shot in the head. it didn't seememike it could happen to such a good person. we were shocked. >> reporter: murder in a comic book store. >> now inside the comics corner -- >> strange crime scene. strange suspect. >> he said it looked like a woman in a fake beard. >> i believe that the person with the fake beard and moustache is the killer. >> reporter: but soon the case grew cold. maybe it wasn't the bearded lady. >> how much frustration is building within n e family? >> what can you do? >> reporter: then a new clue. a witness who spoke to the killer the night of the murder. >> he sounded like he was busy. he was in a hurrrrto get off the phone. >> that's the one piece that was missing. >> reporter: but would it be enough? >> it's true that we didn't have forensic evidence supporting our case. >> i always operate under the theory, "you don't shoot, you don't score." >> reporter: was this shot a shot in the dark? >> my brother turns to me. he says, "is your heart beating

and i said, "yeah, it is. i mean, this is it." >> i looked at him and said let's go down to the comic bookstore. i knew immediately, the crime scene tape was there, they said you can't go through, we are investigating a homicide. they're investigiging the comic bookstore. >> the comic bookstore was a mom and pop shotutside detroit. the fantasy big gugu, spidey, hulk, x-men. in the storage space in back was an ugly reality. one of the shop owners was on the floor. customers found her. >> multiple times there friday night. >> it was july of 1990, friday

tom and lenora stopped by the comic book shop before going to dinner. they liked to buy from the woman there, barb. >> she knew our name when we walked in, she would light up with a smile. many times would come around the counter to greet us. >> but not on this summer evening. it was just after 6:00. tom and lenora picked out a comic but no one was behinm the counter to take their money, not barb or her husband michael. >> it wasn't uncommon someone wouldn't be at the cash register, but this was a longer than normal time.0 we thought we would stick around because we liked her. >> some teenage customers were in the shop browsing, they, too, were itching to pay and go. they were the first to peek into the back room and d e barb. >> cried out there's somebody back here. at that time tom and i rushed to the back storage area and found barb on ^he floor.

fallen backwards and hit her >> i noticed she was blue around her mouth. her pupils were dilated and big. and, um, i could not find a pulse. >> lenora, a customer happened to be a nurse and took charge. she noticed only a small amount of blood and concluded that barb had suffered heart attack or seizure and she toto her husband to call 911 while e e began administering cpr. >> i had never done cpr on someone that i knew and loved and i thought please, god, let this be okay. she's a mother. >> as the ambulance rushed barb to the hospital, lenora ward thought she'd done her professional best and she wasn't at all sure her prayers would be answered. >> i knew she was medically in dire straits.

george. she doctcts were working to get a pulse. one e.r. nurse was kris kehoe. >> if you give 100 compressions a minute, the better the chance to revive her. >> after 15 minutes it was all over. a doctor pronounund barb george, the mother of two dead. it was up to nurse kehoe to clean up the body for the family to view. that's when she saw it. >> when we were straightening up her hair we noticed blood on t top of her heaea i noticed there was a small hole. my first thought as a nurse was that it had to be a bullet hole there. >> imagine that, barbara george, the nice woman behind the counter, shot. >> shot in the head and it didn't seem like it could happen to such a good person.

friends and family showed up for a birthday party for her husband. singing of happy birthday and all of the superheroes from his beloved marvel and action comics looking on. all those guests now stunned to find the party turned into a crime scene. and barb, the hostess, was dead. two possible clues to solving the mystery, right after the murder witnesses reported seeing a speeding car and a man waiting outside the comic book shop. >> and he had on a dark outfit for that time of the year. a fisherman's cap, is how i would describe it. at kay, the number-one jewelry store... ...in america. levian chocolate diamonds... ...for the sweetest thing in your life.

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their hole in the wall shop, comics world, had been barb and michael george's just go for it passion. he cololcted thousands of cococs

superheroes adventures way more than he likid selling insurance, >> i used to go to her games. i remember going to the tournaments and she was the typical sister. >> he was because up in a -- bash was brbrght up in a polish family. when she found herman, marriage became the organizing principle of her life. >> was she a happy bride? >> very happy. she couldn't wait.

two girl, barbara george seemed complete. >> her kids were her pride and joy, and i think that was everything to her. >> the night of friday the 13th brother joe and his then girlfriend now mary shamo drove over to the comic shop jor what was to be a celebration. barb's surprise birthday party in the store for michael. he was turning 30. michaeaes mother was going keep the twtwkids at her house fofo the weekend while barb and michael took off after the party for a cozy couple of days at a lodge. >> so that would have been a friday night and it was going to be a romantic ekend? >> right. >> a weekend not meant to be because by the time joe and mary got to the comic bookstore before 9:00, was there confusion, cop cars. >> we pulled up and joe rolled down the window and the police stopped us and they said you can't go through. we're investigating a homicide. somebody was killed. >> i immediately thought mike because i thought no one hated my s ster. absolutely nobody. >> but the victim wasn't mike. it was joe'sister and it was

steckman to ke sense of the senseless. he'd been the investigator o duty when the hospital called that they'd had a woman come in with a single gunshot to the head. >> now we had a fufu-blown homicide. >> you know it's going to be a long night. >> yes. >> as the detective's team scoured the strip mall dumpsters for maybe a tossed weapon, clothing, something, he turned over the few facts he had so far. a woman with children gunned down execution style in the back of the little comic bookstore, police interviewed merchants and customers at the mall, had anyone seen anything out of the ordinary? it turned out tom and lenora ward did, the couple who had given barb first aid, and picked up on something when they arrived, a speeding car in frfrt of the comic bookshop. and we both thought to ourselves, that car is going too fast. >> later, they wondered if that was the getaway car, but another observation tugged at them, who was the e y lurking outside thth comic bookshop? >> he had on a dark outfit for

fisherman's cap is how i would describe it. >> another man would say he saw a different suspicious character, someone wearing what appeared to be a fake beard, the shop was small, deeper than it was wide. aiaies and bins filled with comic books out front by the registerernd a door to the back storage room. barbara george had been found just inside the back room. on the far wall was a locked door that led to the alley in the rear. >> now we're inside the comics' corner. crime scene techs began videotaping the crime scene. >> the cash register. there was $750 still in the cash register, untouched. in a glass case just behind the till, the collectible vintage comics and they hadn't been ransacked. in the storage area, some bins

that as they ran to assist barb george as she lay on the floor. george as $400 was in her pocket and the good jewelry wasn't taken. later the medical examiner would determine it the shop owner had beenenhot from above, indicating she'e'been crouching. another bullet had been fired first, police believed. it missed and went through a swimsuit calendar on the wall and into the empty shop on the other side of the sheet rock. if it was a robbery at the comic bookstore, it was an unusual one. just after 8:00, detective steckman was told thathe husband of the victim had just arrived. >> he identified himself and he said what's going on? we said well, there's been an incident here and we're sorry to tell you, but your wife has been injured. >> we never told him what >> he doesn't know what happened to his wife. >> to our knowledge we had no you have to go over to the hospital because your wife is seriously injured.

george was informed that his wife had died of a gun shot wound to the head. a few minutes later, mary and his brother-in-law joe came rushing in. the girlfriend was undone by the ful news. >> i'm blown away in shock. i wasn't even related to her, and i was devastated and i was crying and i was upset. >> but there was someone that didi't seem as upset as mary was,s,he new widower, michchl george. why was she so suspicious of the comic c ok man? an untroubled husband with a very troubled marriage. >> we started receiving phone calls. we might want to look at his relationship with his employee renee. >> real cozy. you checked it out?

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barbara george had been shot to death in the storage room of the comic book shop she owned with her husband michael. six hours after hehemurder michael george hadadeturned from the hospital to show the chief detective sergeant steckman around what was now a crime scene. the back room where barbara was shot was where a robbery must have happened. he noticed two important white boxes were gone. >> as soon as he walked into the back room he said there were two cardboard boxes full of very expensive comic books missing.

expensive stuff. >> two boxes of comic books and they're gone. >> michael george made a list of stolen comics and estimated their value at $12,600 and he later filed claims for missing spider-man, green lantern and ironman. to name just a few. >> he's talking about his robbery. >> his whole scenario was it had to be robbery. >> michael george told the detective he had no idea what happened to his wife. he'd last seen her a little after 4:00 when she relieved him behind the counter. he said he took their two kids there napping on her couch until 8:00 when he returned to the comic bookstore. detective steckman asked him questions the cop would when a wife was murdered. >> were there any girlfriends? no. no. any problems with your marriage? no. everything was fine.

shamo, the girlfriend of barb's brother couldn't make out what he was feeling because his eyes were concealed behind dark, dark nglasses. like something a blind person would wear. or you'd see stevie wonder wear. >> andndary sensed that michael was acting strange, only increased after a visit to the trailer park home where michael george and barbara had lived. she and joe, barb's brother had gone over to give michael some support during tough days. >> he comes in and her vacuum is sitting there and he grabs the vacuum and embraces the vacuum like he e owed more emotion wiwi this vacacm than he did the whole time. >> what's he saying to the vacuum? oh, this was barb's vacuum and oh, my gosh, she's&never going to use this vacuum aga and he would go to a blender and she's never going to be in the kitchen again. >> are you thinking what's up with this guy? >> i am looking at him like a screw ball. here you are grieving over the vacuum and these appliances, there was no tears in his eyes and nothing going on. it was all an act.

insurance policies looking for leads on the speeding car, the man in the greek fisherman's cap, the so-called bearded lady and whether this could have been a botched robbery after all. they were also getting a crash course on the value ofofintage comics. unhappily for them, the case detectives hadn't found the gun and hoped for forensics like a bloody print just weren't there, but the investigatororwere getting calls on the q.t. about michael george maybe having a girlfriend. >> when did you learn about a shop assistant named renee. >> that was two days later. we started receiving phone calls from people advising us that we might want to look at his relationship with his employee named renee. >> a little cozy. check it out. >> yes. >> it was barb george who befriended renee the their children's school and brought her to work at the comic bookstore. renee had five children and needed the m mey.

ended in divorce just three weeks before barb's murder. not long after they buried rbara, mary shamo remembers dropping in unexpectedly at the comic bookshop along with her boyfriend joe and the pair got a shockeroo. they saw them canoodling. >> their arms were crossed over to each other and when you lose someone in your life and you look around at the world like what's going on? why does the world keep moving when i just lost someone so portant and here thihiman is and he's as happy as a alam. you wouldn't think that he had any care in the world the way he was carrying on with her. >> michael and renee would set up a new home togetherith the help of $130,000 life insurance papaut on barb that he received as beneficiary. >> is he becoming what cops call a person of interest? >> yes. at that point he was. at that point he had to be. >> he talked to the police casually at the store that night and then in n more formal interview with the police station six days later, but there would be no follow-ups.

michael george said he would hire an attorney. lawyer up. >> he'd stop talking. >> exactly. >> this is a big, unsolved case? >> yes. yes. how much frustration is building with the family? >> what can you do? can't take -- you can take the law into your own hands, but what's going to happen with that? >> did you ever talk about it? >> i felt it. there was times i jelt, you know, that i should do something, but, you know, i'm a catholic. i couldn't live with it. >> in the comics, superheroes are ageless, but the comic are ageless, but the comic book shop in the clinton strip mall wasn't. it closed its doors in 1992. michael george, the shop owner and his new wife renee had moved from town. they settled some 375 miles southeast of detroit in

an old coal mining town. on the main drag there, the georges had opened their new shop, comics world. >> with his two kids and renee's five being raised together in their spacious new home they found friends among the ototr parents involved in their kids sports teams. >> michael coached the pastor's daughter in basketball. he never missed a game. >> tremendous family man.. respected business person in the community. >> jeff had the electrical supply shop three blocks down from comics world. >> his life were the kids and i would have to say his life was for renee. he treated her like gold. >> they endeared themselves to a toun whe families went back generations by raising money for the make a wish h arity and giving comics to the public library. besides his good works, they say he wasasust plain fun. >> the guy alwayayhad a smile on his face and also always joking and everybody enjoyed being around him.

with the murdered wife's family. uncles and aunts rarely saw barbara's two girls. come the year 2000, was michael george even awararthat the longtime chief of police in his former town had passed away. chief robert smith had died without solving thnagging case of the comic book murder. >> everyone in this town was aware of that crime, and probably myself more so because my dad was the chief of police at that time. >> chi smith's son, eric smith. >> i had driven by that store a ousand times with mymyld man and just about every time we drove by there there was -- there was something he said. >> still gnawing at him. >> there was no question about it. >> four years after his father's death eric smith was elected chief prosecutor in macomb county, michigan. he became responsible for all of the criminal cases in clinton township and beyond. >> i can't tell you how many people came up to me and said that a family member of theirs had been murdered and been killed and nothing had been done

desperation on their face and they really thought that the system had passed them by, and i thought if i'm going to be the chief law enforcement officer of this county i can't let people out there think that we don't care. so we started a cold case unit very soon after i came in. >> one of prosecutor's smith's first acts in office was to send out a letter to all of the police departments in his county asking pice chiefs and detectives to look at their old ununlveds with fresh eyeye >> i did it with michael george in mind. there was no question in my mind that at the time i ws hoping that we'd get a lot of cases i was hoping that clinton township would pick this case up. >> and maybe resolve one for the old man. >> that's it. that was the case that was unsolved for my old man, for my dad. >> just as he'd hoped, the clinton township p.d. re-opened the dusty comic book murder case and what a surprise the detectives find there, someone did have a vital piece of information about the night of the murder, but his story had

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the comic book murder files came out of the archives, and the lead detective blowing off the dust was lieutenant craig keith. he'd been on the clinton township force long enough to remember the killing of the strip mall and he took it personally that someone out there had gotten away with murder.

with the victim. >> i was approximately the same age and had children the same age and maybe that was something that just stuck with me. >> this is a tough one to pick up the stack. >> yeah. i knew that going in, but i always operate under the theory you don't shoot, you don't score and i owed it to myself, because it was something i had told myself, but i owed it to barb, too. >> the detective needed help, cops to make the calls and knock on doors. so he recruited veteran detectives jimmy hall and lenny rico. the two of them went into the old boxes, reading and re-reading yellowing police report, but there's a reason crimes go into the cold case file and stay unsolved, a lack of evidence. the three wondered if they had one of those here. >> i ithis even doable andnd finally whenene came to the conclusion that it's doable, we need to notify the family and that's when the family contacted them. >> the cold case detettives were

after 17 years, but in early 2007 the detectives laid out what they find warts and all for barbara's brother joe and other family members. >> we were honest with them and we don't know how successful we're going to be here. >> still, after that meeting with the detectives, barb's family and friends allowed themselves to be optimistic. >> i told my sister when we walked out of that police station, i said something will come out of this. >> joe and mary, his girlfriend back then had broken up after barbara's murder, , t they remained close over the years. >> my dad was in the hospital at the time and he was dying of cancer and i told my dad what was going on, and he could rely even talk and he lit right up and he said, good. good. god's going to get him. >> the detectives started their investigation as though it were july 13, 1990. the 911 call had just come in. all three of them knew this wasn't going to be an episode of

the day. >> no weapon, no blood smears -- >> in terms s what people are used to seeing nowadays with dna, we didn't have it. we just had to do detective work whicmeans get out there and interview people. they say without pre-conceived theories they chased down the old leads again, the speeding car, the man in the old greek fisherman's cap and the bearded lala and re-examined the old motive. was it possible that barbara had been shot to death over a pricey, collectible comic book? >> thank you, sir. >> the cold case detectives interviewed over a hundred people and of all those fresh 2007 interviews, the one they did with this man turned out to be the game changer. his name is mike renan a girs softball coach, now confined to a wheelchair after 2003. in 1990,

spiderman fanatic. ononuly 13, the night of the murder, detectives learned he had placed a call to the comics world store. he thought it had been around 5:30 or sosobout 30 minutes before the murder. the avid collectct wanted to know why one of his comic books had zoomed in value. a voice he knew very well answered the phone, it was michael george, the shop owner. >> he sounded like he was busy and in a hurry to get off the phonon >> did h hsay i'm busy, there are peoplelen the shop, i have to go. >> no, just short. >> just something you could hear in his voice. >> he would b.s. a little bit and there was no time for b.s. >> the cold case cop had struck gold. mike's story was the missing puzzle piece the detective his been looking for for years. if renaud's account is true, it does nothing less than demolish michael george's alibi that he was napping at his mother's

around 6:00. renaud's call meant george was lying and he was certain he talked to the comic store owner at the shop and that that brief conversation must had taken place a few minutes before barb was killed. >> the embarrassing bit about this nugget of a clue is that mike had told the very same story to the police in 1990, the day after the murder. what looked like a c ce breaker in 2007 had simply slipped through the cracks back then. they'd had it in the case file all along. in clear handwriting, there it was. a record of renaud's july 14, phone call to the police. mr. renaud stated he called comic world around 5:30 and talked with the owner michael george. >> that's the one piece that was missing. >> even so, it was a piece that still had flaws as evidence. there were no existing phone logs to corroborate renaud ale logs to corroborate renaud ale ' s story or to pin down the exact time he said he placed the call. to this day, former detective

stray, but he said he was unaware of the comic book collector's story about talking to the owner of the e op minutes before the murder. >> how did you not see it? well, i never saw it. if we had seen it we would not be sitting here today. >> you would have been for an arrest and indictment in 1991. >> no doubt about it >> now the investigative lead pointed just one way, toward the husband. >> it just kept coming back to mike and it was a funnel effect. we started off looking at a lot of things and a lot of people and it just narrowed down just like a funnel. >> it was time for the cold case detectives to take a road trip to pennsylvania. a a ip across miles in time. they were going to make a surprise visit to michael george at comics world. was the one-time husband finally collectible? after 17 years a conversation a suspected killer never expected. >> if you're going to show up

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>> we had teams of dectives go to all three locations at exactly the same time. >> michael at the store, his wife renee at the house and michael's mother at her home back in hazel park, michigan. >> unannounced. >> unannounced. >> when they found comics world the two detectives waited for customers to leave, checked their watches and sauntered in. >> we were about a minute bebend the other detectives and he was talking to renee, his wife and he says no, there's nobody here and he had his back to us as he walked to the door and he turned

and he got off the phone and he looked pretty sick at that point. >> detective hall switched on the tape recorder he'd concealed in his jacket. >> introduced ourselves. mike was pretty much unemotional and he said hey, come on in. have a seat and started talking to him. >> this is some of that conversation. >> we have a few questions for you. want to talk to you about it. what did the police tell you? >> they never told me what the leads were. >> he didn't say much at the beginning. >> did he say this is great news? i've wondered d r 17 years. and you've solved it. >> didn't get the typical response, you found somebody? or what do you have?

he just started staring. >> 17 years on, miael george claimed a flickering memory for events. >> i don't remember. >> he became sweaty, twitchy, anything? he was very pale. didn't make eye contact. most of the interview his head was looking down towards the table. >> in 1990 his late-night conversation with the lead detective at the store after the murder, michael george had speculated that barb was killed in a botched robbery, someone after valuable vintage comic books. >> what was taken? >> very old books. >> he couldn't remember exactly how many comics were taken or the amount. >> although he was sketchy details he had no problem coming up with an answer on why barbara

switches from robbery to revenge. >> i think barb was at the wrong place at the wrong time. i think somebody wanted to get back at me. i don't know who it was. i should have been there. >> this was a vendetta and that, what? barbara took the bullet that was meant for r m. >> exactly. that was different from what he told the police back in 1990. >> is at as interesting as anything else you heard? >> absolutely. he'd come up with a new motive. >> meanwhile, the prosecutor in michigan, the son of t one-time police chief was deeply curious about how the swoopdown interview was going. >> were you surprised to hear that he talked to them and that he hadn't lawyered up or said i'm getting on the phone to my attorney right now? >> very surprised. i think he was so shocked by the fact that we're still looking at him. so shocked that he didn't know what to do and that's why we didn't call him. that's why we didn't give him a headad up.

michael george as he hadn't in 1990 now owned up to his philandering. >> late in the 90-mimite interview the conversation circled back to the earlier theme, robbery, the supposed theft valuable comics. the detectives asked if anyone knew that he kept the good stuff in the back storage room. that's when things got testy and listen as geor's previously passive tone becomes more direct

>> i am trying too to -- to find out how the individual would know they were there, unless it was an inside job. insurance fraud. >> so you're saying i'm lying? >> i'm saying that's a possibility. you have to look at all options. >> now you're saying i lied about the books being gone? so now what you're saying is i better get a lawyer. >> we didn't say that. >> yeah, you did. yoyojust said one of thehe possibililies. >> that is a possibility. >> okay. if you're going to show up tomorrow, let me know, i'm get a lawyer. this is bullshit now. >> the next day, in fact, he would need a lawyer. a criminal defense lawyer. the michigan detectives and the pennsylvania state police arrested him at hiworkplace, the comic book store. as he was led away after a later court appearance he loudly oclaimed that police had nabbed the wrong man.

no, i didn't do this. >> the cold case had turned red hot. michael george was returning to michigan and would stand trial for the first-degree murder of his wife. a case prosecutors knew would be hard to prove in the age of csi and show-me forensic evidence, that's because there was none. so it would come down to a single wness and his recollection of a solitary phone call he said he made on a friday the 13, 1990. a twist in court few would have predicted. >> initially, never crossed the line. after five hours you start to worry. what's that? a package! it's a swiffer wetjet. it almost t els like it's moving itself. this i ikind of fun. that comes from my floor? eww!

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>> all rise. >> in a michigan courtroom not far from his old comic book store michael george was standing trial, charged with the first-degree murder of his then wife barbara. >> he was the husband from hell. in early 2008 the man who intended to put george away was steve kaplan, then the trial prosecutor for the county's cold case unit. >> it's true, we didn't have forensic evidence supporting our case. >> he knew getting the comic ok man with nothing,ut circumstantial evidence, no weapon, no witness, no dna this was a tough one to win, something he never l l on to the jury, of course. >> we will proro to you that it was a murder, and if it's a murder there's only one person in this world who had a reason to kill this wonderful person and that's michaha george. >> for kaplan, proving it all boiled down to a case of who do you trust? would the jury believe janet george, michael's mother? she said her son was sleeping on her couch at the time of the

the word of the comic bobo collector mike renaud? he said the defendant was in the store around that time answering his phone call. >> who answered the phone? >> michael george. >> how long did you talk to the defendant at that titi? >> less than five minutes. >> what time did you call the defendant? >> anywhere between 5:15 and 5:45. >> do you remember how he seemed to you? >> he seemed like he was in a hurry. >> how important is he to your case? >> without michael renaud we cannot win this case because without michael renaud we cannot place the defendant t ysically in that store close to the time of barbara's shooting. >> and then came a routine moment that we've all seen in courtroom dramas on tv. the prosecutor in this case, steve kaplan, rose and told the judgdg >> your r nor, the people rest. >> and the defense response in

the case thrown out. not enough evidence. the state hadn't met its burden argued carl marlrlga and asked for the judge for what's called a directed verdict. >> when you just don't know you have to -- you have to pull the plug. you have to say that's it. >> and then it got really strange. and you sasa your honor, the state has not proved its case. we ask that you dismiss it right now and that it not go to the jury. it happensll of the time. >> right. and almost always you're rebuffed. and almost always you're rebuffed within about 10 to 15 seconds. >> that dn't happen here. >> no. >> this s me the judge listenene intently for 20 minutes as michael george's defense lawyer argued that there was no way the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was in the comic defendant was in the comic book shop with a gun in his hind. >> the trial judge is obligated to make a call to say whether or not there was sufficient evidence to justify this.

all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. he took just 30 seconds and queried with a brief citation of case law arguing why the@case should go to the jury. the evidence presented to this court begs the question of fact to the jury whether michael george is the murderer and the motion should be denied. >> and then the judge retitid to his chambers to ponder thihi motion to dismiss and ponder he did, staying out for hours. >> eric smith, the county's chief prosecutor. >> whawas going on? >> well, i -- i can tell you what was going on in the prosecution's end. we were fit to be tied. we've all tried hundreds of cases, and these motions for directed verdicts are dismissed almost immediately. >> did you expect it was possible that he would come out and say this case is dismissed, jurors, you're dismissed. we don't have a case here. >> well, initially, it never crossed my mind. after a couple of hours it never crossed my mind.

>> carl marlinga was feeling better by the hour. >> i r rember walking outside with my client and saying this is obviously good news. i cannot lie to you. judges don't take this long to decide these motions. >> after hours of watching the clock go round, the defendant, out on $1 million bond praying with his circle of friends and family in the hallway, the judge at last returned to the bench. >> the court has been n viewing this matter for approximately five hours, i think an extraordinary lengng of time to review any motion for directed verdict. >> he started, was there a case to be made for the defense's position. >> albeit, it could be argued that this evidence is marginal. then he seemed to point out the merits of the prosecution. >> this is in many ways the classic murder case.

the jury then the jury could reacaca finding of guilt. >> on the one hand, and the other. where was the judge going? so the court, at this point, cannot substitute its judgment for that of the jury. >> he decided for the prosecution. there was enough evidence to go forward. >> the directed verdict was denied. the defense had lost a five-hour long high-stakes game and apparently by the closest of margins. >> that's probably the toughest moment i ever had as a lawyer. >> you thought you might have had it. >> i thought i delivered this guy from this horrible, hohoible experience of not only having lost his wife, but having falsely blamed for it for all these years, i thought the ordeal was almost over. >> the jury filed back in for the defense case unaware how close they'd come to being thanked and sent home without

if the judge had indicated he had doubts about the case, what had doubts about the case, what would the jury think once the defense played its trump card, michael george's a abi witness? the verdict. count number one, first-degree murder. we find the defendant -- don't let bad odors escape. continuously neutralize them with glad with febreze. the only bag with the irresistible scent of gain.

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michael george was on trial for gunning downis wife in the back of their comimibook shop. fired up by the fact the judge almost dismissed the case, the defense counted out the crucial phone call that placed the defendant at the scene. >> michael could nototave been at the story committing this murder. >> he said it was impossible to be in two places at once. he called the alibi witness to say he arrived at her house after 5:00 p.m., friday the 13th. >> said he was tired. >> when you got back, did you observe michael at all? >>eah. >> where was he? >> on the couch sleeping. >> now it was up to the jurors to decide if they believe his mother or the witness that said

phone call. decision day. march 17th, 2008. michael george prayed quietly to himself. his freedom, his family, the life he'd enjoyed in pennsylvania were at risk forever. a murder conviviion meant mandatory life, no p psibility of parole. >> all rise for the jury, please. >> the jury of eight women and four men filed in nervously as one juror explained. >> my hands were sweating, and i took a look at michael george, and i saw his family, and i was numb and scared at the same time. >> my brother turns to me and says is your heart beating fast? yeah, it is. this is it. >> the foreman read the verdict. >> count number one, first-degree murder. we find the defendant guilty. murder. michael george slumped and sobbed in his attorney's arms. barb's sister and two brothers relief. >> he took away my oldest

she didn't get to see me get married. she didn't get to see my son being born. she'll never get to see him do anything. i mean, heook a part of me away. >> across the room the convicted man's younger daughter, one of barb's two children, collapsed inin her stepmother, renee. michael george would go on weeping for a full two minutes. >> i didn't do this! >> but lieutenant craig keith, the cold case detective who rediscovered the crucial evidence was unmoved by george's tears. >> mike owed no emotion back in 1990 and now he cries and my impression of that is mike is crying for himself. >> it was devastating. it was just devastating. >> barely able to stand, george was helped to the podium to face e judge. the same judge who had apparently been a heartbeat away

altogether. >> the jury has found you guilty of all charges. at this time i'm remanding you to the custody of the macomb county sheriff's department. >> the comic book man was now a convict. >> okay. >> put your hands behind your back. >> george! >> i didn't do this. his hands were cuffed and deputies led him away. >> i had no doubt that the verdict that we came to was the correct one. >> the juror his returneneto their deliberation room. they said they could hear george sobbing, but that didn't shake their confidence in their they said it had come down to the testimony of the man who said he called about a spider-man comic. >> i think i hear you all saying he was tripped up by answering that phone call from michael renaud. >> yes.

when mike renaud called. >> the cold case unit started by prosecutor eric smith with this case in mind had won a conviction. >> i really thought he was finally going to face the just punishment he deserves. >> and smith had notched one up for his dad, the late police chief or so he believed. >> my next thought went right to my old man. i wish he was here to share this with, but i know he's smiling. >> the losing defense lawyer voiced the kinds of comments you'd expect to hear. >> i think the jury got it wrong. i believe we have a strong shot with this judge to get either not right reversal or a new trial. >> but that wasn't brave bluster. in this case, michael george's defense attorney was being prophetic. six months later the defense tried again. a motion for a new trial beforor the same judge. one of the grounds for the appeal was prosecutorial misconduct. >> this is not a robbery. not a robbery. it's a murder.

closing argument the prosecutor had a display for the jury. >> his timetable is -- and out of the judge's eye shot began assembling pieces of a photo like a jigsaw puzzle. the punchline when you put the picture together, jurors, there's your killer. maybe clever or maybe cornball, but either way the prosesetor may have overstepped his bounds. the image of the finished puzzle was a mug shot of michael george that was never introduced into evidence and according to defense lawyers showed him in a bad light. prejudicial error the defense argued, strike one. strike two was newlyiscovered evidence in the poli case files possibly favorable to the defense. judge biernat had had enough. >> a judge ruled michael george should get a new trial in the 1990 comic bookstore murder case. >> biernat threwewut the murder verdict and is now giving michael george another chance to win his freedom.

it was, like, okay. the greatest injustice that i had ever been associated with as a lawyer has just been corrected. we are going get a new trial. >> carl marlinga and joe always believed in their client's innocence and now they won anotr chance to prove itit >> michael was devastated by t t verdict. >> i didn't do this. >> suddenly he's got new life. suddenly he has faith ain in the system. >> i think he had two things working. he had new evidence and unfairness in the closing argument on top of this real heartfelt feeling by judge biernat that an innocent m m had been convicted. >> the county prosecutor eric smith wasn't buying any of it. >> the judge seemed to have directed that there be a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct. he hung his hat on a lot of things and that was one ofofhem. since the case began it appeared he was not comfortable with this case and what he did was set aside a murder conviction which was unheard of.

though the controversial decision was backed by michigan's highest courts. >> you wait 18 years for justice, and you finally get justiciconly to have it -- the carpet pulled out from under you. >> after the 2008 guilty verdict, bb's brother had gone to her grave site to share the good news. >> we finally got him, you k kw? he didn't get away with it, and, you know, you can rest now. >> but now there was the jud's blockbuster decision. >> it tore a hole in oururearts. it was something that here we thought it was over. >> barb's family would have to go through the painful ordeal all over again and with even more uncertainties this time around. so the jury had found michael george guilty. the judge clearly had serious doubts.

especially since the defense now had new evidence, more possible alternate killers and just dug up dirt on the prosecution's star witness. but two completely new prosecutors were revved up for the coming cououroom battle. steve fox. and bill cataldo teaming up to make michael george face the music one more time. the e ial of the comic book murder volume 2 was now at hand. a different jury, different prosecutors. >> michael george fell prey to the two issues most known to common man, sex and money. will there be a different verdict? jay knows he'll be ready for the turns ahead.

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september 2011, in the nearly three years since the last comic book murder trial michael george had been locked upn the county jail where he said inadequate care caused a vitamin b-12 deficiency that

wheelchair as his second trial got under way before a new judge, mary chinowski, but if the defendant's disability made him appear feeble and more sympathetic to you are jurors, the new prosecution team would work hard to demonize him. >> michael george fell prey to the two issues most known to common man, sex and money. >> what was your theory for the juryry >> i think motive is important, and it was easy. $130,000 in insurance proceeds, and d e fact that he reallll didn't want to be married. he didn't like his wife. he found her completely unattractive. >> he wanted a new life. >> in his opening argument, prosecutor steve fox that in 1990 michael george was having a torrid affair with renee, now his second wife. >> he wanted to get rid of his

someone better. >> before the murder the husband wawa't bothering to hide his disdain for his wife barbara according to this prosecution witness. >> she testified she and her son went to comic world the saturday before the murder. >> theresa, they were in the store when theresa walked in. >> i hadademarked how beautifufu his girlrlwere. >> what did he say? >> if it wasn't for his daughters that he would not be with his wife and that he found her unattractive and heavy and if i iwas up to him he wouou take the girls and move to florida. >> what was your reaction to that response? >> i couldn't believe he had said something like that to me while she was right there in the store. >> and that same customer was shocked again days later when michael made what she thought was a pass at her during his own wife's viewing at the funeral home. >> he gave me a very inappropriate hug. it would have been a hug that i

huhuand. it's a very intimate hug. >> a little creepy, but the following saturday as was their custom teresa and her son stopped by comics world. michael slipped her a note. >> would you read that note for the jury. >> you look very, very, very pretty today. thanks for coming in. sincerely, michael. >> publicly scornful of his wife, , tting on other women and now a longtime friend of barbara's was testifying that her friends and family were all well aware with of capital t, trouble, in the marriage. kathy got a call weeks before the murder. >> she was crying, very upset. mike wanted a divorce. >> and did she convey to you whether she would agree to that? >> oh, she did not want a divorce. >> prosecutor fox then asked the witness about seeing the defendant at bb's funeral.

his mother yelling out, mom, did you call the insurance company? it just didn't sound good cause of the phone conversatiti i had with barb and then now her death. >> michael george, a one-time insurance salesman himself received $0,000 tax-free from his wife's life inkurance popocies, not bad money in 1990. a witness who worked with michael in the insurance business was asked about the money. >> what does the document say? >> this is a claim statement for payment of the proceeds. >> who signed the claim? >> michael george, looks like. >> on what day? >> 7/18 of '90. >> july 18, 1990. >> yes, sir. >> are you aware that barbara george was buried on july 16, 1990. >> womanizer, scoundrel. the prosecution dissected his character and referred to him as the only possible killer.

that he was the only guy, that done it because no one elslson earth would have. >> speak loudly. your first name is kim? >> prosecutors called this witness who worked at a nail comics world. 35 arguments. >> she testified shield hear many arguments between michael and barbara that summer, but the one she heard that day, friday the 13th sound uglier. >> it was much louder. he was much angrier and seemed much more violent. >> yes. >> less thanour hours later, barbara george would be discovered by customers on the floor in the back of comics world. yet in this public place of a strip mall, customers coming and going, cars, no witness remembered hearing gunshots, though two had been fired and no one remembered seeing anyoyo leave the store and no witness saw michael george at the store from the time he left after 4:00 until he drove up at 8:00 for party.

>> he told us who he was, identified himself and wanted to know what happened in the store. >> lead detective donald steckman, then of clinton township p.d. testified that michael said his wififwas working at comics world. >> i advised him there had been an incident at the store and his wife had been injured. >> did he ask yoy about her condition? >> no. >> did he ask you about w it happened? >> no. >> steckman told the husband that then lieutenant donald brook would be driving him to the hospital where he could find out about his wife.. >> the former lieutenant testified that michael started chatting without prompting. >> he made a statement that i thought was noteworthy. >> what was that statement? >> something must have fell or dropped on her in the back room. >> why is that statement interesting to you? >> because i never told him that mrs. george was in the back room of the store. >> those are things he should have known. >> he knows evidence that only

information is. >> later that night according to police, michael george told investigators the two white boxes of expensive comics were missing and that poor barbara must have stumbled into a robbery gone bad. >> a theory police and prosecutors subsequently rejected. >> this is why it was not a robbery. the diamond ring was on her hand and we know it was worth at least $2500. there was $700 in the register. expensive comics behind the glass were u uouched. the safe, untouched. >> the safe was in the back storage room where michael claimed the missing boxes of comics had been. >> what's unique about that these two white boxes were unmarked and they didn't say expensive comic books here.( >> missing comics were never found, but prosecutors believe they were e ver stolen, either, even though michael recovered a $12,600 insurance claim for them. >> there were a hundred unmarked

grab wouou be if it was an inside job. >> the only inside job according to the prosecutors was the murder itself. >> the reason it's an inside job is because of the accessability to that door. >> that door was central to the prosecutor's theory of the murder. michael george, they said, sneaked in the back door and concealed himself until his wiwi was s one in the store. when she came into the back room their belief was he fired two shs. the first one hitting a swimsuit calendar i ithe wall, the second striking barb in the top of her head as she was ducking away. >> the murder took place and where he went from there our theory is out of the back door and gone >> slipping into the alley, sight unseen, but not before

>> he left through the back door. locking that lock. double locked. >> indeed, the door was locked from the outside when police arrived. mething prosecutors claimed only michael george could do. >> you'd have to have both keys? no one but the defendant had keys to the back door, prosecutors maintained, and they added any supposed robber would have fled through the busy front door and would have been spotted. >> there were too many witnesses that started walking in a minute to two minutes of that gunshot. no one saw anyone leaving with boxexeof comic books. no one saw anynye running out the front door. >> what about people spotted by witnesses minutes before and after the murder? the guy in the greek's fisherman's cap, the suspicious character who seemed to o wearing a fake beard. the so-called bearded lady. police made a sketch of the bearded lady, but prosecutors say none of the would-be suspects ever r ounted to anything excxct in the case of the bearded lady.

person may have been michael george's accomplice. now the prosecutors woululoffer up their star witness, the sole person who with could say the husband was indeed in the store as the minutes were counting down to murder. comic c llector mike renaud.d. but this time the defense was ready with new evidence to challenge not only renaud's credibility, but also his memory. in 1990 you used marijuana and you drank alcohol on the weekends, did you not?ed, baked, and paired with even more lobster? you get hungry. and you count the seconds until red lobster's lobsterfest is back with the largest variety of lobster dishes of the year.

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once again, michael george's guilt or innocence would likely come down to the man who said he made an innocent phone call about a spider-man comic book. >> we would call mike renaud. >> in the first trial, the

speaking to the shop owner over the phone apparently minutes before the murder. the judge, however, had seemed skeptical. but now 12 new people would be deciding the case. prosecution and defefse lawywys had to start up fresh with the all-important star witness. the stakes couldn't be higher. >> michael renaud, without him would you have a case? >> no. he's the only one that puts the defendant at the scene. he's the only one that alone can destroy the defendant's alibi. >> without him we don't even issue a warrant. >> they knew their client's freedom depended on them challenging renaud's story and reinforcing the defendant's alibi. >> it's a win-win for the prosecution's side. >> what we hoped to direct the jury to focus on was specifically that alibi. >> the defendant's 1990 story was that he'd left his clinton township shop some time after 4:00 p.m. to go to his mother's house. she lived in hazel park about a half hour away.

that he was at his mother's house from 4:30 to 7:30. a little after he arrived, his mother said he took her grandchildren to the park and he was sleeping on the couch some they got back some time after 6:00. barb was murdered a little after ::00. if michael george's account is true, he was at his mother's at that time and therefore cocod not be the killer. but according to prosecutors michael george wasn't napping on the uch at all. they contended he'd returned to comics world and sneaked into the storage room with a gun when barb left to order pizza for his birthday party and about what time was that? >> between 5:00 and 5:30. >> thal's the timeframe when this woman, a friend of barb's came to the store. it was locked and she had to wait for barb to return from the pizza place. >> if she was not in the store at 5:30, she couldn't have answered the phone. if someone answered the phone it would have to be someone other

>> correct. >> prosecutors questioned the one witness s o could identify >> michael renaud. >> mike renaud. disabling accident renaud was married and had a young daughter and was holding down two jobs. >> were you also attending >> yes. i was going g wayne state. >> how well did you do in wayne state? >> i graduated cum laude. the prosecution wanted to regard renaud as knowledgeable and a comic bookokollector. >> before july 13, 1990 how frequently would you go to the store? >> at least once a week. >> the day of the murder he stopped by comics world beforere work, but renaud's critical story with the jury had to do with the phone call he made later in the day to the shop. he had a collector's question about a spider-man comic he owned. >> he cacaed because he was excited that some book had jumped from $8 to $40. >> did you contact anyone to discuss the reasons for it going

>> yeah, i called mike. >> he knew the voice. he knew the time that he would be there and that's the whole case. >> tell me about the demeanor of michael gege, and the answers % were very uhort and he seemed to be in a huhuy to get off the phone. >> you might wonder as many people did if michaeq george was lying in wait to murder his wife in just moments, why would h hbe so dumb as to pick up a ringing phone in the store? >> he picks it up for one of two reasons, either as a businessman, it's a call and he doesn't want t tlose business or number two, it's his accomplice from the outside letting him know what's going on. >> couldn't investigators simply pull the phone logs and verify renaud's story by seeing what time the records showed the call cocong in. not 22 years ago. the phone company didn't keep those kinds of logs on local calls, but remember, renaud's story had fallen through the

until a cold case cop craig keith came upon it in 2007 and in that re-discovered file was a statement saying that a guy named renaud had called the the murder. he wanted the detectives to know that he'd spoken with michael george in the comic shop at 6:00 p.m. on the fateful day. department, did you u ink about it further? >> yes. >> why? >> i did not want to get mike in trouble.e. if i was wrong on my time. >> and according to those newly discovered police records, renaud had called the police back almost immediately to amend the time he'd spoken to michael george. >> what did you advise police this time when you called back? >> it was closer to 5:30 instead of 6:00. >> there were multiple calls to police. we saw that as a strength rather than a weakness. >> he's trying to help michael george and he's trying to tell the police don't get him in trouble because of me. it's establishing that he's not

will against the defendant or he's making it up for 15 minutes of fame. >> that's not how the defense team saw renaud. they thought he was basking in the limelight of the big murder trial. >> we think he's just exaggerating his own importance in his mind. he saw a way tbecome important in a homicide investigation. >> when the defense had its crack at renaud on cross-examination, it wanted the jury to question his motives, memory and credibility. >> first of all, this guy mike renaud makes himself sound like he's a good buddy of michael george. he talks to him all the time. michael george doesn't remember him at all. >> renaud's multiple calls to the police changing his times indicated that this witness didn't have a good handle on his recollections and wawatherefore, unreliable. >> he calls back several times being uncertain of the time when he was making the call. >> if the call to michchl george happened at all and the defense disputes that it did, defense attorney marlinga believed it must have been placed before the shop owner left for his mother's house. that was more than an hour before the murder.

not just mistaken with his times, that he is -- >> he's a person of mischief. >> we think he wanted to -- to become a hero. >> in fact, since the last trial renaud hadadried to bolster his story by adding new facts according to the defense. renaud revealed for the first time that he went to the clinton township police department days after the murder to make a report in person. marlinga's tough cross-examination brought out that renaud's memory of that police interview was at best, hazy. >> the person that you met with in the face-to-face conversation. do you know the name of that person? >> i do not. >> how about the gender? male or female? >> it was a male. >> old or young? >> i cannot say. >> this was person in a uniform or in a suit, sport coat or a suit? >> i cannot say. >> do you remember seeing a badge? >> i cannot say. >> did you ever see a police report that was generated as a result of that interview? >> no, sir. >> there is, in fact, no police

was it another example in the defense's theme of inept police imagination? >> eititr the police department lost a very important police report or the lack of police notes is a fact because the interview never happened. >> isn't it true, sir, that you inventnt that you made up thth conversation? >> i did not do that. >> but now the defense was moving on, telling the jury there may be a reason why renaud's memory is so hazy. back in those days, the lawyers asserted, he was often in a haze of pot smoke. >> can you even remember the times that you were high? >> objection. argumentative. >> so the strategy is to go nuclear on mike e naud? >> i wouldn't say nuclear. we regard it just bring out the facts. and you drank alcohol on the weekends, did you not? >> i was in college and that would not surprise me.

talking about occurred on friday friday julul13th, your two initial calls into the clinton township police occurred on saturday, july 14th of 1990. we are agreed that friday and saturday are weekend days, correct? >> correct. >> when questioned whether he got high on the only weekend that mattered, j jy 13th and 1414, 1990, renaud had to admit he just didn't remember. >> you could have used it, or you could not have used it. you do not remember? >> correct. >> the gl was to raise reasonable doubt about renaud's recall and credibility. >> marijuana can cause a time distortion so we're talking to a person that does not have the best handle on time. >> now that t e defense believed it had shredded d naud's story. it was ready to tell the jury who really murdered barbara gege. another possible suspect in an

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married to his second wife renee for almost 20 years. through thick and thin, they still seemed very much in love. >> this case will show you -- >> but at his 2011 trial the defense acknowledged right up front that during his first marriage michael would never have won an award for husband of the year. >> this is not a matter of suspicion, innuendo, discussed with the person for having affairs. this is a matter of evidence. >> so lead defense attorney carl marlinin reminded jurors the defendananwas on trial of murder. >> an adulterer is a person that does evil things but that does not necessarily make him a murderer. >> the victim's shoe could be seen.

michael george killed his wife in cold blood, the defense maintained it just didn't exist. >> and you have no weapon, no witnesses. >> no. >> no forensics. >> nothing. >> nothing. nada, nothing that ties him to the crime. >> the jury, your honor, the people rest. >> just as in the first trial came that moment when the prosecution rested and the defense filed a motion saying, your honor, they haven't proved their case. >> there is no physical evidence which links michael george t t the crime. >> but this time there was no five-hour retreat to chambers for the judge to think about it. her ruling came in seconds. >> the court is finding that the prosecutn has presented substantntl evidence. the defendant teared up. there was enough evidence, the judge declared, to go forward. >> the conclusion, gentlemen, is that the motion is denied. so with that setback, not unexcted, the defense began its three-pronged line of

that the original police work was inept, that there was evidence, some of new, this someone else committed the murder and thirdly, that michael george had a strong alibi. >> we decided that our strongest evidence was the alibi, and that would nonoally be sufficient to win, but knowing that we are dealing with michael's history and the affairs that could me him an unlikable character, joe and i realized that we really almost had to prove innocence. >> michael george told police that he'd left the store with his daughters a little after 4:00 p.m. that friday. they went to his mother janet's house about 30 minutes away. he saiaihe was asleep on his mother's couch when, tragically, his wife was shot. janet george, the mother had testified in the first tal and backed up her son's asleep on the coucstory. >> on ththcouch. >> defense attorneys altered their strategy for trial number two. >> ma'am, do you swear that you will read word for word

>> mom didn't testify in person this time around. the defense had a stand-in lead ead read janet george's 2008 testimony into the record, in a time that michael arrived after 5:00 p.m. that day. she said he was tired while she took her granddaughters to a nearby playground. >> when you got back, did you observe michael at all? >> yeah. >> where was he? >> he was on the couch sleeping. >> if they believed the story, michael george couldn't possibly have been at his shop at 5:30 answering the phone. that's when the star prosecution witness mike renaud said he talked to him. >> janet george was the alibi. why didn't you put her on the stand? tough call. we agonized about it. the problem with janet george is that she loves her son, but she's a wild card. her -- her memory isisading. >> the lawyers were confident

the mother because they had a strong witness to substantiate parts of her story. >> okay. peggy was janet george's next-door neighbor. on that friday the 13th, like most days, peggy said she got home from her job between 5:45 and 6:00. >> as you got close to your house did you see anybody?y? >> i actually saw janet and the two girls in the school playground at the end of our street. >> when you saw them there, what, if anything, did they do? >> we st waved. >> as you pulled into your house what, if anything, did you see in front of janet's house? >> there was a van parked in front of the house. >> okay. did you recognize whose van it was? >> i assumed it was one of michael's vans, yes. >> in ththprosecution's theoryry of the time line, there was a missing link of logistics. how did michael get from his mother's place and back to the store in time to kill barbara? >> the neighbor's sighting of

plant the seed of reasonable doubt. >> she has no dog in the fight. she's not a close, close bosom buddy or lifelong personal friend of janet and michael's. she's a neighbor. why wouldn't you believe her? >> when you take the combined testimony of janet george and peggy you have solid evidence that he was at some place else. >> and that neighbor was a person the defense team had found on its own. the police had never knocked on doors to corroborate michael's alibi of being at his mother's, evidence in itsese, the defense argued of shoddy police work. even the former police lieutenant admitted on cross-examination that aspect of the investigation could have been bette >> if you were the o oicer in charge of this case, would you have conducted a canvass of his mother's neighborhood to see if people could have placed him there at or about the time of the homicide? >> yes, sir. >> that police w wk was the defense theory.

tested michael george for gunshot residue the night of the murder. >> in the rear entry door. >> and also failed to dust the prosecution's critical back door for possible fingerprint. >> if the bad guy touched the handle to get out that way, he would have left some print but we'll never know that because the police didn't dust thaha >> there were some plastic storage bins. >> and police photos inside the comic storeroom where barbara was found was clutter blocking the back door. how could michael george have gotten in or out with all of that. >> does that look like the room. >> theormer detective did not know how to read that junk apparently in the way. >> was that leaning up against the door? >> i can't tell the perspective. it's hard to tell. >> the defense felt it had raised enough reasonable doubt to secure a not t ilty verdict and even though they in no way

offer the jury other possible murder suspects considered in a scenario of a robbery gone bad. >> the defense calls mr. thomas clintoto >> the defense put on a witness who told a story about beink with two friends flint, michigan, somom50 miles away from michael gegege's shop. a sinister-looking guy was peddling hot comics. >> a man approached us in the parking lot and asked us to take a look at old comics that he wanted to sell. >> this s w defense witness said he came forward after watching the first comic bookcase on "dateline." he testified that the then teenagers didn't trust the seller and didn't buy anything from him. >> the vibe the gentleman was giving us told us no way. >> the witness said that encounter took place july 14, 1990, significantly, the day after barbara georgege murder, but his friends, called by the prosecution contradicted him and said it actually happened weeks earlier. >> we were walking towards the

>> the defense wasn't out of alalrnative suspects. one of the store customers who had initially come upon barbara george, thomas ward recounted seeing a suspicious man lurking about when he got to comics world a little after 6:00 p.m. >> it appeared that this individual was looking, trying to gaze into the store quite fashion. >> warren said he remembmbed the man because of his distinctive hat. he had a greek fisherman's cap, black cap. >> a cap like this. >> let me show you defense exhibit 105. >> yeah. >> and still another new witness testified that in 1990 she briefly dated a guy who wore a short-brimmed hat like that. a guy who carried a gun and was up to no good and was up to no good with the comic book stores. >> i realized that he was stealing these comic books. >> these were all possible suspects the defense claimed,

curiosities was someone who became known as the bearded lady. witness joe gray, a friend of the georges came to the store before 6:00 to drop off supplies for michael's birthday party. gray was with a friend who had gotten a gander of something strange. >> he said i@ looked like a woman in a fake beard, a really thin guy with womanly hips or something. >> gray and his friend were so concerned about this weird bearded lady out front they warned barbara george to b% on the lookout. it didn't feel right. >> why would somebody wearing a fake beard? maybe someone would come to the party as a joke or maybe they were trying to rob the place. it was joe gray's friend who helped police make the sketch of the so-called bearded lady. >> i believe the person with the fake beard and mustache is the killer. >> that's your solution of this? >> it's a fake beard and mustache on a july day with no no theater productions or halloween parties and this is just too suspicious in these

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the comic book murder was a grueling case in search ofn ending, barbara george had been shot to death in 1990. her husband was arrested in 2007. his first trial ended in a guilty verdict that was later overturned, and now after a six-week retrial in 2011, a second jury y s behind closed doors deliberating. 21 years in all, and once again, michael george hadn't testified as was his right. his lawyers had put m through a mock cross-examinanaon that sprang leaks. they said his memory was faulty

>> i put together a pattern of cross-examation questions where he had to say i don't remembmb about 20 times in a aow and we have two solid alibi i witnesses. it's almost malpractice to put him on the stand. >> but the prosecutors believe his reluctance to testify was more about him not being able to stand up to the grilling he would have facededn a real cross-examination. >> my wife was murdered, that's the most important day of my life and i forgot what happened that day? it's because maybe i talked myself out of wanting to remember. >> i wanted to hear what he had to say. >> these jurors said the entire panel was disappointed that it didn't hear the story from michael george's o o mouth. >> i think you can see a lot about a person when they talk about themselves. >> "dateline" talked to 10 of the 12 jurors and they told us the first vote revealed a split. seven guilties, five not. >> and your not guilties, what? needed to be persuaded? >> it was the robbery. >> the clarification.

couple had an idid that maybe the robbery did happen. >> the central question for each juror was which story to believe, the comic book collector who said he talked on the phone to michael george in the shop just before the murder or the defendant's mother, his alibi witness that he was napping on her couch across town at the same hour. >> to me, ultimately, it came down to michael renaudud testimony and the phone call that he made that placed michael george at the scene of the crime. >> so did the defense damage mike renaud's credibility by attacking him as a marijuana smoking, beer-guzzling college kid? not to this juror. >> i think they were trying to personally attack him toet us to believe that he couldn't remember anything because he was a drug abuser. several questioned the mother's recollection of events. >> i'm not saying she would lie for him, but, i mean, would you stick up forour kids? >> the jurors talked it throroh for three days and finally took a vote. >> all right, gentlemen.

their job was done. >> all rise for a jury. >> michael george cried quietly. his wife renee, remained stoic. on the benches across the cocot, barb's brother hoped for justice from a second jury. >> it's 12 people. you don't know what they're thinking. >> the foreperson read the verdicts. first degree premeditated murder of barbara george guilty, first degree premeditated murder. guilty, murder in the first degree and guilt oat other counts, as well. felony firearm and insurance fraud. this time. he closed his eyes and seemed to talk to himself. behind him his wife renee buried her head. barb's brother contained his joy out of respect for his nieces who lost their mother and now their father. >> it's a little bit they still have to come to the realization that their father's a murderer. >> the prorocutors quietly conviction. >> it was a huge relief that finally the family was getting

they deserved. >> michael george was led out of the courtroom to begin the rest of his life in prison, no possibility of parole. a terrible injustice as his staunch defense attorney saw it. >> i was lefefwith this case for four years and i don't see any evidence that he was there committing these crimes. i prprecuted killers, defefeed killers, this man was not guilty. >> i don't know why god has put us through this. i do believe he loves us. >> six weeks after the verdict, michael george did finally speak out, but as a convicted murderer at his pro forma sentencing hearing. >> the catastrophe of putting people away that are innocent has not started with me and will not end with me. before this, i've never been accused of any crime, nor domestic violence. i have no police ridiculous, no problem with drinking or drugs.

the lives that are destroyed by people being overzealous in the poli community will find mercy in god above. >> barb's brother joe pected nothing and said he got it. >> once again, no apology. he thinks he's better than anybody else and he thought he was going get away with it. >> as barb's family saw it since 1990 he did get away with murder until eric smith's cold case unit finally made him pay. >> d dyou still talk to babaara? >> yes. >> did you talk to her in the courtroom that day? >> yes. >> what did you say? >> that i love her. that we miss her and that we finally got t m and hopefully she can rest in peace and we can move on. >> in the end it didn't take superheroes to get a conviction in the comic book case. the state had something better, tenacious prosecutors and a dedicated cold-case cop who like superman, believed in truth, justice and ththamerican way. contains material that originally aired at a later hour.