-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> a sprawling southern family farm. >> they're definitely the most loving individuals i have met in my life. >> there was no way it was supposed to end like this. >> she took me by the hand and said should go ar and charlie have been murdered. >> the former church deacon and his wife. who on earth would want them dead. >> it doesn't make sense. they were loved by everyone. >> everyone maybe. but their own daughter, who admitted to a bitter, sillering dispute -- >> there's been a family feud.

>> mandy needed her mother and stepfather dead so she could get it back. >> you have the victim's blood on your shoe, he was there. >> or was it. >> no hair, no finger print, no dna? >> nothing. >> a once-loving family gripped by suspicion. >> i had a lot of people in my ear saying she did it. >> would the terrible truth rip them apart? >> this cannot be happening. ♪ >> welcome to "dateline." a daughter battling her demons and her mother and stepfather for control of a million dollar property. after their double murder, police started to wonder just how far bambi bennet would go to get what was hers. she followed a bloody trail of evidence deep inside the family's dispute, exposing ugly secrets and suspicions.

but unmasking the murderer would prove far more complicated. here is deny ills murphy with the deed. >> the old barn is a shambles now. the fields back in the day so lush and productive, gone to seed. the farm house, empty. time was the farmland was some of south carolina's finest. bambi bennett's granddad owned a big spread and created a legacy for the generation to come. >> that barn used to be tobacco barn, and my granddaddy built that. >> so it was tobacco property? >> uh-huh, he did farming and tobacco. >> bambi's roots here are as deep as the old oak tree draped in spanish moss that still

stands tall in the front yard. they say land is worth dying for because it is the only thing that lasts. and truer words might never have been spoken. in this case a beautiful piece of land turned out to be nothing but trouble. this is where bambi bennett's family was ripped apart by an act of cruel, unspeakable violence. bambi, her given name, was a fun, feisty, good old girl, country through and through. >> i was at my grandparents a lot growing up and we gardened. we had a big yard, a huge yard. >> you were a country girl? >> uh-huh. >> but she'd endured her share of heartache even at a tender age. her parents divorced when she was just six. mom remarried, then a few years later came that terrible day she'll never forget. >> my daddy and my granddaddy passed away on the same day, i

was 12 years old. >> all of a sudden you lost the two important men in your life? >> uh-huh. >> it was a bewildering and tragic day. there was so much sudden loss to absorb that young bambi, not yet a teenager, paid no mind to her grandfather's and father's wills. but it turned out she had been left the entire homestead, all 240 acres of it, to be held in trust until she turned 18. not long after bambi inherited the farm her stepfather charlie moved the family on to the property, her property. most everybody called him big charlie. bambi called him daddy. >> daddy loved hunting and fishing, and he always had fish fries and oyster roasts. there was always people down at the barn. >> you call your stepfather daddy? >> uh-huh. >> easily do that? >> uh-huh. i've always called him daddy. >> big charlie was a deacon at church and he started a small

business selling and installing glass, converting the old tobacco barn into his shop. bambi's mom diane worked as a secretary in the public schools them were a respected, happy couple, start of the earth. >> she was the backbone of that family. >> bambi's cousins, jessica and amy, loved their aunt diane. >> if your car literally stopped in front of their house or broke down, she would go and make sure you had a meal or you were warm, and while she was doing that big charlie would be like fixing the car. >> good mom? >> fabulous mom. >> outstanding. >> her biggest thing was she wanted to make sure her kids were protect and their hearts were protected. >> and her daughter bambi would need a lot of protecting. the girl was growing up in a rush, married to her high school sweetheart and divorced after a few months. by the time she was just 24 years old she had another failed marriage and was struggling as a single mom,

trying to raise two boys, cody and nathan. >> that had to be tough, keeping your household going? >> yes. >> and things went from bad to worse. bambi started popping pain killers. >> the old story, huh? >> yes. >> just gobbled 'em down when you could get 'em? >> i liked the way it made me feel. >> bambi was a single mom hooked on pills and sitting on a piece of land worth a small fortune. diane decided it was time to intervene before, say, another whirlwind husband du jour got half the property. >> mama said, if you put it in my name it will be protect. >> and so she signed the deed to her property over to her mom, and then bambi signed over her heart, sending cody and nathan to be raised by their grandparents. she calls it her lowest point. >> i didn't want to do it but i knew it was the right thing. she wanted to take care of them. she loved those children. >> it was a crushing loss, no question, but bambi agreed at

the time the boys were better off. they loved diane and charlie. >> they're just very loving, like a lot of outdoor stuff. i mean they spoiled us to death. >> nathan, how about you? >> they were the most loving individuals i ever met in my life. my grandma was the most sweet woman, and everybody says so. >> with the boys living at their grandparents, bambi tried to get her own life back on track. that's when she metric gagnon, a new hire at charlie's glass company. there was an instant attraction. >> i've always liked the bad boy image, you know, i guess. like he had the goatee and the shaved head. i don't know. we just had a good time together. >> was it a serious relationship? >> yes, it was. >> rick was serious too. he confronted bambi about her demons. >> i told her, you know, if she wanted to be in a relationship then she had to, you know, do something about the pills. >> by the spring of 2005, bambi felt she had turned the corner.

she and rick found a home of their own in myrtle beach. after a long struggle, she was ready to be a mom to her boys again. >> i was getting on my feet and i just -- i wanted code canny and nate there with us. >> grandparents charlie and diane agreed very reluctantly to let the boys move in with bambi and rick. but no sooner than the boys moved than diane was making the case to get them back. >> mama was concerned. >> did she want to hold on to the boys? >> she said that she would like for them to, you know, continue to stay with her. >> boyfriend rick thought bambi couldn't catch a break with her family. >> everybody pretty much treated bambi like crap. it stemmed from issues that diane, charlie and bambi had. >> those issues were simmering into an angry family drama. then just a few weeks after the boys were turned over, it happened. it was april 12tht, a tuesday

morning. bambi called her mom, no answer. big charlie was late for work. one of his employees went up to the house to look for them. moments later he called 8911. >> 911. >> she's laying on the floor and there's blood everywhere. >> there's blood everywhere? >> yes, ma'am. >> inside, things were chaotic, an appalling sight. big charlie and diane were dead and the old farm house they loved so well was now a crime scene. >> at a grizzly crime scene some small, stray drops of blood might just provide a huge clue. coming up -- >> it appeared that someone involved in the crime was a bleeder. >> so that's great evidence? >> it is if you can match it up. >> when "dateline" continues.

>> listen to me a minute. >> the horror discovered in the farm house confused the caller and the 911 operator. but what happened to charlie and diane was all too clear. she was found lying next to her bed, big charlie sprawled on the bathroom floor. each had been shot multiple times, both by then dead for hours. the sheriff, philip thompson's, cellphone erupted with calls about the shooting and he rushed

to the scene, not to investigate. charlie and diane were his best friends. >> they weren't just mine, they were everybody's friends. what we remember is how good they were, how kind they were and what good people they were. >> down at her house in myrtle beach about 30 minutes from the crime scene, bambi was geddy ready to go antiquing with her mom. she called her cell. one of charlie's glass company workers answered. >> i said, can i speak to my mama please. and he said, bambi, your mama and daddy is dead. >> just like that? >> yes. i said, what. he said, bambi, somebody broke in here, killed them, shot them. and i just dropped the phone. and started crying. >> when bambi arrived at the house, yellow caution tape blocked her way. police were everywhere. >> my mom was like freaking out. >> rick tried to comfort bambi.

young cody turned to him, too. >> and then i remember rick. he was near me and i was crying on his shoulder. >> vivian skipper was charlie and diane's neighbor. she runs a flower shop nearby. >> tell me about the fear, vivian. is this the kind of thing you could feel in the air? >> you could feel it in the air. i was at the flower shop. >> probably not too thrilled of getting in your car and driving away. >> i didn't want to go home. it was pretty bad in the county that the whole county had gone mad.

day. >> the man responsible for making sense of the crime scene was the deputy chief solicitor for the county. >> had the house been tossed? >> it had. it appeared to be a home invasion. >> first take? >> first take. >> it was a gruesome crime scene. several feet from diane there were notably a few small drop lets. >> it appeared someone involved in the crime, not the victims, was a bleeder. >> would couldn't it be from one of your two victims? >> it was apparent big charlie never left the area of the bathroom. and it was apparent that diane died where she lay. >> it looks like your intruder is bleeding. >> is bleeding. >> it is great evidence. >> it is if you can match it up. >> while crime scene techs processed the house, investigators started taking statements. big charlie and diane had a

large family and knew a lot of people. >> we talked with everybody. the list of people that we talked to is exhaustive. >> a parade of friends, employees, and family was brought down to headquarters for interviews, including bambi and her boyfriend, rick. >> they did gunshot residue tests on all of us. >> including you? >> mm-hmm. >> they had me remove my shirt, lift my pant legs up. they took my shoes, took pictures of my shoes, tops, bottoms. >> both bambi and rick told police they had spent the night at home, never left. with the interviews complete, police drove rick and bambi back to the farmhouse. everyone was gone. bambi says she realized she had left her purse with her phone and car keys in the detective's cruiser. she decided she would take her mother's vehicle to get home. >> we didn't have any way to get in touch with anybody. we didn't have anything. and i told rick, i said, see if you can find mama's purse, her cell phone. and so he went in the house. >> police had released the crime scene, but it still looked like one.

detectives told the family they would have to clean it up. so when rick says he went in to fetch diane's car keys, he found himself tiptoeing through a bloody mess. what were you seeing? >> all the blood. just one of the most horrible things i'd ever seen. >> rick approached the bathroom where charlie had been killed. he says he noticed bambi through the window pacing in the backyard. >> she was calling out, mama, mama, crying and screaming. i stepped into the bathroom, trying to step around the mess as best i could and i shut the blind. >> you closed them because you didn't want bambi to see the blood and gore? >> that's right. i remember saying to bambi, i think i stepped in some blood in the bathroom and i was wiping my shoe off on sand. she was telling me to wash my shoe, so i didn't get blood in her mom's truck. >> that must have been eerie to be in that house that night. huh? >> yeah. extremely. >> it was an eerie moment. one that would haunt bambi and

rick for years to come. coming up, bambi makes a stunning admission. >> there's been a family feud. >> over the land? >> when "dateline" continues. this. is. lobsterfest. at red lobster with exciting new dishes like dueling lobster tails and lobster truffle mac & cheese. classics like lobster lover's dream are here too. so enjoy these 10 lobsterlicious dishes while you can

because lobsterfest won't last. customer service!d. ma'am. this isn't a computer... wait. you're real? with discover card, you can talk to a real person in the u.s., like me, anytime. wow. this is a recording. really? no, i'm kidding. 100% u.s.-based customer service. here to help, not to sell. (gasp) (singsong) budget meeting! sweet. if you compare last quarter to this quarter... various: mmm. it's no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. are you reluctant to eat in public because of your denture? with the creamy taste of philly, try super poligrip® not only does it hold for 12 hours to reduce denture movement, it also helps provide better bite,

seals out 74% more food particles, and enhances your denture fit. in fact, 95% of super poligrip® users surveyed believe it makes them feel more confident eating in public. eat, speak, and smile with confidence. try super poligrip® today. swho live within five miles of custyour business?-54, like these two... and that guy. or maybe you want to reach women, ages 18 to 34, who are interested in fitness... namaste. whichever audience you're looking for, we'll find them we're the finders. we work here at comcast spotlight, and we have the best tools for getting your advertising message out there. anywhere, any way your audience watches. consider them found. we use so why do we pay touters thave a phone connected. when we're already paying for internet? shouldn't it all just be one thing? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you can get 5 lines of talk and text included at no extra cost.

so all you pay for is data. choose by the gig or unlimited. and now, get a $200 prepaid card when you buy an iphone. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfnitymobile.com. ♪

the cold-blooded killing of big charlie and diane parker had a great many people in and around conway, south carolina bolting their doors and locking their windows. >> had you had any trouble in that neighborhood, in the countryside with break-ins? >> not that i know of. it's always been a wonderful place. it doesn't make any sense. >> was this more of the ram page notorious stephen stanko who was all over the news? no, said prosecutor fran humphries, who knew stanko had been sighted in georgia at the time of the murders 200 miles away. so this awful thing at the farmhouse, you weren't associating that with stanko? >> i was not. >> even in the public mind? >> oh, they did. >> >> rather, humphries focused on the evidence coming from the parker crime scene.

he quickly came to believe this was more than just a bungled home invasion. >> it was apparent that nothing had been taken, or at least nothing that you would suspect to be taken in a burglary. >> humphries thought back to some curious statements bambi had made in her interview with police when she said she had given willingly. >> you're sure you're okay to sit down -- >> i'm not okay but i want to help you. >> soon after the interview started bambi, he said, began describing in detail a feud within her family. at issue was the land bambi owned and that her parents were living on. >> there's been a long, like, family feud. >> right. over the land? >> a long time. >> according to humphries, bambi and diane argued over who should control that property. >> diane wanted to make sure that that property was there for the kids. i think she had become convinced that, you know, bambi was not going to be in a position to manage that property.

>> i love this girl, my daughter, but she's beyond hope, is that kind of the feeling? >> well, she just can't be trusted with it. >> bambi didn't agree. >> she wanted the property back. >> i had a lot of anger about that. >> but humphries learned the land wasn't the only hot button between bambi and her mother and stepdad. bambi admitted they also argued over the raising of bambi's boys, nathan and cody. >> were there any issues that your parents didn't want the kids to go back to you guys or anything like that? >> well, yeah. i understand my mama cared for them. and it was hard for her to give them back. at first we were angry at each other. being ugly at each other. >> diane just wasn't comfortable with bambi having custody of those children. >> in fact, just four months before the murders, a mother/daughter shouting match over the care for the boys got so out of hand that diane called 911. the responding officer arrived with his dashcam rolling, just

moments after bambi had stormed away. >> i'm sorry to bother you. >> you're not bothering me at all. >> diane explained the argument to the officer. >> she usually just does what she wants to do. picks them up when she wants to. she doesn't provide anything for them. >> diane went on to say she felt threatened by her daughter. >> she scares me. she got in my face and jerked the phone out of my hand when i was calling. >> then came this chilling pronouncement. >> if anything happens to me, you'll know that she's the reason. responsible person. >> how telling is that? she was in fear, grave fear. >> humphries by now suspected bambi was somehow involved in her parents' murders. but he was skeptical she could commit a double homicide on her own. so the prosecutor turned his attention to bambi's boyfriend. rick gagnon. >> he's aligned with bambi. he was extremely faithful to bambi. >> and according to humphries, willing to do anything for her. you've got the daughter and boyfriend who seem to be in some sort of conspiracy?

the theory goes. >> an agreement to accomplish a goal. >> the alibi bambi and rick gave detectives that they were at home during the hours leading up to the murders was difficult to prove. each gave the other as a witness. >> she said, we were at home. you know, rick was there, i was there, my boys were in the other room. >> the prosecutor began to wonder, could those mysterious blood droplets at the crime scene be linked to rick and bambi. >> dna results did not come back. >> you knew somebody else was in the house. >> it could have been rick. >> as humphries waited for the results, he obtained a search warrant and took another look at some of rick and bambi's belongings. including their shoes. >> there's blood on the shoe. >> what did the lab analysis say about that? >> it was big charlie's blood. >> the prosecutor didn't buy rick's story about having stepped in blood while looking for diane's car keys. they also found what they believe to be blood on the boots. now you have two persons of

interest? >> no question. >> ten days after the murders, humphries asked both rick and bambi to take polygraph tests. both agreed. and both showed deception. >> rick gagnon in particular showed deception. >> police then sat rick and bomb by down in separate rooms for another round of questioning. this time the gloves were off. >> you want to charge me with something? >> answer my question. >> i didn't do anything. >> they hoped for a confession or at the very least that she give up rick. she didn't do either. >> you don't want to be charged? >> no, i'm not going to be charged because i didn't do anything. >> lock her ass up. you're not going to tell us anything, lock you up. put handcuffs on her. charge her with two counts of murder. >> but the detectives weren't done yet trying to break bambi. on her way to her booking, bambi said the hammer came down hard one more time. >> they surrounded me like a pack of wolves, and they said,

go get those crime scene photos of her mama and daddy. and i said, no, no, no. and i was just trying to cover my face. and he was pulling my hands off of my face. and he said, you did this. you. >> detectives said the same thing to rick gagnon. >> they arrested me. that was pretty much it. if bambi did it, then i had to be a part of it. >> so there it was, a daughter and her boyfriend, partners in love and suspected of murder. the alleged motive was basic, get the deed to the land and resolve the custody issue of the boys in one bloody rampage. horry county could sleep easier at night with case closed. but was it case solved? coming up, a new family feud

breaks out between bambi and her sons. >> i had a lot of people in my ear saying that she did it. when "dateline" continues. what's wrong? it's dry... your scalp? mine gets dry in the winter too. try head and shoulders' dry scalp care it nourishes the scalp and... ...keeps you up to 100% flake free head and shoulders' dry scalp care for mild-to-moderate eczema? it can be used almost everywhere on almost everybody. the arm of an arm wrestler? the back of a quarterback? the face of a fairy? prescription eucrisa is a nose to toes eczema ointment. it blocks overactive pde4 enzymes within your skin. and it's steroid-free. do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. allergic reactions may occur at

or near the application site. the most common side effect is application site pain. ask your doctor about eucrisa. this new day looks nothing like yesterday. trails are covered. paths aren't what they used to be. roads nowhere to be found. ( ♪ ) and it's exactly what you're looking for. ( ♪ ) and it's exactly what you're looking for. it takes a lot of work to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost to get the nutrition i'm missing. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d.

all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein be up for it

i'm dara brown . ivanka trump in south korea to attend closing ceremonies of the olympic games. she echos her father's tough stance towards north korea. nbc news learned that three deputies from the broward county sheriffs's office remained outside when they could have gone inside the building. as of yet, no reasons for their actions. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. >> welcome back, i'm craig

melvin. with two counts of murder. bambi's own sons didn't believe in her innocence, but there was one man who did. and he was prepared to fight for her freedom. returning to "the deed," here's dennis murphy. >> bambi bennett sat in a jail cell stunned. she had just been charged with two counts of murder. >> i thought, i'm just having a bad dream. this cannot be happening. not only were my parents just murdered, now i'm being accused of being the ones that killed them. i said, y'all have lost your mind. i said, this doesn't make any sense. i didn't do anything wrong. >> but to prosecutor fran humphries, it made perfect sense. >> the motive is unavoidable in this case. bambi needed her stepfather and mother dead, so she could get her property back. >> property valued at north of $1 million. classic question people in your line of work poses, well, who benefited. >> bambi. >> as for bambi's boyfriend, rick, humphries believed bambi

persuaded him to help her carry out the murderous deed. but both rick and bambi said the prosecutor had it all wrong. they insisted they wouldn't do anything to harm diane or charlie. bambi down played the argument over the land. >> she wants the land. that is the most ludicrous thing ever. it was given to me by my daddy to begin with. even though it was in mama's name, if i wanted the land back, all i had to do was tell mama that. >> also, absurd she said, was the allegation she would kill her parents over disagreements about how to raise her boys. >> who does not have disagreements ever with their mother or their father? me and mama didn't always agree on the upbringing of cody and nate. but that doesn't mean i'm going to kill my mama because we don't agree. that is ridiculous. >> but by now, even some of bambi's family believed she was responsible for her parents' murders.

including bambi's own sons, nathan and cody. you lost your grandparents in the most awful fashion. and then your mom is swept away from your life within minutes. >> it's just crazy. you don't know who to turn to. >> when did you come to the idea that maybe she was the one that did this? >> it was a mixture of things. i had a lot of people in my ear that she did it. that she basically like put it in rick's head for rick to do it. >> i only thought she had something to do with it from what i had been told. >> i resented her. i hated her. i didn't want to see her face ever again. >> it seems bambi's supporters were few and far between. but one who did believe in her innocence was her attorney. jim irvin. >> everybody rushed to judgment in this case. >> the way jim irvin saw it, the prosecution's case against bam by was a weak circumstantial one that hinged on a bunch of theories as to motive. >> what always bothered me about this case, when you look at the gunpowder residue, there was none on bambi.

>> he said that one bit of hard evidence detectives thought they had against bambi, what they thought was blood on her boot, turned out to be nothing. >> detectives said, we've got her dna on this boot. it's going to belong to one of the two people. they couldn't even say it was dna. >> as for the polygraph test, detectives said bambi failed to pass, according to irvin, those results were suspicious. >> the last question they asked her, have you told me everything you know about this case? if i ask a detective that same question, he couldn't pass it either. it's too broad a question. >> bambi sat in jail for six months. >> they were hoping she would flip and tell them the story? >> that's exactly what they were hoping. >> finally, the judge said, enough is enough. prosecutor humphries had to let bambi go. >> it became apparent the evidence was not sufficient to bring her case to trial. >> didn't have the goods? >> just wasn't there.

wasn't there. >> yet she's the foundation of your theory? >> there's no question about it. >> for the time being bambi was able to put horry county jail in her rear-view mirror. and with it, rick. by now bambi had cut ties with her old boyfriend. >> it sounds like she had your back, rick, and then she didn't. >> yeah. >> what happened? >> jail changes people. you know? >> rick was hoping it would be just a matter of time before he, too, would be released. the forensics they had against you, no hair, no fingerprint, no dna. >> nothing. >> but he did have charlie's blood on his shoe. to humphries, that evidence was part of a bloody trail from the crime scene that was about to lead both the prosecutor and rick gagnon into a courtroom showdown. coming up -- one of rick gagnon's fellow inmates comes forward with a damning story. >> he's been given a fairly detailed account of what occurred that evening, and what

the crime scene looked like. >> when "dateline" continues. because at a dr. scholl's kiosk he got a recommendation for our best custom fit orthotic to relieve his foot, knee, or lower back pain, from being on his feet. by reducing shock and stress on his body with every step. so look out world, dad's taking charge. dr. scholl's. born to move.

you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase. witto discounts onlick thousands of hotels, cars and things to do. like the garland hotel for 40% off. everything you need to go.

expedia ♪ >> rick gagnon was in a world of pain. locked up in the county jail facing two murder charges. he shared his woes with another guy in a jumpsuit, two inmates power walking together around the yard. >> we would walk around the pod, do laps. >> the jail yard buddy was named

robert mullens, a petty crook who seemed strangely interested in rick's troubles. did he want to talk to you about the case? was he grilling you? >> all the time. all the time. >> but then it seemed everyone in this part of south carolina wanted to know more about this case and its two beloved victims. it took three years, but in 2008, the state was ready to try rig gagnon for the murders of charlie and diane. a camera was rolling as prosecutor fran humphries began his case. >> this is purely motive evidence that establishes a motive for richard gagnon to end the lives of these two people. >> as humphries recalls, the case against rick was always motivation strong, evidence weak. not much more than a drop of charlie parker's blood on a shoe when you came right down to it. even so, humphries told the court, the blood put rick at the murder scene. >> but he had a story for it, didn't he? >> he did.

it didn't hold water, but he had a story about it. >> humphries recited rick's version of how blood had got on his shoe, how he had went into the parker house to get a set of car keys after the crime scene techs had finished up. >> he looked to his right which was the window leading in to the bathroom where big charlie had died and noticed the blood. >> rick said he worried bambi pacing outside might look in the window and freak out all over again. >> he went in and stepped through the bathroom and closed the blind. >> and, oops, i stepped in the blood. >> yeah. >> that's his story, though, right? >> yeah. >> but it didn't hold up? >> no. because they were already closed. >> that was the gotcha. this crime scene photo, said the prosecutor, was taken hours before rick supposedly stepped inside that house. notice the bathroom blinds are drawn. humphries argued that rick could not have closed the blinds because they were already shut. the prosecutor said the defendant was lying, though he

believed rick had told the truth about the murders to at least one other person. the state's star witness, robert mullens. the witness i call the jailhouse snitch, and you call a jailhouse informant. >> no, he's a snitch, no question about that. but at the end of the day, what we learned from robert mullens is that he's been given a fairly detailed account by gagnon of what occurred that evening and what the crime scene looked like. >> in fact, he said mullens was the first to tell police this piece of bombshell news. gagnon had mentioned an accomplice in the killings. >> the only way he can have that information is from someone who participated in the crime. >> then the prosecutor tried to spin an inconvenient fact in his favor. those mystery blood drops found at the murder scene had been tested. the dna was not a match to rick, but to an unidentified male. that, said the prosecutor, actually supported what mullens said, that rick had an accomplice.

humphries believed the evidence was enough to put the defendant away. he only wished he could make the same case against rick's old girlfriend. what about bambi? she wasn't being tried in this courtroom. >> no. i think it's a travesty. >> her fingerprints were on it? >> all over it, figuratively. >> and that's just how he laid it out in his closing. he told the jury this is a story about a spoiled woman, bambi bennett, who had manipulated her boyfriend, rick gagnon, into doing her murderous dirty deed. get back the deed, get her mother off her back. >> he heard from bambi, how her parents were not fair to her, my parents are horrible people, and i'm -- you know, they've taken advantage of me. >> to make things right, argued the prosecutor, the dutiful boyfriend and his right-hand man entered the house and hunted down bambi's parents in their night clothes. the jury had just heard a drama of southern gothic proportions. dripping with family greed and

hatred. now it was time for an entirely different story. >> none of the puzzle pieces fit. >> rick's defense team, including attorney barbara pratt, told the court that the state's case was heavy on fiction, light on facts. >> they had a puzzle, they had neat little pieces, but the pieces weren't exactly right. >> the state was so desperate to prove its case, she said, it clung to the word of a jailhouse snitch and career criminal. >> a fellow that is there to cut himself a deal and get himself some assistance, i guess, in his own case, is not likely to be credible. >> not only was the snitch not to be believed, the defense told the jurors, but the state was also trying to confuse them about the mystery blood found at the crime scene. the bottom line, said pratt, the dna from that blood cleared their client from the murders. >> the dna didn't match. and we knew the dna was not going to match rick. >> they knew that, she said, because rick had an alibi for the night of the murders. he had been asleep in myrtle

beach with bambi. the way pratt saw it, the most challenging part of the case was the blood on rick's shoe. to explain how it got there, rick took the stand. he pointed out that on the morning the bodies were discovered, police had examined him thoroughly and found nothing. >> if there was blood on my shoes that morning, i would have been arrested right then and there. there was no blood on my shoes that morning. >> that came later, he said, when he stepped into the blood-soaked bathroom. despite that police photo, he insisted the window blinds were open, and he had worried simply that bambi might see the horror inside. >> i went in an enshut the blind. i didn't think she needed to see that. >> he testified the blood got on his shoe at that moment, not before. >> did you go into the house and kill big charlie and diane at the instigation of bambi? >> absolutely not. >> you two in a conspiracy to kill those people? >> no, sir. >> so who did kill the couple? we don't know, said the defense. but it wasn't rick gagnon.

with that, the jurors filed out to deliberate. rick waited with his attorneys, and the woman many felt to be at the heart of it all, held her breath. coming up, the jury renders its verdict. >> i didn't know what to think. i didn't know what to think anymore. >> but this isn't the end of a case because finally investigators learn who left those mysterious blood drops at the crime scene. >> he said they identified the killer. when "dateline" continues. oh! there's one. manatees in novelty ts? surprising. what's "come at me bro?" it's something you say to a friend. what's not surprising? how much money matt saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

you're so cold, come in! what's wrong? it's dry... your scalp? mine gets dry in the winter too. try head and shoulders' dry scalp care it nourishes the scalp and... ...keeps you up to 100% flake free head and shoulders' dry scalp care hey, need fast try cool mint zantac. it releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. try cool mint zantac. no pill relieves heartburn faster. you don't want to live with mom and dad forever, do you? i'm making smoothies! how do i check my credit score? credit karma. don't worry, it's free.

credit karma. give yourself some credit. they feel that they have to drink patients that i see that complain about dry mouth a lot of water. medications seem to be the number one cause for dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. [heartbeat]

welcome back. the jury was about to decide rick gagnow's fate. but could the resolution to this case finally put a bitter family feud to rest? here's dennis murphy with the final chapter of the deed. >> jurors in rick gagnon's murder deliberated for a few hours. when he walked into the courtroom, he read their faces and knew, they found him guilty. >> received two life sentences. >> you're going to get out of the pine box system when you're dead. >> yeah. >> sandy didn't want to be in court so her attorney called her with the news.

>> hear i am thinking, oh, my gosh, could he have done this? and then i'm going in the back of my head, there's no way he could have did this. >> rick felt as though he had been sandbags. >> i believed if god saw fit to have me go home, i would go home. >> and that thought was all about rick had left, faith in god and a good appellate lawyer. in this case, bob dugger. >> in my 22 to 23 years of being an appellate attorney, rick dagnon was one of two, possibly three, people that i generally believed was innocent. >> that certainly would mean exactly nothing to an appeals judge. unless bob and rick could come up with new evidence. then in 2009 a year after his verdict, rick had an encounter in prison with yet another

inmate. >> and he was all excited about something. >> authorities in tennessee, the prisoner told rick, had just arrested someone for a home invasion there. >> he told me, he said, they identified the killer. >> that man's name was bruce hill. when tennessee authorities ran his information through the system, they found a match at the crime scene. they convicted hill of the murders of charlie and diane. his motive for the crime was never firmly established. who is bruce helm? did you know that name? >> no. >> did you ever see him on job sites? >> no, never. >> but rick's lawyer needed proof there was no connection between the two men, so he paid hill a visit. >> bruce hill showed a picture of rick gagnon, and his words were, yeah, i've never seen that

cracker [ bleep ] before. bruce hill had been unambiguous, he was very blunt that he did not know rick agnon. >> all he had to go now was admit that in court and gagnon could go free. once again, rick was out of luck was not hope. >> it was the first piece of good news i had had in a long time. i was excited to see what god was getting ready to do. >> namely the arrival of a new inmate. >> i was in the chapel at the time, my job assignment, he was brought into the chapel. >> one day the man opened up and stunned him. he said he knew a guy in jail named robert mullens, the same who testified against rick. the man said mullens shared a secret. he had lied about rick's involvement in the murders. >> i mean, i already knew it, but to hear somebody else say it, you know. >> that mullens had lied.

>> yeah. >> he was kind of proud of what he was able to do. >> yeah. >> now this snitch-on-snitch story had the judge's attention. >> the judge had to make a determination that the result of the trial would probably have been different. >> because mullen's story was that important in getting the conviction? >> right. >> the judge vacated rick's convicti conviction, saying the new county solicitor who replaced humphreys could refile charges if he wanted. the solicitor said he did not. so in 2013 after eight years inside, rick gagnon walked out of prison. he settled on the carolina coast now married with children. >> just the smell of the ocean, it's like freedom. it's a terrible thing that i went to prison for something i didn't do. it's changed my life. >> his old girlfriend believes her life was up-ended, too. bambi says she's cut ties with most of the people she grew up

with. the tobacco fields she still owns are pretty much her own connection to the place. >> i didn't want to be there anymore. that was my home. but my home that i had known just falsely accused me. and destroyed every $destr-- ded me. >> but there is something she wants from the people of south carolina. do you want an apology? would that go anywhere for you? >> i do want an apology. no, it won't change what they did and it won't fix what they took away. >> she would like nothing but an apology from you for the heartache you caused her. >> she's not getting that. she's entitled to something from me, but an apology is not it. >> what should she expect? >> i would have liked for her to receive justice in the case. >> meaning, he would have liked her charged and convicted. >> and i would have liked to be an agent in that justice. >> amidst all the finger

pointing are bambi's sons, from once hating their mom to now believing she's completely innocent. >> i don't think she had anything to do with it. >> as a testament to the change of heart, they have joined their mom in the place she now calls home. florida. for the first time in a long while, they feel like family. >> it took a while before we really were able to trust her with all your feelings and really tell her you love her, hug her and mean every bit of it. >> you can be her sons again. >> right, definitely. >> for that, at least, bambi is grateful. for the future, she's hopeful, even if every once in a while she looks back in anger. >> i lost my mom and dad, my children lost their grandparents. our family still has no answers. they're still saying the case didn't completely solve. maybe if they took the time in the beginning, we wouldn't be in this predicament today. >> maybe there are no more answers, no reason to keep digging up the past. just leave it rooted right where

it is and let the spanish moss grow. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it is 7:00 on the east, 4:00 out west. here's what is happening. the democrats intelligence memo now out in the open. what it reveals in the conclusions now drawn from it. >> we shouldn't be fighting like this, we should all be on the same team. we should all come together as a nation. but i have to say this, we have to come together as a nation. the president in a new interview making a call for unify while urging an investigation of the other side. plus, what he had to say about the obama administration. and is change possible? congress gets ready to return to washington and face new hard