i'm stone phillips. and for all of us at nbc news, good night. 911 emergency. >> he is going to kill me. >> a wife's frantic call for help. then, the sound of murder. >> hello? >> but when it was over, it was her husband who lay in a pool of blood. >> that's how this case all started. with death, a twisted relationship and a frantic call to police. >> what really happened? tonight, go inside a dark and disturbing case. >> my husband, kc, decided that it would be in a master-slave-type of relationship. >> was this an abused woman fighting for her life? >> we had extraordinary, overwhelming evidence. >> or is she a cold-blooded killer.

>> to be able to pick up a gun and aim it at a defenseless, sleeping man, that's a murderess right there. >> you're with them every step of the way. >> there were definite questions. >> their stories told in their words as a woman's fate hangs in the balance. >> i didn't do it. >> tonight, "vegas homicide: four shots fired." from the las vegas strip, here is stone phillips. >> good evening. a wife kill high school her husband. was it murder or self defense? here in vegas, things aren't always what they seem. tonight, "dateline's" cameras take you inside a troubling case from every angle. we're there with the detectives, prosecutors, defense attorney, even behind closed doors in the judge's chambers and you'll hear the murder suspect herself reveal some very dark secrets. the story begins with a chilling

911 call. >> 911 emergency. >> yes. 7400 park road. >> what is going on? >> apartment 247. my husband's going to kill me. >> the 911 call came in at 6:51 in the morning. >> hurry up. >> ma'am, we are sending somebody. >> my husband is threatening to shoot me. >> does he have a gun? >> yes. send the cops quick. >> hello? >> there's a long silence. almost a minute. and then you actually hear the sound of a homicide being committed. >> shots? three shots fired! >> then the phone disconnects. the 911 operator immediately calls back. i think she was extremely shocked at the person that answered the phone.

>> hello? >> ma'am, what is going on now? >> i shot him. >> you shot him? he was going to shoot me. >> my name is sheila huggins. i'm a homicide detective with the las vegas metropolitan police department. i arrived at the scene shortly after the 911 call came in. this was a very nice complex. it is quite a way from the strip in a nice, quiet area. the apartment was clean. pictures of sandy and frank cain everywhere. and on the couch was a dead man in his underwear with four fatal gunshot wounds to his chest. his name was frank cain. our initial evaluation, it's almost a clean cut case of a homicide occurring, a suspect in custody, that person saying that they committed the homicide.

it looked like an easy case. i'm going to go in and interview her right now. we're waiting on the search warrant for the apartment. this is detective sheila huggins interviewing sandy cain. myself and a colleague took sandy cain into a clubhouse area of this apartment complex. i went to wake my husband up. >> okay. and your husband is frank cain? she is unlike most of the murder suspects i come across and seemed like the last person that you would think would be involved in a homicide. she worked a job as a dental hygienist and she was very quiet, soft spoken, meek, mild. not someone you would normally run into in a homicide case. >> he was -- he had been sleeping on the couch. >> frank cain was going to drive her to work.

>> maybe he thought i was shoving him or something too hard because he, he got up. he sat up. he said you're going to get the 380. >> as the facts rolled in, i realized it was not such a clean cut case. there were definite questions of why the homicide occurred. he had guns all over the house. she got the weapon from frank cain. he purchased it for her. he was a collector so for her to think that her life was in immediately in danger, that wasn't farfetched. >> then i got scared. he never said anything like that to me before. >> did he have a gun in his hand at that time? >> no. he was on the couch. >> okay. >> so i think that's when i ran into the bedroom and i called 911. >> does he have a gun? >> yes. send the cops quick. >> when she made the call, she thought maybe she was overreacting. >> he's never threatened to shoot me. he's never raised a hand to me. i went back into the living room and he said, no, you can take the bus to work.

and then i said [ bleep ] you. and that was a mistake. he said something like, now you're going to get it bitch or i'm going to kill you bitch or something or something and then he said something about my veins hanging shreds from his teeth but i don't remember what part that was. and then he started reaching under the sofa. when i saw him reach under the sofa, i thought this is it, this is the end. i think he was going to kill me. >> so what did you do? >> i reached into my bag and i shot him. >> so that was her story was that she had acted in self defense and she was basically protecting herself because she thought he was going to shoot her. i had to decide whether the facts of the case supported what she said. there were several things at the scene that disturbed me. physical evidence that did not match up to her story. he had gunshot wounds to his hands. one being from front to back in

the palm of his hand like holding the chest. the other front to back in the palm of his hand like this like he was shielding himself. both guns that were near him under the cushion were definitely there. but they were on safety. and they hadn't been disturbed. one of which was still in a holster. a lot of the cases that you deal with as a homicide detective require a judgment call, and this is one case that required a judgment at the scene. this was a very tough call in the fact that there was evidence that she was in fear of her life at the time that she shot her husband. >> sandy, you met -- you obviously met him long time ago? on the internet? do you remember what year? >> '97. >> in '97? all right. did you know -- you told me he doesn't work. >> right. >> at all? >> right. >> what's the gun holster and all that stuff for? do you know?

>> he always goes armed. >> he goes -- >> he goes armed. >> everywhere armed? >> uh-huh. >> i made the decision to arrest her because things just didn't seem right. >> okay. >> she is going to be arrested for murder with a deadly weapon. it's okay. just -- yeah. relax. i worried about putting sandy cain in jail. if she was acting in self defense. but i didn't want to let her go if she, in fact, murdered her husband and planned it out. >> i was shocked that i was arrested. i didn't feel i had done anything wrong. i was trying to save my own life. >> i'll let a jury decide that because that's a hard one to call right now. it was a 50/50 chance of whether it would be a murder or if she was acting in self defense. >> which is it? evidence mounts for murder when the d.a. gets the case and digs up a bomb shell witness. >> did she use the word i hate

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sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. we now continue with "vegas homicide: four shots fired." >> sandy cain admits killing her husband frank. now the d.a. is about to build his case but this was not self defense. but murder. >> you know, she may have tried to snow that jury but she is not going to snow me. >> my name is frank coumou. i came quickly to the conclusion that this was a first degree murder. she killed frank cain, premeditated, deliberated and willfully pulled out a gun and she shot him to death because he had become an inconvenience to her. it was just turn around and start sandy cain's trial.

get ready for that one. >> got witnesses? you got to talk to? >> it was about eight months after sandy cain was arrested that we started getting ready for a trial. here i have a woman in her mid-40s charged with murder of her husband, no prior criminal record. i'm starting to wonder how was this case going to play out in front of a jury's eyes? we just have to do our homework and get ready and present the best picture we can to the jury and let them use common sense. that's all what we can ask them to do. common sense clearly shows what this case is all about. i don't think the general public realizes that a prosecutor or district attorney actually goes out and investigates his own cases. the other thing i need you to check into is whether or not she ever had a life insurance policy on him. just to explore if there's maybe financial motive. i like to know if she's been the instigator of fights, domestic

violence situations. >> well, she was infatuated with guns. you know that. >> she's a con artist. that's what i think. when i look at a case, i start asking myself questions. start plugging away and finding a better motive. or any type of evidence that i can bring out to present at my trial. >> 911 emergency. >> i think the 911 call was all planned. >> my husband's going to shoot me. >> does he have a gun? >> yeah. send the cops quick. >> hello? >> i think that frank cain was sleeping on the couch. you don't hear any screaming. you don't hear any yelling. see, you just hear silence. nothing that you would expect to hear in a domestic violence situation. wanted to speak to the medical examiner. by her training as a forensic pathologist, i wanted to kind of

test her mind and see if my theory of the case was correct. >> a comes in here and exits here. >> right. >> but if it goes through here and it goes through the back of the left atrium, then it's still continuing downward. >> okay. >> course. >> well, this is how he's found on the couch. okay? and he's found laying like this. they can tell which gunshot could have come first just by the pooling of the blood. if i was frank cain, the victim, if i got that first gunshot wound, could i suddenly wake up and sit up and then put my hand in this position and another one like this as an instinctively reflex and take three more shots? one here, one here and one here. and then slump over like that? >> that's possible. >> like this. >> this is also possible. >> uh-huh. >> overlapping. >> how can she claim self

defense if he is sleeping on the couch? she just can't. self defense, give me a break. >> she was on this side doing the shooting this way. >> i went back to my office and i enlisted the help of my investigator to reenact the murder sequence how i think it happened. you put your hands up there, boom, i'm stepping back now. get -- now you sit up. yeah. go all the way up. and now lean forward. boom. another shot. this is d. >> it goes in here and comes out here. >> right. and then you slump over that way. you're dead. and then we started looking into her computer. we have learned information that she was corresponding a lot through e-mail with a long life friend in texas. we hit the jackpot. do you know where she is talking about please contact my uncle.

she wrote to her friend. now i'm at my wits end. i will go out but not alone. all hope has been stolen from me. and her friend would respond, please don't kill anyone. i really do think she was planning a murder/suicide and then she shot the old man and realized maybe life wasn't all that bad. >> do we have any inclination -- >> i went with my investigator over to sandy cain's workplace. we're heading to dr. kim's office, that's where sandy cain was working as a dental hygienist. and there's several ladies there, co-workers of her, who apparently sandy cain would talk to during her lunch breaks and confided in. i felt it was important to start a relationship and see if sandy cain had maybe opened her mouth and said something important. i'm frank coumou with the d.a.'s office. we need to pretrial the individuals, need to sit down

with them, what type of personality are we dealing with? are we dealing with reluctant witnesses? >> i really don't want to do this. >> okay. >> what are you reservations? >> i just -- i am absolutely terrified of walking in there -- >> none of the witnesses wanted their full faces to be shown. they were very uncomfortable about being summoned as witnesses. you are not the only witness. what you have to offer is just a very small piece of a big puzzle that i have to show with many other witnesses. eventually she came around and i can understand where she did not want to be part of this because she had some knowledge of some very explosive evidence. >> we were talking. just about -- i don't even remember. just short conversation. it pretty much went from that to, i'm going to kill him. >> did she say how? >> she was going to shoot him. >> okay. so she wanted to use a gun? when did this conversation take place? >> oh, gosh, i don't really remember.

maybe a month before. >> a month before the homicide? >> yeah. >> okay. >> i didn't know whether to take her seriously or not. >> what i need to do is show the threshold of premeditation, deliberation. i was getting closer and closer. did she use the word i hate him or what did she said? >> she said, i hate him, i want to kill him. she had said -- i guess the specific she told me was one day if i don't show up to work, probably what happened is it was a murder/suicide. her exact words were, i killed him, killed myself or vice versa. >> now i started seeing more into the mind of sandy cain. i think she started planning this. she started thinking about it. she started making conscious choices in her mind on how to do it and why she was going to do it. to be able to pick up a gun, take it out of safety and aim it at a defenseless, sleeping man and pull that trigger, i think

that's -- you know, that's a murderess right there. >> i didn't do this. i didn't do that. i didn't shoot a sleeping man. oh god. >> but can she prove it? sandy cain is about to reveal some dark secrets about her marriage and why she wears a certain tattoo. >> all of this property would bear this property and i was the first to bear it. >> when "vegas homicide" continues. ♪ ♪ (vo) making the most out of every mile. that's why i got a subaru impreza. love. it's what makes a subaru,

a subaru. you have seen how the prosecution builds its murder case against sandy cain. now, the defense. and you're about to hear from the only living witness to what happened, sandy cain herself. >> the heart of our case was showing the jury that sandy was in fear for her life at the time

she shot that gun. that she did so because mr. cain was reaching for a gun and would shoot her. and we know that there were guns under the couch. police found the guns under the couch which were loaded. i am jordan savage, i am a deputy public defender in clark county, las vegas, nevada. much of the public accuse public attorneys of just smoke and mirrors and play around with technicalities but this case wasn't going to be about that because we were going to tell the jury from opening statement that sandy cain caused the death of frank cain but the issue is what was her state of mind? >> going to visit sandy cain. the majority of the cases are uneducated, poor people, many of which come from broken homes. sandy cain is an educated individual, a dental hygienist. for the public defender,

somebody like sandy cain is a very, very rare client. >> i was born in 1954 in the bronx, new york. i came from a very quiet, middle class family. regular schools except in high school. i went to a special school for gifted students. i was married to my first husband in 1976. we were together for 22 years. he hit me with his fists. one time he became very upset and ambushed me with a baseball bat. my marriage to my first husband ended in 1999 when he had met somebody over the internet and i had met somebody over the internet. the man to become my second husband. i felt that i was running from an abusive, sick relationship with my first husband into the arms of the man who told me i would always be loved and appreciated.

>> hello. hi, sandy. how's it going? how are you? >> all right. how are you? >> all right. how do you feel? >> okay. >> sandy cain was never okay. being charged with open murder, having never been charged with a crime in her life, dental hygienist and all of a sudden her life is turned upside down. nobody would be okay and sandy cain surely was not okay. you committed just -- what's called justifiable homicide and because state of mind is an issue of fact for a jury, what was going through your mind? were you really scared or not? in fear of your life or not. it is not unusual for people in your position to be in jail and face a jury on this. we had overwhelming evidence

that frank cain was a threatening man. it was undisputed that frank had over 70 slash marks on his arm and told sandy cain that each slash mark represented one person he had killed and sandy had a tattoo branded on her rear end, a cattle brand. >> it is a k/c that stood for killer cain and proud to be that because he was a killer, he told me. all of his property would bear that mark and i was the first piece of property to bear it. >> she's controlled in the relationship by a bizarre man, a threatening man. frank cain controlled everything. >> my husband, kc, decided that we would be a master/slave-type of relationship. i was submissive and he was dominating. this tattoo is supposed to

signify a hand over a person on all fours. that person on foul all fours was me. i agreed to this. i even signed a contract that he had written up. part of the contract that we had signed together that the master had certain responsibilities toward the slave and part of that was to take care of the slave. love the slave. we had a drawer full of toys. he called it the toy drawer. riding crops in there, just whips. handcuffs, dog collar and a dog leash. he made me put it on and either i would walk around on all fours in the living room dragging the leash like a dog or he walked me. he told me sit up, beg, roll over, stay. to anybody who's looking at this and thinking this was pathetic, it was a pathetic situation but i didn't see it at the time. i saw it as his love for me.

i killed him because he was going to kill me. and that second when i saw him going for that gun, i didn't want to be shot. i wanted to live. i was not going to end up another mark on his arm. >> 47 years old. no criminal history. never been in trouble before. that's pretty compelling stuff to get in front of a jury. sandy cain needed an advocate. >> i didn't have any friends here. >> somebody who could give her both emotional support and, of course, legal advice. she's scared to death because she knows she is the only living witness who can really tell that jury what happened and what was going through her mind at the time she pulled the trigger. if you are lying, there wouldn't be a gun under the couch. so, you know, there's -- you know, we have an uphill battle but we have got a good, good case. okay? we have good stuff to work with. >> i didn't do this. i didn't do it. i didn't shoot a sleeping man. i didn't shoot him because -- i

shot him because he was going to shoot me. he was going to kill me there. i'm sorry i didn't say go ahead. >> this was a winnable case. it was a case where we had extraordinary, overwhelming evidence that there was substantial provocation and that there was substantial fear in the mind of sandy that caused her to kill frank cain. we knew that we would have to answer all of the prosecution's charges in this case. >> so it's his theory that there was no argument that sandy calls 911 to set this up to say he is going to kill me? >> i don't know if he's going to go that far but i think he might. >> that's what sandy says on the 911 tape. he's going to kill me. >> i think the 911 call was one of the strongest parts of our case because the 911 call is inconsistent with premeditation. it is consistent with a woman in fear. if you listen to her voice,

there is no doubt that sandy cain was in fear when she made that call. >> my husband is dead. he was going to shoot me. >> is he moving? >> no. please get the police here. >> they're on their way. okay? >> oh my god. >> the e-mails that the prosecution had, i viewed as one of the most difficult parts of our defense. what makes sense is that she is upset because she's being emotionally dominated. she got into a relationship that she now regrets. >> there's nothing but blowing off steam. if i was going to plan to kill somebody, i wouldn't have spread it all over the internet. i wouldn't have told everybody i work with. >> i knew his theory to a jury is sandy shot frank cain in cold blood. so i had to make a very difficult visit to share with sandy what we were going to

hear. what frank told me today, what the d.a. told me today is that the -- he appears to be going with a theory that frank was sleeping. whether he was -- whether he is laying down or sitting up. okay? >> [ bleep ]. >> i know. i know it is. we had physical evidence to corroborate our case. he had a blood splatter expert to demonstrate beyond any doubt that frank cain was not sleeping, was not lying down. it is clear that the way the blood is dripping from frank cain's chest down to his legs is indicative of a man leaning forward reaching for a gun. this is las vegas. and our clients are often faced with a biggest gamble possible. >> everything is turned into, look at my life is. what it is now. what is it going to be? >> the stakes couldn't be higher. if she is successful, she goes

home. if she is not successful, she only leaves nevada state prison in a pine box. >> which will it be? and would news of sandy cain's defense attorney about to deliver that leads to this? >> this is nonsense. >> this is not going to be -- >> when "vegas homicide" continues. you're like the poster child for paying on time. and then one day you tap the bumper of a station wagon. no big deal... until your insurance company jacks up your rates. you freak out. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? hey insurance companies, news flash. nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.

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flooding, as well in south carolina. the rain continuing tonight, historic amounts. >> thank you so much. more later here on msnbc. now back to our regular programming. vegas homicide: four shots fired. you have seen the murder case against sandy cain from both sides. the prosecution and the defense. you have also heard from sandy cain herself. now something you almost never see. "dateline" goes inside the judge's chambers where the real work of finding justice so often takes place. >> got to support each other. okay? it is going to be a little tough. we are going to be working our butts off this weekend. you know that. >> just because it was self defense and this was a justified homicide doesn't mean that 12 strangers would agree. even though we have got a powerful argument here, we have

also got a huge amount of risk. >> there's no reason to be -- >> part of getting ready for trial, i sat down in the judge's chambers with the defense attorney. the judge kind of wants to feel the state out and the defense to see where we stand on possible resolutions. in this particular case, we have judge bonaventure. >> we don't have a blood spot report yet. >> i'll make sure he gets that. >> as soon as you can. >> the judge asked us, are we ready? and is there any possible resolution? he is a big proponent of plea bargaining. >> got no record. if she is convicted of first degree murder with a weapon, 40 years. >> 40 years to life. >> i would like to get a manslaughter. something in the manslaughter range because of the circumstances. no record. she is 47 years old. we want to show the prosecutor we're confident to win this case. maybe he'll worry a little bit, maybe he won't. >> at this time, i'm listening

and seeing what the defense is saying because it gives an opening to their possible defense. >> there is evidence of provocation here at a minimum. maybe not physical abuse. i don't know if they're disputing the woman has branded on her butt kc which stands for killer cain and another tattoo on her chest to show domination. when she walked into that relationship and accepted it but that shows what her self esteem was like. >> i see it differently, judge. aggressive-type of person. only submissive around him. but, you know, the facts are indicating that this man was falling asleep or was asleep when she shot him to death with pinpoint accuracy four times in the torso area. i can only tell you it sounds like a cold-blooded murderer. >> this is las vegas and poker going on. there's a game happening when we go to talk negotiations with a judge and the reason is that neither side wants to reveal their cards. both sides want to show they're confident in their case and the

judge knows what's going on and that it's part of the gamesmanship if you will of having an adversarial process. >> i'm still open to negotiations. don't get me wrong but i think a second degree is probably as low as i would be willing to come. >> she was looking at a conviction of first degree murder carrying a life sentence. second degree is life sentence but the eligibility of parole will start after serving ten years. and that i offered second degree at the time of the preliminary hearing. they scoffed at it. they thought that was a little bit too high for her. >> i felt like i was making a fair offer. once i heard he wasn't willing to take second degree, i would say, fine. let me take a swing at her. i felt pretty confident at this that point in my case and second degree i thought she was crazy not to take it. >> second degree, still ten to life or 10 to 25, right? >> ten years, 47 now, she'll be 57.

that's not a bad -- >> an opportunity to see some quality of life when she gets out. >> yeah. >> you know, 57, 58 is not old nowadays. >> the public certainly thinks it's black and white that if you did it, you plead guilty. take and deal and plead guilty. you didn't do it, you go to trial. well, it isn't that simple. it never is. you going to make it through the day? we have to make it as we get to the week before trial. everybody is interested in seeing is there a fair negotiation that adequately reflects the risks to both sides? we are going to have to decide what we want to do. the prosecutor's doing the same thing. i have a strong case. even though he may have a little fear. >> my biggest concern in this particular case is frank cain. you know, i'm not dealing with a very likable victim. can we find anybody who likes this guy? other than his poor mom? sandy cain was his fourth wife. i actually ended up meeting with wife number three. >> the only people he had that

were friends is people he talked to on the internet in the chat room. >> she was not much of a help to me. the defense had gotten to her and i learned that frank cain did have some violence in his past. >> now, that incident when -- what you told the defense, that he either choked -- put you in a choke hold like this? >> no. he put his hands around my neck. he didn't squeeze hard. he just, you know, kept asking me, is this what you want? >> okay. can you fax it over to me? actually, i can -- i'm going to be over in the courthouse. can i just drop by? okay. i'll see you in about an hour. thanks. bye-bye. i -- guess what just happened. they got notice from both court tv and local las vegas 1 they want to cover the trial gavel to gavel. sandy's going to be upset. i feel bad because i told you i didn't think this would happen.

i didn't lie. honest belief, i didn't think it would happen. i'm opposing this tomorrow in court. the judge knows about it. >> this is not a circus. >> this is not going to be easy. this is not going to be big. i'm not planning on talking to reporters during the trial. >> you -- oh my god. >> her actual emotional stress was probably 100 times magnified than what you can see. is she going to be able to convince that jury when she is responding to questions on cross-examination that she is absolutely innocent and she didn't do it? even though she acted in self defense, are 12 jurors going to believe it? >> they're waiting for you in there. >> we're late. it is my fault. i apologize. >> already in there. >> great. sorry. i'm late. i apologize. i was showing violet my crime scene diagram. let's compare it maybe.

>> and is pretty much straight on through and then c enters here and then look at his exit wound on c. it's going to be on his right shoulder blade. >> most people do not know that opposing lawyers discuss things that we can agree on to make the trial smoother. he has it exiting on his right. this is wrong. >> this is an overhead view. >> i know. but overhead or not, it is wrong. we tried to hash out and see which pieces of evidence, any exhibits we can agree to, we try to get those resolved beforehand and if we can't resolve it, then the only way to do it is argue in front of the judge. are you talking self defense because he was in imminent danger or are you talking self defense because she receive -- perceived wit a quote unquote mental abuse? we need to try to figure out what are you arguing here? >> well, i don't think we're required to divulge at this

time. >> i know. >> but the evidence unfolds and i mean, you obviously want to object to some of the other stuff coming in. >> it's helping me give a better insight as to what exactly is the defense planning on doing. >> well -- >> you try to get all of the stuff against sandy, the statements and everything else and then try to limit us so the jury can't hear the whole story of what happened so you only want to bring in these -- the bad stuff against sandy. now why shouldn't the jury -- >> no. i'm only bringing in the relevant stuff that i have legal basis. you don't have a legal basis to get that stuff in. anyway, we'll argue it in court. it's all a poker game to see who's going to crumble at the end. >> the days before trial are the most emotionally traumatic for both the defense lawyer and the client. sandy. >> hello. >> they don't take a deal by friday, then i'm forced to work over the weekend.

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vegas homicide, four shots fired, continues. it's decision time. sandy cain must choose whether to take the deal offered by the profession or go to trial for murder.

>> when you are on the eve of trial, everything unfolds. i'm not doing my job if i don't recognize that there's a possibility -- 172. >> that 12 strangers depending on their backgrounds, depending on their biases, depending upon the life experiences that they bring to the table might be more likely to buy the prosecutor's version of events. how do you feel? >> i have the shakes. >> you're nervous. >> i have the shakes outside and inside. >> she is exhausted like we all are. things have unfolded. we have been up to see her seven or eight time this is week and it's been -- it's been emotionally draining. just because you're nervous don't think they're going to hate you. >> i understand that. just -- it's hard to get from point a to point b to point c. >> we were concerned about

sandy's emotional state and her ability to articulately testify as part of her case. after all, she was our star witness. it's not the end of the world. we'll be patient. we'll get through it. okay? we'll get through it together. we started to explore the possibility of agreeing to a plea bargain negotiation in this case. >> i'd always thrown out the second degree offer. i would not give it out again after friday. >> they told me they had some papers to sign that they didn't want me to go ahead for trial. they wanted me to take a plea for a lesser charge. i said, no way. no way. i'm innocent. i'm not pleading to anything. >> if it were black and white, absolutely, go forward. the trial. but there's another side here. if she takes that step, and goes forward, and it doesn't go our way, there is no turning back.

sandy cain never gets out of prison. she dies in prison without another day of freedom and rolling that kind of dice is a serious matter. >> okay. hi. how's it going? >> serious about the negotiation or -- >> yes. >> see now? the problem with getting possible plea at the last minute, now, do i waste the next couple of hours waiting time or do i keep on working? and then only find out it's all for naught? >> working. >> huh? >> working. >> i know. >> did you call up the d.a.? >> we have not. we came here first. >> find out how long it takes and then we'll all get together. >> in the end, the decision whether or not to plead guilty and accept the plea bargain was up to sandy and sandy alone. he's going to put down on the record what he thinks he can

prove. >> as i walked into the courtroom and the judge was calling on me, i had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth. >> what will sandy cain's answer be? >> i feel that that was sprung upon me. i had 24 hours to make the hardest decision of my life. (man) hmm. what do you think? ♪ (stranger) good mornin'! ♪ (store p.a.) attention shoppers, there's a lost couple in the men's department. (vo) there's a great big un-khaki world out there. explore it in a subaru crosstrek. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. this bale of hay cannot be controlled. when a wildfire raged through elkhorn ranch, the sudden loss of pasture became a serious problem for a family business.

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and now the conclusion to our story. sandy cain has a choice to make. literally the decision of a lifetime. she can accept the deal the prosecution is offering or roll the dice in the ultimate gamble, a murder trial where a conviction could mean life in prison. our cameras have been there every step of the way. and now they're rolling as sandy cain decides. >> if you could print up an agreement, it's just because we have to get it done today if we're going to do it. it's not done but we can do it 10 to 25. >> i feel that that was sprung upon me. i had 24 hours to make the hardest decision of my life. >> maintaining our innocence. i agree with her to a large extent. in case like this, every client feels rushed because the judge is ready to try the case.

the trial set for monday. the deal comes down and this is our last chance to accept it. >> my lawyers assured me that it was more than likely that the jury would find me guilty. >> he's going to put down on the record what he thinks he can prove. it's not going to be pleasant. >> now in session. the honorable judge joseph bonaventure presiding. please be seated. >> this is scheduled to go to trial on monday. what is the situation there, mr. savage? >> your honor -- >> even as i saw my attorney preparing his papers, i had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth. >> i ask you, what is your plea to the second degree murder dmarch the amended information? >> guilty. >> it is my understanding that you want to plead guilty pursuant to the alfred decision. you don't want to admit your guilt but to avoid a harsher punishment. is that correct?

>> that is correct, your honor. >> i feel that it was a fair reflection of the risks to both sides. but i think that the prosecutor in this case should have offered manslaughter given all of this other evidence but he didn't and we were forced to make a difficult decision and we did. >> thank you, your honor. >> if i had any amount of self esteem, i would have insisted that we go to trial. i would have insisted. i was so ripped down and torn apart and stepped on that i had no confidence in my own ability to make choices and to make decisions. i gave in. i gave in. >> she can say whatever she wants because i quite frankly regretted giving that offer because i was confident i was going to be able to prove she killed her husband in the murder in the first degree.

>> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm stone phillips and for all of us at nbc news, good night.

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a vegas crime unlike any you've seen before. we put you inside the case. >> it was pretty emotional. >> a single mom goes missing. a heartbroken daughter learns the truth. >> she said one day i want to share my story with the world. >> now police are on the trail of a killer. >> he buys a tarp, bleach and an axe. >> our cameras are there as the mystery unfolds. every step of the way.