has added safeguards in the 20 years since strauss left the unt of the strauss died by suicide in 2005. his horrifying legacy raising new questions about what should have been done to stop him. geoff bennett, nbc news, the capitol. and that is our broadcast for this friday night and for this week. thank you for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. i walked in like i normally would. i noticed kim lying at the base of the bed. face down. then i saw zip ties tied around her ankles and her feet. i still can't wrap my head around it.

>> she was always helping others. now she needed help. >> please accepted an ambulance fast. >> his beautiful wife dead in their bedroom. >> something very violent had occurred here. >> you could see the bullet holes in the wall. >> had he been keeping secrets. >> i said, what about a girlfriend? he said, there's a lot going on here. >> he was living two different lives. >> maybe someone else had a secret life. >> up comes the menu, i start shaking a finger at it. that's not mine. >> no shortage of suspects. >> have you ever had sex with her? >> be honest. >> what do you mean, at the scene? >> the detectives have to look at every single person. >> including me. >> a chilling crime. >> there's something deep down evil inside of you to do something like this. >> and a killer running out of time. >> he tells us some things that only the person that was there would know.

it was coming, hot air rising, cool air falling, swirling, spinning into a witch's brew of pure misery. >> she wasn't afraid of parking, was she? >> no, ma'am. >> was she an expert on what a hurricane could do? >> yes. >> as luck would have it, there was a monster storm brewing off the florida coast, not far from her home that last week of october 2012. in the end, it largely spared her state. but she locked inside that house, that gated community, was still doomed. >> the kitchen was just torn apart and then her bedroom torn apart and then upstairs. we didn't know, you know, really where the struggles were happening in this house.

>> it had come, another storm, different in nature, but not in fury. it had blown down her door and through her world without warning or a shred of mercy. fun loving, independent, lovely kim dorsey. >> yes, i am. >> no wonder derek dorsey fell for her and, boy, did he fall. >> well, the first time i laid eyes on kim i just thought she was beautiful. >> did you express how you felt even in that first moment? did it get there that night? >> no. i waited until the second date before i told her i love her. >> second date? that's quick. >> when i told her i loved her her response was, i like you a lot, too. >> kim wanted to take things slow, she said. for good reason. she was putting herself through school to become a civil engineer. seven years of dating passed

before he ever popped the question. >> well, that's the quicker. she got angry. she got up and walked away. >> why? >> without even saying yes. i was just like, oh, dear god, i made a gigantic mistake. i moved too fast. she gets over there and she goes to her purse and she brings out this box and it's a long box and she hands it to me. she said, i thought you would try this one of these days. i was like, oh, dear god, what is it? a big no. on the contrary, inside was a bracelet etched with the letters, y-e-y-e-s, yes. after their wedding they honeymooned in ireland. >> how do you like it here? >> there was kim ever fearless trying her hand at the ancient sport of falconry. >> beautiful.

perfect, that's it. that's the one. >> at this time this independent spirit found herself surprised not to be single. not that married world changed her much. he was a jacksonville firefighter and owner of a construction business. kim got her degree and trained builders in hurricane prone florida. >> was she good at it? >> absolutely. she headed up a department. she would have a class up to 100 rough and tumble men. she held her own. they respected her for that. >> they both were laser focused on their careers. >> you decided not to have any children? >> at the time we were both very busy. we just -- we felt if we were going to do it we wanted to have time to carve out to dedicate to it. so we never did. >> but you did have fur babies? >> three of them. three min ter sh nauz zers.

i took them to the dog park religiously every weekend. that was her escape during the day when she got bogged down. she'd harness "the herd" and take them for a walk. >> kim's workload seemed to grow heavier by the day. it started to get to her. >> it became increasingly difficult for her to be able to turn work off. it just seemed like everything revolved around work. >> she went to see a doctor for depression. >> and she decided to take some medication to help her get a little bit brighter outlook on things? >> absolutely. it was like turning a light switch on. i told the doctor who was a good personal friend of mine, thank you for giving my wife back. >> his relief didn't last long. >> did it cause her to gain weight? >> it does. that's one of the large warning signs. weight gain, restless sleep, things like that.

>> kim feared stopping the medication too suddenly could make her more depressed. he said she was making plans that last week of october 2012 to see her doctor. in the meantime, it so happened that a storm, a brutal one called hurricane sandy, had been heading north off the atlantic coast. >> how well did she know the anatomy of a hurricane, what it was capable of? >> very well. being a civil engineer she knows what structure can do and what they can't do. with her teaching and so forth and training the inspectors, she knew what had to be done to a house in order to protect the inhabitants. >> she makes everyone safe? >> absolutely. >> eventually this superstorm traveled east before barrelling north and into the history books. kim didn't seem to have either the weather or personal troubles on her mind as the weekend rolled around. there she was, friday the 26th, captured on supermarket security

video casually shopping. that night derek said the two watched a movie on their entertainment system that had just been repaired. >> kim used to call it nasa. i would always have to change the input for her, change the channel or get it to the place that she wanted to watch. >> so many people can relate to that. >> too many remotes. >> if you had just had a sound person come in and help you out? >> i was vying to have him simplify it. take those five remotes on the table and turn it into one. >> the next day, saturday, the 27th, derek left his wife sleeping and headed to the fire station to start a 24 hour shift. it coincided with florida versus georgia. >> it's a large influx of people coming into the city. with the football game comes drinking, follow lischness. >> what type of calls do you get? >> car accidents, more people on the road. a lot of them are alcohol involved. >> as busy as he was, he called

kim later that day, several times, in fact. >> could you get ahold of her? >> no, i couldn't. >> was that strange or not? >> not unusual. a lot of times, usually in the morning, if she didn't want to be bothered she'd put her phone in the kitchen. >> on sunday his shift over he headed home. it was after 8 in the morning. as he walked into the bedroom darkened by blackout shades he expected to crawl into bed with kim but she wasn't there. she was on the floor. >> i noticed kim at the base of the bed face down. >> what did you think when you saw her laying there? >> i didn't know what to think. i originally went up to her. >> thought she had fallen and hit her head. maybe she had a few too many beers that night. but the closer i looked at her i saw sheec was bleeding. he did cpr and called 911.

kim. please accepted an ambulance fast. >> soon, the emergency call would go out to derek's fellow firefighters, men in trucks, sirens blaring would be racing to the doorsy's safe, gated community and into his home that looked like it had just been hit by a hurricane. coming up, what had happened to kim? had derek arrived home in time to save his wife? >> are you with her right now? >> yes, i am. >> is she awake? >> no, she's not. >> i rolled her over and i saw she wasn't breathing. >> did you think there was a chance that she might still be alive. >> at that point i didn't know. i had to give her every opportunity i could. >> when "dateline" continues. works on that too. and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long?! only mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with 2 medicines in 1 pill.

when derek dorsey called the

911 officer he said he couldn't grasp what he was seeing. his 38-year-old wife kim lying naked and bloodied on the floor. >> i rolled her over and i saw she wasn't breathing. i tried to give her cpr. >> did you think there was a chance that she might still be alive? >> at that point i didn't know. i had to give her every opportunity i could. >> are you with her right now? >> i, i am. >> is she awake. >> no, she's not. >> on the 911 call you -- it's almost like you're wearing two hats. you're the distraught husband and then you're the firefighter. did you feel yourself going back and forth? >> well, i wanted her to know that i was an off duty fireman, i wanted them to understand it wasn't a layperson that didn't know what they were talking about. i knew there was something

wrong. >> even as he begged for help he said he kept trying to revive kim. >> and they wanted all this other information. all i could focus on was giving her cpr. and then after a couple minutes of giving her cpr i realized that she was already stiff and that she was gone and i -- i told communications -- i told them she was signal 7. >> what does that mean? >> i basically pronounced her dead. >> so you think she's beyond any resuscitati resuscitation? >> yes.

>> rescue is on the way, okay? >> you're the first responder. you see this happen to other people. >> i didn't want anybody rushing to the scene to get hurt. >> you're a firefighter. you're used to saving people. >> yeah. >> and it's your own wife and you can't save her. >> yeah. >> how hard was that? >> after 15 years of going to gunshots, cardiac arrests and everything else, and helping everybody else on god's green earth, i can't help my wife. it's like all that training has just been put to waste. >> his once vibrant, beautiful wife lay dead on their bedroom floor and he believed he knew why. >> we are sending rescue. you have to tell me exactly what she did. what happened? >> i don't know.

she either cut herself or something. i can't see. i'm trying to figure it the [ bleep ] out. >> i thought she tried to hurt herself. >> derek dorsey was saying his wife committed suicide. he immediately thought about her struggle with medication. and the warning. >> don't take yourself off of it. seek a doctor's advice coming off of it. >> now as he stood over his wife's body, he felt kim had taken her own life. >> i thought, dammit, she took herself off of her own medication. she had typical kim wanted to do it herself. >> she quit cold turkey which she was told not to. >> yes. >> within minutes of calling 911 derek's colleagues came to his aid. >> your fellow firefighters and paramedics. >> yeah. >> what do you say to them when they arrive?

>> she's dead. >> you had a reaction to seeing them. your wife is laying there. what did you do when they got there? >> i covered her with a comforter. >> was that more the husband instinct? >> yeah. husband and fireman. it's decorum. my wife's naked there on the ground and i got half a dozen people in the house. you just cover her up. >> at some point a call went out to the jacksonville sheriff's office. >> when something like this happens they'll call me first. >> assistant chief at the time, t.k. waters, was the on duty officer that weekend. >> i'll make the decision whether we're going to go out to that call, go to that call or not and that happened to be one i knew we had to go to. >> the officer was telling them about the woman's apparent suicide.

>> naturally because it's a suicide we have to go and it looks as if someone committed suicide. >> the homicide detective figured the call would be a relatively quick one. he figured wrong. coming up -- >> there was chaos. you could tell something horrible happened here. >> people who commit suicide don't usually miss. >> you could see the bullet holes in the wall. >> somebody couldn't do this to themselves. this was obviously a murder scene. probably one of the most horrific ones i've seen. >> when "dateline" continues. es ♪someone to love ♪someone to love ♪i got a little message for you...♪ ♪when you have that somebody, hold on to them,♪ ♪give them all your love.... wherever they are♪ ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you ♪

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east jacksonville toward the beach. not very far from the beach at all. beautiful homes. very nice neighborhood and not very easily -- easy to access. you have to have a way in. >> soon he was joined by his partner at the time, detective larry kozkowski who was also taken with the affluent community and the dorsey's house. >> you raced to the scene and came up to the house. did you see anything before you came into the house? >> yes, as i was walking up to the sidewalk, the front door here, i saw a statue of a dog that was laid over in the bushes here. >> anything that was odd about it? >> just the fact it looked out of place, that it was tipped over. i just took note of that and moved on from there. >> this is something though that would become very important later in this case? >> yes, absolutely. >> you just didn't realize it. >> yes, that's correct. >> he made a mental note and met

waters in the bedroom. >> it was chaos. you could tell something horrible happened here. you walk in initially and you see our victim lying at the foot of the bed. even as dark as it was in the room, the lighting wasn't very good, it was just a scene that -- that read something horrible had happened here. >> not far from where kim lay they found a knife. he saw patches of blood soaked into the carpet and specs of blood on one wall and something that stood out to him. >> there were some gunshots, bullet holes in the wall. >> officers found the bullets and the gun that fired them. there was something else they noticed. >> there was a broken pool cue in the bedroom and it was what i called the fat end of the pool cube. >> as they looked closer they could see kim was covered in bruises. it was clear she had not killed herself. >> the room was -- there was

blood all over the place. the condition of her body. no way can somebody have done this to themselves. this was obviously a murder scene. probably one of the most horrific ones that i have seen. >> just because of the amount of blood and -- >> the sheer violence that was evident in this room. >> they continued looking around the rest of the house. they noticed the kitchen sink filled bizarrely they thought with tv remote controls and a cell phone. the drawers open, a floor used as an ashtray and the toppled statue at the top of the door especially when they learned more about the gated community. >> unfortunately at the time that kim dorsey was murdered, the community was leaving the gate open. >> she was called to the murder scene. >> it wasn't as secure as someone showing a card, yeah,

come on in. it was one of those things where at that point it could have been anybody. they could have walked through, they could have driven through. >> but the closer they looked at the house the more they felt this attack had not been a random break-in. >> there was no sign of forced entry. somebody had left themselves in the house or kim had answered the door. >> and if someone had come to rob the dorsey's before killing kim, they had done a horrible job of it. kim's yellow hummer sat in the doorway, the tv was on the wall. >> there were expensive items still in plain sight? >> yes. a big house, a lot of nice things. computer's on the table. >> rolex watches. >> yes, watch case next to the bed. nothing of value seemed to be missing that we could see. >> but it was kim's body that spoke the loudest to them. it was clear she had been beaten savagely, bounded at some point with zip ties and likely raped.

>> this was such a violent attack on kim dorsey. did that tell you anything, just the level of violence? >> yes. it told us that there was possibly some sort of connection between the person that committed the act and kim. >> that they perhaps knew each other? >> that's correct. >> this was some kind of -- >> rage. >> rage, crime of passion? >> right. yes. >> the bloody scene made them skeptical about the story kim's husband had told the 911 operator. >> you ask yourself, how could he believe she committed suicide? how could he actually believe that when you look at that crime scene? >> that was only one of so many questions they had for derek dorsey, a man it seemed with plenty of stories to tell. coming up, he was living two different lives. >> a husband with a secret. >> i said, what about a girlfriend? you got a girlfriend. and he readily said, there's a lot going on here.

>> we literally had to figure out what was his, you know, true passion. did he want to live there with him or did he want the more seedy, dark side of his life? >> when "dateline" continues. she wanted to move someplace warm.

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hello, i'm dara brown. here's what's happening. democrats have called in nearly a dozen witnesses to testify in the impeachment inquiry. rather, former mayor of new york city michael bloomberg is considering a bid for the democratic national nominations concerned about the current pool of contenders. meanwhile, american airline said they are extending flights of the boeing max 737 through march following a similar announcement from. that's what's happening. now back to "dateline." derek dorsey sat in the back

of a squad car staring at the crime scene tape surrounding his home. it was like rubber necking at someone else's tragedy waiting for the nightmare to slip by. >> i still can't wrap my head around it. >> he said he tried to piece together what happened. later he went with officers to the station for questioning. >> it's difficult. a lot going on. >> detective larry koskowski still in his firefighter outfit. he said he seemed willing to answer starting with how he left kim that morning. >> you left the house yesterday morning probably -- >> about 7:10. >> shift started at 8 a.m. saturday. did you go back home for any reason? nothing like that? >> his alibi is he's at work. he worked for the fire department. they work 24 hour shifts. they worked from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 the next morning. >> a story ease enough to check out.

next, they asked how they found kim. >> i went in, straight in the bedroom, there she is. she's on the floor. >> did you touch her or anything? >> i did. i touched her. she was on the back side. >> he was upset. did he break down? not as much as i think some people would, you know, telling the story about what they just came home to. >> first thing popping into my head, she's taken her life. >> he said he believed kim had committed suicide. he had already told county dispatch he thought kim had cut herself now he was telling the detectives something different. >> she had a gun of her own? >> yes. >> what kind of gun? >> revolver. >> where is it normally kept? >> in her drawer that was open. >> did you open that drawer? >> i don't believe so. >> did you look in the drawer? >> absolutely.

i thought she shot herself. >> he explained kim had been battling depression and battling side effects from the medicine. he said their marriage had suffered. >> when is the last time you and kim had sex. >> a while back. >> a while back? >> when you say a while back -- >> weeks. >> derek dorsey had something else to reveal. >> were either one of you stepping out, girlfriend on your behalf or boyfriend on hers. >> girlfriend. >> what about a girlfriend? you got a girlfriend? he readily said, there's a lot going on here. >> derek had just admitted that he had been unfaithful to kim. >> obviously big, big red flag. >> assistant state attorney london kype was listening in from the other room and heard a possible motive for murder. >> he was living two different lives. we had to figure out what was his true passion, did he want to live there with kim or did he want the more seedy or dark side of his life?

>> there was another fact she couldn't overlook, that derek, a seasoned firefighter, had done the unthinkable at a crime scene. >> was she covered? no, she was butt naked. i put the -- >> i gotcha. >> i covered her. >> so you pulled that on top of her? >> yes. >> that's important it us. >> the thing that he did that was kind of uncharacteristic of someone who is a first responder that goes to scenes like this is that he covered her body with the bedding. you know, you wouldn't want that to happen in a crime scene. >> to the investigators, it was possible derek dorsey had tried literally to cover up evidence. everything they were hearing led them to wonder. had he killed his wife? by then the line of questioning seemed to weigh on derek. >> i'm not stupid you're asking certain questions -- >> right. >> that means you're thinking

certain things. >> looks like that. >> did you worry that they might think it was you? >> i don't doubt they did think it was me, but i knew if they originally thought it would come to light that there's just obviously no way i could have done it. >> even as he sat in that interview room detectives inside of it were in fact checking out his fire station alley by. >> did derek dorsey's alley by check out? did he spend the day at work? >> yes, there were. there were some phone calls he made to kim that went unanswered. that wasn't unusual. >> surveillance footage corroborated his account. it showed he left early in the morning saturday. even though it checked out, investigators thought he could have had something to do with kim's murder. that's why we wanted to see who

he was contacting, officers canvassed nearby homeowners. a neighbor had seen something. >> he remembered a car, small suv pulling up in front of the dorsey's house. it wasn't anything unusual to him. >> here's what they had so far, a mysterious car, a husband who might or might not be involved, a victim who likely knew their killer and a house that was ready to tell investigators a whole lot more. coming up -- >> we found that her nose had been damaged so to me that meant that it was a sucker punch. >> a rare look at a crime scene inch by inch, minute by minute, through the eyes of an expert. >> she's zip tied to the dresser. opened the door. got the gun out. so you believe her attacker -- >> either she saw him and blt fired him and the gun was empty

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as detectives interviewed derek dorsey downtown -- >> did you text her yesterday. >> their colleagues were searching for clues across town. a man's castle was now a crime scene and a confusing one at that. london kite. >> this was a real puzzle. >> it was.

the kitchen was torn apart. the drawers were pulled out and the electronics were in the sink and then her bedroom torn apart. we didn't know really where the struggles were happening in this house. >> soon they would. they believe kim died sometime saturday morning, not long after derek left for work. her cell phone damaged from being thrown in the kitchen sink had stopped receiving signals around then. >> you knew she was alive to a certain point at least? >> yeah. >> her autopsy filled in more details. she died of a single blunt wound to the head and it was officers like detective kim smith who helped them learn how the crime unfolded. >> what's the first thing you saw when you came into the room? >> the first thing i saw was an impact pattern right here on the wall. >> this is blood spatter? >> correct. >> smith, a bloodstain pattern analyst and crime scene experts

followed the trail of kim's blood in the bedroom spec by spec using string and 3d diagrams. she believes kim had just gotten out of bed when the attacker barged in. >> when the autopsy was completed we found that her nose had been tajjed. >> where would she have been standing and you believe something would have hit her in the face, in the nose? >> since it bleeds quickly, your eyes water, you can't see. it's very painful and normally when somebody's punched in the nose that hard they're going to go down. >> this first blow, she said, would have brought kim down by the side of her bed. >> she's actually down here on the floor and there was the large saturation stain here on the carpet. she was down here for quite some time. >> blood found on the nearby wall and marks on kim's body suggested she was struck

repeatedly and so forcibly that she probably blacked out. smith believes kim was then zip tied at the wrists. >> she's zip tied to the addresser. >> giving them time to go to the kitchen, drawers randomly opened indicated someone had been rifling through the room and that gave her time to free herself and do something incredible. >> she opens this drawer somehow, she got the gun out. she aimed. she can't see well she's been punched in the face. she fired five times and it went into the doorjamb and into the kitchen. >> either she saw him or heard him and she fired off five shots and the gun was empty. she missed. she missed. >> even then, she said, kim did not give up. >> so she's able to move and she leaves this area. she still has the gun in her

hand and as she moves around the bed, the gun is tossed and it's found right underneath the bed here. >> blood lit by luminol traced kim's desperate path to a window on the other side of the bedroom. >> we know that she is opening these curtains. there are transfer stains and saturation stains on the curtain. the pull cord for the blinds has blood on it and there's blood on the window. now we know she's clam juroring to get out of the window. >> this could have been her escape? >> he came back. >> the man grabbed kim as she tried to escape. >> it was a very, very large saturation stain here on the floor and the knife was found next to it so this is basically where she was killed. this is where ultimately she lost her fight. >> the scenario told investigators about kim's brave but doomed struggle, but it also

told them about her killer. zip ties on kim's wrists and the pool cue on the floor appear to have come from the home. the knife matched a set from the kitchen. >> so he would know the house and upstairs and downstairs. >> yes, and also know the habits of kim dorsey, that she's a late sleeper. she sleeps pretty hard was my understanding, too. >> obviously one man, derek, knew all of that, but evidently there were others who did as well. >> i'm the guy that used to do everything. work with me. >> derek told them about a friend who had worked construction jobs with them and even lived with them for a time. his name was lance kirkpatrick but he set them straight? >> i -- >> i made the comment. you guys are wasting your time.

you'll understand. you'll know where i'm coming from after you meet him. >> lance he added not only wouldn't kill kim, he couldn't. derek said his friend had taken a job up in georgia. >> out on a boat? >> yes. >> miles away? >> yes. >> but they gave detectives another man. >> he had been in jacksonville, and in trouble. coming up. >> came over to you? >> no. >> come on now. >> seen her before a little bit. no, i wish. >> a suspect who seemed infatuated with kim. >> have you ever had sex with her? be honest with me. >> and a history with police. >> did it be make you? >> does he need something? >> when "dateline" continues. made with superior softness, for your comfort.

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investigators were untangling the mystery surrounding kim dorsey's murder. they knew her killer was familiar with the home. her husband had fit the bill but he had an alibi, even willing to share his infidelity. >> typically husbands that are suspects, they try to hide all of those things. they say, oh, no, our relationship was perfect. derek on the other hand started exposing kind of the darkness that was inside of that beautiful house. >> was kim aware that this was going on? >> i don't believe so. if she was, she never let me know. >> did you worry how that might look to the detectives? >> i didn't even care. they asked me if i had any relationships on the side and i fessed up to it. that was the least of my worries knowing that i had done that. they wondered if i had killed her. >> still, investigators couldn't overlook the possibility that

derek had hired someone to kill kim. >> did you worry that they might think that you could have enlisted some help? >> no. >> hired someone? >> i knew that i could account for my whereabouts. i didn't know how they could think i was accomplice to something like that. >> he said he was an open book to investigators. in fact, when they asked if anyone else knew the layout of their home besides his pal lance, he gave them another name. >> josh beal. >> didn't have a whole bunch of construction experience and everything but i always needed someone to help clean up and straighten up the job sites and such. >> so he gave joshua work in the general contracting business he ran on the side, and later a place to stay. >> we saw a young man that needed some direction and we tried to help out. for a few months joshua lived

with the dorseys. >> josh found out that recreational pharmaceuticals were more fun than working in the hot sun. >> that must have been disappointing. >> it was but people had to make their own mistakes. >> he told joshua to leave but said they remained friends. >> hey, mr. d., i need to do some work. he did a good job when he worked. >> yet joshua couldn't let go of his vice. he was picked up for drug possession and released one day before kim was murdered. that got kim killed. >> yes, does he need money, does he need something. >> joshua had been kicked out of the dorsey house. >> not the best houseguest? >> not the best houseguest. >> there was more and it was explosive. derek said on that sunday

morning just before finding kim's body he stopped at a gas station to pick up joshua for a job only joshua never showed. >> at that point we set out trying to put our hands on joshua. >> he's just out there. no one seems to know where he is? >> that's correct. >> is that a sign there might be something up there, this guy didn't show and no one can find him? >> yes, absolutely. >> right around the time that kim dorsey was murdered. >> the moment he can't be found she can't be found. >> later that same day derek told investigators that joshua had just called. the two men arranged to meet at a local restaurant. detective larry koskowski decided to surprise the young man. >> we were sitting there waiting on him. i said we needed to have a talk. >> this is that moment very differently. >> were you scared? >> yes, ma'am. six, seven undercover cars come and pull up and ask about you,

it's going to get nervous. >> the talk took place downtown at the sheriff's office. the officer didn't mention kim's murder at first. >> you get out 10, 11:00 from jail. >> did it feel like it wasn't a friendly conversation? >> yes, ma'am. >> like you were being treated kind of as a suspect type? >> i was already under the impression i was not at the house. >> did you spend the night? >> no. >> he said he spent the weekend hanging out with friends. >> did you go winging on saturday. >> no. >> you were there saturday. >> probably so. >> were you supposed to go to work for anyone else? they asked why he hadn't shown up to meet derek for work? surveillance showed derek at the station but not joshua. where was he? >> slept in. >> did he call you, chew you

out. >> he was cussing me, like you little [ bleep ]. i went to kangaroo at 8. >> finally they asked about kim doors si. they wanted him to explain his relationship to the 38-year-old woman. >> how did she look? >> 1 to 10. are you asking me if i would hit it? >> eight. >> kim ever come on to you? >> no. >> ah, come on now. little bit? >> no. i wish. >> had you ever had sex with her? be honest with me. >> no, i wish. >> what he revealed about kim is that he almost had an infatuation with her. not that she was, you know, just my bosses wife but someone that he almost had a romantic pull towards. >> how were investigators feeling now about joshua? is he starting to go to the top of the list? >> yeah, he's definitely going up. >> now the detective was ready to drop a bombshell. >> eventually i brought up kim and why we were talking. >> i have a he got some bad

news. something happened to kim. >> i just talked to derek like 45 minutes ago. he didn't say nothing happened to kim. >> i asked him. what happened to kim? >> he was unaware that she was dead. >> how did he take it? >> he took it like you had told him his mother died. >> she's dead. >> oh, don't tell me that. oh, not miss kim. >> did his emotional reaction to her death, was that enough for you, for your gut to say, not sure he's our killer. >> it was more me at that point. i mean, don't eliminate him completely but set him off to the side for now. we knew where he was. he wasn't going anywhere. >> i'm frying to find out. need to know if you know

anything. was somebody trying to hurt her. >> bro, i promise her. you wouldn't catch me here. i promise you. >> i'm sure she was. >> [ bleep ]. damn [ bleep ] damn. >> there's just about anybody out there who could be our suspect. >> days passed without an arrest. jacksonville sheriff's office asked the public for help. >> like i said, because of the lack of witnesses, the physical evidence, nothing has led us all that farther today in identifying or leading us to a suspect than we had that sunday morning. >> but there was another piece of evidence. it had been right inside the house all along hiding in the dark just waiting for someone to come along and push the right

button. coming up -- >> there was one of those where the head of the hair on the back of your neck would stand up. >> an x rated clue. >> there's no way that's mine and no way kim would be looking at that. i look at the dvd player and i go, that's your murderer. that's who was going to be in my house. >> when "dateline" continues. electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. ♪needs somebody ♪everybody needs somebody to love♪ ♪someone to love ♪someone to love ♪i got a little message for you...♪ ♪when you have that somebody, hold on to them,♪ ♪give them all your love.... wherever they are♪ ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you

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. days after finding kim's body, they crossed one name off their list. they looked into josh's alibi and it checked out. >> he was on the north side of jacksonville. >> nowhere near the dorsey home as far as they could tell. kim's husband, derrick, likewise had, a solid alibi. but detectives still weren't sure what to make of him. they knew he was an unfaithful husband which gave him a possible motive.

>> at this point, were you able to rule out derrick dorsey? >> absolutely not. i mean, you know, he could have definitely had something setting this up. >> then again, if he had hired someone to kill kim, why was he acting so darn helpful? >> derrick's calling me daily. obviously, there are times i had to call him, you know, to get some information about things at the house. and so, yeah, he's cooperating. he's doing everything, you know, i'm asking of him. >> finally, officers and technicians were done processing the crime scene and derrick could return to the house. >> so the night we go to turn the house back over, i think halloween, the 31st -- >> they hoped the walls might talk to derrick, might reveal something that officer's missed. >> part of the turnover is bring him out to the house to have him look around, walk us through the whole house. the show us anything that maybe was out of place that we missed as investigators and the evidence technicians to say that's not right.

as it turned out, the house wasn't just speaking to derrick, it was practically shouting. >> the blood on the floor, the plates were still shattered on the ground. at that point they want md he to help try to piece together things. i'm noticing everything, everything. you know, this is wrong. in is here. i don't understand why the remotes are in the sink. >> detectives showed us what happened when they ushered derrick into the tv room. >> so we were standing here. we asked derrick can you turn on the tv. so derrick, you know, he comes in here. >> why? why did you ask him to turn on the tv? >> the tv wasn't on when we got here. and we had found all the remotes in the sink. so just wanted to see how it worked. >> the moment i turned it on and changed the input to the dvd player, up comes the menu for

porn video. the that point i start shaking my finger at it. going, that's not mine. there is no way that's mine. and there is no way kim would be looking at that. and i look at the dvd player and i'm going, that's your murderer. that's going to be who is in my house. >> that's a creepy clue. >> and as soon as i knew that, i didn't think they were going to be able to get him and find who did this to my wife. >> it was one of the moments where the hair would stand up on the back of your neck. because to have that video in there and having derrick saying, that's not mine. so it automatically raises an antenna and gets you curious. >> it's what derrick said next that really got their attention. he told them the man that installed that complimented entertainment system, the one kim nicknamed nasa had been there to make repairs the day before her murder. >> so he would have known where

the kitchen was and it's an open floor plan in the septer. he had would have a familiarity with the house. >> he told the detectives, the installer, jr, could be the person they were looking for. >> in my mind, that was a very strong possibility it was him. i had known him before. he worked on another house i had done. i had no reason to think that. but that was the only possible logical person that i could think of that done it. >> so what would his motivation be? >> stealing the system that he just tweaked? i have no idea. >> is there anyone else that knew how to work the entertainment system? >> no. >> who else would be hand willing the remotes when he's tooling the surround system and throw them in a sink to get the evidence off it. all those things come into play. >> so detectives paid a surprise visit to this jr to the shop where he worked. >> i came back and a couple

detectives here at the shop wanted to ask questions. >> at that point, jr said he hadn't heard about kim's death. and detectives were vague about why they needed to talk to him. initially, he thought they simply wanted information about his client, derrick dorsey. >> they said do you know derrick dorsey? i was like yeah, he's one of our customers. he said, yeah, when is the last time you were at the house? i told him i was there friday or whatever it was. >> they also asked if he knew anything about kim. even then, he said he had no idea why police were so interested in the dorseys. >> she's very sweet. very nice. you know, she always, you know -- i only saw her a couple times. >> one of them was that friday. he had been called to the dorsey home to fine-tune the entertainment system. while he was there, he noticed a chill between the husband and wife. >> i remember just she walked by and said hey, i got -- i'm

headed to the gym. and i said okay. we'll see you. and derrick didn't say anything to her. so i thought that was weird, you know, i was like you don't say bye to your wife? i guess he was more interested in getting this electronics fixed. >> because something must have jumped out at you. you don't know this couple very well. >> weird. they didn't have -- i didn't see an affectionate relationship between the two at all. >> as the detectives listened to j.r., they took in what he did for a living. they noticed the wires and cables he worked with. the tools he used, more importantly, they noticed his hands. coming up -- >> he has cuts on his hands. the thing is they could be defensive wounds from when she was hitting him if he was the killer. >> and something interesting in his tool kit. >> he worked with zip ties? >> yes. >> what are you thinking about the sound man? can you cross him off your list? >> he's a possibility.

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the man that was in the dorsey home said he had no idea why detectives were asking him about kim, derrick, and the layout of their house. >> yeah, i know kim just by being at the house doing the installs. >> the entertainment system installer, j.r., said he thought derrick gave his wife the cold shoulder. >> he just sensed there wasn't a strong loving relationship. >> other than that, he said he didn't make much of the investigators questions. but they found a lot in his answers. >> i thought maybe i went over saturday morning. remember, he doesn't think they're in a loving relationship. does he go back thinking, you

know what? i have some opportunity here with her. >> they wondered had j.r. come calling on kim only to get a chilly reception? had the rejection set him off? they asked j.r. if it they heard about kim's murder. his reaction seemed too calm for the prosecutor. >> what can that tell you that he wasn't overly emotional about the news? >> that could be, you know, a sign that he's more involved. a person that committed this type of crime obviously, they're cold blooded. >> but it was his hands more than his demeanor that really heightened their interest. >> he's got cuts on his hands. you know, could these be defensive wounds from when she was hitting him? if he was the killer. >> they asked about those scratches. j.r. said he got them on the job handling wires and plastics. he also worked with zip ties? >> yes.

what you are thinking about the sound man? >> he is more than a possibility. >> he had scratches. he had injuries to his hand. which, you know, from kim's body we knew she fought for her life. that just something he got during the course of his job that obviously as an investigator you want -- you're seeing the other side of that. he is just making an excuse? >> sto there are things they're seeing that could be tying him to this crime? >> absolutely. >> they just need to find out more. >> yes. >> the detectives asked jr where he was the previous weekend when kim was killed. he explained he'd been around town. even been at a local ball field. >> did you feel like the questions were getting intense? did you feel like you were under the spotlight? >> at the moment, i didn't. i was more thinking of the situation that they just told me happened. >> it wasn't until the detectives left that he had that

light bulb moment. they were not looking to him for information, they were looking at him. >> did they -- were they thinking that might have been scratches on my arms or something like that that? that crossed my mind. that bothered me more than anything in the whole interview. >> because kim really fought for her life. she fought hard. >> wow. >> and whoever she was fighting with would have had scratches on them. no doubt. >> right. >> he also thought back about how he answers the questions and the murder and kim. >> did you have that moment where your heart is beating and you were like i was just there, i hope they don't think i had anything to do with this. >> i said she was murdered saturday -- something like that. i said are you kidding me? i was just there friday night. they asked me, do you have any relationships with her? i said, no. they asked did i kiss her, anything? i said, no. nothing like that. >> did you know that derrick had been pointing the finger at you?

>> i had no clue. >> he was telling the police that he thought you could be a suspect. >> that's interesting. >> i had no clue. the. >> if anything, he saw derrick as the most likely suspect. >> he seemed like a very short tempered kind of guy. you know, we had been in his house and he gets amped on certain situations. gets excited. you could tell how he just kind of short fuse kind of thing. it crossed my mind, yeah. usually they do think it's someone very close to them that does this stuff first. >> still, j.r. said he did his best to cooperate fully with the police. >> did they take your dna sam snm. >> they did, right here in the office. they did. and i volunteered. i said absolutely, no problem. >> that has to be unnerving too though. >> yeah. fingerprints and a mouth swab and all of that. i never had that in my life. i had never been arrested in my life. >> there are a lot of things that might make the police look at you. >> i can see that, yeah. >> that's not a great place to be in.

the. >> no. >> but he wouldn't be there long. by then, a police report was making its way downtown through the sheriff's office. it was about to change everything. coming up -- you're going from person to person to person but no arrest. >> no, not yet. >> are you getting a little frustrated? could a stolen car help solve a murder? did you find it on the video? >> yes. >> in the gated community the day that kim dorsey was murdered? >> yes. >> what that tells us is he's in town. >> when "dateline" continues. >>s mm, uh, what do you do for fun? -not this. ♪ -oh, what am i into? mostly progressive's name your price tool. helps people find coverage options based on their budget. flo has it, i want it, it's a whole thing, and she's right there. -yeah, she's my ride. this date's lame. he has pics of you on his phone.

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hello. here's what's happening. former mayor of new york city michael bloomberg is reconsidering a bid for the democratic nomination citing concerns about the current contenders. he plans to skip early voting states like iowa and new hampshire if he decides to run. and police in georgia announce a missing clark atlanta university student had been found dead.

atlanta police chief confirmed at a press conference that body of the 21-year-old was discovered at a park in dekalb county. that's what's happening. now back to "dateline." when the detectives got back to the station, they reviewed what they had on jr, the entertainment system installer. his alibi, dna, scratched hands. but soon they had something else. doubts. >> he installed sound systems so he's always working in tight spaces and that's how he cut his hands up. >> did you believe him? >> it's believable. >> yeah. it's very understandable. i mean with, the kind of work that he does, you can see his hands getting cut up. >> and they learned that j.r.'s alibi for the weekend that kim died checked out. two men, joshua veal and j.r. the installer were now off the suspect list.

you're going from person to person to person but no arrest. >> no, not yet. >> are you getting a little frustrated or you're just following the trail? >> just following the trail. the trail, it tends to start narrowing after a period of time. we felt like it wasn't going to be a situation where there was going to be unsolved. there is too much information for us to follow for that to happen. >> optimism alone doesn't solve crimes. . hard work, of course, does. but so, too, can luck. a stolen car doesn't fall into that last category but it did for investigators in this case. >> there is a lady here in jacksonville, she reports her car stolen. the report is written by a patrol officer with a sheriff's office. eventually that report gets, you know, goes through the channels. >> where it might have gone largely unnoticed if not for an eagle eyed crime analyst who saw the name of the suspected car

thief listed on the report. >> lance kirkpatrick was listed in that report as possibly stealing this car. >> an suv? >> yes. >> lance kirkpatrick as in derrick's good friend, employee, and houseguest. the man derrick said would take a bullet for kim. lance kirkpatrick is the one person you haven't been able to talk to. >> that's correct. >> derrick had also insisted that lance had been on a shrimp boat all week. now a police report was challenging that story. >> what does this mean to you? >> pretty huge. what that tells us is he's in town, he's not on a shrimp boat. now we're starting to pick up steam again. that helped us go in the direction that we need to go to begin to put the puzzle will together. the pieces of the case together. >> the woman who filed the report said lance had taken her car during a house party in the early morning hours of saturday, october 27th. only he never came back. where is lance kirkpatrick?

does anyone know? >> not at that point. >> any friends or family who had any idea where he was? >> no. we talked with his father and grandmother. they hadn't heard from him. and him and his father had had -- wasn't the best of relationships. so it wasn't unusual that they -- wouldn't hear from him for a period of time. >> suddenly, they remember the neighbor who saw a small suv the day kim died. his description match thafd the stolen vehicle. detectives wobdered if cameras outside the dorsey's gated community caught the car coming or going. did you find it on the video? >> yes. >> in the gated community the day that kim dorsey was murdered? >> yes. >> this is your huge moment in this case. >> yes. >> but the video didn't reveal who was driving the suv. and they also weren't sure if the woman that reported it stolen, a known drug user, was telling the truth. >> things like that

unfortunately aren't uncommon for, you know, people that are addicted to drugs to kind of trade their car for drugs. so we weren't really sbhur that whole situation. >> even so, they needed to find lance. >> so i called the coast guard to see if there was anything that -- when the shrimp boats you got o if they file a manifest who have is onboard and they don't zbrchlt so it's not something you can radio each boat and say is lance kirkpatrick on your boathe? >> yes. >> it did lead them to another man, brian. he had been he same house party when the suv disappeared. there was someone else that also had access to that suv potentially, brian kiefer? >> yes. >> brian kiefer, aka, money. brian's nickname is money. do you know why? >> he said that's what the drug dealers call him. and i believe it's probably

because he -- he is a boss. he owns his own company. and he runs in the same circles of people. >> brian ran a building renovation business but he also had a criminal past. troubling to you? >> yes. it's always troubling when you know they have records and they're doing things outside the law. so that is always a concern. >> did you think for a moment that possibly he might have done this? >> yes. everybody, once again, everybody is still on the table. we don't know who did it. >> and unlike lance that either was or wasn't on a shrimp boat, detectives leshd that brian had been spotted in jacksonville recently. now they wanted to talk to him. coming up -- >> brian tells us some things that only the person that was there would know. >> but couldn't that make him a suspect? >> yes. >> could. >> and he also reveals something else. what a friend told him. >> what does he say?

does he say she was dead or does he say anything about that? >> he said that she was saying stop, you're killing me. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues steven could only imaginem 24hr to trenjoying a spicy taco.burn, now, his world explodes with flavor. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day all-night protection. can you imagine 24-hours without heartburn? 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 any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper

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the detective needed to find lance kirkpatrick and brian kiefer. the first one they found was brian at a mcdonald's. >> so he gets completely ambushed? >> yes. >> soon brian was in custody sitting down with a detective and a prosecutor. >> can i stand up? >> yeah. if it makes you feel better. >> brian comes in and basically he's real animated, full of energy that night. >> they ask brian where he had been the last weekend of october? >> i want to direct your attention to florida-george

jornl weekend. >> brian told them he was at his place and yes, he had company. >> it's lance kirkpatrick. but there is a middle name. >> he goes by the name of l.j.? >> l.j. >> and he told them lance had been at his apartment that friday night partying. he said lance had borrowed someone's small suv to buy drugs and never came back. >> i spent $480 for four hours running in a cab looking for l.j. everything. >> and were you able to find him? >> didn't find a trace of him. >> it wasn't until a day later, sunday, that lance called him begging to meet at a gas station. brian said he immediately noticed lance's hands. you noticed his hand was hurt at that point in time? >> yes. >> do you recall -- if you don't, it's okay. >> i thought it was the left, i know he hits with his right. so i just -- >> you can't recall. >> i can't recall.

that would be the better statement. >> but you did remember that he had an injury to one of his hands? >> yes. >> brian said he was unprepared for what lance was about to tell him. he tells me that he murdered somebody. and is pretty much going to prison. and there is nothing that can be done about it. saying i said what do you mean you murdered somebody and your life is over and you're going to prison? he's like, i'm going to prison. >> he thought lance was making up stories. a few days later, lance revealed details of his crime. he said he let himself into his boss's home only to be confronted by the man's wife. when she picked up her phone to call for help he panicked. >> he said i took her cell phone and said get out of my way that i just want my stuff. from there, brian said the argument quickly turned violent.

>> pretty much he just goes into -- i don't know whether he hit her with that pool stick, but he kind of emphasized swinging a pool stick and then he emphasized being shot at five times. >> the story was so awful, so incredible, brian said he didn't think it was true. yet, investigators did. they believe brian had just described the murder of kim dorsey. >> i told my brother, you know, like -- he's like you really believe that. [ beep ] >> okay. >> and i was just like, not really. you know? i didn't know. >> brian's not sure if he should believe lance. you are believing brian? >> brian tells us things that only the person that was there could know. >> couldn't that make him a suspect. >> yes. >> it could. >> were you looking at him as a possible suspect? >> at that point, yes. >> what were the details he knew

about? >> he knew about the electronics in the sink much that's not anything that we ever released. that's not something we would ever tell anyone. he also knew about the pool cue. he knew it was a very extensive pool cue, that it was over $1,000 which that was accurate. >> and he gave detectives a chilling detail. kim's last words. >> what does he say? does he say she was dead or does he say anything about that? >> he said the lady was saying stop. you're killing me. >> investigators were now determined to find lance. brian knew exactly where he was. >> our friends from the marshal's office went and paid that apartment a visit and lance was found hiding in the apartment. >> the long missing lance kirkpatrick once thought to be at sea had now washed up in a police interview room. >> lance, have a seat over there, okay? >> the beginning of the interview was just a conversation. he was fairly forth coming with

answers. >> we like to talk to you, okay? about some stuff. all right? >> the detective asked lance about the dorseys. he was careful no the to mention kim's murder. >> you and derrick get along pretty well? >> we get along great. >> how about you and kim? >> we get along fine. >> you have any problems with her? >> no. >> all right. >>, no i pretty much get along with everybody. >> lance said he had been to see his pal derrick at the fire station. >> i went to station $45 and got money to go south. >> he tried to pay derrick another visit at his home. >> i went over there a week ago, maybe a week and a half ago looking for him. >> do you remember what day it was you went over there and did that. >> yeah, it was georgia-florida. it was georgia-florida, right before the game. >> the very day kim died. lance was now putting himself at the crime scene. he told the detective he knocked on the dorsey door but that no

one answered. >> did you go inside and let yourself in? >> no. the key weeasn't even there. >> where is the key supposed to be? >>. >> narrator: under the dog. there say fake dog by the door. >> the spare key? little dog? lance just admitted he knew how to let himself into the dorsey home. suddenly, the up ended statue the detective noticed the more than they found kim's body made sense. >> what if i told you i didn't believe all your story? >> what part don't you believe? >> larry was convinced lance had in fact found that key and sneaked into kim's house detective was certainly not about to let this sleeping dog lie. coming up -- >> how could somebody do that to begin with? but then again, how could someone do that to someone that didn't have a mean bone in her body? >> the trade by a friend. >> the only thing i could do is howl like some damn wounded an nall a trap.

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lance kirkpatrick said he drove over to the dorsies home that saturday morning but did not go inside. the detective wasn't buying it. >> i know you went inside the

house last saturday. or two saturdays ago. >> i did not. i haven't even given you the tip of the iceberg here, bro. do you play cards? okay. if i show you my hand, do you think i'm going to win? >> if you have a good enough hand. >> the detective thought he did. st. >> putting you at the scene. the scene is going to tell the story. >> that's what lance put down his hardz. >> i'm not saying anything else. even so, the detectives felt they had enough. >> okay, man, time to go to jail. >> lance kirkpatrick was under arrest for kim's murder. but he had acted alone. investigators cleared brian of any involvement but they still were not share about derrick. they examine you had his electronic and final records. >> we were looking to see if derrick had had a life insurance policy on kim that he was trying to connect or gain, you know, some type of financial benefit

from her death. >> did he? >> to my knowledge, he didn't. it actually put him in a worse position to have kim out of the picture. >> derrick dorsey was no longer a suspect in his wife's murder. the jacksonville sheriff's office called to give them the news about lance. >> he said we made an arrest last night. i said who was it? and he told me lance kirkpatrick. and i said what did you arrest him for? >> it didn't dawn on him that lance had in fact been arrested for kim's murder. >> he had an outstanding warrant for some traffic violations and so forth. i figured, finally, they're questioning him and going to clear him okay. of so this is no big deal. >> but it wasn't to be? >> no, he told me they arrested him for the murder of my wife. the only thing i could do is howl like some damn wounded animal in a trap. it was the betrayal. >> this is the man that you said you believed would -- >> i he defended him. >> he would take a bullet for

your wife. >> how could somebody do that do begin with? but then how could someone do that to someone who didn't have a mean bone in their body? how could someone do that to someone who had had went out of their way to try to help him? >> lance kirkpatrick pleaded not guilty to the charges of burglary, sexual battery and murder. it would take more than two years for lance kirkpatrick to stand trial. prosecutor london kite knew the challenge that's lay ahead. >> was there a weak area of your case? >> yeah. there is no witnesses. not one single person could say yes that's what happened to kim dorsey. >> still, she believed the evidence would show lance kirkpatrick's guilt. the state opened the case explaining how lance had been determined to get inside the dorsey home any way he could that saturday being, october 27th, 2012. >> we know how i had days started. >> the prosecutors showed the

video of lance pulling into the dorsey's community in that suv. >> i went over there a week ago, maybe a week and a half ago looking for him. >> she replayed lance's police interview where he put himself on the couple's doorstep that morning. >> did you go inside? >> no. no. the key wasn't even there. >> she said the evidence would show that lance had lied to police then and was still lying about what really happened that day. lance had had broken into the dorsey home intending to rob the couple. >> it was our theory that kim was asleep and was awakened by noise and that she wasn't expecting anyone and she wasn't inviting anyone in. >> so when she awoke that saturday morning to find lance kirkpatrick standing in her home, kim likely went ballistic. the prosecutor called her reluctant brian kiefer to the stand. >> to get up on the stand and to tell the truth, everybody's

sitting there going you snitch. you this, you that. much you that. but they don't know the whole story. >> he explained how lance confessed everything to him. how lance admitted entering the house and confronting kim violently when she picked up her phone to call for help. >> and he said that he grabbed a pool stick and hit her a bunch of times and smashed the pool stick. >> leaving her unconscious on the bram floor. he said lance described stepping out of the room but then kim woke up. >> and she got a gun and started shooting at him. and he said and i knew it was a revolver. he didn't say he was in fear of his life or nothing like that. but he was -- you could tell he was angry. >> and he said stop. you're killing me. >> and he said, and that's when

i just stabbed that bitch in the neck. >> if you didn't believe brian kiefer said the state, believe the science. an analyst testified that lance's dna was found on kim's body, on the pool cue used to beat her and on the trash he left behind. >> did you find any dna on the cigarette butts? >> yes. >> and it belonged to? >> lance kirkpatrick. >> more evidence against him. >> yes. yes. >> derrick dorsey also took the stand. he said lance and kim had once been friends. but in the months before her death she had grown tired of their houseguest. kim had a house rule? >> no smoking in the house. >> was lance able to follow that rule? >> not 100%, no. >> that must have driven kim nuts. >> it would aggravate the living day lights out of her. >> did it get to the point where he had to leave because of it? >> yes. >> so it was really over the smoking? >> yeah. >> derrick said after they kick the lance out had, kim wanted nothing more to do with him. in closing, the prosecutor said

the defendant broke into the house because he knew kim would never willingly let him in. the when she con fronted him, he killed her. as he listened, kim's husband realized how badly he had misjudged his former friend. >> you know the old saying the devil is in the details. during the whole trial, during the investigation, i wanted to know every detail i possibly could. i wanted to know when, where, why, how, and in what chronological order. i'm here to tell you that is not something -- i'm here to tell that you is something you don't want to know. >> now the details were out, made public in a court of law, and lance kirkpatrick was about to use them. awful as they were, to defend himself. coming up, i didn't know she was dead until after i checked. >> lance talks to the jury and to us. >> i never so much as raised my hand to a woman. >> did you rape kim dorsey?

>> no, i did not. >> did you murder kim dorsey? >> no, i did not. no, i did not. >> when "dateline" continues. ons when you take align, you have the support of a probiotic and the gastroenterologists who developed it. align naturally helps to soothe your occasional digestive upsets, 24/7. so, where you go, the pro goes. go with align, the pros in digestive health.

by the time his case went to trial, lance kirkpatrick had changed his story. he now admitted he was responsible for kim dorsey's death. but he didn't mean to kill her. >> the whole thing was just a terrible tragedy. i mean, you know, i'm sure he wishes he could just rewind that whole part of his life. >> attorney teresa sopp said lance kirkpatrick's defense is he tried to protect himself from a raging, violent kim that morning and he went too far. of. >> he was being fired at. he was shot at five times by a pink handled revolver held in the hand of a woman who was irate. who was taking medication which says on the label that it can cause suicidal or homicidal

actions. it's a very intense social setting that resulting in just a very tragic end. >> she said the state could not prove otherwise. when you just put the physical evidence out there and lance is the only one to explain what happens, that's a reasonable hypothesis of innocence. lance kirkpatrick took the stand. lance told the court then and maintains now there was no bad blood between him and kim, she never kicked him out as derrick claimed. he simply chose to live elsewhere. he sat down with "dateline" to explain. >> we were still friends at this point. just because i wasn't living with him, i decided not to go, you know, to stay there. doesn't mean we stop being friends. >> he told an entirely different story about that morning. he said he went to the dorsey's because of the big football game that saturday.

>> i went over there to get my georgia jersey which i left over there before which i thought i left over there. kim answered the door and let him in, he said, for a while, he played pool upstairs then came down to talk to her. he felt sorry for her. >> she didn't have friends. she didn't go out. >> she was suffering from depression? >> yes, she was. she was very self conscious about her weight. >> you saw that? >> oh, yeah. >> he started watching a porn movie on that big entertainment system. he said kim wasn't interested in the show but she was interested in him and before long, they were having sex in the bedroom. afterwards, he recalled kim's mood changing. >> she was depressed, you know, she was insecure. you know, i antagonized her a bit and we argued. >> as they argued, he said he stepped away to the kitchen. he insisted it is kim that first became violent. >> she was standing in the bathroom door area in her bedroom. and can you see at the kitchen

right there. the next thing you know, pow-pow. two shots. i hit the floor. i don't know where she's at. when she took it to that extreme, what was i supposed to do? >> leave? >> listen, where i was at in the kitchen, there is only two-ways out. there is a back door and a front door. i go to try to go either way, i have to stop at the door, unlock the door. i unlock the door, she has a clear shot on me. >> based on the trajectory of the bullets she was on the floor next to the night stand beside the bed shooting up at you. >> again. why don't you run out of the house? >> because i don't know where -- >> her gun was unloaded. >> i didn't know where she was at. >> he said his gut reaction was to pick up the pool cue and charge toward her. >> i don't know how many times i swung. i don't know how hard i was swinging. my adrenaline was pumping so hard, i probably could have bench pressed a car. my aim was not to hurt kim.

it was a reaction. >> even when she was down-and-out, he said, he still felt the need to act. >> why did you zip tie her after she was unconscious? >> my first thought was to restrain her until the police got there. and then once i started putting them on, i was like this is stupid. and then i went to the kitchen to get zizors, i couldn't find scissors. i got the knife, come back in to cut them off. there is no way to get them off without cutting her. so i did away with that whole idea. >> he said he dropped the knife, stepped away and came back to the bedroom. kim had somehow freed herself. she was now standing holding the knife. >> and in that situation, it's, you know, it's hard to say what you would do or what the right thing is to do. you're not thinking. you just react. >> this went very wrong. >> yes. i agree. >> again, he said, they fought. before he knew it, the knife was on the floor and so was kim. dead. >> we're getting up.

i remember looking at the knife and seeing the blood and knowing that i had to have stabbed her or something and i went to check to see where she was stabbed. >> at first he said he waited for police. when they didn't show, he left. >> when the police brought you in, why didn't you tell them the story that you told in trial? >> i was scared to death. i was scared to death. i didn't say it out loud. even to myself for six months after this happened. >> did you rape kim dorsey? >> no, i did not. >> did you murder kim dorsey? >> no, i did not. no, i did not. when i took her life it was totally unintentional. >> not true counter theed state on cross. they said lance kirkpatrick intentionally killed kim when she dared to confront him. >> you were pounding on that woman. >> i wasn't. i wasn't aware how hard or how light i was punching. i was just swinging. >> you killed kim dorsey, right? >> yes, i did. >> i mean you stabbed kim dorsey in the neck, she would never

walk this earth again, right? >> no, i did not. >> yes, you did. >> i didn't know she was dead until after i checked. >> there are people, law enforcement, prosecutors, people heard this story who think that what you say happened that day or just totally farfetched. >> they're far fetched. they took this bloody horrible scene and just thought the worst possible thing that could have happened and went with it. >> some people think that you turned into an animal when you went in that room. >> and if you saw blood smater and everything else and just throw it out everywhere, yes, that can be said. but that wasn't what happened. that wasn't what happened at all. >> he insisted he had killed kim to protect himself. there was no premeditated murder, he said, no burglary and certainly no rape. the defense noted the medical examiner could only determine kim and lance had sex not that kim had been raped.

>> the only testimony was that the sex was consensual. everything else is physical evidence and speculation. so flthere is somebody else selfing i didn't consent, all you have is that and you only have the physical evidence, it's difficult to speculate that it was sexual battery. >> the defense closed by saying the state had failed to prove its case. it argued lance kirkpatrick should only be convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. those who worked to build the murder case against him shook their heads in disbelief. >> if you're defending yourself, do you need to tie her up with zip ties? do you need to rape her? do you need to beat her with a pool stick? do you need to do the things that you've done to her in defense of your life? complete, complete made up story. >> as the case went to the jury, derrick dorsey sat in the courtroom and seathed. >> he raped her, sodomized her.

the this wasn't just some loss of control. to do something like this there is a hole new. there is something deep down evil inside of you to do something like this. >> the jurors agreed. they found lance kirkpatrick guilty of murder in the first degree. now they faced another agonizing decision, whether to sentence him to death. >> i never thought i was ever in any danger of death penalty. because i didn't feel i had done something to deserve that. >> in the end, the jury sentenced him to life. derrick dorsey thinks his old friend got off way too easy. if you could say anything to lance kirkpatrick, what would you say? >> at what point did you make the decision that kim's life had less value than you getting into trouble? and at what point did you decide to kill her? >> derrick said it's taken time to move on with his life. he's retired from the fire department. >> we have derrick dorsey's last

day. pulling the engine out for the last time. >> he also remarried. that's not to say he's forgotten kim, their life together or the mistakes made. >> i had infidelity on my part. the most disrespectful rude thing i could do to her. and i'm going to live with that for the rest of my life. she didn't deserve it. >> and didn't deserve either the man derrick knows he brought into their world. still, he clings to the good things they shared. what memories does she leave behind for you? >> every time i look at the dogs i think of her. they were her children. she was quiet. a little bit of an introvert and just a caring individual. the i've seen many, many times someone needs a hand or someone just needs, you know, someone to talk to, she was there. >> in some ways, she still is. he knows that for every welcome memory there is a brutal one of her and what happened churning

somewhere like a storm, surprising and devastating when it hits. >> this is "dateline." >> someone sucks the life out of you and tells you your dream life isn't going to happen. that wedding you're planning, you don't get to have it. evil exists. evil dwells in people. >> it was a night like this just before halloween, a killing that still haunts. >> found him, he's lying there and i couldn't feel a pulse. >> the young dad, engaged to be married, dead on the ground. >> they determined that it was a murder. >> and here is what made this mystery