shortly thereafter. sometimes that's all it takes. in hopes that we've cleared that up that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. we thank you for being here with us. good night from our nbc news mystery on the missippi i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> very bubbly personality. a huge smile. a child's worst nightmare. to lose a mom. every day i wanted answers. every days was told it was unknown. people just don't die. >> she was a loving mother. he was a crime fighting prosecutor. you are a pillar of that community? >> i did what i thought was right. >> then one day the law was at his door. his wife was dead, in bed. >> her eyes were opened, she was pale. >> i remember crying, not believing it.

>> sudden, suspicious, but no evidence of a crime. >> any signs of a struggle? >> no, it was case closed. >> years passed, new lives, two new wives. >> he's extremely charming. >> we just had the most amazing time. >> then a new detective dusts off the old case. >> what jumped out at you? >> most definitely that her arms were in an unnaturally raised position. >> my first thought is we missed something here. >> the manner of death would be homicide. >> what really happened in that bedroom? >> i wanted an answer to the questions. >> a young mother's death a mystery. was it murder? >> don't give me excuses. >> it runs through the heart of america, beating industry, towns

and imaginations. the mississippi river gave tom sawyer and huckleberry finn and just across the river in quincy, illinois, lived another larger than life character. curtis lovelace a small town kid who wanted to be a star and for a time, he was. a football champion for the university of illinois. >> he's an all american? >> all american. >> this is what kids dream about? >> right. >> he was living that life. >> absolutely. it was looking like he would go to the nfl. that was kind of a dream of his. >> then he realized grander visions, fighting crime as a prosecutor, serving his country in the national guard and his community in politics. >> i'm someone who wants meaningful work that's going to make the difference in the lives of people. >> but it was what happened in this little house sequence to one person in particular that

made curtis really stand out for automatic world to see. >> now to continuing coverage in the curtis lovelace murder case. >> it was a heated day at the stand. >> right now, the defense is presenting its closing arguments in the case. >> big dreams on a mighty river can carry far or they can drive you under. this is the very strange journey of curtis lovelace, all american to criminal defender. let's roll back the years to high school and to the woman that would become the focus of so much speculation. corey deidrichson. >> corey and i went to high school towing. we really didn't run in the same crowd. we had some mutual friends and we didn't date in high school. >> back then, curtis was more focused on football than dating. it wasn't until he went off to the university of illinois, roughly 200 miles away and became a star athlete that he truly noticed the girl from back home for the first time.

it was during college break. former classmates bumped into each other in quincy and quickly became an item. corey wasted no time spreading the news. >> i'll never forgive the day, i was playing tennis with a friend. that's when she told us, kurt was it. >> she went to high school with the new couple. >> surprised? >> not really. no they seemed a great fit together and she was, she was very, very much smitten. >> it wasn't long before corey was telling her mother, marty, she'd found the one. >> she comes home and we're sitting there, she said, i met the man i'm going to marry. whoa. >> back up and she kept her promise. in 1991, just after college, corey and curtis married. he studied law. she worked a small job to support them both. after graduation, they decided to buy a home in quincy.

>> they wanted to be in the neighborhood. they wanted to be close by and that just made it all the better. so we found them a house and they moved back. >> virtually over the fence? >> two houses up and one over, yeah. >> curtis' ambitions drove the young couple. he became a prosecutor in the adam county state attorney's office and dabbled in school board politics, winning a seat and serving as president. he even found time to teach a law class at quincy university. in between the professional milestones, the lovelaces started a family, first girl, lindsay and three years, how was corey as a mother? >> fantastic, she was a great mom. there wasn't anything she didn't do for those kids. >> corey's days were filled with diapers, play dates and even then this mom never forget to be a good daughter n. early 2006 her dad was dying of cancer.

that was a major event? >> that was a major event. >> his health declined? >> four years he fought it it. the last six months of his night. she came at 5:00 and sat to visit. that was her time with him. >> warn down with the stress of care giving, raising four kids, was it any wonder when corey, herself, fell im. it was the weekend before valentine's day 2006. >> she was feeling poorly. >> poorly, how? what was she ailing from in. >> just flu-like symptoms. throwing up, we thought she had the flu. >> but on monday the night before valentine's day, corey still managed to get the kids' valentines cards ready for school the next day. her daughter lindsay then 12 remembers cuddling up with her mom, watching the winter olympics and snowboarder shaun white.

>> i remember watching him with her, like, mom, he's so cute. as a 12-year-old, like that was awesome. >> it wasn't that she was bed ridden or anything tant? >> no, she was -- >> she was just feeling crummy? >> she was feeling sick. even for my mom, that was not common. even if she was sick, she did what she thought was expected of her and took care of us and made us dinner and laundry because that was her role. >> but when tuesday valentine's day dawned, curtis says he urged her to take it easy. >> we decided i would cancel my morning class at quincy university in order to get the kids to school. >> so dad is going to be on deck? it's going to be dad's time to get everybody up and running here in. >> yeah. right so i cancelled my class helped the kids get ready for school. she did come down stairs to help with that. >> he says corey was so ill, he had to help her back to bed before driving the three kids to

school, backpacks stuffed with valentine's cards. within minutes, he was back. only the home cluttered with clothes and toys was now filled with something else. silence. quiet enough to break a family's heart. >> coming up, what had happened in that house? >> as i got closer, i immediately knew that something was really, really wrong. >> so wrong, it would tear apart a family and puzzle police for years to come. >> every detective needs to keep in mind that there could be a bigger pick. >> when "dateline" continues. nexgard chew comes power, confidence, reassurance you're doing what's right to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. this one little nexgard chew is the #1 vet recommended protection. and it's the only chew fda approved to prevent

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but we all know we're paying too much for it. enter xfinity mobile. america's best lte, with the most wifi hotspots combined for the first time. when you're near an xfinity hotspot you're connected to wifi, saving on data. when you're not, you pay for data one gig at a time. use a little, pay a little. use a lot, just switch to unlimited. it's a new kind of network. call, visit or go to xfinitymobile.com. the routine of the house was in a tizzy, with corey sick in bed, it had been up to curtis to get the three oldest kids off to school. now he was back. >> when i arrived home. everything was quiet. i assumed that corey was

sleeping, resting. she hadn't slept most of the night. i was just going to leave her alone in order to sleep. >> before looking in on her, he said he went over his e-mails in the kitchen. then he headed upstairs. >> i needed to take a shower and as i walked up the steps, i looked to the left the door to our bedroom was as i left it, opened. i could see her lying in bed and i could see something from the distance didn't seem right. so i -- >> what made you say that looking in? >> i'm really not sure. as i got closer, i could see that she was pale, she was motionless and i immediately knew that something was really, really wrong. >> did you think she's dead? >> i shook her. i called out her name and tant i

knew that she was dead. >> in that moment, he said, his thoughts turned to his four-year-old boy larsson who was still in the house. >> and i needed to get larsson out of the house. >> and what did you do? >> i grabbed larsson, i believe he was in bed and i took him immediately over to, to his grandparents' house. >> corey's mom marty answered the door. she remembers her son-in-law standing there with a young boy and saying something nonsense cal about her daughter being dead. >> it was just kind of mid-morning. >> and there he is, your son-in-law. >> there he is, he hand me larsson and he says something about people are coming or something. i often regretted not just putting larsson down and running over there. >> stunned, she called her son, corey's brother peter at his dental practice. >> i get a phone call from my mom kind of out of the blue, i didn't think anything.

>> corey is dead, that can't be in. >> she's 30-years-old, no way, i just saw her three weeks ago. >> reporter: then the detective was assigned to head the death investigation. when he arrived at the scene, he went straight upstairs. he was in the bedroom when the coroner examined corey's body. >> he tested her body temperature by placing his hand against her abdomen. i followed suit. >> what is it warm or cold this. >> the abdomen was warm. >> what did that tell the coroner? >> he knew the time of death was narrowed then for the body to still be warm. >> reporter: it seems clear that corey's death had been recent, within the past hour or some not at all certain why or how the woman died. the detective couldn't rule out any possibility, including foul play.

>> around the room, itself, any overturned glasses or any signs of a struggle? >> no. >> so as i hear you, you are telling me, you are seeing a woman who has apparently died in her bed and not that long before authorities arrive? >> that's right. >> if i can stress, there wasn't a single mark on her other than what appeared to be a skin blemish under her nose, not a mark. >> and 80 there was something about the position of corey's body that did strike him as odd. he thought death and gravity would have caused her arms to drop. instead, they were both fixed in midair, hovering above her chest. >> i was looking for an explanation to that. i addressed it to curtis lovelace. i asked him if there was a possibility that blankets had been under her arms when he discovered her? >> what did he say? >> no. >> you are saying the scene he saw it is when he saw it and found his wife, by his account? >> yes. >> then the detective was not getting hung up on one detail this early in the case. >> every detective needs to keep in mind, there could be a bigger picture. >> oh, yes, there was a portrait

of a woman, a par trait of a marriage, filtered with details painted in a most unflattering life. >> coming up, a peek behind back doors. you were drinking too much. >> i drank too much. >> corey was drinking too much in. >> and corey was drinking too much. >> i remember crying and not believing it. >> when "dateline" continues. the quincy, illinois when you're raising a child... pinch. be soft. ah. when you're doing it alone, be strong. thanks, dad. life takes softness and strength, which is why we make angel soft with a balance of both. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful... congestion and pressure? claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray is indicated for 6 symptoms... claritin-d is indicated for 8... including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d. get more.

the quincy, illinois detective was trying to understand why a 38-year-old woman had died suddenly. as he looked for clues inside corey lovelace's home filled with the clutter of young family life, jeff baird noticed one item in particular, a white cup by her bedside. >> i checked an unknown liquid that smelled faintly from alcohol. >> the detective asked her husband curtis what it was. did she tell you she liked to have a vodka and tonic? >> yes. >> that was likely in the styrofoam? >> yes. >> the 24 ounce glass in. >> yes. >> he told us there was alcohol in the home. >> there was alcoholism in our family. so there was the ugly side of that. >> you were drinking too much in. >> looking back, yes, i drank too much. >> corey was drinking too much in. >> corey was drinking too much. it was impacting her ability to take care of things at home.

>> he also told the detective that corey had been taking falls, sometimes out of bed, once more the detective later found out corey had been battling bulemia. the picture quickly emerging, corey had not been a healthy woman. i know you guys are looking at the subject is telling you, how does he phrase it? what were you seeing on that score? >> it's very important. i saw a man answering my questions. >> not being evasive. >> cooperative, solemn, upset. >> curtis also retraced the family's steps that morning. >> he last saw his wife around 8:15. he took the kids to school. he returned, and found her deceased. >> with that the detective finished the interview and left. curtis knew his awful day was about to get worse. not the least, he had four children ranging from 4 to 12 to look after.

how do you them the children? >> that was -- i think to this day that is the most difficult thing i have ever had to do. i believe i called the schools and let them know that i would be on my way. >> reporter: lindsay the only girl, was the eldest of the lovelace kids. >> i remember being at school. i remember getting a call from the office that i was getting picked up and in my mind i thought, oh, maybe my mom went to the hospital. she didn't feel good the day prior, maybe she had to go to the hospital. it's fine. >> once inside the office, her father broke the news. >> told me my father had died. i remember then on my world crashing down. >> did you say what had happened? what's going on? >> i'm sure i asked what had happened. i just remember crying and not believing it and so we went. we left and we went to my grandma's house.

i'm like, i want to go back to school. >> and you did on the day you lost your mom? >> because that was normal for me. it was a normalcy thing for me. >> in hindsight, maybe the best thing she could have done. her favorite teacher for her. >> she had wolf pups. she had a friend. i remember holding the wolf pups. i'm sure they had lost her missouri they're orphan. >> what a jumble of things. >> that was the most comforting thing i could have done is hold those wolves. >> by then, her untimely death was rippling across town. students across the law class were the first outside the family and authorities to suspect something had happened. >> his class was all outside his classroom waiting for him to come. >> reporter: one of curtis' students, erica, was surprised to learn his class had been cancelled. later, she learned why. >> everyone was in shock. she was a very young 38-year-old.

she seemed healthy from what everybody understood. though, it was a huge shock then. >> so that's very sad, your professor's wife has died. you didn't know her? >> i didn't know her and i really didn't know him at that time either. >> soon, everyone in town was wondering what had caused corey's death the pathologist who performed the autopsy a day later noted some trauma. small abrasion on corey's upper lip and another mark inside. it appeared to be a cut. curtis mentioned that corey had fallen in the days before her death. >> those falls as they described it could account for the injury to the lip, right? presumably? >> i wish i knew. yes, a fall could account for an injury. >> the pathologist noted corey had what's called fatty liver, usually caused by heavy drinking. she doesn't know what killed this woman? >> that was frustrating. she finds disease of the liver which can be associated with sudden death.

>> reporter: unusual for a young woman to die of unknown causes, it does happen, with no more to go on the detective closed the case. corey's mother marty still in shock could barely bring herself to read the autopsy report. >> corey was drinking. we don't deny that. she was bulimic and i did try to talk to curtis about that at one time. toll her it was okay. i'm going to be fine. >> now, as she warned corey, marty knew her suffering would only deepen. her husband john was dying. >> we had a visitation for corey and john sat next to me. it was like he was saying good-bye to friend, too. he didn't come home from the hospital after that. >> so both those loss one right on top of the other?

>> within the span of a month, marty lost a husband and a daughter. even though corey's remains were cremated. that was a choice the entire family made together but the decision to cremate would be one that would haunt this river town for years to come. coming up -- >> she was different than anyone i had ever dated before, maybe in some ways that difference intrigued me. >> curtis moves on. much too fast for some. >> she arrived as the girlfriend. did i think it was too quickly? yes. >> when "dateline" continues. if your dishwasher doesn't get dishes completely dry... try finish jet-dry's new stronger formula. it dries 100% better than detergent alone - even plastics. get dishes drier than you ever thought possible. try finish jet-dry. ♪ here i go again on my own ♪ goin' down the only road i've ever known ♪

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hello, i'm dara brown. for so many years, he had been the guy in town people looked up to and admired. curtis lovelace, football star, school board president. suddenly a widower who needed help. >> it was overwhelming. people did come forward, friend and family, helping get the kids to school in the morning. so i could also go to work and then picking them up from school. >> it's a lot in. >> it's a lot. but we came towing as a family and did what we needed to do. >> the long-time friend, curtis was stoic in the weeks after corey's death. but one time she noticed it slipped a little. it was at a high school reunion that summer. >> they were doing a montage,

corey's pick comes up and goes, hey, that's my wife. and it was just times like that, that made, you know, made me really think that you know a grieving husband. >> that's why a few months later, she and other friends were surprised to hear that curtis had met someone knew. that was fast. >> she was different than, than anyone i had ever dated before. maybe in some ways that difference intrigued me. >> she was erica. as in the former student who showed up to professor lovelace's fateful class that valentine's morning. >> he's extremely charming. anything that i needed or wanted he could take care of and he did. >> at the time this interview took place, she asked us to alter her appearance some to protect her privacy. she began recounting she is a 33-year-old single woman, had bumped into her 37-year-old --

had bumped into her professor. >> i told him there's places he can go in town there is more people his age. i thought he was a lot older than he was. he just seemed. >> he stood out at that club in. >> he did, quite a bit. >> reporter: not long after, they pit their friendship and then love. they started dating about six months after corey's death. erica and her daughter from a previous relationship eventually moved in with curtis and his four children. >> it was nice my child kind of tucked in there with the rest of them. all of us fell into place. >> that's not the way curtis' daughter lindsay thought. what did you think of her in. >> we did not get along from the get-go. she arrived at the girl friend. that's how it was. did i think it was too quickly,? yes.

but adults make their own decision. >> in fact, lindsay was so unhappy with her dad's girlfriend, she picked up and moved in with her grandmother, corey's mom, two doors down, after two years of living together, curtis and erica married. she admired he how he taught and did local sports and served in the national guard. he had an outstanding resume. >> he did. >> this was the all american boy. >> i loved he was on the school board. that was where my profession was leaning. i loved that he worked with children. he was great. he seemed to be great with the children. >> they even bought a new place in town together and moved from the house where corey had died. there was domestic tranquility at first. but eventually, erica says she saw a change in her husband. >> he'd detach once in a while, just from the whom family. i was kind of left all to myself. he would hide in the basement

and blame it on work. >> she says their mutual silence separated them. then resentment exploded in loud confrontations. it just wasn't working. >> i believe looking back, that was a rebound relationship. and a relationship that i should not done not only for me but more importantly for my children. >> in 2013, after five years of marriage, curtis filed for divorce. now you might think that he would have been gun shy about jumping into love again. but not curtis. >> it was just surreal and lovely. >> this is christine. sheff had known curtis since high school. he even took her to their homecoming dance, marriages and careers separated them for a time. >> it was odd. i wasn't prepared for a relationship and wasn't looking for anything like that. >> where were new your life? were you single? >> yes, i was single. >> after reconnecting on facebook the former classmates

decided to get caught up for the first time in three decades. >> there he is at the door. i see kurt lovelace, my senior high school homecoming date standing there. we spent that evening with friends and before we knew it, everyone else had gone. we had the most amazing time. >> i was meeting in many ways the same person who i took to homecoming just more beautiful, more interested and more kind than i had ever remembered. >> it just worked. >> more than six months later on the day after christmas, 2013, curtis was once again standing at the altar. only this time the new mrs. lovelace seemed to have approval from everyone, even 20-year-old daughter lindsay, who had packed up at the arrival of her father's last flame. >> she seemed very jen win. i like that she cared a lot about the boys. >> did you think maybe this could be the restoration of the

family in. >> yeah, i did. >> after you seen of the nightmare of erica, now christine seems okay to you. she is certainly making an effort to reach out to you, right in. >> i thought our family deserved happiness at that point after everything we had been through, i was hoping it all panned out okay. >> it did go okay, christine kept the lovelaces off like a train schedule. christine, meanwhile, put on her baker's apron. >> i opened a natural pie show. i was making 100 pies a week. i was selling out of pies before 9:00 in the morning. >> so this wasn't a hobby to keep you bes in. >> no. >> this was a going concern. >> yes, absolutely. >> what's your go-to pie in. >> i like blueberry, i make a mean gooseberry, you name it, kip do it. >> after years of turmoil, it seemed the lovelaces were in true form. christine adopted curtis' sons

as her own. everything was working. but darker souls wait for the train wreck just when things are looking all hunky dory. it turns out that train was hurdling down the track. >> coming up a new detective leads to new suspicion. >> what jumped out at you? >> most definitely that her arms where in an unnaturally raised position. >> and the start of a new information. >> in the autopsy there were things listed as suspicious findings. >> my first thought is we missed something here. >> when "dateline" continues. if you have medicare, listen up.

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>> it was late 2013. almost eight years after corey's death. adam gibson a newly minted detective with the quincy police department began idly pulling up old files. >> not looking for anything in particular, reading old cases. corey lovelace popped into my head and i read the report. >> did that name mean anything to you? >> i knew corey lovelace, at one time he had been our state's attorneys. >> a statement from curtis the husband, police interviews with the three older children and the pathologist summary with the autopsy findings with photos. >> so you knew what happened in 2006 sort of or -- >> i knew she had passed away on valentine's day of 2006. >> what was the medical examiner's finding about the death of that woman? >> it was undetermined. the original autopsy. >> what did that mean to you? >> undetermined can mean a lot of things.

in this particular autopsy there were things listed as suspicious or traumatic findings. >> for instance, an abrasion on corey's face under her nose, something the arriving officer observed that day the pathologist noticed the cuts, what she called the laceration on corey's upper lip. and an electrifying image the police photos of the dead wife and mother as she lay in her bed. what jumped out at you. >> most definitely the arms raids in a different position. >> not supported like anything, out there like statue? >> yes. >> using police photos of the scene, we depicted this graphic representation, can you see her arms frozen in death above her body. >> that final pose caught detective jeff baird's curiosity, now, adam gibson did. ring of more tis?

>> yes, in my opinion. >> reporter: the mechanics of rigor more tis go like this upon death a human's muscles start to stiffen. to the detective, it looked like they were in an ad vans state of rigor, meaning she likely died many hours before this photo was taken. remember, curtis said he tucked his sickly wife in bed an hour before finding her dead. it didn't make sense, he went straight to his bosses with the old lovelace file. >> my first thought is we missed something here. >> reporter: the chief had been in charge in 2006 when everyone assumed corey had died natural debt. he says he never sue the photos the detective was holding before him. >> that's when i saw the pictures the first time. >> what did you think? >> i thought this is odd. this is not natural. >> the posture of the arms. >> definitely appeared to me that rigor mortis set in.

i looked at those pictures and can't believe we send an undetermined cause of death and a natural death. >> detective gibson agreed. they had a problem. >> very thin, notes from a medical examiner from eight years before and a few photos, very few in. >> and only two slides were taken by the pathologist and passed on in evidence. so, yeah, very thin time. >> so police went back to the doctor that did that autopsy and asked her to review the case. she did, but she would not alter her original findings. the next step might have been to order a new alms. but that wasn't possible since corey's family had her remains cremated. the only option was to work with what they had. detective gibson had a suggestion. >> he wanted to have the autopsy reviewed by someone else , have it -- basically, a review of the original autopsy done. couldn't do a new autopsy because the body had been cremated.

>> the chief okayed the request to review old autopsy notes. the detective also had something else in mind to beef up his case talk to anyone and everyone who had known corey. his first call was to her mom, marty. he told her he wanted to meet, but not why. >> he said, can we set up a time? make it tomorrow or whatever? >> i said, well, scratch what i'm doing this afternoon. come now. i was so nervous about what it was. >> everything old was about to be new again. new, very unsettling. >> coming up. >> the thing that struck me first was the position of mrs. lovelace's arms. >> a different medical examiner reaches a different conclusion. >> the manner of death would be homicide. >> and a detective has a question for curtis' daughter. >> tuesday morning before you went to school, what do you remember?

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tried hard to move on after her daughter's sudden death in 2006. but after a phone call and a visit from detective adam gibson in early 2014, she started to wonder. >> a lot of things i shoved away. really shoved away. and one of 'em was really why -- cory had died. >> did you ever suspect that there might be foul play involved in her death? >> no. >> reporter: friends of both curtis and cory also started getting calls from the detective. beth dobrzynski remembers his message asking her to call asap. >> so then when i called detective gibson and he said, "we're reopening the case of cory didriksen lovelace," i was shocked. i was shaking. >> so the detective seemed to be interested in what you could

tell him about the marriage? >> correct. >> which, she admitted, wasn't much. beth and other close friends said cory didn't really talk about her marriage. so the detective did something no one else had done on this case. he started knocking on doors talking to cory's former neighbors. >> all the neighbors talked about -- all the -- the constant arguing and fighting. >> so you were getting a picture of what was goin' on in that marriage that wasn't in focus in 2006. >> right. >> the detective went a step further. he got in his car and drove more than a hundred miles to the university of iowa to talk with someone who would have been an eyewitness to the lovelace marriage. >> i'm adam gibson. >> nice to meet you. >> i'm a detective with quincy. >> ok. ok. >> reporter: lyndsay lovelace, curtis and cory's oldest, was in college, her mom's alma mater, when she was summoned to the campus police department to talk with detective gibson. >> i was very confused why someone from quincy had driven there. >> the questions that followed didn't clear things up -- at least not at first. the detective started talking about her late mom and asking about her parents' marriage.

>> how was your parents' relationship, do you remember? >> they would fight. it was an interesting relationship. there were times we were like the perfect family, we'd do like fun family stuff. and then there were times i do remember being woken up at night by my parents' fighting. >> reporter: for the first time, someone inside the lovelace family was revealing the turmoil before cory's death. but then the detective asked lyndsay to describe that tuesday in 2006 when her mother's body was found. >> tuesday morning, before you went to school, what do you remember? >> the answer seemed to take the air out of his theory of the case. >> she was up and walking around -- she had made breakfast. i don't remember what we had for breakfast. but she had like made us breakfast and she was helping us get ready for school because we all had our little valentines day boxes. >> the young woman -- candid about her parent's troubled marriage was nonetheless supportive of her father's account. cory ha died minutes after seeing her children off to

school -- not hours earlier, as the detective suspected. if he'd been disappointed in lyndsay's answer, he didn't show it. but he did make a request that caught her off guard. >> if you do talk to your dad, only thing that i would ask is that you not discuss the fact that i came and talked to you yet. >> what did you think was happening? >> i didn't know, especially when he said, "don't tell your father i was here." >> what's that mean? >> and i went back to where i was living and just sat there and thought, "what is going on?" and then it slowly hit me. >> reporter: she realized the detective -- for whatever reason suspected her father had something to do with her mother's sudden death. even so, she kept her promise and did not tell her father about the visit. in the meantime, detective gibson was waiting to hear from dr. jane turner, the assistant medical examiner for the city of st. louis. he had hired her to review that old autopsy report. >> the thing that struck me first just looking at the scene

photographs was the position of mrs. lovelace's arms. >> she says the photos show cory's body in full rigor mortis. like the detective, the m.e. believed the picture and curtis' story were out of sync. >> i estimate that the time of death was somewhere ten to 12 hours -- prior to her photograph being taken that morning. so, somewhere around 9.00 or 10:00 -- or 11pm the night before. >> in other words, the night of february 13th -- not the morning of february 14th as curtis claimed. something else bothered her: turner thought the scene appeared altered as though something under cory's arms was removed. >> why were her hands not resting on a surface and that surface-- whatever that object was that her hands had been resting on -- why wasn't it there anymore? >> reporter: turner noted the abrasion on cory's face and the cut inside her upper lip. to her, that suggested something had been pressed against the woman's mouth.

>> and then seeing the marks around the mouth and inside the mouth all suggest that suffocation occurred. >> reporter: suffocation. an abrasion. an accepted timeline that no longer fit. turner was convinced cory had not died a natural death. she concluded someone had used an object -- likely a pillow to suffocate the woman; left it under her arms and removed it many hours later. >> the manner of death would be homicide. >> reporter: for the detective cory lovelace's death came down to two competing narratives from two compelling women. one relied on science to explain a murder. the other relied on memory to describe an ailing mother just before she passed away. in the end, the detective believed the science. he believed that a crime had, indeed, been committed. but now chief copley had a little problem back at the quincy police officers who had conducted very different

investigations of the same case. >> detective gibson, you believe that this was a homicide. >> i -- i do believe that. >> officer baird, do you believe that this was a death of natural causes? are you divided on that fundamental issue? >> i'm now uncertain. from what i've heard and been told, under the -- under the new investigation. much more uncertain than i was in 2006. >> their boss chief copley still backs both men. he says if there's blame to be had in this case, he'll take it. >> you hate to -- admit that mistakes were made. and -- and i want to say that i -- i take full responsibility. i was chief in 2006. you know -- i -- i had detectives and their supervisors workin' on this case. but -- >> did chief, did he get a pass because he was a pillar of the community? he was a big shot guy. >> i don't know that he got a pass, i think he may have got -- the benefit of the doubt. >> reporter: curtis lovelace was no longer going to get the

bring me fried chicken that day. and lunch came and went. >> reporter: and no curt? >> and no curt. >> reporter: a few blocks away, curt had just stepped out of his law office. he was, in fact, on his way to the pie shop. >> and as i was walking to my car -- there was -- there was a gentleman in -- in a suit -- waiting for me. >> reporter: it was detective gibson. and he was armed with an indictment from the grand jury. he was there to arrest curtis for the murder of cory lovelace. >> reporter: and he said what? >> the only thing he said was, "my wife died in 2006." >> reporter: what'd ya think of that? >> that's -- that's not the reaction that i was expectin' at all. >> reporter: then again, curtis lovelace never saw it coming. >> told me to put my hands behind my back. and put me in handcuffs. >> reporter: what was goin' on? >> i didn't know.

i remember hearing, "murder." i remember hearing him use the word, "wife." i was not aware that there -- that there was an investigation. >> reporter: you were totally blindsided? >> was totally -- totally blindsided. >> reporter: blindsided because no one had really questioned cory's death before. even the police concluded she died of natural causes. back at the pie shop, an increasingly anxious christine got a phone call. it was someone from a local tv station. >> he said, "i'm holding a piece of paper in my hand. it's an indictment for the first degree murder of co -- cory lovelace." and i -- i immediately said, "what? cor -- cory wasn't murdered." >> reporter: give me a word. that day in your life. >> horrifying. >> i was placed in an interrogation room immediately. >> reporter: curtis lovelace, the former prosecutor, had a crucial choice to make. either talk to the detective and try to clear this up right then and there, or listen to his lawyerly training and keep

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stiff-arm these people -- i've always said this.

to bed together? >> yeah, i -- i believe we did. you know, it's been a long time i guess it's possible i would have left, slept on a couch or something. >> you said you took the kids to school? >> again, i believe i did. it's been so long. >> ironically he didn't remember a whole lot about that day. >> reporter: couldn't even remember whether he in fact, took the kids to school that day? >> right. i just would have thought that finding your wife dead in bed would have left more of an impression on ya. >> reporter: to the detective, curtis was trying to look helpful without really being so. gibson cut to the chase. >> did you smother cory with a pillow? >> no, i did not. >> reporter: did you and cory have a bad argument, curt? did it get out of hand? did you snap and then put a pillow over her nose and mouth and suffocate her? >> no. no, i -- there -- there were no bad arguments the night before.

um, it's -- it's exactly what -- what i've told detective baird in 2006. and what i told detective gibson in 2014, and what i'm telling you now. that -- that is what happened. she was sick and i came home and i found her that morning. and she was dead in bed. >> reporter: it was clear the detective's strategy hadn't yielded what he wanted, a confession. >> i have a problem with you not remembering all of these things. >> reporter: the lawyer's goal of talking his way out of trouble hadn't exactly worked, either. even after he agreed, curtis says, to take a lie detector test. in a short time, he was swapping out his buttoned downed shirt and leather loafers for a very different courthouse look. jail house black and white stripes.

coming up -- are his kids the key to a father's freedom? >> they saw their mother alive that day. >> reporter: so therefore she couldn't have been dead upstairs. >> right. ♪ ♪ protect your pet with the #1 name in flea and tick protection. frontline plus. trusted by vets for nearly 20 years.

>> reporter: curtis lovelace could not believe how his world had fallen apart. one minute he was quincy's fair haired boy, the next, he was being interrogated by police for killing his first wife, cory. >> on my side of the bed when i found her dead. >> reporter: meanwhile, christine was in a panic for two reasons. her husband had just been arrested and now she was looking for her sons. >> i found out that all three boys were at the police station. >> the boys were down there? >> they had been taken out of school and held in isolation earlier in the day. >> reporter: they were just 17, 15 and 12-years-old at the time. all alone at the police headquarters. once christine found out they were there, she rushed to the station.

>> what were the kids told? what'd they think was going on? >> they actually thought that something had happened to me. >> i walked into the room and they got up and they all -- um -- were very scared and um -- they hugged me and i told them everything would be okay. we'll figure this out. >> reporter: detective gibson had rounded up the boys because he was looking for more information. >> i'm looking into the death of your mom from 2006. okay? >> uh-mm. >> reporter: the detective started to question them about the last days of their mother's life. >> so you went into your mom's room. >> yeah. >> and she was in bed. >> year, we would wake up every morning and then i would go into the room and watch our show. >> do you know what time that was? >> no. >> reporter: larson the youngest son was not interviewed by police back in 2006 because he was only 4 years old. now, he was telling detective gibson he wasn't sure if his mother was alive that morning. he said he only remembered

getting out of bed and going to his mom's room. but she didn't answer him. >> i just remember like going into the room and then she wouldn't wake up and i think it was valentines day. >> uh huh. >> yeah, dad was gone, came back and i told him, yeah that she was not waking up. >> reporter: but the two older boys said they did remember seeing their mom that morning. this is lincoln, the middle boy. >> i just remember like waking up and like -- i remember her not feeling good and i was sitting on the stairs and then i went to school. i think i remember saying i love you before we left but that's pretty much it. >> reporter: logan, the eldest son, said he knew for certain that his mom was alive that february 14th. >> she was sitting on the steps, like, ready for us to leave the house. >> reporter: christine was still trying to find her husband. she didn't know he had been transferred to a different jail. eventually, he called.

>> he told me everything would be okay. and that we were gonna have to -- to fight some things. >> reporter: christine was a wreck. her husband was in jail and she was dumbfounded as to why the police had taken the boys out of school and then interviewed them without parental permission. she felt better about this though -- the two oldest boys backed their dad's story they had seen their mom cory alive valentine's day morning, just like curtis said. >> they saw their mother alive that day. the -- >> and that's -- that's the gist of their story. yes, i saw her alive that morning -- >> yes. >> when dad took us to school. >> uh-huh. >> so there -- >> it was valentine's day. >> so therefore she couldn't have been dead upstairs and -- >> right. >> dying and rigor mortis setting in. >> right. >> because we saw her alive. >> uh-huh yes. >> reporter: the boys' sister lyndsay, had also told police two separate times her mom was alive that morning, had seen her off to school on valentine's day. >> she was standing in the front hall like marching us out the door like she always did. >> reporter: on the day of her father's arrest, lyndsay was

away at college when she had an emotional talk with her brothers. >> talked to 'em on the phone the day he got arrested. and they passed the phone around and they were sobbing 'cause they were scared. hold on. hold on. and they asked me to come home, and that was the last thing i ever said to them -- like, ever talked to them. >> reporter: that's when another tragedy unfolded within the lovelace family. around the time of curtis' arrest his relationship with his daughter once again deteriorated. the family doesn't want to get into details but soon lyndsay found herself cut off from her brothers, too. >> i had been shut out, completely shut out. >> well, you knew the charge against your father and the theory of the crime -- that he had put a pillow over your mother's nose and smothered her. that's a stark image to deal with. >> it's something i didn't ponder, and i chose not to ponder. >> reporter: though a jury would soon be pondering curtis' guilt or innocence.

in august 2014, the 45-year old former assistant state's attorney found himself standing in a courtroom. this time as a defendant at his own arraignment. >> having to appear in a courtroom that i had served as a prosecutor, and dressed in -- in stripes and -- and having my -- my hands and my feet shackled. those were some really some low times. >> reporter: married just eight months wife number three's commitment "for better or for worse" was immediately put to the test. >> my husband, who is kind and caring and compassionate is charged with something so heinous that it makes no sense. >> reporter: if convicted, curt lovelace could spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his wife cory. as if that weren't enough stress, his daughter lyndsay was about to drop a bombshell.

coming up -- a daughter's difficult decision. >> i don't know what's in lyndsay's head and in her heart. one day she was happy then everything changed. >> and a mother recounts what she says was curtis' bizarre behavior the day her daughter died. >> i open the door and he hands me larson. >> and says? >> "oh, and by the way, cory's dead." >> when "dateline" continues. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. and you never know how your skin will look. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. so help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczema even when you can't see it. at 16 weeks, nearly four times more patients taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin compared to those not taking it,

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>> reporter: curtis lovelace was the hometown hero. now his face was plastered on the front pages of quincy's newspaper as an accused murderer. >> we're relying on scientific -- >> the media, including our quincy nbc affiliate were all over the story, covering nearly every second of his fall from grace. >> he's accused of killing his first wife -- >> reporter: this former prosecutor would himself be prosecuted by ed parkinson. >> you can't get around rigor mortis in my opinion, and make sense of this case. and the timeline doesn't make sense with curtis lovelace. >> reporter: in january 2016, nearly a decade after cory lovelace's death, curtis arrived for the first day of his trial. he faced 20 to 60 years in prison upon conviction for first-degree murder. he pleaded not guilty. cameras were not allowed in the

courtroom. >> it's clear to me -- it didn't matter what i did. as far as the prosecution was concerned. their only concern was that they needed to create a crime and they needed for me to look bad in order to do that. >> reporter: curtis didn't necessarily need prosecutors help to "look bad." some of his own actions the day cory died were at the very at least unusual. including never calling 911. >> reporter: he called who? >> his boss. >> reporter: his wife is dead in the bed? >> yes. >> reporter: and he calls his boss? >> yeah. and -- said, "my wife is dead." so his boss, said, "well, would you like me to call the ambulance people?" "yes. would you do that?" >> reporter: cory's mom, marty didriksen, who lived just a few houses away, testified that curtis broke the news of her daughter's death in what she thought was the most callous way. there was a knock at her door and curtis was standing there with 4-year-old larson. >> i open the door and he hands me larson. >> reporter: and says? >> "oh, and by the way, cory's dead." and leaves.

>> reporter: marty, i've gotta say, i think that's very strange. take your grandson and, by the way, your daughter's dead. >> he was emotionless, let's put it that way. people who saw him that day claimed that he was without emotion. curtis also knew cpr. and yet, he never tried to revive his wife. >> reporter: on the day, why didn't you do cpr? >> i don't know. i don't know why i didn't do cpr. i don't know why i -- i didn't call 911. in looking back -- i -- saw my wife, cory -- dead. and i didn't know how to react. >> reporter: prosecutor parkinson next went after the first police investigation. pushing hard against detective baird who handled the case. he questioned if baird gave curtis who was then an assistant state's attorney, preferential treatment. >> he was a prosecutor. they were the police. he gave 'em a story that he -- how it happened.

they bought into it. after all, he's one of us. >> reporter: so maybe tougher questions didn't get asked. >> i think so. >> reporter: neighbors testified the lovelace household was sometimes a stormy one. and that, parkinson suggested to jurors, is the backdrop of cory's death. >> they fought all the time. it was a rocky marriage with lots of -- arguments going both ways. and it got out of control. and -- maybe the evidence indicates that placing a pillow, over one's face to make them stop yelling at me. maybe in her weakened state, if she was -- had flu-like symptoms, maybe it went too far. >> reporter: the state's theory, remember, is the force of the pillow caused that cut and abrasion on the outside and inside of cory's lip. the prosecutor then implied the pillow was placed under her arms after she died and later removed. >> if you leave it there through the night, and while rigor mortis is setting in, and then if a person is thinking, "oh, my

god. what did i do?" and, "oh, there's that pillow in her -- i'm going to get rid of that pillow," then the arms are already up. >> reporter: and you think that's what happened? >> yes. >> reporter: but then came, perhaps, the most anticipated testimony for the prosecution. lyndsay, curtis' own daughter, took the stand. two times, over a span of eight years, she told police her mother was alive that morning. >> she said she had felt better. >> reporter: but on the stand, with her dad's life on the line, she changed her story. telling jurors she was no longer sure her mom was alive that day. >> don't remember any of it. >> reporter: but it doesn't stick in your memory? >> nope. >> reporter: and yet, detective baird's notes, you do tell him the story about seeing your mother. and then with the videotaped interview with -- detective gibson, you seem quite clear about that morning, and yes, you saw her and went off to school. what had happened in the interim between your statement and going into trial, on the stand, and then kind of stepping back from all of that? >> it was the fact of no one had honestly asked me, sincerely, what had happened that day.

and i had never taken time to actually think about it. i -- >> reporter: well, detective gibson did, a couple of years before, when he took your statement, right? >> but it -- again, i didn't know why he was askin' me. i didn't know what was going on. and i gave the story i always gave. so when i had to sit there and think about it, i had to be honest with myself. and it wasn't the answer i wanted. i wish i could say -- i really do wish i could say, yes, i remember her, or, no, i know i didn't see her. >> reporter: but you cannot say that? >> but i cannot say that. >> reporter: and this is not you getting back at your dad who you're very sideways with, at this point? >> no, because it hurts my -- >> reporter: he needs that story and you're not gonna give it to him? >> no, because it hurts my brothers, too -- for me not to honestly say, yes, i saw her. but i'm gonna say what i can remember, which is nothing. it's a black hole. it's a traumatizing event. and when kids go through traumatizing events, they block things out. and losing my mother was the worst day of my life. >> reporter: how are we to understand what's going on with -- with lyndsay, christine, because she has told the story that -- she, like her brothers,

remembers seeing her mom alive, but then she backs away from it and says, "i think -- i can't remember really." >> i don't know what's in lyndsay's head and in her heart. one day she was happy and then everything changed. >> reporter: the prosecution still had to explain why the two oldest boys were adamant their mom was alive that morning. parkinson told jurors there was a two-day gap between cory's death and the first police interviews with the kids. ample time he suggested, for the boys to be influenced by their dad. >> i think the children were confused as to which day. after all -- >> reporter: how about coached? do you think that he told him a story? >> he had custody of the children from the moment of her discovery until thursday afternoon. so from tuesday till thursday afternoon, i don't know what was said. >> reporter: dr. jane turner, the pathologist detective gibson hired to review the case, took the stand and said science is where the truth lies. she concluded the most reasonable explanation for cory's arms appearing to levitate, is that

cory was dead up to 12 hours before police arrived on the scene. >> i -- viewed this material and reviewed it with the eye of a scientist and -- and what we know about the development of rigor mortis. >> reporter: what would a jury believe, science, or the words from two of cory's own sons? cory's brother, a dentist, found himself struggling over the conflicting facts. >> science is my living -- you know, it's -- i have to believe in that, but i also have to, you know, believe in the family at the same time. so i'm completely torn. >> reporter: i've never seen a more difficult case, more closely argued. and there doesn't seem to be middle ground to -- >> there's -- there's none. >> reporter: parkinson urged the jury to focus on the science and one image. cory in her bed, her body in rigor mortis. he said it proved she'd died hours before curtis claimed. it proved he was lying. it proved, he argued, that curtis killed her. coming up -- the defense gets its turn and

christine is feeling optimistic. >> i knew in my heart he was coming home. >> until -- >> christine came in. and they explained to her what was about to happen. let's see, aleve is proven better on pain than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain.

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>> reporter: the defense had a simple message for jurors: curtis should not be on trial. that's because there was no crime and this was not a murder. it said the state's case was built on faulty science. >> i've stated repeatedly in this matter that there's no physical evidence to prove that he murdered his wife. >> reporter: veteran pathologist dr. george nichols created the office of medical examiner for the state of kentucky back in the 1970s. now, as a defense expert, he told jurors rigor mortis is not an accurate indicator of time of death. and he added: where is the evidence cory fought for her life?

there were no signs of struggle and only the cut and abrasion on her lip. >> you will fight until you no longer can. the thought that somehow you could suffocate someone with a pillow and there would be only one dental mark is ludicrous. >> reporter: detective baird testified that when he first arrived on the scene cory's stomach area was still warm. how is that possible, the defense asked, if she had died up to 12 hours earlier? >> if the body is warm to the touch, my common sense tells me, not science, that this is someone recently deceased. >> absolutely. >> is there an error in that assumption? >> no. >> reporter: as far as the prosecution's contention that curtis killed cory after a heated argument, the couple's oldest son testified he didn't hear anything like that the night before. and he should know, because his room was right next to his parents. it was even connected by an extra door that was usually left slightly opened. >> she was all sick and i was like, "i'll stay home with you" and she wouldn't let me stay home.

>> reporter: the two older boys, unlike their sister, stuck to the story they told police. >> did she ever get out of bed? >> yes, i think she did. >> reporter: if jurors believed them, it blew apart the prosecution's timeline that cory was murdered the night before. >> they said the same thing that they had told baird in 2006 and detective gibson in 2014. >> reporter: and the defense had its sights on detective gibson. they claimed in 2013, he was an over-eager, newly promoted detective- primarily assigned to work crimes against seniors. this was his first murder case. >> he transferred from k9 officer to elder service officer. and around the same time he went to a one week course on being a lead detective in a homicide case. and he embarked on this investigation that that led to my indictment. >> reporter: finally, the defense's medical expert concluded there was only one plausible explanation for cory's death.

she had a history of drinking and falling and that caused that abrasion and cut. the bottom line: she was an alcoholic and bulimic suffering from a liver disease, someone who unfortunately died of natural causes. >> she's not a normal 38-year-old woman. she has a significant disease of a major organ that is associated with sudden death and with liver failure. >> reporter: in the end, curtis decided not to take the stand. ten women and two men would decide lovelace's fate. the deliberations went on for two full days. then, christine got the call to come back to the courthouse. >> and i knew in my heart he was coming home. >> that was it. you were gonna prevail. >> he's coming home. yes. >> reporter: but once she arrived, bailiffs led her to a small law library. >> christine came in. and they explained to her for the first time what was about to happen, that the judge would declare a mistrial. >> curt was sitting across.

he said, "i'm not gonna be able to come home tonight," and -- and i lost all my air. it was terrible. >> reporter: the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. the vote six guilty, six not. curtis would face another trial. since he couldn't make bail, he'd remain in jail, unless -- >> a deal? a plea deal? >> they had offered a second-degree murder plea. but i knew it was a decision not only that i had to make, but we had to make as a family. and i didn't know whether i could put them through another year of what we had already gone through.

>> reporter: that's when one of curtis's lawyers turned to christine. >> he said this can all end right now if curt agrees to take this deal. he said it would keep him from dying in prison. >> but he'd have to admit his culpability, responsibility in cory's death. that's the condition, right? >> correct. and that he wouldn't have to spend probably any more than 13 years in prison. >> reporter: the two said "no thanks" to the state's offer and geared up for a second trial. but that forced them to face another dire reality: they were totally broke, unable to afford another lawyer. >> what are we going to do? i mean, at that point, it -- there didn't appear to be any option. >> this could be a moment for christine to say, i'm out of here. i didn't sign on to be some tammy wynette for this guy, standin' by her man. i'm gone. >> yeah. and who -- who could -- who could blame her if she would have done that? but that's not who she is.

>> reporter: it looked as though curtis would have to use a public defender. but christine wouldn't accept that option. she worked her connections and eventually ended up here in chicago. >> she came to our office and told us her story and i remember finding it compelling and certainly worth exploring further. >> reporter: jon loevy is not a criminal lawyer. he's a civil rights attorney by practice who also does pro bono work with the exoneration project. its aim: overturn wrongful convictions. but curtis hadn't been convicted, at least not yet. still, loevy and co-counsel tara thompson decided to take the case. their services would be free. >> the main concern that i had in this case from the outset was really the lack of evidence. this didn't feel like a murder case from the beginning. >> reporter: with a new defense team in place, christine got working on her next goal: making bail to get her husband out of jail. friends eventually put up the cash.

almost two years after his arrest, curtis was released to his wife and sons. >> they greeted me at the hancock county jail. and i came home to a dog that i had never met. and for the first time, got to be back in my house and back in my home. >> reporter: but it wouldn't be home sweet home for long. while curtis and mrs. lovelace number three waited for the next trial of the alleged murder of mrs. lovelace number one, the judge ruled that mrs. lovelace number two could testify against her former husband. and what a story she had to tell. coming up -- erika, out of disguise, and on the stand. re-counting what she says was a marriage from hell. >> he ripped my shirt. and then he let me go and he tried to grab me again and i kept on trying to fight him off.

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>> reporter: curtis lovelace was a local celebrity. or at least so infamous, according to his new defense team, that he couldn't get a fair trial in his hometown. a judge agreed. so trial number two was moved from quincy to springfield, illinois -- >> all rise. >> reporter: -- about two hours away. >> the defense is going to come up here and try to portray the defendant as a pillar of the community. that's a facade. >> reporter: david robinson would join ed parkinson for the prosecution. this time cameras were allowed in the courtroom when the trial started in march, 2017. >> our houses were about 15 feet apart from each other. >> reporter: as in the first trial, neighbors testified they often heard arguing from the lovelace home. this woman lived next door and says she heard shouting almost every day. >> essentially for the entire time that we lived there. so six years.

>> as i walked by the house i heard an argument, a loud argument. >> reporter: another neighbor testified she heard cory and curtis really going at it and on a specific date, the night before valentine's day 2006. she happened to be out for a stroll. >> it actually -- i -- did cause me to pause. i guess i was listening to see if somebody was in distress. >> reporter: the prosecution's theory this go-round on how cory died remained the same. after a heated argument, the night before valentine's day, curtis suffocated his wife with a pillow in a fit of rage. he then waited up to twelve hours before police were called. >> come over here and have a seat please. >> reporter: and once again science would play a leading role in the prosecution's case. but prosecutors had a new witness. a star forensic expert. >> i have also testified before the house of representatives. >> reporter: in a 64-year career, dr. werner spitz has consulted on the jfk and martin luther king

assassinations, as well as in other high-profile cases including those of phil specter and casey anthony. >> the appearance of the injury leaves no doubt that this is not a healing wound. >> reporter: in a darkened courtroom, spitz showed photos and talked about that cut inside cory's mouth. curtis had told police his wife had fallen in the days before she died, his explanation for that injury. but this expert said he saw no signs the cut was an old one. >> there's no evidence of healing. so this looks like at the time it was incurred. >> reporter: the abrasion on the outside of the lip and the cut inside indicated to spitz that an object, like a pillow, had been placed on cory's face shortly before she died. >> this is not an accident, this is not a natural death, this is not a suicide, this is a homicide.

>> reporter: then came testimony the first jury never got to hear, and it was explosive. for this trial, the judge allowed erika gomez, wife number two, to testify. remember when we interviewed her, she wanted to protect her identity. but now on the witness stand, she could no longer be shielded by a disguise. >> he violently attacked me. >> reporter: prosecutors called the ex-wife to the stand to try to show that curtis had a history of violence. she recounted one incident she says happened at home during their marriage. >> he had started probably drinking at about 9 am. and we had been arguing about kids. he came rushing at me and tried to grab me. tried to hurt me. and grabbed my shirt, and he yanked it up really hard, hard enough to injure my knee. he ripped my shirt. and then he let me go, and he tried to grab me again and i kept on trying to fight him off. >> reporter: then erika told the

jury another shocking story. she said curtis had been drinking at a party. and later that night, he blurted out something she found disturbing. >> he's rarely honest except for when he's been drinking. and he was upset about something, and i asked him what he was upset about and he stated something about. "she was writhing underneath me" and then he said, "oh, the black cat." >> reporter: as strange as that story sounded, the prosecutor took it to mean this. curtis wasn't talking about a cat, but about cory's last minutes of life, as she struggled while curtis smothered her. >> erika had a story to tell. there's one particular quote that came out and he says, "i could hear her writhing beneath me." >> yes. that was evidence. she gave -- >> and it sounds as though he's talking about killing his wife at that moment. >> that's what we thought it sounded like, and she testified to that under oath on the stand that "i could feel her writhing beneath me.

and that's pretty much what would've happened if suffocation was occurring." >> reporter: the prosecution believed its evidence against curtis was overwhelming. "not so fast," said the defense. that's because it had some things up its sleeve. a new piece of last-minute evidence. and what an interesting nugget they had found. coming up -- tough questions for erika. >> someone made that up. someone put those words in there my signature should be there, anybody can redo this. >> and bomb shell testimony. >> did you know when you decided to pursue this investigation that the arms had been moved? >> i did not. ♪

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criminal law. >> was this your first murder trial? >> it was. i did a battery criminal defense case right out of law case. other than that, this is basically my first criminal defense case. >> curtis was taking a huge gamble. on the other hand, she was broke, he didn't have a lot of options. >> cory died of massive liver disease. >> in his opening remarks, he said the state hadn't presented any evidence of murder for one reason, there was no murder. >> prove to you that she died as a result of an acute sudden on set condition brought on by her alcoholism. >> one of the defense's key goals was to debunk the damaging testimony of curtis's ex, erika, he had violently attacked her and ripped her shirt. >> one of the first defense witnesses was major larry fuller with the illinois national guard. >> i asked her if she wanted to make a sworn statement, a formal sworn statement in writing. she said, yes, she would.

>> erica filed a domestic violence charge with the guard since curtis at the time was still active. the major was appointed to look into the charges. he testified as to what erika told him. >> she started backing up while backing up she fell. he went down to pick her up. he said he struck her in the chin as he was reaching for her in the shoulder. >> you say the word accidentally. >> that was her words. >> she reported curtis accidentally hit her. she didn't mention anything about curtis ripping her shirt. after conducting an investigation, he concluded her charges were unfounded. >> there was nothing there to actually lead to a domestic violence finding. >> armed with that information, the defense confronted her with her own statement, but she said the document used in court was a fake. >> someone made that up. someone put those words in there. my signature should be there. my signature is not there. this is typed. this isn't written. anybody can redo this. >> then the defense did something unusual.

it asked erik about other accusations she made about curtis and she had a laundry list of complaints. >> he knows how to forge paper work. he used my social security number to try and steal money out of my account. he knows how to get rid of evidence. he stole my daughter's bicycle out of the garage. >> at one point, an overwhelmed erika asked for a time-out. >> can i get a break, please. >> but erika wasn't folding. she blurted out another allegation in court against her ex. >> he was poisoning me. there was -- my hair was falling out. there were white lines on my fingers. i was extremely sick. >> erika claimed curtis tried to poison her and her daughter. she told police he likely put something in their orange juice, but according to the defense, there was a problem with that charge. erika never sought medical care. >> isn't it true, ma'am, you never went to a doctor and said, i think i'm being poisoned. >> it wouldn't have mattered.

>> when erika left the stand what do you think the jury made of her? >> i think they were shocked the state called her. when she was subjected to cross examination, she wasn't a credible person. >> there was one other theme he wanted to drill into this jury, and it concerned the lead detective. adam gibson he argued had gone path olsen -- pathologist shopping, that is, he consulted a series of pathologists before find him one to give him the answer he was looking for, that, yes, cory's death was, in fact a murder. >> if my opinion is not what he wants, he's going to be going looking for somebody else. >> this doctor was one of the pathologists gibson approached. her opinion, detective gibson wanted her to call this a homicide. when that was not her conclusion -- >> he had a theory and he was looking somehow to substantiate that theory. >> original pathologist, the original coronor said there was insufficient evidence to find the homicide. he got other pathologists said there's nothing unusual here, you're barking up the wrong tree.

>> then came even more damaging accusations against gibson. the defense said it obtained at the last minute documents that was supposed to have received from the police but never did. potentially exculpatory evidence. >> you understood this e-mail, didn't you? >> it was not something that i thought of, no. >> one e-mail was from a medical expert. he warned detective gibson that if the first pathologist left the cause of death undetermined that opinion would trump anyone else's and that would give plenty of reasonable doubt to a jury. >> this e-mail should have been turned over. >> i believe so it should, yes. >> you didn't turn it over. >> i did not. >> the prosecution's case appeared to be teetering. then came another blow. william ballard was one of the first emt's on the scene. he wanted to place ekg stickers on cory's body to check for a heart beat so he moved her arms. >> her arms were down against

her chest. i had to pull them up to check for a pulse, check for any rigger mortis and to also move her arms up to place the stickers where i'm supposed to place them. >> he moved cory's arms before the police photos were taken. that means her arms were not in the same position as seen in the photographs, the ones that started this entire second investigation. the defense seized on that fact. >> did you know when you decided to pursue this investigation that the arms had been moved? >> i did not. >> is this the first time you're hearing that today? >> the arms had been moved prior to the pictures, yes. >> because basically your investigation took off because you believed that the arms were in a position that was suspicious, right? >> yes. >> come up and be sworn. >> a final surprise. for the first time, the defendant, curtis lovelace took the stand. he insisted he wasn't a violent man. he never harmed his second wife

erika and certainly did not kill cory. >> i did love cory. and i know the kids loved her. it's been difficult. >> the defense wrapped up its questioning with an emotional curtis telling jurors of the enormous toll the two trials had taken on him and his family. >> how long have you been dealing with this? >> it's been two and a half years. >> when ever you're ready. >> on cross-examination, the prosecution pointed out that a whole bunch of witnesses and facts in this trial would have be to wrong for curtis to be innocent. >> sounds to me like you're saying erika is lying, the detective gibson is lying, marty is lying and the science is lying. do you agree? >> it's up to them to decide who is lying.

>> after seven days of testimony, curtis lovelace's trial had come to an end. the jury began deliberations. remember, the first panel was deadlocked 6-6. >> let me ask you this, have you reached an unanimous verdict? >> but this go around the jury was out about two hours before it came back with a decision. >> we the jury find the defendant curtis t. lovelace not guilty. >> 11 years after cory's death, two and a half years after curtis's arrest and two jury trials later not guilty. >> two-hour verdict, murder trial, what does that tell you? >> that tells me that they were absolutely convinced that curt was innocent. >> that's not how prosecutor ed parkenson sees it. >> so does the system work or does a guy get away with murder here? >> sometimes it works. i think my partner in the prosecution said you're looking at a guy who you think might have got away with murder. i feel bad because i think we're right.

>> how do you feel right now. >> the legal consequences for curtis are over the fallout from cory's death continues to paralyze the extended family. >> i don't know what to believe anymore. >> now a teacher, the daughter remains estranged from her father, but she hopes to salvage something despite all that's happened. a relationship with her brothers. >> i just pray everyday and hope that one day i'll get a call, a text, a message, an e-mail, something from one of them. >> cory's mom, marty. >> did you come to an opinion about what role, if any, he had in cory's death, curtis? >> those are tucked here. i have kept my mouth shut for a long time. i'm going to keep it that way. >> curtis says the state offered increasingly attractive plea deals before the start of the second trial. but he turned them all down. he has since filed an 11-count lawsuit against the police and the city of quincy. the suit alleges malicious prosecution and argues curtis's

kids were falsely imprisoned during those police interviews. representatives for the police in quincy said they had no comment. the family has moved out of quincy and curtis has opened a new law office in champaign, illinois. >> couple requests that we go ahead -- >> both he and christine are starting exoneration-type organizations. they say they want to help others wrongfully accused of convicted. >> what happened to you guys in this whole thing, do you think? >> i don't know what happened to us, dennis. these kinds of things happen across our country everyday and now i think we have an obligation to share this story and to help other people. >> your goal was to leave that courthouse an innocent man? >> yes. i believe looking in the eyes of that jury, seeing, you know, tears from some of them how quickly that they came back that they were declaring to me and to the world that i'm innocent.

>> curtis lovelace, a life interrupted. >> he said, quote t bastard's got me. >> he was once a kgb agent but turned into a vocal critic of russia. it made headlines around the world. a lethal toxin in a cup of tea. >> it's almost a tiny little drty bomb. >> why was he killed? to unravel the mystery we follow the tale of a mystery. we'll meet and confront the prime suspect. >> did you