, whether that be her discussing divorce or whatever the case may be. and he became upset and murdered karen. >> reporter: the prosecution based that theory around a story told by some teenagers 2 or 3 blocks away, who said they heard a scream between 10 and 11 pm. the pathologist testified karen could have been killed as early as 10:30. the state said it must have been

10:30, after which mark must have washed his clothes, slashed the screen to make it look like an intruder came in. then went to bed and waited for son casey to come home from the movie. >> one of the theories that we did have was that he wanted casey to find karen. >> and he's sleeping peacefully. is that the idea? having covered his tracks? >> correct. >> reporter: except of course, casey didn't discover the body. so, said the state, about 1 am mark had to make the 911 call himself. and when detectives went back and listened to that call, they heard what sounded to them like an incriminating mistake. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> i got to -- i killed my wife. [ bleep ] i mean, blood everywhere. >> reporter: what did he say? i killed my wifethe state claims. then, a sound they say is a well known barnyard expletive. listen again. >> i got to -- i killed my wife. [ bleep ] i mean, blood everywhere.

>> reporter: an unintended confession caught on tape or so said the prosecution. >> so, he got it all together and all planned, then he blew it on the 911 call? >> i believe so. i'm sure if you just killed your wife, you'd be pretty stressed on the inside, which would make some things come out that you didn't mean to have come out. >> reporter: but, to the defense, it was quite simply bunk. >> i've listened to it, i don't know, 100 times now? i don't hear that. >> reporter: defense attorney ron powell told the jury mark found his wife just after someone attacked her and told 911 this -- >> 911, what's your emergency? >> i got to -- i found my wife sick. i mean, blood everywhere. >> reporter: "i found my wife," then that sound the state claims was an expletive, the defense said was really the word "sick." so, "i found my wife sick." listen again. >> i got to -- i found my wife sick. i mean, blood everywhere. >> do you think if they heard it

that clear that this guy says "i killed my wife," and he's the only one home, you don't think they're arresting this guy if that had happened? what are they waiting for? they didn't arrest him until four months later. >> reporter: and meanwhile, said the defense, police failed to follow up plenty of evidence that in a town plagued by drug related crime. intruders intent on theft could certainly have been surprised by karen, then killed her, then fled, there was an unidentified car parked nearby the time of the murder. another car seen speeding away from the neighborhood as the cops raced to the duenas house. the two strangers seen in the neighborhood. and a trail of footprints leading away from the duenas back yard. and as for those screams, heard by teenagers a couple blocks away? >> the entire block where mark lives hears nothing. the woman next door sleeps with her window open, hears nothing. the person on the other side of the house is jason duenas who has his window open.

he hears nothing. >> reporter: the defense put on a witness who said karen told her the very week of the murder that she and mark were making plans for a bright future together. and the idea that mark would kill karen so he could pursue a happily married woman from idaho he hadn't seen in more than 30 years was simply ridiculous, said the defense. >> it sounds like a great motive when you look at it from a distance, but then when you get to it, it sounds like puppy love. >> reporter: the defense rested its case in a matter of hours. >> when it went to the jury, how'd you feel about it? >> oh, i was pretty confident. you could see in the jury's face that they weren't buying this. >> reporter: then, something odd happened. the day the jury went out, a female juror overslept. and rather than delay the case, the judge replaced her with an alternate. and yes, on such tiny wheels fates turn --

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but because several of them had spent careers dealing with the justice system. and they certainly knew what was at stake. >> this is something that we all had to take very serious. >> reporter: here are three members of the jury. this one is a retired chief probation officer. and former cop. he was surprised by the case, he said. and not in a good way. >> i thought the sheriff's department did a terrible job of investigating. >> really? terrible job? >> terrible job in their investigation. >> reporter: in fact, the jurors we spoke to said that feeling was pervasive in the jury room. and the 911 call that prosecutors claimed was a confession? the jury couldn't decide what he said. >> we listened to it many, many, many times. >> twenty times at least! >> still couldn't tell, really? >> no. >> reporter: the jury took vote after vote. ten to two for aquittal at one

point. but one juror in particular was adamant about his guilty vote. which one? the alternate who replaced the woman who'd overslept. >> that juror said, he's guilty and he's gonna have to prove that he's not guilty. and i'm not gonna change my mind. i'm gonna hang this jury. >> reporter: the judge declared a mistrial. >> what was that like? >> it was heartbreaking. we thought my dad would be home that day. >> reporter: afterwards, mark and karen's extended family publically pleaded -- do not re-try mark. let it go.. >> you see these people? this is love. this is love and belief in a human being. please listen to us and know we love this man. and he's a good man. >> reporter: so was it over? oh no. not even close. instead, shasta county's d.a.

assigned a new prosecutor to the case -- stephanie bridgett. something to know about ms. bridgett. up to this moment, she had never lost a case. not one. her secret? preparation, she said. she is very thorough. >> by the time you finished reading through it in your preparation, what did you think? >> i didn't have any doubt that mark was the one that killed his wife. >> reporter: one big change at trial number two -- the very first words out of the prosecutors mouth were the state's version of that 911 call. "i killed my wife. blood everywhere." no jury, she declared, could doubt the content of that call. and prosecutors offered yet another possibly damning statement from mark himself. during his first of three tape recorded interviews with detectives -- which, again, he willingly submitted to, without the presence of an attorney. in his very first interview,

claimed the state, mark slipped and made an admission. while describing the wound he said he found on wife karen's chest -- >> like the guy knew what he was doing or something. because the way he cut her, that's the only cut i saw. and there's tons of blood. >> mm-hmm. >> but there was none there coming out when i -- whoever did it. >> reporter: what was that again? listen carefully. >> there was none there coming out when i -- whoever did it. >> reporter: when i found her? or when i did it? no way to know what he might have said. but the state claimed it amounted to another quasi-confession. the second prosecutor also presented evidence the first prosecutor chose not to use -- testimony, for example, from a criminalist who examined the clothes mark wore that night. and who found, karen's blood, though not visible to the naked eye, all over. >> there was a big area on the

front of his shirt that covered all the way down. there was blood on the back of the shirt. there was blood all across the waistband, down the sides, different spots throughout the shorts. even blood on the inside of the boxer shorts! >> which you don't think he could've gotten there by touching with his hands, moving, changing, adjusting? >> absolutely not. not in all those locations. >> reporter: the prosecutor claimed mark must've washed off some, but not all the blood after the stabbing, had a shower in his clothes or something. and then she claimed she'd found the murder weapon. or what could be the murder weapon. a knife, found in the wrong slot in the kitchen butcher block. mind you there was no blood on it. but its handle was bearing a substance identified as either animal fat or some kind of cleaner. >> what it tells us is that he

had something in the home available to him that could have caused that murder. >> reporter: so -- means, motive and opportunity for premeditated murder. but would a second set of jurors agree? >> coming up, they would want evidence, but just how much was there? >> do you have any idea that's what happened? you don't have a clue. amopé and its premium foot care line. the new amopé pedi perfect foot file gives you soft beautiful feet effortlessly. its microlumina rotating head buffs away hard skin even on those hard-to-reach spots. it's amazing. you can see it and feel it. my new must-have for soft, beautiful feet. amopé pedi perfect. find it in the foot care aisle or at the registers in these stores. this is me this is me ten years ago. fifty pounds ago i was over weight for a really long

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redding and inside, defense attorney ron powell fretted that he'd been shorn of a certain advantage because now, the prosecution knew his case and besides had added these new wrinkles. the blood on mark's clothes, and the knife in the kitchen butcher block. >> remember this is a retrial now, they felt this time that they needed to show a possiblity of a knife. they never said 'this was the knife'they're just showing 'this

knife could've done it.' >> reporter: in fact, said powell, the new evidence was no more persuasive than the old, no blood, but animal fat found on the knife? and some sort of soap? how about somebody used the knife to cut a steak, then washed it? >> reporter: could you wipe all the dna off a knife if you put it in the dishwasher..you washed it? >> good question. i've learned now after this trial that blood will never leave clothes. but it'll go right off a knife! >> reporter: as for the blood on mark's clothes, of course there was blood, said the defense. he handled her body and police didn't see the blood at first because his shirt was red, and his shorts were black. and then there was the new prosecutor's insistence that karen was very unhappy in her marriage, and wanted a divorce. was it true? >> no. there's nothing to support it. there's no facts to support it. no evidence to support it! >> reporter: this was the issue that went right to the heart of the prosecutor's case, and her contention that the state had developed a clear idea of just what happened the night karen

was murdered. >> i believe that most likely karen confronted him with information that she had about the affair he was having with the lady in idaho she probably said that was it, she wasn't gonna have it, she was gonna get a divorce. that's when he decided, 'i'm going to get the knife. i'm going to go in there and kill her.' >> reporter: how do you have any idea, beyond your own fevered imagination, that that's what happened? you don't have a clue. >> well, you know, all the evidence points to that so yes, i think that i do have a clue. >> reporter: how does all the evidence point to that?! >> we have a person who has been in a relationship with a lady in another state. >> reporter: let me stop you for a minute. first of all you said'affair', now you're saying 'being in a relationship. he was doing what millions upon millions of americans have been doing since facebook came along they hadn't seen each other for 30 years. you can't really call that an affair, can you? >> here's the big difference. it becomes an affair and crosses the line, when you don't tell your spouse about it. >> reporter: you believe that he was obsessed with this woman. >> i believe he wanted a lot

more out of that relationship than she did. >> reporter: was that pure fiction or what was it? i mean in your view? >> what else could it be? i mean, i know she's got a law degree. but i never saw a psychology degree. >> reporter: for mark and karen's sons, the prosecutor's psychoanalysis of their mother amounted to an insult. >> the d-a said things about my mom that were untrue do they know my mom better than i know my mom? better than any of us? they act like they do! there's no evidence. >> reporter: what do you say to people whose reaction is, well y'know of course they're gonna feel that way. this is his family. they've just lost their mother. they don't wanna lose their father too? >> life is so much harder protecting my dad we would be moved on. we would know what happened, if we thought that was the truth//but we all know with our hearts that's not what happened. >> reporter: the jury in the first trial had been hopelessly

deadlocked came so close to acquitting mark and sending him home to his family. the second jury was back in less than a day. and their verdict was written on family faces in the gallery's first row. >> i still hear the sounds of the boys right behind mark, the crying. i still hear that. it was very tough. >> guilty of first degree murder. >> you're sick i felt like throwing up to be honest. i was sick. >> i feel bad for the family members because they're the family members and they're not gonna be happy with the verdict. but at the end of the day, it's karen who was killed. and karen who that verdict was for. >> reporter: what would you say to them in this big extended family out there that doesn't think it got justice at all. >> i would tell them i'm confident that the right person was convicted. >> reporter: mark duenas was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison. he's already filed an

appeal. and his family? will go on believing what they have always believed, that late at night on may 4th, 2012, unknown intruders, probably drug addicts intent on theft burst in, were surprised by karen, killed her, and then, realizing what they had done ran away, without taking a thing. jason and his growing family still live right next door to the home he grew up in the place it happened. and casey, until just recently, still went to bed every night across the hall from his mother's bedroom. >> reporter: and how is that to do? >> i mean, it was always oh we live in cottonwood. small town, nothing happens here. and then the worst you can imagine happened. >> reporter: casey and his brother troy no longer play baseball for the local college. the days when they looked toward the bleachers where their parents always sat side by side

are gone forever. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. . male narrator: tonight, there is no money no personal glory at stake. there's only a collective goal: world domination. a shocking disappointment for team japan. - last year's competition was so embarrassing. - oh, no! he's out! - team japan have stumbled again. - we had to come back. our pride is at stake. - i'm not scared of either teams. i don't think you'll find a better team than what we have. - team europe is going to take hope the trophy. - the american team is the cream of the crop. - team u.s.a. is having an incredible night. - team u.s.a. is planning to take it home. - they have come to fight. - ♪ jump up let's get down ♪ ♪ it's our job to protect this town ♪ ♪ them other boys that are coming in ♪ ♪ with fire in their eyes ♪