she was smart. >> hi mom. >> i can't even tell you how much i loved her. i can't even describe the love. >> she walked out her front door, and was never seen again. >> this woman had gone out to get the mail and disappeared in her pajamas. >> we might have a crime scene here. >> was there somebody crazy on the loose abducting people? >> i think the hair on the back of my neck stood up. >> a crime right out of the movies. >> oh my gosh, did this really happen? >> a baseball cap, a hoodie with

the hood pulled up, and sunglasses. >> i'm like no, dude, i can't do this. >> a sinister plan hatched through a virtual world turned suddenly violently real. >> there was a scream. drop of blood came from her nose. >> it was like a game. he was a part of this game. >> we didn't know what we were going to find. do you believe she's alive? >> i got to believe she's alive. >> xbox live, it's a hugely popular feature on one of the world's top gaming systems. not only can you annihilate aliens or terrorist cells with other shooters thousands of miles away, you can see and talk to those fellow gamers in real time, no matter where they are. even, say, in the amish country of western michigan, where the

authorities say xbox live was used to hatch a monstrous crime, one that had detectives seeing double and a father scared to death and loaded for bear. >> we were sort of prepared for the worst, because i was sleeping with a .9 millimeter loaded on my night stand. >> cold sweats are not the way nights are meant to pass in the small towns of st. joseph county, michigan. >> it's definitely the type of place that you'd expect people would leave their doors open at night and not really worry about things like this happening. >> a homicide is not an everyday occurrence. >> it's country out here, cornfields everywhere, two-lane roads, and it's where a cheerful kid named venus was growing up with her family, the youngest child of larry and therese, venus, a goddess to them before she was born. >> a beautiful girl with big,

dark eyes i would dream of, and when she came out, i looked there's venus. i can't even tell you how much i loved her. i can't even describe the love. >> larry, who spoiled her? you or therese? >> she did. when she came over our house she sat in our lap like a little girl. 32-year-old sit in her mom's lab. she sure loved her mom. >> was she a little more trusting than she should have been? it was her naivity. >> he secretly confided he was maffiosos. we laughed, convenient fuss they're in the mafia they don't tell you. we found out he worked at mcdonald's and didn't want to tell her. she believed him. >> at 22 venus was ready to go out into the world, a soon-to-be

college graduate with a degree in criminal justice. >> she wanted to be an officer of the law, then she found out that she doesn't like guns so that didn't work. >> what did work and instantly was her attraction to a marine she just met named doug stewart. no sooner than hello, my name is, and they were inseparable. what did you see in her? >> she was smart. she was articulate. she was beautiful. some people i guess would call it love at first sight, and four days later we were married. >> pretty fast. >> pretty fast. >> a lot of people would go on a second date before getting hitched. >> i think we made it to our second, that's about it. i think the third date was marriage. >> did you go to justice of the peace? >> we tried going through michigan and they said we needed the blood test and other different things and my wife said she didn't want to wait that long so we called indiana and ohio and bryant, ohio, was the closest city on the map we could get to ten there was a woman, a mayor. she thought i was going off to war and it was a last-second

wedding, she good excited and wanted to marry us at her house. >> when did you meet venus' family? >> after we were married. >> to say the parents were surprised by the turn of events is an understatement. >> she showed up and she was married and we were dumbfound nypd. ed. >> this is so out of character for her to do this. >> this had to be big news for you. by the way i'm getting hitched, i already am hitched. >> dustin jasper, venus' older brother got along okay with his new brother-in-law. >> we went hunting together, went fishing together and we've always had a pretty good relationship. >> it was a year after their quickie wedding that doug left the marines to keep his bride happy. >> i was looking at deployments and other different things and she had this fear that i was going, something was going to happen to me so she wanted me to get out of the military in 2003. >> were you okay with that? >> i love my wife very much and i wasn't willing to choose the

military over my wife. >> so in 2003, venus and doug began civilian life together. they moved into this house in schoolcraft, michigan, not far from where they both grew up. venus worked in a bank and doug at applebee's and pizza hut. year later a daughter came along. then in 2006 a second baby. >> the second one was just the same, kind of forgot where i was for a second and everything else and venus hoped and prayed for two little girls, i hoped and prayed for two healthy babies and we both got our wish. >> did venus like being a mom? >> she loved being a mom. that was her number one priority priority. >> but stay-at-home mom wasn't for venus. she was the family's bigger bread winner. you became mr. mom. >> absolutely, and it was the best years of my life. >> changed the diapers, do all the duff stuff? >> you bet.

it truly makes a man a man. >> if they had a second place passion doug said it was playing games on xbox. doug likes the blow emup game and venus more into the puzzles. but as doug blasted away day after day and seemed to look for work less and less, the marriage began to crack. no surprise to her parents. >> he was very immature and venus just, she wanted to be a mom. >> so a few years along, things weren't going so well. there would be screaming in-your-face arguments between doug and venus followed by time-outs, trial separations and shared custody arrangements. but venus, according to doug, wasn't ready to throw in the towel. she had an idea, let's start someplace new. >> she wanted to move to williamsburg, virginia, miami, florida, or houston, texas. >> why did she want to go to such far-flung places? >> that was my first question to her. she said well, florida there's

disney world and houston there is sea world and six flags and williamsburg, there is u.s. busch gardens. >> all right, mom, video, smile. >> hi mom. >> hi mom. >> newport news turned out to be the place. >> that was it. newport news put us 30 miles from virginia beach, everybody knows that's a resort location and approximately 20 to 25 miles away from busch gardens in opposite directions, smack dab in the middle of everything we wanted. >> thinking about the kids? >> specifically about the kids. she said if i want our kids to grow up don't you think we should give them excitement and fun every day? >> and you said? >> i can't argue with that, i'd love nothing more. wow, this place is gorgeous, isn't it? there's the carousel, i told you. >> if the home videos from 2009 are to be believed the move from michigan to virginia was working. >> you like busch gardens? >> yeah. best place on earth. >> doug had found a job as a truck driver and home was an

apartment on the ninth floor of this building. >> she wanted to live in a skyscraper. >> so things were okay if you look back at may 2009? >> things were better than okay. they were better than -- it was the best year of our marriage, the best year of our life. >> but doug and venus' problems ran deeper than anything an amusement park ride could paper over and before long, there were screaming arguments again, and a year after making the move, venus had had enough and suddenly bolted with the kids to her parents' place in coalin township, michigan. doug was left alone in virginia, more than 700 miles away. big surprise to you. >> very big surprise. >> two months later april 26th, 2010, a chilly monday morning started like any day at venus' parents house. her mom went off to work. her dad was sleeping and venus and the kids were slowly getting up. then about 8:00 a.m., venus' dad, also a truck driver, was groggy from a late shift on the road. he was startled awake.

>> i heard the girls being really loud out in the front room and i thought why isn't venus quieting them down? she knows i'm in here asleep. >> he got up to see what was going on. venus wasn't in the house but her cell phone, keys and purse were. he immediately called 911. >> she's just not there? >> i mean, yeah, she's not here. >> is there a vehicle or anything missing? >> no. now i'm scared, and i go outside and look for her. >> she went there either. venus, wearing nothing but her thin pajamas, had vanished. >> we might have a crime scene here. >> the search for venus, signs of a struggle, and signs of trouble. >> a light bulb went off and i knew exactly what happened.

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this woman had gone out and disappeared in her pajamas. >> reporter: the disappearance of venus stewart, the mother of two was the first big story that reporter dani carlson covered for nbc's affiliate in western

michigan, wood tv. >> left her purse, left her phone, left all her identification, left everything. >> reporter: venus' father larry mccomb made the 911 call that morning. >> the vehicle that is here, her kids are here and she is gone. >> okay. have you tried calling her or anything? >> yeah, we can't get hold of her. >> reporter: larry also called his wife therese, who was already at her restaurant job. her co-workers tried to calm her down. >> and they said, oh, she probably went around the block and i just looked at everybody and said, get a grip. my daughter doesn't do that stuff. and i said, i'm out of here. and i ran out the door. and i was shaking the whole way home. >> reporter: by then trooper aaron steensma of the michigan state police was on scene. whenever a young adult goes missing police customarily ask the family to wait 24 to 48 hours for things to shake out, but right away the officer suspected this might not be someone who had taken a hike of her own volumition.

>> i didn't know exactly what i saw, we might have a crime scene here so that's why we cordonned off and got additional units. >> reporter: venus' dad showed trooper steensma, the patch of his driveway that was scuffed up. >> there were bare spots down to the dirt in the driveway and it looked like a struggle had taken place. >> reporter: the father also pointed out a pink hair tie on the ground and something else he hadn't spotted earlier. >> there was a tarp cover a piece of plastic wrapping with a bar code on it. and i didn't realize what it was or anything. i just told him, that's out of place. >> reporter: crime scene techs so he put a rack on it so the wind wouldn't blow it away, and they had people i guess their crime scene specialists that gather evidence. >> reporter: crime scene techs were able to lift what they believe was a fingerprint off the plastic wrapper and send it off for analysis. detectives made notes to check

out further. immediately officer steensma got an earful from venus' parents blaming everything on their son-in-law. they were battling over custody of their daughters. a week before venus won custody of the kids at this hearing in michigan. >> i think the hair on my back stood up after speaking to the mccomb. >> reporter: larry and therese mccomb believed doug abducted venus maybe in a wrong-headed attempt to have more time with the kids. >> the light bulb went off and i knew exactly what happened. doug -- doug got my daughter. >> reporter: then larry decided to take matters into his own hands. >> i put a gun in my car and i went looking for doug stewart. >> reporter: he drove down back country roads but came up empty handed in his one-man search to find doug and venus. so your working theory going in is foul play? >> yes. >> reporter: by this time mike scott, one of western michigan's

top detectives, had been brought up to speed by officer steensma about the marriage on the rocks. >> as he put it, it didn't look good. >> reporter: and there was a history between them, wasn't there? >> yes, there was. >> reporter: law enforcement had contact with them. >> right. domestic violence issues. >> reporter: in fact police had received domestic abuse allegations from venus and doug over the years, him on her, her on him. so you certainly want to talk to this husband doug? >> first thing we want to do is find him. where was he right now? >> reporter: you knew he was living in virginia. >> yes, newport news. >> reporter: the day venus went missing, mike scott and venus' mother repeatedly dialed doug's cell phone. >> i was frantic. i just kept calling over and over again saying doug, where is venus. >> we told ourselves he couldn't control her if he killed her, so he's got her hidden somewhere. >> reporter: finally detective scott reached him that night. what did he say to you? >> that he'd been in virginia all day. >> reporter: you're in virginia receiving this call, huh? >> yes, 20 minutes away from my apartment. he goes, doug, your wife's

missing. and my first reaction is, is my wife pulling something? and i said, whoa, by missing, are you saying that -- is she just missing from the house or is she missing -- what's going on? fill me in. he goes well i can't do that at this time. where were you today? >> he gave me a couple locations where he was to support where he was in virginia, one of those being at his lawyer's office in newport news, virginia. >> he said okay can you lawyer verify? i said no my lawyer wasn't there, it was just the two secretaries. >> reporter: detective scott asked the local fbi to run down doug's story and agents did. it checked out. two women on the lawyer's staff confirmed it. they said they saw him come in that day. >> a bit shocking when they said, well, we've checked it out and he has an alibi. >> reporter: what were the investigators to do? the parents' accusation that doug had come and snatched venus away made some sense after they heard of all the trouble between

the two, but eyewitnesses were putting him in newport news, virginia, more than 700 miles away. and there was surveillance camera video in his apartment building, in his garage, in his car, to back up his story. how could doug be in two places at once? he couldn't be. a mysterious man by the lake. you're getting citizen calls. >> yes. >> reporter: people saying i saw a funny looking guy at the lake. >> yes. >> reporter: had venus gone missing before? >> i came home, she wasn't there, my kids weren't there, i didn't know what to do.

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♪ the year before venus stewart went missing, she'd found religion. ♪ every day a brand new day ♪ ♪ to say jesus you are the only way ♪ >> reporter: her brother dustin was the devout one in the family, and he was thrilled when venus was baptized in 2009 at

the age of 30. in the first days after her disappearance, dustin would need his faith to believe she'd be found soon and alive. police searched miles of rolling but he also still had hope and his own theory that doug was holding her hostage. >> i figured it was another desperate attempt of his to try to get her back, since she wasn't having contact with him and stuff and he probably wanted to manipulate her and coax her back to him. i figure he had her somewhere. >> reporter: she was abducted being held against her will. >> that's what i thought. >> reporter: at some point this would be over and she'd show up at the door. >> yes, that's what i thought. >> just there on the fence. >> reporter: but police feared the worst and began looking for a body. police searched miles of rolling farm country and thick wooded areas throughout western michigan. >> helicopters came out. >> yes, the helicopter came out. >> dogs. >> dogs.

>> a lot of water around here. >> we live near a river. >> reporter: that has to be tough when you know they're looking for your sister. >> it was really tough. >> reporter: immediately after her disappearance lead detective mike scott zeroed in on the obvious, the husband. but when fbi agents verified doug's story he'd been in virginia scott had to start thinking bigger picture. you're checking a lot of leads because your person of interest has an alibi. you need another theory? >> couple theories, either douglas stewart enlisted the help of someone to come to michigan, abduct and kill his wife, or we had someone completely unbeknownst to us involved in this with either a stranger abduction or someone that venus stewart was having a problem with type of thing. >> reporter: a woman goes out the front door in her pajamas and never seen again. someone would be rightfully fearful is there somebody crazy on the loose abducting people >> absolutely.

>> reporter: and you're getting citizen calls, people saying i saw a funny looking guy at the lake the other day. >> yes. >> now police are looking to are this man, two witnesses spotted him at nearby adams lake the night before stewart disappeared. he was wet and approached the witnesses for a cigarette. >> i mean right now with the case we have so few clues to go on, we're not going to discount anything. >> the lead was strong enough that police conducted an all-out search of the lake using sonar equipment. >> reporter: police dredged that chilly lake after reports of the soaking wet man by the water's edge. they worked around the clock, but found nothing. >> it was miserable conditions. i didn't hear anybody complain once. >> i think that's the best place, too, that north side. >> reporter: doug stewart was not involved in any of the searches. when detective scott reached him that monday night, april 26th, he was in virginia and he remained there. weekend he gave a reporter from wood tv a telephone interview. >> now that the time line has gone so far, i am getting very

worried and very concerned. >> reporter: despite their ceaseless marital battles, doug insisted he still cared about her. >> i don't know what is next to be honest with you. i'll just keep watching the news and pray and hope for the best. >> reporter: but he was also still bitter about losing his kids in the custody showdown just two weeks before so his take on her disappearance was a unique one. he wasn't upset, he said, because he believed venus was a runaway mom. >> my theory, my wife pulled another fast one. she ran off, couldn't handle the commitment of the situation she was in with the children by herself. >> reporter: the way doug saw it, this was no different than that time two months earlier, when venus had suddenly and surprisingly bolted with the kids. >> i came home, she wasn't there, my kids weren't there, my dog wasn't there. i didn't know what to do. >> reporter: doug says he thought venus had disappeared that day, too. >> started getting dark, i kept

calling her cell phone but she didn't respond or pick up the phone. i got very worried, i called the police and said hey, i'm worried my wife isn't home, this isn't like her, i don't know what to do. >> reporter: newport news detective todd filer. >> doug tried to file a missing person's report. >> reporter: police said not to bother, venus had been to the station earlier that day to file a complaint against him. when police refused to look into it she decided to take off for michigan with the kids and the dog, effectively ending the marriage >> the police officers informed him she was not missing, we knew where her whereabouts were and she was not coming home. >> reporter: so venus was out of there immediately. >> immediately. >> reporter: phone call, mom i'm coming home. >> i told her i'd come get her. she said no i'm going on an airplane. >> reporter: now it was early may and her parents and michigan authorities were certain venus was really missing this time and in serious danger or worse. and even though doug had an alibi, michigan police went down

to newport news to talk to him. >> so we just went down there to investigate the disappearance of venus stewart. we didn't know what we were going to find. >> reporter: shane krieger a detective with the michigan state police met up with todd filer, the detective from newport news. together they all went to doug's apartment. >> we did not disclose to him at that time we were from michigan. >> reporter: michigan police didn't want doug to clam up or lawyer up so they let filer the local cop do the talking. >> he didn't seem overly concerned about the disappearance. he felt like she had simply run away and this was some sort of stunt that she was pulling. >> reporter: filer said he didn't jump to any conclusions. >> i hadn't made a decision one way or the other whether she had simply run away or she had been abducted. >> reporter: with the search warrant in hand, detective filer and the michigan officers listened to doug's story, searched the apartment and seized his computers.

>> he was very cooperative. he told us about all the computers that were in the house. >> reporter: the michigan cops who knew all about the bad blood between doug and venus were looking for any trace of her, dead or alive. what were you expecting to do and hoping to find there? >> we knew we wanted to search his apartment for her clothes, because that's the last thing she was seen in, we wanted to try to find her clothes if possible. >> reporter: any signs of venus being around that apartment? >> no, nothing. >> reporter: but the forensic investigators kept looking. then they went outside to search doug's truck, still hoping to find a sign of venus or any other helpful lead. the truck was an absolute mess. the debris from a disordered life. but there, amidst the french fries, plastic lid and bits of krumpled up paper was an un unexpected clue. once it was analyzed the investigation would shift into another gear. >> when he called me, he said, are you sitting down? >> a tiny piece of paper is about to provide a very big break.

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ten days into the investigation, the search for venus stewart and whoever abducted her was now heating up in two states, michigan and virginia. in michigan police were trying to develop the few clues they found outside her parents' house. the fingerprint they'd lifted at the the scene was still waiting for analysis at the state crime lab and then the plastic wrapper for a tarp that police believed had been used in venus' abduction. detectives were running down its bar code looking for where the tarp came from and who bought it. >> looks like it had been recently purchased from walmart, but we didn't know which walmart. >> reporter: that wrapping ends up awhat you believe is the murder scene. >> i believe that is the best place that north side. >> reporter: friends and family meanwhile were searching for venus on their own. they now suspected doug stewart was responsible, despite his alibi. that's why one of their searches was here in a state hunting

ground where doug spent time. >> she's around this area somewhere. >> reporter: venus' aunt mary organized the certain groups, and even when she wasn't out looking, she kept a shovel in her car so she could rush over to help dig anywhere, any time. >> you look for anything that's out of place, if the ground has been dug up even a year ago, you're going to be able to tell. >> reporter: more than 700 miles southeast in newport news, virginia, investigators were also searching. after nothing had jumped out at them in doug's apartment, the special forensic unit began combing through his truck. >> we had flown our lab personnel down from michigan to process the vehicle specifically. any time we look at homicide for chain of custody and all that stuff, we flew our own personnel down to process the vehicles. >> reporter: they brought doug's truck inside a forensics facility at the newport news pd. the truck looked like a stye. >> it was in disarray, not cleaned. >> reporter: scraps of paper,

old french fries and crumpled up receipts. looked like leftovers from a college road trip but all this dirt was about to become pay dirt. one smudged receipt suddenly got the forensic team's attention. >> they were able to locate a receipt in there for the purchase of a tarp, a shovel, gloves and a hat. >> reporter: they couldn't believe their eyes or their luck. >> we thought they were skroek ing joking. who leaves that in their truck? >> reporter: maybe your biggest piece of evidence the crumpled, tossed away receipt. >> yes. >> reporter: the person that puts his hands on this receipt were they aware what it was? i got a hamburger wrapper, this, i got a receipt. >> they knew they were coming down there to process a vehicle possibly implicating a homicide so they knew it was important. >> this is a bury your wife kit? >> reporter: . >> yes. >> when he called me he said are you sitting down. >> reporter: in all the garbage there's this receipt, huh?

>> yes, a hat, some gloves, a shovel, and an 8 x 10 tarp and that was the item that we were looking for, because the wrapper found at the mccomb residence was foreign an 8 x 10 tarp. >> reporter: where was the receipt from? >> it was from a walmart. >> reporter: specifically the walmart in van wert, ohio, two miles southeast where venus disappeared but not one of the walmarts michigan investigators checked out. >> i doubt we would have found that purchase had we not had the receipt. >> the date on the tretitself was smudged, we didn't know when the items were purchased. the investigators began contacting the van wert walmart store to try to determine the date. we learned right away the items were purchased the evening before venus stewart went missing. >> reporter: van wert, ohio, is not near michigan and not near newport news. what's going oen with the walmart in the state of ohio? >> it's in direct route between newport news and michigan.

>> reporter: but the feds had proof doug had been in virginia when venus disappeared. so how did the ohio receipt get there? detective scott and prosecutors john mcdonough and chuck herman met in the war room. they believed one is was involved. mcdonough the youngest elected prosecutor in michigan was itching to arrest doug right now. >> i said we got him, let's charge him now. >> reporter: it didn't happen. cooler heads prevailed. >> i had to listen to chuck, and detective scott telling me, calm down. let's get everything ready to go. >> reporter: fact was the investigation was still missing key evidence, not least, a body, a major hole, maybe even a casebuster for any would-be prosecution. >> do you say let's go slow, nobody's going anywhere? >> correct. >> let's see where this takes us? >> i felt there was more to be done tie up any loose ends and

put this case together better. >> reporter: mike scott knew the biggest end was discrediting doug's i was in virginia alibi, so he asked the detective from newport news to keep digging. >> this case became a top priority for me. >> reporter: todd filer, who had kept an open mind when he first interviewed doug in his apartment, was now skeptical. >> it's lucky for us that that receipt was not in some landfill somewhere between here and the state of michigan. >> reporter: so filer went back to the law office where doug had been spotted the day venus disappeared. the local lawman had some follow-up questions to ask, ones the fbi had left off their list. >> the individual was wearing a baseball cap, a hoodie, and large mirrored aviation type sunglasses almost disguising their appearance. >> reporter: doug in disguise to visit his lawyer? something about that seemed downright strange.

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one month after venus went missing, her father, a truck driver, had a heart-breaking journey to make. by then, doug had moved out of the couple's newport news apartment and returned to michigan. so larry mccomb headed south. >> the people that ran the apartment complex where she lived called us and they said, there's all kinds of stuff like the kids' toys, pictures, would you be interested in us sending them to you? i said i'll come and get them, and i went down and i got all the girls' toys, i got all the pictures that i could find. it was very painful. >> reporter: he found comfort, though, from venus' neighbors. >> i saw where my daughter lived and everybody in the complex was so supportive. nobody liked doug, and everybody loved venus and the girls.

>> we believe he is a dangerous man. >> reporter: doug wasn't winning any popularity contest in his old stomping grounds, st. joseph county, michigan, either. >> you know, he knows where she is. we're not stupid. >> reporter: the rural michigan courthouse wasn't used to this kind of public demonstration for the media. there were signs of support for venus stewart, angry outbursts against her estranged husband? >> you're a disgrace to the marines, buddy. >> reporter: this wasn't the court proceeding venus' family wanted against doug. >> the preliminary hearing today as doug stewart works to get custody of his two young daughters. >> reporter: the court is still going ahead with the custody issue. >> doug is dragging us into court trying to get his girls back. there was no way he was getting custody of the girls. >> reporter: his claim he's the father, he's around and the mother isn't so he should have custody of the children, not venus' parents. hanging over the hearing of course was the strong suspicion

by the family and protesters that doug was the reason why his children were motherless. venus' father didn't pull any punches. >> i asked him if he'd murder anybody lately, and it was just something that popped out of my mouth. >> reporter: the judge scheduled another hearing for three weeks later. but in the meantime, denied doug custody and even visitation rights with his young daughters. >> relieved, i feel relieved. that's about all i have to say. >> reporter: while the court was delaying a final decision on the children, detectives in michigan and virginia were stepping up their investigation. could they find more evidence against doug, they would make the next custody hearing moot. are detectives very often play their cards very close to the vest, they don't tell what you they got going. did they let you look inside their investigation at all in this period? >> no, they told us they couldn't comment on ongoing investigation. >> we understood that. we didn't want to botch up the case. >> but the prosecutor let me know that there was no way doug was going to get those girls.

>> reporter: in newport news, detective todd filer now suspected doug's alibi was part of some ruse. what would the walmart receipt in his truck saying ohio as an area code 419 when doug had been telling everyone virginia. >> michigan state police told us doug had gone to his lawyer's office to make a payment on the pending child custody dispute. they stated that the fbi had gone out to the lawyer's office and confirmed that he had showed up and made a payment to them the morning that she disappeared. >> reporter: shane krieger, michigan state police. >> the fbi did go and speak to them. this was very early in the investigation. they just asked, did this person named doug stewart come in and pay the bill. and they initially did say yes, we think so. they didn't really push it. they didn't ask any other follow-up. >> reporter: but detective filer now had his own follow-ups for the secretaries in what he was beginning to think looked like one pretty outlandish scheme. he had two theories.

>> one, that the secretaries could have possibly had some sort of relationship with him, and may have been lying to the fbi to cover his tracks, or that somebody posing as doug had come to the law office and made a payment, and indeed it wasn't doug. >> reporter: so the women described again the man they had seen that day but this time in greater it he tail. >> the individual was wearing a baseball cap, a hoodie with the hood pulled up, and large mirrored aviation type sunglasses. generally people don't come in with, you know, hoods up and large glasses disguising their appearance unless they're up to, you know, something of questionable activity. >> reporter: so detective filer asked them if they were positive it was doug stewart, and he got an important admission. >> neither one of them said that they were 100% sure it was doug. >> reporter: as they now recalled it, even though the man in the pulled up hoodie and dark glasses made a payment as doug,

he never looked them in the eye, and there was no small talk. then he rushed off instead of waiting for his receipt. filer called lead detective scott in michigan with his take. >> i don't think it was him at the lawyer's office. he said that's great, now we're one step closer, you know, to solving the case. >> reporter: a complicated, maybe even clever scheme was now come into sharper focus for investigators, centering around doug stewart and some mystery man in virginia. the next step was to figure out who the man was, and what role, if any, did he play in venus' disappearance. >> these points all represent cell phone towers -- >> reporter: back in michigan detective krieger was checking doug's cell phone records hoping to come up with some answers. what jumped out at you? >> three or four days just prior to venus' disappearance there were numerous calls between seven and 15 calls per day to and from doug from one particular number. >> reporter: a constant phone mate but the detectives also

noticed a gap, the day before venus went missing the cell phone was turned off, didn't go back on until the next night. >> and all of a sudden the calls start coming back to and from this same number. >> reporter: so the question becomes who sat the other end of this phone call. >> right. >> reporter: it was quick work finding out who the phone pal was. the calls were traced to the small town of bear, delaware, to a young man named rickie spencer. rickie was a college kid living in suburbia with his parents. you're checking to see if he's got any offense reports, if there's a sheet on him. coming up clean. >> sure. his dad has his own veterinary cling, well-to-do, the mother and father are extremely caring. he has siblings. >> reporter: it didn't make sense. why would a college kid from delaware have anything to do with an older ex-military man from virginia? in mid-june, eight weeks since venus went missing krieger and henderson decided to find out. they got in the car and headed

east, destination, bear, delaware. would the man on all those phone logs hold the key to what happened to venus stewart? something peculiar about this mystery caller. >> he looks a lot like doug, he could pass for doug. >> reporter: a dramatic turn in the case that no one saw coming. guacamole guacamole guacamole guacamole guacamole see? come in and try our new guacamole on sandwiches like the chipotle chicken melt. and discover how it turns up the flavor on all your favorite sandwiches. subway. eat fresh. too much? maybe without the flower... at intel, they make technology that lets a pc be a tv and a tablet. all in one? yeah, ...so, no more clutter. ♪

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two months in, here's where things stood in the investigation into the disappearance of venus stewart. the western michigan mother of two had gone out to the mailbox in her pajamas one morning in april 2010 and hadn't been seen again. investigators suspected her estranged husband, doug, was mind it. his once solid alibi he had been elsewhere was on shaky ground. cops theorized he may have a stand-in, in virginia so he could sneak off to michigan. to find out detective shane krieger and chuck christianson drove to an upscale neighborhood in bear, delaware, to question a college kid named rickie spencer. >> we have a guy i believe is of

interest, making a lot of calls to doug, looks like doug, could pass for doug. >> reporter: on june 21st, 2010, the detectives made an unannounced visit to this house where rickie lived with his parents. >> we did not want him to know we were coming. >> reporter: just knock, knock, knock. >> correct. >> reporter: rickie's sister and mother came to the door. >> i explained to them we needed to talk to ruchie, we thought he might have information to help us out on a case we were working over in michigan. >> reporter: without any thoughts rickie accompanied the it ektives to a nearby police barracks. what did you see in him? here's rickie of the phone logs. what did you so he in demeanor, his presentation of himself? >> very shy, very quiet. >> reporter: any talk in the car? >> small talk, nothing about the case. >> reporter: at the barracks in an interview room the two cops appraised rickie. 20 years old, polite, clean-cut. >> how do you know doug stewart? >> through xbox live. >> reporter: he told the detectives they'd been friends

in the virtual world playing shoot 'em ups and talking long distance for a year and a half. then they met face to face for the first time during rickie's spring break from college on april 1st, 2010. april fool's day. rickie said he was invited by doug, a man ten years his senior, to stay at his place in newport news. rickie was there for a week. >> we went to busch gardens one time for like, the day. >> um-hum. >> and we were trying to go to the clubs, but i'm not 21 yet, so. >> oh, you're not 21 yet? >> no. >> okay, okay, uhm -- >> and when we just played -- we played xbox, i mean he was a chill guy but it was just awkward, you know? >> yes. >> cause he's like, close to his 30s and i'm like -- >> when is the last time you saw him? >> my spring break, it might be in the beginning of april. >> okay. >> reporter: but the detectives

suspected that wasn't true. by then they'd stitched together a solid time line of the ricky/doug communications based on cell phone logs. on april 25th, the morning before venus disappeared, ricky's cell phone pinged in bear, delaware. >> the last call he made before shutting off his phone was to doug stewart. >> reporter: then they both turned off their phones except ricky briefly turned his back on, good for the investigation, bad for ricky. >> his phone hit off a tower just north of doug's apartment later this morning. >> reporter: so he's not in delaware, all the way down in coastal virginia. >> correct. >> reporter: but doing what? very interesting, a lot of smoke. >> yep. >> reporter: ricky then told the detectives that he'd recently learned from doug that something happened to his wife. >> he was like ricky, she's missing. i'm like, what, dude? cause he was telling me, like, she does weird stuff, like weird stunts. >> did you happen to google his name at all on the internet? >> yeah he told me like he was

doing some type of business. >> um-hum. >> that day, too. >> um-hum. >> and i'm like, well, dude, she has to be faking then. >> what type of business did he say he was doing? >> just doing errands. >> okay. >> reporter: was ricky still could have gone up for doug and christensen played the bad cop. >> i'll be blunt. doug stewart abducted and killed his wife. we also know that somebody went into a legal office down there, in newport news, virginia, to pay a legal bill for him. we also know that you were down in that apartment during -- >> yeah, i wasn't -- >> that time. >> for what? >> on the 25th of april, and the 26th. >> of april? no. i was only there on spring break. >> he was reluctant to admit the truth. >> reporter: but he was starting to distance himself from doug

bit by bit. >> i googled his name again, and i saw some weird [ bleep ] like they found like a receipt or something from a different state close to michigan. >> um-hum. >> i was like, what the [ bleep ]? and at that point i was like i'm not talking to this guy. that's weird. >> reporter: so detective krieger put on his good cop hat, soothing, supportive, sympathetic. >> you're probable thinking am i gonna get in trouble, i didn't know any of this was going to happen. >> that's [ bleep ] some [ bleep ]. >> it is and i don't think you were voofd in the planning of that. i think it was more him and he just kind of got caught up in something you realized after the fact this is way over my head, i don't want any part of doing this anymore. you got a couple of sisters. what if this happened with your sister, are you close with them? >> yeah, i'm pretty close with them. >> what if something like this happened to your sustr? >> i'd be upset. >> you'd be upset, would nt' you? >> yes.

>> venus' family says we need closure for this. you need to help us with that because you are part of this game now, but not our main concern whatsoever. >> reporter: the detective sensed ricky was ready to come clean. >> like shane said if we thought that you were, you were a main player in this, do you really think we'd be dealing with you like this? absolutely not. so my first question to you is, did he tell you he was going to kill her before this happened? before you went down there? what did he say? >> he needed to take care of business up in michigan. >> reporter: finally, ricky sighed and started to unspool his story a spellbinding thriller involving doubles and deception with doug stewart as its mastermind. >> what was the business he said he needed to take care of? >> the -- go see his wife. >> did he say why? >> to hide her.

>> to hide her? >> to get rid of her. >> reporter: lieutenant christensen called detective scott back in michigan. they'd broken it. >> he's our guy and mike's reaction was something to the effect of holy cow. >> reporter: mike scott, who had reached patience with the prosecutors before immediately dispatched officers to arrest doug stewart. trooper aaron steensma was part of the team that tailed him to this store. >> we walked in, douglas stewart you're under arrest. >> reporter: were you surprised? >> absolutely, absolutely. i thought it was a mistake and i'd get an apology. >> reporter: doug told police from the beginning he thought venus skipped out on him and the kids. after his arrest he said it again to detective scott. >> i got very upset. i told them i said i worked for you from day one. i do not know where my wife is. >> big developments tonight in the case of a missing west

michigan mother. >> 24-hour news 8 learned of an arrest in the venus stewart case. >> reporter: therese, how did you learn doug had been arrested? >> state police came to the house and told us, the same day they told us venus was deceased. >> reporter: police had declared her dead even without finding her body, and prosecutors were preparing to file a first-degree murder charge. but as doug stewart got ready to stand trial for murder, venus' family trials were far from other. >> he was very good at kind of presenting himself as kind of the all-american guy. >> reporter: all-american guy or cold-blooded killer? the case begins with some white-knuckle moments. >> you could tell that she was just terrified of this guy.

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february 2011 a courtroom in centreville, michigan, in st. joseph county. >> people of the state of michigan versus douglas stewart. >> reporter: it had been nearly a year since venus stewart disappeared in her pajamas, her husband on trial for her murder even though the body was never found, a fundamental fact of the case. doug pleaded not guilty and said he was surprised he was arrested. the responsibility for

convicting doug stewart fell to baby face john mcdonough. >> douglas stewart caused the death of venus stewart. >> reporter: mcdonough and chuck herman said the more they learned about venus the more motivated they were. >> everybody talked about her being a mother and that was the most important thing in the world to her. that was the person that i came to know throughout this investigation. >> reporter: seated at the defense table, doug stewart wearing casual guy sweaters and sweater vests. courtroom demeanor. >> he was good at presenting himself as the all-american guy. it was bizarre. we'd go into chambers he would talk out loud like he was one of the guys and you're on trial for murdering your wife, and none of this seemed to affect him one bit. >> reporter: as the prosecutor began his case, his opening witnesses focused on april 26th, 2010, the day venus vanished. state trooper aaron steensma first on the scene testified that he believed he was looking

at a crime as soon as he talked to venus' parents. >> i pulled in the driveway, and i was met by a female who was hysterical and crying. >> reporter: and what did >> what did you do next? >> she told me he tooker, he took her. >> reporter: he said the father pointed at a plastic wrapper for a tarp that wasn't his and he explained how he inspected the packaging and noticed a smudge that could have been a fingerprint. >> you see the bar coding, lettering from the wrapper, walmart.com. >> and was that piece of evidence sent to the crime lab? >> yes. >> reporter: early on mcdonough wanted the jury to meet venus' parents to see them as the stable, decent and loving people they were. venus wasn't some kind of wild child bad mother. >> was it odd that your daughter would have left her children alone? >> it was more than odd. it was something that would not happen.

>> she was my best friend. >> when was the last time you saw convenient us? >> when i kissed her good-bye the day, that day, the 26th. >> reporter: after sketching out the last day that things might ever be normal for venus' parents, the prosecutor turned the clock back 24 hours and moved the scene from michigan to northwest ohio. april 25th had been a chilly night in van wert, ohio, and the man who walked in the front door of the walmart was easy to remember, according to the walmart security officer. despite the weather, he was wearing a loud shirt and flowery hawaiian shorts. >> the customer entering right here. there he is right here. >> what is this a clip of? >> this is associate rebecca hill with the customer following her. >> reporter: jurors watched intently as the video showed doug marching through the aisles. at the defendant's table, the accused knew what was coming next. an inventory of the items he

bought that night. he picked up a shovel, gloves, a tarp, and a hat. >> can you tell what this is. >> this appears to be a shovel and tarp in his left hand. >> reporter: the clerks at walmart had no trouble remembering the customer. >> most people weren't wearing shorts at that time. >> reporter: donna stippler, a cashier in the lawn and garden section remember approaching the customer who looked like he was going to lieuuau. >> the first thing i think he asked for was lyme. >> you throw lyme on anything that's decaying it almost acts like baking soda would, absorbs odors. probably what he was thinking the lyme to cover it up so someone isn't led to the body by the smell. >> reporter: donna told the shopper sorry they didn't sell lyme. she said he grunted and kept on moving. minutes later he was back at her register to check out. >> do you remember what that

person bought? >> a tarp, shiny shovel, silver. duct tape and gloves. >> do you so he that person in the courtroom today? >> yes. >> what was that? >> yes. >> could you point him out and describe what he's wearing? >> i'm sorry. uhm -- there. >> what is he wearing? >> a white vest. i remember his eyes more than anything else. >> could you tell that she was just terrified of this guy. my god, i sold this guy these things that helped him kill his would you have. >> reporter: remember, police learned about the all-important shopping trip to walmart only because doug had been foolish enough to keep the receipt. he tossed it in his pig pen of a truck rather than throwing it away.

>> doug stewart thinks that he is the most intelligent person in the world, and i think he honestly thought he was outsmarting everyone. >> reporter: and there was something else that tripped doug up, a credit card blunder. before he went to michigan, doug bought a throw-away cell phone called a track phone that normally assures anonymity except as you can see doug swiping here he just bought it with a credit card and that made it traceable for detective krieger through doug's electronic records. >> he didn't think we would find these track phones that he had. >> master criminals don't save receipts and buy with credit cards. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: krieger could follow the path of that particular trac phone through gps technology just as if it were a personal cell phone. technologically they're doing the same thing. >> yes. this call right here at 5:48 p.m. was made just southeast of van wert and the purchase was made in van wert at 6:44, tarp, shovel, hat and gloves. >> reporter: early the next morning the trac phone had moved

85 miles north and was now located somewhere in western michigan. using the phones, how close can you get him to his wife's driveway? >> pretty close. within five to seven miles. >> reporter: but by now something else put him even closer, old-fashioned forensics. remember the smunl ondge on the plastic tarp wrapper found outside the parents' house, it was a fingerprint, doug stewart's fingerprint, placing him at the scene of venus' disappearance. prosecutors believed it was damning evidence but to close the deal they'd have to put on the stand the college kid impostwe are a head-spinning tale to tell. would it be too incredible to be believed? >> he said this is where i want you to come in, ricky. i want you to be my alibi. >> reporter: ricky spencer lays it all out, a plan to murder. >> it was like a game. he was a part of this game.

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ricky spencer, i believe, is the largest piece of the puzzle. >> reporter: enter ricky spencer. how big a development is this, chuck? >> huge. >> reporter: would you have a case had there not been a ricky spencer? >> no. >> reporter: chief prosecutor john mcdonough called on his star witness who, in the course of two days would tell one of the most mind-boggling stories ever heard in the st. joseph county, michigan, courtroom. >> call your next witness and we'll have him sworn in. >> we call ricky spencer. >> reporter: ricky, now 21 seemed like a young boy in a grownup world. his dress shirt not his

customary tee ran big in the sleeves. >> how do you know mr. stewart? >> met him on xbox live december of '08. >> how often did you play xbox live with mr. stewart? y. >> in where from six to ten hours. >> a day? >> on a daily basis. >> this was his life. some people might sit and read, he played xbox. >> reporter: even though he'd never met him, ricky told the jury he felt a strong tie to the former marine. >> would you say he was your best friend? >> yes. he called us brothers from another mother. brothers from another mother. >> called you that? >> yes. >> this was his idol, probably one of the very few people he had social contact with. >> he admired doug. doug had embellished his military career to him, i think he even told him he was a sniper. >> reporter: they didn't meet in person until april 1st, 2010, nearly four weeks before venus disappeared. doug, living alone then in newport news, invited ricky down for spring break.

ricky had term papers due but it was an offer he couldn't refuse. >> we can party and drink and help you with your papers. >> reporter: the pros krutor asked ricky to look at surveillance cam footage and confirm for the jury he was in virginia during spring break. >> that's me with the abercrombie shurt and aviators on highmy head. >> reporter: he testified they went to the amusement park, played xbox live and drank. they hung out like frat brothers. >> had you done any of your homework yet? >> reporter: on day four the prosecution asserts that doug got down to business. >> he's like hey, ricky, i want to tell you something and it's really important. uhm, let me funnish before you interrupt me. >> reporter: ricky testified that doug began to vent on his estranged wife, venus. ricky, who by all accounts came from a good home with good parents, had never heard the likes of this melodrama. ricky said doug was portraying

venus as an abusive, even dangerous mother to his two girls. that wasn't true but ricky didn't know that. doug then told ricky he needed to do something desperate. >> he was telling me that he was going to go kill his wife. >> when he was telling you this, what were you thinking? >> i was just shocked. i couldn't believe what i was hearing. >> okay. >> he said this is where i want to you come in, ricky. i want you to be my alibi, just pretend to be me and live in my apartment. >> reporter: how is that again? you're going to kill your wife and you want me to stay here and play you? ricky's immediate reaction was an emphatic no. >> i was like no, dude [ bleep ] i don't want to hear anything about this and he didn't talk about it for the rest of the day. >> reporter: but doug kept at it over the next two days, despite everyone else's portrait of venus as mom of the year, doug pushed negative venus stuff on ricky, telling him how she smacked around their older daughter.

>> how did that make you foo el? >> i felt bad for him. he was saying if only someone could be my alibi. i'm like no, dude, i can't do this. >> so he's giving him the sob story the wife is tough on the kids in. he's making her into the demon in ricky's eyes. >> reporter: all lies that prosecutors said. >> i think he had ricky convinced that if i don't do something, they're going to end up dead. >> reporter: doug kept ratcheting up his stories of abuse, concluding with the most graphic one, venus had tried to choke one of the girls. >> ricky, if i wasn't there at that moment, the kid might have died. >> he again asked you to help him kill his wife. >> yes. >> what did you is ai? >> i said okay, dude, i'll be your alibi. >> reporter: ricky caved and according to the prosecution, doug had a plan ready to go. he took his recruit to a nearby park for a crash course in how to get away with murder. >> he asked me ricky, if you're

trying to kill someone and you don't want any evidence, what do you use? i told him well not a gun because it leaves evidence and he says right, not a gun so what is it, not a knife because that leaves evidence. he says right. not a knife so what is it? doug said you choke somebody. >> reporter: and right there in the park, doug demonstrated on ricky his military chokehold. >> he gets me in the headlock in two seconds and puts me down and i'm like out of breath. he says that if you do that to somebody for ten seconds, they pass out, do it for over 30 seconds they're no longer alive. >> reporter: but ricky wasn't a perfect double for doug. they were about the same height and coloring but ricky was slimmer so to pull off this double vision ruse here was the plan according to ricky. doug made sure ricky wore sunglasses and ball cap and pulled doug's hoodie over his head. he gave him his credit card and coached him to be aware of surveillance cams. . everything worked out exactly

right doug believed acquaintances would be fooled into thinking they'd just seen doug in newport news. ricky went back home to delaware and waited for the green light that their mission was a go. the day turned out to be april 15th, 2010. doug drove up from virginia, ricky from delaware, and they met at a gas station in bethesda, maryland, outside the nation's capital. that's where ricky said doug gave him the things he needed to turn into doug, his clothing, cell phones, keys to his car and apartment and a credit card. >> what's that a photograph of? >> this is the parking space area where i met with doug stewart. >> where did you go? >> i went, i drove to virginia. >> where did doug tell you he was going? >> to michigan. >> what was he going to do there? >> he didn't say kill his wife but he said to take care of business up in michigan. i knew what he meant. >> reporter: sure enough

surveillance cam pictures taken april 15th show ricky easing into doug's life in newport news. he parked in doug's granl as instructin garage as instructed and hung out. >> this is the lobby between 10:00 and 11:00, me with the hoodie, paper sticking out of my pocket, with the bag. >> reporter: with doug's credit card ricky bought a double cheeseburger and fries at wendy's. >> why did he want to you use a credit card? >> to make it look like he was in virginia. >> reporter: ricky it turned out had a memory for details that flabber fwasted the prosecutors time and again. he had a recollection of what was going on at the time with every photo they showed him. here he says he's on the cell phone with doug. >> was he telling you anything at this point in time? >> just kept on over and over telling me where the cameras were, to make sure i keep my head down. >> reporter: somewhere deep down, prosecutors wondered, did ruchy, a little slow on the uptake, think that this was all pretend?

>> act like you're me, don't look at the camera, keep your head down, wear this sweatshirt, it was luke a game. he was a part of this game. >> this was ricky's little mission. >> reporter: but the mission mortal mission one in game box speak had gone amiss. doug had to hit the reset button. on his way to michigan he'd been pulled over in the wee hours by a state trooper in ohio who said he was weaving lanes. the traffic stop was irrefutable proof that he wasn't in virginia. >> i got a phone call from him said the plan is off, you was relieved to hear it. >> reporter: but doug wasn't ready to call it quits after one bump in the road. he kept on talking. >> hey ricky i want to try doing this again. i told him i didn't want to, it was a one-time deal and i didn't want to do it the first time. >> reporter: then doug upped the pressure. he told ricky if he didn't get on board with the original plan he was going to wipe out everyone, a massacre. >> instead of just making it look like she disappeared he was talking about going there and

killing anyone that was inside the house besides his kids. >> reporter: what did you do next? >> i told him okay, dude, we'll do it again, i'll be your alibi again. >> reporter: there would be a mortal mission two. >> a drop of blood came from her nose. >> reporter: a virtual world turned suddenly violently real. and a spellpound courtroom heerz the most harrowing part of the story. >> he was going to go to bury her. hold it! come with me. new dannon oikos triple zero is my go to protein snack. cam, protein from yogurt? yup, this greek nonfat yogurt packs 15 grams of protein punch. but what else? unlike some other protein snacks, it has 0 added sugar 0 artificial sweeteners and 0 fat. mmm... will it up my game? no man! new dannon oikos triple zero official yogurt of the nfl.

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you wake up in the night and think about her. you wake up in the morning you think about her. you go to sleep at night and you think about her. >> reporter: courtroom rules prohibited venus' parents from attending the trial. they testified and were subject to being called back to the stand. but their son dustin jasper, the victim's brother, was there on many days getting a bench seat within good staredown range of the accused, doug stewart. >> he never made eye contact with me. i think he's too ashamed. >> reporter: but on the stand

shame didn't seem to figure into the bold as brass story about doug that ricky spencer was telling the jury, how after the first run to michigan was a bust, doug called ricky again. >> he said, hey, dude, i killed her. i'm thinking what? he said, no, i'm kidding. i told him that wasn't funny. >> he said he was kidding and you told him it wasn't funny? >> yeah. >> reporter: ricky's second day on the stand as a star witness. prosecutor mcdonough picked up his questioning with ricky's description of mission number two, the assault on venus stewart. >> did you attempt it again? >> yes, we did. >> reporter: it was deja vu all over again. this time sunday april 25th. >> i went down to virginia. he was hitting up, back up to michigan. >> reporter: later that day ricky said he made a call to doug's boss pretending to be doug under the weather. >> i said in a sick voice like, hey, bobby, this is me, doug, i'm feeling like [ bleep ]. i can't go to work.

he said, all right. so doug didn't have to come to work on monday. >> reporter: monday would be venus' last day alive as ricky would explain in his chilling story of duplicity and death. it began, the prosecutor said, with doug in a field across from venus' parents' house. >> he parked there with his truck kind of watching things. say probably 500 yards from venus' parents house. >> reporter: doug called ricky at 7:00 a.m. from a tracfo 234 e and gave him instructions. >> i want you to leave from 8:00 to 8:15, nothing later. >> reporter: doug then sneaked up close to the house, police said, hiding behind this wood pile. back in virginia, ricky was establishing the alibi. >> do you recognize that photograph? >> it's me leaving the apartment. on the 26th. >> reporter: like a good soldier ricky was following doug's orders out of the apartment by 0800 hours, buying security cam cover for his best buddy on a

deadly mission in michigan. >> that's doug's car. and i'm in the car, i'm going to make a left turn. >> reporter: his next instructions were to wait for doug's call. that came just before 9:00 a.m. >> what did he say? >> he said, okay, dude, it's done. i was shocked to hear that. i said what happened? he said he called venus' parents' house in michigan and said that he was the mailman. he had a package for her. and she came outside. >> reporter: just like that ricky's virtual world had turned real. game over. he was displaying emotion on the stand for the first time. doug was showing nothing. >> and he jumped out and he said that there was a scream, she only screamed once, and that she tried putting up a fight, but he was able to get her in a head

lock and a drop of blood came from her nose and that was it. i asked him if it was worth it. and he said it was to protect his kids and give them some type of future. and he told me that -- he told me that he was going to call me later because he was going to go -- oh. ah. ah. to bury her. >> reporter: did he understand the consequences, ricky? >> i don't think so. i know that sounds strange. i've been doing this over 30 years. i think when it was over, it finally hit him. this really was a homicide.

someone actually died here. it's not on the x-box, not somebody blowing up cartoon figure. this was a real person. >> reporter: later monday ricky continued in a supporting actor role. he went to doug's lawyers office dressed in a hot, hood 'and sunglasses. doug told him to make a payment to one particular secretary. >> he said that she's not all there in the head, and that hand her the envelope, say who you are and tell them that you're in a hurry and tell them to mail you the receipt. >> did you do that? >> yeah. >> reporter: later that day, ricky and doug drove to their meeting spot in maryland to exchange clothing, cell phones, keys and the credit cards. they talked briefly. ricky piped up to express a newfound fear. >> i was asking him, hey, are you going to kill me? and he said, no, i said, good, because if you did, that would suck. then he asked why did i ask

that. i said because i know what you did. >> reporter: ricky's internal alarm system hadn't gone off when it would have mattered, when he should have called police and brought the outrageous plot to a screeching halt. now it was blinking fast and something was telling him to be careful of doug from here on out. his usefuls as the alibi had ended. >> why in the heck didn't doug kill this kid? why did he leave this witness out there for somebody to find? this is one of his mistakes, where doug thought my plan is so good, they're never even going to find ricky. >> reporter: the prosecutors fully expected their case with the jury would rise or fall on the shoulders of ricky spencer. yet you got to worry on cross-examination whether the defense is going to rattle his kanl and undo him. >> that's always a worry. he probably could hold his on but we didn't know. >> quite honestly, his testimony

was so bizarre. >> was his a true tale or a tall one? ricky spencer's story under scrutiny. >> what evidence do you have that venus stewart is dead? ♪ ♪ we all want to see our kids grow up strong. and when you buy your vitamins at walgreens, your purchase helps provide life-changing vitamins to 100 million children. here in the u.s. and around the world through our partnership with vitamin angels. just stop by walgreens for your vitamins. doing good for you, does good for others too. walgreens... at the corner of happy and healthy. (vo) tidy cats has a litter for you. one that's lightweight. attacking

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guess work. if you think about anything in this case, i want you to think about the word "guesswork." >> reporter: in its opening argument the defense asked jurors to pay close attention to a prosecution case that had no victim's body and new eyewitness who saw the defendant in michigan much less killing his wife. >> i believe at the end of this case, the prosecutor's going to ask you to guess. >> reporter: after ricky spencer's riveting testimony, anticipation was building. would the defense be able to rock the wild story from the so-called double. the defense lawyers jeff and kimberly schroeder, married and highly regarded team, were poised to attack more than ricky's testimony. they were going after his character, too. and the deal they claim he'd made for lenience we the

prosecution. >> my defense, my story had to do with ricky evading life in prison, ricky being an accomplished liar. >> reporter: cross-examination strategy number one was to muss up the clean-cut young man image he projected from the stand. they started with the x-rated screen name, the tag he picked for himself when he played x-box live. >> ricky your gamer tag is dark blue [ bleep ], isn't it? >> yes, that's correct. >> what's the [ bleep ]? >> it means bunch of guys. >> reporter: ricky explained to the jury the overt and sexually explicit connotations of his online name. the defense wanted the jury to look at ricky as an unsavory man without a moral compass. >> if you believe his testimony he decided to help commit murder rather than deciding to call the authorities. >> reporter: of course, you don't want the jury to believe that story but there is a moral issue that hangs over the testimony here. >> right. >> reporter: this guy could have thrown a wrench in the works and

stopped it. >> he could have. >> reporter: he could have done the right thing. but elected not to. >> if you believe his testimony. that's one of the reasons why his testimony is unbelievable. >> reporter: evidence that ricky could be shifty with the truth? he'd already admitted that he lied to his parents about what he was doing over spring break. >> did you want them to know that you were going to visit mr. stewart? >> no. >> why? >> because it seemed kind of strange to go meet up with somebody that you played x-box live with who is a lot older than you. >> reporter: but the defense took a mostly hands off approach with challenging ricky on all those very detailed recollections of his story. what he did which day in virginia, what he bought with a credit card, which security cams he played to. the defense stance was, jurors, a lot of detail here, but it's all a fantasy from a young man trying to save his own skin. >> thank you. that's all i have, your honor. >> reporter: after only 20 minutes of less than explosive cross-examination, they got him off the stand. >> quite honestly, his testimony was just so bizarre.

>> reporter: it's a strange story, isn't it? >> a very strange story. >> reporter: a story spun, says the defense, so ricky could cut a sweetheart deal with the prosecutor. in return for his testimony, ricky would plead to nothing worse than manslaughter. he would not face murder charges and serve no more than a year in county jail. >> i think that he was coached many, many times to give the testimony in the way that he gave it. >> reporter: he was taught to become a good witness, you think? >> i think so. i think that he had to do a good job. you know if he didn't bring the case home for the prosecutor, it's my belief that he thought he would be facing those charges. >> reporter: the defense called no witnesses. >> defense rests. we're ready for closing arguments, your honor. >> reporter: doug stewart didn't take the stand, but he talked to "dateline" in an exclusive interview. >> after hearing everything that i've heard, everything that i've seen, i still haven't seen anything showing me that my wife is hurt, she's harmed. >> reporter: so what did he make

of the star witness? the sensational testimony of ricky spencer, his young x-box buddy? >> i don't understand any of his testimony on the stand. i mean, he got locations right as far as he came down, he was on spring break. >> reporter: why does ricky come down? >> he mentioned to me, i got spring break coming up from college. and i'm coming down there to busch gardens with some friends. april 1st, i got a phone call, he goes, i'm almost there. i said almost where. i'm almost to your apartment. he just showed up. >> reporter: the guy's in your apartment and you're the host and he's the uninvited guest. is that what's happening? >> i felt comfortable with him that yes, you can stay here. >> reporter: the story that he would tell to authorities and then testify under oath at the court almost like a spy movie plot, none of that is true? >> the whole idea of hurting my wife or doing any of that stuff is strange and weird, none of that is true. >> reporter: in his closing statement, jeff schroeder hoped he could convince one juror that without a body there was

reasonable doubt. >> what evidence of that time in this case do you have to demonstrate to you that venus stewart is dead? >> reporter: so what about all those purchases at walmart? doug stewart seen walking the aisles in loud floral shorts. they asked rhetorically, would a man about to commit a murder be so dumb as to call that kind of attention to himself. >> is he trying to hide things? he's wearing hawaiian shorts asking people where things are. does that sound like somebody who is going to use it in a crime? >> reporter: and he bought a shovel, the defense attorney noted. so what? >> what evidence have they shown you that a shovel was used in the killing of venus stewart? they haven't. >> reporter: schroeder summed it up for the jury. he claimed the prosecutor had an illusion of evidence, a

circumstantial case woven together with ricky spencer's tall tale. >> they tried to make you think they have all this evidence, but they don't. and they haven't proved their case, and you have a duty to do. and that's to find doug stewart not guilty. >> do you believe she's alive or not? >> i got to believe she's alive. >> reporter: what would the jury do? >> the clerk will read the verdict. >> reporter: the verdict. the first and only car with direct adaptive steering. ♪ the 328 horsepower q50 from infiniti. that turkey looks good. yeah i'm eating right, i'm doing the tough dodger.

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march 11, 2011, the jury had been deliberating. was doug stewart responsible for the murder of his wife venus. >> i dreamed about her a lot, thinking that she's still alive. and i'm hugging her, you know? and then i wake up and reality hits me. >> reporter: you believe she's alive or not? >> i got to believe she's alive. if she's not, i don't think i can handle it. i don't think my kids can handle it. >> reporter: if she was alive it would be incredibly cruel what she's doing. >> i could never forgive her. >> on the record the people versus stewart the jurors indicated they've reached a verdict. >> reporter: the moment had arrived. venus' mother and brother knew a guilty verdict would be small consolation, but they wanted to hear it anyway. a few feet away stood the accused, eyes blinking, face twitching. >> the clerk will read the

verdict. >> members of the jury find douglas harry stewart as to count one guilty of first degree, premeditated murder. >> reporter: guilty. doug stewart would be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a michigan prison without the possibility of parole. jurors clearly believed the star witness ricky spencer's story of being the alibi and the double. but they also determined that doug's fingerprint found at the crime scene on the plastic wrapper was powerful evidence. it's a scheme. it's a conspiracy. only one other person knows what's going on, ricky. is he lucky to be alive, in your opinion? >> yes, he made the case for us. >> reporter: if doug had killed him? >> it would be very difficult to prove this case without ricky. >> reporter: outside the courtroom, the young prosecutor john mcdonough hugged venus' mother. >> i was so happy to be able to reach out and say to her, you know, we got him. we promised you we would do it

and we did it. >> what difference does it make? my daughter's not here. that's all i can think about venus isn't here. >> do we want to split up? >> reporter: where was she in have a group on this side and have a group on this side? >> reporter: so where was venus' body? they went back to looking for her remains in the expansive countryside of fields, woods and farms. >> parentally that morning he went to the initial place where he dug a hole and there were people around. he had to find some other spot. >> reporter: nobodies knows where he went. >> no, we have a lot of good information from cell phone towers. the problem is that gave us a pretty broad area, an area that's potentially 50, 60 square miles to search. >> reporter: they haven't found her remains yet. family and friends vow they'll never stop looking, but without a map, it's all needles and haystacks. >> if we can give her body a proper burial. >> reporter: doug's mandatory

life sentence was a triumph for the prosecution but it also meant the state lost any leverage it had over him. we no incentive to cooperate. >> that's his last bit of control of venus. >> reporter: still venus' brother gave it one more shot at the formal sentencing hearing, an appeal to decency. >> it is not too late for doug to do the right thing. he can repent for his wrongdoing, tell us where my sister's body is. >> reporter: wetter vest gone, shackled at the legs and hands, doug wasn't giving an inch. >> i'm innocent. i did not do these crimes. >> reporter: his story rejected out of hand by a jury that needed only three hours to convict him was nothing if not consistent. "dateline" found that out in our interview the month after the verdict at the st. joseph county jail. you're saying you didn't do it and you don't know where she is. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: if we're talking about why you're here, there is the evidence of that fingerprint on that tarp cover, the material

seen in the walmart video and prominently that receipt that was found in your truck. do you have anything to counter that evidence? >> i believe we've already done everything in court and i don't want to talk about evidence specifically related into court. >> reporter: the most sensational witness in court, like him or not, was ricky spencer. and he was still a divisive figure after trial. ricky had become a bone of contention between venus' family and prosecutor mcdonough. in return for ricky's powerful testimony, mcdonough made what some feel was a very lenient deal with ricky's attorney david moore. >> ricky deeply regrets everything that has happened. and the role he has played in this matter. >> reporter: ricky got to plead guilty to a lesser charge, conspear spi to commit manslaughter. he served his one year in the st. joseph county jail, then went back to work with his father, the vet. how come he isn't an accomplice to murder? why isn't he looking at 20 to 50 years?

>> ricky is not a killer. ricky is a tremendously impressionable kid who made a horrible, horrible, horrible mistake. he bought into doug's crap hook, line and sinker. >> doug stewart preyed on this boy. this plea agreement reflects the value of ricky's testimony, because without it, doug stewart would probably not be convicted. >> he didn't murder my daughter directly, but i think that ricky should get more than a year in county jail. my daughter is dead, ricky's alive. >> reporter: venus' family is pushing for at least a ten-year sentence but prosecutor mcdonough wouldn't budge. family members ask prosecutors in virginia to file a murder conspiracy charge against ricky but they didn't. >> he could have saved my sister. he could have let the authorities know. they could have been waiting for him at my parents' house and it would have been over. ♪ >> reporter: on april 26th,

2011, a year to the day since venus disappeared from her parents' house, the family held a memorial service. ♪ they watched a video tribute to her spirit and her smile. played a gospel song she would have liked. ♪ and they spoke from the heart. >> i just want to say how much i miss my sister. i mean, i love her so much. it's going to be tough to not see her around anymore. >> she just was awesome. she's a character. she made my life complete. >> reporter: when do you miss her the most, therese? >> every day. every single day. >> reporter: venus' two girls are being raised by her mom and dad. they say everyone's doing as well as can be expected.

>> i talk about venus a lot. i tell them how she was my little girl just like they're my little girls now and she was . the man i came here with was a dependable, ambitious diplomat. what's happening to you? caiaphas must be replaced. don't play politics unless you're good at it. peter: we must push away our fear as we recognize the persecution we face. saul: i'm saul. i have come to remove these blasphemers. do whatever is necessary. take what you can! i will not be cowed by this man and his threats. this was my land. i'm staying. and me. see you in jerusalem. there! take him! no! i will crush you! you will try! [ indistinct shouting ]