it was probably i think in my mind the best thing i'd ever heard my entire life and it was like it's over. >> reporter: but it's not really goodbye. brittany's baby blanket is in her mom's coffin. brittany wears her mom's rings every day. they are close, these two. >> she's gonna be on my mind i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "date line." it was a small new year's eve party. we took off, and then shortly thereafter we saw the police car. my gut was telling my feet to run back to that house. this can't be happening. >> reporter: when the party ended, the mystery began. >> it was just crazy.

i didn't understand what was happening and why. >> reporter: his wife, the hostess, had seemed fine all night. then -- >> my wife just shot herself in the head, please help me, please help me! >> reporter: her death was ruled a suicide. but not everyone agreed. >> i was always afraid he was gonna hurt her. always. always. >> reporter: did a fight that night lead to something much worse? >> i knew that ashley wouldn't take her own life. >> reporter: a troubled woman? or a troubled marriage? >> that wound on the back of her head isn't where she could do it herself, tom, it is not. >> oh bull [ bleep ]. >> it is not. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: suicide or murder? >> i didn't do this. >> i just knew that my whole world is -- is never gonna be the same again, ever.

>> hello and welcome to "dateline." it was december 31st, and by all appearances, ashley fallis was in the mood to celebrate. a vibrant mother of three, she gathered her friends and family to ring in the new year. but as her guests began the countdown to midnight, who could have known they were also marking the last hour of ashley's young life? here's keith morrison with "after the party." >> reporter: what is so optimistic as a party on new year's eve. what night as hopeful, as full of anticipation, as the clean slate midnight brings? >> it was a small new year's eve party. >> just family and friends. >> reporter: disappointment is inevitable, of course. clean slates, no matter how ardently desired, are messy all too soon. >> we noticed that there was a lot of alcohol out. >> reporter: still, we celebrate possibilities and drown past

sorrows. and watch the clock that ticks toward our new beginnings and our ends. on december 31, 2011, an hour north of denver in west evans, colorado. ashley and tom fallis, surrounded by friends and family danced to the music that brought them together -- their wedding song. >> they decided to get up and dance in the middle of their living room. and -- >> reporter: everybody watching. >> with everyone watching. i don't -- >> reporter: kinda romantic. >> i think i said, "oh, this is sweet." >> reporter: it was their party, ashley's and tom's. she'd invited her co-workers like andrea. >> it was casual. but it she verbally told everyone at work like, "you should come." >> reporter: they worked together at a rehabilitation hospital where ashley was a respiratory therapist. >> she was crazy, nice. >> reporter: crazy. >> just spunky. yeah, just full of energy.

she was a happy person. laughed a lot and joked. >> reporter: their friendship was new. andrea didn't know a lot about ashley but had listened to her chatter about jobs and marriages and her three kids, the youngest of whom was born with a dangerous condition called hydrocephalus which causes life-threatening fluid buildup in the brain. >> she talked about it a lot. >> reporter: did she? >> yeah. but i didn't get the impression that she felt burdened by it, by any means. like, i felt like she -- i mean, that was the cards that she was dealt. >> reporter: well, in fact, she embraced the challenge, said ashley's mom jenna, became a public advocate. >> she went to washington, d.c. in the fall of 2011 to speak before congress for funding for hydrocephalus. so she had a full plate. >> reporter: so did tom, for that matter. >> i like tom. he was pretty good guy, very intelligent. >> reporter: jeff rodriguez was tom's boss at the weld county jail. they were corrections officers. >> he was a good employee. he had a son that was sick, so he did miss more work than what

most fellow officers liked. >> reporter: stressful, draining thing, caring for a sick child. so maybe their new year's eve party was a way to hope for better times. and take a break, too. ashley's adoptive dad, joel, was at the party. >> there was dancing going on, people were having a good time. >> reporter: and ashley seemed to be having a fine time, said andrea. she and tom seemed to be getting along fine? >> they seemed to be getting along fine. >> reporter: that's when ashley and andrea went off into the kitchen, had a little party of their own. what were you drinking? >> jungle juice and jell-o shots. >> reporter: oh, my. >> yeah. i was having a good time, i intended to have a good time. >> reporter: there was one unusual thing though, said aandrea. ashley had just gone through something kind of awful. >> she found out that she had a miscarriage that day. and i said, oh, i'm sorry, like, are you okay? oh, yeah, it's fine. >> reporter: strike you as odd? >> no, i didn't think it was

odd. >> reporter: was she unhappy about the miscarriage? >> my impression of it is she already has her beautiful family. seemed like her life was already complete. so i don't think that she was devastated that she had found t that she had a miscarriage. >> reporter: no tears, andrea said, st a qck, sual, mention and then the conversation moved on. went on to talk about other things? >> went on to talk about other things. probably went and got another -- >> reporter: jell-o shot. >> jell-o shot. >> reporter: midnight arrived. there were, as there always are, kisses and smiles and toasts. by 12:30, the party was over. >> i gave her a hug. told her bye. we talked about future plans. >> reporter: how did she seem? >> happy. >> reporter: but how quickly the new year's clean slate darkened. as an uncle prepared to leave, ashley asked him for a bit of his marijuana to smoke later, she said. tom, the sheriff's department

employee, was furious, and reminded ashley's family that her employer required regular drug tests. was it the alcohol that amped up the family screaming match? whatever. ashley's parents had their own recollections. >> he walks by me. and he says that he hated us all and wished we would all bleeping die. and he went into the bedroom and slammed the door. >> ashley came out of the bathroom and was just kind of, like, "what's going on?" and we're like, "well, we're going to leave." >> and then she's like, "hey, i'm having a super bowl party in a couple of weeks, you know. don't forget about that." >> reporter: but ashley's parents were rattled. they drove away then pulled off to the side of the road to talk. ashley's mom sent a text to tom. >> i'm like, you know, "hey, there's kids in the house. calm down." >> reporter: which arrived as their young granddaughter was involved in quite another discussion with 911. >> can you go open the door and let the officers in?

[ screaming and crying ] >> it's open, it's open. >> the new year was less than an hour old and off to a very bad start. coming up -- >> chaos. it was shocking. >> reporter: a frantic race to save a life. what happened in that house? >> i just knew that my whole world is -- is never going to be the same again. ever. >> when "dateline" continues. from nexgard. nexgard kills fleas and ticks all month long. and it comes in an easy-to-give tasty chew. and that makes dogs and owners happy. no wonder vets love it too. reported side effects include vomiting, itching, diarrhea, lethargy and lack of appetite. see your vet for more information on flea and tick protection you and your dog will love. nexgard. the vet's #1 choice.

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2012 was not even an hour old. new year's celebrants had only just poured themselves into their cars to head home. and in a little house in west evans, colorado, it was already the worst year ever. >> 911, what's the address of your emergency? >> my wife just shot herself in the head, please help me, please help me! >> reporter: the man on the phone was tom fallis, begging for help, and willing his wife to live. >> no! >> sir? >> you're staying here! >> sir? >> you're staying here! >> reporter: tom told the dispatcher, "she shot herself," then put the phone down. he was holding his hand to her head trying in vain to stop the bleeding. so he had his 9-year-old daughter pick up the phone. >> honey, are you there? >> yes. >> okay, can you go open the door and let the officers in? >> yes. >> okay.

>> mommy got shot. >> okay, we're going to help her, i need you to open the door. >> reporter: brian spencer was a weld county sheriff's deputy back then. he arrived within minutes to discover that the local police, the evans police, had beaten him there. >> i believe there was three there ahead of me. and then there was more sirens, lights. you could hear them coming. >> that's a pretty fast response. >> very fast. >> reporter: and this bit of news was going around fast, too. >> this was a sheriff's employee, a jail employee. >> reporter: not that that should matter. the effort then was, save ashley fallis' life. this was recorded by a police body camera, shows the paramedics arriving. >> chaotic? >> the scene? very. frantic. the officers had located ashley fallis somewhere in the home. >> the local police took charge. they asked brian spencer to watch the front of the property. and that's when, from his post on the front porch, he saw tom. that's him in the background in the white t-shirt. >> he was pacing around in the

front yard and front sidewalk area, frantic, screaming. >> screaming what, do you remember? >> i heard him say, "she's dead." a lot of mumbled stuff. he would put his hands up over his face and screaming, crying. >> reporter: by this time, ashley's parents had pulled off the road home to talk and worry about the fight that ended the party. when they heard the sirens, saw the lights flash by, headed that way -- >> something automatically felt bad. and i whipped a u-turn. >> he didn't have the car stopped and i was out running to the house. >> were you able to go and see ashley? were you able -- >> no. i -- i could hear what was going on. i had all three kids and they were just crying and crying and screaming. and i'm crying. >> it was just crazy. it was like a nightmare. i can see blood splatter on the wall, the master bedroom wall. >> what was it like? >> chaos. it was shocking. >> did you understand it was your daughter? >> yes. i do recall just being

hysterically upset and crying. and thinking that, this can't be happening to my daughter. this can't be happening to us. but yet it was. >> reporter: inside the master bedroom, ashley was alive, but the wounds to her head were catastrophic. the police body camera shows officers kneeling on the floor trying to stabilize her condition. >> paramedics went in. and they made a decision to do what's we call a load and go. which means they're not going to spend any time doing life support stuff. >> right on the cot, get her on there and go. >> reporter: ashley's mom, jenna, huddled with her grandchildren in a neighboring bedroom. listened to it all through a closed door. is there any way to describe what it's like for a mother to be in that situation? >> no. your brain does funny things. i just knew that my whole world is -- is never going to be the same again. ever.

>> reporter: outside, brian spencer watched tom pacing back and forth, crying, talking to himself. >> i notice he's wearing a white t-shirt. and he's covered -- i believe it was on his left side -- in a large amount of blood. >> reporter: it was odd, brian thought, that the evans police officers didn't take tom's clothes or bag his hand for gunshot rescue. >> he still had evidence on him. and he needed to be preserved. he needed to be controlled. >> he needed to be processed. >> and clothing removed, everything. >> reporter: that's not what happened. not at all. and soon after ashley was rushed off to the e.r., tom got into the back of a squad car and was driven away. but surprisingly not to the hospital. coming up, tom tells his story. >> i heard her gun cock. and i looked out, i was like, what are you doing? >> reporter: but police don't seem to believe it. >> that wound on the back of her

head isn't where she could do it herself, tom, it is not. >> oh [ bleep ]! >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. n't share it with mom! right, mom? righttt. safe driving bonus checks. only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it.

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>> reporter: in the first cold, dark hours of 2012, ashley fallis's parents followed an ambulance to the hospital. and caught up to her -- in the icu. >> we walked into her -- bleeding out of everywhere. >> reporter: there wasn't really any hope. they could see that. she was going to die. >> i just sat down and held her hand. >> reporter: but tom wasn't there to hold her hand. tom fallis was at the evans police station, answering questions. >> i don't know what's going on. i have no idea and that's why i'm asking to speak with you. >> reporter: it was 2:00 a.m. and tom was still wearing blood stained clothes. the ones a sheriff's deputy thought said should already have been bagged as evidence. >> how is your relationship with your wife? >> really good. >> reporter: but tom said ashley was devastated when she miscarried the very day of her new years eve party. >> it was hard for ashley, it was hard for me, but i didn't think that there was getting to this point. >> reporter: still, at the just -- >> still at the party she said

she seemed all right. they got on fine until the argument about the marijuana. tom admitted he was furious that ashley's family said he was trying to protect her and they weren't. >> i said if -- whatever happened with the miscarriage, it happened. you know what, [ bleep ] your mom, [ bleep ] everyone. >> so there was no love lost between tom and ashley's parents. that is clear. they kept arguing as they get ready for bed. then he turpd around and went to the closet, and he said it was all over. >> said what are you doing?

>> has she ever made this type of gesture whatsoever? >> at this time when the doctors tried to safe ashley, tom had been answering questions for hours. >> i have to ask these questions. i have to --

>> i've been here since 2:00, and now it's already 5:00. i don't know what's going on. >> but then the detective noticed something else about tom. >> your chest, what is that? you have -- >> it's supposed to go straight across. >> i don't know, it's just not important. >> so it isn't -- >> the detective left the room and spoke with ashley's parents who arrived at the purpose of telling officers just one thing. their daughter did not shoot herself. >> we had just seen her seven minutes before this. she was completely fine. you know, she wouldn't do anything like this. >> she was in good spirits when they left, they said. she was already planning her next party. but tom, he always had an awful

temper. >> i was always frayed he was going to hurt her. always. >> you can't go zero to 100 and think clearly. >> i think he was just in a fit of rage, and he shot her. >> armed with that information the detective went back to talk to tom and zeroed in on those scratches. officers have given him something clean to wear so they could take his bloodied clothing. >> this is a shaved chest. do you know how bad this hurt and ichz. when i'm sitting here, i do this all day. this is actually -- see? it's coming off. >> that's actually a scratch. that's a scratch. >> still, the detective pressed him. he an an opportunity, she said.

>> you know you are arguing. >> he was also reluctant to believe that shooting happened so quickly. no threats or warnings, no hesitation. >> she we want from saying i want to do what i want to -- >> yeah. yeah. she did. i'm not lying to you. >> when the detective gave a description about the bun gunshot wound, a description that turned out to be inaccurate, that really set tom off. >> the wound on the back of her head isn't where she could do it herself, tom. it is not. >> [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> it is not. >> [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> then quite suddenly in the middle of it all completely out of nowhere the detective made an abrupt it declaration. >> i have to let you know that your wildfire did not make it. your wife did not make it.

>> she was breathing. she was broeting when she left the hospital. >> ashley died while tom was in police custody. >> i didn't shoot my wife. i didn't shoot the mother of my kid. i didn't shoot the person who i -- >> look what the police -- >> coming up, ashley's family is outraged by the investigation's final report. >> he was incomplete, and it was inconsistent. no follow-up. it was unbelievable. >> when "dateline" continues. ots and ticks with frontline plus for dogs and frontline plus for cats. its two killer ingredients work fast and keep working all month long preventing new flea infestations on your pet.

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>> reports say a gas attack on a syrian rebel enclave has left an unknown number of people dead. there's no word yet on who is responsible for the attack. right now the syrian government is denying any involvement in

the attack. one man is dead following a four-alarm fire at trump tower in new york city. four firefighters were also hurt in the blaze. the fire broke out in a residence on the 50th floor saturday evening. the president and first lady were in d.c. when the fire happened. now back to "daylightline." >> welcome back to "datesline." though covered in blood and suspicious scratches tom insisted he did not harm his wife, and she was the one who pulled the trigger. ashley's parents weren't buying it. with the police here again is chief morrison with "after the party." >> ashley, 28 years old. wife and mother of three, was dead. the gunshot wound unsurvivable. it was suicide, said her husband tom. >> i didn't shoot my wife.

i didn't -- i didn't do this. >> it was murder, said her parents. >> i had three grandkids that i dearly, dearly loved that i knew in my heart that tom had just killed her mother. >> the news of ashley's death spread quickly the morning after the party. >> i didn't understand what was happening and why because everything was fine that night. >> so it's confusing? >> very confusing. she was happy. she didn't seem suicidal. >> andrea, drinking buddy at the party, co-worker, friend, couldn't shake a feeling. >> i don't feel like she would have taken her life. tom was the only other person that was there. >> so if it wasn't her, it had to be him. >> right. >> for all their middle of the night questions, the police did not arrest tom, nor charge him with anything. >> what were they telling you? >> that they were investigating it. >> at ashley's funeral tom was one of the speakers.

>> what he said wasn't the sort of thing people expected to hear. >> she says i don't care where you do it, when you do it, i want it now. >> it was aunusual and not a vey emotional eulogy for reasons tom only understand, but her parents were furious. >> he had that opportunity to speak and share about the woman he so-called loved and called his eternal wife, all he did was degrade her. >> what was it like? >> it was shocking. it was unbelievable. >> as the days turned into weeks, tom remained free. ashley's parents became convinced that something about the investigation was not right. >> when i sat down and said, look, says if for some crazy

reason she walked in the house and shot herself and they can show that, we will accept it and support tom. we didn't feel like that was the case. >> they weren't alone. remember, on the night it happened former deputy brian spencer say tom roaming around freely with blood and other potential evidence all over him. >> it was a very basic thing. any scene that you respond to, you want it treated as the highest level of what it could possibly be. >> so he would be a suspect? >> he needed to be preserved. he needed to be controlled. >> none of that was done at the scene. pretty soon ashley's parents began to suspect it was a coverup to protect tom. perhaps the so-called blue wall of silence looking out for a fellow law enforcement officer. >> there's a hell of an accusation. >> it is. it is strong. that is how we feel. >> not you. the evans police department strongly disagreed. both the coroner and the crime

scene investigator issued reports concluding ashley's death was indeed suicide. remember, tom told the police she had expressed suicidal thoughts before. she had two close relatives who had taken their own lives. and investigators found prescription psychotropic drugs, which tom said she quit cold turk kbri without medical supervision when she learned she was pregnant. two months after ashley's death, her parents got the news they feared. police ruled her death a suicide. case closed. >> made me angry. made me angry because i knew -- i knew that he shot her. i knew that ashley wouldn't take her own life. >> once the case closed, we got the police report, we realized they didn't do anything. >> so tell me more about the police report and what you

didn't like about it where. >> it was incomplete, inconsistent. it could have been written by a high school student. no follow-up. it was unbelievable. >> the evans police department declined to speak on camera. they said the investigation we conducted was thorough and complete. a conclusion of suicide was determined after an exhaustive review and analysis of all evidence physical, forensic being and testimonial by all of the five agencies involved. as for ashley's parents, well, there was nothing more either of them could do, apparently. . two years went by. during which tom moved to indiana with the kids and enrolled in a local university. >> i said to him, tom, murderers always move away. >> it was important to ashley's parents to remain close to those three kids, so they fought for grandparents rights and tried, they said, to be civil with tom, but they also told anybody who would listen that they believed

their daughter had been murde d murdered. like a local reporter. >> he said do you mind if you start looking into this? i said no, go ahead. start looking into it. it didn't take him much. >> the reporter asked around, talked to neighbors, and asked the evans police department to comment what he had heard. before you knew it, the chief announced ashley's case will be reopened. >> the reopening of a difficult case such as this one. >> i started crying because it's the catalyst for opening everything up. i finally have someone who is taking it seriously. >> denver's fox 31 finds a startling discovery. in particular, the neighbor who was only 15 at the time, said he heard tom admit to shooting ashley. >> it's pretty hard to forget

hearing somebody confess their murder and then getting away with it. >> to prevent any suggestion obtained or coverup, the case was turned over to the nearby fort collins police department. for the next seven months officers talked to witnesses both old and new and hired experts to re-examine forensic evidence and when their work was done, well, county d.a. michael roy decided to assemble a grand jury. >> what i want to do is i want to put all the information, as much as we can gather, and almost use it as a test run. >> they said -- >> they indicted him zbloosh. >> i got the phone call that they indicted him. i just started crying. >> tom was a arrested in indiana, charged with second degree murder and brought back to colorado to stand trial. ashley's parents were finally optimistic. >> i believe that they will find him guilty. i believe that's what will happen. >> you decided to believe it, or

did you really believe it? >> i believed it. >> coming up, a powerful one, two punch from the prosecution. >> i heard him saying, oh, my god, what have i done? >> i could hear her screaming get off me, get off me. >> when "dateline" continues. from nexgard. nexgard kills fleas and ticks all month long. and it comes in an easy-to-give tasty chew. and that makes dogs and owners happy. no wonder vets love it too. reported side effects include vomiting, itching, diarrhea, lethargy and lack of appetite. see your vet for more information on flea and tick protection you and your dog will love. nexgard. the vet's #1 choice.

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>> four years after ashley's death, her husband, tom, is on trial for murder. dan grossman with kusa was in the courtroom for opening statements. >> the room was packed, but ashley's parents were there. a lot of family members, aunts,

uncles. just people from the public were interested in this case. >> the prosecution's allegation s perfectly clear. tom argued with his wife and in a fit of rage shot and killed her. >> at the conclusion of this case after you have received all of the evidence, you will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that it is him who pulled the trigger. >> prosecution witnesses said ashley was in high spirits under new year's eve party. not at all suicidal. >> she was happy the whole night. laughing. smiling. she was dancing with her children. interacting with all the guests. >> tom, though? ashley's uncle, john, testified about tom's sudden blow-up when he discovered ashley asked him for a joint. >> i was taken aback for it because everything was fun and then all of a sudden, boom. it's, like, oh. >> a neighbor said ashley told her how tom got physical with her. >> she told me how he had pushed her around before.

he had never hit her, but he was physical and pushing her. >> nick glover, the neighbor whose story was reported on television helped reopen the case. >> i heard him saying, oh, my god, what have i done? >> nick was 15 at the time. he said he remembered crouching down inside his house under an open window listening to tom in his driveway. >> i could hear one of them. i did not know who it was. say what? what do you mean? and he proceeded to say i shot my wife. >> nick said he knew it was tom. you could see him out the window. >> how certain are you that the voice you're hearing is tom's

voice? >> i am 100%. >> there was more. nick's mom, cathy glover, testified that on the night of the shooting she got a strange phone call from a teenage neighbor around 1:00 a.m. >> she said please don't -- i said, no, i didn't. why? >> she said because your neighbor just shot his wife. >> i said what, and she said i could hear her screaming get off me, get off me. >> powerful evidence. then that naub testified. >> do you recall telling cathy glover in a phone conversation that same early morning i heard her screaming get off me, get off me. >> i do not. >> she was 16 and drinking that night, she said, so that might explain her faulty memory. >> do you recall telling officer grossman that you heard a female yelling get off of me, get off of me. >> i do not.

>> did you expect that this from her? >> yeah. >> it hurt you. >> it hurt. but i thought that when you have a police officer -- >> a hiccup. then there was the crime scene. remember, coroner and the csi officer said at the time that the scenes screamed suicide, but this prosecution witness -- >> name is jonathan w. priest. >> priest is a former homicide detective and forensic consultant who used a miniature model of the bedroom to show ashley's position, so she has to be here and then bent down so that she'll fit into this trajectory. he was convinced there would be more blood on the floor and surrounding surfaces. not just this one carpet stain.

the type of injury that we're talking about is going to bleed a lot. >> that's not the kind of stain i expect to see. something is keeping that blood from reaching that area. >> do you believe that something was tom. remember, his clothing was drefrmged with blood, and priest concluded tom and ashley must have been in close contact. he suggested there was a struggle with the shots fired. >> i thior on to the cabinet, s and i can lower her continuing to bleed on to my shirt where i get her in this position. >> the prosecution rested its ca case. what possible defense could there be? well, for a start, this -- >> i have so much pain on the inside i can no longer take it.

>> this, a letter. what a letter it was. >>. >> coming up, a troubled marriage or a troubled young woman? >> what kind of -- did you observe ashley -- >> mood swings. impulsive behaviors. >> and a verdict. when "dateline" continues. protect your pets from fleas and ticks with frontline plus for dogs and frontline plus for cats. its two killer ingredients work fast and keep working all month long preventing new flea infestations on your pet. frontline plus. the number 1 name in flea and tick protection. claritin and relief from of non-drowsy symptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy.

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it can't be an easy thing for a juror, imagining a moment he or she didn't see. >> rise for the jury. >> and deciding what must have happened. did tom kill his wife in a fit of violent temper or what? >> he did not kill his wife and mother of their three children. ashl ashley committed suicide. >> remember how they talked of her happy frame of mind? that ashley was a kind of lie said the defense. >> ashley was a beautiful woman. but she had a terrible pain inside. she was mentally ill. >> the defense put one of ashley's close friends on the

stand. >> what did you know of ashley having a mental illness. >> i know she was on medications. we spoke in-depth about that. >> even with the medications, ashley had trouble controlling her emotions. >> what kind of mental health issues did you observe her to be going through? >> depression, mood swings, impulsive behaviors. >> in fact, the defense argued ashley was so depressed the supper before she died, she -- summer before she died, she wrote this letter to tom. >> i can no longer take it. i'm sorry to do this to you and your kids. i i find myself mott liking the kids. every day is a chore. i have to pretend to be happy, pretend to be someone i am not. please make sure you raise the kids to continue to go to the school we have chosen. i do love them. i just can't take this life any

longer. please make sure you let them know every day that i do love them. and this was not their fault. suicide expert dr. michael allen studied the letter, as well as ashley's medical records, and testified about his review. >> do you have an opinion in this case about whether or not ashley was a high risk to commit suicide on january 1, 2012? >> yes. my opinion is that she had many risk factors and warning signs. >> remember, detectives had learned years before that ashley had a family history of suicide. her grandmother and her maternal uncle took their own lives. that, said dr. allen, put ashley at a higher risk for doing the same thing. >> two close family members who died by suicide would suggest a genetic propensity for suicide. >> the defense argued that on

new year eave 2011, it was the miscarriage that broke her will to go on. she spent her night masking her pain with alcohol and planned to dull it further with marijuana after the party and that's why tom was upset. >> she was vulnerable. she was concerned about her. he didn't want her to add marijuana to the system that was developing inside of ashley. >> the defense conceded that they quarreled that night but insisted it never got physical. the scratches on tom's chest, the ones the prosecutors believed were proof of a struggle, dna tests never found any evidence to support that. >> you did not find any of ashley's dna. cellular material on those swabs from tom's chest, correct? >> that is correct. >> he had done a little

manscaping to spice up his marriage. he had texts and photos to prove it. >> there's tom when he had hair on his chest. on december 17th, 2011, he texted ashley. there you have it. you get your way. so here it is. thought you might like it. >> the scratches, said the defense, were because it was itchy. that's all. as for the so-called witnesses, totally unreliable. the one changed her story on the stand and the other? just months after the shooting, nick glover went camping of all things with tom. the very man he said he heard confess to shooting ashley. >> at no time during the camping trip with tom did you ever tell anybody that you were uncomfortable being there with tom. >> i do not recall. >> who to believe? for example, wasn't one but two

prosecution crime scene analysts. this one you've already heard, believed it was murder. but this one -- >> most people that shoot somebody in an act of ranl, they don't stop with one shot. >> dann was the crime scene expert from the first -- using the defense attorney, he demonstrated how difficult it would have been for someone as tall as tom to have shot ashley at an angle. >> is that an unnatural position for another person to hold the gun in that manner? >> it is for me. >> how tall are you? >> i'm 6 feet as well. >> the gun was ashley's. it happened in arm's reach of where it's usually stored. after examining the ballistic and blood spatter evidence, gill

'em didn't believe it was murder. >> i believe the story that he gave was consistent with the evidence at the scene. >> he thought it was suicide. what happened in that moment after midnight? how would a jury decide? >> upon reaching a verdict, you will inform the bailiff who will, in turn, notify me. >> settled in for a bit of a wait. >> this is almost a three-week trial, there's a lot of evidence. thought they were looking at coming back the next day to hear the verdict. >> but no. less than four hours later, a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant not guilty of murder in the second degree and all lesser included offenses. signed by the jury foreperson. >> not guilty. not murder. after four long years of living under a cloud of suspicion, tom was acquitted of all charges. >> he stayed straight faced.

his defense attorney was very emotional. but ashley's parents, they left the courtroom fairly quickly. >> ashley's parents declined to talk with "dateline" after the verdict. but their legal battles were far from over. they filed a civil lawsuit against several law enforcement officers of the evans police department who they believe falsifi falsified, altered the records to make the death look like a suicide. >> despite the verdict, they pursued the case. >> in 2017, a u.s. district court issued a final judgment dismissing their claims. >> what about ashley's family? can they accept this and go on? >> i don't think they'll ever accept it. to say they're distraught would be an understatement. they, i think, truly believe that tom killed their daughter and they're never going to let that go. >> an idea once so deeply en

grained, true or not, will not go away. and tom and his children make a life as best they can. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." sheer exhilaration, pure joy. there's nothing like the freedom of summer camp, and there's no other camp like this. >> feels like i'm a normal person. >> here, night is day, day is night. because for these kids, the sun is the enemy. >> you can see when people are pointing. >> yeah. >> that must be kind of hard. >> called names. >> i said how dare you?