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tv   Dateline Extra  MSNBC  January 7, 2018 12:00am-2:00am PST

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>> reporter: the story of kay parsons and becky sears had now become a strange and complicated case for investigators. two best friends, victims. one killed, and the other shot outside the office where they both worked. it was juicy enough to keep this usually sleepy town wide awake for the late news. >> it was definitely the lead story. >> reporter: ashley campbell is a reporter with nbc affiliate after becky was shot, she was working her contacts. >> i placed a call to one of the columbia county investigators and just to find out, you know, "what is going on," like, "what's the connection here?" and he just told me, "hold on. i can't tell you anything quite yet, but it's about to get a lot
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more crazy." >> reporter: the source wasn't kidding. at the hospital after she'd been shot, becky revealed she'd been having an affair. but she didn't say the other man's name. then, the very next morning, in what could only be considered a lucky break: deputies got a tip from someone close to the family, and learned just who that other man was. >> how about: david parsons, kay's husband? >> that was a shock. >> reporter: becky's friend michelle could not believe it. >> david and she have had an ongoing fling? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: david, the investigators learned, had carried on the affair with his wife's close friend and next-door neighbor becky for about six months prior to his wife's death. the revelation of a love triangle would send the investigation into the realm of soap opera. and raise all kinds of new questions. >> you have these next-door neighbors, they're best friends, they're going on trips together. and then behind the scenes, you've got love letters being
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written between, rebecca sears and david parsons. >> reporter: notes like these. uncovered later by investigators which showed things were getting pretty steamy on hot springs drive. in one david wrote: "rebecca, i hope you like the picture frame. i wish i could had given it to you before i went to pa. i love you baby. i miss you so much when we aren't together." and in another: "rebecca, i just wanted to let you know that even when you don't think i am thinking about you i am. i can't wait to see you!" and becky wrote to david: "being apart from you is very difficult, but being in love with you and knowing that you love me makes all of the time that we are apart bearable." it was a secret love the two had kept hidden in this small town, where gossip tends to travel at warp speed. >> it was shocking more than anything. would've never expected it. >> did you know anything about david philandering, messing around, infidelity? >> not till i heard. a friend of mine called me on
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the, on my cell phone and asked me, he said, "did you hear about david havin' an affair with becky?" and i said, "there's no way. there's no way." >> reporter: the news about the affair didn't surface until after kay had been buried. david was still seen then as the grieving husband. >> if i woulda known about that affair, i don't think there woulda been as much support for david at the funeral or at the hospital. >> why would you cheat on someone that loved you so much and was always there for you, to just to have sex basically? why?" it -- it wasn't worth it. >> reporter: tamara thought back to david's behavior in those days after kay's death, including an odd exchange between them at the memorial service. >> david went up to me. and again, being very close with kay, he hugs me. and he hugs me really, really tight. and he's boohoo cryin' and he tells me, "i'm sorry. i never meant for this to happen." and i didn't know --
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>> that's kind of -- >> --a funny thing to say. what do you think he meant? >> i don't know. >> "i didn't mean for this to happen"? >> i -- i didn't know what he meant. i just -- you know, i was thinking, "he didn't mean to leave her while he was in california." or, "i didn't mean to have that affair." it coulda meant a lotta things. >> reporter: tamara also recalled that early morning phone call she received from david on the day kay was found beaten. >> he was asking me if i had talked to kay. and the thing about it is, he's never called me during the day, so it was just very unusual for him to call me and ask me if i had talked to kay. >> reporter: it seemed strange to tamara then, perhaps even stranger now in light of the new questions about david. people in town whispered and wondered, did david somehow have a hand in kay's murder? a way perhaps to avoid and ugly and expensive divorce? >> she said, "well, if i ever found out that david was havin' an affair on me, i would be gone." she said, "i would take derek, i would get half of what is in his
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retirement from the military." >> yeah. >> " --and i'd get what i could get out of the account." >> did the community really turn on him? >> they did after they found out about the affair. i think there's more to the story. >> so now you've got a very lethal soap opera in the midst of this thing, huh? >> oh yeah. you know, things -- things start -- start comin' together. >> now you gotta wonder what's going on with david, the husband. >> i definitely do. is he involved in this? does he want his wife gone? you know? we gotta look at all those angles. >> reporter: all predictable questions. but in an investigation that was never less than startling, more twists awaited around the bend. coming up -- a tale from jail. >> he looks at me and he says, "i think i know who did it." and i said, "really. tell me." >> reporter: and this guy wasn't just your ordinary jailhouse snitch. you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet.
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>> reporter: by now, jimmy edmunds had no shortage of leads to work in the pair of crimes he was trying to solve, the murder of kay parsons, and the shooting of her neighbor becky. and then, another new lead. a big one. >> i get a phone call from our jail. they have an inmate that is requesting to speak to me. so i pull mr. jacobs, jerry jacobs, out of his cell and take him to an interview room. >> you're jerry, right? is that what you go by? >> yeah. >> reporter: jerry jacobs was serving time for a misdemeanor parole violation. >> what's his story? >> he was pretty upset. jerry tells me that as he was in the jail he saw the news and he saw what happened to kay parsons. and at the time he looks at me and he says, "i think i know who did it." and i said, "really. tell me." he says, "i believe my sister had something to do with it."
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>> reporter: and who was jerry jaocbs sister? well, becky sears. kay's best friend and neighbor. >> i think my jaw dropped right then. wasn't expecting that. he dropped a bombshell. >> reporter: becky's brother said he knew all about the affair between his sister and david. he told the investigator becky had once confided in him that david was trying to end it. >> she'd come and meet one day or there in the parking lot crying. and i was like, you know, "what's wrong?" and that's whenever she told me she was having the affair. >> he then goes on to say that becky was, had been pretty upset, crying because david won't leave kay. he wont leave his wife to be with her. >> reporter: jacobs then revealed his sister had no intention of giving up on david or letting him stay married to kay. >> she had asked me if i knew of anyone or if i knew a way that we could do this to kill kay and make it look like an accident,
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like cut her brake line on her car and make it look like an accident, or do something in that effect. >> reporter: jacobs said at first he thought becky was joking. >> i'd be like, "well becky, that's okay. you know, sometimes we all feel that way about people." you know, she's like, "no." she's like, "i really want her dead." she said, she said, "can we do this?" >> you say, i mean, she was serious? >> yes. >> wantin' somebody to kill her? >> yes. she wanted me to. and i told her i wouldn't. >> so she's shopping around for someone that can do in kay? >> yes. >> her romantic rival. >> reporter: it was a stunning revelation. a real doozy. a love sick woman plotting to kill her best friend and next door neighbor so she could have her friend's husband all to herself. >> you've got a wild story and a wild theory on your hands. >> most definitely. i mean this case has taken so many twists and turns it's unbelievable. >> forget about the smash and grab and go robbery, that's gone out the window. >> oh yeah. oh yeah. we're looking at some premeditation and some planning here. >> reporter: but edmunds had to
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consider the source of the story. >> of course, jailhouse stories are always troublesome because they're trying to do themselves some good. >> definitely. >> reporter: one thing the brother said was easy to confirm, he didn't do the hit job. he was in jail at the time of the murder. so if becky was behind it all, who helped her? jacobs said there was another member of the family investigators should look at, becky's son chris. the young man with his own house. jerry had been staying there before he was behind bars, and said chris also knew about becky's affair and how desperate she was. >> would call christopher almost every night and cry and tell him stuff. and he would get off the phone. and i'm like, "is that your mom?" and like, "yeah." "what's wrong with her?" "you know what it is. you know what's wrong." i'm like, "yeah." i was like, "david again?" he's like, "yeah, david again." he's like, "she just needs kay out of her life bad." you know?
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stuff like that. >> reporter: now that was a shocker. investigators had had their eye on becky's other son michael from the get-go. >> i was surprised to hear it that way. i was surprised to hear that it was michael, really 'cause, you know, i've been learning so many things about michael and -- and his past and all of that. >> you haven't had any discussions with michael about -- like you've had with -- with christopher? >> not like with christopher, no. no. 'cause me and christopher are a little bit closer than me and michael. >> do you know if she ever talked to michael about it? >> no, i don't. >> have a seat right here. >> reporter: still, edmunds decided it was time to bring in michael for a second round of questioning. and this time, the investigator turned up the heat. >> michael, it's over, okay? i'm not playing games anymore. >> reporter: at first, michael said he didn't even know that becky and david were having an affair.
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>> i know about the affair with your mom and david. >> my mom and david? >> don't play stupid with me. don't play stupid with me. i'm telling you right now. it'll get ugly real quick, okay? this is your one and only chance to get yourself out of a whole load of trouble. >> it gets pretty hot and heavy in that interview room. >> listen to me. listen to me. i know what's going on, okay. i know your mom wanted kay dead, okay? do you want to go to prison for the rest of your life? >> no sir. >> you need to start talking here and now. >> i didn't know it was david. >> bulls ---. >> i swear to you. >> bulls ---. >> reporter: then edmunds moved on to the million dollar question: did becky ever ask michael to kill kay. >> she has asked you specifically if you would kill her. >> no, she has not. >> i know it's your mother and i know you want to protect your mother, alright? you're 22 years old, right? >> yes sir. >> you might want to look out for number one right now, okay? >> she's never come to me and said, "would you kill kay for me?" she's never said, "would you kill someone for me?"
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>> reporter: even after a three hour grilling -- >> i will burn you. i am telling you. >> reporter: michael never cracked. edmunds had to face the fact that michael was in all likelihood telling the truth. by then, they'd come to believe his albi was solid. and they'd figured out that the glass from the crime scene that had so suspiciously turned up on michael shoes, could be easily explained. michael had gone to look at the smashed in back door with the contractor just before police arrived. >> did you have anything to do with that day? >> if i did, i wouldn't be sitting here. >> did your mother ever ask you to kill kay? >> absolutely not. absolutely not. >> only thing she's ever done is just like anybody else, you know? riding in the road, somebody cut 'em off. "oh, i wish you'd drive off the face of that cliff." that's the only thing i'd ever heard sayin' about harmin' anybody. >> did you think that your mother could possibly have done the thing that they were accusing her of. >> no. and i don't think she could do it. >> reporter: jimmy edmunds wasn't so sure.
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and he still had to wrestle with the vexing problem of becky's shooting. who was behind that and why? it was time to go talk to the object of becky's affection, david, and find out what he knew. coming up -- a guilty man? or just a worried one? >> we get up and briefly walk out of the interview and he starts talking to himself, you >> oh man. they're gonna blame me. >> reporter: when dateline continues.
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>> reporter: for investigators in grovetown, georgia, it had been one wild story after another now they were hearing becky orchestrated kay's murder, all for the love of kay's husband, david. the next question was the logical one what did the husband know? >> you've obviously got to talk to the husband. you know, she's havin' an affair with the husband. the wife's dead. you know, you gotta look at the husband as well. >> reporter: reporter ashley campbell said the community was thinking the same thing. and david being away in california at the time of kay's murder, didn't seem to absolve him. >> you know, "oh, how convenient. he's in california. and his wife is brutally beaten." did he hire somebody? we just don't know. >> reporter: of course, david had been on edmunds' radar from the moment investigators first met him outside kay's hospital room and thought he was acting strange.
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>> i knew there was something there. i just couldn't -- just couldn't figure out what yet. >> reporter: but after finding out about his affair with becky and hearing that becky could be behind the murder, edmunds called david in for his first formal interview and got it on tape. >> what i need you to do is tell me about your relationship with becky. >> okay. >> reporter: david came clean he admitted to being an unfaithful husband to kay and explained how it all began. >> we had been playin' tennis. you know, workin' out. the four of us. we would go play it would actually be becky and i against her and tony. one day she -- she said, "you know why i suck so bad at tennis is 'cause you distract me out there." you know, kind of, you know, a little flirt thing goin' on. >> reporter: a flirty game of mixed doubles that turned into a hot and heavy affair between next door neighbors. >> you were intimate with her in your home? >> two times. >> twice. where would the other locations be? >> most of the time in one of
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our two vehicles. um, at her mom's house. >> reporter: but david insisted he'd decided to end the affair. he told becky it was over. >> i'm like, "look, this is getting too close. i don't want kay to find out. i'm, you know, i'm done with it. you know, i'm done with it. you know, i'm done with- done seein' each other." >> reporter: at least, that is, until his young son derek went off to college. >> i've told her multiple times that i did not, you know, want the situation to change at home. >> because of derek? >> right. >> reporter: right after david called it quits one month before the murder becky decided to confess to her husband tony sending aftershocks across the lawn to kay's house. >> she told tony everything? >> yes. >> and tony picked up the phone and called kay? >> yes. >> reporter: the secret was out. >> i know that hurt her so bad and i apologized to her so much. she said she'd forgive me and
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we'd work through it together we were just going to move away from that and put it behind us and move on. >> he said they're gonna try to make it work. they're gonna sell their house. they immediately put a for sale sign in front of the house and they're gonna move and be away from becky. >> reporter: david told edmunds an icy chill fell on hot springs drive. kay quit the job at healing hands and quit talking to becky. but that didn't stop david and becky from continuing to communicate. >> they would still talk and they would still meet for five minutes here and there. >> reporter: david insisted it was all above board. nothing physical. >> yeah, we did a little bit of email and and talked on the phone, but i was, you know, just checkin' to see how she was doin and you know, et cetera. >> reporter: but as edmunds soon learned, that wasn't entirely true. as the interview continued, david revealed he called becky from california, the night before kay was killed. and it wasn't just to ask how she was doing. >> tuesday night we had a long conversation. >> about?
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>> nothing in particular. we just talked for a little while about what was goin on and then we got involved in, you know, phone sex over the phone. >> this is the night before kay is killed? >> the night before kay is killed. >> they're havin' phone sex for an hour. >> reporter: then the next morning right around the time of kay's murder david called becky again. this time because he said was worried about kay. >> is it weird that the husband should be calling the mistress? >> oh, definitely to check on his wife. >> asking her to look in on his wife? >> you know, i -- >> what's up with that? >> that's what i'm thinking. i mean, is he calling to say, "hey, is it done," you know? >> you gotta wonder, right? >> oh, definitely. >> are these two in cahoots? >> most definitely. most definitely. >> you guys gotta believe me. this is the last thing so far from the last thing i wanted. to take her and all that away from my son. away from her family and all of her friends. >> reporter: throughout the interview, david repeatedly denied having any involvement in kay's murder, or being a part of some plot to have her killed.
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>> never once has there been any kind of insinuation, not even insinuating, that i would ever want anything to happen to her. >> reporter: as for those repeated calls from california the morning of the murder, david insisted he was genuinely concerned about kay. >> is it normal for you to call her that early in the morning, call kay, you know, 7:00 in the morning? >> always. i always call her 'cause i, like, talked to derek before he went to school. i started gettin' worried. i thought maybe she was in an accident or somethin' out on columbia road or somethin'. >> reporter: edmunds started thinking david was telling the truth. so he changed course and asked david whether he thought becky had it in her to mastermind kay's murder. >> deep down inside, do you think she could do this? >> i thought never. i never thought that she would be like orchestrator or set something up like this. i did not think that. >> desperate people do desperate things. >> how, see, desperate for what? she's -- >> you. you.
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>> to hurt my wife? kill my wife? to have my wife killed? i'm not i do not believe that. >> reporter: edmunds kept pushing. eventually david revealed that more than once he'd wondered just how desperate a housewife becky had become. he told edmunds a month before kay's murder, someone sent bizarre texts to her that hinted of the affair. david now suspected those texts came from becky. >> did it ever -- ever run across your mind at that time that maybe the text messages were comin' in because your time table and becky's time table weren't the same? >> it crossed mind. >> she was trying to let kay know cause she thought that if she found out that kay would leave. >> reporter: david's interview went on into the night. >> we get up and briefly walk out of the interview. and he's still there, still being recorded and then he starts talking to himself, you know, about "what have i done?" >> oh, man. they're gonna blame me. this cannot be real. >> reporter: but david's interview wasn't over yet. he had more to share including a
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clue that would bring edmunds and his team of investigators one step closer to the truth.
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>> reporter: after almost three and a half hours of questioning about his wife's murder, david parsons sat alone and wept. >> so sorry, derek. >> reporter: it wasn't the first time edmunds heard tears coming from his interview room. but to this veteran cop, david's emotions seemed real. and in the end, edmunds had no reason to believe that david played any role in a plot to kill kay. >> we had no evidence whatsoever
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to prove that he knew or was involved in any of this. >> i really don't wanna come -- have to come back, you know? come back to you with somethin' else that comes out that you haven't told me. you know what i'm saying? >> oh, well, you can ask me anything. i don't know what else you need to hear from me. i'm not tryin' to keep anything from you guys. i promise. >> reporter: before edmunds turned off his recorder, david did share one tidbit. something that linked up with what becky's brother had told edmunds earlier. it was the name of the other person becky had confided in about her affair with david. becky's son, chris. >> i asked her who knew. you know, who else knew. and she did tell me that christopher knew that she was with somebody else. i don't know if that means anything or not. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies spent a lot of their investigation looking at the relationships in becky's life. first her son michael. then david. but it was becky's relationship to her other son chris that would prove to be the most intriguing. >> it was a real, real strange mother/son relationship. when his mother called, he would
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drop everything and go to mom. whatever she wanted, he was there. >> reporter: becky, investigators discovered, doted on chris and showered him with extravagant gifts -- money, a motorcycle, a car. nothing was too expensive for chris. not even the house he lived in. >> it was a house purchased by his mother. >> eighteen year old kid with his own house? >> correct. that's kinda strange, you know. >> was he a mama's boy? >> well, i mean, i guess he was a mama's boy, you know. anything he needed, he got. >> reporter: but according to michael, becky's over-the-top generosity always seemed to come with strings attached. >> it was that, "hey, i'm gonna need something from you. here's the keys to your new car." "hey, i'm gonna need something from you. here's your house." "hey, i'm gonna need something from you. here's an envelope full of money." >> reporter: and whatever becky asked for, chris would eagerly deliver. >> he said, "it may be very hard for you to understand, but i would do anything in this world for my -- for our mother." >> reporter: could "anything"
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have included killing his mother's romantic rival? michelle amerson, who knew the family well, says over the last several years chris had grown distant. she worried he was heading down a dark path. >> he had changed a lot. so we were -- we weren't around him a lot. >> when you say, "he changed a lot," michelle, what are you thinkin' about? >> i hate to say, but you know, he just appeared to be in a different type of crowd than we were hangin' with. so you know, he might've had some issues goin' on. >> reporter: remember, investigators did interview chris right after the attack. they were looking for dirt on his brother michael. >> do you think your brother did this? or do you think somebody -- >> absolutely not. but something about chris struck them as odd. >> right from the get go, we sit down with christopher and he is trembling. >> you're sittin' here shakin' like a dog tryin' to crap out persimmon seeds. okay? i understand it's traumatic, but you're extremely over nervous. >> immediately we ask him, we said, "what's wrong? why are you shaking that bad?"
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>> honest to god, i think i have parkinson's. i've always shake like this. >> parkinson's disease? >> i was like, "christopher, you're 19 years old. that makes no sense." >> reporter: it was a bizarre little detail they tucked away while they focused on other suspects. and when they went back over that interview, something jumped out the only alibi chris had for the time of the murder, was becky. >> you and your mom are at her work, which is healing hands? >> healing hands therapy. >> christopher says that he didn't go to work at his regular job that morning, he was supposed to go to his mother's work. she picked him up. >> reporter: so a conspiracy that morning between becky and chris seemed plausible even if it didn't explain the later shooting at healing hands. now edmunds looked for a way to link chris to the murder scene. and he got another helpful call from becky's brother jerry jacobs in jail. they had shown jerry photos of the murder weapon before. >> does that look familiar to you? >> no.
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i mean it's brand new. >> reporter: then in a follow up interview jacobs came back and told investigators he recognized the hammer. he said it came from becky's garage, a place chris often went to borrow tools. >> i've seen the hammer in the toolbox in the garage. >> hat toolbox? where are we talkin' about? >> in my sister's garage. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies found chris in front of the home becky had bought for him packing his truck for a weekend getaway. >> did he ask what was going on? >> no. didn't really say anything. put him in the car, we take him up to our office, and put him in the interview room. >> everything's not happened the way you said it happened, so i want you to really think long and hard and tell me -- you're a young man, right now. >> basically you just called me a liar. >> reporter: chris, no longer shaking, defiantly asked for a lawyer. >> i want to speak to a lawyer right now . >> as soon as we read him his rights, he clammed up.
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>> so he's lawyered up, chris. >> he's lawyered up. >> reporter: for investigator edmunds, the puzzle pieces had finally fallen into place -- becky had the motive to kill kay and chris, with his devotion to his mother and access to the murder weapon was her means >> go ahead and, uh, stand up. place your hands behind your back. you're under arrest for murder. >> chris would do anything for his mom and she knew it. >> including kill the lady next door. >> and he did. >> reporter: and the woman behind it all? they arrested her and charged her with murder as well. >> where do you take down becky? >> she was staying at a hotel, at a holiday inn. we took her down in the hotel room. >> reporter: tamara baldwin could not begin to comprehend the news of their arrests. >> the becky with the murderous plot and the becky you knew from sports games and on your cruise and backyard get-togethers, how do you put those two halves of becky together? >> you can't put 'em together. it's like a square and a circle tryin' to fit together. i didn't see the square.
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all i saw was the circle. >> reporter: it didn't make sense to tamara and it didn't make sense to becky and chris's defense attorneys either. as they saw it, the state's case was riddled with reasonable doubt. >> what was the weakest part about it? >> the weakest part about it was the lack of physical evidence connecting them to the crime. >> putting them in that house. >> right. >> reporter: and they were just itching to get into the courtroom to try to tear apart the state's case. coming up -- if -- as prosecutors allege -- becky plotted to kill kay then who shot becky? >> he was the guy in the bushes >> he was the guy in the bushes with the gun. >> reporter: when dateline continues. looking to save even more money on your medicare part d prescriptions? at walgreens, we'll help you save more with copays as low as $0 and reward points on prescriptions. so, no matter who you are or where you're headed, it's worth the trip.
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>> reporter: becky sears and her son chris had been charged with the murder of becky's neighbor and romantic rival kay parsons. and they'd hired a pair of
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veteran attorneys to prepare a vigorous defense. >> it was a tough situation. >> reporter: brothers vic and jacque hawk saw a prosecution case full of titillating soapy drama. but when they started looking at the actual evidence, they were unimpressed: no forensics linked their clients to the murder. >> when you think about it, there were, they did all kinds of, um, csi type of testing within the house. nothing connected either becky sears or chris to the offense. >> reporter: no dna, no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses. and that one hair recovered from under kay's fingernails didn't match either one. the crime, they said, looked like a botched burglary, not a premeditated plot. >> you think about it. if you're gonna go, commit a murder, you know, what are you gonna pick. you're gonna pick a gun, you're gonna pick a knife. you're gonna pick some sort of weapon that you can dispense with somebody fairly quickly. "okay, what are we gonna do this murder with? let's get a hammer and a bat." that seems crazy.
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>> how did you feel about your case, jacque? >> oh i felt great. i felt like this was a very winnable case. >> reporter: they did what lawyers do. they went through the case file, pestered the state to turn over evidence, and then they saw it. >> and it was devastating. >> it made it much more difficult, yes. >> reporter: the piece of evidence in the case file was a recorded interview with becky. a surprise to the defense. >> i mean, i was floored. because, i was under the impression that she hadn't made a statement. and then, we find out not only was it a statement, it was a five-hour statement, and with every kind of detail that -- that messed the case up. >> reporter: right after her arrest, becky had spoken, and what a story she had to tell. she began by insisting her relationship with kay's husband was over. >> david was gonna make his marriage work and i was gonna make my marriage work. i don't love him any more. i love my husband and my husband and i are trying to make our marriage work out.
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>> reporter: but she admitted she did talk with david on the night before kay's murder. >> what'd you talk about? >> we talked about ballgames, the kids, and sex over the phone. which is somethin' that, i mean, we had never done that before, and i don't even know how it ended up that way. but -- >> but you basically had phone sex? >> i guess that's what you'd call it. >> did you ask her bluntly, "did you kill kay, or did you cause her death?" >> we did. she denied it. >> reporter: but other details came spilling out when investigators challenged her. >> you have asked people, more than one person, on more than one occasion, to kill her. >> i have never asked anybody to kill her. the only thing i have ever done is say i -- well, i take that back. i did say to my brother one time, "i wish that she was just gone." >> so she admits to wanting to have kay gone. >> she does.
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but she -- she does -- >> but she doesn't say that she's the -- >> no. she says she -- >> --she's the person who does it. >> right. >> reporter: and as she kept talking, she admitted she wasn't quite so vague about her wishing ill on kay. her story started changing slightly. maybe she did talk to her brother about hiring a hit man. >> i was upset one day and my brother came over to my office and i was like, "you don't know anybody that'll take anybody--" and i didn't even say kay. i just said, "you don't know anybody that'll take anybody out, do ya?" >> but you were talkin' about kay. >> i was. >> reporter: then came another revelation, this one about her son. >> she starts tellin' us that uh -- she knew that whatever she was sayin', that -- that she wanted kay gone and -- and that would make her happy, that christopher was listening. and that she knew what he wanted to do was make her happy. >> reporter: becky began pinning it all on chris. >> turning on her boy. >> her own son. >> reporter: she admitted that
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on the morning of the murder she picked up chris and drove him to her house on hot springs drive. she just hedged a bit on the reason. >> the implied reason was he was going to go next door. >> to kay's house, to do what? >> we didn't talk about it. it was an implied reason, he was gonna to kay's house. to -- to -- >> --because he was going, in his mind, to do whatever it took to make me happy. >> and -- >> and that would be to get rid of kay. >> so she's the puppeteer, putting all of these things in place for him to be tempted and act on it. >> she's pullin' all the strings. >> "i'm not saying do this, but you and i both know what you're supposed to do here." >> yes. >> reporter: in her interview becky continued to insist she didn't know what happened in kay's house, that is, not until chris called her later that morning and asked for another ride. >> when he got in the vehicle, could you see blood on his clothes and stuff? >> i didn't see any blood on his clothes, but he had blood on his -- i think he had blood on his face. and i asked him, "what did you do?" i said, "oh my god, what did you do?"
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and that's when he said he beat the [ bleep ] out of her. and i said, "christopher, please tell me that she is okay. please tell me that you did not do this." >> and what did he say? >> he said, "i beat the [ bleep ] out of her." >> she's giving up her son as a killer here. >> she's -- she's throwin' him under the bus. >> this is extraordinary. >> it is. >> do you realize how extraordinary it is as you're takin' the story down? >> oh yes. >> she's groomed him as her little killer. >> most definitely. he was -- he was her little monster. >> i messed up because i made christopher think that i wanted him to do somethin' that was horrible, when i didn't want him to hurt anybody and i made him think that i did. >> becky, becky, becky. >> and he was convinced that he was helpin' me. >> reporter: becky told investigators that chris got rid of his bloody clothes, stuffed them in his backpack. and she drove him back to her office. and then they later showed up together at the crime scene, pretending to know nothing, but alarmed that kay was still clinging to life.
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>> the next conversation that christopher and i had was at the hospital. when i talked to him and i was cryin' and he said not to worry about it, that everything was gonna be okay. and i told him i didn't know what to do to help him. he said i didn't need to do anything, that he was gonna take care of everything. and i told him i was scared. >> reporter: after that, becky said she and chris worked together to throw investigators off the trail. which meant that shooting at healing hands was a total setup. >> it was christopher. >> he was the guy in the bushes. >> he was the guy in the bushes with the gun. >> reporter: chris had shot his own mother. a ruse to throw off the cops. and a bumbling one at that. becky said their plan was for chris to shoot and miss. >> he didn't mean to shoot me. he was just gonna shoot at me to scare me, for me to say that somebody chased after me wantin' money. >> your own son shot you. >> he didn't mean to. >> reporter: becky sears had
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told investigators quite a story in a version that showed her slightly less culpable than chris. the legal fight now had shifted to mother against son. and becky had one more card left to play. coming up -- it's the question everyone was asking. >> who is this woman? >> evil. hi, i'm the internet! yu know what's difficult? armless bowling. ahhhhhhhh! you know what's easy? building your website with godaddy. get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. build a better website in under an hour.
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>> reporter: becky sears and her son chris were both facing the death penalty for conspiring to murder kay parsons. but their attorneys vic and jacque hawk suddenly had a colossal problem on their hands. >> i didn't want him to hurt anybody. >> reporter: becky's "all-but-a- confession" on tape. vic represented becky, and jacque represented chris. facing this tough new set of facts, the brothers decided to sever their cases. mother would now be pitted against son in two separate trials.
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>> i didn't have any question in my mind that his mom would testify against him if it benefited his mom. >> and chris is gonna go to trial first here? >> yes. >> does that make a difference in the scheme of things? >> well, i think it puts pressure on her. because then that gives him some reason to maybe, if he is hit with a significant sentence, death penalty, whatever, a good bit of impetus to come and testify against his momma. >> reporter: the state still didn't have any physical evidence against chris, but that was about to change. >> i get a message that -- that a box of bloody clothes and shoes had been turned over. >> reporter: becky had an 11th hour reveal: she told authorities where to find the clothes chris wore during the murder. she'd stashed them in her mother's attic. turning them over was a play to get herself a better deal. >> so she can do herself some good and get the death penalty off the table? >> i think that's the obvious. >> what'd you see when you opened it? >> i saw the backpack, black
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backpack just like she described. we found the jewelry taken from the parsons home. we found the jewelry taken from the sears home. it was all there. >> signed, sealed, and delivered. that was it. >> there was nothin' else they could do. >> say goodnight, there was nothin' else to do. >> no, not at all. >> reporter: there would be no trial now. instead, a plea agreement, in may 2012. becky sears and her son chris bowers pleaded guilty to murdering kay parsons. they were spared the death penalty, but in the end, becky didn't get a better deal than chris. the judge sentenced them both to life in prison without parole. becky appeared in court that day looking hardly like the well-put-together suburban mom from days past. >> do you remember seeing becky on the news when she came to court? >> i did. >> what did ya think? >> i was, like, "wow, i understand why she was goin' to weight watchers." um, she had gained so much weight. and, you know, really no remorse either. >> reporter: even her defense
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attorney, who withdrew from the case before that plea deal, said he could not fathom the taboos broken in this case, the families ripped apart. >> she's turned the mother-son relationship upside down. no mother would do what she's done. no real mother. and to have turned on her own son, that says more than anything else about becky sears. >> reporter: and even as she headed off to prison this saga wasn't over yet. her old boss at healing hands says that while she was working for him, becky had her hands in the till. >> how much money, jurgen? >> about $250,000. >> was stolen by becky from your healing hands account? >> yeah. >> so nice, friendly, gregarious becky out front has been stealing from you with both hands. i'm guessing she was your best paid employee and you had no idea. >> and you would guess right. >> that's before you even get to the whole other thing of the business with kay.
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so who is this woman? >> evil. >> reporter: becky was never charged with the theft. the da says they had the evidence, but with her guilty plea and life sentence it all became a moot issue. and remember how michael was blamed for stealing checks from healing hands? he told us what really happened. >> it wasn't me. that was my mother. >> she blamed you and you took the heat, huh? well, yeah. she basically told me, hey, if i didn't do that for her, all the money she was making, she wouldn't -- she couldn't make no more. >> but you had nothin' to do with it? >> nope. sure didn't. >> reporter: it's been years since he spent all that time in the interrogation room taking the heat for his mother and brother's crimes. michael told us he still has nightmares about it all. >> i'm torn up inside. >> you're still part of the wreckage of this whole deal? >> yeah. >> have you talked to or seen your mother since? >> no. i sure haven't. sure haven't.
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>> do you want to? do you have questions for her? >> i do. i sure do. >> she's sittin' here. what do you ask her? >> what do i ask her? i would like to ask her what happened, you know? what happened to the mother i had, you know? >> reporter: but michael is and his family friend michelle amerson says she's looking out for him. >> you're still kind of a second mom for michael? >> yes. >> how's he doin', in your opinion, michelle? >> michael's doin' better. you know, we have had a lotta heartache over his loss and, you know, what he's been through. but he's a trooper, and he has a lotta people standin' behind him. >> reporter: becky sears and her husband tony are now divorced. and kay's husband david? he's remarried, still living in the house where it all happened. derek, just 12 years old when he lost his mom, is now serving in the marine corps.
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>> what were your last words to her? and you know they're never gonna be the last words, but they were. >> i said i'm sorry. i said, "you know i love you, girl." and she says, "i know, i know." and i said, "i'll talk to ya later." and that was it. >> reporter: today grovetown quietly bustles along, with few traces of the tragedy that happened on hot springs drive. but tamara says that for her, kay's spirit is still there, right down the street. >> do you offer up a little prayer to kay when you drive by your place? >> of course. and also -- also to derek. it has to be hard on him. and so i always -- i always pray to make sure that he knows that
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even though his mother's not there, she loved him more than anything. >> it was to the right of the mattresses that we found the remains of julie. >> shocking as the blaze was, it was nothing compared to what investigators found in the embers. >> it's a bullet? >> yes.
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>> so this woman's been shot to death? >> yes. >> the obvious suspects, neighborhood thieves. >> there were half a dozen house burglaries unsolved. >> investigators also dug into a favorite theory. the husband did it. >> i was angry. i felt that the detectives were on a manhunt and they were after my dad. >> and then, up popped a text that might just be a clue. >> you could say, maybe she's driving events here? >> that's correct. >> the truth beyond twisted. leaving behind smoking ashes and burning questions. >> i physically started shaking and i started crying. >> i want the know why. >> welcome to "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall.
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julie griffith was a loving wife and a doting mother. when a blaze ripped through her home, it took her life and robbed her family of their was it an accident, a burglary gone wrong or something else entirely? here's dennis murphy with "consumed." >> the canterbury hills subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. tidy homes kept by neighbors living ordered lives. so as the front porch lights winked out on just another day, what happened one cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. orange flames were licking the tree tops. a roaring, all-consuming fire was devouring one of the nice homes. >> it was awful. half of the house was gone. >> what would rise from those ashes was far more than a fire marshal's investigation into cause. there would be a probe into the deepest roots of a treachery beyond most people's comprehension.
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>> it's not true. no way. >> what had they all missed? >> a monster. a liar. a cheater. >> he's destroyed my entire family. ♪ ♪ >> before it became charred rubble, the house was home to a long-time paducah couple, keith and julie griffith, church going, golf playing, high school sweethearts, 36 years into a marriage that had produced two sons. aaron the older. >> they were very supportive parents. they were loving. they loved my kids. >> aaron took after his dad, athletic, easy going, level headed. younger brother zach was more of
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a firecracker like his mom. there was the time, for instance, in the sixth grade zach grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole for a koi pond in the backyard. >> my parents come home. they're like, what are you doing? i'm like, we're going to have a pond. >> were they okay with it? >> yeah, they were fine. they were kind of like, well, this is going to be a nightmare. >> when aaron and zach flew the nest, the griffith's lives seemed to only get busier. they joined a motorcycle class through their church, frequently were golf foursome with friends, craig and temple bradley. >> everybody that knew keith loved him. great guy. >> did he become your best friend? >> yeah. definitely. one of my very best friends. >> temple felt that way about julie, too. >> she had a heart of gold. she'd do anything for you. but she also wasn't afraid to tell you exactly how it was, either. >> did she get people's feathers ruffled? >> oh yeah, yeah. yeah but everybody loved her. >> after early retirement from the water company, keith found a second career as a traveling lawnmower salesman, which left julie to spend a lot of nights home alone in the house. but keith never worried for her well-being in a safe neighborhood. their own door watched over by their beloved great dane cleo. aaron's wife ali.
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>> i know for a long time they didn't lock the door. they would leave and go to dinner or go to town and leave the door unlocked. because cleo was the guard dog. >> fulfilled as the griffiths' lives seemed to be, keith and julie were transformed when aaron and ali brought into the world their first daughter, aria. >> a first child, it was a greatest day of her life i think. >> julie lived for my little girl. she wanted to be a part of everything that she did. >> and julie was there for ali when she went into labor for their second daughter analiese. her white knuckled dash to the hospital earned julie the affectionate nickname nascar nana. >> the flashers were going and honking the horn. >> what is she saying to you? talking to you. >> don't have a baby in my car. keep your legs crossed. don't have the baby in the car. >> everything seemed to be going great for the griffiths in 2013. keith had weight loss surgery and dropped more than 100 pounds. julie was over the moon with two granddaughters. but also that year came the rift.
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zach disclosed to his very religious conservative parents he is gay. >> was definitely hard. we went from my mom was my best friend and going from talking to her multiple times a day to just being completely -- just completely shut off. >> julie visited zach that fall. they tiptoed around the elephant in the room but the time together gave zach hope. was that the step as you look back to patching things up between you and your mom? >> yeah, yeah. >> there was a way forward? >> there was definitely a way forward. we just needed more time. >> but then came that cold night in january. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> there is a house on fire in canterbury, and there's not a fire truck here. >> a deputy drove toward the griffith home, his dash cam recorder catching this quick glimpse of the blaze. then the fire trucks arrived. mccracken county sheriff's detective matt carter received a call in the middle of the night. it's a bad fire? >> very hot. that whole left end of the house was just completely consumed with fire. >> it took about an hour for firefighters to knock down the flames.
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hours more for them to make their way through the blackened wreckage of the house to what seemed to be the heart of the fire. the master bedroom. ghastly what they would discover. >> coming up -- what they found in the embers would rattle the neighborhood and shatter the family. the moment you realize you're ready to make dinner
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>> daybreak revealed the grim aftermath of the blaze at 307 tudor boulevard. wisps of smoke rose from was once the griffith home. detective matt carter. >> this entire structure had crumbled. it was a pile of ashes that was on the ground. we didn't even know if anyone was home or not. we knew that they were in and out of town a lot. >> as firefighters carefully walked through, what appeared to be the fire's epicenter, the master bedroom, their worst fears were confirmed. julie had, in fact, been home that night. >> it was to the right of the box mattresses that we found the remains of julie. they were unsure initially that it was human remains. we knew that there was -- >> even with all their experience? >> yes.
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everything was just consumed by fire to the point that things were unrecognizable. >> as for keith, he was away calling on customers in indiana. word of julie's death spread almost as fast as the fire had raced through the house. >> i'm getting ready for work, have the tv on in the background. >> we're live in the canterbury hills subdivision on tudor boulevard. >> then temple bradley's phone rang. it was a friend who also knew julie. >> she said, you know there's a fire. i said, yeah, i saw it on tv. she said, yeah, it was keith and julie's house. and i just sat there. >> did she know at that point that julie, in fact, was gone? >> she knew. so she told me. >> temple's husband immediately tracked down keith as he was making the three-hour drive home from indiana. >> he said, i'm on my way. i'm probably, you know, two hours away. i said, are you all right? he goes, yeah, yeah. i could tell he was in shock.
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>> the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained. and now this. >> i guess you're just beating yourself up something terrible that you had been sideways with her. >> yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would have been close again. that we would have been, you know, that mom and son duo that we were. but we just -- we didn't have the time. it was ripped away from us. and we never get it back. >> aaron, the elder son, had more of a take-charge reaction. >> got to take care of my brother, i got take care of my dad. >> you've got logistics. before the grief that you can absorb. >> yeah, for me, it's just kind of the way my brain is wired i guess. >> within hours, the griffiths would head from all directions toward what used to be an anchor in their lives, the family home. >> just gave my dad a big hug and we were both crying.
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we're like, i can't believe this. you know? what happened? >> keith's good friend craig bradley was there to lend his support. >> this is the first time you were able to see him eye to eye. >> i could just tell he was shaken. >> as if the news couldn't get any worth, their great dane cleo along with a second pet daisy had also perished in the flames. craig and keith walked the property, surveying the damages. >> we get to the koi pond. got to get those fish out of there. julie would kill me if something happened to those fish. i was like, you know, let's not worry about that right now. >> overwhelmed by loss, the griffiths were faced with the question, how could this have happened? >> the first thought was that it was the new heating and air unit. it had just gone in. >> the unit had been installed just days before the fire adjacent to the master bedroom. >> that was my very first thought, that somehow the new heating and air unit wasn't put in properly. >> faulty installation? >> yeah. >> as for the cause of julie's death, that was left to the county coroner's office. deputy coroner ben bradley.
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what were you working with? >> a very charred body. i could not very well identify it being a person. >> the cause of death seemed obvious. but just to be sure, julie's remains were sent on to the medical examiner for an autopsy. what he discovered was as deeply troubling as it was unexpected. >> he had recovered a projectile in the remains. >> a bullet? >> yes. >> suddenly what was thought to have been death by smoke inhalation was now a homicide. closer examination revealed three bullet holes in all in julie's torso. the deputy coroner immediately called the sheriff's office. >> i said, we need to get some people back to that house because this is going to be a homicide. >> what did you think? wow? >> absolutely. >> lady in a nice neighborhood, good house. >> right. >> now she's got three bullet wounds. >> that's right. on a who-did-it crime. >> back on 307 tudor boulevard, fire equipment pulled out as sheriff's cruisers pulled in. would the charred wreckage of the home once filled with joy
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and laughter, now hold clues pointing to a killer? >> and then, this detective spies what could be a critical clue on someone's phone. >> ping, up comes a text message? >> that's correct. >> when "dateline: extra" continues.
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>> the theory that julie died by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffiths house itself. for detective matt carter, a .45 caliber slug recovered from julie griffith's torso turned the charred rubble into the scene of a homicide. i'm guessing your day changed a whole lot, detective. >> it changed a lot. >> despite more than a decade on the job, the detective had his work cut out for him. no hair fiber, bloody footprints, none of that stuff. >> right. you've got an arson that destroyed any chance of obtaining any of that from the scene. >> for detective carter, the most obvious theory, this homicide was the work of a home intruder. >> a burglary gone bad. >> somebody's looking for the laptop or whatever, jewelry, and thing goes down. >> right. we had had some burglaries within a few miles of this area. >> within weeks or months? >> within weeks. within weeks. >> as police canvassed the neighborhood for leads and witnesses, the investigator also had to consider the perpetrator may have been someone julie
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knew. >> you're not ruling anyone out or in. you're simply going through the motions. you're speaking to the immediate family first. working your way out. >> the sheriff's department did not tell the griffiths julie had been murdered. >> we were not told anything by the police at that point. >> but anyone at the scene might have guessed foul play was somehow involved. >> there was just cops all over the property. >> you said, why the cops? >> exactly. yep. >> naturally the first person detective carter interviewed was julie's husband, keith. >> first of all, we are sorry for your loss. >> appreciate that. >> at first, keith talked about what everyone perceived was the cause of the inferno, an accidental fire set off by a new
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newly installed heating unit. >> you had it installed tuesday? >> it was a whole new system. >> keith explained the contractor was a friend of his who had done the work just a few days earlier. >> they put a rush on it. i mean, you know, that's kind of what friends do for each other. >> okay. >> and i hope to god that this problem is not his. >> but eventually without giving details, the detective revealed julie's death was no accident. >> the investigation shows that foul play is involved. i do not believe at this point in time that this was any kind of an accident. i want to ask your cooperation on several things. okay? >> okay. >> one of the first things detective carter asked about was how keith and julie were getting along. >> any problems at all that you all had? anything like that whatsoever? >> she's my best friend. i mean, i know it. that woman loved everybody. >> the investigator also asked keith for details about his business trip to indiana. >> what hotel? >> comfort suites. >> comfort suites, okay. didn't leave the hotel? >> i did leave the hotel about -- about 11:00 i went and got something to drink. and i left again about 4:00 and just went and got a doughnut and a coke. like i say, i get up pretty early. >> and what about weapons? did keith have a gun? >> i have a .45 acp in my work %ruck that i just got.
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and i left again about 4:00 and just went and got a doughnut and a coke. like i say, i get up pretty early. >> and what about weapons? did keith have a gun? >> i have a .45 acp in my work truck that i just got. it's never had any -- it's never been loaded. >> as part of standard protocol, the detective asked for keith's clothes. they would be tested for gunshot residue. >> what you're wearing now, is that -- was that fresh clothes from this morning, whenever you >> this is what i wore yesterday. >> before wrapping up the interview, the detective took a look at keith's cell phone. >> while i'm reviewing his phone, i see that he obtains a text message, an incoming text message, from a lady by the name of deanna james. >> ping, up comes a text message? >> that's correct. >> the message read, did you make it home okay? keith was quick to point out his relationship with deanna was completely platonic. >> she's more like a guy friend. >> no big deal? nothing sexual. >> no big deal. that's right. >> after that, keith was
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released to go and grieve with his family. detective carter, meanwhile, set out to verify keith's story. >> he had a receipt where he'd stayed. >> so that puts him three hours away from this house fire. >> correct. >> and the death of his wife. >> right. it showed his check-in time and check-out time. >> a quick check of keith's gun showed he was telling the truth about it, as well. the gun looked as though it had never been fired. so maybe he's not the guy? >> he may not be. >> so then, who was? coming up, the detective sits down with deanna. was she really like a guy friend to keith? >> you could say, what, maybe she's driving events here? maybe she wants to get rid of the wife? >> that's correct. >> when "dateline: extra" continues.
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>> julie griffith's family had hardly had time to absorb the horrific news of her death and in a house fire when disturbing rumors started reaching them that investigators thought her death was foul play. the sheriff's department kept details of the murder quiet for days. >> i could not believe it. >> daughter-in-law ali. >> i couldn't imagine anyone would ever want to hurt her. much less set the house on fire. the dogs perished. i had no idea what could have happened. >> no enemies.
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i mean, it made no sense. just who would want to kill her. >> after keith was released the night of his interview with detectives, he headed straight to his friends, the bradleys. they were floored to hear the line of questioning that he recounted. what was up with his marriage, his alibi, the gun he owned? >> he had been questioned to the point that he almost felt like they thought he had done this. >> son aaron also got called down to the station that same evening. and he, too, was questioned about his parents' marriage. >> notice anything lately in their relationship as far as any problems or anything like that? that you're aware of anything? >> no. nothing. >> was there any money troubles? was there any relationship, things that we knew of? >> but to a person in the griffiths' circle, the very idea that keith might know something about julie's death was, well, just flat-out crazy. >> i knew he didn't do it. >> there wasn't any way that keith was involved in this. i remember sitting there, and
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looking over at keith, just watching him for a while. and finally i just said, you can't even grieve, can you? and he said, no, they've taken it all away. >> the friends' working theory was a botched break-in. they had heard about the neighborhood's recent rash of burglaries. maybe that's what happened to julie. >> they come in, and they startled cleo. >> the dog started to bark. go for them? >> caused julie to wake up and got scared and shot her. >> it made perfect sense. >> but for detective carter, the burglary theory of the crime wasn't panning out.
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even as they sorted through the rubble, detectives at the scene found untouched valuables, two safes, a cache of guns and julie's purse sitting in plain sight. >> you would think an intruder would have grabbed it. >> you would think so. >> so carter set out to follow the most promising lead he had. who was this woman deanna, the text messenger, who wondered if keith had made it home okay.
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he had described her as a guy friend. >> there was just something about that text message that seemed to stick out, and it seemed to create that question of, you know, what's missing here. >> carter had called ahead to the authorities in the indiana town where deanna lived. they'd arranged to bring the woman down to an interview room. she was waiting. >> my name's matt carter. >> deanna was about to tell the detective a story that would dramatically reshape his investigation. >> is she a guy friend? >> no. it was more than that.
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>> deanna shared the same story with us. >> he wanted me to love him. >> deanna said she and keith first met years earlier at a vendor fair.
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she was the cfo of an i.t. company, keith the road warrior lawnmower salesman had a booth there. >> keith was sitting there. i guess i caught his attention right away. >> you noticed he was eyeing you? >> i noticed he was staring at me. so i kind of, you know, just smiled. >> she says he asked her to dinner. they quickly discovered how much they had in common. >> he talked about both his sons and being a grandpa. so i just really connected, because i had grandkids, too. >> after several dates, deanna says, keith expressed interest in a relationship. but she wanted to keep it just friends. they stayed in touch but didn't see each other for a while. then just a few months back, he sent her a flirty text message. >> the text just said, did you cast a spell on me? and i'm like, i looked down at my phone, i'm like, what? he said i was in a party last night and this woman was chatting me up. he goes, and all i could think about was you. >> deanna who was in the throes of a traumatic romantic break-up agreed to start seeing him again for dinners. and she says, he seemed excited to show off the new post-surgery keith. >> he goes, you're not going to recognize me. and he goes, i've lost over 100 pounds. i said, you have? >> did he look okay? >> he looked fine. i mean, he felt -- i think he
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was more confident, as well. >> deanna says keith now began aggressively courting her, showering her with gifts, flowers, notes of affection. it was all, she said, a bit much. >> he kept pushing for more. and i kept telling him, you need to back off, you need to slow down because i'm just not there. >> deanna said she couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about keith that was holding her back. maybe it was the fact that he still seemed unusually bound to a woman he called his ex-wife. from the very beginning, deanna says, keith told her that he was divorced. >> very first conversation. >> i'm a divorced guy. >> right. >> by the time she was sitting across from detective carter in that interview room, deanna says she and keith had never been intimate, but they were dating. and keith was talking long-term. house-hunting for them. >> he said, i don't want to scare you, but i want you to know that i'm looking for properties here in morrisville to buy, so -- for us to be together. >> for the detective, deanna's
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>> we were all frantic. we had no idea how it could have happened. >> when "dateline: extra" continues.
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welcome back. here once again is dennis murphy with "consumed." >> six days after the cold-blooded murder of julie griffith, family and friends gathered at her church to say good-bye. between the visitation and the memorial service, son zach was overwhelmed. >> just showed, like, what an amazing woman that my mom was to have that many people come out just to say that, you know, they just wanted to give their condolences. >> to close friends craig and temple bradley, julie's husband keith was more emotional that day than they'd ever seen him. >> tears, sadness. >> i'd never seen him cry, you know, in my life. >> but even as the griffith family mourned, zach and his brother were feeling uneasy about the investigation which seemed to be focused exclusively on their father. >> i was angry. i felt that the detectives, the sheriff's department were on a manhunt, and they were after my dad. >> because the husbands always do it? >> yep, the husbands always do it. and they just seemed they zeroed in on him and were going at it 110 miles an hour. and were not respectful to my brother and i about any of the developments or anything going on. >> but detective matt carter had an ongoing investigation, and he felt there was ample reason to pursue their dad. after his interview with deanna, he had driven to the hotel that was keith's alibi. there he uncovered a bombshell. remember keith saying to the detective he had been at the hotel the entire night, ducking out just twice to get a drink and a snack? well, unhappily for keith's alibi, when the detective hit play on the hotel security video, it told a vastly different story. keith is seen leaving as he claimed around 11:00 p.m. but -- >> i think within 15 to 30 minutes he's going to be returning. that never happened. >> you're scrolling through the tape. >> going through, going through. >> and then when did your bingo moment come up? >> he finally arrived back at the hotel six hours and 34 minutes after he left initially.
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>> gone for more than 6 1/2 hours. was that enough time for keith to drive all the way back to his house in kentucky, commit the crime, and return? >> so what did you and your partner find when you put a clock to it? >> driving the speed limit to and from, it would have allowed approximately 20 minutes, at least, to have committed the crime. >> is that enough time for him to do this lethal act, kill his wife and torch the house? >> i believe it was ample time. >> 15, 20-minute window? >> yes. >> keith griffith was arrested and charged with arson and murder. >> you care to answer the allegations, sir? >> he could face the death penalty. he pleaded not guilty. >> we were all frantic. we had no idea what was
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happening, how it could have happened. because at that point we knew that there was no way that he had anything to do with it. >> this is nightmare country? >> yes. but again, we thought it would all be explained. they would do their job, they would take him, and the truth would come out. >> i was 100% convinced that he was innocent. and they were taking the wrong person in. meanwhile, the person who actually did it was getting away. >> family and friends were for sure distressed to learn that keith had another woman on the road. but the revelation wasn't enough to shake their support for him. >> it was a shock. but it was something that we accepted as a mistake. but that did not mean that he killed julie. >> there's no way he did it. not to julie, his wife. >> yeah. >> kids' mother. no way keith did it. >> but when keith griffith went to trial in february 2015. >> all rise! >> prosecutor raymond mcginty laid out a formidable circumstantial case. >> on january 17th, 2014, keith griffith decided that he could
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kill his wife -- >> a cornerstone of the case was that hotel security video. not only did it show keith gone for enough time to commit the crime, the prosecutor said, it also caught him in a lie. remember in his interview, keith told police he hadn't swapped clothes that night? >> -- change clothes? >> no. >> but a look at the security footage showed he had. >> he left wearing one set of clothes. one of his work shirts. he came back dressed in all black. >> the prosecutor also showed security video captured from a residence near the griffith home. it caught a glimpse of an suv pulling into the subdivision shortly before the fire. >> it was a little blurry. it was a few seconds long, but it sure looked like keith griffith's car. >> and another circumstantial bit. who else but keith, the prosecutor said, could have gotten by the griffiths' aggressive great dane cleo? certainly not an unknown intruder. >> the dog and keith were very close. a burglar couldn't have come in. a family member could have. >> as for the why question, how could keith, a man who by all accounts loved his wife, actually do it? the prosecutor turned to two age-old motives.
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>> almost every case involving a husband and a wife, it's lust and greed. one or the other. this one had both. >> the lust part of the equation, he said, was deanna. >> raise your right hand. >> she took the stand and told the jury that not only was keith house-hunting for them, he was also making plans to bring her down to paducah for a concert and introduce her to his family. >> i would love for you to come for the weekend, stay for the weekend. we'll go to the concert. and i would really like for you to meet my dad. >> as for the greed part, that was life insurance money. two policies on julie's life worth $250,000. one of them, the prosecutor said, had taken effect just eight days before julie died. >> keith griffith got to the point in his life he just wanted to start something new, and he didn't want to give julie griffith what she would have needed in a divorce and would have been entitled to. >> keith's daughter-in-law ali
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griffith, listened to the entirety of the prosecution's case. all she heard were theories. >> they spun a story. and they told a story how they wanted it to go. and they had facts that supported their story. but did not prove it. >> and that's what keith's defense attorney, mark bryant, hammered home for the jury. >> what does no evidence mean? >> they didn't have dna. they didn't have any kind of forensics. they didn't have a confession. they had nothing. they had circumstantial evidence. >> in their haste to arrest keith, the defense argued the police had gotten it wildly wrong. yes, he conceded keith wasn't the husband of the year. but he said deanna's story that keith was pursuing her for a long-term commitment was nonsense. rather -- >> what he wanted was a port in every storm. >> as for the life insurance, $250,000 was far from a financial windfall, he said. even the bradleys knew that the reason keith and julie bought that new policy was because of a friend's recent tragedy.
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>> she had been nagging him about getting -- making sure they had plenty of life insurance. >> and he argued the footage of the suv pulling into the subdivision was far too blurry to i.d. it as keith's ford expedition. besides -- >> if a guy is going to go to this much trouble to kill his wife, why would he drive an expedition that everybody knows he has? >> but the big question still remained, if keith hadn't driven back to paducah to kill julie, where had he gone the night of the murder? the only person who could answer that was keith himself. >> he was very adamant about taking the stand. >> he wanted to talk to the jury? >> he did. >> what would he say? and would the jury believe him? it was roll the dice time. coming up, keith's eyebrow-raising alibi. >> i was embarrassed and ashamed of what i was doing the night my wife died. >> and then what keith revealed to us. >> that's what i've told everybody, when they hear the story, they're not going to believe it. >> why even a jury couldn't end
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welcome back. the prosecutor laid out his case against keith griffith -- that he had the means and the motive. now the accused murderer was insisting on taking the stand in his own defense. and he had a bombshell to reveal. here's dennis murphy with the conclusion of "consumed."
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>> keith griffith was about to take the stand and explain the most damning piece of evidence against him. hotel security footage put him off the grid for more than 6 1/2 hours the night his wife julie was murdered. but if he wasn't perpetrating the crime during that time, then where was he? >> tell us your name, please, sir. >> keith wayne griffith. >> keith's explanation came with an embarrassing secret. his lawyer argued that ever since becoming a traveling salesman, keith had struggled with an addiction to sex. >> keith, until you got out on the road several years ago, did you have this kind of a sexual addiction? >> no, sir. >> and the night julie was murdered, he said he spent those hours out prowling for women. after he left the hotel, he changed out of work clothes into his "man out looking" duds. >> i didn't like people to put my job with my carousing. >> with your carousing?
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>> mm-hmm. >> he said he went to a massage parlor, a bar and couple of strip clubs. but try as he might he never found a hookup. >> i was trying to pick somebody up. wasn't anybody available or interested or whatever, however you want to put it. >> after last call he said he went down to the river to watch the boats before returning to the hotel to catch some shut-eye. as for why he lied to the police -- >> i was embarrassed and ashamed what i was doing the night my wife died. >> did you kill your wife? >> no, sir, i did not. i loved my wife. >> did you burn the house down? >> no. >> did you kill those dogs? >> no, i loved those dogs. >> when the case went to the jury, keith's friend craig bradley didn't know which way the jury would fall. >> i didn't know if he would get acquitted. but i didn't think he'd get convicted. i mean, i really felt like it would be a hung jury. >> turns out he was right. after six hours of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked. >> i'm going to declare a mistrial at this time. >> keith would sit in jail for another year as he awaited a second trial. a long time for his family to process the story he told on the
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stand. >> he left to go to a bar, to go cruising, or something? and then he goes and sits on the riverfront? like, he has never done that before in his entire life. >> so when he stepped down, you thought? your father did this? >> yeah. yeah. i mean, i definitely wasn't saying it out loud. and i wasn't ready to accept it. but i definitely was moving in the direction of the only thing that makes sense at this point is that he committed the crime. >> after months of wrestling with his thoughts, zach decided it was time to send his dad a letter. >> i put in the letter, my opinion was you did it. you know, you took away the last chance that i had of rebuilding a relationship with my mom. you're no longer allowed to contact me. and i don't want you to ask about me to anyone. >> wow. dear dad, you are dead to me. >> exactly. >> his brother's wife, ali, had started to feel that way about keith, too. >> it seemed like he was fabricating everything that came out of his mouth.
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>> but there was a split in the family. despite doubts of his own, her husband aaron, the one closest to his father, was still a supporter. >> whatever issues my mom and dad would have had, i just could not believe that my dad would take my kids away from their nana. >> then a few months before keith's retrial, detective carter's phone rang. there was news from the jail. an inmate had some information about keith. and it was as eerie as it was chilling. the detective in the bull's-eye. >> keith had come forward to him wanting to have me killed. >> put a hit on you? >> put a hit on me. >> orchestrating your death? >> yes. he'd drawn a map of what he believed to be my residence. suggested the caliber of weapon to use to kill me. the informant specifically asked him what if my family was present, and his response was one word, and that was tragedy. >> wow. that does make the hair on your neck stand up.
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>> it does. >> that wouldn't look good to a jury. the development brought aaron to a tipping point. were you no longer wavering at this point, aaron? had you come down on the side of, oh my god, my father killed my mother? >> yeah. yeah. >> now aaron, too, wrote his dad a letter. if he was guilty -- >> it's time. it's time to man up and do what you should have done two years ago. >> keith's defense attorneys went to the prosecutor to hammer out a plea deal. they agreed on 30 years in prison for the murder and for soliciting the hit. moments later, keith was standing in a paducah courtroom speaking the words his family
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and friends never in a million years thought they'd hear him say. yes, he murdered julie. >> there's no excuse for what i did. and i can't take it back. and she was my best friend. and i don't know what happened to me. but i did it. there's nothing i can do about it. >> temple bradley who works near the courthouse was there. >> my heart was breaking. that the person that i have -- that wholeheartedly i put my trust in for two years had lied to my face. >> i just can't believe we've been deceived in that way. we were there for him the whole time. >> for keith's family and friends, there are so many questions. but one seems to tower above all the others. >> i want to know why. and i want to know how you go from a loving husband and father and grandfather to driving all that way, killing your wife, then covering it up, and then lying to your family for so long? knowing that we had everybody doubting us, that we still defended him. disgusting. he's a monster. >> all i can tell you is that i had a lot of bad thoughts, wrong thoughts, mistakes. >> we sat down with keith hoping for answers.
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but as many times as we asked him why this all happened -- >> why did you do it? >> i really can't tell you. i don't know. i mean, just a bad decision. >> we never did get a satisfying response. >> so this isn't some kind of delayed midlife crisis here? >> no. >> where you're trying to be with deanna or someone like her to have a final happy chapter in your life? >> no. >> new house -- >> julie and i were happy. >> you see how perplexing it is to hear this. >> i know. >> it's absolutely confounding. >> that's what i tell everybody when they hear the story, they're not going to believe it. i have a hard time believing i did what i did. >> one thing he didn't do -- >> how about a divorce? >> never crossed my mind. >> keith now says the remorse began the moment he pulled out of his driveway. >> trying to get out of the subdivision, crying before i ever get out. regretting what i'd done. i probably drove 100 miles an hour all the way back, hoping to get caught.
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>> as for the future, keith says he is prepared to die in prison. >> i don't have anything to live for. except maybe forgiveness. >> from who? >> from my boys. >> that's why you're talking to me today? >> exactly. yes. >> well, it's between you and them. i'll tell you, my take on it is you've got some distance to make up. >> i know i do. i've got a lot to make up. >> of the countless things keith stole from his family, resilience was not among them. aaron and zach are closer than they've been in years. and now that they know what happened to their mother, they say they can finally mourn her passing. and focus on keeping her spirit alive for those two little granddaughters who were the center of her universe. >> my oldest daughter will remember. like i said, she talks about her almost every day. we have pictures of her up in her room. as my youngest gets older, we'll tell her the nascar nana story about when she was born. just never let her memory die.
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>> that's all for this edition of "dateline" thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". i learned that he was arrested. i was shocked. i was just so confused. i didn't think it was real. >> in the rarefied world of the ivy league, he was the package. star student, gifted athlete, wildly popular. >> he is one of the nicest guys ever. >> no one could understand how a weekend visit to his parents' house ended in gunfire. >> who's already dead? >>

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