i'm sorry that it ever happened. i'm sorry for mike. i'm sorry for my family and i'm sorry for his family. and in this million dollar home, a mystery. they call it the gold coast. the sun, the sea, and in this million dollar home, a mystery. >> he was talking on the telephone when he heard a loud bang. a woman her husband left blind. >> are you bleeding? do you see any blood? >> i'm bleeding all over. i can't see. >> but who? >> everyone is somewhat of a suspect. >> and why?

>> was it love? was it money? or was the truth maybe here on this tropical paradise? >> it was an assassination. it was a hit, no question. >> it was august hot in coral gables. the air was shirt-sticking thick as night fell. the small damp breeze pushed the palm frawns. an intimate party was winding down early. it was susan sutton's birthday. attending, their son, his girlfriend, and john's law partner. daughter melissa is off to college in north florida. couldn't be there, so she phoned her mother to say she missed

her. >> you two close? >> extremely. it's my best friend. >> i was going to ask how old your mom was? >> 57. no. you can't put that on. she was a nice 45. let's put it -- let's leave it at that. >> the guest left. the law partner went home. son christopher and his girlfriend went out it a movie. john settled in to watch tv in the master bedroom. susan in another bedroom talked on the phone with a close friend. a quiet end to a pleasant evening. quiet, but not for long. >> 911. >> i've just been assaulted. >> what happened, sir? >> somebody came in and shot me. >> they shot you? >> yes. >> who did it? >> i don't know. i can't see. i need police and i need an ambulance. >> okay. where did he shoot you? >> john sutton, tough as nails,

take no prisoners was barely conscious as he begged the 911 operator for help. he told the operator blood was gushing from his head wounds. he couldn't see. >> my wife, susan. >> and where is she? >> i don't know. >> somehow he made it out the front door on his own. he was met by a paramedic. >> he had holes in his head and his face. i mean, i couldn't believe how mr. sutton made it out of the house walking to us. >> i was just pulling into my driveway when i got the phone call. he was critically injured. however, he called 911, and he made his way it open the door where. >> they didn't want to come in until he came out. >> they didn't know whether the person or persons involved were still inside. they backed off until the swat team arrived and made an entry into the house. >> not knowing if the gunman was

still in the house, swat teams cleared the house room by room finally entering the bedroom where susan sutton had been on the phone. >> when they went into the room in which mrs. sutton was, they didn't see anybody. >> miami dade prosecutor karen was on homicide duty that night and was called out to the scene. >> they saw a mound on the bed covered by a blanket. there were bullet in the blanket. they found mrs. sutton in bed are her hands up. she had been holding the blanket and covering herself. literally covering -- ducking under the covers for cover. >> susan sutton was dead. a bloody phone beside her. she must have dropped it as she pulled up the covers in her vein attempt to hide from a killer. a dispatcher warned detective this might be the fp deadly result of a domestic dispute. sutton's 911 call perhaps an

attempts to cover up what he had done. >> when i got the phone call that said that there was a murder-suicide down in the city of coral gables. we heard that the husband was en route to the trauma center and in critical condition. >> en route with two bullet holes to his head. had sutton killed his wife and then turned the gun on himself? no. that theory was quickly dismissed when the paramedic who took him to the hospital put out an update over the radio. >> we can't provide any info. i don't know if it's defensive wounds. >> he had wounds to his hands, which would make it clear like it was defense type wounds that somebody else must have shot him because he put his hands up. >> obviously first clue, this is not -- >> this is not a murder-suicide. >> who or why would anyone want to harm john or susan sutton? the suttons had lived exemplary lives. a beautiful house with a 31-foot boat out back in exclusive coral

gables, the upscale enclave south of miami. his law practice was booming. just that week received a check for $1 million for a case he had settled. so was robbery the motive? if so, how did the killer get into the house? officers saw a curtain blowing in the wind through a sliding glass door in the rear of the house near the pool. the door latch showed signs it had been broken long before that night. >> the killer had gone in through that sliding glass door, had walked all the way through that house. drawers were not opened. in the master bathroom on the vanity was a beautiful diamond jewelry. clearly, early on it was pretty easy to detect that robbery was not the issue here. >> no. >> and that it was apparent that it was an assassination. it was a hit. >> an assassination? a hit?

that sort of crime just didn't happen in coral gables. whatever the motive, there was little to go on. no murder weapon, no fingerprints, no dna. there was, however, one possible lead. susan sutton, as it was painfully obvious from the blood-stained evidence, had been on the phone when she was shot five times. someone heard the screams and bullets ripping through the silence of that steamy august night, but who? coming up, what did he know that police didn't? >> is there a polygraph? >> he passed on certain information, but he was deceptive in oefrz? >> which is a red flag? >> yes. >> when datelines continues. ♪

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melissa sutton 19 years old awoke to her new college dorm life in florida unaware of what had happened to her parents the night before. unaware that her mother was dead. unaware that in a miami emergency room doctors were fighting to save her father's life. >> who told you? >> i actually got a call from a friend who said i hope your dad is going to be okay. i just went what? like, maybe he had a heart attack or something, you know? >> just came out of the blue. >> out of the blue. >> franticly melissa called every number she could back home. >> i ka you would my mom. she didn't answer. i called teddy -- my dad's partner. extremely close family friend. he didn't answer. i called my brother. he said he couldn't talk right now. >> were you frantic in the sense that you knew something bad had happened? >> i didn't know what. i didn't know what level. >> eventually melissa reached montoto who reluctantly broke

the news to her on the phone. he brought her back to miami and the hospital where her father was in intensive care. her brother, 26-year-old christopher, had already arrived. both of them were reeling from the loss of their mother and now they kept vigil at their gravely wounded father's bedside. >> we didn't even know if he was going to live for a long time. to say gruesome is -- if i didn't know his hands and know little intricate pieces of him, there's no way i would know if it was him. >> face thehock sg prospect of becoming an orphan. >>mind, actually. he was still alive. >> melissa wondered why her parents? who could have done this? investigators describing it as a hit. >> did you have any sense at all what might have happened? >> well, teddy told me what had happened, but i didn't know who had done it. right. i just thought it was some sort

of break-in was my first instinct. that's what i thought for a long time until we started talking about my dad's clients. >> homicide detectives larry and art were also thinking about sutton's clients, those he sued on their behalf. at this point john sutton couldn't provide any information. he was clinging to life in a drug-induced coma. stlie went several times to talk to john sutton. he was on pain medication. he was intube ated. we're looking at maybe an incident in his law firm where he had people angry at him. >> civil attorneys take a lot of money from people, and he they make people mad. >> find out if any of these people have reason for revenge on john sutton. >> john sutton ran his law firm like he ran most things in life. efficient and hard-driving. in fact, detectives heard about one woman who lost a $97,000 lawsuit and was so mad she threatened to shoot up john's

firm. and the very night of the murder a neighbor heard a boat roaring down the canal just behind john's house over here, and it turned out that woman owned such a boat. >> she was interviewed down the line also, and she was not the person responsible. >> what about that phone call susan was on when she was shot to death? detectives found the blood-stained hand set susan dropped when the gunman opened fire? who was she talking to? had that person heard something? detectives got says their answer almost right away. john sutton's law partner teddy montoto had shown up at the house even before the first reports of the shooting hit the news that night. he was also armed. >> he was talking to susan sutton on the telephone when he heard a loud bang or what he said maybe were gunshots. >> at least that's what he told police. depending on the amount of truth in his statement, he could be a suspect? >> oh, absolutely. >> that, said melissa, had to be impossible. teddy and susan worked together.

they talked often and frequently late at night. >> he was my mom's best friend. i called him my godfather pretty much. like a relative. >> but police were suspicious. why had montoto arrived so quickly after the shooting? why was he armed with a handgun? they had a few questions and perhaps more important, some testing to do. >> we interviewed him extensively. we did take gunshot residue from his hands. >> he was given a polygraph, wasn't he? >> yes, he was. >> how did he do? >> he passed on certain information, but it showed that he was deceptive in others. >> which is a red flag? >> yes. >> a red flag this early in the investigation. what exactly approximate did law partner montoto have to hide. no, perhaps john sutton could tell him. the survivor of the slaughter, it was clear, was going to live, and when he came out of his coma, what story would he tell? what did he see?

coming up, with his victim defenseless in the hospital, would the killer try again? john sutton's son seemed to think so. >> i do recall him being adamant that my dad be placed under john doe so that whoever did this could not finish off what they had started. >> but was the killer already closer than anyone could have dreamed? when "dateline" continues. we use our phones and computers

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susan sutton was dead, shot five times by a killer who invaded her home after her birthday party. zbliefrmt susan sutton was dead, shot five times. her husband, john, an attorney, had been shot in the head twice and was in critical condition in a miami hospital undergoing multiple surgeries to save his life. soon after the shooting detectives had a potential suspect. john sutton's good friend and law partner. >> he had a partner who was on the scene when homicide detectives got there. >> eddie told police he had been on the phone with susan, heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire for, rushed over to the sutton house with a gun of his own to try to help. was that the whole story? they gave him a polygraph. it showed he had been deceptive, hiding something. >> what we learned was that he was having an affair with mrs. sutton. >> so montoto hadn't been straight with them or with his

good friend and partner john sutton. but was he off the hook for murder? well, maybe. maybe not. when they checked phone records, it appeared he was still being deceptive. he told them the affair had been recent and brief. that's not what the phone records said. did teddy have some secret reason to kill his lover and her husband? they tested him for gunshot residue. he told them he might test positive. he was an expert marksman, had been shooting earlier that day. >> another twist in the story, but what did it mean in terms of the likelihood that he was involved in this incident? >> again, it was early in the investigation. it was a lot of investigating to do. >> and mostly they waited with everyone else to see if john sutton would survive the attack, to see if they would ever be able to ask him what happened. until now all they had heard from sutton was this.

>> are you bleeding? do you see any bleeding? >> i'm bleeding all over, yes. >> okay. >> i can't see. >> i can't see. it was almost a week after the shooting when sutton was awakeerned from a medically induced coma. he was going to live. but he was going to live with the scars of a shooting. he had lost an eye, but, worse, far worse was the news the doctors gave him. he would never see again. he was blind in both eyes. >> shortly before i left the hospital some opt molgss came around and very bluntly told me there was nothing they could do for my eyesight. i was very unhappy, very upset about the eyesight. >> did you know right away he was going to be blind? >> no. i didn't. we didn't even know if he was going to live for a long time.

>> be nice to look into those eyes and know that he can see you back and see you. >> it's different to look in someone who is blind. it's a different expression. >> though for a long time any expression was masked by truly dreadful injuries. >> how many bullets had been been hit by? >> i had two in my head in the right temple and i'm told out the left jaw. one higher towards my ear and one in the lower part of the jaw. >> though those were only the shots to his head. the tip of his ring finger was blown off. other shots hit his thumb and shoulder. >> there were six pretty good size bullet holes. >> when he was well enough to talk to detectives sutton told them what he could, the story of a man who barely witnessed the attack that killed his wife and almost killed him. he was a former college swimmer, so he was watching an olympic diving event in the master bedroom he said. >> next thing i know somebody

was standing there, in a black hat or viesor, black shirt, black pants, face shaded by the visor, and opened fire. all i really remember was one bang. >> the bullets destroyed his right eye and severed the optic nerve in his left eye. the optic nerve connects the eye to the brain. without it sight is impossible. but the bad news, of course, didn't end there. >> how did you find out about susan? >> at some point i asked melissa how is mom doing? melissa said, well, she's not doing quite as well as you. they're working on her somewhere else. you need to hang in there. didn't really mean too much to me. i think i was hallucinating an awful lot. at some point somebody told me that she had died. >> in fact, for weeks and weeks sutton drifted in and out of it awakeness, dependent on others to save him. >> of course, my son was there.

a bunch of my friends were there because i had multiple surgeries in that hospital. >> as he lay in that bed sedated, medicated, breathing through tubes, the thoughts, half a dream, terrified him. was the killer a hitman? was he coming to try again? >> i thought somebody was trying to kill me one night, so i raised hell. i said, you know, call the police, you know, everything i could say to get some assistance. >> he was wrong. there was no killer. still, christopher demanded the hospital take special precautions. >> i do recall him being adamant that my dad be placed under john doe. >> so you were pretty paranoid? >> most certainly. >> and with good reason. because the killer was still out

there and knew kbbl where john sutton was. >> coming up, unfortunately, police had no idea where the killer was. >> everyone is somewhat of a suspect. you start with the family and keep working your way out. >> when "dateline" continues. and after work. he does it all with dr. scholl's. only dr. scholl's has massaging gel insoles that provide all-day comfort. to keep him feeling more energized. dr. scholl's. born to move. happiness is powerful flea and tick protection 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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president trump held a campaign style rally in michigan instead of attending the white house correspondents dinner. he addressed the russia

investigation while taking shots at the media who supported trump outside detroit. kim jong un says he will begin the closing of nuclear test sites by mid-may. in a meeting with south korea president moon he also expressed a desire not to repeat the painful history of the korean war. now back to "dateline." the fact that john sutton was alive at all after that mystery invader killed his wife and shot him in the face was a medical marvel, frankly. the rest of the news was not so good. when he was finally able to talk, sutton received a visit from police detectives. sus susan, police discovered, had been having an affair. >> i'm not excusing teddy. i'm not excusing anybody. i don't focus on that. i can't change it. i can't change any of this. it's like a bad dream.

>> but then the dream got worse. teddy was a possible murder suspect. >> one of the homicide detectives related to me that there had been a problem with the polygraph. >> because he was actually a suspect. >> i suspect so. anybody that was probably anywhere near me was a suspect. >> but as sutton was absorbing the news of his wife's apparent betrayal, montoto slipped off the list of top suspects. for one thing, he couldn't have been the shooter. he was on the phone with susan when it happened. records confirmed he actually called the police before rushing to the sutton house, so as detectives eliminated early suspects like montoto, they went back to the basics of every homicide investigation. >> everybody was somewhat of a suspect. you start with the family, keep working your way out. >> family. john and susan met on a blind date and were married a year later.

from the beginning made family a very big deal. even though they were strikingly good-looking and financially successful and happy, they were stymied. no matter how they tried and oh how they tried, they couldn't have children. >> she was sure that as much as anybody else wanted a baby, she wanted a baby more than anyone in the world. >> susan. >> but it could make her a mother by adoption. >> she got her wish, and as i said, it was the happiest day of her life when she brought christopher home. >> christopher sutton was born april 13th, 1979, and the day they brought him home john sutton remembers every minute, every detail. even the green suit he was wearing. >> when christopher came to us about 2 days old, very cute, was a lot of fun. >> it was a happy time? >> absolutely. >> susan quit her job to be a

full-time mom, but susan kept trying to get pregnant and had been suffering through years of failed fertility treatments and miscarriages. finally, adopted a sister for christopher, melissa. >> she was and always has been a little angel. absolutely. shild probably be upset with me saying this, but she was pretty close to perfect. >> it would seem to describe the family too. the children had been told they were adopted, and didn't seem to worry them at all. >> my mom and my dad are my mom and my dad. it wasn't these are my biological and these are my adopted. i had a great cheeildhood. >> there were advantages when your brother is seven years older. >> someone made fun of me in school one time. he came, and he gave the kid a

stern look. like a big older brother did. i think he was protective of me. >> after the murder, in fact, christopher resumed that protective role. this time for his father, who insisted that melissa should return to college in northern florida. >> the day after the shooting was her first day of college. >> oh, my gosh. >> and i was then and i am still proud that she managed to stay in school. >> during a long and arduous recovers, lingerring fears and many surgeries. he learned the hard way to keep focus in and emotions safely at bay. it was easier that way. survival mode. >> he just focuses on putting one foot in front of the other, and i think i do the same thing. if you were to break down emotionally all the time or dwell on what happened, you wouldn't even get out of bed.

>> the doctors let him go home finally, but since home was not exactly livable, he moved in with christopher at his townhouse. >> my house was a mess because it was a crime scene. the most logical place for me to go was not where the incident occurred because we didn't know who was responsible, but this townhouse, and that's where i went. >> a full-time nurse looked after him during the day. christopher and his girlfriend, juliet, were there for him the rest of the time. three months after the august shooting was when -- in which the shooting happened. christopher went with him. >> at that point he was more involved in driving me around or some care giving. >> now it was almost christmas. still no arrests. detectives larry and his partner art were certainly following up leads trying to find anyone with a motive to kill the suttons.

though understand the digging they were doing was mostly in mounds of dry paperwork, records of phone calls and the like. then somewhere in the middle of that pile there it was. boy was it a doozy. coming up. >> i look at her and go we got something here. >> a phone call from a killer 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. each day justin at work... walk.

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there's a reason, of course, why parents worry about the company there's a reason, of course, why parents worry about the company their children keep. it was months after john sutton lost his wife and his own eyesight to an intruder with a .9 millimeter handgun. miami detectives were plowing their way through mounds of interview transcripts and tips and e-mails and phone records, anything to narrow down their list of suspects. in the pile of material from the

phone company they came across a name. >> we isolated within a three or four hour period of the murder five or six different names, and one of those came back to garrett. >> who -- >> on the 22nd there was probably i want to say maybe 13 phone calls if memory serves me right. they were made between garrett and chris sutton's cell phones. >> a lot of calls. >> a lot of calls. >> lots of calls on the day of the murder. they probably meant nothing at all, of course. still, garrett was 20. a frequent visitor around the sutton house. he didn't seem to have a job or any direction in life, but christopher saw some good in him apparently. hired him occasionally to do odd jobs. in fact, after the murder christopher had hip him rip up and remove the bloody carpets from the crime scene. >> whatsoever person did he seem

like? >> when garrett was in the house, he was always, shall we say, at a distance. i honestly cannot recall any conversations whatsoever with garrett. >> he and christopher called each other all the time. even the night of the murder. an hour after the shooting. just as he and his girlfriend were coming out of the movie. >> we pulled the video from the amc movie theater, and it showed him getting right on his cellular telephone right after all the shooting happened. >> was there a connection here with what happened? again, probably not, but just to cover all the bases, detectives ran a criminal back ground check on young mr. cob and what do you know? >> he was arrested on august 23rd. >> the day after the shooting? >> the day after the shooting. you know, i still get goose bumps when i remember that because he is sitting across from me, and i look at him and go we got something here.

>> indeed, they did. one day after the murder garrett cob was arrested for aggravated assault after an altercation at this apartment complex. a big no-no. he pulled a gun on a couple of guys. happened in the town of homestead, florida, about 30 miles away from the crime scene. detectives called the homestead police department, talked to the arresting officer. >> i said please tell me it was a handgun. he says it was. i said, now, please tell me it was a glock .9 millimeter. he said it was. now, please tell me you have that weapon. he goes i do. >> bingo. >> we got to get that gun. art went down and picked up the gun, and we submitted it to our firearms techs. >> the report came back clear as day. this was the gun that killed susan sutton and blinded her husband. >> which obviously connects garrett cob to the murder pretty intimately. >> absolutely.

>> but detectives did not rush out and arrest cob for a simple and very important reason. there was a bigger question that needed to be answered. did his friend christopher know anything? was he even perhaps involved? shocking question, of course. this was sutton's son, the son who devoted himself to nursing his father back to health. something about christopher bothered them and had ever since he was interviewed the morning after the murder. >> he said that i was at the movies and said do you want to see the tickets? >> just had them right there like that? >> red flag there. i want to prove that i'm at the movies. >> odd? perhaps. might mean nothing at all. the gun implicated cob, of course, but christopher? no real evidence to show he knew a thing. >> there were still a lot of pieces of the puzzle that we were still putting together. >> we can't prove it yet. >> like, for example, this big

tantalizing piece of the puzzle right here. what in heaven's name might an island in the far off pacific have to do with the shooting of john and susan sutton? >> coming up, trouble in paradise. for a young christopher and his family. >> he was kidnapped in the middle of the night, and he was 17 years old. >> we knew that chris was complaining that he had been hog tied, beaten. >> when "dateline" continues. because to a kid a grassy hill is irresistible. children's claritin. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. happiness is powerful flea and tick protection 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.

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amazing what that garden variety assault case feel the clarity and live claritin clear. in homestead, florida led to. >> amazing. homestead, florida. garrett cob was arrested with a gun that turned out to be the murder weapon of the sutton case. the very same garrett cob who talked on the phone so often with christopher sutton. the friend who called christopher right after the

shooting. now the complexion of the investigation changed. >> we're trying to think why would garrett cob do this? i mean, he is a 20-year-old kid. obviously there's a tie with christopher sutton and him. >> as for christopher himself, says the detectives had no trouble finding people with an opinion about him. >> the cops should be looking at christopher sutton because of the lengthy family history of problems that john and susan had with their son christopher, who was a handful from a very early age. >> a very early age, actually. as john sutton recalled all too clearly. >> could he get into fights in school? >> i can remember that happening early on in preschool. >> it got worse as christopher got older. >> did he get into trouble? >> absolutely. it was vandalism. not only of our own things, but there was vandalism of other

people's property. >> they sent him off to boarding schools then, but he didn't last at any of them. failed or got kicked out. of course, the whole family tried, said is had sister, melissa. the trouble wasn't a lack of love. not at all. >> was it your sense that christopher was loved? >> oh, no doubt about it. >> but neither love nor money could prevent christopher from always ending back in the same place. trouble. >> i know that he dealt drugs and at one point he was arrested for it when i was younger and, you know, that was something that my father being a lawyer and as well as a parent, you know, what do with he do? >> finally, in 18995 when christopher was 16, when counsellors and boarding schools and tough love had all been tried and found wanting, john and susan looked away. far, far away to find some help. on the pacific island of western

samoa, there was a place called paradise cove, a so-called boot camp for troubled kids, behavior modification their specialty. >> it's a long way away, samoa. was that part of it, that it would be good idea to have him far away for a while? >> we weren't focused on finding the farrest place we could possibly send him, and we were hesitant about samoa, but we investigated it rather thoroughly. >> it was expensive. paradise cove charged about $25,000 a year. >> we had just had enough. what else can wie do? >> they knew there was no way -- attorney sutton did what attorneys do best and got a court order to have christopher forcibly sent to samoa. >> he was kidnapped in the middle of the night, and he was 17 years old. >> basically kidnapped him? >> put him on a plane. he was sent to western samoa. >> christopher would not break

so easily. paradise cove was no paradise. in fact, there were many reports of physical abuse and restraints used on those who were uncooperative. something christopher learned when he first arrived. >> we knew that christopher complained that he that he had been hog tied, beaten -- >> when his family was allowed to visit him about a year later, there was a distinct change, a huge improvement. they fnd buffed cleaned up young man who excelled at sports. he was as you can see a clearly happy family reup on. >> it was a really happy event. we cried, we hugged, we said our hellos, love each other. he was proud of, you know, what he learned and showed off. >> then five months after this reunion christopher turned 18. time for him to come home or so he thought. >> he was banking on getting out

when he turned 18 but we also learned that john sutton, being a lawyer, had an order signed by a judge that said when you turned 18 if you haven't completed the course you had to stay which infuriated christopher. >> why did you decide to keep him there when he turned 18? >> we had concerns that he wasn't ready to return. he had not, quote, graduated the program. >> how did he feel about that? >> he was quite upset. >> he wanted to come home? >> he wanted things his way. >> this time finally tough love seemed to work. christopher was 19 and a changed man when he returned from his protective stay in samoa. >> we met him at the airport at lax on his birthday april 13th. >> he was happy to see you? >> absolutely. >> it was a joyous reunion? >> thrilled. >> the suttons went on a family cruise, a reward for their son. that's where he met his future

fiance, a young woman from boston named juliet driscoll. juliet moved to miami and quickly became a member of the family. john sutton even got her a job at his law firm. >> she was, you know, what i would imagine if someone was going to marry gnat foomly. my mother embraced her. juliet was a great influence. >> christopher got his act together, enrolled in college, started working. his parents helped out by buying him a $300,000 condo. >> he started up his own company, which in retrospect looking at everything he had done from arrests to drugs, you know, this is good behavior. we were all happy that things were better. >> and anyway, by the time of the murder, christopher was 26 and samoa had receded into his distant past. >> i interviewed melissa in the very beginning. all she knew about her brother

was that he was a little bit rebellious as most teenagers are at that age. >> i think i said something along the lines of, no, i don't know any reason why he would want to do that. >> a belief her father shared. >> i asked him early on when he was able to talk at jackson hospital, could your son have something to do with this? he said, i don't believe so. >> so perhaps gard cobb acted alone after all, but detectives were convinced christopher had to be mixed up in that awful shooting somehow. someone must know, and they were right. someone did. coming up -- john sutton survived two bullets to the head. could he survive being home alone with his son? >> christopher made comments that his parents were going to pay. >> when "dateline" continues.

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miami homicide detectives had problems. they were pretty sure the man who shot john and susan sutton was even now a frequent visitor of the sutton home. >> garrett cobb gets arrested, and they at least suspected the sutton's son, john's caregiver, was all mixed up in it somehow. >> i was becoming more concerned. >> john sutton, a sitting duck for another attack, one that might finish him off? >> you must have found it a little worrisome that john sutton was actually living with -- >> absolutely. >> -- his son christopher and being cared for by christopher? >> sure. >> still, they worried about did not act even though they knew full well, garrett cobb, the shooter they were sure, was still hanging around. isn't that right, cobb was there? >> that's right. >> again, we didn't want to tip our hand. >> but should christopher have been a suspect?

garrett cobb and christopher sutton while ripping up bloody carpets actually called detectives to tell them they found new evidence at the crime scene, a bullet casing under the carpet. >> there's a helpful handyman, by the way, i found another casing. come on. >> it's an indication maybe they didn't do it, right? >> i didn't think so. >> but that's what any good defense attorney's going to point out? >> sure. the casing was underneath something and i don't know how we all missed it, but we missed it. >> detectives remained convinced that christopher harbored a lingering anger to his parents for sending him to samoa. >> i know he was upset. i know he was mad at his family for that. >> but when detectives tracked down another paradise cove resident, they said he was a lot more upset than that.

>> christopher made comments that christopher was going to pay for taking years out of his life. >> when they took a more recent look at his history, they could see that his improved behavior wasn't lasting. even girlfriend's juliet's influence couldn't keep him from slipping up. yes, he went back to college but soon dropped out and he did form a company but the company folded. >> and he didn't seem to be motivated. we tried to get him to stay in jobs. nothing seemed to be working. >> what john sutton didn't know was that his son had gone back to the one job he seemed to be good at, selling drugs. nor did he know that christopher's friend garrett cobb had been one of his best customers. he was buying and reselling mostly marijuana and xanax. he and christopher spent a lot of time sampling the goods.

>> they hung around a lot doing drugs, playing video games, whatever. >> in the months after the record phone records showed a spike in the call between the two, 300 calls between 3 months. >> that's an awful lot of drugs to be dealing if you had 300 some odd phone calls. >> could they have been talking murder? speculation, of course, but then after the murder when cobb was arrested on the gun charge, prosecutors understood it was christopher who bonded him out, drove him to court, hardly the sort of thing a drug dealer would do for a mere customer. >> going to court for him, bonding him out, there was more to this friendship. >> john and melissa sutton knew nothing what they were discovering. garrett cobb was still coming around. solid evidence or no, detectives decided it was time to act.

they needed a confession to make their case. >> i told the investigators, bring him to me. coming up, a showdown with a killer. >> what did he want you to do? >> go in the back door, walk in, shoot him. >> case closed? far from it. when "dateline" continues iem iempt." ."

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keith morrison: detectives larry belyeu and art nanni had a theory to explain the shooting of john sutton detective rathlarry belyeu a theory, christopher ston hir his dope smoking buddy garrett cobb to kill his parents, but it was really just a theory and while the case against cobb was fairly strong, remember, the murder weapon was found in his possession, the evidence against chris foe 49er was purely circumstantial. the samoa boot camp might have given him a motive but --

>> needed more than that, i decided it was time to act. we were going to need a confession. >> and given what they had against cobb, detectives gambled that the shooter might roll over on the son. >> he denied all? >> it wasn't my gun at all. >> wasn't my gun. >> i said looks like we're going to be here a long time. >> they were, hours and hours. >> you know how the house was set up? >> yeah. >> finally i said, i don't believe you did this on your own so give me a reason as to how chris got you to do this. basically said, look, you have to look out for me and my family because i'm afraid of him. >> afraid chris was going to kill him. >> if he didn't to this chris was going to take care of him and his younger son. >> i didn't believe him but that was what he was saying. >> he finally confessed and said christopher gave him the gun, money to buy the black clothes, hired him as a hit man. >> did he formulate this plan or was it a combined effort between

the two of you? >> he did. >> what plan did he tell you? what did he want you to do? >> go in the back door, walk in and shoot him. >> did it upset him to tell you this story? >> no, not really. not that i could tell. >> did he seem relieved that he finally had told someone? >> no. during this time i talked to him. he was pretty calm, matter of factually talking about it. >> after that confession kopp was charged with first degree murder. he was allowed to see his father, girlfriend and son and then taken off to jail. >> so case closed? well, you'd think given what kopp told the detectives in there, but it did not give them what they needed to arrest christopher. there's a feature in florida law which says the things a person says in a confession about somebody else could be labeled as hearsay. they needed more. so they turned to the person closest to christopher, his

fiance, juliet driscoll. the two were engaged to be married in a few weeks. dress bought, invitations in the mail. >> she said, i don't know anything about it. christopher doesn't tell me. >> didn't tell her anything or so she said? >> that was my reaction and i didn't buy it. >> guess not because he went on grilling this young woman for more than 12 hours. at the end of which the detective played to her heart. her relationship with susan and john sutton. >> i said, look, susan really cared about you. she basically thought of you as a daughter. this woman didn't deserve to die like this. john doesn't certainly deserve to be blind the rest of his life and i know for a fact garrett did this per the direction of christopher. finally she started crying. i go, i think i might have her. >> with the tears came a story, what christopher had said to her that just might nail him for

murder. >> parents deserve to die for taking years out of his life. she said this went on for years. she interjected. she said, i knew it was going to happen, i just didn't know when. >> that night they put juliet into protective custody. >> the next day i got an arrest warrants. >> a female officer paid a visit to john sutton. >> she said, i have good news and bad news. the good news is we've arrested the assailant and the bad news is she said your son set him up. i go man, oh, man, well, that was a bad night, a real bad night. >> what was it like to hear that? was it a shock or did you have at that point some kind of an idea? >> it was 50 emotions all at the same time, one of which is, well, i finally know. two was, i can't believe this.

>> john, ever the atrney, wanted to know what the evidence was, had the reports read to him and was convinced. >> i think that i was somewhere in between being completely outraged and upset and somewhere where i knew that he had done it. >> but melissa, so grief stricken, wasn't focused on who did it so much as what she had lost. >> a lot of people chased the killer and i think i chased missing my mom. >> police are looking for 25-year-old christopher patrick sutton. >> and christopher was nowhere to be found. day after day as police looked for him, john sutton had time to think, remember. one event he had perhaps suppressed, it happened nine years earlier when christopher was 16. it was the deciding factor in sending him off to samoa. >> susan was going through christopher's room and found a

handwritten note planning our murder. >> what did it say? >> well, it talked about killing us for insurance. >> a week after a warrant was taken out for his arrest police found christopher and brought him to the miami-dade homicide bureau. there he learned that both his alleged co-con spiritor garrett kopp and juliet driscoll had somehow implicated him. >> i showed him excerpts out of juliet driscoll's statement saying i knew it was going to happen, i didn't know when. he immediately began to sob and said i'm [ bleep ]. >> but did that mean he was guilty or merely that he understood the police believed he was guilty. >> he made comments like there's had a no magical way i can tell you where to go to find the truth. >> christopher sutton and garrett kopp were charged with first degree murder, a possible

death sentence case, both pleaded not guilty. john sutton got busy. he had a mission, two, in fact, one, to seek justice, no matter what that might mean for his son. the other, perhaps even more impossible, to simply see again. coming up, garrett kopp's confession should be enough to put him behind bars, but did prosecutors have enough to convict christopher sutton? >> this was a circumstanceal case, extremely circumstantial. >> when "dateline" continues. he does it all with dr. scholl's. only dr. scholl's has massaging gel insoles that provide all-day comfort. to keep him feeling more energized. dr. scholl's. born to move. happiness is powerful flea and tick protection from nexgard. nexgard kills fleas and ticks all month long. and it comes in an easy-to-give tasty chew.

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john sutton had survived gunshot wounds to his head, the death of his wife and his own son's arrest for murder. and to top it off, he was blind, apparently permanently. >> it still is unbelievable. i mean, it's like a big, bad dream. >> a nightmare from which there was no awakening. but john, if you hadn't noticed by now, is a determined man. he had been a champion swimmer in college. now he swam again. he had been a skier, now he learned to ski blind. he fell in love again. her name is kathy henry. >> how did you meet her?

>> blind date. >> am i supposed to laugh at that line? >> yeah. it's true. >> what has it meant to you to have her with you? >> it's meant a great deal. it's just tremendous. i wish i could see her. >> and he went back to the thing he had always done best, he went back to court to practice law. >> we did not sue for breach of that contract -- >> where his blindness became not exactly the handicap some opponents seemed to expect. >> i like to put myself down so i say, you know, poor old blind guy, you know, i'm just trying to do the best i can, and then i go in and memorize all the citations and let them decide if i know what i'm doing. >> lately he's been busier than ever. recently won a $9 million judgment for one of his clients. >> i couldn't even imagine.

i don't even -- i can't even try to think what that would be like. >> yeah. >> heavy. >> memorizing things and going into court? >> yeah. >> he is a pretty determined guy. >> yes. he's great. >> but adapting, even successful adapting, using a talking typewriter, for example, wasn't enough for john sutton. as he waited for his son's long delayed trial, he pursued with something like an obsession, a quest to regain his eyesight. >> most people may have given up. can't do anything. you live with it. >> not even close. no, i won't take no for an answer. >> at some of the best hospitals in the country sutton had been told there was nothing that could be done. he would be blind for life. the bullets had permanently destroyed his optic nerve but he heard about a renowned researcher who had successfully

regenerated the optic nerve in mice. >> one step up. >> and so in march 2008, almost three years to the day after his son was arrested, sutton and his girlfriend, kathy, were on the cold rain swept streets of boston on his way to an appointment. >> so there's a chin rest in front of you. >> a doctor evaluated one of sutton's eye and even though the nerve was destroyed the eye could work. >> my son is in jail. >> they listened to the awful story of how he lost his eyesight. >> they explained working on optic nerve regeneration and john took in and for the first time since the shooting he found a surge of positive excitement

and a little germ of hope lodged itself in his stubborn mind. >> and you were thinking -- >> i said, i am in the right spot. >> he talked to believing researchers working on optic nerve repair. >> have you donnie studies with severed optic nerves? >> he peppered them with questions like he was cross examining witnesses. mike gilmore, then the president of the hospital, offered sutton a glimmer at least of hope. >> we will be able to regenerate an optic nerve. it's not a question of can we, when can we. >> and it was a good news/bad news sort of day. >> i do not want to mislead you or provide false hopes. >> yes, there might be a cure, but perhaps not for five or ten years or more, quite possibly too late for john sutton. >> how are you doing? >> okay. >> how soon depends on how much funding we can get, how many

scientists we can put behind the problem to solve it. >> so sutton told the doctors he would somehow help make it happen. he whoet checks. he joined the board of directors. >> john sutton. >> he offered himself as a voice of hope for desperate patients. >> even though it may never help as long as he lives. he's okay with that? >> there's a chance that we may not be able to restore his vision. there is a chance, on the other hand, that we may, but if he doesn't get behind it, he does know that we're not going to who have it as fast as we could. >> well, it's my pleasure to be here today. as you will hear, i almost didn't make it here today. >> sutton traveled the country speaking at fundraisers, using what he calls his "shock and awe" presentation to tell his story complete with his 911 call

and news footage. >> the body of susan sutton -- >> i want to flip this tragedy, this catastrophe into a positive. >> meanwhile, in miami it was decision time. the alleged shooter, garrett kopp, had finally agreed to plea guilty and testify against sutton's son, christopher, in exchange for a 30 year sentence and no death penalty. sutton confronted the killer the day he entered a plea. >> during the next days, months, years, 20 years, 30 years i want you to think about what you planned and what you did that night. you can be assured that with my blindness every minute of every day that i will not forget you. >> all rise please. >> and with that, the murder trial of christopher sutton could begin. now florida law again, now prosecutors could use the sworn testimony in court of both the

girlfriend and the hit man, but even with that the case was as the prosecutor knew all too well, rather weak. >> this was a circumstantial case, extremely circumstantial, really based on motive. >> john sutton wanted the law to convict his son of murder, but was christopher actually guilty? coming up, in court the killer returns to the scene of the crime. >> what did you do at the end of the hallway? >> proceeded to shoot. >> who did you shoot at first? >> john. >> and what did you see mr. sutton do when you shot him? >> flip off the bed. >> 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.

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because to a kid a grassy hill is irresistible. children's claritin. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. keith morrison: summertime in miami. pounding heat, unavoidable sun. summertime in miami. pounding heat. unavoidable sun. unavoidable except, of course, inside. >> all rise please. >> and six years inside a cell in the county jail had produced

a doughy christopher sutton by the time his trial finally began. it was july 2010, a son charged with hiring a hit man who murdered his mother, blinded his father, and here he sat apparently confident, highly prepared ignoring most of the time the surviving members of his family a scant few feet away. >> you know, we locked eyes but i have nothing to say to him. >> melissa sat with her father, their father, front row seat. prosecutor karen kagan told the jury a horror story, the state's version of what happened the night of the murder. >> the man for whom the gunman had signed on to commit a double murder, a man who was intimately familiar with john and susan sutton. that man, their son, christopher sutton. >> then graphic evidence. a crime scene soaked in blood

and littered with bullet casings. the medical examiner put knitting needles in a manny can. christopher recoiled. how would they prove? >> raise your right hand. >> here's how for starters. >> this man once worked for christopher, was an occasional pot customer, too, but was shocked when christopher asked him a certain question. >> what did the defendant ask you? >> he asked me if i knew of any hit men that would kill his parents. >> what reason or explanation did he give you? >> he said that his parents were worth about 500,000 to $1 million. >> worth a lot more, actually. house, insurance, law practice, christopher stood to inherit millions, so was money a motive or was it the stint at the boot camp in samoa or both? detective belyeau tried to find out when he questioned

christopher. >> i said did you hate your parents that much? >> his answer? >> he said, you tell me. you just don't know. >> but did that answer guilt or motive or would she? >> miss driscoll, if you'll come forward, stand in front of our clerk here. >> when juliet, once his fiance walked by him in the courtroom, christopher's eyes weld up. he hadn't seen her in years. now her testimony could send him away for life. >> what did the defendant tell you about getting his parents killed or taken care of? >> same thing i had been hearing for the last six years. >> which was that he could find someone to kill them. >> find somebody. they deserved it. >> this wasn't easy for juliet. as she recalled the last time she saw susan sutton the night of that birthday celebration a few hours before she was killed. >> we went over -- it was me, chris, john, susan and teddy.

we had dinner. >> do you remember that melissa was there or -- do you need a minute? >> this might be a good time for a break anyway. >> that night, whether juliet knew it or not, christopher an his drug dealing friend christopher kopp were already leaving a trail for detectives, a trail of phone calls, 17 in all, one just an hour after the murder. >> the state would call garrett kopp to the stand. >> here was the man on the end of that phone, the man who said he did it, garrett kopp, 25 years old, short, scruffy, the self-confessed killer shuffled into the courtroom and told a horrifying detail, how christopher instructed him to enter the house near a sliding glass door near the pool, how he made a sketch of the house to guide him down the hallway. >> what did you do at the end of

the hallway? >> proceeded to shoot. >> who did you shoot at first? >> john. >> is that mr. sutton? >> yes. >> where was mr. sutton when you shot at him initially? >> on the bed. >> and what did you see mr. sutton do when you shot him? >> flip off the bed. >> after you fired at mr. sutton, what did you to? >> proceeded to shoot another room. >> who was the person you were in a plan to shoot john and susan sutton. >> christopher sutton. >> what do you remember the defendant telling you how much money you might expect? >> upwards of 100,000. >> up until this moment john had been a spectator at his son's trial, his thoughts and feelings his own, but he was a victim too. staying out of it was an not an option for him. now came the moment he dreaded,

first about the night his world went dark. >> the only thing i saw was for an instant a snap. i didn't even see the gun but in an instant, bam, and then the next thing you knew, i woke up and i was on the floor. >> john sutton answered the questions as if the defendant sitting before him was a man he had never met, as if this was not the boy he had raised from birth. neither father nor son displayed the slightest emotion. >> it doesn't make any sense to get on the witness stand and cry in front of the jury. it can cause a mistrial. so i dealt with it. i did what i had to do. >> so he did, but was he right about his son? did the state really have the puzzle solved? or had its key witness been forced to lie? coming up. now it was the defense's turn, and christopher's old

girlfriend, one of the prosecution's star witnesses against him, had a new story to tell about how she was threatened by police. >> they told me that if they didn't hear what they wanted to hear that they were going to arrest me instead. they threw my purse across the room. >> what would that do to the prosecution's case? when "dateline" continues. thn recommended non-drowsy brand. because to a kid a grassy hill is irresistible. children's claritin. feel the clarity and live claritin clear. happiness is powerful flea and tick protection 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.

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i'm dara brown with the

hour's top stories. seoul says kim jong-un plans to shut down the nuclear test site in may and will show experts and journal lists from south korea and the u.s. the process. in michigan saturday president trump went off senator john tester who played a crucial role for his veterans secretary. now back to "dateline." she tells them -- >> it takes a special sort of skill to defend a man facing a charge of first degree murder, and in miami bruce fleischer has honed the skill as well as anyone. what he could see right away, knew it long before the trial, was that the scene in that courtroom was about as bad as it could be, because there they were, just feet apart, his

client, a blind father, a survivor of the alleged plot to kill his parents. >> the fact that john sutton survived and was blind to me was the greatest prejudice in the case. >> and there he was right behind the bar the whole time. >> the jury would hear something bad and they'd look over at john sutton. they had to be thinking, this poor man. look what he has to go through life with. >> for the victim, fleischer knew, he must display only sympathy. so instead he attacked the murder investigation itself, the way the police came up with their two star witnesses, juliet driscoll and garrett kopp. after all, without them the state's case was weak. and why do you suppose they came forward anyway? because they were forced to, or so reasoned fleischer. juliet driscoll, for example, why did she tell police christopher talked about killing his parents? >> they eventually tell her, if you don't tell us what we want

to know, you're going to be arrested in this murder conspiracy. and what does she do? she tells them what they want to know. >> can you please have a seat over here? >> in fact, the defense attorney got the defense attorney juliet >> they told me if they didn't hear what they wanted to hear that they were going to arrest me instead. they threw my purse across the room. they slammed their hands on the desks. >> did they tell you it was going to be for first degree murder? >> they told me they were going to arrest me for murder. >> and you eventually told them what they wanted to hear? >> after 13 hours, yes. >> before christopher was arrested, the two planned a wedding and honeymoon in samoa, of all places, which begged the question -- >> if he was going to take the lives of his parents, why would

you stay with him and why would you marry him? >> i can't think of how many times i've heard somebody say, oh, my god, i hate this person so much, i could kill them for now. when you hear it for six straight years, you don't believe it. >> finally juliet said detectives lied when she said i knew it would happen, i didn't know when. >> i never believed he would do it and that's why the whole thing with my statement that i knew he would do it, which i've said, i don't know if he did it. nobody knows what really happened except for him and garrett. >> thank you. >> that's what i've been saying. >> so why not just play a tape of the interrogation? well, they couldn't. the police didn't record a word of their long talk with juliet driscoll. >> she said certainly he said those things but whether he did it is up in the air as far as i'm concerned.

>> right. i think that gives rise to a major reasonable doubt in this case. >> but, remember, garrett kopp, the confessed shooter, said he was merely christopher's put pet on a string. how do you get a jury to doubt a statement like that? >> we had to go after him now. >> oh, and he did. fleischer went after garrett and the cops. >> every time you denied being involved in this, they got aggressive with you, didn't they? >> somewhat. they just like got pushy a little bit. >> got pushy? meaning they walked over to you and they pushed you a little bit on the shoulder. >> getting m my face. >> did they touch you? >> yeah. >> leaning up against you? >> yes. >> when they got close to you what were they saying, garrett, garrett -- >> something like that. >> you need to tell us something, garrett, because they're going to fry your ass in

the electric chair. >> excuse me. exseme. >> is that an objection? >> that is an objection. >> theuestion is, is that what they said to you? >> something like that. i'm going down for murder. >> you're going down for murder. >> i'm going to get the death penalty. >> you're going to get the death penalty. what finally made you give them some information? >> saying that juliet was in another room. they told me i was going -- i was going to go to jail for murder already so i ended up confessing. >> there was no doubt that kopp committed the murder, but maybe the case against christopher wasn't quite so watertight after all. maybe christopher himself could set the record straight. >> calling chris sutton. >> would jurors listen? coming up, accused of murdering his mother and blinding his father, a son sheds tears on the stand for himself.

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for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. judge, we're calling chris sutton. keith morrison: jurors had to be deeply judge, we're calling chris sutton. >> jurors had to be deeply curious about the man accused of putting a hit on his own parents. for one thing in his buttoned down shirt and wire rimmed

glasses, he looked more law student than murder suspect. for weeks they watched his whispering to his attorney. >> he felt he was wrongfully prosecuted. the only way we could tie up things and prove things or disprove things was by him testifying. >> how would he convey his innocence? first, by describing his hospital vigil, a concerned son on the night of the shooting. >> did he acknowledge that he knew you were there. >> yeah, he could -- he could squeeze your hand but he couldn't speak. >> how did you feel when you saw your father at the ryder trauma center? >> shocked, hurt, worried, scared. >> not that christopher was claiming to be a perfect son. in fact, he told the jury he was a drug dealer. garrett kopp was one of his best customers but had good reason to turn on him.

why? because years earlier, christopher said, he turned police informant to get drug charges dropped, and who did he finger? gard kopp. >> what happened, if anything, with your relation ship with garrett kopp after he was arrested. >> i didn't speak to him for a while or he didn't speak to me for a while, i should say. >> was he mad at you. >> yes. >> was it pay back time? yes, it must have been. christopher said he had nothing to do with it. told the jury he never asked kopp to kill his parents. kopp made it all up. the police had it all wrong. what really happened, he said, was that kopp stormed into the house that night to steal christopher's hidden stash, boxes full of drugs. >> how much marijuana did you store in these boxes? >> in the top box, about two pounds. >> what was the value of that? >> 7,000 bucks. >> in fact, the very day of the

murder, kis said christopher, a hopped up kopp called him again and again desperate to buy drugs. christopher said between a birthday party and the movie, he couldn't do it. >> why did you tell him you couldn't get the drugs. >> objection. >> overruled. >> i told him i left it in my room in my parents' house. >> that's what gave kopp the reason where to go. >> that doesn't explain why he would in cold blood murder and attempt to murder. >> he went to get the drugs. he found the suttons home and they could recognize him. he panicked, he was in a drug stew poor a stupor and he shot them both. >> so if you were garrett kopp, wouldn't you try to implicate the man who turned you into police? here's the thing, said christopher, he could understand kopp turning on him, but juliet, his own fiance? when he heard what she told police he broke down in tears,

not because of what she said but why she must have said it. >> as soon as he started reading parts of juliet's statement, yeah, i started crying. >> why were you crying? >> objection. >> overruled. >> i was crying because the woman i was going to be marrying in five weeks had lied to save herself. >> his were tears of frustration, said christopher. how could he defend himself against liesn his police interrogator accus him of murder. >> i told him he wasn't going to believe anything i said. he was going to use my words against me. there was no proof. that i didn't do anything. >> so there it was, another theory for the jury to consider. but there was one more thing the defense had to do if possible. knock down the allegation that his banishment to samoa had given him a motive to kill his parents. what you're about to see, as

christopher described the program, a level 2 he was allowed to go to the bathroom on his own, is allowed to have some more privileges and then -- >> something in the memories on that island struck a nerve. >> how were you feeling physically during that time? >> i was what they called in denial. >> do you need a break? >> yes. >> strange? stoic for the rest of his testimony yet in the process of trying to dismiss samoa as a murder motive. he cried about his experience there. revealing? attorney fleischer put the best spin on it as he could. >> i think that showed his

honesty of his feelings. >> he told the jury while he was initially upset about going to samoa, he got over it, made the best of it, and when his parents and melissa came to visit they all had a wonderful time together. hardly a dysfunctional family. >> were you happy to be with your parents? >> i was very, very happy to be with my parents. i loved them very much. >> so he had given the jury an alternative. he tried at least to diffuse the samoa motive? enough? not nearly said prosecutor kagan. >> what motive did garrett kopp have to go in to attempt to assassinate both of those people? none. what motive did christopher sutton have? plenty. >> and what's the story here? they have the statement of garrett kopp, the drug-crazed little thug who gives a story to save himself from the death penalty and the coerced

statement of juliet driscoll. where's the evidence in this case? what do they have? nothing. >> seven men, five women on the jury and real doubt in the air. >> when he first started saying his testimony he put doubt in my mind. >> coming up, the jury speaks. >> we the jury -- >> and so does christopher sutton. >> sure, i could have been a better guy. >> as his father hopes for a miracle. when "dateline" continues. dynamic lighting elevated comfort powerfully efficient and one more thing the world comes with it ♪you can go your own way... the 2019 jeep cherokee what does life look like during your period? it's up to you, with tampax pearl.

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all rise for the jury, please. >> not an easy task these people were given. did christopher sutton mastermind a plan to kill his own parents? >> we battled for a while. >> who knew that those 12 were butting heads all day in the jury room and split down the middle after seven hours they went home. it was mostly garrett cop they had the most trouble with. >> he's making his deal because he didn't want the death penalty. >> which would mean what? you can't read what he's saying because he's an opportunist. >> the next day they tried again. ten hours went by, swept in the air-conditioned hallway. and then 7:00 p.m., two words, a

verdict. john and melissa sutton took their seats in the front row. christopher sutton stood stone-faced as jurors filed in. >> thank you, you may be seated. >> were those tears from some members of the jury? >> ladies and gentlemen, i understand you have reached the verdict? >> judge stanford read the verdict. >> christopher sutton, we the jury, the 21st day of july, 2010, find the defendant, christopher patrick sutton, as to count one, guilty of first-degree murder as charged in the indictment. guilty. with that, christopher's head stuck back as he was struck. count three, first-degree felony murder. melissa wept. her father, their father, looked his jaw. sentencing would be immediate. john sutton was offered time to speak and years of stoic resolve crumbled. >> regardless of the result,

this is a bad case. we are now -- we're now at five years, 11 months. i lost susan. i lost christopher long before that. >> christopher did not look at his father. had he done so, he would not have seen tears. the bullets that tore into his head left john sutton unable to cry. >> i lost my eyesight. >> how was it in the courtroom? raw, personal.

here's the judge. >> so ironic for me, i have a son born the exact same day as christopher sutton endured the day of the trial. i remember the joy i had bringing my son home as mr. sutton did. at this time, the court poses a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> and that was that. barring a successful appeal, christopher sutton will die in prison. a result he found so shocking, he decided he needed to explain that they got it so very wrong. the verdict did seem to be a big surprise. >> yeah, i definitely was not expecting to be found guilty. to know you didn't do something, but to have people feel you did. >> the words gushed through his mouth, as if there was not enough time to say everything that needs to be said.

>> a lot of it comes down to me and then there's garrett. everyone is talking about what i did years before or maybe after or even juliet said the only people that know are christopher and garrett. >> the idea that he would break in looking for drugs. >> yeah, absolutely. >> the idea that you would have stuff there -- >> i had stuff in my bedroom. garrett cop helped me move some of that stuff. >> do you need some water? >> no, i'm all right. >> the jury said christopher's tears on the witness stand when he talked about samoa made them believe his incarceration on the island was a motive for murder. you seemed broken up talking about the camp, but not so broken up when you talked about their parents. >> when i initially talked about it, i would cry and it would be hard. the program, i have done my best to seal that away and forget about it. >> all of a sudden, boom. >> that was the first time i sat there and was like, wow, what really did happen there. >> how do you feel about your dad there? >> i'm devastated that he said

things against me or bad, but like, my dad turning on me in hard times isn't anything new. >> and then he talked about his circumstances. his fate. and his self-control abandoned him. the way it's set right now, this is something when you'll never get out. >> if you have integrity inside yourself, you have to stand up for what you believe in. >> how do you feel? >> it's hard. it's hard to know i'm going to jail for something i didn't do. i'm not going to sit here and deny that i had problems with my parents or anything of that stuff happened. that's why i wanted to get up there to explain to the people, i may not be the best person, sure, i could have been a better guy, but i was trying. and i didn't have anything to do with this. i didn't create the system. i'm just stuck in it. >> trapped. >> i will fight all the way until the end. i mean, i will always maintain

my innocence. >> john sutton still remembers the suit he wore when he brought christopher home from the hospital. and now it's come to this. what about christopher? do you still think of him as your son? >> i guess technically he is, but some day i may go see him and confront him and say, what were you thinking of? what a stupid criminal, ridiculous, crazy thing this all was. >> reconciling if it ever comes is a long way. >> that ain't happening, no way. no way. >> christopher, get up! >> it's complicated, ridiculously difficult, but what choice does she have? >> i have a brother, you know? i'm not going to ignore that fact, you know? i have a billion family pictures

with him. >> but he blew up your whole family. >> in the same pickture i have a mom who passed away, a brother who is? jail. and a dad who says, it's kind of what it is. but, at the same time, you know, i believe he did what he did. and i have no intention of ever speaking with him again. >> so life goes on. melissa moved up north and has a career in media services. detectiv detectiv detectives here retired from the for force. and john sutton pursuing his dream to see again. are you prepared or has it sunk in that you're going to be blind for the rest of your life? >> well, that's not my plan. i may not be that smart, but boy, i'm motivated. >> i mean, the enthusiasm coming out of you is kind of

inspirational. >> i'm ready to roll. i got plans for this eyesight. good morning, i'm dara brown at msnbc world headquarters. 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what is happening. president trump and his rough and tumble saturday night telling his base about a new threat to congress adding fuel to his feud with the senator and his strategy for keeping a democrat from sweeping the november elections. tale of two intel reports, new evidence from house democrats says president trump may have obstructed justice while the house gop maintains there was no collusion. plus, comedian michelle wolf goes all in at the