boy, i am motivated. >> i mean the enthusiasm coming out of you is kind of inspirational. >> i'm ready to roll. this is "dateline." >> she told archie she was dating this man. if he didn't like it, he could leave. >> he had been stabbed multiple times. >> nobody saw anything. >> i'll never forget that feeling. >> it was just before dawn when

he found his father dead in the driveway. >> there was no doubt in my mind what happened. >> there was someone else that may have known too. >> i turned around and looked at my mom. i said i know who did this. >> there was one thing no one could know, the strange twist still to come. >> it was a bit of a surprise, kind of a shock. >> yes. >> a lover's triangle always leads to trouble. did this one lead to murder? >> what was it like walking him walk out of jail? >> he beat the system. >> hello and welcome to dateline. how long does it take a killer to stop worrying about whether

he'll ever be caught? a couple of weeks? a couple of months? 25 years. if he's still a freeman then, he would probably be pretty sure he did, indeed, get rid of murder. detectives retire, witnesses forget. the trail goes cold, never to warm up again until one day, it does. here's keith morrison. >> what a time it was, the year he turned up in that crazy little car. an unexpected last chance at love, that passionate sin, it was 1985 and it was magic.

and now here she was 2011 in a courtroom of all places forced to confess her forbidden love, account for her sins, this grandmother, widow. what story would she tell. >> the main thing going through my mind is to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. >> the truth, such a difficult word. especially when it bubbles up from a past from maryann must have believed was buried forever. >> where was your husband? >> he was still in the house. >> men, trouble was, there were two, which was the one scentral fact. the inconvenient truth that caused all the trouble and might

have been forgotten had it not been for this inquisitive d.a. and this long lean cop jim wallace looking on so intently. >> this case was a true love story by three people. one woman loved intensely over the top by two different men in two different lives. >> first, the husband, handsome, a surfer, the real deal. his name was archie mcfarland. everybody loved him. layed back, kind, reliable, ten years older than mary anne but crazy about her. she brought a daughter with her in the early 60s and together they had a son. they settled down near the ocean. >> we had a great, typical nuclear family. dad went off to work. my mom stayed at home and did all the home stuff. you know, the stuff that you see

in leave it to beaver. >> you'll see when gary talks about his dad how close they were. and it just wasn't just archie introduced him to surfing. >> i always looked up to my dad. my dad was a really soft spoken, easy going guy. >> so here they are, to the outside world an old fashioned family, inside, secretly, something seething. it was almost christmas 1985, 5:30 a.m. archie started work early. so did gary that was just 20 years old then. >> he had come into my room and he said hey, gary, i'm going to be leaving now so make sure you get up. i said okay, no problem, thanks dad, love you, see you. >> gary showered, dressed, headed outside into a cold dark

moment. then he saw something odd lying on the pavement. >> as i got closer and closer i started saying that looks like my dad and when i realized it was my dad i had that moment of disbelief. >> archie was healthy. just 58. didn't make sense seeing him like this on the drive way. >> dad and i touched him and there was just -- i'll never forget that feeling but it was just very lifeless. it didn't feel good. so i started yelling mom, mom, call 911. dad's laying on the drive way. i don't know what's the matter. >> when paramedics arrived it was too late to save archie or

the nn the innocent expectations that gary now lost for good. >> the detective arrived. >> he had been stabbed multiple times. two were up the torso as if the assailant was confronting him. >> couldn't have been a robbery. not a thing was taken. archie's car still there. >> nobody saw anything. >> but to the detective, it was clear, archie mcfarland had been targeted and executed and whoever killed him had escaped without leaving behind a murder weapon, fingerprints, or even a hair in what must have been a violent struggle. anyway, this was pre-dna. >> they just didn't have any physical piece of anything left on the driveway and that was the big focus. >> but there was a clue. oh, yes, and it was very, very

strange. >> one of the stab wounds was in the groin area. it's personal. >> sounds like somebody sending a message. >> yes. >> maybe a sexual message. >> yes. >> and about then, on that crisp december morning, as gary and his mother stood shivering and sobbing over archie's bloody body, the shocking realization suddenly hit. i turned around and i looked at my mom and i said i know who did this. that [ bleep ]. immediately. there was no doubt in my mind what happened. >> coming up, there was someone else who also seemed to know who the killer was. >> how could you do such a horrible thing. do you know what you've done? you've destroyed me. >> when "dateline" continues.

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december 1985, torrence, california, christmas coming, but not for archie mcfarland whose earthly remains were a crime scene in his drive way. even before police began their search for the usual crews, even as gary mcfarland cradled his

mother's body in his arms and his mother rushed to his side they knew who did it. >> she immediately started saying i'm sorry. i can't believe he did it. i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. maryanne met with the cops and told them yanos did it. >> detectives pressed maryanne for more. >> she told us that her boyfriend was responsible for this. >> that's right. boyfriend. >> she had been having an affair with him. >> yes, off and on. >> originally from hungary and once the police got the gist of maryanne's tearful confession -- >> she had a picture of him and said this is his address. >> they high tailed it over to long beach where they found his car sitting all innocent like

not far. so the officers having had some experience performed a little test to see just how innocent that car was. and the engine hood was hot to the touch so it appeared it had just been driven back. >> somebody had been pushing it pretty hard. so the cops layed down and kept an eye on the car and the apartment over there and sure enough a few minutes later, out comes yanos. walking to the car and his hair was wet as if he just had a shower. >> he said he was going to his brother's house to do laundry. >> laundry? at 6:30 a.m.? seemed a little odd. but the more pressing question, why was his car engine hot? especially if he was just now leaving the house? he said he left earlier and then

returned to the house. >> because he forgot something. came back home, went into the apartment. >> what did he claim he forgot? the laundry. even though cops spotted a basket of clothes inside his car before he came out of the apartment. so they searched the car and found nothing. nothing suspicious. same inside the apartment except there was this one weird thing. hanging over the bathtub were some clothes that were wet, a shirt and pants. if he's going to do laundry, why would you spot wash something and leave it hanging in your bathroom to dry if you're going to do landry. go do laundry. >> he was arrested and taken back to the p.d. where he had 72 hours to compile a case that would convince the d.a. to file

murder charges. otherwise he would be released. he was confident though he could wrap this up quickly. >> he had the wet clothes. he was changing his statements all the time. his girlfriend, our victim's wife was very positive he was the one responsible for this. >> yanos was insistent he had nothing to do with archie mcfarland's murder and crime lab tests didn't find a speck of blood on his clothes. nor was there a scratch on him either. maryanne wanted to see her former lover in jail. what if they taped the conversation? so the two met for the first time since archie's murder. as the tape rolled. >> how could you do such a horrible thing?

do you know what you've done? you've destroyed me. >> did not do what you're accusing me of. i did not do it. >> if i had a gun i'll blow your brains out right now. >> at one point she even spat on him. >> love? you did this in the name of love? on your love. >> i didn't kill him. i did not kill him. and i don't know anybody who did. >> her tirade seemed authentic but the cops weren't sure, at least at this point if she knew more than she was saying. >> did you ever think, maryanne has to be involved in this somehow. >> i don't think she could have been directly involved but she could have thrown out some ideas to him and he might have taken them on his own. >> but his guilt seemed clear

enough so he took his case to the d.a. and on a surprise, without a confession, a witness, or a murder weapon, the d.a.'s office refused to gamble on such a circumstantial case so no charges were filed against him. >> what was it like watching him walk out of jail? >> it hurts because you know he's the guy that did it and he beat the season. >> i was dumbfounded. to me there was so much evidence it didn't make sense to me. >> maryanne approached the cops with a second proposal to trap her ex-lover into a taped confession. a month after the murder they met at a local restaurant. >> you tell me what happened. >> nothing happened. and why do you think i would do such a thing like this. >> you're not being honest with

me and i know it. >> what do you want to hear? >> again, his denials were complete and determined, just like his passion for maryanne. >> no it's the end. this is good-bye. do you understand that? it's good-bye forever. >> and that was that. but of course you know how it is with lovers, ex or otherwise. what may sound like the end isn't always. why don't we check back in say, 20 years. >> a new detective and a new prosecutor turn up the heat and suddenly a cold case is red hot again. coming up, as soon as i looked at it i said this guy is guilty of this murder. he truly loved her. love bordering on obsession. you need insurance. but it's not really something you want to buy. it's not sexy.

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made me question the whole system. >> the cops were sure yanos killed archie. gary was doubly sure and yet -- >> he's still going around breathing air and has all the

freedoms that you and i have. it just didn't seem right. >> perhaps not. a murder weapon, confession, eyewitness, we didn't have any of that. >> so the case went cold. not much more the detective could do. >> we put it away and let some fresh eyes look at it later on down the line and see if there's something that we missed. >> and then, a very strange development. not a police issue, but for gary, it was awful. it was a few years after the murder. gary was paying his mom's phone bill and he noticed several calls back and forth to long beach. he dialled the number, and on the other end was yanos. >> it would be fair to say it was a bit of a surprise. kind of a shock when you found out she was seeing him again.

>> yes, it was very difficult. >> how could she go back to the lover who gary was sure stabbed his father, her husband, and left him to die in the driveway. >> when i first found out all ties were cut. i wrote her a letter and dropped it in the mail slot and as far as i'm concerned our relationship is over. >> maryanne accused him of murder the day it happened and confronted him in jail and now here she was back with him. well, they didn't move in together but they were certainly a couple. >> i just believe in her own mind that it was okay to go back with him because there was really no proof that he did it. >> just how much maryanne knew if anything about his role in her husband's murder she wasn't saying. certainly not to her son, gary. but the risk in the relationship now seemed irreparable.

for gary, it was like he lost both of his parents. and years passed. the silence continues. gary got married. started his own family. but the loss of his father still haunted him. >> he never got to see me be successful in my career. he never got to see me get married. never got to be a grandfather. >> 17 years went by. 17 awkward christmases. the detective retired. but remember that fresh set of eyes he was hoping for? it was 2002 and an aggressive deputy d.a. read about archie mcfarland and as soon as i looked at it i said hey, this guy is good for this murder. >> difference was where some d.a.'s avoid circumstantial cases, he has served as an nbc

news consultant on other stories loves them. especially the riddles of cases gone cold. he called a remember partner, veteran detective jim wallace. >> in almost every case there's something you can do. if nothing else there's an opportunity to look at the evidence again. they began by interviewing maryanne and asking about her relationships. >> behavior starts to slowly fall apart and you see the behavior of the murder get more and more aggressive and then the murder occurs. >> and so to the beginning which was of course the love story or betrayal, call it what you will. maryanne was a little bored with archie. he loved her. she knew that. but passion, excitement, not so

much and she was a vibrant woman. still attractive. 47. and in need of something. and then, there he was. she met him at a local club. he was just 32. 25 years younger than archie. >> he was everything archie wasn't and satisfied everything archie couldn't satisfy. she told archie she was dating this man and said if he didn't like it, he could leave. archie accepted it hoping his marriage would somehow survive. gary was just 18 then and didn't know for sure about the affair but suspected his mom was seeing someone. especially the day he caught her sneaking off to take a private telephone call. >> i grabbed the phone and said do you have any idea what you're doing to my family and i hung the phone up and that's

basically when she left. >> that very day, maryann moved into the one bedroom apartment leaving home and kids and of course archie. >> he still loved my mom. after she left. he wouldn't let me say anything negative. she's still your mother. she's still my wife. >> perhaps archie understood the human heart after all. it took a year or so but it began to cool a bit there in that cheap little apartment. >> the interest she had in being chased, that kind of infactuation. after a period of time she wasn't interested. >> archie had a pension, savings, life insurance. maryanne was also 50 and she worried that he was too young

for her and his feelings would change. >> but eventually maryanne decides this is stressful. i kind of miss my life, i don't have the security that i had. she decides i want to move back home. >> and archie welcomed her back, forgiving as always. >> no resentment? >> he didn't show any. >> how is that even possible? >> that was my dad. >> but across town in long beach, he wasn't so forgiving. he was fuming. >> he truly loved her. love bordering on obsession. it takes two people to quit the relationship and he was just not going to accept it. >> and here, his little apartment he prepared a secret plan to get her back. coming up, an old pair of pants reveals new secrets.

>> when i saw the report that there were dirt on the pants, that's when the light bulb went off for me. (keyboard sounds) dear freshpet, tank was overweight and had no energy. until freshpet... put the puppy back in my dog. ♪ could help them save money on car insurance? yea,that and homeowners, renters, motorcycle and boat insurance. huh.that's nice. what happens when you catch a fish? gecko: whoa. geico. more than just car insurance. see how much you could save at geico.com. i'm ok! before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn, lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. now it's as easy as pie. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts

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a tentative agreement has been reached. the lawyers for christine blasey ford made an agreement saturday night though not all details have been worked out. >> a arab separatist group is claiming responsibility for an attack that left 25 people dead and dozens wounded. now back to "dateline." >> welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. two decades after archie mcfarland had been murdered investigators were digging up

new details about his wife's younger boyfriend. >> the phone calls did not stop. she moved back home to archie but her lover wouldn't move on. >> why does he keep calling? she's like, i don't know. >> the whole aura of this guy is he wasn't accepting it. >> in fact, as the d.a. and detective we viewed the evidence, they encountered a man that seemed obsessed. then began using language that sounded more threatening. >> i want you to come back kind of statements and then you better come back. she was afraid he would skin her alive if she didn't come back to him. >> when he wouldn't stop calling or even making threats over the phone to archie.

>> archie hung up on him and he called back immediately. don't hang up on me. unless you call me back, i'm going to get you. the next day he showed up carrying a small couch. archie lit him in and the two started talking and maryanne entered the room. and he said darling come sit over by me and she puts the hammer down and says it's over. >> he went to the bathroom. maryanne was curious. >> inside was a loaded semiautomatic firearm. ready to go. with an extra magazine. >> he later told maryanne that his plan if she refused to go away with him was to go outside and kill himself with that gun. >> our theory was if you're planning on killing yours in the front yard, you don't need to bring the guard into the house. you don't need to have an extra magazine with you. i believe something much more

sinister was going to happen that day. >> in fact, nothing happened. he went home. but he came back here to maryanne's house a few days later. it was on the friday before the murder. he met with maryanne alone a. it was something he referred to in one of the conversations that police recorded. >> clicked? what did he mean by that? >> he realized, you know what, she doesn't love archie. she's not going back to archie because she loves him. she loves me. so if i could find away to get rid of archie, i get the girl. she gets the security, and he's

out of the way. >> six days later, he's dead. >> they now believe they had the motive but that didn't mean he did commit the murder, either. they still needed something, anything to connect him to the bloody crime scene. >> i knew it would be a question about how did he get away from this crime scene without getting any blood on him. i think there's some lingering doubt. >> the kind of doubt that just might trip up the jury. so wallace took a long, hard look at the original police report. >> i have a case where it's very visual and everything comes down to can i see it again. >> and he could see that something was off, didn't make sense. archie had bp stabbed four times. there was plenty of blood around and if he did the stabbing some of that must have wound up on him, on his clothes.

wallace knew the crime lab never found a trace of blood back in 1985, but now he needed to know why not. >> where did he go next? >> when he got to his house he had wet clothes hanging in his bathtub. one pair of pants, one shirt. in other words it's one outside he washed that day on a day he told us he was going to go to his brothers and go wash. what was it about this one outfit that needed washing that day. >> in 1985 those clothes were tested for blood using luminol. >> well turns out these pants were glowing in two areas. two important areas but when they tested them for the presence of blood they were negative for blood. so something was there, but it's not blood. >> so now, two decades since

archie mcfarland's murder. he found the clothes still in the evidence locker. he sent them off to the time lab for retesting and once again there wasn't a speck of blood on the clothes but there was something on those pants. yanos had supposedly washed them and hung them up to dry but still there it was. something very strange. >> mud stains all over the pants. when i saw the report that you said there was dirt on the pants, that's when the light bulb went off for me. >> coming up, caught on tape. caught in a lie. >> so this was something you arranged with your brother? >> yeah. >> we sent detectives out to interview the brother afterwards, he didn't know the story. >> the detectives finally have enough evidence when dateline continues. [ mower engine revving ] [ coughing ] the moment you realize you're lucky your backyard is in the back. at lowe's we have everything you need to keep your yard looking great.

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of great savings and service. with such a long history, it's easy to trust geico! thank you todd. it's not just easy.

it's-being-a-master-of-hypnotism easy. hey, i got your text- sleep! doug, when i snap my fingers you're going to clean my gutters. ooh i should clean your gutters! great idea. it's not just easy. it's geico easy. todd, you will go make me a frittata. sometimes the biggest breakthrough in a murder case can come from the most unassuming clues. for detective jim wallace it was something buried in a routine crime lab report. his pants which his watched the morning of the murder and hung up to dry in his shower, again, tested negative for blood, but this time, the lab report noted something else found on those pants which caught the eye of detective wallace.

dirt. >> if you're washing these pants, what's the goal? aren't you trying to wash the dirt out. in this case the dirt was still present except there was luminol glowing in two areas. >> the chemical used to detective blood and body fluid but this didn't make sense. with no blood on the pants the luminol was still highlighting something else on two very specific areas of the pants. >> one on each side right at the area of the knee on the front of the pants. >> if you were kneeling down in something you wanted to get out by spot cleaning or detergent and he did get it out. it would glow because cleaning detergents will also make it glow. so you think you have blood and you tiactually just have cleani

det deterge detergent. they were still dirty except for the knees. archie's fatal stab wounds were to his torso, didn't make sense to stab him there while kneeling but there was the other wound. remember the rather peculiar one in archie's groin. i think it would put you on your knees in order to do it. it's a pretty good description of how it is he got blood on his pants and what he had to do to get it out. >> finally some physical evidence, but was it enough? the d.a. didn't think so. he needed more evidence to file murder charges. >> i wanted to get him on tape so the detectives went out and they contacted him. >> he worked in a shop preparing electronics. detectives showed up at the shop

with a tape recorder to ask him all of these years later about the murder, about that day, and he remembered every single detail, he said, vividly. >> what were you going to your car for? >> i was going to go to my brother. i remember it very good because the kids get ready going to school because my brother was working nights. >> so this was something you arranged with your brother? >> well, yeah. wait a minute, didn't he say back then he was going to do laundry? >> his version now was his brother called him because a babysitter had to go to school and he had to take over baby sitting that morning. he was on his way to the house to baby sit. >> that was a brand new alibi. he never mentioned that before. >> we sent detectives out to interview the brother afterwards. he didn't know the story. so that pushed me over the top. >> a few weeks later, cops returned to his electronics

shop. this time to arrest him. >> and he was there working on a flat screen tv and right in the middle of it. trying to put things away in a certain position. you're not coming back here tomorrow. >> word about the arrest spread fast, first to gary that waited 25 years. >> completely 100% happy because after so much time goes by you just think it's over. and everyone moves on with life. >> including of course maryanne who had moved on with yanos. didn't just go to him for a little while. in fact, spent the last 20 plus years with him. the man she accused of killing her husband but as it turned out he was the only man in her life ever since archie was murdered. she loved him and didn't want to believe he is the killer.

>> in the summer of 2011, 2.5 decades after archie was murdered, the case finally came to course and of course the prosecutions star witness was maryanne mcfarland. >> what did she know? and what did she admit? would her testimony sink her lover or maybe save him? >> coming up, tough questions. >> make it very simple, are you in love with him? >> raw emotions. i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry, son. she went hysterical. she lost it. >> when dateline continues. n, protect yourself... and your sister-in-law's... tennis partner's... chatty coworker's... youngest daughter's... entire judo class. one shot can make a world of difference.

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. june 2011. he had been dead more than 25 years. dallas was 60 now. just about the same age archie was when he was murdered. as they sat here in court, silent and watching, prosecutor set out to find justice, much delayed. though his case, as he admitted to the jury, was very much circumstantial and really didn't feature much new evidence. >> dallas woke up on december 19 by plan. this man decided, came to the

conclusion, that archie mcfarland was in his way and needed to die. >> the defense argued the evidence was thin, no blood, no murder weapon. no witnesses. and dna found under his fingernails had now been determined did not match. >> there has to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt. >> of course, gary mcfarland as you know had no doubt. he told the jury about that awful december morning when he discovered his dad dead on the driveway and knew instantly who did it. >> i turned around, looked at my mom and i said, can't [ bleep ]. you know exactly what. she goes i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry. i can't believe he would do this. i'm so sorry son.

she was just hysterical. she went hysterical. she lost it. >> so difficult to bring in the emotion. even after all these years. easier to listen to the prosecution. suggesting the man spot cleaned the knees of dirty pants to wash away blood. easier for him to listen to the prosecution pick apart changing alibis. he never took the stand. just listened stoically as his attorney argued those changing stories were simply honest mistakes. >> you asked somebody to remember something from 25 years ago, they're not going to remember every single detail and everything they did. >> the da had someone, a witness who he hoped would remember the whole story. that is if she chose to. the woman who first accused her lover of murdering her husband had then resumed her affair with

him. so under oath, what would mary ann say now. >> step up now. >> didn't believe she was involved in the murder, but now would she protect her lover or help prosecutor him. for two days, their battle of wills mesmerized the courtroom. >> let me make it simple. are you in love with him. >> no. >> you're not? in the past 30 years, have you been involved with anybody else. >> no. we're friends. and come panncompanions. >> ma'am, during that 30 years, you were having sex with him; correct. >> i assume you have friends and companions that you don't have sexual relations with, right. >> no. >> so he's the man in your life; is that correct.

>> yes. >> now 75 years ago old, seemed to face him. her usually sharp memory often fuzzy. >> that's all i recall. i don't know. i misunderstood your question. >> watching all this with mixed emotions was mary ann's son gary. even after all these years, their relationship has never fully recovered. >> it was tough on her. i know. i know she felt like she was on trial, but a lot of the stuff they went over, they pinned her on was to explain the mind set of him and the whole circumstances that led to this and it was necessary, but it was tough. >> finally, after three weeks, it was up to the jury to decide. then after just two hours. >> has the jury reached a verdict. >> yes, we have. >> we the jury in the above entitled action find the

defendant guilty of the crime of murder. >> it was just relief. it was like a big weight just lifted off my shoulder. he got a free 25 year ticket that most people who commit a murder don't get. >> absent on the day they finally caught justice for her late husband and a conviction for her lover was mary ann mcfarland. >> she does not want to believe he did this. for a lot of reasons. if mary ann were to septembacce he committed this crime, she admitted that she would hold herself morally responsible. so some people decide i'm not going to accept realty unless it absolutely punches me in the face and i guess we didn't punch hard enough. realty for dallas, the man she

loved, the man now convicted of murdering her husband is the almost certainly spending the rest of his days in prison. in january 2012, he was sentenced to 26 years to life. just about the same amount of time he spent with mary ann. his attorney has appealed his case. occasionally, you'll still find gary mcfarland at the beach where his dad archie brought him to surf and he thinks about father and mother and forgiveness. the lesson gary is still learning from archie mcfarland. >> i still love my mother. i don't harbor bitterness or resentment. there are tons of questions you'd love to ask and get answers to, but i'm not in a position nor am i in an opinion

anyone is in a position to completely understand what's going on in somebody else's heart. >> that's all for this edition of date line. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> i called my mom and she didn't answer. i pretty much knew in my heart that something was wrong. >> a mother vanished. >> i cried myself to sleep. it was awful realizing that your worst nightmare had come true. >> a family anguished. >> she's gone. do you have any idea how hard that was? >> now, the questions begin in a southern gothic