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a year had passed since carol kennedy's death. her ex-husband steph had been arrested and charged with murder, and now, an anonymous e-mail sent to steve's attorney said the killing was a result of a drug deal gone wronging with her neighbor. steve said he was told a similar story. >> steve said that somebody was communicating to him through the ventilation system in the jails and told him a story about how a drug ring out of phoenix had

been trying to collect money or seek some retribution against jim knapp for involvement in a prescription drug ring. >> reporter: the attorneys arranged for a meeting. an opportunity for steve to tell law enforcement what he heard so they could investigate it. they showed him the mysterious e-mail. listen to his reaction. >> i'm sorry. >> well, i almost hate to ask you this, but can you explain why you're emotional here today? >> because i spent a year not knowing what happened to carol and being accused of it. that's what's happened right now. >> reporter: there was more than the e-mail to go on. remember the dna the medical examiner found under carol's fingernails? or jim knapp's. police called the dna, "evidence

item 603." but to defense investigator rich robertson, it represented much more. >> evidence item 603 became mr. 603. it was a male's dna that was found mixed in with carol's blood under the fingernails of her left hand. and this wasn't a small amount of dna. a reasonable person i think would think, this probably could have gotten there during an attack. >> reporter: jim knapp. the anonymous e-mail. mr. 603. steve's family and attorneys thought investigators should focus more on all of those things. instead, it seemed to them, prosecutors had already made up their minds, and steve would go on trial for murder. >> a daughter takes the stand. >> did you ask him about those scratches? >> i did. >> and the girlfriend, too.

and, on june 3rd, inside the square's historic court house, county attorney joe butner opened his case against steve democker by ticking off the reasons why, in his view, steve deserved to spend the rest of his natural life behind bars. by this time, pre-trial legal rulings had taken the death penalty off the table. though attorney butner told the jury the case was no less condemning. >> i will ask you to find the defendant guilty of the first degree pre-meditated murder. >> reporter: first, he said, steve had motives, and not just that 6 thousand a month in alimony. no. carol, said the prosecutor, was worth a lot of money. dead. >> the evidence will show that at the time of her death that steven democker was the owner and beneficiary of two life insurance policies. the total value of those life insurance policies was 750,000 dollars. >> reporter: steve and carol's daughters, katie and charlotte, were in court, sitting behind,

and supporting their father. >> to have your father accused of killing your mother and for them to not believe it. you can't imagine what that must have done to how they view things. and it's just got to be a horrible experience. and in his opening statement, defense attorney john sears was quick to address that life insurance money. >> you will hear from katie and charlotte that their father told them from the beginning, this is your money from your mother. this isn't mine. he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that's what happened in this case. >> reporter: prosecutor butner called his first witness. katie democker, steve and carol's elder daughter. >> did she have a habit of things that she did when she came home from work? >> she did. she typically went for a run maybe four days a week out on the backland. >> and to your recollection, did she leave the door unlocked when she would do that?

>> yes. >> reporter: an unlocked door. opportunity for her killer to enter and wait. on the stand, carol's mother, ruth kennedy, had to relive that very last phone call with her daughter. how exactly did it end so abruptly? she told the sheriff's department operator that carol had screamed "oh, no." >> and you just said that, "oh, no" a certain way with a certain emphasis, was that the way that she said it to your recollection? >> she said, "oh, no." basically, that's the way it came out. >> did she scream then? >> it really was not a scream. i'm sure it was because i was so rattled myself. she just said, "oh, no" that's all she said and basically in that tone of voice, like it was more dismay. >> reporter: this was very difficult for ruth, as you can imagine.

>> she was everything a mother would want in a daughter. she was a good mother. >> reporter: charlotte, the living with steve that summer. was in steve's house the night of the murder when he was unreachable for 5 hours and said his cell phone was dead. >> your father, did he have normally have spare batteries with him? >> sometimes in his car. >> did he carry them in the car and also in his briefcase? >> it's possible. i don't know. >> normally, he was reachable by way of his cell phone, right? >> yes. >> reporter: and when he finally got home that night, she saw those scratches. suspicious, according to the prosecution. >> did you ask him about those scratches? >> i did. >> what did he tell you? >> he explained they were from branches from riding his bike. >> reporter: and then the prosecutor asked charlotte's, by then, former boyfriend jacob about the weird business of the golf club cover. the golf sock that appeared in a photo in steve's garage, night of the murder, but was gone when detectives returned with another

search warrant. the implication, of course, was that the cover fit the club, never found, that killed carol. jacob said that after the detectives left he talked to steve. >> what was that conversation? >> the golf head sock cover was found after they had left. >> he said, he had found it? >> yes. >> did he say what he was goinnt to turn it into the police or give it to his lawyer. >> reporter: implying, said the prosecution, that steve knew the golf sock could incriminate him, and didn't know what to do with it. but just as the case seemed to be building momentum, two weeks into the trial, judge thomas lindberg left the bench at lunch break and suddenly collapsed. it was a brain tumor. and everybody waited for 5 weeks until a brand new judge was appointed, so they could pick up with testimony right where they left off.

and that's when the jurors finally got to hear what became of the missing golf cover. >> go ahead and open your evidence bag please. >> reporter: detective theresa kennedy showed it to the jurors and the judge explained a stipulation made by the attorneys. >> on july 5, 2008. >> reporter: turned out, days after carol's murder, steve gave the golf sock to his attorney, john sears. who kept it in his locked office until steve's arrest. that's when sears turned it over to law enforcement. >> reporter: so was the curious case of the migrating club sock an attempt to cover up a murder, or a bit of confusion. an investigative dead end? prosecutors weren't done, mind you. they next tried to tie steve to the crime scene. they didn't find any of steve's dna or fingerprints at carol's house, but they did see those tire tracks. a criminalist compared them with the tires on steve's bike. >> the tread on this tire is similar to the tread we observed of this tire track. >> and did you find any

discernible differences between them? >> no i did not. >> reporter: and those shoe prints. they brought in an expert from the fbi. >> did you find any shoes that seemed to be comparable to the impressions that you observed in these photos from the crime scene? >> yes. i found one shoe that could have made those impressions. >> reporter: a la sportiva pike's peak. records showed that steve bought a pair of those shoes two years before the murder. but when detectives searched his house, they didn't find any such shoes. so, intriguing, but hardly proof. prosecutors knew they had a big problem. that anonymous e-mail linking the murder, not to steve, but to jim knapp and illegal drugs. so, even as the trial went on, investigator mike sechez was interviewing and re-interviewing witnesses. including steve's girlfriend, renee girard. >> it was obvious to me that she was very protective of mr. democker. >> reporter: steve began dating renee when he was separated from carol.

they were together during that tumultuous time, steve's divorce, carol's murder, his arrest. renee had always stood by steve and his family but sechez had a feeling. >> we were pretty convinced that she knew more than she was telling us. >> reporter: sechez knew something else too. during the trial renee broke up with steve. so on the eve of her testimony sechez interviewed renee again about that "anonymous e-mail." what he discovered? explosive is not too big a word. >> where did that mysterious >> steve was terrified. >> the e-mail trail. the money trail. a winding trail of surprises was about to change this case. gold!

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>> reporter: mornings dawned cooler in the arizona mountains, the summer flags in the town square were stored away for another year. and the murder trial of steve democker ticked into its fifth, fitful month. the prosecution had amounted to circumstantial bits and pieces to that point. and investigator mike sechez knew that steve was likely to mount a strong defense. >> mr. democker is a very intelligent individual. >> mm-hm. >> but he's also a very narcissistic personality. you put those together and you can make it difficult to solve a crime. narcissistic? that's what it seemed like to the detective. also seemed to him like steve's girlfriend, renee girard, was protecting him. knew more than she was telling. then renee broke it off with steve. and sechez interviewed her one more time. and remember the "anonymous" e-mail that claimed carol's murder was linked to an illegal drug ring? oh boy. >> she told me that mr. democker had informed them during one of their in-person visits at the

jail to bring some pencil and paper. there was a glass between them. mr. democker had brought a document with him that he placed on the glass, so that they could view it. >> reporter: according to renee, steve himself wrote that document. then asked his daughter charlotte, just 17 at the time, to copy it down. >> mr. democker then asked them to send that document which became known as the anonymous e-mail to mr. sears and to the prosecutor's office. >> reporter: "mr. sears" was john sears. one of steve's defense attorneys. steve's reasoning, according to steve's sister sharon, he'd heard that story from an inmate in that air-vent conversation and desperately wanted to get the story out, and investigated. >> the death penalty was still on the table.

so, steve was terrified. we were terrified. i can certainly appreciate when you're terrified, maybe you do some stupid things. >> well, it's when you start making mistakes, and that was a doozy of a mistake. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and uncovering that fraud led investigators to what they thought was another, even bigger one. remember carol's life insurance money? $750,000 worth. steve's defense attorney talked about it during his opening statement. >> he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that's what happened in this case. >> reporter: that statement caught investigator mike sechez by surprise. >> we had made contact with the life insurance company several times throughout the investigation and we had been informed that the life insurance

had not been paid out to anyone. >> reporter: so, had the insurance paid out or hadn't it? sechez took another look, a much harder look at the money trail. >> not only was the insurance paid out, but it was paid to the two daughters who then transferred it to several accounts, including wire transfers to mr. democker's parents' account in new york, who then wire transferred it back to mr. democker's defense team. >> reporter: remember steve democker was a highly-paid financial adviser. the prosecutors now believed he was using that expertise to try to get away with murder. >> here is a person that murdered his ex-wife then collected her life insurance of over 750 thousand dollars and is using that life insurance to pay his defense team in the murder prosecution. so then prosecutors added fraud to the charges steve was facing. but fraud is certainly not what it was, said defense investigator rich robertson. >> these girls voluntarily, on

their own, believing in their father's innocence, dedicated money that they inherited to defend him. how can that be wrong? >> the girls decided to use that money for their dad's defense. there was no fraud, or the insurance company would have been the first one to say, "hey, we got a problem here." >> so, was that just piling on, on the part of the prosecution? >> yeah. >> reporter: the much bigger issue for the defense, said investigator robertson, was that phony e-mail. an e-mail the attorneys presented in court as real. because, they said, they, too, were duped by steve. >> suddenly, the attorneys are in an awkward legal ethical kind of posture and, in relationship to their client. and so it created an untenable situation for the first defense team. >> reporter: so untenable for

these highly respected defense attorneys that they no option, they said withdrew from the case. and so, seven months in the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. >> we thought we were sprinting to the finish line. we thought that steve was gonna be home in time for thanksgiving, and suddenly the finish line just kinda moved off into the horizon. >> reporter: gut wrenching said carol's friend katherine. >> it was so emotional of, not even a roller coaster. just the intensity of -- of the emotion. >> reporter: they'd have to start all over again. the money the girls received from their mother's insurance was gone now. gone to pay for the first team of attorneys. so, since steve was pretty much destitute, court appointed attorneys stepped in. and right away craig williams and greg parzych were impressed by how steve's family supported

him. >> it's a large family. very educated, very tight-knit group. >> how uniformly did they support steve through this process? >> i'd say very uniformly. >> they're all behind him? >> yes. >> reporter: but one thing after another. as steve's second trial approached. there was another, huge, surprise. the source of the dna found under carol's fingernails was finally identified. that would be "mr 603." >> coming up -- exhausted so many man hours and looked at any and all alternatives, we finally were able to discover and verify who mr. 603 is. the mysterious mr 603, not who anyone expected. >> how can you trust anything after that? >> exactly. >> when "dateline" continues. when you shop for your home at wayfair,

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breaking news the man suspected of stabbing several people, was taken in to custody in harlem and suspected of wounding five people at a celebration in monsey, new york, they are having the hate crimes task force investigate the mass stabbing. new york stepped up patrol after a wave of anti-semitic attacks -- in recent weeks. back to "dateline." >> reporter: it had always been an issue in the case against steve democker: that one fascinating clue that could break the case wide open. who was "mr. 603"? that's what people were calling the mysterious dna found under carol's fingernails after she

was murdered. one thing for sure, it was not steve. >> we exhausted so many man hours and looked at any and all alternatives. >> reporter: and then it was during the long months of waiting for a new trial to begin, the prosecution had an idea. what if that 603 sample was a simple mistake. what if something just got mixed up in the lab? so investigator mike sechez looked up the autopsy done just before carol's. and submitted a sample from that for re-testing. and? nearly three years after carol's murder, a call from the crime lab. >> the sample dna that we sent had matched the dna under carol kennedy's fingernails. we finally were able to discover and verify who mr. 603 is. >> reporter: mr. 603, it turned out, was another dead soul, the man lying on the autopsy table before carol got there. it was his dna. maybe on one of the coroner's instruments, that ended up under carol's fingernails.

mystery solved. one more doubt removed, said the prosecution. but for steve's defense team, it was further proof of a shoddy investigation. >> contamination. we found out not only potential contamination, there was actual contamination in this case. >> how can you trust anything after that? >> exactly. >> reporter: defense attorney craig williams said the case against steve had an even bigger flaw. >> you cannot put steve democker in that house where there was a horrific murder, a bloody murder, you can't put him in the house. >> no dna at all. >> no dna, no blood. you don't find any dna of carol's on him anywhere. you don't find any dna, fingerprints, blood, anything that he's in the house. how can you convict him of murder? >> reporter: but in july 2013, by this time a full five years after carol's death, steve was still in jail, and the case finally went to trial again.

new defense attorneys. a new prosecution team. who, it soon became clear, had, during the long delays, spent some quality time honing their argument against steve. >> carol kennedy had no enemies. this was not a burglary or a robbery, no valuables are missing. the overwhelming evidence in this case points to the defendant and at the close of that evidence we will ask you to return verdicts of guilty on all charges and especially first-degree murder. >> reporter: and now the prosecution had more evidence. like steve's google searches during the month before carol's death. damaging, to say the least. >> there was some information for the term "how to kill and make it look like suicide," and there was some information on the term "how to make a homicide appear suicide." >> reporter: those e-mails and texts messages, carol and steve arguing in the days before her death, were read to the jury.

a crime scene analyst claimed the blood spatter indicated the killer was left handed. >> with the position that i think is the most comfortable position, i would think that they're swinging from the left. >> reporter: and steve was left handed. remember the golf sock in the garage? it was made, said the prosecution, for a now missing left handed club. so here, at last, was the state's theory about how steve killed his ex-wife. days before the murder, said the state, he dropped off that club at carol's house, supposedly for her to sell in an upcoming garage sale, but left the golf sock in his garage. and then, the night of the murder, he sneaked into her house, and used that club to kill her. though such a club was never found, the golf sock was evidence it existed, said the prosecution, and the shape of carol's wounds confirmed it. then, to bolster an alibi, as his ex-girlfriend renee girard

testified for the prosecution, steve allowed his cell phone battery to die. something he never normally did. >> in general, there was usually a battery in his phone and an extra battery either charged or being charged. >> did you ever know him to be to not have a phone at the ready if he needed to use it? >> he didn't. >> reporter: renee also revealed that a month after the murder, steve told her something that in hindsight seemed very significant. >> in the evening we would take a walk on the golf course and he picked up a bag on the way out the door one evening and as we were walking told me about the bag and what he was going to do with it. >> reporter: a getaway bag. which she said he buried on a golf course. and sure enough, with renee's help, detectives found the bag on the golf course. inside were cash, clothing, and a cell phone, and a pen light.

also, after steve was arrested, they conducted more searches. in his storage unit, they found books about how to "cover your tracks" and live as a "fugitive." at an apartment he rented in scottsdale, arizona, they found something interesting in the parking garage. >> i believe it was a bmw motorcycle that the detectives showed me that was in the parking garage. they believe that he had recently purchased it. >> reporter: and inside these locked cases, they later learned, steve had maps, clothing, hair dye, makeup, and fifteen thousand dollars in cash. charlotte, who still believed her father was innocent, reluctantly testified for the prosecution. put on the spot, she had to agree she knew he was thinking of running. and under a grant of immunity she admitted that she wrote the so-called anonymous e-mail that claimed carol was killed by drug dealers. an e-mail dictated by her father.

>> and at one point, your dad held up a piece of paper to that glass window and wanted you to write down what was on that paper? >> yes. >> and you did? >> yes. >> what were you supposed to do with that piece of paper? >> i was supposed to write an e-mail with the same substance that i had copied down. i believe, in the hopes that it would be investigated further. >> what did that mean to you, i mean, did you believe it? >> i did. i believed that that was what he had been told by someone in the jail. and that, you know it was very emotional for me. and i wanted it to be investigated. >> so how did you get the information out? >> i sent an anonymous e-mail. >> reporter: anonymous. so that it could not be traced

back to her or her father. her older sister katie wasn't aware the e-mail had come from charlotte. but, she was at the center of the story about life insurance. steve had signed a disclaimer saying he would not benefit from the proceeds of carol's life insurance. but, katie was forced to testify that wasn't true. >> my father was asking me for various things related to that money. >> reporter: once carol's life insurance paid out, katie transferred her share to her grandparents. >> but you knew that your grandparents were going to use that money for attorneys' fees? >> that was my understanding, some or all of it. >> reporter: the prosecution called close to 50 witnesses to portray steve democker as a man who plotted to kill his wife. plotted his escape. and used his own children to fund his defense. and even hoodwink his lawyers and the court. the case looked strong, the prosecution rested. >> your honor, the state would rest.

>> reporter: now it was time to hear from the defense. and, no surprise, it had a quite different theory about carol kennedy's murder. a theory that had nothing whatsoever to do with steve democker. >> coming up-- that man in the guest cottage. >> it wasn't a little bit of evidence that we had on mr. knapp. it was a mountain of evidence. he got to the point that he was lying about having active cancer and asking for people for financial help. >> i'm wondering what was this man capable of? was he going to hurt me or hurt my family? i was scared. >> when "dateline" continues. e"s we used to love going out with julia and mike, but since they bought their new house... which menu am i looking at here?

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>> five years, the state has had five years to put steve democker at the scene of the crime, but they cannot.

>> reporter: anybody paying attention to the bizarre murder case playing out in fits and starts here in prescott. was apt to be a little suspicious of steve democker's behavior after the killing. getaway bag? fake e-mail? defense attorneys craig williams and greg parzych could see that as well as anyone. but was he guilty of murder? no, they said. rather, he was the victim of some detectives tunnel vision, beginning with a sloppy investigation. >> there was kind of cavalcade of people roaming through this scene that they didn't lock down, tromping through footprints and tromping through the house. and they didn't seal it off correctly. to me, when somebody shows up on the scene and immediately points the finger at the ex-husband, and then that's all they ever did. >> it's always boom, right on him? >> it was always on him. >> reporter: the jurors listened to steve's interview with the detectives, conducted the night carol was killed. >> we've got a suspicious death and right now we don't have any

other person. >> and you're suspecting me. >> well, we have no other person right now. >> reporter: in which you can hear the suspicion, said the defense. and steve, said the attorneys, felt a cold fear overcoming him. >> he's afraid of what's happening, that the investigation is all on him, they're not focusing on anybody else, anything else that focuses on him, and he's afraid that nobody will believe him. >> reporter: that's why he buried the getaway bag, they said. wasn't a sign of guilt, but of terror. in fact, it didn't turn up until months after steve was arrested. >> you never had any evidence that mr. democker tried to use that bag to flee, correct? >> that he tried to use the bag to flee? >> yes. >> i believe that's precisely what he did. >> he never fled. >> we arrested him before he could flee, yes. >> well, you're using a term of art there "before he could flee." my question to you is very direct. he did not flee, did he? >> he was not able to no. >> okay. there's another term of art.

it's a very simple question. did mr. democker flee or not? that's a yes or no question. >> no, he did not flee. >> reporter: and steve's sister sharon had a simple explanation for those coincidences, the night of the murder. the circumstantial evidence. like his dead cell phone battery. >> i think most of us with cell phones can appreciate that later in the day it's not uncommon for the battery to go. >> but their ears perked up when he drew the route and part of it came within a mile of the house on bridle path. >> well, he lived out there. for many years. so that was a favored trail. >> they also made a great deal of the tracks that they found in the property. the shoe prints that must've been his, the tire tracks that must've been his. >> nobody knows whose those are. he did buy a pair at one point. but he doesn't know if he kept them. he said, "i never keep any shoes for more than six months." he ran all the time. no shoes lasted more than six months.

>> and he bought them a couple years earlier, is that right. >> yeah. the bicycle tire, that's the tire that's on 80% of all the mountain bikes in the u.s. it's the most common tire. so there's nothing very distinctive about that. they wanted to be able to tell the jury that it was a match. they were not allowed to do that because as the experts said, "we have no idea if it's a match or not." >> something that has more or less. >> reporter: the defense called its own forensic pathologist to ask if the medical examiner was correct in his conclusion that the murder weapon was a golf club. >> with regards to saying, ah, specifically this weapon, i can't. >> i think the golf club is a, as alfred hitchcock used to say, it's the mcguffin, okay? it's the magic device to tie it to steve democker, the golfer, the elitist. >> sure. >> the rich guy who is pissed off about. >> fine. but isn't there scientific evidence to say that's a golf club head that hit it? >> no. i don't agree with any of that.

and nobody, not a single person could say that that was a golf club. they all said it could have been a golf club. but they also said it could have been other weapon. >> reporter: the defense argued detectives should have looked into other suspects too. one person in particular. jim knapp. the man who rented carol's guest house and arrived at the scene almost immediately after deputies. >> why was he a potential suspect in your view? >> well, it's like the guy who lights the fire that comes back to watch it burn. and that was our feeling about mr. knapp. because it wasn't a little bit of evidence that we had on mr. knapp. it was a mountain of evidence on him. >> reporter: knapp, said the defense attorneys, was in serious financial trouble and cooked up a shameless lie to persuade friends to lend him money. they told the jury about how knapp faked cancer. >> he got to the point where he was lying about having active cancer and asking people for financial help so that he could

take care of his cancer, which he actually didn't have. >> he didn't have. >> reporter: they said knapp desperately wanted to buy a franchise business, a smoothie store, with carol's divorce money. at one point, even introducing carol as his business partner. so was he obsessed with carol? his behavior with this former girlfriend when she tried to break up with him certainly seemed obsessive to her, she said he wouldn't leave her alone. kept sending her e-mails. >> i'm wondering what was this man capable of. was he going to come up and stalk? was he going to do something mean? was he going to hurt me or hurt my family? i felt threatened is what it felt like. and i was scared. >> reporter: more defense questions? how did jim knapp's fingerprints wind up on those financial documents that were printed the day of the murder and found slipped inside a magazine sitting on carol's kitchen counter? and how did knapp's dna get mixed with carol's blood in a

sample taken from a doorknob, leaving the house? that was evidence item #805. they called a dna expert. >> so you can see that all the way across that top line the numbers are the same as james knapp and there are many points of difference with steve democker. of these analyses, james knapp matches each one of these, and steve democker doesn't. >> that's right. >> reporter: in fact, neither steve democker's d-a, nor his fingerprints, were ever found at the crime scene. so, had police focused on the wrong man all along? and because steve democker knew that, did he make a foolish mistake like a frightened man would? the anonymous e-mail, the voice in the vent, all of that occurs once he's placed in custody, loses hope and becomes desperate. that should not, in our opinion, should not have been introduced in this trial. that's a whole separate trial, a whole separate issue. >> reporter: the defense tried to keep all that out of the trial did not succeed.

>> yeah, because it makes him look like a bad, evil guy who forced his daughters to use their inheritance money to pay for his attorneys, a low, scummy thing to do. >> but none of that put him in the house. none of that put any dna on him, in his house car, person, anything along those lines. >> judge, at this time, the defense rests. >> thank you. >> reporter: all along, steve's family remained rock solid in his corner. as sister sharon said. >> i wanna think the best of my brother. the other part of it is that no one showed me anything that changes my mind. there is no evidence to say, "well, you know, you're not thinkin' about this." show me something. >> but do you see your own kind of, understandable family bias affecting your judgment about these things? >> if you can prove to me that this is what happened then that's different.

but i'm missing the big evidence that's, says that he was there. >> reporter: and now, five years after the brutal murder on bridle path, a jury would finally get to decide. and steve would finally get his say. the wait begins. >> you can't sleep. >> it was rough on everybody. >> you really are on pins and needles. >> the verdict when "dateline" continues. i think dentists will want to recommend sensodyne rapid relief because it's clinically proven to work in 3 days. which means for patients that they get relief very fast.

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>> reporter: there may be nothing else in life to compare to the agonizing hours and days. a family waits. endures. as twelve strangers sit in a locked room and prepare to dictate fate. >> well, as -- as anyone who's watched a tv show -- i can tell you unfortunately, the reality is really similar. you really are on pins and

needles waiting for that verdict that you don't know what it is. >> yeah, and you have no control over it. >> uh-huh. >> strangers are gonna decide. >> uh-huh. >> who don't know your brother? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: this family of highly educated professionals knew the case for and against steve as intimately as any attorney. on the third day of deliberations, there was nothing for them to do but sit together. watch their phones. and then, as they prepared to leave a coffee shop in prescott -- news. the jury had reached a verdict. but it was four in the afternoon. apparently quitting time. and the judge decided they'd all have to wait until morning to hear what the verdict was. katie and charlotte, comforted by steve's parents, his siblings. had another night to wait and wonder what did the jury decide? >> it was rough on everybody. >> it is. and it's just horrible. with that nervous energy then is to the -- you can't sleep. >> we were thinking, "well, are they just stretching this out?" >> was it torture? >> well, sure, i mean, we -- we just want them to go ahead and let him go now. >> reporter: then, the next

morning -- the clock struck nine. it was time. >> when they came back into the room, could you tell? >> yeah. didn't have a good feeling. it's never good when they come back in the room and they won't look at the family. >> we the jury duly empaneled and sworn find the defendant, steve democker, guilty. verdict count 2, guilty. for count 3, guilty. >> reporter: guilty on all counts. >> how'd it feel? >> we were just stunned. it's -- it wasn't the right verdict. the law didn't support that verdict. >> reporter: defense investigator rich robertson didn't think so either. >> the biggest shock to me was that they came back unanimous and came back unanimous fairly quickly. it was disappointing. and still is. >> how did steve take it? >> devastated. >> steve's innocent. and steve wants to continue to fight and prove his innocence. that's what his mission is now. >> reporter: but is he innocent? investigator mike sechez.

>> i believe in my heart and soul that steve democker killed carol kennedy. >> reporter: he thinks often, he said, about the daughters about the impact on them. >> while my heart goes out to them, you know, you have to recognize that this is all because of one man's actions. >> reporter: carol's friend, katherine. >> i never wanted to believe that steve was capable of doing this. and the jury has made their decision. i accept their decision. i agree with their decision. >> i'm so glad it's over. i'm so relieved. because so many of us have been dragged through it for the last five and a half years. >> reporter: katie and charlotte were back in court at their father's sentencing. and in spite of everything, the state's case against steve, how steve used charlotte to create that phony e-mail evidence and then paid for his defense with life insurance money carol intended for her daughte in spite of all that, at their father's sentencing, they asked the judge for leniency.

>> i ask because i would like the opportunity to someday walk again with my father, freely and outside. to speak openly and honestly with him and find ways to heal the pain of this prolonged nightmare. i believe in healing and forgiveness because that is the way that i was raised. as for me, i can promise that i will never forget the memory of my mother. she lives in me every day and will for the rest of my life. >> the additional pain of the reality that we now face is very difficult for me to grasp. the knowledge that like my mother, my father may never attend my wedding or see my children born or even watch me graduate. it feels lik this excruciating punishment is almost as difficult for me as i >> i did not kill carol.

we loved each other for more than twenty years. our marriage was over, but not our affection for each other. i would no more have harmed her than i would harm my daughters by taking her from them. >> reporter: leniency was not forthcoming. the judge sentenced steve democker to natural life plus 20 years. no parole. no hope of a life ever outside prison walls. all along, we'd been asking for an interview with steve. he was willing. the sheriff wasn't. finally, after the sentencing, we were allowed a brief telephone interview from state prison. >> the lengths that they went to string. to -- to amplify, to exaggerate the evidence, to even misrepresent it, that was the only way they were able to achieve this conviction. and it's just wrong, keith. it's just wrong.

you could be in prison for the rest of your life. are you prepared for that? i'm prepared, as much as you can. you become a burden. if i'm here for the rest of my life, i will try to find some way to be of use in the world. >> reporter: interesting thing about steve democker. he's an extremely articulate man. can he possibly be sincere, too? all we can know with certainty is that carol will never again have the chance to be useful. although, scratch that. maybe she will. >> one thing that she always, sort of, said to us, "as long as i'm living in this world, i am always here for you and with you." and i think she should have rephrased that to, "no matter if i'm here living or in heaven, i'm always with you," because i feel her in my heart.

i feel her when i'm doing certain things. and her presence certainly lives on. ♪

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. i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> this is "dateline". >> i was robbed of my sister! i had to grow up without one. in an instant, she was gone. and it changed everything! >> she dreamed of a career solving crimes, but crime claimed her first. >> gut wrenching pain! my daughter, please, please don't let this be true! >> home alone on a sunny afternoon, she vanished. >> we just said, "oh my god!