>> funny and beautiful. they couldn't cope a girl like that in a small town for he ever.erim. >> she was very enticed by bright lights out west. >> absolutely. she's like, i'm moving to vegas. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> what did you think when you heard that? >> i was sad. i was sad but i was like, oh, my god, go, you're so brave, do it she was home with the kids. off. >> did you see her off? her husband out with friends >> absolutely. when it happened. i remember she had parked at her mom's house. >> he said something about his i remember running down the kids tell evening him there was street. a robber. >> did you have any parting >> all they told us was there words or advice for her? was an intruder. >> i have a photo. >> their home, so deep in the it was such a sad photo, the woods, now shrouded in a mystery even deeper. saddest day of my home. >> this is a real who done it? >> kelley came home often to visit, including christmas of >> very much so. 2003. by then elmira had a new attraction, a minor league hockey team. >> police had suspects. >> my mom, my sister and i were >> i remember kelley not wanting to be home alone. >> they also had a problem. ...yohelp protect yourable doing tpet, home, and yard. ah, it ended to soon. at an elmira jackals hockey >> why would this guy go up and team. with the advantage fleaction plan. kill this woman? >> her family had questions of this player is checked into the

boards and we were like, he's just look at him! he's a wreck without me, ha... owww. their own. cute. >> something is not right here. fight the misery of infesting fleas. something is wrong. >> and then someone remembered a >> kelley's mom, liz. phone call and a fib. >> i pulled up my phone and i'm like, that's strange. >> we enjoyed watching him. with every meal, there's a dish. >> a killer living two lives. but what happens to all that grease? it flows into your dishwasher, gumming up its performance. >> everything you thought you he was fun, he really was. knew was all a lie. >> he was tom clayton. add finish dishwasher cleaner with your detergent to help dissolve this grease so you're ready for your next meal. he served as the jackal's instigator. finish dishwasher cleaner clean dishwasher. clean dishes. ♪ hello and welcome to when they locked eyes, it was game over. >> she met him that weekend.es, "dateline." kelley and tom clayton's seemingly happy life together came to an abrupt end when she was found brutally murdered. >> was it instant for them? >> yes, it was. investigators set out to uncover >> they were with married about the truth, finding stories of two years later, and a few after betrayal and a witness who may that came the kids. >> hi! have seen everything. >> a girl and a boy. you only talk about your insurancet, when you complain about it. the clayton's daughter, charlie. tom traded in his hockey skates but in this case, not everything (garbled)....it's so painful. good point! was as it seemed. that's why esurance is making the whole experience here with "the house in the for work boots to run a home surprisingly painless. woods" is andrea canning. restoration business. now andrea had her best friend so, you never have to talk about it. back home plus tom. unless you're their spokesperson. >> what did you love about him? esurance. it's surprisingly painless. >> he wasn't exactly sure where >> he was very generous. he would shower her with things. let's cowboy up! the house was or what had we had a mutual friend who he exhilarating speed. happened there, but he knew it and his wife passed away in a woo! was bad.

>> yeah, these ones are not fun car accident, and tom precision control. to do. immediately called me and was like, we've got to do this, let's do this fundraiser. woo! we did. maximum reliability. and he was like a brother. >> finally, he found it, down a access denied. secluded driveway, a man on the [ repeats ] access denied. front lawn waving him in. >> almost ten years into the if it's not xfinity xfi, it's not good enough. >> what's going on. marriage, kelley still gushed >> i'm the neighbor. >> inside, the deputy could see about her tom. for wifi with super powers, get xfinity xfi. signs of a struggle, blood on >> she was just talking about the floor. he's the greatest guy, i mean i hit the jackpot with him. >> got blood on the wall, blood >> did that make you happy on the steps. hearing that? and go see, fast & furious presents, hobbs & shaw. >> a broken wall. >> yeah, it really did. he searched the house. >> hey, kids' room, this one's now playing. clear. it was like, there's really i'm going to check this last somebody out there like that. >> greg and linda miller got to room. know them over the years. here. >> the trail led to this, to they affectionately called the someone in a little room just beyond the stairs, beyond all former skater, hockey puck. but there was one thing the hope now. >> oh, my gosh. millers didn't envy about the claytons. >> yeah. where they lived. >> because it is in the middle of nowhere. we both said we could never live >> the house in the woods was out in the woods like that. home to tom and kelley clayton being out in the woods is scary and their two adorable children. enough, you know what i mean? he had been a local star of sorts, a hockey player, and >> no one remembers kelley kelley was a hometown girl raised in the finger lakes region of new york state. feeling uncomfortable, even at night, even alone, except for >> when you grow up here, it one evening in late september 2015. andrea was chatting on the phone

actually took for me to move away and go to college before i came back and appreciated how with kelley. ♪ tom clayton stood accused pretty it is. >> andrea spurlock is kelley's she wasn't her usual happy self. of hiring a hitman to kill his best friend. >> she was like, all right, i'm tired, good night. wife, and kelley's family and they grew up near elmira, all right, leave me alone pretty new york. much. friends who'd once loved tom like a son and brother were she said it was as if the land >> why was it odd she might want trying to process the idea that bred a little sweetness into to go to bed early one night? >> i think she was really he might be a killer. stressed out, but she didn't -- she was a night owl. >> the betrayal and the you know, she stayed up. confusion, you don't know what her kids stay up late, you know. kelley, maybe tartness as all. to think. >> how did you see kelley. it wasn't normal. the fear. >> she was goofy, happy, always just because nothing is making trying to have fun. >> neither, of course, was what sense and you try to make sense followed. of something that's not logical. she loved to laugh. >> this has been such a betrayal she was sarcastic.adthings fun. >> sir, you need to calm down so i can help you, okay. of someone that's been in our >> yes. >> what's your name? lives for a number of years. >> my name's tom. >> tom clayton was on the phone to 911, something about his >> reporter: were you trying to wife. give him the benefit of the she wasn't breathing. doubt at all? >> i want to say there was no >> how long has she been down? looking back. >> i don't know, i don't know. you know, i believe he was i just got home. involved. >> reporter: if kelley's sister >> the clayton home, tucked down a pocket of a long dark road. had any doubt about tom's guilt, it was erased when she saw him it would never be home again. in court for the first time. >> i was there at his bail >> coming up, what had happened hearing. to kelley? he had a bulletproof vest on, police discovered the disturbing shackles. no emotion. he doesn't look. scene inside the family home. he doesn't cry. >> i said, where's your wife and

he pointed to the kitchen area and that's when i walked around. oh, oh, okay. and he gets out on $250,000 cash >> when with "dateline" continues. bail. >> reporter: that's pretty low. >> and he's been out ever since. ves, >> reporter: and he seemed you'll move over 10% more than before. determined to profess his innocence to anyone who'd listen. >> he said, i'd like to tell you my side of the story. i said, i really don't want to hear it. i don't want to get any more involved. and he's like partially crying and he's saying, you know i wouldn't do that. >> reporter: months went by as the state prepared the case against each man. michael beard was the first to go to trial. in court he recanted his confession and changed his account of the murder. but prosecutor weeden whetmore said evidence put beard at the >> his dna was found where she had fled after being struck in dr. scholl's. born to move. the head with the murder weapon. >> reporter: it took jurors only seven hours to convict him. >> jury finds michael beard guilty of what the prosecution ♪ is calling a murder for hire scheme. protect your pet with the #1 name

in flea and tick protection. >> reporter: if beard's case had frontline plus. been a slam dunk for trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. investigators, tom clayton's would be anything but. the prosecutor knew he couldn't use beard to testify against tom. >> even if he came forward and said i want to testify now, he had lied so many times. he had lied at his own trial . >> beard had changed his story so much at his own trial that he you don't really talk about your insurance wouldn't have been a credible unless you're complaining about it. you go on about how... witness. >> reporter: tom and his lawyer ...it's so confusing it hurts my brain. ya i hear ya... pounced on that, telling or say you can't believe... reporters that beard acted on ...how much of a hassle it is! his own. >> this is purely mr. beard's and tell anyone who'll listen... (garbled)....it's so expensive! doing. what we do know is that mr. she said it's so expensive. tell me about it. yes.. well i'm telling the people at home. clayton had nothing to do with that's why esurance is making the whole experience the death of his wife. >> reporter: and tom's lawyer surprisingly painless. didn't stop at michael beard. so, you never have to talk about it, unless you're their spokesperson. he went after the investigators. he said they had tunnel vision when it came to his client. esurance. it's surprisingly painless. >> he said you'll hear it, you'll hear it in the bodycam video. >> you got a suspect? >> the husband. >> reporter: the lawyer believed

everything that followed in the investigation had been poisoned. >> he was simply just being wrongfully accused and police here, hello! starts with -hi!mple... just rushed to judgment. how can i help? a data plan for everyone. and that therefore led to an everyone? incomplete investigation. everyone. >> reporter: and in fact, let's send to everyone! [ camera clicking ] investigators never found evidence that tom paid beard for a hit. wifi up there? -ahhh. sure, why not? as far as tom clayton, there was how'd he get out?! no conversation overheard, there a camera might figure it out. was no money exchanging hands. you couldn't even use the confession from michael beard. so there were a lot of things that was easy! you didn't have. glad i could help. >> right. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. but if you look at thomas so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. clayton's conduct, he never mentioned michael beard. everybody says michael beard should be an immediate suspect. he never mentioned michael beard to the police. to me there's a reason for that. >> reporter: as they prepared for trial, investigators kept digging. they discovered a flurry of calls and texts in the weeks leading up to the crime. >> clayton was contacting beard saying we have to meet, he was getting him a bicycle. so he was having these clandestine meetings.

>> reporter: investigators also pulled surveillance footage from outside tom's business. they believed this was video proof of a conspiracy. that's beard, they say, in a red truck that tom loaned him just hours before the murder. and that's tom following in his green servepro truck. >> we also know that during that time period beard turned his phone off, turned it on, turned it off again. >> reporter: why do you think he did that? >> the inference that would be drawn from that is these guys are not that naive, they know that there's a possibility of being tracked with their phones. >> reporter: then after the murder the video shows what looks like beard returning to tom's business to drop off the truck. there are its headlights ♪ car accidents, drug entering the lot. and investigators believe that's overdoses, those are the kinds beard getting on the bike tom of emergency calls deputy dean gave him, pedaling away under the cover of darkness. >> the trial for thomas clayton swann of the steuben county sheriff's office respond to. is now set to begin. >> reporter: the courtroom was the one he and his partner got packed as tom's trial began. after midnight on september 29,

>> i'd never been in such a 2015, that was a first. >> how long has she been down. >> i don't know, i don't know. tense, anxious atmosphere. i just got home. the courtroom was typically tense throughout the entire >> we received a dispatch from trial, but as far as anxiety was our 911 center, unknown possible medical situation. concerned, i had never been in a i responded. room that was filled with so much anxiety. to be honest with you, in route i felt there w >> why? >> reporter: the only one who didn't seem tense to the >> just cop intuition i guess is reporter was the defendant what it was. himself. he saw tom clayton smiling and kidding around with family members. his lawyer, though, was on the attack. he told the jury how came next inside the home of tom investigators had immediately and kelley clayton. this is footage from the body labeled tom a killer on the camera swann was wearing that night. he arrived to find a man outside coming towards him. night of the murder. it was a neighbor. >> i think he attacked her. >> reporter: and the defense >> how you doing? said investigators refused to >> i'm okay. change their minds, even after >> what's going on? it was clear michael beard was >> i'm just -- i'm the neighbor. the one who beat kelley to death. he just came and got me out of >> the defense had basically bed. alluded to the fact that there >> okay. >> he's right in the house. >> what happened? >> his wife -- his wife's in there. is a psychosis in michael beard >> i went in and located mr. and that he out of just hate and clayton and he was kind of down revenge against thomas and his on his knees, kind of bobbing up other bosses went to the house that night with the intent of and down, visibly upset. stealing and taking money and killed kelley in the process. and in the hallway, between the

>> reporter: the prosecution hallway and the transition area between the hallway and the said that was nonsense. dining room. michael beard had no reason to >> anybody else in the house, tom, just you? murder kelley unless he was sent >> i got the kids at the there by the defendant, tom neighbor's house. clayton. the state called linda miller to >> i said, where's your wife, testify. and he pointed to the kitchen she recounted how tom borrowed area. that is when i walked around and her phone and then delet i located the victim on the number he'd dialed, never kitchen floor. >> oh. oh, okay. dreaming she'd do her own >> it was tom's wife, kelley. right away the deputy knew she had been murdered. >> what did you see? >> the victim. detective work. there was blood, blood spatter you really connected the dots to on walls, ceiling, the victim get police to this moment. had blood pooling around her head. >> yeah. >> she did good. >> tom, where were you when this all went down? >> playing poker with my buddies. >> if you can call it good. >> reporter: finally, the prosecutor said he knew why tom wanted his wife dead. >> tom said he had just come he called kelley's niece, molly, home from a poker game to find to the stand. >> he just told me a lot of kelley dead on the floor and his seven-year-old daughter charlie stuff about their relationship. saying something about a >> reporter: molly told the jury break-in. >> i came home and my daughter about the summer she worked for said there was a robber in the her uncle tom. house and she saw them. she said he talked a lot about his marriage. >> okay. come on out here, man. >> that he wasn't in love with her anymore. come on out here. i want you to have a seat. you don't need to see that, all that kelley was very lazy. right. >> his kids were home? and he told me about him trying to like sleep with other women >> kids were home when this and that he was sleeping with

occurred. >> where were they? >> when i got on scene he had other women. taken them to the neighbor so i never saw the kids. and he told me that he also was >> what did you think of the person capable of doing this to getting close to divorce, he her mother with the children just wanted to be done. home. >> reporter: the prosecutor told >> there's no way to describe a person like that. the jury this was tom's motive. he wanted to get rid of his wife they're not a person. but keep everything else. >> the officer led tom to his patrol car. >> all right. come on. >> i think he was concerned that his wife, if they went through a >> could i get that water? divorce, that she probably would >> yeah, we'll get you water. get everything and this was an opportunity just to start anew. take it easy, bud. take it easy. >> reporter: the millers come on over here, tom. listened and wondered how they you're not in trouble, okay. could be so wrong about their old friend tom clayton. i'm just going to have you have >> we didn't obviously know a seat so we can talk to you. until the trial of the affairs all right. take it easy. and stuff. you're not in trouble, just sit right there. i'm going to leave the door open. just sit right there and relax. >> reporter: you really didn't know tom at all. >> correct. correct. >> then the deputy and his >> that's the scary part. partner went back inside the house to make sure the killer >> reporter: after seven weeks wasn't still hiding inside. the case went to the jury. >> okay. kelley's sister and the prosecutor braced themselves. kids' rooms, this one's clear. >> okay. >> now we wait. >> as they searched, guns drawn, >> reporter: but not for long. it became clear how the crime it took jurors just six hours to make their decision. unfolded. >> there's blood all over up as they filed back into the here.

courtroom, the reporter noticed >> from what i could see, the attack started in the main bedroom, went out into the a change in tom clayton. hallway. >> that was really the first looks like a fight ensued. there were pictures knocked off the door and there was a time that i saw in his face that landing. you got the sense that this guy finally knew that oh, god, i could go to prison for life. the stairs go straight down and depending on what they're about there's a left-turn landing and to say. >> reporter: and then they said there was a big hole in the wall it. like a body part of some kind had gone into the wall and broke the wall. guilty of first-degree murder. outside the courthouse, there were tears. lots of them. i knew just from my experience, training that, okay, this >> thank you. started up here and worked its i think -- i believe justice was way down there. >> and she was fighting? done here today. >> she was fighting. yes, she was fighting. i do. >> next, they searched the >> reporter: tom clayton was basement and the rest of the sentenced to life without house. >> i don't see any blood down parole. here at all. okay. nothing there. >> were you able to clear the house? michael beard has already begun serving a life sentence. it seems so many in town want to did you find a robber? honor kelley. >> no. >> did you find an intruder or even tom's old hockey team. the elmira jackals held a evidence of an intruder. tribute for her and victims of >> we cleared the house and we found no -- nobody in the house. >> and no sign of forced entry. ceremonial first puck to start the game. >> i'm telling you, kelley is with me. but when they went into the garage they realized how the and i have a very strong faith. killer might have gotten in and i hear her days saying get up,

out. >> the side door to the garage was open with the inner door let's go, we have got to do open that goes into a laundry this. room. that door from the laundry room into the kitchen was also open. and i do. >> by then, more officers had arrived. and tom clayton, outside by a i have her beautiful babies and police car, was still a mess. my own. >> come on over here, sit down. >> i just -- i'm shaking. >> well, that's what i'm saying and you have to keep on keeping though. you want to sit down somewhere. sit down. okay. on. >> i keep doing, i keep sitting down, getting up. >> that's all for now. >> he calmed down, sit down, relax. we tell him, hey, we need you to stick around because we have to talk to you, try to find out what happened here. >> but to find out what i'm craig melvin. happened, they would have to go thank you for watching. to another house where one of the county's top lawmen was good morning, i'm joling about to perform one of the most difficult interviews of his career. kent in new york. >> it took me personally a long it is 6:00 in the east and 3:00 time to work through in my own mind and it stayed with me quite out west. a while. filg the void, new trouble for >> coming up, a child witness. the president as he tries to fill a new top security post. >> observed mommy fighting with what she termed as the robber. >> sounding the alarm on tactics >> and a chilling suspicion. >> i just remember corey walking up and down the road the whole used by some democrats at the time. something's not right, last debate. something's not right. >> when "dateline" continues.

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♪ kelley's sister kim raced to the scene. she had gotten the call, kelley had been hurt, badly. >> so it is pitch black and all you see are new york state trooper cars, sheriff cars, police cars, i see ambulance,

all of these lights. >> oh, god. where's my sister. >> i first run to the ambulance because i think they're going to be working on my sister. i'm like, where's my sister? where is she? >> police explained the awful truth, kelley was dead. >> we were screaming, wailing. i mean i was throwing up on the side of the road. >> you can't believe she's dead. i mean it is like it is inconceivable that she could be dead. >> they wouldn't let you see kelley either, right? >> no. they just kept saying, kim, you don't want to see her. >> was your first instinct that maybe there is some kind of a home invasion? >> yes, it was. >> some stranger? >> yes, it was. >> kelley's best friend got a call from kim's husband corey. >> and my dad drove me there, and by the time i got there everyone was there.

i just remember corey clinching, keep clinching his fists and walking up and down the road the whole time. something's not right. something is not right. something doesn't add up. and we were all just so confused. they wouldn't tell us anything. >> none of you knew nothing? >> nothing. >> could one of you stay with him. >> they told them that the children were safe at a neighbor's house. they didn't mention what charlie had been through. >> she saw everything and she saw it happen. >> steuben county sheriff jim allard interviewed the seven-year-old that night. he was astonished by her poise and bravery as she gave the details of what had happened. >> her story begins she was in her room playing on her tablet, and she said she heard mommy yelling, run, charlie, run, repeatedly, screaming it, run, charlie, run. and mommy got to her door and got the door closed, and then

she heard more commotion. she opened, went into the hallway and followed the commotion, down the hallway, down the steps, into the kitchen, and observed mommy fighting with what she termed as the robber. she got up and pantomimed for me of a person standing over another person with an object in their hand, striking that person that was on the ground, and she described the object as a cylinder, that the robber, as she kept calling him, used. >> she went on to give the sheriff a detailed description of the so-called robber's appearance. >> she described the person to me as a male wearing jeans and a dark shirt and a mask. i initially asked her, you keep saying it is a man. how do you know it is a man? and she told me, because of his eyes. >> i said, well, what about his eyes let you know it is a man? she said, his eyes are just like daddy's. so then i stood up and i said,

how tall was the guy? was he taller than me or shorter than me? she said, he was the same height as daddy. i said, okay. i said, how much does he weigh? was he heavier than me? was he thinner than me? the same as daddy. and the mask he had on is just like daddy's mask that he wears hunting. >> after the robber left charlie said she rushed to hug her mother and then knew there was one more thing to do. she had to go upstairs and take care of her three-year-old brother. to the sheriff the seven year old's story was both chilling and heartbreaking. >> it was a memory i'll have with me the rest of my life. it is one of those that takes a little part of you with them. here's a little girl who does remind me very much of my own daughter and she's working through, i just watched mommy brutally attacked, it could be daddy, where am i?

where does this leave me? >> but could it be true? did he she really just see her father kill her mother? this had been a very bloody murder and deputy dean swann had looked tom clayton over carefully. >> did tom have any blood on him? >> i did not see any on him, no. i actually checked him for any injuries or any blood on him and he had nothing. >> tom had told the deputy he had only just come in the door to find his wife dead. he had been gone all night at his friend's house, the millers, playing poker. so that's where investigators went. >> i heard the banging on the door and ringing of the doorbell, and i woke him up. i'm like, somebody is banging at the door. >> what time is this? >> this is like 6:00 in the morning. >> that's pretty early to get a knock at the door. >> right. nothing good happens from answering the door at 6:00 in the morning. >> when greg realized it was the police at his door, his first thought was that his daughters had been in a car accident. >> the investigator told me, no,

nothing is wrong with your daughters. did a guy named hockey puck as you know him or tom play poker here last night? >> hockey puck is tom's nickname? >> correct. and i said, yes, he did. he says, well, when he went home he found his wife murdered last night. >> wow. >> and instantly it was like we're looking at each other, and it was like, uh, we're in a state of shock. i said, obviously you probably want to come in. >> greg gave the officers the details of the previous night. tom had been in his basement playing poker until around midnight. >> and normally what time did the game wrap up? >> usually the games would go at 1:30 but we quit at 12:00 and by the time everybody got out of there it was about 12:10. >> it sounded like tom was telling investigators the truth about where he had been, at

poker night. they later determined the murder happened before the game wrapped up. >> this is a real who-done-it? >> yeah, very much so. >> come on over here, tom. you're not in trouble. i'm going to have you have a seat so we can talk to you. >> so despite what the little girl thought she saw, the investigation was far from over. authorities were asking who on earth would want kelley clayton dead. >> investigators dig into kelley and tom's past and their marriage may not have been as happy as many thought. coming up. >> i remember kelley not wanting to be home alone if he was there. >> a suspect who is no surprise to some and a second suspect who is. >> it doesn't feel like a slam dunk here. >> no, it does not. >> when "dateline" continues. -keep it down there. i have a system.

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looking to pull troops out of afghanistan. they are looking to require concessions including a seize fire. john radcliffe was pulled from consideration over increased scrutiny over experience. trump will announce his new pick shortly. now back to date line. now back to "dateline." ♪ welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. seven-year-old charlie clayton revealed what she saw the night of her mother's murder. she said kelley clayton's attacker had the same eyes as her father and the mask resembled one he wore while hunting. but tom clayton had an alibi backed up by friends. so if tom didn't attack kelley, who did? here again is andrea canning with "the house in the woods." >> investigators were trying to figure out what had happened in the murder of kelley clayton. they were looking to the family

for leads. >> they were like, listen, do you guys know of anyone that possibly could have done this? >> kelley's niece molly had an idea. >> i looked at my mom and i was like, yeah. >> molly, only 16 at the time, told police she spent the summer working for her uncle at his restoration business, servpro, and there she met one of his employees, a man named michael beard. tom told her to keep her distance. >> he never really wanted me around michael beard. he didn't want me like working with him. >> michael beard was no stranger to the family. >> he actually had done work at my sister's home. my sister would give his daughter charlie's hand-me-downs, clothes, toys. my sister would make lunch for him when he was there working at her home. >> while kelley was kind to beard, she told her sister she didn't always feel comfortable around him. >> i remember kelley not wanting to be home alone if he was there. you know, he was civil, he was

nice, but i don't think she wanted to be left home alone. >> now molly told investigators that her uncle tom had recently fired beard. >> michael beard was fired september 17th, and then kelley was murdered like the night of the 28th, 29th, so it wasn't long at all. >> was it possible that beard was angry about losing his job and that kelley's murder was some kind of revenge? molly went through her cellphone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beard's address. >> i gave that to them and they were just like, okay, thank you. >> the steuben county sheriff's office needed all hands on deck and called in the new york state police for the assistance. >> i was contacted by investigators the day of the homicide. >> investigator matt lambert was assigned to run down the michael beard lead. >> what did you know about michael beard's background? >> he actually was a pretty well-respected employee until september 17th when tom had

fired him. >> why did tom fire him? >> stealing from jobs and drinking, i think, on the job, and he fired him on the 17th because there were maybe some complaints from other employees at servpro. >> so there were issues there? >> right. >> but beard was polite and cooperative when the investigator knocked on his door. >> we said, hey, can you take a ride with us up to the barracks. he said yeah, let me let my wife knew. >> he already knew what it was about? >> we told him we wanted to talk about the homicide of kelley clayton. >> the investigator asked beard where he was the night of kelley's murder. he said he was home except for a beer run. >> he actually kind of alibied himself at that point saying he was at the store the night before and it was the same clerk working, that she could prove he was in the store the night before. >> did he express he knew anything about kelley's murder? >> no, he didn't say he knew anything with the murder. >> is he telling you anything about tom clayton? >> no, just that he had worked for him. >> and beard denied any hard

feelings towards his former boss. said he and tom were still friends. in fact, he told the investigator it was tom's partner who fired him, not tom, and tom was even trying to help beard find another job. >> are you getting any bad feeling from him? are you suspicious of him? >> not at all. >> so you're thinking this is going to be somebody we're going to cross off the list? >> yes, i didn't expect to see him again. >> to the investigator and those close to kelley, michael beard didn't seem like a good suspect at all. >> did you think it is possible, he was a disgruntled employee, he was taking revenge? >> i didn't. because if you're disgruntled, why wouldn't you kill the person that you're disgruntled against. i mean, i'm angry at you so i'm going to go kill your wife? >> as a matter of procedure, the investigator asked beard for a dna swab and permission to look through his cellphone. >> he was very forthcoming, very willing, no problems, just very cooperative. le the state inves was checking out the

not-so-promising michael beard tip, sheriff's investigators had tom at the station. detective donnie lewis said they still had questions. >> for the most part it looks pretty good for tom. >> correct. >> this alibi is pretty strong? >> absolutely. the witnesses that see him at the poker game, we know where he was all night. >> that's not the end of the story though? >> that is not the end of the story. >> not the end of the story because there was something investigators just couldn't get around, the daughter's story, her description of the killer. it was powerful evidence they couldn't ignore, and so just hours after the murder -- >> the defendant was remanded to steuben county jail without bail. >> they arrested kelley's husband tom clayton and charged him with murder. >> how can you arrest him? what are you arresting him based on? >> there's a lot of suspicion. basically we have to have probable cause to make an arrest. >> what was the probable cause? >> the biggest thing, the oldest child made comments that it looked like daddy, had daddy's eyes. >> as of the end of the day -- >> reporter: tanner covered the

story for nbc affiliate webn tv. >> i don't know how they charged him honestly. i don't know how they charged him so quickly. >> he said the arrest had everyone in the newsroom scratching their heads. >> thomas had a great alibi, he was at a poker game 15 minutes away. even hours after they arrested him i don't know what grounds they had as far as actual evidence connecting him to the death. >> if tom was the killer, there had to be a hole in the rock-solid alibi, or maybe the authorities thinking the husband always does it had acted too fast. >> it doesn't feel like a slam dunk around arresting this man. >> no, it does not. >> coming up -- the mystery of the missing phone call. >> i pulled out my phone and i'm like, see if there was a number there and there was nothing. and so i'm like, that's strange. >> when "dateline" continues. ultra soft fabric

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♪ steuben county sheriff's investigators had made a quick arrest in kelley clayton's murder, her husband tom. to many, including kelley's best friend andrea, it didn't make sense. >> i loved him. she loved him. he was a part of our family. we were a part of theirs. >> the millers were also confused. they knew tom couldn't have killed kelley because he was at their house when she was murdered.

>> was this a normal night, just like any other monday? >> absolutely just like any other monday, yes. >> but now the millers wondered had they missed something. they started thinking like detectives. >> i'm like going over everything in my head. i'm like, what the heck, why, you know, all of this stuff, who could it be, what's going on. >> then linda miller remembered. tom at the poker game asking a favor. >> i was doing dishes and he came into the kitchen and said, hey, can i borrow your phone for a second. he says, i left mine out in my car, i have to call work. i said oh, okay, sure, it is on charge. just a second. he followed me in the bedroom. i unplugged it and handed it to him and he said thanks. seemed like a couple of minutes he was back and said thank you and put it on the table. >> it wasn't odd at the time, but now the phone call around 11:00 p.m. seemed important. whom had tom called?

>> i pulled up my phone and i'm like, see if there was a number there, and there was nothing. >> so there should be a number if he called somebody on the phone. >> right. and so i'm like, that's strange. i said, greg, can you look at my phone. >> and i says, there's -- there's nothing. >> is part of you thinking, oh, maybe he just decided not to make the call? >> no, because i heard him talking. you could hear like the mumbling, just a voice speaking of sorts, but nothing intellingible. >> as the millers struggled to make sense of that they called the other men who had been at their house that night. the poker players recalled the same detail. tom's phone was always with him. >> he had his phone at the poker table? saying, yes. it was there, yes. yes. >> so he has his phone at the poker table, but he's telling you he left his phone in the car? >> uh-huh. that's what he told me.

>> more than a little suspicious, the millers kept digging. they went online to check linda's phone records and there it was, the number tom dialed about an hour before the murder, a number they didn't recognize. investigator donnie lewis took it from there. >> so what i did was i got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that number in the profile that pops up is michael beard. >> michael beard, the ex employee who had been some cooperative with investigators. suddenly he didn't seem so innocent. now police had to reconsider their theory of the crime. maybe it wasn't tom who had beaten kelley to death. maybe their daughter's description of the killer was wrong. maybe it was michael beard she saw. >> this phone call, this is like the key? >> that's the first real connection we had that put beard anything to do with the murder. that kind of just alerted us

right off the bat as we need to go talk to michael beard again. >> he denied any type of involvement. he even denied receiving the phone call. they never talked. >> did that seem odd? >> it did can seem odd. he denied having any type of conversation. he said he didn't even remember receiving it and he wouldn't have answered a call that wasn't -- that he didn't know the number. >> and when investigators looked at beard's phone, there was no sign of a call from linda miller's cell. >> it had been erased. he explained it away that he the night before had to recycle his minutes on his phone. it was a little suspicious to me. >> did you start to come down really hard on him, like we're not buying your story? >> it wasn't hard. it was more like i was trying to say, let the truth out because he was having physical, like his stomach was rolling. i was saying, mike, let the truth come out, let it come out, it wants to come out, let the truth come out, it is not adding up, you got to stop. hear your body right now, your body is telling you that you're not telling the truth, just get it out.

>> while investigator lambert was speaking with beard, he was interrupted by a colleague who had been grilling beard's wife. she mentioned a dramatic piece of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom, $10,000. the investigators confronted beard. >> at that point he was just defeated. i had looked at him and said $10,000, is that why you killed kelley, and he looked at me and said, yes. >> this was your big moment. >> that was -- that was the win. >> michael beard was arrested for murder, and tom, already in custody, was now accused of orchestrating the crime. but tom's newly-hired defense attorney wasn't having it. >> he wants to be reunited with his children. he, frankly, is grieving the loss of his wife. >> investigators had quickly arrested tom based largely on a child's description, which turned out to be wrong. now his attorney said they seized on a confession that was

anything but true. who would be believed? >> this is every innocent person's nightmare. >> coming up -- a secret revealed as tom clayton's story starts to unravel. >> he told me that he was sleeping with other women. >> was that enough of a motive for a jury to convict tom of murder when "dateline" continues. an ke is tookus safe and protected... ...you can get comfortable doing the same with yours. preparationh. get comfortable with it.