>> he said i'll make it real simple. either you children die or you die for your children. >> it could turn the entire case on its head. but was she telling the truth? >> she wasn't rehearsed because she wasn't rushed to answer our question. >> when "internal affairs" continues. fairs" continues. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one.

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♪ welcome back to "date line extra." i'm craig medical lynn. durham police were focusing themselves on two people. there was denita's fiancé, and there was shannon crawly who may have been jealous of denita and jermeir. they had arrested shannon but couldn't shake the feeling that jermeir had not been entirely forthcoming. detectives thought they were dealing with a tale of obsession. the question was who was obsessed with whom? here again is josh mankiewicz.

>> reporter: shannon's family is emphatic that jermeir was the one who wouldn't let go, harassing shannon with phone calls at all hours of the day and night. >> he called constantly. he was so possessive. she just didn't want that type of relationship. >> reporter: police coaxed more details from jermeir, and he insisted shannon had been demanding more and more attention. the woman he really wanted to be with, he said, was denita. but shannon wouldn't go away.

>> he complained on her, you know? her coming around the house and keep calling. >> reporter: jermeir insisted shannon wouldn't take no for an answer, and it got to the point where he needed help. >> he had filed an internal affairs complaint against her. >> well, i don't know if it was actually official. he had a buddy that was in the internal affairs department. >> but he disclosed that to somebody? >> he did. he did say that, you know, "she -- she just keeps calling, man. and i told her we're over. she just won't let it go." >> reporter: as far as detective pate could determine, it all came to a head on christmas eve. jermeir walked into his greensboro church with denita on his arm, and a diamond ring on her finger. he had proposed, and denita was over the moon. >> she walked into church proud as a peacock, feathers just completely on display, showing that hand to anyone who would look. and shannon was in the back of the church at the time and saw that. >> we heard that was the first time shannon realized that they

were engaged. >> reporter: shannon's family says the d.a. and the detective heard wrong. >> the day that -- that you're referring to, the church, shannon wasn't there. we were there. >> reporter: less than two weeks later, denita smith would still be wearing that engagement ring, as she lay dead at the bottom of her apartment steps. durham police thought they had the right person sitting in the lockup. they had arrested shannon crawly and charged her with the murder of her ex-boyfriend's new fiancé, denita smith. but investigators hadn't completely taken their eyes off jermeir stroud, the man who was involved simultaneously with both women. shannon crawly's father keith, her mother anne and her brother keith jr. never doubted her. >> is it possible that you guys don't want to believe that she's a murderer? >> no.

she is not a murderer. >> it's not in her nature, not her character. >> if i thought that he was lying about it, i wouldn't be on camera saying it. i wouldn't be sitting here waving a flag for her if i thought that she had anything to do with this. >> in may of 2007 shannon crawly was out on bail. she and her attorney walked into the durham police station. this wasn't just another interview. shannon was prepared to share all new information with the potential to change the whole focus of the case. assistant d.a. david saacks. >> she just wanted to give her side. and we certainly wanted -- allowed her to do that. >> reporter: and her idea, or her attorney's idea was and then you'll drop the charges after you've heard this? >> i think that certainly was her idea. so if they don't say anything we're going to keep going on the path we're already on, which is she's already charged. >> before we ask any questions, you must understand your rights. >> reporter: tape rolled as shannon calmly began telling a new story surrounding the death

of denita smith, and in this version shannon said she'd been framed. >> she did show some emotion. but not a whole lot. she was very matter-of-fact, and talked a lot. i think the interview went on for hours and hours and hours. >> reporter: shannon said the trouble began after she and jermeir broke up, that he was upset that she had aborted the pregnancy, and that jermeir began harassing and stalking her. >> he would continuously call me on my cell phone at work. it would interrupt the radio. he would come into communications and stand in the hallway and stare at me. i decided then that it may be a good idea to have something to protect myself. >> reporter: in her first police interview in greensboro, shannon denied ever owning a gun. now detective pate challenged her on that changing story. >> do you still stand by the story that you've never owned a gun? >> the gun that i bought from ronnie i had for all of a day and a half. >> reporter: she felt compelled

to buy a weapon from a co-worker because, she said, jermeir threatened not only her but her children. >> i'd protect them at any cost. he knew that. >> reporter: and she said jermeir used that fact against her when he forced her to drive with him to denita's apartment. >> and he said, "i'll make it real simple. either your children die or you die for your children. >> reporter: shannon told detective pate that on january 3rd, the day before the murder, jermeir coerced her to drive with him to durham to case denita's apartment. then the next day, she said, jermeir forced her at gunpoint to drive back there again. >> when we left on the 4th, i never expected to come back home. >> reporter: shannon said after they pulled up to denita's apartment jermeir got out. she stayed in the suv. >> he went up the stairs. i sat there. a few more minutes passed, and i

heard him arguing, him yelling at someone. i got out of the car, started up the sidewalk to the breezeway, and i heard a gunshot. >> reporter: moments later, said shannon, jermeir rushed past her and got in the driver's seat, which would explain how gunshot residue was found there. >> he got out of the driver's seat by sliding up over the back seat and got into the back seat and just told me to get in. i got in the driver's seat and i started to leave. >> reporter: she says that's when she encountered the maintenance man who, according to shannon, didn't see jermeir hiding in the back seat. soon after they left the apartment complex and drove back to greensboro. >> i kept asking him what happened, what the problem was. what had happened. i was crying. he was yelling at me. >> she wasn't rehearsed. and she wouldn't rush to answer our question. it was i'd ask a question. she'd give it a moment. she'd respond. not too long to make me think she's making something up.

>> and in the back of your mind, even though you may not want to admit it, we knew jermeir had did this. >> yes. >> reporter: wow. that's a story that sort of fits all the facts and exonerates her. >> it does. >> reporter: and in it, shannon is not guilty. >> exactly. >> so when she's telling this story, i'm thinking, wow, this actually sounds pretty decent so far. but then i think, wait a minute. wait a minute. wait a minute. back up. >> reporter: pate raised an obvious question. if shannon had a story that proved her innocence, why had she waited so long to tell it? >> when i asked her, where was this story when i arrested you? her exact words were, "he had threatened my children in the past. i was scared for their safety. he knew how to get to my children." and i asked her, what's changed? he still knows where your children are. he still knows how to get to them. he could still hurt them. >> reporter: and her answer? >> she just looked at me. >> everything i've told you is the truth. >> but you lied the first time we talked. >> yes, i did. >> the second time we talked.

>> the second time we talked i did not lie to you. after i was arrested, i did not lie to you. i told you i didn't do it. that wasn't a lie. i told you that he did. >> reporter: he was jermeir stroud. shannon's story made him the guilty party, but her story also badly needed to be checked out. >> that's just a fantastic kind of story. if i'm going to dismiss her case i need to make sure i'm filling out the dismissal and i put the reasons why. i'm not going to do it just because she says she didn't do it. >> reporter: shannon and her attorney were emphatic that jermeir was the killer and also said that even now, months after the murder, he was making threatening phone calls to shannon telling her to stay silent about his role. >> i told him that i'm more than willing to look at anything they have if trept to bring me something. but i can't just accept her word for it.

that's the problem i'm having, i need some kind of proof to back her up. >> reporter: so the prosecutor challenged shannon, bring me proof. he could not have imagined what was coming next. sex. lies. and audiotape. and maybe shannon crawley's ticket to freedom. >> coming up, a killer conversation. >> i spent four months in jail because of you, because you lied. >> i told you to shut the [ bleep ] up. >> now says shannon's father there's no question his daughter is innocent. >> how much more proof do you need? >> when "internal affairs" continues. continues. i'm your mother in law.

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♪ shannon crawley had told her story, but the d.a. wanted her to prove it. prove that her former lover, jermeir stroud, had killed his own fiancée, denita smith. and that he used threats and intimidation to bring shannon along as an unwilling accomplice. shannon told investigators jermeir was still harassing her while she was out on bail. so with their blessing she bought a tape recorder and conducted a do-it-yourself sting

operation. >> i spent four months in jail because of you. because you lied. >> man, i told you all you had to do was shut the [ bleep ] up, man. >> jermeir, just tell the truth, please. don't do this to me. >> reporter: shannon's family members, who had always supported her, say they can corroborate many of the calls. >> i'd say 99% of the phone calls i was a witness to, i was on the other phone. >> reporter: you would also see shannon's reaction to these. >> yeah. >> reporter: phone calls. this was not somebody who was play acting. >> exactly. >> reporter: no question that was jermeir -- >> no. i know it was him. >> reporter: and they say it did not take long for jermeir to incriminate himself. >> you know i already got away with murder once. think i can't do it again? >> i'm sure you can. someone like you, i'm sure. >> trying to keep my ass out of jail. >> and what about me? i didn't do anything here. >> better you than me. and they ain't trying to put a cop in jail. >> reporter: was she afraid? >> oh, sure. >> reporter: you could tell watching her? >> yeah, she was afraid.

>> reporter: all told, more than 30 minutes of conversations were put on tape. did you think this is the evidence that's going to -- >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: that's going to turn everything around? >> sure did. >> yeah. because that was the whole purpose of them -- >> reporter: that once police and prosecutors hear this, they're going to drop the charges? >> they're going to drop the charges. >> i got away with it once. i'll get away with it again. >> i think there's one part of a conversation where he said, "i killed her. and i'll kill you, too." how much more proof do you need? >> reporter: to her family and to shannon, this was an audio smoking gun that should convince the d.a. to exonerate her and prosecute him. >> you know god is all-seeing and all-knowing. remember that. how many times did i pray with you? >> every day. >> you remember that. >> shannon? >> yes. >> i'm sorry. >> bye. >> reporter: the d.a.'s office would now listen carefully to those phone tapes to see if they were the conclusive evidence shannon said they were. while that was happening, investigators were looking at

one other phone call. this one especially intriguing because it happened on the day denita was murdered. shannon had arrived at the 911 call center for her shift, when a personal call came in for her, from a man who did not identify himself. >> he asked to speak to shannon. when they said hold on, shannon said "hello," and the phone went click. i asked jermeir. i said, "did you make that call?" and jermeir said, "yes, i did." "why did you make that call?" "i wanted to know where she was." >> reporter: so he suspected? >> so he told me that he did think she was capable of doing it. he tells me that he did make that call to make sure she was at work. this is before we said anything about a burgundy suv. but there was nothing in the past where she ever indicated that she would do harm to denita. that doesn't add up. >> reporter: why would jermeir need to know shannon's whereabouts just after he found out denita was killed? investigators considered a

variety of scenarios. but whatever it was, jermeir wasn't volunteering much. >> sometimes when you tell people, you know, a lie of omission, that's still a lie, some people, you have to ask the correct question to get the answer you're looking for. if you don't ask it, you're not getting it. >> reporter: investigators had two wildly different stories. he said, she said. who was telling the truth and who wasn't? >> it was clear we were down to two people. it was one of these two people. and they both had the same allegations about the other one. >> reporter: there was only one way to sort it out and make sure that denita smith received the justice she deserved. >> if we can ever prove who was stalking whom, i think we have our case solved. >> reporter: and soon something would provide that very answer. >> all of a sudden then the rape allegation happens.

>> coming up. >> she came crawling into my bedroom, hysterical. and i'm asking what's wrong, what's wrong? >> reporter: shannon reports a crime, and this time she says was the victim. >> they tested her clothes, everything she could. >> who did she say had raped her? >> when "internal affairs" continues.

♪ hi, everyone. i'm kendis gibson with the top stories. brit y britain's royal family celebrated christmas this morning. the palace released queen elizabeth's annual christmas message. the queen thanked those who served and also shared her excitement for the birth of her eighth great grand chirn. and president trump and the first lady released a christmas message of their own. they sent best wishes to the troops overseas and thanked those who are helping here.

now back to "dateline." ♪ welcome back. he said she did it, and she was telling investigators he did it. shannon crawley had been charged with murdering denita smith. that's when she shared a new version of events, claiming jermeir stroud was the real killer. authorities were intrigued but skeptical. so, shannon captured a series of recordings that she was sure proved her innocence. what would investigators make of this tale of the tape? here's josh mankiewicz. it is rare for women to murder. more often they convince their men to do it for them, a kind of homicidal honey-do list. that was exactly what investigators were debating in june 2007. it had been six months since denita smith's murder. and sitting on the desk of

assistant d.a. david saacks was a series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. >> i got away with it once. i'll get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. >> this is wrong. i didn't do anything. >> you know i'll find you. >> reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they were able to trace where they originated from, a payphone, so there was no way to confirm jermeir had made them. assistant d.a. david saacks listened carefully to the tapes and soon came to his own conclusion. is there any way that could be jermeir's voice on the tape? >> not that i can see. he would have to clearly be disguising his voice to make it sound that way. it just did not sound like him at all. >> why are you whispering? >> you know why. because somebody's listening. >> no.

>> betting on it. >> reporter: if he's calling to intimidate her, what's the point in disguising his voice? >> correct. it was just no way in my mind that that was jermeir. because when i heard these tapes i knew i had the right person. >> reporter: the crawley family was infuriated. they were certain the calls cleared their daughter and revealed jermeir as denita's killer. they also insist jermeir was lurking in the charlotte neighborhood where shannon was staying. >> what we went through in charlotte with him stalking her because he was, to me, he was stalking me as well. honestly, i believe that he was -- his intention was to kill both of them. i do. i think they both rejected him and he was going to kill both of them. >> reporter: then something happened that seemed to bear out their worst fears. shannon was out on bail and living with family in charlotte some 100 miles from greensboro,

where jermeir stroud still lived and worked for the police department. one night in july 2007, around shannon says she took her dog for a walk in the backyard. >> she came crawling into my bedroom, hysterical. and i'm asking, "what's wrong? what's wrong?" >> reporter: shannon told her mother she had been raped. who did she say had raped her? >> she said it was him. >> reporter: jermeir? >> jermeir, yeah. >> reporter: charlotte police were alerted and rushed to the scene. shannon was bleeding and appeared traumatized. she was taken to a hospital for treatment and given a rape kit exam. no witnesses? >> no. >> reporter: none of your neighbors? >> no. i think there were maybe four people that lived in the neighborhood at that time. >> reporter: word of shannon's reported rape traveled quickly to durham, where detective shawn pate and assistant d.a. saacks were now preparing for her

trial. they wondered if shannon was certain the attacker was jermeir. >> i asked her, "well, how did he know you were going to be walking a dog at 3:00 in the morning?" and i guess he just stalked the house and saw his opportunity. so for four hours he raped her. so if it was 3:00, then when does the sun start to come up? four hours. you know, you're looking at 7:00. >> reporter: it would have been daylight then. >> yes. dog doesn't bark, anything like that. >> reporter: shannon said she was sure and then added one more horrifying detail. jermeir had used a knife to rape her. it would take ten days for the rape kit results to come back. so in the meantime police, of course, questioned jermeir stroud. he insisted he was in greensboro that morning, nowhere near charlotte. when you go to jermeir and say shannon says she was raped by

you, what's his answer? >> he says, "no, that's preposterous. you can check my phone, you can check my work logs, you can see where i was. i'll do whatever you need me to do." >> reporter: but shannon told police all the evidence they needed just might be sitting in jermeir's garbage can, which was where she suggested he stashed the knife. >> and sure enough, jermeir's going out to put his garbage in his can and sees the knife in there. he immediately calls his police department and that's when they find the neighbors who said, yeah, they saw the night before some other car come up and heard a thump and somebody saw somebody throwing something in his can and leave. it wasn't shannon. no identification was made about that. >> reporter: just a dark figure in a hoodie. >> that's correct. >> reporter: was the knife planted? there's no proof either way, but it was tested, and there was nothing that connected it to jermeir. as for his whereabouts at the time of the alleged rape? >> he actually was on the phone and didn't get off the phone until like 6:00 in the morning. we knew he was in greensboro at

the time that that call was placed. so to be involved in the rape it just seemed a physical impossibility. >> reporter: then came the results of the rape kit. >> there was no semen on the vaginal swabs and the rectal swabs. nothing that would be conclusive proof that the rape had occurred. >> reporter: and it wasn't there. >> it just wasn't there. and they tested her clothes, everything they could. all the medical personnel confirmed they did not see that kind of injury to her that would have occurred. >> reporter: there were knife cuts on her body, but -- >> they were superficial. >> reporter: the crawley family was outraged all over again that once again shannon's version of events was dismissed while the charges against her stood. the police basically accused shannon of making you the rape. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> and i believe they did that after they talked to the prosecutors. >> the prosecutor. yeah, yeah, he called down there. >> the nurse changed her story. >> everything changed. everything changed.

>> reporter: this is what? one big conspiracy? >> i hate to make it sound like that. >> it sounds like it. it sounds like it. >> reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks says the rape was properly investigated and seemed to be nothing more than a hoax. which also, for him, finally answered that lingering question of who was stalking whom. >> everything was pointing to her and the only thing that was pointing to jermeir was that he was in this affair with shannon. i do not believe he was involved in the murder. i do not think he was involved in the planning or the execution of this murder at all. >> reporter: and even if jermeir wanted denita out of his life, what could possibly be his motive to kill her? >> and this is exactly what i thought. why? all he had to do is call denita up and say, "it's over." >> reporter: there's no property. >> no property. >> reporter: there's no alimony. >> and it doesn't make sense. >> reporter: he seems genuinely crushed by what happened. >> absolutely. >> reporter: as the trial approached, the d.a. facing a circumstantial case with a seemingly credible defendant,

offered shannon crawley a deal. plead guilty to denita smith's murder and be sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in prison. denita's mother, sharon, was not happy. what'd you say? >> no. >> reporter: don't let her off? >> uh-uh. no. my words were "my daughter didn't get to plead for her life that morning, so no." no plea. >> reporter: she needn't have worried. shannon crawley was not going to take a deal. she insisted she wanted to clear her name and would now take her chances in court. >> coming up. >> shannon would look at me with this little smirky look on her face like she knew she was going to get off. >> shannon on the stand. >> for one he's told me since that he did. >> versus the man she says is jermeir on tape.

>> are you going to kill me too? >> who would the jury believe, when "internal affairs" continues. inues. ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ welcome back. accused killer shannon crawley was about to stand trial for the murder of denita smith. shannon was the one facing charges, but jermeir stroud would be at the center of the case. as the star witness for the prosecution had been painted as the real killer by the defense, it was a courtroom divided. once again, here's josh mankiewicz. ♪ men have always been better at starting relationships than ending them. we don't like to break up, to be the bad guy. and when confronted with a woman's tears, we sometimes

yield to the urge to tell her what she most wants to hear, whether it's true or not. is that what jermeir stroud did? and did he unknowingly bring shannon crawley and denita smith together that dreadful day in 2007 when denita was murdered? now three years later two families filed into the durham county courthouse. one family hoping for a conviction, the other an acquittal. >> john mccann covered the trial for "the durham herald-sun." >> the tone was definitely, you know, somber. shannon's family here. you got denita's people on the other side. tense is a good word for it. >> reporter: especially tense for denita's mother, sharon, who for the first time made eye contact with the woman accused

of murdering her daughter. >> shannon would look at me with this little smirky look on her face. she's very cocky, like she knew she was going to get off. no remorse. she didn't feel she had done anything. >> they had only been engaged for two months. >> reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks, an experienced, savvy prosecutor, would now square off against a younger court-appointed defense attorney named scott holmes. >> it's important, i think, to try to see the world, try to see the world from the eyes of shannon on the days that led up to and the day that this happened. >> the whole trial was basically us saying that shannon crawley committed this murder and the defense saying jermeir stroud did this murder. that was basically the trial. >> reporter: detective shawn pate worried shannon crawley could walk. after all, the case against her was largely circumstantial. her dna was not at the crime scene. there was no murder weapon.

and she hardly looked like a killer. >> i thought she might be able to sell the story. i figured she'd be dressed real conservative, probably come in looking like she just landed off the mayflower, and that somebody would be sympathetic. >> reporter: from the beginning the prosecution portrayed shannon as a woman scorned, who couldn't have jermeir stroud to herself, so she made sure denita smith wouldn't either. shannon, suggested prosecutor saacks, was either carrying a torch for jermeir or trying to burn down his whole world by killing his fiancee and pinning it on him. >> for whatever reason, she couldn't handle the situation between jermeir and denita. and to resort to this, just to me, speaks of desperation. >> reporter: the prosecution's star witness? jermeir stroud, whose courtroom testimony was broadcast on local tv. >> i kind of thought selfishly.

>> reporter: jermeir confessing under oath the shameful sin he'd kept hidden for so long, his office affair with shannon crawley. he even revealed that when he heard something had happened to denita he immediately suspected shannon. >> and one of the things that popped in my head based on my recent interactions with shannon was that maybe she had done something. >> he told everything on the stand. >> reporter: but he didn't hold back? >> no, he really didn't hold back. the story is out. so you have to go ahead and tell the truth because if you don't you look like a liar now. >> reporter: so in that sense, jermeir did do the right thing? >> he did. >> reporter: the defense argued shannon was being framed for a murder jermeir alone committed. >> shannon crawley's lawyer was trying to paint jermeir as a crooked cop, you know, everything kind of elevates shannon crawley as she couldn't do anything like this. it has to be this bad cop over here.

>> i didn't know what he had done, and i didn't know what he was going to do to me. >> reporter: it's often considered risky for a murder defendant to take the stand. but shannon crawley insisted on telling her story that she was a victim and not a killer. >> how do you know now that jermeir did it? >> well, for one he's told me since that he did. >> and you're trying to tell the jury that then you had no idea what might have just happened there? >> i didn't see anyone. >> just to hear how she presented the information, her poise and her demeanor and all that kind of stuff, she's a credible witness. i mean, she tells a credible story. >> reporter: and the defense did have those phone conversations shannon recorded in which she insists jermeir threatened her and incriminated himself. >> you know i already got away with murder once. you think i can't do it again? >> i'm sure you can. >> reporter: but shannon's defense attorney ultimately chose not to play them.

instead they were presented by the prosecution as proof that shannon's story was all one big lie. >> you going to kill me, too? >> you keep talking, you know i will. >> reporter: the jury had already heard jermeir testify with his deep, gravely voice. >> it's possible, but i don't recall how many times i called. >> reporter: now they listened to the tapes. was this the same guy? >> if they find out i shot her, man, that's life right there. >> you heard jermeir testify and you heard the tapes. does anybody really believe that's jermeir talking on these tapes? >> i know, but you got a better shot than me. >> to me that sounded like michael jackson. he had this high-pitched voice. it just clearly was not jermeir's voice. and it clearly was not something jermeir would say, or how he would say it. it just was obvious to me that it was fake. >> the jury laughed. that's the first trial i've ever been on where i heard jury

members snicker. >> reporter: but the crawleys, who were in court when those tapes were played, were not laughing. they say they'd heard many of those calls firsthand and believed they were the real thing. the jury had heard jermeir testify. he has a deep voice. and the person on the tapes doesn't have a deep voice. >> doesn't have, exactly. he disguised his voice. >> reporter: you think he can disguise his voice that well? >> yeah. >> apparently, he can. >> well, he did it. he did it. >> reporter: you're convinced that was jermeir. >> oh, it was jermeir. >> reporter: so whose voice would ultimately ring true? a three-year investigation was now in the hands of 12 people. two families now waited anxiously inside the durham county courthouse. as did assistant d.a. david saacks. >> i'm never confident when a case goes to the jury. >> reporter: you've been slapped in the face by juries before. >> too many times. that's the lesson here, you never know. >> reporter: then, after just one day, the jury reached a decision.

shannon's family was encouraged. >> i didn't feel that the d.a. proved his case. there were some damaging things, yes, but there was no preponderance of evidence, and i thought that she was going to be acquitted. >> reporter: for shannon crawley it all came down to this decision. would it be a life of freedom or life in prison? denita's mother braced herself as she stared at the woman accused of killing her daughter. >> i really think all the way to the end that shannon thought she was going to walk away. >> we the jury return the unanimous verdict as follows, guilty of first-degree murder. >> she didn't think she would hear what she heard, guilty. >> reporter: how'd she look when that verdict came in? >> like all the life just drained out of her, like she'd seen a ghost. >> reporter: across the aisle shannon's family was also stunned, and then furious.

>> and now my daughter, who is the perfect victim for someone like jermeir stroud, has now been convicted of a murder that he committed. >> of course, miss smith's family is still in pain, too, i'm sure. and we prayed for them constantly. they've lost a child, but so have we. >> reporter: nearly five years after that verdict, shannon herself as a lot more to say about jermeir stroud and about what happened the day denita died. >> coming up, her very first interview. >> i don't know jermeir but the voice on the tapes does not sound to me like him. >> that's all i can tell you, it's him. >> and believe it or not, denita's mother has an apology for shannon. >> being the god-fearing woman that i am, i know that was wrong, and i never should've said it. said it.

♪

welcome back. a durham, denita smith. rejecting shannon's story that jermeir stroud was actually the triggerman. after the verdict, shannon agreed to sit down with us. answering our questions and offering some new intimate details. here with the conclusion of our story is josh markowitz. >> reporter: the north carolina correctional institution for women in raleigh. it's where you will find shannon crawley today. after weeks of discussions, she finally agreed to talk with us behind bars. >> it's still not too late to say you don't want to do this. >> you went through a lot of trouble. >> but as our cameras rolled, shannon began to tell the story of her relationship with jermeir stroud. >> he was charming.

he was very nice. we got along. we had a lot in common. >> were you in love with jermeir? >> no. >> shannon insists she had no idea that her boyfriend, jermeir, was also seeing denita smith. >> i never knew that he had a girlfriend. had i known, i never would've given him my phone number. it wouldn't have ever escalated to anything else. >> she admits it did escalate. >> it started off fairly normal. but he would call nonstop. he would show up unannounced. he would want to know where i was. who i was with. he would leave messages. 30, 40 phone calls. >> why'd you keep seeing a guy like that? >> guess initially, i didn't really take it that seriously. i didn't really think that he was dangerous. he would mask it as concern. >> eventually, shannon became

pregnant. but says she and jermeir ended the romance before she had the abortion. but now, her story is slightly different from what she first told detectives. >> we talked about it. there were some complications, which is why i decided to terminate. >> the story is that he said to you, i don't want to have a baby with you. and the with you part hit you very hard. >> no. >> that conversation never happened? >> no. >> one of the things that popped in my head based on my recent interactions with shannon was that maybe she had done something. >> shannon and jermeir's differing stories are most in conflict when it comes to the day denita smith was murdered. shannon insists he forced her, at gunpoint, to take him to denita's apartment. >> he told me that i was going with him. that if i didn't, his exact words to me were, either you die for your kids or the kids die for you.

what's your choice? and i knew he had his gun. >> after arriving at the complex, shannon sticks by her story that jermeir went up to denita's apartment. leaving her behind in the suv. >> i got to the sidewalk and i heard a shot. >> reporter: you think jermeir killed denita? >> i absolutely believe that he did. >> reporter: what would possibly be his motive for that? >> i don't know. >> reporter: i mean, if he didn't want to be with her anymore, they weren't married, he could have just broken up with her. >> i don't know. i don't know. i don't think he had a plan at all. i think he just he acted in the spur of the moment. but i don't believe that he set out to deliberately go there and shoot her. i believe that he was -- he was after me. that was how he made me feel. when we left my house that day, i never expected to come back home. i honestly believed that he was going to kill me. >> reporter: shannon says the investigation doesn't support

her conviction. >> i don't feel that there is any evidence that can conclusively say that i shot and killed anyone. my dna is nowhere at the scene. i have no fingerprints at the scene. i admit that i was there. but i was not there by myself and i certainly didn't shoot anyone. >> reporter: and shannon insists all those phone calls are real. and they prove what she's saying. >> i'm sure you can. someone like you, i'm sure. >> triying to keep my ass out o jail. >> why doesn't it sound like jermeir on those tapes? >> i don't know. the jury testified a few minutes during the trial. i don't know whether or not they could remember his voice from when he testified to later on. >> look. >> but it's him. >> i don't know jermeir but the voice on the tapes does not sound to me like him. >> it's him. that's all i can tell you.

it's him. i don't know who else would be calling me nonstop, threatening to kill me, threatening to kill my children. >> well, the allegation is that nobody did and you faked all of that. >> how could i fake a phone call? >> well, you get some friend of yours to call you from another phone. >> and put my family through all of that? this wasn't just me. it was my children, my mother. >> as for shannon's story about the sexual assault outside her mother's house, she insists the police investigation wasn't done properly. and that the rape really happened. why wouldn't jermeir's dna be found? >> he's a police officer. he made sure that his dna would not be found. >> his cell phone records put him on the phone at the time that you say this assault was going on. >> and i don't believe that he was ever talking to anyone on the phone. i know where he was that night. >> reporter: prosecutor david sacks says the rape allegation was thoroughly investigated and jermeir was cleared. sacks also says shannon could have taken a plea deal that

might've gotten her out of prison as soon as the year 2020. her sentence now is life without parole. she has exhausted her appeals. her family still believes shannon is innocent. and hopes to find an independent expert who will confirm it was jermeir's voice on those tapes. but the odds are that shannon will die in prison. after years, maybe decades, to ponder what happened on that chilly morning when denita smith was murdered. >> could i have done things differently? absolutely. i made the decision to go with him at the risk of him hurting my family. i don't regret that decision at all because it may have saved my childrens' lives. and i just wish that he would tell the truth. that's it. he created this situation and it's completely his fault. but i didn't kill her. i didn't. and i've lost my life, too.

>> reporter: at shannon's sentencing in 2010, denita's mom sharon was allowed to speak. and all that rage, sorrow, and pain just came pouring out. >> i hope you rot in hell cause you took something from me. >> the one thing that i said and i have since regretted, and i never should've said it, is that i hope you rot in hell. >> reporter: i don't think there's a person who's going to watch this who doesn't think that's completely understandable. >> being the god-fearing woman that i am, i know that was wrong. and if i ever get the opportunity to talk to her, i will apologize to her for that. >> reporter: in fact, sharon had something even more remarkable to say to shannon. >> i do forgive her. >> reporter: how do you do that? >> i have to forgive her because

i want god to forgive me for whatever sins that i may do. >> reporter: jermeir stroud was never charged in the case. but the trial judge did say it was jermeir's behavior that created a perfect storm of events. bringing victim and killer together. jermeir declined our request for an interview. but in a statement, he denied any involvement in denita's murder. and all the allegations that shannon crawley has made against him. investigators say jermeir fully cooperated and was completely exonerated. >> he didn't ask, pay, coerce anyone to do this. he didn't pull any trigger. >> and he didn't know it was gonna happen? >> he didn't know it was gonna happen. at the end, it comes down to the person who pulls that trigger. >> on the campus of north carolina central university, they still remember denita smith. in the journalism department where she made such an impact,

the school newspaper office has been named in her honor. >> she's touched so many lives from people who used to go to school with her. and they say, you know, i still think about denita. or i owe that to denita. that was part of her legacy. that's the essence of her. >> reporter: who knows what denita smith would have become. the dreams she would have fulfilled. the career and family she would have had. her mother, sharon, is slowly making peace with all of that. >> denita wouldn't want me to be bitter or sad. denita's with me spiritually. i don't have to worry about shannon. i don't have to worry about jermeir. because when i lay down at night, loi get a peaceful sleep. i don't know if they do. >> that's all for this edition

of "dateline extra." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. the neighborhood had everything a burglar wanted to find. private yards. wealthy homes. >> she had the worst of possible luck in that he picked her. >> yes. >> i'd like to report an attempted break-in. >> a mother home alone. the cops race to her front door as she walks into an ambush in her backyard. >> how does somebody die within a matter of seconds with officers all around her home? >> surreal. it was awful. it really just all came crashing down. >> your first thought at that