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friend )s did to help. =vo= plus, a patrol car overturns on a bay area highway.... but not from hitting another car. =vo= then, a woman on campus.... posing as a substitute teacher. but the real reason she was there... has police on the lookout. =close= tonight at 11. >> reporter: on that rainy march afternoon when ann died, cara rintala was running errands with her 2-year-old daughter. they got home around 7:00 p.m., saw the basement light on. and inside, cara peered down the basement stairs. her wife's bare feet were lying on the floor. cara grabbed her daughter and raced to her neighbor's. then home again. >> my neighbor just came over and she told me to call 911. she was pretty distraught.

>> reporter: she was. when sergeant gary poehler of the granby police department arrived at the rintala house about 7:20, he heard cara before he saw her. >> it was, "she's dead, i can't believe she's dead." crying, lots of crying. >> reporter: nothing prepared sergeant poehler for what he saw when he went down those basement stairs. >> there was cara rintala, sitting on the floor with a female, looked like a female party across her lap. later found out it was anne marie. she had her eyes open. her arms were out, extended like this. >> reporter: there was blood. smeared and streaked. and something truly weird. >> paint all over the place. all over this female that she had across her lap. >> reporter: within minutes, more first responders arrived. some were paramedics who knew cara and ann, had worked with them. they helped an hysterical cara out from under ann's body. took her upstairs to wash.

massachusetts state trooper jamie magarian, the lead investigator, studied the scene. let it talk to him. any obvious injuries to the victim here? are we talking about stab wounds, bullets holes -- >> no. no. >> reporter: lacerations, abrasions? >> there's a large amount of blood and there's several lacerations to the -- the head. >> reporter: it seemed like the body had been there for a while. >> i touched the deceased for the first time, with rigor mortis setting in, i thought, how long that body had been on that floor. >> reporter: there was an open paint bucket at the scene. and paint -- light-colored paint -- everywhere. >> the paint, to me, is fresh paint. it's wet. there was a thin layer of paint on the deceased that appeared to be dry in some spots, but then there was other paint on the deceased that was still wet and a large amount of paint on the floor that was wet. >> reporter: did this look like the case of somebody who had taken a bad fall? and somehow ends up knocking into the paint can and causing the paint to spill over them? >> no, because in the configuration of where the deceased was in relation to the

stairs and where the paint bucket was, you couldn't fall directly down those stairs and tip that paint over. >> reporter: other things spoke to the trooper. items on the basement floor with blood under them. the trooper took out a pencil and gingerly lifted a laundry basket. there was blood beneath it. what'd that tell you? >> it tells me that, you know, things in this crime scene were moved before we got here. >> reporter: police videoed the scene. that night, a shattered cara rintala called family members, breaking the dreadful news. and then she went to the granby police department for an interview. it was almost midnight when detective lieutenant robin whitney hit record, turning the clock back to 8:30 that same morning when ann got home from her overnight shift. >> we were talking. she made me coffee. >> reporter: playtime with a noisy brianna followed. then lunch. and after, a request from ann, a paramedic, remember, who was trying to nap before another overnight shift. >> she's like, can you just go

to the mall or whatever. >> reporter: cara and brianna left the house about 3:00 p.m., she told detective lieutenant whitney, the good-bye to ann -- just matter-of-fact. >> that's all i can think of, you know? is the little good-bye greeting. "see you later," you know? and here we are. >> reporter: mother and daughter had a busy outing, shopping for socks at the mall, going to mcdonalds to grab food for brianna and then, a change of heart, going to a burger king instead for mac and cheese. >> and haven't been able to get ahold of ann. we've been texting, we've been calling. >> reporter: then home. brianna spotted ann's body first. >> and bri's like, "mama down there?" and i -- well, i didn't know what to do. i was just -- i wanted to scream. i wanted to run down there. but i didn't want to freak brianna out. i didn't know. so i ran out the house. >> reporter: ran to her neighbor's with her daughter. then ran back home alone to ann. >> laying on her belly, not moving.

not moving. not moving. >> did you turn her over? >> yeah. yeah. so i did. i did. >> yeah? >> i wanted to turn her over, you know, like -- you know? and she was cold. >> reporter: and then, she said, she sat with her arms around her wife's body. >> this is nothing like i've ever been trained for. i've never -- >> i know. >> experienced anything like this. honestly, training? i could -- i know now, i couldn't work on a loved one. >> reporter: but what about the paint? >> where'd the paint come from? paint's been down there for months. >> reporter: it looked as though ann fell down those stairs. so what happened down there? was it an accident? or something more sinister? >> you can't rule anything out. >> reporter: but trooper magarian was determined to find out. little did he know how long it would take. >> reporter: coming up, reasons for suspicion.

>> you have wet paint. we know items are moved in the basement. those are all flags that come up. >> reporter: and a person of interest. >> there was an emotional affair at a minimum. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. mail and packages.

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>> you have wet paint. we know items are moved in the basement. those are all flags that come up. >> reporter: and days later, the medical examiner would confirm those suspicions. the cause of death was strangulation. ann was a homicide victim. pasquale martin is her uncle. >> reporter: an accidental death would've been easier, wouldn't it? >> of course, it would.

but to have somebody rob somebody from you, steal, take, murder, just rip them from the world, you know, hard to fathom, hard to swallow. >> reporter: now investigators were looking into a murder. they began a deep dive into ann's life. prosecutors steve gagne and jen suhl of the district attorney's office joined the team. they learned that ann cochrane rintala's life could often be grand opera. and her relationships could be complicated. take the thing she had going with a fellow paramedic named mark oleksak. >> mark oleksak was a very close friend of anamarie. they started as co-workers then became very, very close friends. >> reporter: the two were on intimate texting terms. that last morning, ann texted mark asking him to go to best buy for her. "can you please go sat at 6a for me. i will get there about 825a with a coffee. and a big kiss." mark, at the time, is a married man. >> he was a married man, two children. >> i think very clearly there

was an emotional affair at a minimum that happened between mark and ann. >> reporter: investigators didn't think the two had a sexual relationship, but it was clear they had a financial thing going. mark opened his line of credit to ann. no small thing where ann was concerned, because her big passion was shopping. ann's friends t.j. donahue and mary petrone. >> i do know that ann loves jewelry. she loves nice things. >> gadgets, right? >> gadgets, cameras. i mean in high school, she was that same kind of person. so, she loved to spend money. >> reporter: and sometimes the spending got ahead of her. mark learned that. >> he co-signed, i think it was three total credit cards with her, one of which had racked up about a $7,000 balance at one point. >> reporter: and another thing. after ann's death, when investigators asked mark what he was doing the day of the murder, he wasn't straight with the facts. not at the beginning. first, he said he was at home that day. later, he changed his account, said he'd actually been shopping, then shared a meal with his family. >> reporter: that must make your nose twitch when a guy doesn't give you the straight out story.

>> i agree. it's going to raise the suspicions a little bit. >> reporter: even though mark oleksak's story changed, investigators accepted it. he had receipts for his purchases. and the final texts between the two seemed to affirm they were close until the end, mark promising ann a "big long kiss cause i love you." >> even the morning of the murder they were very lovey-dovey on text messages that particular morning. >> reporter: and you don't think -- >> but he also -- >> reporter: the financial -- the outstanding debt gets you there? >> no. there was nothing to suggest that mark was upset about that outstanding debt. she was paying him back for that debt. >> reporter: but investigators were looking at another possible. a police officer named carla daniele. ann had dated her before she met cara. but it turns out, that wasn't the last time the two would be an item. in 2009, ann and cara were going through a rough patch. they separated for a few months and ann went back to carla. >> and from carla's perspective,

perhaps the love of her life was coming back to her. >> reporter: and some more credit cards and more spending here, huh? >> yes. and as with ann's friend, mark, ann started to rack up a little bit a debt on carla's behalf. >> reporter: racked up about $10,000 on carla's card. but then in late 2009, ann abruptly returned to cara and their daughter. carla was history. she was dumped, huh? >> she was blindsided. carla said she was devastated. she took it very hard. >> reporter: so was carla in the basement that march day? here's a person who was romantically involved, emotionally tied to her, is dumped and there are money issues between them. >> she was on the short list of persons of interest or suspects, call them what you will. >> reporter: but carla told investigators she went to her gym, a 30-minute drive from the rintala home, about 3:00 p.m. the afternoon of the murder. said she went out for a long run. then left the gym at 7:00 p.m. investigators located security images that supported her

account. is carla's alibi rock solid? or does it have a window for foul play? >> i would say it's pretty rock solid unless she had access to a helicopter. >> reporter: that left investigators with one remaining suspect, the one who'd topped their list since the night of the murder. the person who knew ann best, who loved her, and who fought with her -- cara. because as sunny as these two seemed in public, sometimes behind closed doors they went after one another. as cara admitted in her police interview. >> we'd argue and it would get physical, absolutely. and i'm no angel. but i can honestly say it was definitely back and forth, you know what i mean? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: their troubles were well-documented. in 2008, ann had cara arrested for assault. she dropped the charges. but a year later, each woman filed for divorce, with ann asking for custody of daughter brianna. within weeks, each applied for a restraining order against the other. brianna was caught in the

middle. >> when the other would try to pull brianna away that was problematic. >> reporter: so the child was the glue that held them together, but it was -- >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: also the source of a lot of this friction, huh? >> correct. >> reporter: money was an issue, as it so often was with ann. cara was frugal. ann, free-spending. and between them, a growing pile of debt. >> their finances were now starting to become commingled. and ann's debt and ann's spending problems were part -- starting to become a problem for cara, too. >> reporter: but in early 2010, they were together, working hard on their marriage. in february, they went on a cruise. then came march 29th. the bottom of the stairs. and only one person, investigators believed, had the opportunity, and motive, to kill that day. >> all the evidence kept leading us right back to barton street, where that homicide occurred. >> reporter: but they knew they had a circumstantial case. >> there was no single piece of evidence which conclusively

said, "cara rintala killed her wife." >> reporter: still, they decided to go for it. 18 months after ann's death, in october, 2011, cara rintala, living in rhode island by then with her daughter, was arrested and charged with ann's murder. cara's mom got a call to come pick up brianna. >> and brianna, when i got there she said, "why was mommy crying?" i had to think fast. i said, "because she's a great paramedic and they needed her for an important job." and so, they took her. and that's why she's crying because she's not going to get to see you right away. >> reporter: so it was that cara rintala would have the dubious distinction of being the first woman in massachusetts history to be charged with the murder of her lawfully wedded wife. an extraordinary journey through the criminal justice system was just beginning. >> reporter: coming up -- little evidence, but some odd behavior when cara saw her wife at the bottom of the stairs. >> cara's a paramedic.

what does she do? does she rush down there, "oh, my god, ann! are you okay?" no. >> reporter: and what was cara throwing away in this parking lot? machines don't have emotions. but the rare few can inspire them. ♪ with a naturally aspirated 5-liter v8 engine, and a 10-speed direct-shift transmission. the first-ever lexus lc. experience amazing. what do you have there? p3 it's meat, cheese and nuts. i keep my protein interesting. oh yea, me too. i have cheese and uh these herbs. p3 snacks. the more interesting way to get your protein.

=add= a millbrae library turns into a crime scene -- after police say a boy was stabbed. we )re following the latest developments as officers say a man began randomly attacking the boy with a pocketknife. he )s alive -- but in the hospital recovering. =add= and heartbreak in cleveland tonight -- the warriors fall to the cavaliers in game four -- and will now head back to the bay to try to clinch the championship. on twitter -- dubs fans, aren )t giving up. more coverage at 11.

>> reporter: prosecutors knew when cara rintala was arrested in late 2011 for murder, they had a mighty challenge on their hands. and so it proved. the trial opened in early 2013. and it ended, three weeks later, with a hung jury. >> breaking news, a northampton jury has failed to come to a unanimous verdict. >> reporter: a year later, in 2014, trial number two. same thing happened, incredible as it seems. another hung jury. ann's family, convinced that cara was the killer, was frustrated, wondering why a jury couldn't get there. >> i trusted her with my niece's life. and she took it. >> reporter: soon after, cara was bonded out of jail, free to spend precious time with

brianna. meantime, prosecutors wrestled with the facts. they had a circumstantial case. no smoking gun. no eyewitnesses. would they go again? you really do have to step back and say, "are we going to do this a third time?" >> we did. the first thing we did was we consulted with ann's family they were onboard. and that i think gave us the strength and the courage to step up again. >> reporter: so it was set. cara rintala would be tried a third time for the murder of her wife ann. but first, cara had a heart-to-heart talk with brianna, now 9 years old. >> she told her a lot. and she says -- >> that some people -- >> mom, i already knew. >> she says, "some people think i did something bad, something terrible. but i just want you to know that it's not true." >> reporter: in september, 2016, trial number three opened here at hampshire superior court in northampton, mass. prosecutors steve gagne and jen suhl returned with a streamlined argument. >> we were caught sort of in this trap of being responsive to the defense and we decided let's

play offense. >> reporter: in trial number two, they'd put the possibles, mark oleksak and carla daniele, on the stand, only to knock them down as viable suspects. perhaps, they reasoned, they had confused jurors. so this time, they were gone. and now they focused on cara, and the helpless victim who fell down those stairs. the wife who was strangled, they said, for as long as four minutes, until she died. >> her last precious breaths that she took on this earth were taken with the defendant's hands around her neck. squeezing, squeezing, squeezing, and squeezing more, until every last breath of her was gone. >> reporter: prosecutors laid out a timeline for murder that began with a nasty fight by text the night before. ann, working the overnight, jealous that cara was home alone with a male friend. she lashed out, "i hate the relationship we have. no one does that.

no respect." cara's response, "okay, you being over the top and crazy." >> it really is, in our mind, a fuse being lit, something that continues into the next day. >> reporter: the next morning, the last of her life, ann, a phoneaholic, called or texted friends and family members 58 times. >> i want show you one final entry. >> reporter: the final call to her beloved aunt nancy was placed at 12:21 p.m. then, uncharacteristically, ann went silent. >> do you remember if she left a voicemail on that occasion? >> no, ma'am. >> you did not speak to annamarie that day, is that correct? >> no, i didn't. >> reporter: the timing of that last call was important, prosecutors argued, because they theorized cara murdered her wife soon after, then spent hours cleaning and covering up. remember that afternoon of errands? prosecutors showed security video of cara and brianna shopping and argued it was part of the cover-up. >> she leaves the house around 3:00 p.m., according to her, but

she doesn't pop up on surveillance video until 5:00 p.m. that evening at the holyoke mall. >> suddenly starts using her debit card left and right to make miniscule little purchases. >> reporter: what was going on, do you think? >> she was trying to be seen. she was trying to be elsewhere. in short, she was creating a digital alibi for herself. >> we are still driving. love you. bye. >> reporter: an audio alibi, too. prosecutors played voicemails. all play-acting, they said. >> on our way to burger king. call. please, please, please. >> the whole reason she's out is to try to let her get some sleep. that just didn't add up. >> reporter: and now, a pretty big deal. these cleaning rags. >> can you just hold that up for the jury to see? >> reporter: prosecutors said cara used them to mop up. one contained a woman's dna. which the prosecution's expert said could have been ann's. but it was what cara did with the rags, that prosecutors wanted to talk about. that's her vehicle on surveillance video leaving mcdonald's. >> she decides to get out of her truck in a pouring rainstorm,

walk over to the farthest-most trash receptacle at mcdonald's, dispose of three cleaning rags and drive away. >> reporter: they also highlighted cara's odd behavior after she saw ann's feet at the bottom of the stairs. cara's a paramedic. this is her wife. what does she do? does she rush down there, "oh, my god, ann! are you okay?" no. >> reporter: she raced to the neighbors, prosecutors told jurors. then ran back home with one more job to do. >> before the paramedics and the police arrive, she makes one final desperate attempt at covering up. she picks up that container of paint. she pours that paint. >> reporter: but instead of masking the evidence, the prosecutors said, that paint pointed to cara's guilt. >> the stiff body was clearly not something that had just happened. the paint being on the floor was something that had just happened. >> reporter: and now prosecutors played their ace. they called a new witness to bolster their case, someone not heard from in previous trials.

>> do you solemnly swear to -- >> reporter: engineer david guillianelli. he really did watch paint dry, conducting dozens of lab experiments. >> were you able to form an opinion as to that time frame when the paint might have hit the floor? >> yes. >> and what is your opinion? >> within approximately 30 minutes of the time the first responders arrived. >> reporter: the final coat of a slap-dash cover-up. but motivation. why did by most accounts, the more sensible one of the two, turn on her fiery partner? prosecutors said the seeds were planted some ten months earlier. and they played an audiotape from a contentious court hearing to prove it. >> i'm not going to play games with this. >> reporter: it was may, 2009. ann and cara had each filed those restraining orders against the other. a district court judge heard them sniping at each other and erupted, threatening to have dcf, the department of children and families, take custody of brianna. >> if i see that come into this

court, i'll be on the phone to dcf so fast, they'll be here before you get out the door. >> reporter: it was a turning point. because of the judge's warning, each woman now knew that one wrong move could cost them custody of the daughter they adored. so the prosecutors' theory of what happened on march 29th. there was a violent fight and ann went down those stairs. whether she was pushed or not, they couldn't say. what mattered, they told jurors, was what happened at the bottom of the stairs. >> the defendant had to make a choice. call for help. likely face criminal charges. lose her home. lose her daughter. lose her livelihood. or, on the other hand, make ann go away. and she made her choice. >> reporter: now it was over to cara's defense team. they'd managed to avoid conviction twice.

could they do it a third time? >> reporter: coming up, from witness to the prosecution, to a key witness for the defense. >> is he going to say, "investigator, you ran a shabby case here. you didn't secure the scene." >> yeah. he just needs one nugget of doubt. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. which didn't get me to my goal. lowers my a1c better than the leading branded injectable. the one i used to take. victoza® lowers blood sugar in three ways. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. non-insulin victoza® comes in a pen and is taken once a day. (announcer) victoza® is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

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♪ take it down take it down >> reporter: cara rintala's family and friends agree on a couple of things. first, that cara is a great mom. ♪ do i do i >> reporter: and if she has to sing herself silly to entertain her daughter -- well, she's in. ♪ my beautiful daughter brianna ♪ >> reporter: the second thing friends say is this, cara did not murder her wife. not in a million years. suzanne cordes, who first met cara at church, says she knows her like a sister. >> cara would never do that. the woman that i know, the devoted, loyal, compassionate, caring, thoughtful, faithful mother that i know would never ever do that to her wife. >> reporter: when the third trial commenced, friends and family sat behind cara in court, practically willing a victory. attorney david hoose opened, as he had in trials one and two, for the defense. >> this case, ladies and gentlemen, is about unconscious bias.

a mindset that caused the investigators and the experts to focus on one theory, one person and to ignore everything that didn't fit, sometimes going to frankly ridiculous extremes to do so. >> reporter: that one theory was, of course, that cara murdered her wife in the course of one final terrible fight. the mindset, attorney hoose said, was there from the very beginning, in the neighbor's 911 call. listen to the dispatcher's words. >> she said the other one was down in the basement and but she didn't say -- >> maybe it's a domestic. >> reporter: and, attorney hoose said, remember this question from detective lieutenant whitney, a scant seven minutes into the lengthy police interview on the night ann died. >> all right, so let's back up a bit. you have a history of domestic violence with anna, right? >> reporter: even that powerful voice from court. >> if i see that come into this court. >> reporter: cara's side

insisted that noisy scolding from the judge was anything but the trigger for murder. did that scare them? >> yeah, absolutely. that was when they did a turnaround and they decided they had to, you know, grow up -- >> reporter: straighten up for the daughter? >> yeah, pretty much. >> reporter: and by march, 2010, although prosecutors hadn't acknowledged it, the defense told jurors the couple had put their troubles behind them. >> they focus on a nine-month period, which was undeniably a rocky patch in this relationship. a nine-month period out of a nine year relationship. >> reporter: but what about that angry volley of text messages the night before the murder? the fuss over cara's male friend's visit? attorney hoose hit that hard. >> the commonwealth wants you to believe, that this was the battle of all battles and the fight that ended everything. well, you know, you've got to have some proof of that. and they don't.

and i'll tell you why. you can look at these texts and once again, cara is the calm one. ann is the one who goes from zero to 60 in about three seconds. >> reporter: and by the next morning, the defense attorney said, ann was going her breezy way, promising her buddy mark that "big kiss" in a text. >> not a word about fighting with cara. not a word even like, "gee, things aren't too good around here right now. cara and i had a big fight." nothing like that. >> reporter: then to that afternoon of errands. and, from cara's side, an explanation for the trip to the trash can at mcdonald's. >> because that's what they did. they had to pay for their trash bags in granby. so they were dumping their trash wherever and whenever they could. >> reporter: the defense brought in its own expert to knock down the prosecutors' argument that one of the rags contained ann's dna. >> i have no idea what the source of the dna on that rag

is. >> reporter: but perhaps the most damaging evidence against cara was the paint. attorney hoose went after the prosecution's paint guy on cross. his weapon of choice? sarcasm. >> you're the first guy as far as you know who has ever testified about reading wrinkles and cracks in paints, is that correct? >> that i'm aware of. >> your honor, can we please change the tone here? >> reporter: the defense attorney had to persuade jurors that cara hadn't poured the paint. he accused the paint expert of buying into the first responders' observation that the paint was wet. >> first responders -- these are people you've never met, correct? you don't know how much training they have or if they've even seen a bucket of paint before, correct? yet you're ready to credit their subjective impression that the paint was either wet or shiny, correct?

>> correct. >> reporter: finally, the defense called, of all people, state trooper jamie magarian. in the first two trials the lead investigator had been a heavyweight witness for the prosecution. not this time. he was vital to the defense theory of a keystone cops investigation. >> is he going to say, "investigator, you ran a shabby case here. you didn't secure the scene." >> certainly. >> reporter: "there were tests you didn't run. there were things to be known. you're relying on this junk science of how paint dries." >> yeah, that's his job. he just needs one nugget of doubt. >> reporter: in pursuit of that nugget, the defense attorney grilled the investigator about the two people of interest. first, mark oleksak. remember, he'd changed his alibi. but what motive could he have for murder? well maybe this -- ann, the drama queen, had angered him when she left her wife for her old girlfriend. >> he described that he had a big fallout with ann. is that correct? >> yes. >> and the fallout was when he became aware that ann was seeing

an old girlfriend. correct? >> yes. >> an old girlfriend named carla daniele. correct? >> correct. >> reporter: a wisp of doubt, perhaps, dating back to ann and cara's separation. and what about carla? remember, she said she'd been miles away at the gym and out running on the day of the murder. security images seemed to support her account. but the defense produced a bank record dated the day of ann's death from an atm closer to the crime scene than the gym. >> did you ever ask her about how that could have happened if she was running in east longmeadow? >> i don't know that -- i've never asked her that. >> reporter: the name of the game for criminal defense lawyers is creating reasonable doubt. had the defense finally gotten there with all 12? >> reporter: coming up, an anxious wait. >> did you think this was going to go down in flames again? >> i did. yeah, absolutely. >> reporter: then -- the verdict. >> i'm still reeling on that one. >> god, where art thou? hi, i'm paul.

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>> reporter: after two hung juries, the prosecutors in cara rintala's third murder trial weren't taking any chances. this time, they added a lesser charge -- manslaughter. did it mean you didn't believe in your case as much or you wanted to salvage half a loaf

out of this thing? >> we thought there's no harm in giving this jury yet another option of a verdict of guilty. >> reporter: cara's family and friends didn't buy that. >> we had asked for manslaughter in the first trial and they said, "absolutely not. no, no way." well, all of a sudden, you turn the tables? because they want this to end. >> and cara's take on that was, "i don't want that because that means i did it. and i didn't." >> reporter: deliberations began on a tuesday morning. day one passed in silence. no questions from the jury. day two, the same. day three. again. some began to speculate about another hung jury. t.j. donahue and mary petrone. did you think this was going to go down in flames again? >> i did. you know, what can be different this time? >> reporter: team cara tried to keep her spirits up. >> there was a double rainbow and i took a picture of it and i sent it to cara. and i said, "good sign, cara. there's a double rainbow tonight." >> reporter: finally on day

four, late in the afternoon, news. >> the court officer who knows us very well, he sort of just came in very gently and he says, "hey folks -- we have a verdict." and immediately upon that moment, hearing that, my heart starts racing. >> i walked back with cara to the courthouse and she was breathing, you know, really deep breathing. i said, "cara, it's going to be okay." >> the defendant would please rise -- >> reporter: inside the court, a verdict read by the foreman, off camera. >> she's guilty of murder in the first degree. >> reporter: guilty of murder one. the most severe charge. cara broke down. her friends and family stunned.

>> you need to remain silent. >> it's, like, you can't believe it. there's nothing. nothing to point to cara. how could this possibly be the worst possible outcome? how? >> reporter: afterwards, reverend lori souder, cara's pastor, friend, and firm defender, lamented. brianna has clearly lost her other mother now, in a sense? >> yes. god, where art thou? >> reporter: ann's family was also stunned. but pleased. >> murder one -- i'm still reeling on that one. it's what we wanted for the last two trials. >> it was a surprise but really, just an affirmation of everything we had done. >> the possibility that it could have been anyone else and adhere to the timeline -- >> reporter: so what was the jury's thinking? they say they kept running into inconsistencies, beginning with cara's account of discovering ann's body. why didn't she rush to help her? >> she was a paramedic. so to see your loved one at the

bottom of the stairs and she could've easily have gone down there and started cpr and saved her. she didn't know that she was dead at that time. >> reporter: then, that paint. lacey, do you agree there're some time problems between when you believe the time of death is and this paint still being wet? >> oh, absolutely. yeah. >> reporter: what do you make of this? >> i really -- i almost wanted her to admit to spilling the paint, just to make sense out of it because without her spilling the paint, it just didn't make any sense. >> reporter: finally, the matter of premeditation. was this a planned act? >> cara had her hands around annmarie's neck for up to four minutes. so that's a long time to reflect and restrain yourself. and nellie did this great thing where she just timed four minutes. and you sit there and think about your hands around this person's -- >> reporter: i can elect to not strangle you at this point. >> four minutes is a long time. it was a real long time. >> reporter: they were ready for the final vote.

>> and it was clearly 12 yeses -- of guilty. >> to come to the conclusion that, you know, cara was the bad guy, was a really hard one for us to reach. >> we didn't want it, but that's what it was. >> reporter: for ann's family and friends, it's a time to be grateful for justice. to remember the irrepressible spirit they lost, the woman who loved life and the spotlight. >> she would love this. >> she would love to be interviewed. oh, my goodness. >> she's watching right now. like, "come on!" "say something funny." >> reporter: cara rintala got the mandated sentence -- life without parole. she is appealing. each week, her parents take brianna, the child they are now raising, to see her mother in a massachusetts prison. >> when cara was crying, she says, "mommy, it's okay. you don't have to cry." >> "you gotta be strong." >> "you gotta be strong," that's what she said. >> great kid. >> reporter: the kid, that

little girl, the other victim in this tragedy, the child who, in an instant, lost two mothers at the foot of the basement stairs. >> reporter: that's all for this edition of "dateline." don't miss "sunday night with megyn kelly," this sunday at 7:00 p.m./6:00 central. and, of course, i'll see you each weeknight for "nbc nightly news." i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. tonight: a teenager stabbed in

front of a peninsula library. police searching for a motive... and praising the friends of the victim. =terry/2-shot= the news starts now. good evening, i )m terry mcsweeney. =janelle/2-shot= and i )m janelle wang. raj and jessica have the night off. we )re on a little early tonight because of the giants game right here on nbc. =janelle/rail= knifed at random. detectives in millbrae are still trying to piece together why a 40 year old man pulled a pocket knife and started stabbing a middle schooler. this all happened outside the public library in millbrae. that )s where nbc bay area )s sergio quintana is live right now.

sergio how )s that teenager doing? =terry/topvo= this just in: two san francisco police officers are recovering on the ground are some disturbing items a stuffed animal, a backpack and some clothes. this is the aftermath of what police say was an unprovoked attack. >> once the kid was stabbed obviously he was afraid and panicking, as he was doing so he was moving around a lot. >> reporter: the 13-year-old sat student at taylor middle school a few blocks away. this is the last day of classes and he was with friends outside the library. it was a shock for parents kick who were picking up their kids here. >> it could be them. it worries me about the people

who hung around the library. there is not much we can do because everybody have access to the library. >> the man was arrested and take .to jail in redwood city. police are praising the teen's friends. >> they gathered him and rushed him inside to the bathroom. they acted bravely. >> reporter: the library staff acted quickly and gathered all the kids who were out on plaza into the library until sfrs arrived. we notice there are several security cameras that are set up outside of the library. we have inquired with the sheriff's department to see if this incident was caught on video. and if that is part of their investigation. so far, no response back from them just yet. reporting live in milbrae, sergia quintana nbc bay area

news. this just in, two san francisco police officers are recovering tonight after their patrol car flipped over. it happened about 8:00 on the great highway near lincoln way. investigators say the squad car hit something in the road. that caused it to flip over. air bags were deployed. both officers were taken to the hospital. they are expected to be okay. nobody else hurt in the crash. new developments surrounding the contra county district attorney. a search warrant was executed at the home of mark peterson. peterson was the subject of a civil grand jury investigation last month. the jury recommended he be removed from office after finding he secretly spent campaign cash on personal expenses. peterson admitted to the claims and said he considered it a loan and was planning to repay it. an assistant da tells us investigators searched peterson's office yesterday. speertson is scheduled to appear in court next week. turning now to our weather, drizzle in places this morning. overcast skies for a while.

might be more of in a on the way. satellite radar is very active on the to. jeff rain yeary has more on the weekend forecast. >> another change coming our way. that is the possibly of maybe  thunderstorms. looking at the dap letter radar and satellite. we have drizzle across the higher elevations. nothing else at this very moment. what we are keeping a close eye on is the pacific which remains very active for june standards the big change we will see saturday and sunday is the storm track. the jet stream is pushing to the south. it's going to i a lou this upper level trough to develop. that could bring us not only showers but isolated thunderstorms. all in all, sunday would be the best chance. it will also keep temperatures below average. and still a mix of sunshine. a lot of moving parts here. my full forecast coming up at 11:20 tonight. we will tell you who has the best pablt of thunderstorms again at 11:20. >> you can track the weather from the palm of your hand. download our nbc bay area app.

it is free for an skpl android devices. i'm overcome with grief, and i'm very troubled by the arrest of my husband. >> prosecutors have it all wrong in the ghost ship wary house fire case, that's what derick almena's wife and lawyers are saying. almena's team came out swinging and said others are responsible for the detsd of 36 people. we have the latest from the santa rita jail in dublin where almena and his co-defendant are being held on 36 counts of manslaughter. >> my husband is a good man. max harris is a good man. >> reporter: derick almena's wife says she is both overcome with grief and deeply troubled by the arrest of her husband the ghost ship leaseholder and their friend ghost ship creative director max harris. >> they are not greedy. they are not selfish.

or reckless. >> the district attorney has chosen to focus on the weakest and most vulnerable members in this situation. >> reporter:an almena's attorney say almena and hair rhys not criminally responsibility though the da claims the two created a death trap by filling the warehouse with flammable materials, being an unsafe staircase, and allowing people to live and gather in dangerous conditions. almena's team says the fire department, the county, the building owner, and p pg&e are really to blame. >> this is a phony charge because they are afraid they are going to be sued for billions of dollars. >> we would never have lived in a place we thought was unsafe. >> reporter: almena's wife pointed out she and her children also live in the warehouse and had no idea anyone was in harm's way. >> i just hope that everyone can start to have a little bit of compassion for everyone involved

in what happened that night. a san jose school district is at the center of harsh allegations. a stated aity was released on the allen rock school district findings indicate possible fraud and misspending on construction projects including a multipurpose fill that was supposed to be built at fisher middle school. the district paid a construction company $330,000 for several projects last year, none of which have started. >> the findings in the report are incredibly troubling. since september, i have asked for audits because i wanted more information because i had concerns. >> the school board members plan tost address the audit next week and move to hire another construction company to get those projects going. a follow up now on the disturbing case of a 5-year-old girl who was allegedly abandoned in san francisco on monday. the girl's mother samantha patton pleaded not guilty in

court today. the 22-year-old was accused of felony child endangerment after witnesses si she shoved her daughter from a car along san francisco's great highway. the judge set patten's bail at $100,000. a possible hazardous material spill in the bay under investigation tonight. you are looking at it. this is the view of the problem along the richmond pier from nbc bay area sky ranger. a soot like substance was spotted in the water between the ship and the wharf. chevron says it has been contained and they are not sure what it is but it is not oil. crews collected samples for testing. it's not clear how much of the material spilled into that water. governor jerry browne teamed up with germany's environmental minister today to pledge to fight climate change. >> it requires heroic effort.

that's the reason why i went all the way to china to advance our climate action agenda. and that ist the reason why the environmental minister of germany comes here to california. >> brown has made global warming one of his top priorities. and the german voormal minister held a news conference in san francisco. a strong theme was that there was no leadership from the white house when it comes to cutting greenhouse emissions other leaders need to step up. last month trump announced he was pulling the u.s. out of the 2016 paris climate accord. >> cleveland is still alive. >> the winning is streak is over. the warriors are headed home for game five. fans hoping the dubs will within the championship monday night at oracle arena. we have team coverage tonight. geechg everyone i'm janelle wang. >> you are just joining us we are on early because of the giants came here on