>> though he was, so he is. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. thank you for watching. she had missed a meeting and then not to hear from her? this isn't right. it would have been impossible to get up every day knowing that she was gone. i had to believe we would find her alive. >> text her. she always got right back. >> i have seen her step out of the shower to answer her phone. >> then one day, she didn't. >> immediately, my spiedy senses

were a little high. >> where was niela? >> i sent her an e-mail. all caps. are you alive? >> there was no sign of her. and such a confusing trail of clues, even the calls to 9-1-1 were silent. >> no voice, no struggles could be heard. >> this became eerie. >> in my heart, i knew she's not coming back. >> one of the suspects had an alibi. until a camera caught him in a lie. >> he lived a life of a lot of smoke and mirrors. >> and the strangest clue of all. there in an empty parking lot. >> six perfectly stacked card board boxes. >> why were they there? what was in them? >> it was into a lagoon. i watch enough "dateline" to know that's probably not a good sign. >> welcome to "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. a beautiful young woman vanished and her close knit family was frantic to find her.

naela franklin had a thriving career, a handsome young boyfriend and building the life she'd dreamed of and suddenly, silence which was quite unlike her. a trail of clues led detectives to one of chicago's most exclusive neighborhoods but would those clues lead them to naela? here's keith morrison with smoke and mirrors. >> it wasn't like this, you have to understand. it wasn't gray. it wasn't cold. no flakes of snow to drift and catch the bitter breeze. no. it was hot and it was late. after midnight, september 27, 2007. >> pretty secluded area next to a forest preserve. >> so it was. and it was clear and dark and still. and vacant. here with a deep wood fought back against the decaying suburban sprawl.

and then nothing was clear at all. >> i never cried this violent cry. >> you're experiencing everything but it's not you. you're just waiting to wake up. >> it feels like you're in a nightmare. >> yes, still does. >> the name you'll want to remember is nayela. >> meaning the one who succeeds. >> this is her mother, maria. >> i wanted her to be successful and she was. she lived her name. >> quite true. as frankly had the rest of them in this big family. this is lea. the first born. >> we might need a graph chart because it's kind of involved. >> full siblings, half siblings, quarter siblings once removed. very blended. >> we share one parent. so technically, half siblings but that word is kind of offensive to me because it

implies that it's something less and i've never felt that way. i would never use that word. we're just siblings. >> one big close happy family. so said john, the youngest. >> it's simple for us because we grew up together from the time we were young so for us, we're like one big family. >> not one, but two ashleys. >> she's ashlee with an "e" and then ashley with a "y." >> and imagine this. i think this is unusual or rare that everybody gets along. >> it's a good thing. although when we were kids, it's a lot more crazy to other people. >> in the middle of this big family was nayela. >> happy birthday, i love you. >> little mooch, they used to call her because once she decided something, all arguments against were moot. >> she was very sure of herself from the earliest time. >> nayela franklin was going

somewhere. >> she was like my hero. i looked up to her. >> she accepted you for who you are. it's almost like she glowed when she came into a room. >> after college, she came home to chicago and began a career in pharmaceutical sales and then owned a condo at 28 in the heart of the city. >> i think everything she wanted to be, she was. just fabulous, that was the aspiration and definitely met that mark. >> but number one, she stayed in touch. never failed. call her, she'd call back right away. text her, she'd reply instantly, always. >> she managed to water all of her relationships. she spent time with everyone. friends, family. >> that's a pretty special skill. >> yeah. to manage that and your career. >> there were men, of course there were. though she was, shall we say, discerning. >> the young men she dated were

of a caliber that, you know, we expected of her. >> what sort of guys did she like? >> successful, nice, respectable men. >> professional men. >> she was dating a plastic surgeon guy and this guy and that guy. >> she took up briefly with a dashing investor who drove a white bentley and then in july 2007, nayela attended an art gallery opening and he came. this lawyer from milwaukee. andre wright. >> she had a big, beautiful smile. very pretty woman. very warm personality. and we just kind of walked around the space looking at different pieces. talking about my interests. what i was looking for in a piece of art. obviously, i tried to engage her. >> suddenly, this is a different search. >> the artwork became of little interest to me at that point. >> just like that, it was all over for both of them. >> you know, i don't want to go

all hall mark card on you or anything but this was clearly a kind of a transcendental moment or something. >> yeah, definitely. >> nayela's family loved andre. what family wouldn't? >> she brought him to my child's first birthday. brought my baby a gift. who does that? he's a nice quality person. >> they liked you. >> i think so, yeah. yeah. due to her influence though. >> yeah. we did. >> and it was happening pretty fast. >> it felt good though. it just felt natural. >> it was long distance. he in milwaukee and she in chicago. they stayed connected by phone and e-mail and text. all day long. >> i would call her every morning. >> and no one seemed to notice any dark force, any unseen thing festering in the heat of that hot, late summer. didn't feel the warning. didn't know who said what to

who. it was september 18th, a tuesday. >> that tuesday morning, i thought i had called her on my way to work but i was interrupted. she called me and said, hey, what happened to my call? i said, i thought i had. so we spoke for a bit. exchanged e-mails later. and then she kind of went about the day. >> evening came. he in the flesh of love, called again. no answer. >> i left her a message saying i was heading home. and got the text message back from her phone saying she was at a dinner. and would reach out later. >> wait, you'd been calling her every day, talking all the time, and then she said i'm at dinner, i'll call you later? but she didn't. and then 9:00 p.m. one of the ashleys called nayela, who always picked up the phone, her sister. >> i got a text message that said something along the lines

i'm at dinner and i'll call you in a few. >> that sound like her? >> no, it wasn't like her to not answer the phone. i've seen her step out of the shower to answer her phone. >> i send her an e-mail, all caps. are you alive? >> one of those half worried things without knowing what a good question it was. >> coming up, not only was nayela increasingly hard to reach, even worse. she didn't show up for work that day. >> immediately, my spiedy senses were high. you get her eggs and coffee she had just left there just out. >> something's wrong. >> just like, you know what? this isn't right. >> and one more ominous sign. three calls to 9-1-1 from her cell phone. >> no struggles could be heard. light music in the background. >> kind of eerie to hear that.

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welcome back. here's keith morrison with more of our story. smoke and mirrors. >> september 19, 2007, in chicago like any other summer day, hot, humid, windy. the usual. except for one thing. nayela franklin, ambitious, dependable, and always on her phone was suddenly radio silent. even with her new love, andre. >> i called her that morning. e-mailed her. called her again early afternoon. >> and that's when he sent her the all caps e-mail. are you alive? and you probably didn't mean it that way. >> like you say to someone, are you there? >> but the end of the workday, big sister lea did get a call, not from nayela but her boss.

>> said she had missed a meeting. immediately, my spiedy senses were high. of course, i tried to call her. didn't get her. >> called friends and other siblings. had anyone heard from nayela? >> i didn't speak with her. i didn't speak with her the day before. >> i haven't been. i've been really busy and i haven't talked to her. >> a cold fear took hold of lea. she filed a missing persons report and then drove to nayela's condo and no answer, she got a key. she went in. >> you see her eggs and coffee that she had just left there just out. >> something's wrong. >> just like, you know what? this isn't right. >> and then lea got professional. she knew how. she's a public relations executive. and she called every media contact she had. >> you kind of went wide on this thing. your pr impulse kicked in. >> yes. >> lea's experience told her not to hope too much for media help.

for one very unfortunate reason. >> quite frankly, i don't know of a lot of women of color, people of color who get the same attention by the public in general. >> that old song in the media. some truth to it. >> i think it's not just a saw. >> the good looking young blond goes missing and the whole world wants to know, talking about it for years. black women, not the same thing. >> and there is reality to that. it troubles the mind that when people of color go missing or if it doesn't fit the narrative of gun violence or gang violence or something like that, somehow it's not real. >> so lea knew. but lea was not to be denied. >> they were going to cover. >> and maybe this was because of lea's media savvy. the next morning, nayela's

picture was all over the news. >> flyers with her picture are taped to traffic posts and handed out to people passing by. >> we were in the streets and putting up any place we could. downtown. suburbs. >> they phoned and texted and e-mailed their friend but no one reported seeing nayela. no one. her sister kept replaying their last conversation. >> she called me. said i've got something to tell you. and before she could tell me, she got a call on the other line and clicked over and said she'd call me back. >> she didn't call you. >> she didn't call me back. >> awful what a person's mind can churn up from the dark as day one became two and then day three. >> i kept calling her and kept calling her. i kept thinking, she's going to answer. she's going to answer. >> there's no handbook for this. you think it's a bad dream and no, it's still real.

>> the case of the missing pharmaceutical representative landed on greg jacobson and scanned her phone record. and found something alarming. just after 10:00 p.m., the night nayela vanished, her cell phone made three calls. to 9-1-1. >> chicago emergency. >> no voice. no struggles heard. no background noise with the exception of some light music in the background. >> this could be kind of eerie to hear that. >> yes, it is. a person physically unable to complete the conversation and just able to dial a 9-1-1. >> so the investigators set about talking to just about everybody nayela knew. >> there was interviews completed through doctors she had visited to retrace her steps and people she'd encountered. anyone that we knew had a

relationship with her. >> maybe lea's pr campaign helped because -- >> we had some anonymous tips. people saying they saw her at this location. >> but not a single one of them led to nayela. by now, the detectives believed they were dealing with a serious crime. and yet, she's missing. >> technically, there hasn't been a crime committed. >> that's somewhat awkward when you look into it. >> but we knew someone who had contact with her. the boyfriend before she went missing. they were all interviewed. >> the boyfriend from wisconsin, andre, had come to chicago. was helping with the search. and soon was perhaps a subject of it. >> they came to you. >> they did. >> the perfect boyfriend. now, to police, a perfectly obvious person of interest. coming up -- a discovery in an empty parking lot. >> it was a pretty secluded

area. adjacent to a lagoon. i watch enough "dateline" to know that's probably not a good sign. >> a strange sight to be sure but what, if anything, did it have to do with nayela? when dateline extra continues. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable." dateline extra . " continues.is clinically proven to seal out more dateline extra" cy life now. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the framework... wire... and plants needed to give my shop... a face... no one will forget. see what the power of points can do for your business. learn more at chase.com/ink see...nausea, heartburn,ints indigestion, upset stomach,

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9-1-1 operators received calls from the phone but each time, no one spoke. days into their investigation, detectives suspected their missing person may have been the victim of a serious crime. and it was time to turn their attention to the men in her life. here again is keith morrison with smoke and mirrors. >> there's this big search. >> yes. >> how overwhelming was that? >> you don't realize how big the the world is when you're looking for someone. >> imagine all of chicago and nailah could be anywhere. tied up in a basement.

trunk of a car or worse. and then, middle of the night 20 miles in a place called calumet city, checking out a golf course parking lot. calvin lou chous. >> i got to this area right here and i noticed up front of me, six perfectly stacked card board boxes up, shipping boxes. >> sitting right there on the curb. so it stood out. i'm looking like, something's not right here. >> inside the boxes, pills, hundreds of them. >> i thought, this might be something big. as far as, you know, some type of narcotics and drug related case. >> except, it looked more like samples. something a pharmaceutical rep would have been handing out free to doctors. >> what were they? >> just different type of medicines. i can't even pronounce the names. >> what were they doing here? on the label, an address to a

storage locker and a name. nailah. and soon. >> the fbi and chicago police, everybody was out here looking. >> including detective greg jacob son. >> it was in a pretty secluded area next to a forest preserve adjacent to a lagoon. >> whoa. >> i watch enough "dateline" to know that's probably not a good sign. >> was nailah down there in the murky water? >> trudged the lagoon. >> scoured every inch of the pond and the thick woods behind it. and found one weird thing. >> there's some jewelry that was in some of the bushes. >> pearls and such. just hanging there. cops checked to the friends and looked like nailah's except nailah wasn't here. but remember sister lea's pr campaign. not far away from there, next town over. >> the person saw a newscast and

they were like, that car's been on my block for a couple of days and thank god they saw that and thank god they cared enough to call it in. >> that call came from here. hammond, indiana, just down the road from calumet three days after nailah vanished. a black chevy impala. >> we went there to see it. >> it was hers. >> he opened the truck. the last thing you want to think is that there's something in the trunk and fortunately, there wasn't. >> you obviously do a work-up on the vehicle and you find any prints. dna, useful at all. >> i think the evidence is they processed it. described it as it was wiped clean. >> including in the trunk. >> yes. >> believing somehow, she might find her sister. the younger ashley drove out there. >> the car was parked in front of an abandoned house. and i went, banged on the door. looked through the windows. screamed her name. i didn't want to leave.

i had to be taken from that area. >> of course, the cops canvassed the neighbors and what do you know? >> they had seen a male mulling around the vehicle and then enter another vehicle and leave. and that was a few days prior to us actually locating the video. >> did they give you a good description? >> male african-american. thin build. >> that might fit a lot of people in nailah's life like for example, her new boyfriend, andre wright. police questioned him right away about their relationship, where he was when she disappeared. >> they asked about when the last time i saw her was. last time we spoke. >> or could that man mulling around the car have been someone else like that previous boyfriend, the investor? his name was reginald potts but before t cops could find him, he stepped up and called them. >> he wanted to know why the police wanted to talk with him. >> he agreed to stop by

headquarters for a talk. >> he gives us a lot of information. >> he met a year earlier but pure chance on the street in the ritzy gold coast. she was sophisticated, so was he. they dated briefly. realized it wasn't for life. though a girl could do worse, with his white bentley and duplex overlooking the lake. >> he lives in a very large apartment complex, a high-rise. >> nice place. >> beautiful. upscale area of the city. >> that's where you want to live. >> reginald told them everything he did but everywhere he went, very detailed. the day's events. early evening. bar hopping with two girlfriends. separately, of course. and after that, an intimate plan with a third girlfriend. >> they made arrangements to meet at reginald's apartment on the 18. >> this guy gets around.

>> got it that way, your options are opened. >> i guess so. >> check reginald potts' alibi. down in calumet city, calvin was cruising the vacant parking lots. a mile or so where he found the boxes, when a partner noticed something. >> he saw a pair of ear buds hanging from the tree. >> bright little bobbles showed up in the dark. what else was in that abandoned place? at the edge of the midnight woods. >> coming up -- >> it's now a different type of investigation. and detectives take a closer look at a man from nailah's past. >> one of the doors extremely damaged like it had been forced open. >> she thought there was something off about him. that's probably where to look a little deeper. >> when "dateline extra" continues. alka-seltzer heartburn relief gummies. they don't taste chalky and work fast.

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hi. i'm richard lui with your top stories. a hot air balloon crashed in central texas. officials in a statement said there does not appear at this time to be any survivors but determining the identities of the victims. and in seattle, washington, suburb, at least three people are dead after gunfire at a house party. one suspect in custody and no others and no motive yet confirmed. back to "dateline extra." welcome back to "dateline xtra." i'm tamron hall. what happened to nailah? with digging, one of their stories started to unravel. here's keith morrison with more of our story. smoke and mirrors. >> it's a grassroots effort by family and friends. >> for all the frantic activity,

the phone calls, the flyers, the organized looking about. it was a rare quiet time. 9 days in when nailah franklin's sister felt it. >> we had a prayer service at our church. in my heart, i knew. i was like, you know what? she's not coming back. a and. >> in the 3:00 a.m. of calumet city, night patrol officer calvin luscious felt his way past the ear buds to the inky forest along the abandoned parking lot. behind the derelict video store. >> got like maybe right around in this area and just looked over and the body was there. >> what was that moment like? >> shock. you don't know if it's her or not. but you have an idea because it's a female body. >> they had to resort to dental records to confirm. it was nailah. >> i think this type of death. it doesn't just kill that

person. it kills a lot in the family. it's the absence of a piece of you because that person is not here. >> i can't describe it. it's like, you know it's happening but it just doesn't feel real. it feels like you're literally like in a nightmare. >> an autopsy confirmed the death was by asphyxiation so now it was homicide but who was the killer? not andre, confirmed he was in milwaukee when nailah vanished. >> everything with him checked out. >> as for being questioned -- >> were you upset? >> not at all, they should have done that. that was part of doing their job. >> what about that investor? reginald potts who would have been so helpful. this was curious. when the detectives went to visit his high-rise apartment, they couldn't help but notice -- >> the exterior was extremely damaged. like it had been forced open.

>> huh. that's weird. >> maybe not so weird. there was an explanation. >> reginald potts was recently visited by members of the cook county sheriff's department in an attempt to evict reginald potts. >> of course, this was 2007. lots of people were falling behind on their mortgages. but by the look of it, reginald's problems ran deeper than that. >> he was constantly in default. 15 pairs of gucci shoes and not a bed to sleep on. >> not a bed to sleep on? >> a mattress. no furniture. not a pot or a pan in the kitchen but yet, what he believed were important items to surround himself with, cars, clothing, high end restaurants, they're for show. >> the bentley belonged to somebody else and reginald juggled girlfriends and hook-ups and an ex-wife raising one of his children and an

ex-girlfriend with whom he had another. didn't take nailah long to figure it out or so friends told the police. >> she thought there was something off about him and that's probably where she decided to, you know, look a little deeper. >> so she ended it. and as she did, she warned whomever she could about reginald, even one of his other girlfriends. >> watch out for this guy. he's bad news. and he's cheating on you. >> yeah, they were in communication about reginald. >> nailah said when reginald found out, he wasn't happy. >> he got wind of that. and reached out to nailah in a threatening manner. >> sent her nasty e-mails, voice mails. >> did you worry about her? >> she didn't exhibit any worries to me about it. >> but she must have been worried. detectives found a report nailah called a non-emergency police

and asked about filing an order of protection against a threatening ex-boyfriend. she mentioned mr. potts. so yes, reginald potts was a murder suspect. but he wasn't exactly hiding from the police. remember, he'd given them a very detailed alibi to check out. >> he's pretty specific on where he's at. >> as the weeks went by, he seemed quite eager to help. >> he continuously called me on my cell phone. >> really? >> yes. >> to tell you what? >> try to direct the investigation. why hadn't we talked to you? >> his friend, the ekles, were there much of the day. >> they were at a target store shopping. >> and sure enough, mr. echols confirmed his account. there they are on surveillance cameras at the target store which would seem to exclude potts as a suspect. if he was shopping. he wasn't kidnapping and killing

nailah. but this was curious. for some reason, reginald did not show up on camera. >> so if you're going to commit a crime, don't do it at target. they'll have everything down to your transaction on the key pad, very clear. >> meaning either he managed somehow to avoid every camera in the store or his friend lied for him. so they hold reginald's buddy down to the station and after a few goarou-arounds, not only admitted he wasn't at the target. >> but then traveled with reginald potts in order to pick him up. he needed a ride. >> hammond, indiana. the town where nailah's car was found. on the 6th of december 2007, reginald potts was arrested. for the murder of nailah franklin. but reginald quite vehemently denied killing her. >> this is the evidence, okay?

fabrication. >> fabrication? yes, said reginald. he was being framed. >> coming up, a suspect bares all. >> because i am. >> what's that? >> i am. >> okay. >> but would he reveal the truth? when "dateline extra" continues. you've wished upon it all year, and now it's finally here. the mercedes-benz summer event is back, with incredible offers on the mercedes-benz you've always longed for. but hurry, these shooting stars fly by fast. lease the gle350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. ...nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea! nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea! here's pepto bismol!

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only certain cuts of kosher beef. i guess they're pretty choosy. oh, honey! here, have some of ours. oh! when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national welcome back. with his alibi in question and his history of menacing messages revealed, reginald potts was arrested for ex-girlfriend nailah franklin. with no evidence, this case was far from closed. keith morrison continues smoke and mirrors.

>> here we are in a little room in the chicago police station. reginald potts is under arrest for the murder of nailah franklin. the detectives are certain they have their man. but mr. potts. >> i heavily deny that i was ever there period. >> reginald potts appears to be insulted they even asked. >> and i could tell you you're lying. >> nailah, he was nowhere near her the day she vanished. >> i was not in her apartment on the 18th. period. >> or building? >> or building. >> they told him they had evidence. >> they saw your distinctive bentley in her parking garage and building. that's it. >> i can tell you for sure. that's a lie. >> police frame him. to which the detectives said -- >> do you understand video tapes? cameras everywhere. >> yes, including nailah's apartment building.

and there is reginald plain as day with nailah arriving and leaving with her on that very day she disappeared. >> so you knew he was there. >> yes. >> but reginald double downed on his denial. >> i am certain i am nowhere near inside of nailah franklin's apartment building. >> accused of fabricating evidence. >> if you had photo shop. i guarantee you cannot bring off an elevator at her house if you have, you've been very good at photo shop. >> he talked and talked. denied and denied. >> we can put you on fabrication. >> all without any apparent desire for an attorney. but when they asked him to stand in a line-up, so witnesses could have a look. >> there's no lawyer that can bear witness, a person who's viewing it. >> i am definitely not comfortable with that.

>> here's the state's attorney at cook county. >> representing the people. and representing the case. i would not feel comfortable at all. at all. >> so they waited for reginald's attorney to arrive. and then it got odd. >> attorney is here. >> yes, sir. >> why are you taking your clothes off? >> because i am. >> because i am. >> okay. >> your attorney is right here. you want to take you right now. would you step in the other room? >> reginald removed his clothing. and refused to stand in the line-up. >> that's an interesting tactic. >> yes. >> have you ever seen that before? >> no. >> so no line-up. but they charged him anyway. with capital murder. nailah by then had been dead three months. >> i was definitely relieved. i was kind of vissurprised it t so long but relieved.

>> relieved reginald potts as his right demanded a speedy trial but then -- >> reginald potts used every resource at his disposal to delay the process. >> nbc chicago's charlie watched in something in amazement as he turned speedy justice into something else altogether. >> he hired lawyers, fired lawyers. he tried to act as his own attorney and each step of the process, the trial itself had to be reset. >> one, two, three years passed that way. in the fourth year after the murder, illinois abolished capital punishment. so that was off the table. and still, reginald's actions forced delays. >> this is one of the most bizarre cases we've seen in chicago. >> just as nailah's family reached out to the media, reginald potts tried to launch a pr campaign from behind bars. >> his family reached out trying to convince me that there may be

some way he's not associated with this crime, that it might be someone else. lfs a rush to judgment. >> he talked to a newspaper columnist who wrote sympathetically about his treatment in jail. >> every manipulation was slow torture. >> i very much believe that everyone should have a fair and just trial and that too often, people who are poor or people of color do not or most often, they don't get proper representation and they don't get a fair shake in our court system. but this was not that. >> and then finally, on october 28th, 2015, on a crisp fall day in chicago, the state versus reginald potts began. it had taken eight years to get here. >> when it was finally happening, we were sort of confused about how things would go down. there's finally a trial. what type of experience would this be? >> they had no idea. how could they?

cook county assistant state's attorneys, maria mccartney and v v valentino. >> no witnesses, no confession, no video of the crime. no physical evidence linking reginald potts to the crime and cause of death based on criminality exclusion. we don't try many cases like that. >> and not many cases with a defendant quite like reginald potts. >> coming up, an accused killer's defense. >> i'm not a monster. >> he's smarter than the average criminal but not as smart as he thinks he is. >> and after eight years, a verdict. >> what really tormented me all these years is that there's a possibility that justice won't be done. >> when "dateline extra" continues. try phillips' fiber good gummies plus energy support. it's a fiber supplement that helps support regularity, and includes b vitamins to help convert food to energy.

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welcome back. anyela franklin deserved justice. after a long wait her family was ready for the trial of reginald potts. but with a largely circumstantial case, would they finally get what they wanted most -- the truth. we return to keith morrison with the conclusion of "smoke and mirrors." >> for eight years, anyela franklin's family struggled through their incomplete grief. >> it really tormented all these years, that there's a possibility that justice won't be done. >> there was no real forensic evidence, only circumstantial things. though according to the prosecutors, there was a whole smorgasbord of truth. that video of reginald potts with niela the day she vanished, the video at the target store that did not show him and thus blew up his alibi. many of his friends testified he

played a voicemail when he threatened her. >> she was so ser fid. essentially, in that voicemail, he said, i'm going to have you erased. i'm going to make you disappear. >> in fact, said the prosecutors, that's exactly what he did. snuck into her building, led her terrified to the garage, where he strangled her, stuffed her body in the trunk of her own car. and how did they know he took her out to the suburbs to dump her body and her car? cell towers linked their phones together, like a trail of bread crumbs. >> from the moment they walked out of the vestibule of the garage, she's not seen by anybody. she's not calling anybody. she's not answering calls. her texts are all odd. but her phone and his phone are together, lock step the entire rest of the day. >> right to the abandoned video store behind which they finally found niela's body.

no coincidence he chose that particular spot so far from chicago, said the prosecutors. >> we find out that the video max store is owned by potts' brother-in-law. >> his friend, the alibi witness, now testified for the prosecution, that yes, he originally lied for reginald, but he didn't know it was to cover up a murder. and remember the three strange hang-up calls to 911 and the odd texts her family received? testifies reginald potts using her phone hours after he murdered her, said the prosecution. a clever killer's attempt to throw off a missing persons investigation. >> he's smarter than the average criminal. but not as smart as he thinks he is. >> but reginald potts was nothing, if not strategic. his defense was to refute their evidence and discredit the prosecution. >> defense attorneys need to create reasonable doubt. in this case, it was very difficult to determine cause of death. so immediately, the defense is

going to rush to that idea and say, you can't really tell how she died. it's little things like that in the hopes that one juror or two jurors will latch onto that and say they cannot convict. >> the prosecution believes it cinches the case. >> the idea that you can triangulate a cell phone signal based on the cell that pings on a tower is somehow flawed. >> after two weeks of testimony and argument, the jury had the case. did reginald's arguments persuade them? 2 hours and 15 minutes after they began, the jury answered -- no. they pronounced region nal potts guilty of first-degree murder. >> whew! i was so relieved. it was like, okay, that's past now, it's the next thing. >> the next thing was sentencing. nearly four months later. >> hoping he doesn't get four years or something stupid like that. >> but again, they had no idea

what was this man all about. there was a hearing to help the judge make a decision about sentence. normally, just arguments. recommendations from both sides. but not this time. the prosecution called 35 witnesses to tell the judge a hair-raising story about reginald pots. reginald was not quite the gold plated success story he appeared to be. >> he's a con man who fooled a lot of people. >> and when the con man was challenged, everybody, even law enforcement, was a target. >> he would kill me, my family. my family would never be safe. >> he was struck three times by mr. potts in the face. >> he spent much of his adult life in prison, where he assaulted guards. >> i was struck in the right eye by reginald potts. >> all of that was too prejudicial to present at trial, but now absolutely relevant. >> he took her back by the

elevator and i heard, slap. >> this guy has been an absolute menace his entire adult life. >> and when a woman stood up to him? witness after witness testified that reginald betrayed them, bullied them, and much worse. >> he choked her, choked her out, threw her on the bed. >> this guy not only had a propensity of violence toward women, but he had a propensity to particularly choke and strangle. >> he's a psychopath. he lies about everything. no matter how stupid. if he tells you what time it is, look at your watch. >> that bad, huh? >> yes. >> the guy's a monster. >> a monster who, however briefly, fooled even the sophisticated successful niela to her mother's eternal sorrow. >> you don't know who you're letting into your life. they don't always come looking like a monster. >> there's a kind of ceremony about these things. everyone gets to talk.

>> niela's murder stole from our community a bright light. >> it still taunts me with her screaming, begging for her life. >> but reginald? reginald cried. denied everything. >> the jury of my peers came back with a verdict that i believe is false. and i believe it is invalid. i believe a court of appeals of overturn it. but for now this court has to honor what they said, and impose a sentence. but i tell you, i am not the person that mr. mccarthy has tried to paint in this courtroom. i'm not a monster. i'm not a monster. >> we waited to see if the judge would buy reginald's story. or the prosecutor's. and here it was. >> you are a cold, calculating, conniving, coward of a con man

who must be punished. >> and indeed, he was. life without parole. >> take him away. >> so that was justice. the most nela's family could hope for. and strangely, empty. >> it's still not done. she's still not back. we still can't talk with her. >> no. they try to remember niela, not as a murder victim, but as the beautiful young woman she was. the vibrant center of her family. but grief, real and painful, comes to visit every day. >> you know, people say, so she's here in spirit, she's your angel and she's in a better place and all this other stuff. yeah, but i want her here. i don't want her to be my angel, i want her to be in the thick of it with me. >> that's all for this edition

of daysline "extra." i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. xxxx . a suspicious death in a suburban condominium. >> you don't really know what happened. we have to find out why she's dead, how this actually took place. >> strange circumstances surrounding a 36-year-old man's death in a bedroom. >> what type of drugs did he use? >> the scene was kind of unusual for where he was. >> puzzling questions over a skeleton, and a 22-year-old mystery. >> this was a very unusual case right from the beginning. >> all