head into the weekend perhaps. that is our broadcast for a friday night and pfor this week. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. she hadn't answered her phone calls. she hadn't answered her text messages. i could see that the window pane was broken. the glass was on the ground. >> a valentine's day that started with roses would end in a different shade of red. >> everything stopped. i was just in shock. >> we knew we had someone bad out there, doing something. >> she was a wife, a mother, and a missionary. denise sounds like a saint. >> she probably was. >> but something had been happening behind closed doors. >> there's nothing more important to me than you and this relationship. >> was it love? >> that was his valentine's day present to aina. >> or hate? >> one shot to the head. >> what was the motive for a valentine's day murder?

>> we had a note that she had written. >> she was speaking from the grave in a way. >> that note was powerful. >> reporter: it happened on the least likely day imaginable a day devoted to love and affection valentine's day. and it happened to the last people on earth you would expect a religious family, dedicated to god and making the world a better place. >> we got a break-in. >> is it going on right now? >> i dont know. the garage door is open. there's glass from the back door where somebody broke in. my world had just been shattered. >> reporter: their perfect world broken by an act so evil, it tore a family apart. >> the worst day of my life. >> reporter: and put an entire town on edge.

>> be extra cautious, lock your doors, lock your windows. pay attention to strangers in your area. >> reporter: they devoted their lives to others. who would ever want to hurt them? >> this is just absolutely a despicable act. >> reporter: for a day that ended so tragically, it began in a happy way with flowers and expressions of love. nathan and denise leuthold had met 30 years earlier, back in the '80s when they were both students at a small baptist school in central illinois. even at that young age, nathan knew there was something to this sparkling little girl. >> i was in third grade and she was in fourth gade at the time. and i doubt she even knew i existed, but even then i thought she was the cutest girl in the school. >> what was it that you liked about her so much? >> it was the curly hair and the bouncy curls and just the happy-go-lucky smile. in junior high i began to see her character and see what kind of person she was that way. >> reporter: it was in high

school that nathan and denise got to know each other better though they didn't date, as most teens do, because they both came from religious families. >> our parents didn't really believe in dating, so we were just good friends. and i went to her church activities and she came to mine. and saw each other at school and that's how it all started. she was my first girlfriend and my only girlfriend. >> reporter: norm ulrich jr. got to know nathan and denise well when his wife taught at their high school. nathan was a basketball player then, denise a cheerleader. >> they were inseparable. they would just, you know, goof around with each other, you know just in a loving, you know, maybe puppy-lovish way. um, and it just grew into something special between the two of them and we knew they'd be together. >> reporter: what's more, nathan admired denise's parents and was inspired by what he saw as a perfect marriage. >> and i looked at denise's mom at the time and i saw what she was as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, and i saw that denise really favored her mother and so i said, that's what i want. >> reporter: for denise's mom,

diane newton, the feeling was mutual. >> was he over all the time? >> yes. yeah, he practically lived at our house. >> reporter: when denise went off to college in minnesota, nathan, a year younger, soon followed. to no one's surprise, the couple got engaged a year later. diane knew it was coming. >> i wasn't surprised when he was the first one that she dated and they ended up getting married. >> reporter: that was in july 1995. >> i was always very happy being a wife and a mother, so i was happy for her that she had found someone to love and to share her life with. >> right before we did our vows, denise had prepared a song talking about everything that she wanted was in me. and that our marriage was gonna be the kind that she had always hoped for and had dreamed for as a little child. and um, it was a wonderful day. >> reporter: after the young couple settled in their home town of peoria, illinois, denise went to work at an insurance company while nathan started a career in sales.

but he couldn't shake a higher calling. for several years he had dreamed of becoming a baptist missionary. in 1998 he finally seized the opportunity when another young couple at their church began their own missionary work in lithuania. >> and so i approached the fella and said, "what would you think about denise and i coming and helping you guys?" he said, "that'd be great." >> they moved in with us for six months, sold all their possessions, tried to save up money. >> we didn't know any lithuanian at the time, we didn't know the language. we were studying it, trying our best, but it was definitely a shock. >> reporter: they returned home after a year and soon welcomed a son, seth, and a daughter, julia. in 2002, the family went back to lithuania, which became their second home on and off for the next eight years. >> that's a big undertaking to -- >> right. i think it was very hard for denise to leave her family, to leave everything she'd known and

to go over to a strange country, you know, with a toddler and a baby. it was a traumatic experience for her, i think. >> this is because really nathan wanted to do it? >> right. she was supporting him. it wasn't really her calling. i mean, she was basically being a wife and a mother. >> reporter: but denise also became very devoted to the church there. >> denise was very musical and she played the piano for the children and taught 'em songs and taught the little girls especially, bible stories. >> reporter: they grew particularly close to some of the children and their families. >> we had helped women who'd been in abusive relationships. we had brought several lithuanians to the united states over the years for cultural reasons, for musical purposes, for sports. >> reporter: their generosity extended to a young lithuanian they had gotten to know well, aina dobilaite, who eventually came to the u.s. as a college student.

she even lived with them for a while in peoria. >> nathan has a very big heart for people. he just loves to help people out and just wants to do the lord's work. >> reporter: by the fall of 2010, nathan and denise were living back in the states. by then they had a third child, jenelle. their days were filled with shuttling kids to school and day care, and raising funds for their next overseas mission. life with three young kids was busy, hectic, normal. but then came valentine's day, 2013 when nathan pulled into their driveway mid-afternoon and discovered something terribly wrong. >> i can see that the window pane was broken. the glass is on the ground. and at that point i begin to put things together and someone had broken into the home. and at that point i called the police, called 911. >> 911. where's the emergency? >> ah, we got a break-in. >> reporter: a daring burglary in the middle of the day.

that would rob this family of everything. >> there would be no more cards, candy or flowers this valentine's day, no one can find denise. >> she hadn't answered her phone calls. she hadn't answered her text messages. >> what police do find is terrifying. >> everything stopped. i just kept looking at my daughter. my world had just been shattered and i had to tell her at some point. when "dateline" continues. say hello to neuriva, a new brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. neuriva.

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after many years of working overseas as missionaries, the leuthold family had returned to peoria, illinois. denise, nathan and their three kids seth, 12, julia, 10, and jenelle, four, were living with denise's parents. nathan says it felt good to be home. >> we had tremendous friends and family here in the states. and that's always what we missed the most. >> reporter: being back in the states also gave nathan an opportunity to travel to churches, where he reported on his and denise's missionary work and raised more funds so they could soon return to lithuania. in the u.s. they could also celebrate holidays american-style as they did on valentine's day, 2013. >> as is our tradition on holidays, whether it's easter or christmas or birthdays or valentine's, for the children we

started off right off the bat first thing in the morning. and so the children had their valentine's sacks that denise had prepared sitting there on the table for them. >> reporter: and for his wife? >> my gift to her was the roses and the card that i had bought the night before and had placed on the table. >> reporter: after the early morning celebration, the family went back to their usual routine, taking the kids to school, shopping, running errands. denise's parents were at work. but that day, something happened that was completely out of character for denise. she failed to pick up julia from school. >> my parents called me, "do you want us to pick her up?" and i said, "well, denise should be there any minute she must have been late." >> reporter: turns out no one had been able to reach denise for a while, including nathan. >> she hadn't answered her phone calls. she hadn't answered her text messages. i said, "just wait a few more minutes. let me get jenelle out of day care, and then i'll let you know. and when i finally get her out of day care they said, "she still hasn't come. i said, "well, i'll run by the house and see if she's there."

and as soon as i got pulled into the driveway the garage door was open. >> is that odd? >> it's very odd. there's no car in the garage, but the garage door's open. but then as i got about halfway into the garage, i can see that the window pane was broken. the glass is on the ground. and at that point i begin to understand that someone had broken into the home. >> did you fear that the person could still be in the house? >> i did. the best thing was to not enter the house. if i had to defend my family. i would. but whatever is in the house they can take. and the police will get them later. >> reporter: with his young daughter in the car, nathan backed into the neighbor's driveway across the street so he could watch the house as he called 911. >> what's the problem? >> ah, we got a break-in. >> is it going on right now? >> i don't know.

i -- the garage door is open, there's glass from the back door where somebody broke in. i've not gone in the house yet. >> reporter: nathan waited with his daughter at the neighbor's house, repeatedly calling family members to see if anyone had heard from denise. then the police arrived. detectives jason leigh and shawn curry were among the first on the scene. >> by the time we got here officers were starting to rope everything off securing the inside of the house. >> reporter: they didn't find an intruder, instead they found something far worse. >> while searching the house, they discovered a female down that was obviously deceased in the house. >> reporter: 39-year-old denise leuthold lying in a pool of blood had barely made it inside the house. her coat was still on. >> right on the other side of this door is where we found her laying down, just right in the front door here. they quickly determined she had been killed by a single gunshot to the head. >> she didn't even have time to take her coat off, her gloves,

anything. so when she entered that door that shot was immediate. >> reporter: and the weapon appeared to be a .40 caliber handgun. but no sign of the gun. did it seem like denise had possibly startled a burglar? >> yeah, it looked like she interrupted a burglary that she came home. the house had been ransacked like somebody'd broken in through the back door, started going through the house and then maybe startled the burglar when she came in through the front door. >> reporter: while investigators combed the crime scene, nathan anxiously watched the police activity from the house across the street. >> how did they tell you what they had found? >> the police were not the first people to tell me. unfortunately, i found out about it from my father. i was calling my dad and dad said, "well, i'm on my way. i just heard on the radio." the local news media just put on the

radio that at your house somebody was shot. >> reporter: nathan realized it had to have been denise. >> when you came to that realization, what's going through your mind? >> everything stopped. i'm looking at my 4-year-old daughter, who is the image of her mother. curly hair and bouncy step. and i just kept looking at my daughter. i wanted to hug her and i wanted to -- i wanted to just let out all the pain that was associated with knowing. but there she was, standing, staring at me, just smiling. my world had just been shattered. and i have to tell her at some point. >> reporter: denise's mom had no idea what happened.

but she rushed home when nathan told her there'd been a break-in. >> i drove out there and the roads were all road-blocked. >> is that a sick feeling when you see all the police and you know -- >> oh, yeah. >> what were you thinking? >> i tried to run up there to go into the house. they were like you can't go in, i said i just want to know, what happened to my daughter, is she in there? where is she? they eventually took me downtown. one of the policemen came in and told me she had been shot. worst day of my life. >> reporter: now she had to tell her husband, denise's father. >> i fell apart and cried. i guess it's every parent's worst nightmare to have a child taken from them. >> reporter: as denise's family reeled from their unimaginable loss, this quiet, central illinois community was just starting to grapple with the fallout of a murder on valentine's day.

>> did you feel like we have a mystery on our hands. we've got to solve this. >> yeah, we knew we had we knew we had something bad. and we knew that it was gonna take a lot of work to get to the point where we knew who done it. a possible clue? nathan remembers seeing a suspicious car near his house not long before the murder. >> this is kind of weird, pulling in the driveway i normally go through in by the front door and turn the outside lights on. >> was the killer in that car? when "dateline" continues. and active probiotics. make the most of this holiday season by supporting your gut health. ♪ ♪

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it was hard to believe. denise leuthold, mother of three young children had been found shot to death in her home in peoria, illinois. the leutholds' friend, norm ulrich, couldn't comprehend the news. >> who could do something like this to a great young woman? a family of three children and a great husband? >> reporter: nathan said when he lost denise, he lost his foundation. >> my wife. my best friend from third grade. the mother of the three most important children in the world to me. how do i function now without her? >> reporter: with the house now a crime scene, nathan went with detectives to the police station, where they asked him if he could think of any reason his family would be targeted. >> do you have any personal problems with anybody? >> no. >> does your wife? >> no.

>> is there anything of extreme value? >> in the house? >> in your room, in that room in particular? >> i -- i had -- two watches, a couple hundred dollar watches, nothing -- >> what about money? >> no. >> reporter: a laptop, digital camera and jewelry had been stolen. two guns had also been taken, including a .40 caliber glock, the same caliber used to kill denise. had the intruder used that weapon to shoot her? >> do you know why anybody would want to break in the house? >> i've been trying to ask myself the same question since i first pulled in the driveway. >> reporter: nathan gave detectives a clue, though, when he said he remembered seeing a suspicious car in the neighborhood late at night, a couple of weeks before the murder. >> and then it pulled into our driveway without the headlights on. >> without -- >> what kind of car was it? >> headlights? >> without headlights on. they were on in the road but when they turned in, they turned them off. and you know, this is kinda weird, pulled in the driveway.

i immediately go through the front door and flip the outside lights on. the car leaves. >> reporter: then a few days before the murder, he said it happened again. >> similar situation, but this time into the neighbor's driveway. >> reporter: that time, nathan called police, and spoke with an officer. >> he said they probably were people that were out his phrase was, "casing the neighborhood." >> reporter: people in peoria, illinois, were spooked. could a brazen burglar willing to kill be on the loose? >> it caused a lot of stress in the neighborhoods. i mean the local school down the street they locked it down that day. >> this is a very quiet neighborhood, this stuff doesn't happen in this neighborhood. >> if you come down here during the day, the kids are out riding their bikes in the side streets. people were in the park walking around. it's not like a high crime area where there's gunshots all the time, things like that. so you know, it was enough to scare everybody. >> reporter: it was a big story in town. >> be extra cautious, lock your doors, lock your windows. you know, pay attention to strangers in your area. >> what was the mood of the neighborhood?

>> it was very eerie. >> reporter: beau ebenezer is a reporter with nbc's affiliate, w.e.e.k. tv in peoria. >> a lot of the people in the community really wanted to know what happened. i mean, they're going to sleep every night not really sure who killed their neighbor. >> one neighbor says with two small kids at home, she is feeling panicked, and even a little paranoid. >> reporter: tips started coming in right away. diane parrish who lives just a few houses down from nathan and denise remembered seeing a strange man on her street right around the time of the murder. >> so describe the man you saw walking along this road. >> he had a black hoodie sweatshirt on with the hood pulled up. and his hands were in the pocket. and i will never forget the look on that man's face. >> what was so odd about the look on his face? >> he was very agitated. i knew immediately something was wrong with him. >> reporter: neighbors were anxious, and detectives were puzzled. denise's neighborhood was normally very quiet, not the

type of place you'd expect a burglary. even if she had accidentally stumbled upon an intruder, how had it turned so vicious so quickly? >> why would somebody wanna come into this particular house? >> it's not typical as far as a burglary that results in a murder. >> reporter: maybe, it wasn't a burglary at all. if it wasn't a burglary, what was it? was nathan's life also in danger? >> nathan's parents told me that nathan and the three children had been moved to a safe house just to protect them. could be signs that your digestive system isn't working at its best? taking metamucil every day can help. metamucil supports your daily digestive health using a special plant-based fiber called psyllium. psyllium works by forming a gel in your digestive system to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. metamucil's gelling action also helps to lower cholesterol

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tropical storm nester kpcht expected to make land fall saturday. heavy rains expected along the florida gulf koes coast. >> eight people dead in mexico after a failed military operation to arrest the son of el chap o. now back to clin. "dateline." it looked like a burglary gone bad. denise leuthold, mother and missionary, brutally shot and

killed in her parents' home where she and her family had been living. >> typical scenario? robberies happening in peoria? this one just happens to be a lot worse? >> it's not typical as far as a burglary that results in a murder. that doesn't happen very often. >> reporter: this was an odd one. detectives needed to know more about denise and began questioning her family, including nathan, her husband of 17 years. >> you talking to us and cooperating with us is the best information that we can get. >> we want to talk to the people closest to her first to try to figure out what makes her tick, what's her routine like. >> did you start to think that someone may have targeted denise? >> well, you know, we didn't know. i mean you know, nathan he's gonna be our best witness. you know, you're livin' with this lady and you've been married for a long time. you know her routine. >> did you think maybe someone had a reason to be in that house, outside of just a random burglary? >> we didn't know.

>> yeah. >> we didn't know. but we needed to lock down at that point, initially, we just needed to make sure we locked down what she planned on doing that day. >> reporter: and they started at the very beginning. >> she woke up about 6:45, which is normal. >> okay. >> i was already shaving and showering and all that. >> were the kids already up? what time do the kids wake up? >> she gets them up at 6:45. >> reporter: nathan told police he took the two older children to school and went on a series of errands that day including going to a day spa to buy a gift certificate for denise. >> was that for -- >> massage. >> massage. okay, you remember how much you spent? >> $74. >> reporter: police learned denise spent the morning at home with 4-year-old jenelle until she drove her to day care just after noon. nathan said denise had her own list of things to do that day. >> she told me she was going to the mall and she had some other errands to run. >> we're going to try to get video of her, maybe we'll see somebody following her. we don't know. you know what i mean? that's why we have to figure out where she was at and --

>> we've got to try to place the last time we can see her because then we can narrow the window down. >> yeah. and it's tedious. and we appreciate, you know, you cooperating, believe me. >> reporter: by mid-afternoon, when denise should have been done shopping and on her way to pick up julia, nathan said he tried reaching her but couldn't. at first, he wasn't concerned. >> so, i called, she didn't answer, no big deal. she's driving. so, i sent her a text message, she'll get it when she gets there. >> reporter: but he became worried once he got home and saw denise's car wasn't in the driveway and it looked like the house had been broken into. >> i don't know what to think. she's not answering my phone calls, she's not answering my mom's phone calls. she didn't go to the school, she didn't call. where she's at? if she's late, if she broke down, if she had a flat tire, she would have called from her cell phone, i'm going through all these options in my head. >> reporter: detectives then asked nathan the uncomfortable questions they ask anyone whose spouse has been murdered.

>> this is kind of a personal question. and take no offense cause we have to cover every base. at any time, has your wife ever done anything behind your back? have you had any issues? any boyfriends, anything like that? >> no. >> okay. what about you? >> no. >> did he describe a good marriage? >> yeah. >> i mean, he described denise as the backbone of the family. if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be able to do his work. that she does everything for the kids. >> she's the main one that holds it all together. she did everything that made the kids' lives spin. >> denise sounds like a saint. >> she probably was. >> everyone we talked to had nothing but good things to say about her. >> must've really perked your attention that this woman is considered to be this amazing mom and does this religious work and why would she have any enemies? >> yeah. i mean, nothing was coming to the forefront.

>> reporter: nathan said he was doing his best to hold it together so he could help them catch the killer. but he was anxious to be with his children. >> we appreciate the cooperation. and, you know, as much information that we can get from you, the better that it's gonna help us. >> help me get back to my kids tonight. >> and we hope you will be. >> i can't leave them all night long. >> reporter: nathan finally did leave the police station late that night, hours after his wife had been killed. he went to his sister's home, where his children were sound asleep. >> i was exhausted. i was emotionally spent. i spent the next several hours with my mother and my sister. and at some point i fell asleep with my sister just trying to comfort me. >> reporter: the next day, nathan said he was struggling with the fact that his wife was gone and now had to explain that to his kids.

>> i didn't know what they knew. i didn't want them to find out the way i found out. >> how did you tell the children that their mother had been killed? >> it was friday morning. they suspected something. after they had eaten and after i spent time begging the lord for wisdom and strength, to know what to say. we took them upstairs to the bedroom. and it was the oldest two at that point. many sister was there with me. we sat down on the bed. i said >> "mom went home to be with god." we know that she loves us.

and we know that we loved her. and at that point i reached out for them and we just hugged. and it was quiet. my tears soaked their faces and their tears soaked my face. and then we prayed. and we thanked god for the most wonderful mother and wife to ever have been on this earth. >> reporter: later nathan took the children and went to stay at a church mission house in a nearby town. >> nathan's parents told me that nathan and the three children had been moved to a safe house just to protect them because they didn't know if they were being targeted for anything. >> reporter: his friend, norm, often brought them home-cooked meals. >> nathan was very quiet, almost in a state of shock maybe. i had noticed him when him and i

were in the living room, alone together. and it was just complete silence. it felt a little awkward, but i could just see him just staring into space almost. >> reporter: in the meantime, denise's parents made the difficult choice to return to their home, the scene of the crime. and a few days later, they asked nathan and the kids to come over to be with family. >> how was he with you the first time you saw him after denise was killed? >> he seemed very emotional. he originally said that he didn't wanna come back in the house, that the kids were afraid to come in. >> reporter: it was a lot to take in. denise was dead. three young children were without a mother and nathan said he'd lost the love of his life. detectives worked around the clock to solve the crime, and as they did, they began to get the idea that not everything was as it seemed.

this is strange. denise had just gotten home when she was killed but why was her car some place else? >> this is the problem i've got. she's been shot in the house. okay? i need to figure out how that car got to robinson park. check your free credit scores at creditkarma. here's to progress. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package

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in the weeks after denise's death, nathan and his children stayed at a church mission house. when his friend, norm, visited, he said nathan seemed quiet, stoic. >> i've never seen nathan in an emotional state as far as crying or in panic or anything like that. i just took it as he was just really stressed out and, "what's happening to my family right now? why did this happen?" >> reporter: as denise's parents

were wondering the same thing, they also began to ask other questions. >> and we kept kind of going over the robbery, like, how it would have happened. and just -- it didn't really make sense. >> reporter: what was suspicious about what was taken? >> i worked at a store that sold high-def tvs and we had a lot of small ones that they could have just picked up, taken away, you know. electronics, blu-ray players, none of those things were touched. and i only had probably three rings that were of any value, but those three rings were taken. well, why would a burglar know that those were the only three that were valuable? >> reporter: some things seemed off to police, as well. >> the more we started looking at the house, it just didn't seem like a real burglary. there was a junk drawer that was perfectly laying on the floor. why would a burlgar even do through a junk drawer with pens, things like that. >> scissors. >> scissors, and then lay it? >> reporter: they also analyzed thing nathan had told them at

the police station the night of the murder, like the fact that he owned three guns. >> i got a shotgun. >> well, do you know what -- >> .12 gauge. >> okay, what else you got? >> i have a .22 silver with pearl handle, little. and then i have my primary one, which is a glock. >> what model? >> model? i know it's a .40. >> reporter: there were a lot of things about nathan's guns that didn't add up for police. starting with the fact that he happened to own the same type of gun used in denise's murder. how did he explain that? >> he couldn't. >> i think he was trying to allude to the fact that the burglar must have got into it and taken it. >> yeah. >> reporter: nathan also told police he kept that gun in a plastic case. >> and you kept it locked? >> yeah. >> how hard would it be for somebody to pry it open? >> would you need like a crow bar or something? >> no. >> reporter: but, there was no broken case at the house. that said a lot to the detectives. >> and then i asked him, where is the box? he said he didn't know.

he insinuated that the burglar took it. well, burglar's not gonna take a busted lockbox with him after he kills somebody. they're going to leave it. he last fired that gun in oklahoma. >> a couple weeks ago. >> nothing here lately. >> i shot the 40. >> reporter: there was something else troubling police. even though denise had been killed in her home, her car was found in a nearby park. the police figured whoever drove it there must have been involved in denise's murder. >> this is the problem i've got. she's been shot in the house. okay? i need to figure out how that car got to robinson park. okay? >> reporter: a key to that car was found tangled in denise's hair under her head. so clearly that key wasn't used to move the car. there had to be another one. >> i'm trying to figure out how many sets of keys are out there. i'm trying to find a set of keys. >> there's one set of keys. when i drive the car to get the

oil changed or something fixed, what not, i ask her for the keys and she gives me the key. >> reporter: none of that made sense to the detectives. there had to be another key visible in the house in order for an intruder to drive the car to a park. there was no other way. >> i say denise interrupts a burglar and he shoots her, that guy is getting the hell out of town. he's not finding a spare set of keys in the house. he's leaving. >> reporter: this led to questions about nathan's car and something he said caught the detective's attention. >> was your vehicle ever at robinson park today? >> my vehicle was at robinson park today, yes. >> for what -- when was this? >> early this morning -- not early, but it would have been before -- before i came back to the house. >> what was it down there for? >> i pulled over -- i pulled over to take a phone call.

>> reporter: so it turns out on the day of the murder, nathan was at the same park where denise's car was later found. and that's when one of the detectives got frustrated with nathan's whole story, and confronted him. >> it's not a coincidence that we're missing a .40 caliber glock handgun, and there's evidence that leads us to believe that your wife was probably shot with a .40 caliber handgun. okay? furthermore, to have her car down the street at the park, right, where you failed to tell us that you were there prior to going home earlier that day. >> it was a short phone call. i didn't think it was -- >> i know, but i mean -- but the thing is, we're talking about things that, once you start piecing things together, we're trying to figure things out. >> i understand. >> okay, so if you were at the park, the exact same park your wife's car was at, i need to figure out how your wife's car got there. >> okay, i -- i dont't have the answer. >> you don't have the key either. >> correct. >> reporter: it wasn't just that

nathan stopped to take a short phone call, it was who was on the other end of the line that piqued their interest. >> he said he received a phone call from a lithuanian exchange student. >> reporter: that's how she came on your radar? >> yes. >> reporter: she was 20-year-old aina dobilaite, the young exchange student who had been close to the family for years. she babysat for them in lithuania and they were sponsoring her as a student in the u.s. just what was that call about? >> and it just kind of kept snowballing from there till we figured we had to go up and track her down. a missionary's unusually close relationship with a young exchange student. >> did you ask him? were you having a sexual relationship with nathan. >> yeah she denied it. when "dateline" continues. n seconds, so it's ready to work before your first sip, and absorbs quickly to target and attack 8 cold and flu symptoms fast.

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police found denise leuthold, 39-year-old mother of three, shot to death in her home. at first it looked like a possible burglary gone bad, but after questioning her husband, nathan, and combing the crime scene, detectives started to see things differently. >> things just weren't adding up. i mean, we're not accountants, but we know when it doesn't add up. >> reporter: police now wanted to look more closely at the lithuanian student nathan had spoken to on the phone the day of the murder. he and denise had met her on their first missionary trip in 1998. >> there was a church that was there that was already established and that church

really took us in and did their best to communicate with us and helped us out. and there was a particular woman in the church we worked with and that was aina's mother. >> reporter: aina dobilaite was just a child at the time, and as she grew up, her relationship with the family grew as well. >> as a teenager it was very clear that she had given her life to the lord and wanted to serve him, she was always the one volunteering helping at church right alongside of her mother. and she was very gifted in music. and then as we started branching out in the ministry, aina was the one that took care of the music. >> reporter: when she was 16, she became a babysitter for nathan and denise's three children. >> aina was the one that was always helping us with the children at church and it was just natural for denise to want to hire her. and we just trusted her 100% with them. that's how she came to be a part of our family. >> and then you ended up bringing her over to america? >> we were her sponsors here in the u.s. yes. she came here for the education.

her desire from the very beginning was to go back to help her own country and the churches there, how to use music for the lord. >> reporter: that sponsorship started in the fall of 2010, when aina came to the u.s. to study at a christian college in florida, where nathan would occasionally visit her. what did denise think about that? >> i asked her more than one time, i said, "well, aren't you jealous that he's traveling around with this young girl?" and she was like, "no," she wasn't jealous at all. >> this is a girl that they'd wanted to help. >> exactly. and she trusted nathan. >> reporter: during school vacations, aina would stay in peoria with the whole family. >> she was really good with the kids, seemed like a sweet girl. >> in >> if she was a friend of our daughter's and son-in-law's, i mean, we accepted her into our home. >> reporter: then, in december 2011, aina left that florida school. she was so close with the leuthold family, she moved in with nathan, denise, and denise's parents while she

attended a community college in peoria. >> it wasn't the first time we had done that. so aina was one of many that we had worked with, so it was very natural. >> they had sponsored other, um, lithuanian students before to come here, so it didn't really seem strange to us that that's what they were doing. >> they were really making a difference in this young girl's life. >> yes, uh-huh. they were giving her a chance to come here and get her college education here. >> reporter: six months before denise's death, aina had transferred to a christian college in chicago, 160 miles from peoria. so police drove there to talk to her. >> when we first started the interview, it was just a lotta background information. and it was -- we were coming across as we're concerned for denise. you lived with them for "x" amount of years. you've known the family. she was fine. as we started ramping up the questioning, getting more direct about her relationship with nathan is, then, all of a sudden, perfectly speaking english girl starts saying, i

have -- i may -- i don't understand. or i'm not going to answer that. and then it turned into more of just a cold stare -- and no emotion whatsoever. >> you describe it almost like a staring contest. >> yeah. we threw out there crime scene pictures of denise laying dead autopsy pictures to get a reaction. and she had no emotion. and i called her out on it. i said, "these people took you into your home, brought you back from lithuania, you lived with them. that doesn't bother you?" and she just looked at me, stone cold, and said, "i cried enough over the weekend." >> reporter: but then detectives asked her about something they learned as they traced nathan's movements the day of the murder. remember, one of the places he said he visited was this day spa, where he bought a valentine's day gift certificate for denise. but when detectives stopped there, they discovered that nathan had been bringing another woman to the spa, and it was none other than aina. it had happened so often, the owner said, she thought they were a couple.

>> he's taking this woman in her early 20s, an exchange student, to the spa? >> yeah, to get massages and to get her waxed up. my stuff would be in the front yard if my wife found out that i was waxing up a 20-year-old. it just didn't make no sense. and i just kept on her, explain that. and then i even asked her, "what exactly is he waxing up?" and she just would glare, "i ain't answering that." >> reporter: they also asked her about the bill, which nathan paid. >> she framed it up as, hey, it's his money and it's denise's money, too. so if he's spending the money, she should be all right with it. >> did you outright ask her, "were you having a sexual relationship" -- >> yeah. >> --"with nathan?" >> yeah. >> and what was his response? >> she denied it. >> reporter: then, aina mentioned something that sparked their curiosity. she had studied music her whole life. and had gone to college in florida to play the piano. but, she told detectives, she'd left the school because of problems with her hands. >> i think it was officially titled, like academic withdrawal or something. >> reporter: so they subpoenaed aina's school records.

>> the records we got said her dismissal had some stuff to do with inappropriate relationships with her sponsor, including staying off campus overnight. >> hotels. >> with just them two. >> that sponsor, of course, was nathan. police learned more about their relationship when they pulled nathan and aina's phone records. what did you find on her phone? >> just that they communicated a lot more than nathan let on. it didn't look like a typical sponsor/sponsee relationship. there was multiple texts and calls every day. >> she's denying a sexual relationship. were the text messages suggesting otherwise? >> there was one that mentioned -- i think she was done at the gym. and he asked her if she was wet and i didn't find that appropriate for the relationship they were leading on. the biggest thing was just the sheer volume of contact that they had for you're saying you're just checking on her and making sure she's doing good in school, it was just -- >> it had the appearance of a

dating-type relationship. more questions, for and about nathan. >> my husband thought, he's a missionary, he wouldn't kill anybody. have a skincare routine. but what about a lip care routine? pay your lips some attention. the chapstick total hydration collection. exfoliate nourish naturally enhance your lips. chapstick. put your lips first. oh, come on. flo: don't worry. you're covered. (dramatic music) and you're saving money, because you bundled home and auto. sarah, get in the house. we're all here for you. all: all day, all night. (dramatic music) great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. that's how you put a customer at ease. hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn? no. no. me either. whispering voice: jamie. what? is skincare from around the wobetter than olay?

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>> reporter: had denise leuthold been killed by an intruder, part of a burglary gone wrong, or had

someone close to her been involved? denise's parents believed their daughter had been killed by a stranger until their minister came to visit one day. >> he asked us, well, do you have any suspicions that your son-in-law was involved? >> reporter: wow. >> we both answered no. but as soon as i said no, i'm like, well, wait a minute. you know -- then i, of course, started having suspicions. my husband was kind of shocked because he just thought, well, he's a missionary. he wouldn't kill anybody. >> reporter: but investigators weren't so sure. they began to take a hard look at nathan's whereabouts that day. they collected surveillance video from the places he said he'd been. while he was at those places, chase bank, starbucks, the day spa, a car wash, there was a problem. >> we were able to account for him up to about 11:30 in the morning. and then there was a gap between him leaving the starbucks around 11:30, then he shows back up at the same starbucks around 12:45 p.m. and in between there we could

not account for him anywhere. >> reporter: that gap was crucial because it was during that time frame that police believe the murder happened. they even traced the route they thought nathan might have taken that day from the starbucks to the park, a quick walk to his house, then back to the starbucks to see if he could have done it in time. >> 6 minutes 55 seconds. >> reporter: not only possible, they said but probable. more likely, they figured, than a stranger breaking into the house during the roughly 20 minutes denise was out. >> it's inconceivable to think that somebody breaks into the house the exact same time, runs through the house, finds a lock, pries it open, loads it up, hides behind the door, to execute her. that just can't happen. >> reporter: something else that didn't make sense, they said, was that denise's car was not in her driveway. after the murder they found her silver ford here in this nearby park.

nathan had told police he only knew of one key, the key that was found at the crime scene. but now police had a second key that they found in this trash can in the park. they believe nathan was lying to them and that he had used that key to move the car. another suspicious finding? a black hooded sweatshirt on the floor of nathan and denise's bedroom. investigators said it seemed to match the one a strange man was seen wearing in the neighborhood that day. >> it appeared to us that somebody was in a hurry, took it off, threw it down. >> reporter: but something else was even more troubling. police had ordered an extensive analysis of nathan's laptop and a couple of weeks after the murder they received a report. >> the expert said his browser said he was attempting to delete everything he looked up, but just because you delete it doesn't mean it's gone. >> reporter: what they found floored him. >> how to silence a .40 caliber handgun, glock specifically the gun he owned and she was shot

with. how to silence that. how to overdose somebody on insulin. drown, bathtub. >> electrocution. >> in the bathtub. this goes back, you know, several months before the murder. >> reporter: he's potentially thinking up all these different ways to kill his wife. >> i honestly think he planned it out. >> reporter: did you straight up ask him did you have anything to do with your wife's death? >> yeah. >> reporter: and? >> he denied it. >> he said no. >> reporter: not only did he deny killing his wife, nathan told us there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all those internet searches police uncovered. electrocution in the bathtub, how to silence a gun. >> we had a -- started a foundation overseas called hope for tomorrow to combat suicide. and we were doing research and looking at blog sites where

young people were desperate people were getting information about what they were thinking. >> reporter: still, it was obvious from nathan's interview video that detectives had questions about his story early on. >> i would love to think that you're a god-fearing man and you would never do that. but -- >> you have a preconceived idea. >> no, trust me, i do not have a preconceived idea, but when i'm painting a picture and trying to put the pieces together. as a homicide investigator i have to either rule you in or rule you out. >> you want to rule me in based upon -- >> no, no, no. i'd rather rule you out so i can move on. >> you will rule me out based upon what? >> rule you out? i want to rule you out because i hope you didn't do it. >> reporter: between learning about aina and all the evidence they collected, police had enough to arrest nathan. three weeks after denise had been killed, they pulled her

husband over. he'd just dropped his kids off at school. >> and they handcuff me. they put me in their car. at that point i didn't know where we were going. finally i asked them, i said, where are we going? what's going on? we're taking you to jail for the murder of your wife. >> he seemed scared. he seemed surprised. i think it was disbelief. that he was being arrested. >> reporter: it was a shock. nathan leuthold missionary and father of three, a native son of peoria, was now on his way to jail to await trial for the murder of his wife. his friend norm ulrich who had known the couple for decades, was stunned. >> there's no doubt in my mind that nathan was arrested because they needed somebody in jail.

there's no way that i could ever fathom nathan doing this to his wife. coming up -- hard to imagine anyone doing something this evil if it's true. >> this was his valentine's day present to aina and that is despicable. only activia is packed with billions of our live and active probiotics. make the most of this holiday season by supporting your gut health. ♪ ♪ (sne♪zing) grab a kleenex ultra soft tissue and grab every moment. made with superior softness, for your comfort. kleenex. the softest ultra tissue.

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(danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you. >> reporter: three weeks after denise leuthold was shot to death, her husband nathan was arrested for her murder. at first denise's mother couldn't quite grasp it. >> he was part of our family for 17 years. and you know, he was like a son to us. and to think he could actually,

you know, just shoot her in the head. >> reporter: and this is man who's devoted his life to being a good person. >> exactly. >> reporter: but by the time nathan went on trial, she had changed her mind. >> he'd been leading a double life. >> reporter: was this just the bad dream that wouldn't end? >> right. it just kept going on and on and on. >> reporter: and this just won't end until -- >> exactly. >> reporter: nathan is -- >> exactly. >> reporter: -- convicted? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: the trial was big news in town. after all, the defendant was a missionary accused of killing his wife in their home in an upscale neighborhood. things like that just don't happen in peoria. nathan pleaded not guilty. he insisted he would have never done anything to harm his beloved wife. >> ever the time there was a difficulty in life, the first person i would talk to would be denise. and there were several times within the first few days after

her death trying to figure out what to do with the children next. i wanted to just grab the phone and call her. she was my support. >> reporter: but denise was not there to support nathan because, the state argued, he killed her. >> you will have eyewitness identification, dna, gunshot residue, motive. and they all point to one person. and he's sitting right across from you. >> reporter: nathan's trial began on july 14, exactly 17 months after the murder. reporter beau ebenezer covered the trial for nbc's tv in peoria. were a lot of people anxious for this try to start? >> i think a lot of people were anxious, especially the family. the family wanted to find out what really happened. >> reporter: what happened, said prosecutors jodi hoos and jerry brady, was a cold-blooded execution. >> ladies and gentlemen, burglars commit burglaries. killers execute in the style

consistent with what the defendant did, hiding in that cubicle to kill her the moment she walked through the door. >> reporter: the state's theory -- nathan put his plan into action when denise left the house to take their daughter to day care. first he drove his car to the park down the street. >> parked his car in robinson park, you know, somewhere close to 12:15, to 12:20. walked up to the house. went into the house. the burglary probably was already staged. if not, he went ahead. and then he knew that denise would be coming back. stood in the doorway, and as soon as the door opened, denise tried to take her coat off and he shot her in the back of the head. >> reporter: nathan then drove denise's car to that same park, prosecutors said, and hopped back in his own car and drove to starbucks, arriving at 12:45. >> 12:45 to 12:50. five minutes only, but long enough to be on that camera. >> reporter: and long enough they said, for nathan to wash

his hands to get the gunshot residue off, then leave to start his afternoon errands before picking up jenelle from day care. >> about 3:00 the defendant returns home. wants you to believe that he sees the door open and glass. that's the extent of his knowledge, but with that he calls the police. he knew full well when he called the police what they were going to find. >> from our perspective, that's what makes this case so disturbing. the cold calculated manner in which he did this. >> reporter: one of the first officers to testify for the state described the scene at the house just after nathan called 911 that day. >> i observed some kitchen cabinets open and some kitchen drawers on the floor. in my experience as a police officer and investigator, when a burglary occurs, the kitchen is not a common place that a burglar would look for items. and a burglary also items are scattered about, drawers dumped

on the floor. i felt that this was not an ordinary burglary and i expressed that to my partner. >> reporter: while he found the crime scene odd for a burglary it was nathan's demeanor that struck him more. >> describe his demeanor. >> as i'm speaking to him, he never showed any sort of emotion or asked any questions of me as to what was going on. >> reporter: prosecutors said nathan also showed no emotion during his police interview, even when a detective told him denise was dead. >> you can't tell me things about her. and i'm not faulting you. you can't tell me things about her. so there's -- >> i can tell you she's dead. >> he told me that. >> okay. >> in the elevator. >> reporter: prosecutors played the interview for the jurors,

hoping they would see what they saw. >> when the police first gave us the case, i watched his videotaped statement. five minutes into it, i knew he did it. i knew he was guilty. his demeanor, his attitude. he tried to take over the conversation. not a single tear was shed. >> reporter: they presented evidence that the bullet casing found at the scene was from a glock .40, the kind of gun nathan owned. >> the only firearm that could generate those marks would be a glock. >> and are you able to say that within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty? >> yes. >> reporter: but police never did find the murder weapon. did you worry that you weren't able to find the gun? was that a factor? >> that was a concern. >> any time in a murder case when you don't have the handgun or the weapon, whatever it was, it's an uphill battle. because that's what the jury wants. they want the smoking gun. and we didn't have it. >> reporter: still, prosecutors thought they had more than enough evidence to prove their case. remember diane parrish, who said she saw a man in a black hooded sweatshirt walking towards denise's house on the day of the murder? she was the closest thing police had to an eyewitness. >> the whole thing struck me as

wrong. i thought -- i told my husband to slow down. i wanted to get a good look at him. and i was worried that he saw us pulling out of our driveway and if we knew we were gone, that he'd rob us. >> reporter: she didn't recognize the man that day, but later when she looked at a police photo lineup, she quickly pointed to this man. and it turned out to be nathan leuthold. did you think it was possible when you're looking at this photo lineup maybe you'd seen nathan in the neighborhood and subconsciously you were choosing that photo because you'd already seen him before? >> no. >> reporter: why were you so sure? >> because of the look on his face. i knew i didn't make a mistake. and i was very careful when i looked at the photos so i would not make a mistake. >> when she testified, you could hear a pin drop in that courtroom. i mean, everybody was glued to her testimony. i don't think there's a person in that courtroom that disbelieved what she was saying. >> reporter: prosecutors said it

must have been nathan the neighbor saw that day, because police found a black hooded sweatshirt on his bedroom floor. what's more, an expert testified it had gunshot residue on the right cuff. >> nathan said that he had been at the gun range. is that feasible, that if he was a -- >> no. >> reporter: shooting off his gun, that there would be residue? >> what's important about that, too, is he said that it was in oklahoma, two weeks prior. there's no way there would've been gunshot residue on that sweatshirt still. >> reporter: on the stand another neighbor, who did not want to be videotaped, testified she heard a gunshot that day between 12:30 and 12:40. in the time frame detectives thought denise was killed. prosecutors said that gave nathan the opportunity to kill denise. now, they had to explain why he did it. so they called this man to the stand, who said he could answer that precise question because nathan told him everything. >> would you state your name? >> david d. smith. >> reporter: david smith was a

fellow inmate of nathan's at the county jail. he said nathan told him he researched ways to kill denise on his laptop. >> did he talk about how he was planning to kill his wife denise? >> well, at first he told me that he was thinking about some poisoning with some type of insulin or potassium, something like that. >> reporter: according to the inmate, nathan said he ran a lot of errands on the day of the murder to create an alibi. and -- >> he told me he had presented some gifts, some valentine's day gifts to his wife. and so that everything would look fine. >> reporter: how important was david smith, the jailhouse snitch? >> david smith said that nathan was worried that a lady might have seen him while he was walking. well, obviously nobody knows that except nathan. and it's consistent with our evidence. >> reporter: what's more, the inmate also testified why nathan wanted denise out of his life.

>> well, he said that -- he said that she was overbearing and that he had got to the point where he had wanted to move on with his life and he had met someone else and stuff like that. >> did he tell you the name of that someone else? >> somebody, some student named ana or lana, something like that. >> reporter: but it was what the inmate told prosecutors about the timing of the murder that they found particularly chilling. smith testified that nathan told him he planned the murder specifically for valentine's day. >> it was supposed to be some type of present to this other chick. >> to the -- i think you referred to her as anna? >> yeah. >> reporter: and there it was, nathan's motive. prosecutors said he killed his wife so he could be with his true love, aina. >> this was his valentine's day present to aina. and that is despicable. >> reporter: aina, who

prosecutors said was nathan's motive for the murder, was about to take the stand. the star witness at the biggest trial in town. >> please state your name. >> aina dobilaite. coming up -- nathan's note to aina. >> there's nothing more important to me than you and this relationship. >> and a note to him from the woman he's accused of murdering. >> reporter: she was speaking from the grave in a way. >> absolutely. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy? let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. let's go to the cemetery! ok i'll admit. i didn't keep my place as clean as i would like 'cuz i'm way too busy. who's got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair?

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here is what is happening. tropical storm neithster is expected to make landfall in the panhandle today. and authorities near seattle say that they have prevented a massacre after seizing an arsenal of guns from a suspected leader of a neo-nazi group. and now back to dateli"dat." >> reporter: nathan leuthold was on trial for murdering his wife on valentine's day, 2013. a scenario impossible to have predicted for a man devoted to god, who appeared to have been happily married to his high school sweetheart for 17 years.

what would make him commit such a crime? the state argued he was in love with another woman. >> the motive? his real valentine. their 20-year-old lithuanian sponsor student. >> reporter: aina dobilaite, his motive for murder. >> i think aina was a big bombshell. >> reporter: aina testified in both english and in lithuanian through a translator. >> nathan leuthold visited you in hotels off campus on at least five occasions, correct? >> translator: i can't remember how many times. >> and during those visits, you went to a hotel with nathan, and just the two of you were present part of the time, correct? >> translator: i'm not sure if every time we were at the hotel we were together alone. >> did you spend the night with mr. leuthold? >> no. >> reporter: aina was called as a witness for the prosecution,

which granted her immunity to encourage her to talk. but her testimony made it clear she was not eager to help the state. >> when mr. leuthold visited you in chicago in 2012, did he buy you presents? >> translator: i'm not really sure what "presents" means. >> reporter: despite having studied in the states for four years, aina seemed incapable of understanding english at times, which frustrated the prosecutors. >> and in fact, you are proficient in both written and spoken english, isn't that correct? >> translator: yes. >> reporter: still, the prosecution thought she was an important witness. >> i think it was significant for the jury to see aina. we could get in the text messages, we could get in the e-mails. we could get in the phone calls and the jury's going to hear all that. >> reporter: the state showed the jury texts between nathan and aina from the day of the murder.

they started at 7:36 a.m. with mutual hellos. at 8:37am, nathan texted aina "i know there is a lot to do today. i pray that there is enough time to do everything. have good lectures and meeting. take care of yourself." then after nathan arrived home mid-afternoon, aina texted him and he replied, "i can't now, police checked, it looks like the house was robbed." aina responded, "interesting" followed by a smiley face. >> you would respond with, "oh my, what happened?" concern for the family. so i suspect that based on that response, that in all likelihood she had some knowledge as to what was maybe gonna take place. >> reporter: prosecutors accused nathan of coaching aina during jailhouse phone calls on how to cover up their relationship. those calls were in lithuanian. for the trial, english translations of what nathan said were read aloud. >> "i am your spiritual adviser or your clergy here in america because there is nobody else who speaks lithuanian.

this may be important in the future because just as all your communication with the attorney is private, communication with your clergy is also private". >> reporter: but prosecutors said, there was no covering up letters nathan had sent aina including this one read by an interpreter during a deposition. >> i love you because you understand me better than anybody else because i'm a better person with you next to me. my life has a deeper meaning and purpose because you are my world and that will never change. >> reporter: with words like that, prosecutors didn't believe aina's denials about an affair with nathan. they made her read aloud another effusive note that nathan sent her just a month before the murder. >> i let you down and i'm sorry. i will not make excuses. that would not be fair to you. you deserve someone who respects you and puts your relationship first. now i want to do all that i can to be that person. there's nothing more important to me than you and this relationship.

i'm so blessed to have you in my life. >> she tried to minimize the relationship. >> nathan and aina were making eye contact quite a bit throughout the trial. sometimes when she would answer a question or she said something he didn't like he laughed and threw his hands up in the air in disappointment. >> reporter: and prosecutors had another piece of evidence they say proved an affair, a secret that shook the courtroom. it challenged the very core of nathan's defense that denise was at the center of his life and he would never hurt her. it was a gut wrenching note written by denise discovered tucked in her day planner. >> in a murder case, you don't have the victim. you never get to hear the victim's story. that person is dead. and here we had a note that she had written that laid the whole thing out. >> reporter: the highly personal, very painful note was obviously aimed at nathan. the police investigator read the note in court.

>> "i have tried to please you for 17 years and never succeeded. i've never been good enough, never done enough. i know that you want me dead. i'm not stupid." >> reporter: denise seemed to confirm that her husband was having an affair. while she didn't name aina, she mentioned a much younger woman. >> "you want to humiliate me by running around with a 20-year-old? fine. i won't grovel. if i haven't pleased you in 17 years nothing i do now will please you. how long are you going to do this to me? oh, yeah, until i break. that's what you said, isn't it? well happy waiting." >> it was very devastating. i was shocked that it had gone that far. so she really was jealous even though she said that she wasn't. >> reporter: she was speaking from the grave in a way. >> absolutely. to the jury, to everybody, her story. i mean, that note was powerful. powerful. >> reporter: powerful but not proof said nathan's attorney.

in fact, he argued that there was no evidence that nathan had done anything wrong at all. >> your judgment that this all happened because he was having an affair and i would submit as i started off with you, there's not a scintilla of evidence that that was the case. coming up -- >> he was the only person with whom i could talk in lithuanian. so it was a friend. >> were you and nathan ever lovers? >> no. [baby crying] pampers is the first and only diaper with air dry channels they stay up to 3 times drier, so babies can sleep soundly...all night.

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>> reporter: nathan leuthold had spent a week listening to prosecutors paint him as a monster who had planned the execution of his wife. now it was time for the defense to fight back. >> to say that i killed my wife

goes beyond what i ever fathomed hearing from anyone. and to say that i had an affair is absurd. >> i think nathan was being tested by god about his faith. i just thought, you know, nate, you got to be strong, man. we'll get through this. >> reporter: nathan's lawyer was hugh toner, a former prosecutor turned defense attorney, who argued that the investigation was faulty. >> there were certain preconceived notions of who did it, for lack of a better term, that never went anywhere. and for that reason, i'm going to ask you to find nathan not guilty. >> reporter: toner insisted the cops zeroed in on nathan right from the start and never pursued any other leads. >> this was an incomplete investigation. that while the spouse, nathan in

this case, would have been the logical place to start, the problem with that is that if you follow that gut feeling, that's going to cause you very likely to miss other things. and in this case, simply not look for them at all. >> reporter: for instance, what about those cars nathan said he had seen in the neighborhood, which he thought were suspicious not too long before the murder? his attorney called a neighbor to the stand who'd also seen strange activity. >> i observed a vehicle parked with its headlights on for some extended period of time. five-ten minutes at least which i considered to be somewhat unusual. and i felt that with the direction of the headlights, that whoever was in the vehicle could probably see me in my residence, and it made me a little bit uncomfortable. >> reporter: and when he cross-examined diane parrish, who identified nathan as the man in the sweatshirt the day of the murder, she admitted her husband had a different recollection.

>> you and your husband had had a discussion about the race of the person who was walking alongside of the road? >> that's correct. >> and your husband, dr. parrish, thought that it was a black man? >> that's correct. >> reporter: another problem with the investigation, the defense pointed out, was that while the state made a big deal about the gunshot residue on nathan's sweatshirt, they never tested his hands for the substance. >> why not cut to the chase and take a test from nathan? >> reporter: toner said there's also an issue with the state's timeline. based on court testimony, the murder occurred at around 12:30 p.m. after that, prosecutors said nathan would have had to drive denise's car to the park, get in his own car and then drive to starbucks where he was seen on surveillance video at 12:45 p.m. >> and he would have had to have done all that without leaving any blood smears, getting any blood on him. >> reporter: it was all coming down to that crucial 15-minute window.

we decided to see for ourselves how long that drive would take. we retraced what investigators said were nathan's steps that day. i've just left denise and nathan's house, heading to robinson park, which is just a few blocks away. i am now arriving at robinson park. it took me one minute and 15 seconds. this is where police say the cars were switched. so now we're going to switch cars, take another drive in the second car. we're going to drive to starbucks. let's see how long that takes. red light's going to add on a little bit of time. we're now at 4 1/2 minutes. i'm going just about the speed limit, right on, which is 45 miles per hour. i'm pulling into the starbucks' parking lot.

we're looking at a travel time of 7 minutes and 55 seconds. in all, it added up to 9 minutes and 10 seconds of driving. that would have left him just under six minutes to ransack the house and shoot denise. his lawyer, hugh toner, said that would have been nearly impossible. >> the timing just really gets to the point where it's almost not realistic. >> reporter: and what about the state's witness who claimed that nathan had confessed the whole crime to him? the defense argued david smith was a jailhouse snitch, a convicted felon who had gotten a deal for his testimony. he was not even worth cross-examining. >> do you really believe that david smith is the type of person that nathan is going to confide in and then seek counsel from? >> reporter: but according to the defense, the main weakness with the state's case was motive -- an affair with aina.

toner argued there was absolutely no evidence to support the theory that nathan killed his wife so that he could be with the 20-year-old. no matter who asked her, aina insisted her relationship with nathan was platonic. >> what's the relationship between you and nathan? >> he's my sponsor. i worked for him. i did a lot of translating work and helping with organizing christian conferences in lithuania. and he was also kind of like my mentor. and here in america, he was the only person with whom i could talk in lithuanian. so it was a friend. >> reporter: the defense attorney said the state was making more of those spa visits than was really there. >> would mr leuthold be there

with you when you were having the waxing? >> he was there to drive me and to pay for it. >> but he wasn't there when the procedure was being done? >> no. >> were you and nathan ever lovers? >> no. >> that's been asked of you many times, correct? police asked you about that, correct? >> that's correct. >> and that answer has never changed, has it? >> that's correct. >> reporter: his bottom line was this -- the state never even came close to proving a sexual relationship, not even with the hundreds of hours of taped phone calls nathan made from jail over his 16 months there. >> 1700 hours of recorded telephone conversations involving nathan leuthold. do the math. at 40 hours a week, you're approaching darn close to almost an entire work year listening to

telephone conversations involving nathan. where in any one of those things do you have any indication at all that nathan and aina were lovers? >> reporter: in fact, for all the searches through nathan's and aina's cell phones, toner discovered something he says is especially telling. >> how many people, particularly young people, are going to have a relationship with a significant other and not have a picture of their significant other? did they find any photos? anything where it would indicate that nathan and aina were involved in that way? no. >> reporter: without a motive and without hard evidence that nathan pulled the trigger, toner said all the prosecutors had

were lies, misinterpretations and omissions. >> not guilty. that's what nathan is. and i would suggest to you, respectfully, that's what i'd ask the verdict that you return. >> reporter: though nathan leuthold did not take the stand, he would have plenty to say about the evidence and his innocence particularly that chilling note left behind by his wife. she essentially spoke from the grave saying that you wanted to kill her, that you were humiliating her with a 20-year-old. coming up -- nathan's answer and the jury's verdict. >> i was like 99% sure that they had to come back with a guilty verdict. but there's that 1%. ray! good job, brain! say hello to neuriva, a new brain supplement with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance. neuriva.

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>> reporter: nathan leuthold's murder trial was nearing its end, when he had to decide whether to testify. at the last minute he chose not to. >> you understand that that's not something that you'll be able to take back? >> reporter: why did you decide not to take the stand during the trial? >> i had chosen to testify prior to trial, but as the state continued to take things out of context and continued to throw as much mud as they could on the wall hoping that some of it would stick, they had moved beyond what i felt were the

facts of the case. i wasn't going to give them any more fuel or any more fodder to use or to misconstrue. >> reporter: but he wanted to set the record straight with us, insisting he's innocent. he also wanted to say that the police never hooked past him to catch the real intruder in what was a real burglary. the police believe it was staged. that it just looked too kind of perfect the way everything was placed and what was taken. >> but things were stolen. insurance claims verified they were stolen and paid the claim on those items. it was a burglary. did it look like a normal burglary? i'm not sure what a normal burglary looks like. >> reporter: what's more, a fingerprint had been found on a

>> reporter: but what really upset nathan was how the state depicted his relationship with aina, someone he had known since she was a little girl. someone he had mentored. you can see how it would look bad going to the spa, getting aina waxing treatments. the text messages that went back and forth. it seems like there was something going on. >> aina had no driver's license at the time. she had no way of getting around. i was a translator. take her for waxing treatments. it's not as if i'm in there watching or whatever else. so you check the records. the waxing treatment was the same day i'm getting a haircut at the same place. take things out of context, you can make them say whatever you want to make them say. >> reporter: like aina's text the day of the murder. why did aina say after the robbery, "interesting" smiley face? >> you're asking me what somebody else meant. i just assumed aina hit the wrong prompt. i didn't give much of a thought to the word interesting. i meant that to mean that is

interesting or that it is odd. >> reporter: one of the harshest accusations that has come out of all of this is that you killed your wife and it was a valentine's day gift for aina. >> the harshest statement has been that i killed my wife. it doesn't matter what day it was. i intentionally did it on valentine's day as a gift? i'm not sure what takes a sicker person, the person to actually do that or the person to suggest that. >> reporter: and what about those haunting words written by denise in that note found in her day planner. clearly aimed at nathan. how would he answer that? she essentially spoke from the grave saying that you wanted to kill her, that you were humiliating her with a

20-year-old. >> the part you're referring to says, "i know you want me dead. i'm not stupid." now, to say that, that implies that she felt in danger seems to go against the facts. she never shared that with her best friend, her superclose sister, her mother, her father. she never called police. she never called a counseling hot line. she never did any domestic battery, any restraining order, any anything, because there was nothing. >> reporter: did you want her dead? >> no. why would i want her dead? >> reporter: to be with aina, to groom aina as your new wife. that is the accusation. >> that is the accusation by those who from day one wanted to

portray something that fits modern society. fits the culture we live in. fits the cheater's lifestyle, the jerry springer show mind-set. it fits those things of making things look salacious. >> reporter: the jurors, of course, never heard any of that because nathan never took the stand. how nervous were you when the jury went to deliberate? >> from a purely selfish perspective, it's my life, my future, my freedom. it means that i could go back to being the father to the children. the children would be robbed of just one parent, not of both. one was stolen away by someone who was seeking gain. and a guilty verdict would steal from the children their other parent.

>> reporter: for denise's family, that was exactly what they were hoping for. for the man they'd known since he was a young boy, who lived with them and now, they believe, lied to them. >> when they went into deliberations i was like 99% sure that they had to come back with a guilty verdict. but there's that 1%. you're thinking, oh, no, what if someone -- you know. >> i really wasn't sure what the jury was going to come back with. there was a lot of evidence provided by the prosecution. i think they did a great job. but at the same time, it was a lot of circumstantial evidence. there was no evidence that actually pointed to somebody seeing nathan do the crime. so i think it was very hard to tell what the jury was going to do. >> reporter: it was a highly circumstantial case. no hard proof nathan killed denise. and no clear-cut evidence nathan and aina were lovers. but whatever it was jurors heard and saw in that courtroom, it was enough. in a mere 90 minutes, they

reached a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant nathan leuthold guilty of first degree murder. >> reporter: what went through your mind when you heard that one word "guilty"? >> it was very close to the same feeling i had when i heard that my wife had been shot. i just remember hearing that the loss just got that much greater. >> reporter: the judge sentenced him to 80 years in prison. shameful it was that nathan had killed denise in her own home. >> you picked this happy place for such an ugly finality. and it seems only appropriate that you will likely end your life in a very different type of place, too. the cold and gray isolated illinois penitentiary. >> reporter: for the state, it was a satisfying ending to a case they had to painstakingly stitch together. >> i think he tried to portray this image of this wonderful

person when in reality, you know, he was nothing more than a cold-blooded killer. >> reporter: as for denise's parents, they're still hurting from such a sudden loss. but at least they have her children close, as they are now raising them. how did you tell them their father killed their mother? >> they knew that he had been on trial for murdering their mother and that a jury had convicted him. and right away the older boy said, "well, everybody makes mistakes." and my husband said, "no, your dad made bad choices. everyone has choices in life. and he made some really bad choices." >> reporter: bad choices that left denise's parents coming to terms with the notion that everything they knew to be true, wasn't. >> i felt bad for my husband because he told someone that he always thought that we had the perfect family, the perfect life.

and you just really don't expect something like that to happen to you. but in reality, you know, bad things happen to good people all the time. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". my friend called me and she was hysterical. she said, sandra has been killed. >> i was like, oh, my god. as soon as she was killed we knew who did it. as the months went on we realized this guy is going to get off. how is this happening? just keep praying. that's all we can do. ♪ there aren't a lot of murders in paradise. people still talk about this one. >> just a darling girl with two darling children. >> it is a story keith morrison followed for nearly